5 research outputs found
Cloning and characterization of theYarrowia lipolytica squalene synthase (SQS1) gene and functional complementation of theSaccharomyces cerevisiae erg9 mutation
Evaluation of Unintended Effects in the Composition of Tomatoes Expressing a Human Immunoglobulin A against Rotavirus
The
production of neutralizing immunoglobulin A (IgA) in edible
fruits as a means of oral passive immunization is a promising strategy
for the inexpensive treatment of mucosal diseases. This approach is
based on the assumption that the edible status remains unaltered in
the immunoglobulin-expressing fruit, and therefore extensive purification
is not required for mucosal delivery. However, unintended effects
associated with IgA expression such as toxic secondary metabolites
and protein allergens cannot be dismissed a priori and need to be
investigated. This paper describes a collection of independent transgenic
tomato lines expressing a neutralizing human IgA against rotavirus,
a mucosal pathogen producing severe diarrhea episodes. This collection
was used to evaluate possible unintended effects associated with recombinant
IgA expression. A comparative analysis of protein and secondary metabolite
profiles using wild type lines and other commercial varieties failed
to find unsafe features significantly associated with IgA expression.
Preliminary, the data indicate that formulations derived from IgA
tomatoes are as safe for consumption as equivalent formulations derived
from wild type tomatoes
Benchmarking plant diversity of Palaearctic grasslands and other open habitats
Abstract
Aims: Understanding fine-grain diversity patterns across large spatial extents is fundamental for macroecological research and biodiversity conservation. Using the GrassPlot database, we provide benchmarks of fine-grain richness values of Palaearctic open habitats for vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and complete vegetation (i.e., the sum of the former three groups).
Location: Palaearctic biogeographic realm.
Methods: We used 126,524 plots of eight standard grain sizes from the GrassPlot database: 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 m² and calculated the mean richness and standard deviations, as well as maximum, minimum, median, and first and third quartiles for each combination of grain size, taxonomic group, biome, region, vegetation type and phytosociological class.
Results: Patterns of plant diversity in vegetation types and biomes differ across grain sizes and taxonomic groups. Overall, secondary (mostly semi-natural) grasslands and natural grasslands are the richest vegetation type. The open-access file ”GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks” and the web tool “GrassPlot Diversity Explorer” are now available online (https://edgg.org/databases/GrasslandDiversityExplorer) and provide more insights into species richness patterns in the Palaearctic open habitats.
Conclusions: The GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks provide high-quality data on species richness in open habitat types across the Palaearctic. These benchmark data can be used in vegetation ecology, macroecology, biodiversity conservation and data quality checking. While the amount of data in the underlying GrassPlot database and their spatial coverage are smaller than in other extensive vegetation-plot databases, species recordings in GrassPlot are on average more complete, making it a valuable complementary data source in macroecology