Regulation and Identity of Florigen: Flowering Locus T Moves Center Stage

The transition from vegetative to reproductive growth is controlled by day length in many plant species. Day length is perceived in leaves and induces a systemic signal, called florigen, that moves through the phloem to the shoot apex. At the shoot apical meristem (SAM), florigen causes changes in gene expression that reprogram the SAM to form flowers instead of leaves. Analysis of flowering of Arabidopsis thaliana placed the CONSTANS/FLOWERING LOCUS T (CO/FT) module at the core of a pathway that promotes flowering in response to changes in day length. We describe progress in defining the molecular mechanisms that activate this module in response to changing day length and the increasing evidence that FT protein is a major component of florigen. Finally, we discuss conservation of FT function in other species and how variation in its regulation could generate different flowering behaviors

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Environmental and Health Concern Pathways Toward Meat Consumption

The dramatic increase of meat production in the last decades has proven to be one of the most impacting causes of negative environmental outcomes (e.g., increase of greenhouse emissions, pollution of land and water, and biodiversity loss). In two studies, we aimed to verify the role of key socio-psychological dimensions on meat intake. Study 1 (N = 198) tested the predictive power of an extended version of the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) model on individual food choices in an online supermarket simulation. In an online survey, participants were directed to a virtual shop and asked to buy food within a set amount of money. Subsequently, they completed measures of behavioral intention, the VBN constructs (values, general pro-environmental beliefs, awareness of consequences, ascription of responsibility, and personal norm), and social norms (injunctive and descriptive). The outcome variable was operationalized in terms of percentage of expenses dedicated to meat and processed meat items, which provided a more robust behavioral measure than the common self-reported ones. Results confirmed the VBN sequential path, showing direct effects of biospheric values and descriptive norm on personal norm. Furthermore, a proof of validity for the new behavioral measure was provided (medium-sized correlation with behavioral intention). Study 2 (N = 218) aimed at verifying whether the meat consumption could be also motivated by a health concern, reflecting individual (cost/benefit) considerations, besides pro-environmental drivers. Results showed the direct impact of health concern and confirmed the indirect role of biospheric values and descriptive norm (via personal norm) on meat intake. This evidence would suggest the use of multiple-frame messages, highlighting both pro-environmental and health consequences, for meat consumption reduction. Nevertheless, the different implications of moral (e.g., environmental concern) vs. non-moral motivators (e.g., health concern) for reducing meat intake need to be stressed: indeed, the first drivers are more central for self-identity and for engaging in environmental citizenship behaviors

Bilateral neglected posterior dislocation of the shoulder treated by reverse arthroplasty and contralateral osteochondral autograft. A case report

Bilateral posterior dislocation of the glenohumeral joint is an uncommon event, that can be missed at the initial presentation. We report the case of a 76-year old woman, who suffered a traumatic bilateral posterior dislocation, that was diagnosed three months later. She underwent surgical treatment on both shoulders in a single stage. Since the right shoulder showed a defect of the articular surface >50%, a reverse shoulder arthroplasty was performed on this side. The resected portion of the humeral head was retrieved and used as osteochondral graft to fill the reverse Hill-Sachs lesion of the left shoulder. At 18-month follow up, the patient was pain-free and had recovered excellent shoulder function on both sides: Constant score was 79 for the right shoulder and 88 for the left one. X-rays showed a grade 1 scapular notch of the right reverse prosthesis and good incorporation of the graft in the left shoulder, with no evidence of degenerative joint changes. Neglected posterior dislocations of the shoulder can be surgically treated by replacement or reconstruction. In case of bilateral injuries, the surgeon should carefully evaluate the pathoanatomy of both glenohumeral joints in order to choose and plan the most suitable procedure. If shoulder replacement is required on one side, the resected portion of the humeral head can be used as osteochondral autograft for a reconstruction procedure in the opposite side. The choice is influenced by several variables and decision-making might be challenging

The effect of school design on users' responses: A systematic review (2008-2017)

This systematic review focused on the effect of the educational environment design on students and teachers performance, satisfaction, and wellbeing. Starting from a bulk of 1307 articles, a set of N = 68 empirical papers was selected and organized on the basis of four different content clusters, i.e., architectural building design and aesthetic features, indoor environmental features, classroom design, and school green spaces/outdoor spaces. From the analysis of research findings, the key role of pleasant, warm, and flexible learning environments emerged, for promoting both wellbeing and performance of users. More specifically, the presence of charming colors and pictures, ergonomic furniture, and adequate acoustic, thermal comfort, ventilation, and natural lighting have emerged as important features that school designers should care for. Furthermore, an integration of both indoor and outdoor learning situations showed to be effective for improving students learning and wellbeing

Deoxynivalenol content in italian organic durum wheat: Results of a six-year survey

Deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination was investigated of Italian durum wheat from organic agriculture. A number of 661 samples from 13 genotypes were collected within the national organic durum wheat network variety trials during the six-year period between 2007–2012 in five different growing areas across Italy (Northern Italy, Marches, Central Apennines, West-Central Italy, Apulia). Mean temperatures and total rainfalls in April, May and June were collected nearby the study sites. Average DON contamination value along the whole study period was 67 μg/kg, and DON was detected only in 36% of the samples. Noteworthy, 95% of the analyzed grain revealed a DON contamination lower than 334 μg/kg. Maximum allowed DON level for unprocessed durum wheat set by European Union (1750 μg/kg) was exceeded only in four samples (0.6%). The highest mean DON values were detected in Northern Italy (175 μg/kg) and Marches (131 μg/kg). The same was for the percentage of positive samples (80% and 58%, respectively). Lower mean values and percentages of contaminated samples were found in West-Central Italy (22 μg/kg and 29%, respectively), Apennines (3 μg/kg and 8%, respectively) and Apulia (2 μg/kg and 7%, respectively). Statistical analysis (Generalized Linear Model, GLZ) was carried out to highlight the effect of factors like cultivation year, growing area and genotype. It revealed a huge effect of year, growing areas and their interaction, while the effect of genotype resulted significantly but quite less than the other main factors. The effect of the year could be explained by climatic data, which suggested an influence of rainfall and temperature at heading on both DON concentration values and percentage of contaminated samples. Results of this study put in evidence a low DON contamination in Italian organic durum wheat

Arabidopsis DOF Transcription Factors Act Redundantly to Reduce CONSTANS Expression and Are Essential for a Photoperiodic Flowering Response

SummaryFlowering of Arabidopsis is induced by long summer days (LDs). The transcriptional regulator CONSTANS (CO) promotes flowering, and its transcription is increased under LDs. We systematically misexpressed transcription factors in companion cells and identified several DOF proteins that delay flowering by repressing CO transcription. Combining mutations in four of these, including CYCLING DOF FACTOR 2 (CDF2), caused photoperiod-insensitive early flowering by increasing CO mRNA levels. CO transcription is promoted to differing extents by GIGANTEA (GI) and the F-box protein FKF1. We show that GI stabilizes FKF1, thereby reducing CDF2 abundance and allowing transcription of CO. Despite the crucial function of GI in wild-type plants, introducing mutations in the four DOF-encoding genes into gi mutants restored the diurnal rhythm and light inducibility of CO. Thus, antagonism between GI and DOF transcription factors contributes to photoperiodic flowering by modulating an underlying diurnal rhythm in CO transcript levels

Food Reputation and Food Preferences: Application of the Food Reputation Map (FRM) in Italy, USA, and China

Given the food challenges that society is facing, we draw upon recent developments in the study of how food reputation affects food preferences and food choices, providing here a starting standard point for measuring every aspect of food reputation in different cultural contexts across the world. Specifically, while previous attempts focused either on specific aspects of food or on measures of food features validated in one language only, the present research validates the Food Reputation Map (FRM) in Italian, English and Chinese over 2,250 participants worldwide. Here we successfully measure food reputation across 23 specific indicators, further grouped into six synthetic indicators of food reputation. Critically, results show that: (a) the specific measurement tool of food reputation can vary across cultural contexts, and that (b) people's reputation of food products or categories changes significantly across different cultural contexts. Therefore, in order to understand people's food preferences and consumption, it is important to take into account the repertoire of cultural differences that underlies the contexts of analysis: the three context-specific versions of the FRM presented here effectively deal with this issue and provide reliable context-specific insights on stakeholders' interests, perspectives, attitudes and behaviors related to food perceptions, assessment, and consumption, which can be effectively leveraged to foster food sustainability

The Importance of Being on Time : Regulatory Networks Controlling Photoperiodic Flowering in Cereals

Flowering is the result of the coordination between genetic information and environmental cues. Gene regulatory networks have evolved in plants in order to measure diurnal and seasonal variation of day length (or photoperiod), thus aligning the reproductive phase with the most favorable season of the year. The capacity of plants to discriminate distinct photoperiods classifies them into long and short day species, depending on the conditions that induce flowering. Plants of tropical origin and adapted to short day lengths include rice, maize, and sorghum, whereas wheat and barley were originally domesticated in the Fertile Crescent and are considered long day species. In these and other crops, day length measurement mechanisms have been artificially modified during domestication and breeding to adapt plants to novel areas, to the extent that a wide diversity of responses exists within any given species. Notwithstanding the ample natural and artificial variation of day length responses, some of the basic molecular elements governing photoperiodic flowering are widely conserved. However, as our understanding of the underlying mechanisms improves, it becomes evident that specific regulators exist in many lineages that are not shared by others, while apparently conserved components can be recruited to novel functions during evolution

Molecular control of seasonal flowering in rice, arabidopsis and temperate cereals

Background Rice (Oryza sativa) and Arabidopsis thaliana have been widely used as model systems to understand how plants control flowering time in response to photoperiod and cold exposure. Extensive research has resulted in the isolation of several regulatory genes involved in flowering and for them to be organized into a molecular network responsive to environmental cues. When plants are exposed to favourable conditions, the network activates expression of florigenic proteins that are transported to the shoot apical meristem where they drive developmental reprogramming of a population of meristematic cells. Several regulatory factors are evolutionarily conserved between rice and arabidopsis. However, other pathways have evolved independently and confer specific characteristics to flowering responses. Scope This review summarizes recent knowledge on the molecular mechanisms regulating daylength perception and flowering time control in arabidopsis and rice. Similarities and differences are discussed between the regulatory networks of the two species and they are compared with the regulatory networks of temperate cereals, which are evolutionarily more similar to rice but have evolved in regions where exposure to low temperatures is crucial to confer competence to flower. Finally, the role of flowering time genes in expansion of rice cultivation to Northern latitudes is discussed. Conclusions Understanding the mechanisms involved in photoperiodic flowering and comparing the regulatory networks of dicots and monocots has revealed how plants respond to environmental cues and adapt to seasonal changes. The molecular architecture of such regulation shows striking similarities across diverse species. However, integration of specific pathways on a basal scheme is essential for adaptation to different environments. Artificial manipulation of flowering time by means of natural genetic resources is essential for expanding the cultivation of cereals across different environments