Osmoprotectants play a major role in the Portulaca oleracea resistance to high levels of salinity stress—insights from a metabolomics and proteomics integrated approach

IntroductionPurslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is a non-conventional food plant used extensively in folk medicine and classified as a multipurpose plant species, serving as a source of features of direct importance to the agricultural and agri-industrial sectors. This species is considered a suitable model to study the mechanisms behind resistance to several abiotic stresses including salinity. The recently achieved technological developments in high-throughput biology opened a new window of opportunity to gain additional insights on purslane resistance to salinity stress—a complex, multigenic, and still not well-understood trait. Only a few reports on single-omics analysis (SOA) of purslane are available, and only one multi-omics integration (MOI) analysis exists so far integrating distinct omics platforms (transcriptomics and metabolomics) to characterize the response of purslane plants to salinity stress.MethodsThe present study is a second step in building a robust database on the morpho-physiological and molecular responses purslane to salinity stress and its subsequent use in attempting to decode the genetics behind its resistance to this abiotic stress. Here, the characterization of the morpho-physiological responses of adult purslane plants to salinity stress and a metabolomics and proteomics integrative approach to study the changes at the molecular level in their leaves and roots is presented.Results and discussionAdult plants of the B1 purslane accession lost approximately 50% of the fresh and dry weight (from shoots and roots) whensubmitted to very high salinity stress (2.0 g of NaCl/100 g of the substrate). The resistance to very high levels of salinity stress increases as the purslane plant matures, and most of the absorbed sodium remains in the roots, with only a part (~12%) reaching the shoots. Crystal-like structures, constituted mainly by Na+, Cl−, and K+, were found in the leaf veins and intercellular space near the stoma, indicating that this species has a mechanism of salt exclusion operating on the leaves, which has its role in salt tolerance. The MOI approach showed that 41 metabolites were statistically significant on the leaves and 65 metabolites on the roots of adult purslane plants. The combination of the mummichog algorithm and metabolomics database comparison revealed that the glycine, serine, and threonine, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar, and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis pathways were the most significantly enriched pathways when considering the total number of occurrences in the leaves (with 14, 13, and 13, respectively) and roots (all with eight) of adult plants; and that purslane plants employ the adaptive mechanism of osmoprotection to mitigate the negative effect of very high levels of salinity stress; and that this mechanism is prevalent in the leaves. The multi-omics database built by our group underwent a screen for salt-responsive genes, which are now under further characterization for their potential to promote resistance to salinity stress when heterologously overexpressed in salt-sensitive plants

Spatial analysis of probable cases of dengue fever, chikungunya fever and zika virus infections in Maranhao State, Brazil

Dengue fever, chikungunya fever, and zika virus infections are increasing public health problems in the world, the last two diseases having recently emerged in Brazil. This ecological study employed spatial analysis of probable cases of dengue fever, chikungunya fever, and zika virus infections reported to the National Mandatory Reporting System (SINAN) in Maranhao State from 2015 to 2016. The software GeoDa version 1.10 was used for calculating global and local Moran indices. The global Moran index identified a significant autocorrelation of incidence rates of dengue (I=0.10; p=0.009) and zika (I=0.07; p=0.03). The study found a positive spatial correlation between dengue and the population density (I=0.31; p<0.001) and a negative correlation with the Performance Index of Unified Health System (PIUHS) by basic care coverage (I=-0.08; p=0.01). Regarding chikungunya fever, there were positive spatial correlations with the population density (I=0.06; p=0.03) and the Municipal Human Development Index (MHDI) (I=0.10; p=0.002), and a negative correlation with the Gini index (I=-0.01; p<0.001) and the PIUHS by basic care coverage (I=-0.18; p<0.001). Lastly, we found positive spatial correlations between Zika virus infections and the population density (I=0.13; p=0.005) and the MHDI (I=0.12; p<0.001), as well as a negative correlation with the Gini index (I=-0.11; p<0.001) and the PIUHS by basic care coverage (I=-0.05; p=0.03). Our results suggest that several socio-demographic factors influenced the occurrence of dengue fever, chikungunya fever, and zika virus infections in Maranhao State

ANÁLISE ESPACIAL DE CASOS PROVÁVEIS DE DENGUE NO MUNICÍPIO DE SÃO LUÍS, MARANHÃO, BRASIL

INTRODUÇÃO: A dengue é considerada uma das principais arboviroses mundiais, caracterizada no Brasil pelo aumento de casos graves e óbitos. OBJETIVO: realizar análise espacial dos casos prováveis de dengue em São Luís - MA. MÉTODOS: Estudo ecológico de base populacional dos casos prováveis de dengue, notificados no Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (SINAN) em 2015 e 2016, ocorridos no município de São Luís – MA. Foram georreferenciados 4.681 casos prováveis de dengue por setores censitários, calculadas as taxas de incidência e ajustadas através do estimador bayesiano empírico local. Foi utilizado o estimador de densidade de Kernel e Moran Global e Local para a análise espacial. RESULTADOS: Evidenciou-se através do estimador de densidade de Kernel, áreas quentes (alta-densidade) nos setores censitários da região noroeste do município. As taxas de incidência foram ajustadas pela aplicação do método bayesiano empírico local, identificando-se maior quantidade de setores com média e alta incidência. A partir do índice de Moran global foi evidenciada autocorrelação espacial positiva estatisticamente significativa para as taxas de incidência de dengue (I=0,69; p<0,001) e para as taxas de incidência ajustadas pelo método bayesiano (I=0,80; p<0,001). De acordo com o índice de Moran local, identificou-se clusters de setores de alta incidência de dengue em áreas com alta densidade populacional na região nordeste e noroeste do município. CONCLUSÃO: A pesquisa demonstrou que os estimadores bayesianos ajudaram a minimizar os problemas de subnotificação e da influência do tamanho populacional nos setores censitários.

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: setting the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others

Extração supercrítica dos ésteres de forbol da torta de Jatropha curcas: avaliação preliminar do uso do etanol como co-solvente

O pinhão manso (Jatropha curcas L.), pertencente a familia das Euphorbiaceae e é uma oleaginosa que possui um alto teor de óleo que se destaca como uma planta com caracteristicas favoráveis para a produção de biodiesel. Após a extração do óleo, toneladas de torta sao produzidas como coproduto. Essa torta contém alto valor nutricional, mas a presenca de éster de forbol, um composto tóxico, restringe a sua utilização como alimentação animal. Diferentes processos de destoxificação têm sido desenvolvidos em virtude da necessidade da remoção deste componente tóxico visando o aproveitamento da torta. Os compostos bioativos, como os ésteres de forbol, estão normalmente presentes em matrizes vegetais em baixas concentrações, sendo necessários processos de extração mais seletivos e efetivos para recuperação destes materiais. A utilização do fluido supercrítico é uma técnica alternativa para recuperação de compostos bioativos a partir de materiais vegetais. Neste trabalhou avaliou-se o uso do etanol como co-solvente no processo de extração supercrítica. As condições experimentais utilizadas foram: 40 ºC – 300 bar, 70 ºC – 300 bar, 50 ºC – 440 bar, 90 ºC – 440 bar, 70 ºC – 500 bar. A extração se mostrou eficiente, sendo o melhor resultado obtido na condição operacional de 70 °C e 500 bar, removendo 61% da concentração inicial de éster presente na torta após 5 horas de extração

Molecular Interplay between Non-Host Resistance, Pathogens and Basal Immunity as a Background for Fatal Yellowing in Oil Palm (<i>Elaeis guineensis</i> Jacq.) Plants

An oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) bud rod disorder of unknown etiology, named Fatal Yellowing (FY) disease, is regarded as one of the top constraints with respect to the growth of the palm oil industry in Brazil. FY etiology has been a challenge embraced by several research groups in plant pathology throughout the last 50 years in Brazil, with no success in completing Koch’s postulates. Most recently, the hypothesis of having an abiotic stressor as the initial cause of FY has gained ground, and oxygen deficiency (hypoxia) damaging the root system has become a candidate for stress. Here, a comprehensive, large-scale, single- and multi-omics integration analysis of the metabolome and transcriptome profiles on the leaves of oil palm plants contrasting in terms of FY symptomatology—asymptomatic and symptomatic—and collected in two distinct seasons—dry and rainy—is reported. The changes observed in the physicochemical attributes of the soil and the chemical attributes and metabolome profiles of the leaves did not allow the discrimination of plants which were asymptomatic or symptomatic for this disease, not even in the rainy season, when the soil became waterlogged. However, the multi-omics integration analysis of enzymes and metabolites differentially expressed in asymptomatic and/or symptomatic plants in the rainy season compared to the dry season allowed the identification of the metabolic pathways most affected by the changes in the environment, opening an opportunity for additional characterization of the role of hypoxia in FY symptom intensification. Finally, the initial analysis of a set of 56 proteins/genes differentially expressed in symptomatic plants compared to the asymptomatic ones, independent of the season, has presented pieces of evidence suggesting that breaks in the non-host resistance to non-adapted pathogens and the basal immunity to adapted pathogens, caused by the anaerobic conditions experienced by the plants, might be linked to the onset of this disease. This set of genes might offer the opportunity to develop biomarkers for selecting oil palm plants resistant to this disease and to help pave the way to employing strategies to keep the safety barriers raised and strong

Insights from a Multi-Omics Integration (MOI) Study in Oil Palm (Elaeis gineensis Jacq.) Response to Abiotic Stresses: Part One?Salinity.

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is the number one source of consumed vegetable oil nowadays. It is cultivated in areas of tropical rainforest, where it meets its natural condition of high rainfall throughout the year. The palm oil industry faces criticism due to a series of practices that was considered not environmentally sustainable, and it finds itself under pressure to adopt new and innovative procedures to reverse this negative public perception. Cultivating this oilseed crop outside the rainforest zone is only possible using artificial irrigation. Close to 30% of the world?s irrigated agricultural lands also face problems due to salinity stress. Consequently, the research community must consider drought and salinity together when studying to empower breeding programs in order to develop superior genotypes adapted to those potential new areas for oil palm cultivation. Multi-Omics Integration (MOI) offers a new window of opportunity for the non-trivial challenge of unraveling the mechanisms behind multigenic traits, such as drought and salinity tolerance. The current study carried out a comprehensive, large-scale, single-omics analysis (SOA), and MOI study on the leaves of young oil palm plants submitted to very high salinity stress. Taken together, a total of 1239 proteins were positively regulated, and 1660 were negatively regulated in transcriptomics and proteomics analyses. Meanwhile, the metabolomics analysis revealed 37 metabolites that were upregulated and 92 that were downregulated. After performing SOA, 436 differentially expressed (DE) full-length transcripts, 74 DE proteins, and 19 DE metabolites ffected by this stress, with at least one DE molecule in all three omics platforms used. The Cysteine and methionine metabolism (map00270) and Glycolysis/Gluconeogenesis (map00010) pathways were the most affected ones, each one with 20 DE molecules