DESEMPENHO DE CULTIVARES DE MILHO CONVENCIONAIS NA REGIÃO NORTE/OESTE DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO NAS SAFRAS 2011/12 E 2012/13

Foram instalados 11 experimentos com objetivo de avaliar cultivares de milho convencional nas safras de 2011/12 e 2012/13. Empregou-se o delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições. Foram utilizados 22 cultivares na safra de 2011/12 e 15 na safra de 2012/13, sendo apenas 6 comuns nos anos.. As parcelas foram constituídas de quatro linhas de 5,0 m de comprimento espaçadas de 0,8 m, exceto em Riolândia onde o espaçamento foi de 0,67 m em 2011/12 e de 0,50 m na safra de 2012/13. A população inicial de plantas foi de aproximadamente 62.500 plantas por hectare. De modo geral, a produtividade dos ensaios na safra de 2011/12 foi menor que a verificada na safra de 2012/2013, principalmente devido ao longo período de veranicos. Os cultivares que se destacaram com maior produtividade em 2011/12 foram DKB 370, AS 1580, AG 7088, 2B707 e AS 1596; e em 2012/13 foram 2M77, 30A91, 3M51, 2M70, NS56 e 2M90. Na análise conjunta de dois anos dos tratamentos comuns, destacaram-se os híbridos XB 6018 e IAC 8390 com produtividade acima de 8.500 kg ha-1 e 21% superior a média das variedades. Conclui-se que as cultivares convencionais disponíveis no mercado têm boa adaptação na região Norte/Oeste do Estado de São Paulo

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field