Expression of auxin-binding protein1 during plum fruit ontogeny supports the potential role of auxin in initiating and enhancing climacteric ripening

Auxin-binding protein1 (ABP1) is an active element involved in auxin signaling and plays critical roles in auxin-mediated plant development. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of a putative sequence from Prunus salicina L., designated PslABP1. The expected protein exhibits a similar molecular structure to that of well-characterized maize-ABP1; however, PslABP1 displays more sequence polarity in the active-binding site due to substitution of some crucial amino-acid residues predicted to be involved in auxin-binding. Further, PslABP1 expression was assessed throughout fruit ontogeny to determine its role in fruit development. Comparing the expression data with the physiological aspects that characterize fruit-development stages indicates that PslABP1 up-regulation is usually associated with the signature events that are triggered in an auxin-dependent manner such as floral induction, fruit initiation, embryogenesis, and cell division and elongation. However, the diversity in PslABP1 expression profile during the ripening process of early and late plum cultivars seems to be due to the variability of endogenous auxin levels among the two cultivars, which consequently can change the levels of autocatalytic ethylene available for the fruit to co-ordinate ripening. The effect of auxin on stimulating ethylene production and in regulating PslABP1 was investigated. Our data suggest that auxin is involved in the transition of the mature green fruit into the ripening phase and in enhancing the ripening process in both auxin- and ethylene-dependent manners thereafter

Mycobacterial dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors identified using chemogenomic methods and in vitro validation.

The lack of success in target-based screening approaches to the discovery of antibacterial agents has led to reemergence of phenotypic screening as a successful approach of identifying bioactive, antibacterial compounds. A challenge though with this route is then to identify the molecular target(s) and mechanism of action of the hits. This target identification, or deorphanization step, is often essential in further optimization and validation studies. Direct experimental identification of the molecular target of a screening hit is often complex, precisely because the properties and specificity of the hit are not yet optimized against that target, and so many false positives are often obtained. An alternative is to use computational, predictive, approaches to hypothesize a mechanism of action, which can then be validated in a more directed and efficient manner. Specifically here we present experimental validation of an in silico prediction from a large-scale screen performed against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis. The two potent anti-tubercular compounds studied in this case, belonging to the tetrahydro-1,3,5-triazin-2-amine (THT) family, were predicted and confirmed to be an inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), a known essential Mtb gene, and already clinically validated as a drug target. Given the large number of similar screening data sets shared amongst the community, this in vitro validation of these target predictions gives weight to computational approaches to establish the mechanism of action (MoA) of novel screening hit

A comprehensive overview of radioguided surgery using gamma detection probe technology

The concept of radioguided surgery, which was first developed some 60 years ago, involves the use of a radiation detection probe system for the intraoperative detection of radionuclides. The use of gamma detection probe technology in radioguided surgery has tremendously expanded and has evolved into what is now considered an established discipline within the practice of surgery, revolutionizing the surgical management of many malignancies, including breast cancer, melanoma, and colorectal cancer, as well as the surgical management of parathyroid disease. The impact of radioguided surgery on the surgical management of cancer patients includes providing vital and real-time information to the surgeon regarding the location and extent of disease, as well as regarding the assessment of surgical resection margins. Additionally, it has allowed the surgeon to minimize the surgical invasiveness of many diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, while still maintaining maximum benefit to the cancer patient. In the current review, we have attempted to comprehensively evaluate the history, technical aspects, and clinical applications of radioguided surgery using gamma detection probe technology

Early Devonian (Late Emsian) shark fin remains (Chondrichthyes) from the Paraná Basin, southern Brazil

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License [Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)]. The attached file is the published version of the article

The effect of chilling and 1-MCP on quality attributes and physicochemical aspects of cell wall components of Passe-Crassane pears

Most winter pear cultivars, including Passe-Crassane, do not ripen at warm temperatures. Post-harvest exposure to chilling temperatures is re-quired for synchronize the onset of the climacteric increase in ethylene production and the ripening of individual fruit. During ripening pears softened, developing a melting texture after a period of shelf life. Softening and textural changes result principally from primary cell wall modifications. This study was initiated to evaluate the changes in cell wall fractions throughout the postharvest life of Passe-Crassane, comparing them with loss of firmness and with the production of ethylene dur-ing cold storage, ripening and failure to ripen. Pears (Pyrus communis L. \u2018Passa Crassana\u2019) were picked at commercial ripening stage; one group was kept at 20\ub0C, another was stored at 0\ub0 C and a third group was treated with 400 ppb of 1-MCP for 12 h before cold stor-age. Fruits were sampled after 30 days and cold-stored fruits after 135 days too. Flesh firmness was evaluated using a hand penetrometer. Internal ethylene concentration was determined with a gas chromatograph equipped with an alumina column. Isolation of cell wall material (alcohol insoluble solids, AIS) was obtained by extraction of fruit tissue in boiling ethanol. Samples of water-soluble and water-insoluble fractions of AIS were assayed spectrophotometrically for total uronic acid (UA) and by GLC for noncellulosic neutral sugar compositio