The rice StMADS11-like genes OsMADS22 and OsMADS47 cause floral reversions in Arabidopsis without complementing the svp and agl24 mutants

During floral induction and flower development plants undergo delicate phase changes which are under tight molecular control. MADS-box transcription factors have been shown to play pivotal roles during these transition phases. SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP) and AGAMOUS LIKE 24 (AGL24) are important regulators both during the transition to flowering and during flower development. During vegetative growth they exert opposite roles on floral transition, acting as repressor and promoter of flowering, respectively. Later during flower development they act redundantly as negative regulators of AG expression. In rice, the orthologues of SVP and AGL24 are OsMADS22, OsMADS47, and OsMADS55 and these three genes are involved in the negative regulation of brassinosteroid responses. In order to understand whether these rice genes have maintained the ability to function as regulators of flowering time in Arabidopsis, complementation tests were performed by expressing OsMADS22 and OsMADS47 in the svp and agl24 mutants. The results show that the rice genes are not able to complement the flowering-time phenotype of the Arabidopsis mutants, indicating that they are biologically inactive in Arabidopsis. Nevertheless, they cause floral reversions, which mimic the SVP and AGL24 floral overexpressor phenotypes. Yeast two-hybrid analysis suggests that these floral phenotypes are probably the consequence of protein interactions between OsMADS22 and OsMADS47 and other MADS-box proteins which interfere with the formation of complexes required for normal flower development

PGR5-PGRL1-Dependent Cyclic Electron Transport Modulates Linear Electron Transport Rate in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plants need tight regulation of photosynthetic electron transport for survival and growth under environmental and metabolic conditions. For this purpose, the linear electron transport (LET) pathway is supplemented by a number of alternative electron transfer pathways and valves. In Arabidopsis, cyclic electron transport (CET) around photosystem I (PSI), which recycles electrons from ferrodoxin to plastoquinone, is the most investigated alternative route. However, the interdependence of LET and CET and the relative importance of CET remain unclear, largely due to the difficulties in precise assessment of the contribution of CET in the presence of LET, which dominates electron flow under physiological conditions. We therefore generated Arabidopsis mutants with a minimal water-splitting activity, and thus a low rate of LET, by combining knockout mutations in PsbO1, PsbP2, PsbQ1, PsbQ2, and PsbR loci. The resulting Delta 5 mutant is viable, although mature leaves contain only similar to 20% of wild-type naturally less abundant PsbO2 protein. D5 plants compensate for the reduction in LET by increasing the rate of CET, and inducing a strong non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) response during dark-to-light transitions. To identify the molecular origin of such a high-capacity CET, we constructed three sextuple mutants lacking the qE component of NPQ (Delta 5 npq4-1), NDH-mediated CET (Delta 5 crr4-3), or PGR5-PGRL1-mediated CET (Delta 5 pgr5). Their analysis revealed that PGR5-PGRL1-mediated CET plays a major role in Delta pH formation and induction of NPQ in C3 plants. Moreover, while pgr5 dies at the seedling stage under fluctuating light conditions, D5 pgr5 plants are able to survive, which underlines the importance of PGR5 in modulating the intersystem electron transfer.</p

Enriching Music with Synchronized Lyrics, Images and Colored Lights

We present a method to synchronize popular music with its lyrics at the stanza level. First we apply an algorithm to segment audio content into harmonically similar and/or contrasting progressions, i.e. the stanzas. We map the stanzas found to a sequence of labels, where stanzas with a similar progression are mapped to the same label. The lyrics are analyzed as well to compute a second sequence of labels. Using dynamic programming, an optimal match is found between the two sequences, resulting in a stanzalevel synchronization of the lyrics and the audio. The synchronized lyrics can be used to compute a synchronized slide show to accompany the music, where the images are retrieved using the lyrics. For an additional enrichment of the experience, colored light effects are synchronized with the music that are computed from the sets of images. The song segmentation can be done reliably, while the mapping of the audio segments and lyrics gives encouraging results. Categories and Subject Descriptor

The SVP transcription factor acts at the shoot meristem to co-ordinate GA biosynthesis with floral induction during photoperiodic flowering

In plants, the indeterminate growth of the vegetative shoot apical meristem (SAM) is maintained by small groups of pluripotent cells. The balance between the re-renewal of these cells and the floral organ initiation from the lateral anlagen is sustained during the vegetative growth by complex regulatory feedbacks and the hormone signaling. During the floral initiation this balance is broken in favor of floral organogenesis triggering the transition from vegetative to inflorescence meristem. The floral transition is regulated by several environmental and endogenous stimuli and by the age of the individual. In Arabidopsis, these pathways include the photoperiodic pathway that promotes flowering in response to long days (LDs) characteristic of summer, and the response pathway to the growth regulator gibberellin, which has its strongest effect under short days (SDs). LDs promote the transcription of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) in the leaf vascular tissue. Then, FT protein moves through the phloem to the shoot apex, where it causes changes in gene expression and promotes flowering. Interestingly, recent studies have shown that gibberellins also induce flowering by affecting the expression of floral promoter genes at the shoot apex under LDs. However, how the gibberellin pathway is activated in response to photoperiod to promote flowering is still unclear. Mutations in the MADS box transcription factor encoding gene SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP) cause a number of pleiotropic developmental effects, such as early flowering and floral homeotic changes. These pleiotropic phenotypes suggest that SVP is involved in different genetic pathways. In order to identify the pathways affected by SVP we have performed several phenotypic, genetic and genomic studies. Surprisingly, our results show that SVP represses a key gene of the gibberellin biosynthetic pathway. In addition, we found that SVP transcription is repressed by the photoperiodic signals, mainly represented by FT protein, so that inductive LD conditions contribute to the reduction of SVP expression in the shoot apex. In turn, SVP reduction allows the de-repression of the gibberellin pathway and therefore accelerates the floral transition process. Taking our results together, we propose a model to explain how the floral transition is accelerated by the accumulation of gibberellins in the shoot apex in response to inductive photoperiods

Latin American Consensus for the Evaluation and Treatment of Patients With Metastatic/Locally Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma

PURPOSEUrothelial cancer accounts for approximately 3% of new cancer cases worldwide, with a high burden of disease in countries with medium and low human development indexes where its incidence and mortality are increasing. The purpose of this consensus is to develop statements on the evaluation and treatment of locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma that would further guide the clinical practice in Latin America.METHODSA systematic review of the literature was conducted by an independent team of methodologists. Then, a modified Delphi method was developed with clinical specialists from different Latin American countries.RESULTSForty-two consensus statements, based on evidence, were developed to address the staging, the evaluation (suitability for chemotherapy, risk assessment, and biomarkers), and systemic treatment (first-line and subsequent therapies) of locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma. The statements made in this consensus are suggested practice recommendations in the Latin American context; however, the importance of a complete and individualized patient evaluation as a guide for therapeutic selection is highlighted. The availability and affordability of support tools for the evaluation of the disease, as well as specific therapies, may limit the application of the best practices suggested.RecommendationsTherapeutic decisions need to be tailored to the context-specific clinical setting and availability of resources. Local research is promoted to improve outcomes for patients with this challenging cancer in Latin America