Allele specific expression analysis identifies regulatory variation associated with stress-related genes in the Mexican highland maize landrace Palomero Toluqueño.

BackgroundGene regulatory variation has been proposed to play an important role in the adaptation of plants to environmental stress. In the central highlands of Mexico, farmer selection has generated a unique group of maize landraces adapted to the challenges of the highland niche. In this study, gene expression in Mexican highland maize and a reference maize breeding line were compared to identify evidence of regulatory variation in stress-related genes. It was hypothesised that local adaptation in Mexican highland maize would be associated with a transcriptional signature observable even under benign conditions.MethodsAllele specific expression analysis was performed using the seedling-leaf transcriptome of an F1 individual generated from the cross between the highland adapted Mexican landrace Palomero Toluqueño and the reference line B73, grown under benign conditions. Results were compared with a published dataset describing the transcriptional response of B73 seedlings to cold, heat, salt and UV treatments.ResultsA total of 2,386 genes were identified to show allele specific expression. Of these, 277 showed an expression difference between Palomero Toluqueño and B73 alleles under benign conditions that anticipated the response of B73 cold, heat, salt and/or UV treatments, and, as such, were considered to display a prior stress response. Prior stress response candidates included genes associated with plant hormone signaling and a number of transcription factors. Construction of a gene co-expression network revealed further signaling and stress-related genes to be among the potential targets of the transcription factors candidates.DiscussionPrior activation of responses may represent the best strategy when stresses are severe but predictable. Expression differences observed here between Palomero Toluqueño and B73 alleles indicate the presence of cis-acting regulatory variation linked to stress-related genes in Palomero Toluqueño. Considered alongside gene annotation and population data, allele specific expression analysis of plants grown under benign conditions provides an attractive strategy to identify functional variation potentially linked to local adaptation

THE LINK BETWEEN ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION, TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a corporate orientation strategy facilitates the integration of Total Quality Management practices as well as entrepreneurial orientation enables the improvement of corporate social responsibility practices. Finally, whether total quality management improves measures of implemented social responsibility. Design –The research carried out was explanatory and transversal. Methodology/Approach –A 44-item survey on a five-point Likert scale was administered to 155 hotels threestars and above in the United States of America. Results were obtained from the application of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using Adanco software. Findings – The results indicate that entrepreneurial orientation has a positive influence on the establishment of total quality management and social responsibility processes; likewise, there is a very strong connection between these two variables. Originality of the research – The originality of this paper stands out because it simultaneously relates three variables relevant to the hotel sector. These variables are applied in different intensities, so that the results allow visualizing the way in which each of them takes place. Likewise, the study contributes to enhance empirical evidence and verify the different theoretical frameworks developed so far. For management, this means that companies will have to develop methods to measure and qualify each of the processes carried out. The result will enable them to select the processes that contribute most to the establishment of EO, TQM and CSR. In this way, resources will be saved that could be used in other areas

Pelvic Muscle Rehabilitation: A Standardized Protocol for Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Introduction. Pelvic floor dysfunction syndromes present with voiding, sexual, and anorectal disturbances, which may be associated with one another, resulting in complex presentation. Thus, an integrated diagnosis and management approach may be required. Pelvic muscle rehabilitation (PMR) is a noninvasive modality involving cognitive reeducation, modification, and retraining of the pelvic floor and associated musculature. We describe our standardized PMR protocol for the management of pelvic floor dysfunction syndromes. Pelvic Muscle Rehabilitation Program. The diagnostic assessment includes electromyography and manometry analyzed in 4 phases: (1) initial baseline phase; (2) rapid contraction phase; (3) tonic contraction and endurance phase; and (4) late baseline phase. This evaluation is performed at the onset of every session. PMR management consists of 6 possible therapeutic modalities, employed depending on the diagnostic evaluation: (1) down-training; (2) accessory muscle isolation; (3) discrimination training; (4) muscle strengthening; (5) endurance training; and (6) electrical stimulation. Eight to ten sessions are performed at one-week intervals with integration of home exercises and lifestyle modifications. Conclusions. The PMR protocol offers a standardized approach to diagnose and manage pelvic floor dysfunction syndromes with potential advantages over traditional biofeedback, involving additional interventions and a continuous pelvic floor assessment with management modifications over the clinical course

Nature of antiferromagnetic order in epitaxially strained multiferroic SrMnO3 thin films

et al.Epitaxial films of SrMnO3 and bilayers of SrMnO3/La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 have been deposited by pulsed laser deposition on different substrates, namely, LaAlO3 (001), (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2AlTaO6)0.7 (001), and SrTiO3 (001), allowing us to perform an exhaustive study of the dependence of antiferromagnetic order and exchange bias field on epitaxial strain. The Néel temperatures (TN) of the SrMnO3 films have been determined by low-energy muon spin spectroscopy. In agreement with theoretical predictions, TN is reduced as the epitaxial strain increases. From the comparison with first-principles calculations, a crossover from G-type to C-type antiferromagnetic orders is proposed at a critical tensile strain of around 1.6±0.1%. The exchange bias (coercive) field, obtained for the bilayers, increases (decreases) by increasing the epitaxial strain in the SrMnO3 layer, following an exponential dependence with temperature. Our experimental results can be explained by the existence of a spin-glass (SG) state at the interface between the SrMnO3 and La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 films. This SG state is due to the competition between the different exchange interactions present in the bilayer and favored by increasing the strain in the SrMnO3 layer.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad through Project Nos. MAT2011-28532-C03-02, MAT2011-27553-C02, MAT2012- 38213-C02-01, and MAT2014-51982-C2 including FEDER funding, by the Aragon Regional Government through projects E26 and CTPP4/11 and by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme under a contract for an Integrated Infrastructure Initiative Reference 312483-ESTEEM2. N. Marcano acknowledges the support of the Centro Universitario de la Defensa en Zaragoza (through Project 2013-03).Peer Reviewe

Las alternativas ciudadanas emergentes en Jalisco

El documento hace una descricpión, clasificación temática y análisis de las alternativas o iniciativas ciudadanas localizadas en el estado de Jalisco, México. Los proyectos impulsados por iniciativas ciudadanas tienen como propósito la sustentabilidad, el desarrollo económico y social, la artiuclación del tejido social, la eficiencia y redefinición de las instituciones públicas, la reforma del pensamiento y la educación, y los proyectos alternativos integrales. El análisis que se hace sobre esos proyectos se centra en el perfíl de sus participantes, las relaciones o articulación que se dan entre esas iniciativas y la manera como se relacionan con las instituciones públicas.ITESO, A.C

Capital intelectual y desempeño de la industria restaurantera de Baja California en época de COVID-19

Las organizaciones implementan medidas para tener un mayor desempeño que les permita ser prósperas y competitivas, una de ellas es el capital intelectual. Sin embargo, ante una crisis co mo la pandemia de COVID-19, la industria restaurantera fue de las más afectadas. El objetivo del presente trabajo consiste en determinar si el capital intelectual –dividido en capital humano, estructural y relacional- influyó positivamente en el desempeño de la industria restaurantera de Baja California durante la pandemia COVID-19. La investigación es de tipo explicativa y de corte transversal. Se utilizó el modelo de ecuaciones estructurales por mínimos cuadrados parciales aplicado a 280 restaurantes de Baja California. Se diseñó un cuestionario con respuestas en escala Likert de cinco puntos para medir las cuatro variables de estudio. Se demostró que, durante la pandemia, el capital relacional influyó positivamente sobre el desempeño de los restaurantes. Por su parte, el capital humano y estructural no presentaron ningún grado de significancia. La industria restaurantera no pudo reaccionar ante el azote de la pandemia, por lo que no logró diseñar estrategias para aprovechar el capital humano ni emprendió acciones para fortalecer el estructural. Afortunadamente se centraron en mejorar las relaciones con el cliente buscando satisfacer sus necesidades

Mutational studies on resurrected ancestral proteins reveal conservation of site-specific amino acid preferences throughout evolutionary history

Local protein interactions ("molecular context" effects) dictate amino acid replacements and can be described in terms of site-specific, energetic preferences for any different amino acid. It has been recently debated whether these preferences remain approximately constant during evolution or whether, due to coevolution of sites, they change strongly. Such research highlights an unresolved and fundamental issue with far-reaching implications for phylogenetic analysis and molecular evolution modeling. Here, we take advantage of the recent availability of phenotypically supported laboratory resurrections of Precambrian thioredoxins and β-lactamases to experimentally address the change of site-specific amino acid preferences over long geological timescales. Extensive mutational analyses support the notion that evolutionary adjustment to a new amino acid may occur, but to a large extent this is insufficient to erase the primitive preference for amino acid replacements. Generally, site-specific amino acid preferences appear to remain conserved throughout evolutionary history despite local sequence divergence. We show such preference conservation to be readily understandable in molecular terms and we provide crystallographic evidence for an intriguing structural-switch mechanism: Energetic preference for an ancestral amino acid in a modern protein can be linked to reorganization upon mutation to the ancestral local structure around the mutated site. Finally, we point out that site-specific preference conservation naturally leads to one plausible evolutionary explanation for the existence of intragenic global suppressor mutations

Non-conservation of folding rates in the thioredoxin family reveals degradation of ancestral unassisted-folding

Evolution involves not only adaptation, but also the degradation of superfluous features. Many examples of degradation at the morphological level are known (vestigial organs, for instance). However, the impact of degradation on molecular evolution has been rarely addressed. Thioredoxins serve as general oxidoreductases in all cells. Here, we report extensive mutational analyses on the folding of modern and resurrected ancestral bacterial thioredoxins. Contrary to claims from recent literature, in vitro folding rates in the thioredoxin family are not evolutionarily conserved, but span at least a ∼100-fold range. Furthermore, modern thioredoxin folding is often substantially slower than ancestral thioredoxin folding. Unassisted folding, as probed in vitro, thus emerges as an ancestral vestigial feature that underwent degradation, plausibly upon the evolutionary emergence of efficient cellular folding assistance. More generally, our results provide evidence that degradation of ancestral features shapes, not only morphological evolution, but also the evolution of individual proteins.This research was supported by FEDER Funds, grant BIO2015-66426-R from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness ( J.M.S.-R.), grant RGP0041/2017 from the Human Frontier Science Program ( J.M.S.-R. and E.A.G.) and National Institutes of Health 1R01AR069137 (E.A.G.), Department of Defence MURI W911NF-16-1-0372 (E.A.G.)

Reproductive biology of Macleania rupestris (Ericaceae), a pollen-limited Neotropical cloud-forest species in Costa Rica

Sin abstractVicerrectoría de Investigación, Universidad de Costa Rica, MICIT-CONICYTUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí