A DEMETER-like DNA demethylase protein governs tomato fruit ripening

In plants, genomic DNA methylation which contributes to development and stress responses can be actively removed by DEMETER-like DNA demethylases (DML). Indeed, in Arabidopsis DMLs are important for maternal imprinting and endosperm demethylation, but only few studies demonstrate the developmental roles of active DNA demethylation conclusively in this plant. Here we show a direct cause and effect relationship between active DNA demethylation mainly mediated by the tomato DML, SlDML2, and fruit ripening; an important developmental process unique to plants. RNAi SlDML2 knock-down results in ripening inhibition via hypermethylation and repression of the expression of genes encoding ripening transcription factors and rate-limiting enzymes of key biochemical processes such as carotenoid synthesis. Our data demonstrate that active DNA demethylation is central to the control of ripening in tomat

COordination of Standards in MetabOlomicS (COSMOS): facilitating integrated metabolomics data access

Metabolomics has become a crucial phenotyping technique in a range of research fields including medicine, the life sciences, biotechnology and the environmental sciences. This necessitates the transfer of experimental information between research groups, as well as potentially to publishers and funders. After the initial efforts of the metabolomics standards initiative, minimum reporting standards were proposed which included the concepts for metabolomics databases. Built by the community, standards and infrastructure for metabolomics are still needed to allow storage, exchange, comparison and re-utilization of metabolomics data. The Framework Programme 7 EU Initiative ‘coordination of standards in metabolomics’ (COSMOS) is developing a robust data infrastructure and exchange standards for metabolomics data and metadata. This is to support workflows for a broad range of metabolomics applications within the European metabolomics community and the wider metabolomics and biomedical communities’ participation. Here we announce our concepts and efforts asking for re-engagement of the metabolomics community, academics and industry, journal publishers, software and hardware vendors, as well as those interested in standardisation worldwide (addressing missing metabolomics ontologies, complex-metadata capturing and XML based open source data exchange format), to join and work towards updating and implementing metabolomics standards

ANTARES: the first undersea neutrino telescope

The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope was completed in May 2008 and is the first operational Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The main purpose of the detector is to perform neutrino astronomy and the apparatus also offers facilities for marine and Earth sciences. This paper describes the design, the construction and the installation of the telescope in the deep sea, offshore from Toulon in France. An illustration of the detector performance is given

Direct correlation of 1H-NMR and GC-EI-TOF-MS profiling data reveals significant spatial localisations and metabolite gradients in Charentais melon fr

International audienc

1H NMR, GC-EI-TOFMS, and data set correlation for fruit metabolomics: Application to spatial metabolite analysis in melon

International audienceA metabolomics approach combining 1H NMR and gas chromatography−electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC−EI-TOFMS) profiling was employed to characterize melon (Cucumis melo L.) fruit. In a first step, quantitative 1H NMR of polar extracts and principal component analyses (PCA) of the corresponding data highlighted the major metabolites in fruit flesh, including sugars, organic acids, and amino acids. In a second step, the spatial localization of metabolites was investigated using both analytical techniques. Direct 1H NMR profiling of juice or GC−EI-TOFMS profiling of tissue extracts collected from different locations in the fruit flesh provided information on advantages and drawbacks of each technique for the analysis of a sugar-rich matrix such as fruit. 1H NMR and GC−EI-TOFMS data sets were compared using independently performed PCA and multiblock hierarchical PCA (HPCA), respectively. In addition a correlation-based multiblock HPCA was used for direct comparison of both analytical data sets. These data analyses revealed several gradients of metabolites in fruit flesh which can be related with differences in metabolism and indicated the suitability of multiblock HPCA for correlation of data from two (or potentially more) metabolomics platforms