Changes in oxalate composition and other nutritive traits in root tubers and shoots of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatasL. [Lam.]) under water stress

BACKGROUND: The presence of insoluble calcium oxalate druse crystals (CaOx) in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) can negatively affect its nutritional quality. Photosynthesis, starch, and protein composition are linked with oxalate synthesis and tuber quality under water scarcity. Our main objective was the oxalate quantitation of sweet potato tubers and shoots and also to assess how drought changes their nutritional value. Eight sweet potato accessions from Madeira, the Canaries and Guinea-Bissau were analyzed for their response to drought stress. Tubers and shoots were analyzed for total (T-Ox), soluble (S-Ox) and insoluble (CaOx) oxalates, protein, chlorophyll content index (CCI), soluble starch, starch swelling power, and starch solubility in water. RESULTS: The S-Ox and CaOx content was higher in shoots. Six accessions were above maximum CaOx levels for raw consumption. Accessions with more favorable responses to drought had decreased CaOx with S-Ox increase content for osmoregulation. They also presented slightly decreased CCI and protein contents. These accessions also had an increased shoot starch content, for further tuber storage starch hydrolysis, and maintained the quality and functional properties of the tuber starch grain. Those with a less favorable response to drought had a higher T-Ox and CaOx content in both organs, hindering water absorption. They also had decreased protein and CCI, with a slight increase in tuber starch hydrolysis. CONCLUSION: Oxalate content was significantly related to carbohydrate metabolism, CCI, and protein synthesis. This study significantly contributed to the screening of the sweet potato stress response to drought, to adapt this crop to climatic change through breeding programs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Relaxation- and Decoherence-free subspaces in networks of weakly and strongly coupled resonators

We consider a network of interacting resonators and analyze the physical ingredients that enable the emergence of relaxation-free and decoherence-free subspaces. We investigate two different situations: i) when the whole network interacts with a common reservoir and ii) when each resonator, strongly coupled to each other, interacts with its own reservoir. Our main result is that both subspaces are generated when all the resonators couple with the same group of reservoir modes, thus building up a correlation (among these modes), which has the potential to shield particular network states against relaxation and/or decoherence.Comment: 5 page

Stable isotope natural abundances (δ13C and δ15N) and carbon-water relations as drought stress mechanism response of taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott)

Taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) is an important staple food crop in tropical and developing countries, having high water requirements. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition (δ13C and δ15N) as a physiological indicator of taro response to drought, and elucidation of the relationship between the water use efficiency (WUE) under drought conditions and carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C). As an alternative to WUE determination, obtained by measuring plant growth and water loss during an entire vegetative cycle, we have used Δ13C to determine the tolerance of C3 taro plants to drought. Seven taro accessions from Madeira, Canary Islands and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (Fiji) collections were grown under greenhouse conditions and subjected to different watering regimes during a one-year cycle. Total plant biomass (TPB), WUE and δ15N were determined at the whole-plant level (WP). Corms and shoots were evaluated separately for nitrogen content (N), δ13C, Δ13C and δ15N. WUE showed positive correlation with TPB (r = 0.4) and negative with Δ13C (r = -0.3); Corm δ15N showed positive correlations with WP δ15N (r = 0.6) and corm N (r = 0.3). Accordingly, the taro plants with enhanced WUE exhibited low Δ13C and δ15N values as a physiological response to drought stress. The approach used in the present study has developed new tools that could be used in further research on taro response to environmental stresses.This work was supported by the Programa Operacional da Região Autónoma da Madeira – PO Madeira 14–20 [grant number M1420-01- 0145-FEDER-000011, CASBio] and the Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação – ARDITI [grant number M1420-09-5369-FSE-000001].info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Nutritional and mineral variability in 52 accessions of common bean varieties (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) from Madeira Island

The Phaseolus vulgaris L. is one of the traditional and most important leguminous crops in the Island of Madeira. The island’s bioclimatic tiers, agro-ecological environment and traditional farming practices had a great influence on the evolution of regional bean landraces. The variabili ty of the nutritional and mineral seeds composition of 59 accessions of the Madeiran landraces, standard and commercial varieties was evaluated. Wide ranges of variability in biochemical pa rameters were reported among the Madeiran landraces, being the best sources of protein and mineral nutrition, according to the statistical results and literature comparative evaluation. Spe cifically, the content (g per 100 g DW) of ash ranged from 3.64 - 5.67, lipids from 0.57 - 2.86, pro tein from 18.55 - 29.69, starch from 23.40 - 52.65, soluble sugars from 2.97 - 6.84, while content of dry matter was from 83.35 - 93.55. The seeds also contained (per 100 g DW) between 2.55 - 4.83 g N, 0.30 - 7.50 g P, 1.30 - 2.49 g K, 0.10 - 0.18 g Mg, 4.10 - 10.00 mg Fe, 50.0 - 1.40 mg Cu, 2.20 - 5.00 mg Zn, 0.90 - 3.80 µg Mn and 0.20 - 2.40 µg B. This variability implies that the screened germplasm could serve as a source for breeding new varieties with improved biochemical and nutritional traits or could be highly recommended to meet specific dietary requirements. The cultivar Vagin ha Grossa (ISOP 713) revealed low carbohydrate content that could be a good food choice for di abetics, while cultivar Vermelho (ISOP 724) bean should be offered as a valuable alternative source of protein and minerals in the local diet.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

On Weierstra{\ss} semigroups at one and two points and their corresponding Poincar\'e series

The aim of this paper is to introduce and investigate the Poincar\'e series associated with the Weierstra{\ss} semigroup of one and two rational points at a (not necessarily irreducible) non-singular projective algebraic curve defined over a finite field, as well as to describe their functional equations in the case of an affine complete intersection.Comment: Beginning of Section 3 and Subsection 3.1 were modifie

Ecology and diversity of Solanum trisectum Dunal from Madeira Island: implications for Its conservation

Solanum trisectum Dunal is an endemic Solanaceae of Madeira Island (Portugal), considered critically endangered due to its extreme rarity. Since its discovery this species has shown a narrow distributional range mainly on the northern side of the island, with scattered and small populations and large time gaps between sightings. The present work aimed to understand the underlying ecological underpinnings for this species rarity towards an effort to increase the success of conservation actions. Data on historical locations, environmental conditions field surveys, reinforcement in situ and ex situ germination trials were obtained. The species was found to currently occur only in two wild populations and two reinforcement sites, amounting to twenty-four plants in total. Statistical analysis of these data related wild populations and successful reinforcement sites, separating them from other sites where the reinforcement did not succeed. This suggests that the successful reinforcement sites showed conditions more similar to wild population sites compared to non-successful ones. The data obtained supports the hypothesis that S. trisectum distribution and rarity is determined by species specific habitat needs, i.e., abiotic conditions, which have been for the first time assessed during the present work. Further, this study also reinforces the classification of S. trisectum as a top priority species for conservation.Prospecting, Monitoring and Conservation of Normania triphylla in Madeira (Mohamed bin Zayed Species (project number 13255498)) and Madeira PO 14-20, contract CASBIO (ref M1420-01- 0145-FEDER-000011 ).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Screening for Drought Tolerance in Thirty Three Taro Cultivars

Taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] is a root crop which is an important staple food in many regions of the world, producing 10.5 million tonnes on 1.4 million hectares a year. The crop is cultivated in wet (rain fed) or irrigated conditions, requiring on average 2,500 mm water per year, and in many countries it is cultivated in flooded plots. It is estimated that taro production could decrease by 40% as a result of the increase in drought and other severe events. In this work, thirty three accessions, including local cultivars, selected and hybrid lines were submitted to long duration drought stress and screened for tolerance. Twelve physiological, morphological and agronomic traits were measured at harvest, and subject to multivariate analysis. Stress indices, Water Use Efficiency and Factorial Analysis were useful for discriminating accessions regarding drought tolerance and yield stability, and drought tolerant and susceptible cultivars were identified. Our results confirm that different taro cultivars have different drought avoidance and tolerance strategies to cope with water scarcity. Better yield performers minimised biomass and canopy loss, while tolerance was observed in cultivars that presented low potential yield, but efficiently transferred resources to enhance corm formation. Among the 33 accessions, two local cultivars showed high yield stability and could be considered as suitable parents for breeding programs, while two others are well adapted to drought, but with overall low yield potential

Diagnosis of children with specific language impairment using a developmental scale

Specific language impairment (SLI) should have an early diagnosis, since it can interfere with social and school adaptation of the child. The aim of this study was to verify the performance of children with SLI in comparison with normal children using the Behavior Developmental Scale of Gesell and Amatruda. Twenty-five SLI children, 3 to 6 years of age, were evaluated. This group was compared to 50 normal children of the same age. Children of control group showed better performance in all aspects of the scale. The medium value of the studied group was borderline in adaptative and social aspects, and was slightly below the medium in the language aspect. We conclude that language disorder may impair the assessment of other areas of development. Nevertheless, this scale may be useful in the evaluation of children with SLI.Alterações específicas do desenvolvimento da linguagem (AEDL) devem ser identificadas precocemente, pois tais alterações podem interferir nos aspectos sociais e escolares da criança. O objetivo dessa pesquisa foi verificar o desempenho de crianças com diagnóstico de AEDL, em comparação com o de crianças normais, por meio da Escala de Desenvolvimento Comportamental de Gesell e Amatruda (EDCGA). Foram selecionadas 25 crianças de 3 a 6 anos com o diagnóstico de AEDL (grupo estudado - GE) e 50 crianças normais da mesma faixa etária (grupo controle - GC). As crianças do GC apresentaram desempenho satisfatório e melhor que as crianças do GE, em todos os campos da escala. O valor da mediana do GE foi limítrofe nos comportamentos adaptativo e social-pessoal, já no de linguagem foi discrepantemente rebaixado. Concluímos que as alterações de linguagem interferiram na avaliação dos outros campos do desenvolvimento (adaptativo e pessoal-social). Apesar da interferência, a escala pode ser instrumento útil no diagnóstico de AEDL.64965