Global Worming: A Quantitative Study about Greenhouse Gas Flux in Surface Soils Facilitated by the Anecic Earthworm, \u3ci\u3eLumbricus terrestris\u3c/i\u3e, Under Rising Global Temperature

Climate change is the long-term alteration in the Earth’s average weather conditions believed to be driven by greenhouse gases (GHG): carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). These alterations are expected to cause more extreme weather events, gradually warmer global temperatures and greater amounts of precipitation. Roughly 20% of the Earth’s CO2, one-third of CH4 and two-thirds of N2O emissions, originate from soils, and earthworms are known to accelerate GHG. As climate change proceeds, there is expected to be an increase in global temperature of 2-6ºC. Temperature is a key factor in determining the rate of soil biological processes that produce and consume GHG. To test how temperature could impact the effects of earthworms on GHG production in soils, we placed earthworms in microcosms with agricultural or forest soil with plant detritus, and incubated the microcosms at 15ºC and 20ºC for six weeks. We found that CH4 soil consumption decreased at higher temperature and in the presence of earthworms, while CH4 consumption fluctuated negatively and positively in soils without earthworms at both lower and higher temperature. Production of CO2 decreased at higher temperature in the absence of earthworms, but production increased in the presence of earthworms at higher temperature. N2O production increased, lowering the soils ability to absorb N2O, with higher temperature and the presence of earthworms. CH4 production was increased in agriculture soil with some minor decrease in absorption in forest soil. CO2 production fluctuated greatly in agriculture soil. Forest soil CO2 production was mostly stable with little variability. Both soils experienced the same trend in N2O flux where there was a sudden production of gas followed by a slowed leveling out with minor fluctuation between production and consumption. Our results show strong evidence that changes in temperature, due to climate change, can impact the effect of earthworms on GHG production and consumption

Sorghum Diseases.

22 p

Design, Environmental and Sustainability Constraints of new African Observatories: The example of the Mozambique Radio Astronomy Observatory

The Mozambique Radio Astronomy Observatory (MRAO) will be a first milestone towards development of radioastronomy in Mozambique. Development of MRAO will constitute a preparation step towards participation in the upcoming Africa VLBI Network and the Square Kilometer Array project. The MRAO first antenna is planned to serve as a capacitation and training facility and will be installed after the conversion of a 7-meter telecom dish in South Africa. Therefore, this first radiotelescope design has to comply with local spectral and environmental constraints. Furthermore, power availability and long term sustainability with potential inclusion of solar power and control of Radio Frequency Interference are analyzed. Here we outline some of the design, environmental and power sustainability constraints.Comment: 5 pages, 3 Figures; Proceedings of the URSI BEJ Session 'Large Scale Science Projects: Europa-Africa Connects', IEEE Africon 2013 Conference Mauritius (9-12 Sep) 2013, Accepted for Publication at IEEE Xplorer, Nov 201

Study of parameters influence on the measurement of vacuum level in parabolic trough collectors receivers using infrared thermography

The receiver tube of the parabolic trough collectors may suffer a degradation of the vacuum atmosphere between the glass envelope and the absorber tube due to the permeation of gases, mainly hydrogen or air. This is one of the most common issues of heat loss increase in solar fields with this type of solar collectors. The Surface Temperature Method has been used to determine the complete and partial vacuum loss in the annulus of receiver tubes, by measuring the temperature of the glass envelope. In this work, the influences of the meteorological variables and the source distance on the measurement of the temperature by infrared thermography are analysed, as well as the feasibility of using the reflector of the collector itself to measure the sky temperature, parameter necessary to correctly measure the temperature by means of an infrared sensor

Atomic structures of TDP-43 LCD segments and insights into reversible or pathogenic aggregation.

The normally soluble TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is found aggregated both in reversible stress granules and in irreversible pathogenic amyloid. In TDP-43, the low-complexity domain (LCD) is believed to be involved in both types of aggregation. To uncover the structural origins of these two modes of β-sheet-rich aggregation, we have determined ten structures of segments of the LCD of human TDP-43. Six of these segments form steric zippers characteristic of the spines of pathogenic amyloid fibrils; four others form LARKS, the labile amyloid-like interactions characteristic of protein hydrogels and proteins found in membraneless organelles, including stress granules. Supporting a hypothetical pathway from reversible to irreversible amyloid aggregation, we found that familial ALS variants of TDP-43 convert LARKS to irreversible aggregates. Our structures suggest how TDP-43 adopts both reversible and irreversible β-sheet aggregates and the role of mutation in the possible transition of reversible to irreversible pathogenic aggregation

Systems analysis of auxin transport in the Arabidopsis root apex

Auxin is a key regulator of plant growth and development. Within the root tip, auxin distribution plays a crucial role specifying developmental zones and coordinating tropic responses. Determining how the organ-scale auxin pattern is regulated at the cellular scale is essential to understanding how these processes are controlled. In this study, we developed an auxin transport model based on actual root cell geometries and carrier subcellular localizations. We tested model predictions using the DII-VENUS auxin sensor in conjunction with state-of-the-art segmentation tools. Our study revealed that auxin efflux carriers alone cannot create the pattern of auxin distribution at the root tip and that AUX1/LAX influx carriers are also required. We observed that AUX1 in lateral root cap (LRC) and elongating epidermal cells greatly enhance auxin’s shootward flux, with this flux being predominantly through the LRC, entering the epidermal cells only as they enter the elongation zone. We conclude that the nonpolar AUX1/LAX influx carriers control which tissues have high auxin levels, whereas the polar PIN carriers control the direction of auxin transport within these tissues

Texas Plant Diseases Handbook.

340 p

Gibberellin-mediated RGA-LIKE1 degradation regulates embryo sac development in Arabidopsis

[EN] Ovule development is essential for plant survival, as it allows correct embryo and seed development upon fertilization. The female gametophyte is formed in the central area of the nucellus during ovule development, in a complex developmental programme that involves key regulatory genes and the plant hormones auxins and brassinosteroids. Here we provide novel evidence of the role of gibberellins (GAs) in the control of megagametogenesis and embryo sac development, via the GA-dependent degradation of RGA-LIKE1 (RGL1) in the ovule primordia. YPet-rgl1.17 plants, which express a dominant version of RGL1, showed reduced fertility, mainly due to altered embryo sac formation that varied from partial to total ablation. YPet-rgl1.17 ovules followed normal development of the megaspore mother cell, meiosis, and formation of the functional megaspore, but YPet-rgl1.17 plants had impaired mitotic divisions of the functional megaspore. This phenotype is RGL1-specific, as it is not observed in any other dominant mutants of the DELLA proteins. Expression analysis of YPet-rgl1.17 coupled to in situ localization of bioactive GAs in ovule primordia led us to propose a mechanism of GA-mediated RGL1 degradation that allows proper embryo sac development. Taken together, our data unravel a novel specific role of GAs in the control of female gametophyte development.We wish to thank the IBMCP microscopy facility, and Ms J. Yun for technical assistance. We also thank Jennifer Nemhauser (University of Washington, USA) for the HACR sensor. Cambridge proofreading (https://proofreading.org/order/) provided proofreading and editing of this manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation-FEDER [BIO2017-83138R] to MAP-A and National Science Foundation [MCB-0923727] to JMA. MAP-A received a fellowship of the `Salvador de Madariaga' program from Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Gomez, MD.; Barro-Trastoy, D.; Fuster Almunia, C.; Tornero Feliciano, P.; Alonso, JM.; Perez Amador, MA. (2020). Gibberellin-mediated RGA-LIKE1 degradation regulates embryo sac development in Arabidopsis. Journal of Experimental Botany. 71(22):7059-7072. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraa395S705970727122Bai, M.-Y., Shang, J.-X., Oh, E., Fan, M., Bai, Y., Zentella, R., … Wang, Z.-Y. (2012). Brassinosteroid, gibberellin and phytochrome impinge on a common transcription module in Arabidopsis. Nature Cell Biology, 14(8), 810-817. doi:10.1038/ncb2546Battaglia, R., Brambilla, V., & Colombo, L. (2008). Morphological analysis of female gametophyte development in thebel1 stk shp1 shp2mutant. Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology, 142(3), 643-649. doi:10.1080/11263500802411098Beeckman, T., De Rycke, R., Viane, R., & Inzé, D. (2000). Histological Study of Seed Coat Development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of Plant Research, 113(2), 139-148. doi:10.1007/pl00013924Bencivenga, S., Simonini, S., Benková, E., & Colombo, L. (2012). The Transcription Factors BEL1 and SPL Are Required for Cytokinin and Auxin Signaling During Ovule Development in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell, 24(7), 2886-2897. doi:10.1105/tpc.112.100164Brumos, J., Zhao, C., Gong, Y., Soriano, D., Patel, A. P., Perez-Amador, M. A., … Alonso, J. M. (2019). An Improved Recombineering Toolset for Plants. The Plant Cell, 32(1), 100-122. doi:10.1105/tpc.19.00431Clough, S. J., & Bent, A. F. (1998). Floral dip: a simplified method forAgrobacterium-mediated transformation ofArabidopsis thaliana. The Plant Journal, 16(6), 735-743. doi:10.1046/j.1365-313x.1998.00343.xCoen, O., Lu, J., Xu, W., De Vos, D., Péchoux, C., Domergue, F., … Magnani, E. (2019). Deposition of a cutin apoplastic barrier separating seed maternal and zygotic tissues. BMC Plant Biology, 19(1). doi:10.1186/s12870-019-1877-9Cucinotta, M., Di Marzo, M., Guazzotti, A., de Folter, S., Kater, M. M., & Colombo, L. (2020). Gynoecium size and ovule number are interconnected traits that impact seed yield. Journal of Experimental Botany, 71(9), 2479-2489. doi:10.1093/jxb/eraa050Davière, J.-M., & Achard, P. (2013). Gibberellin signaling in plants. Development, 140(6), 1147-1151. doi:10.1242/dev.087650Davière, J.-M., & Achard, P. (2016). A Pivotal Role of DELLAs in Regulating Multiple Hormone Signals. Molecular Plant, 9(1), 10-20. doi:10.1016/j.molp.2015.09.011Dill, A., Jung, H.-S., & Sun, T. -p. (2001). The DELLA motif is essential for gibberellin-induced degradation of RGA. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98(24), 14162-14167. doi:10.1073/pnas.251534098Ferreira, L. G., de Alencar Dusi, D. M., Irsigler, A. S. T., Gomes, A. C. M. M., Mendes, M. A., Colombo, L., & de Campos Carneiro, V. T. (2017). GID1 expression is associated with ovule development of sexual and apomictic plants. Plant Cell Reports, 37(2), 293-306. doi:10.1007/s00299-017-2230-0Fleck, B., & Harberd, N. P. (2002). Evidence that theArabidopsisnuclear gibberellin signalling protein GAI is not destabilised by gibberellin. The Plant Journal, 32(6), 935-947. doi:10.1046/j.1365-313x.2002.01478.xGallego-Bartolome, J., Minguet, E. G., Grau-Enguix, F., Abbas, M., Locascio, A., Thomas, S. G., … Blazquez, M. A. (2012). Molecular mechanism for the interaction between gibberellin and brassinosteroid signaling pathways in Arabidopsis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(33), 13446-13451. doi:10.1073/pnas.1119992109Gallego-Bartolome, J., Minguet, E. G., Marin, J. A., Prat, S., Blazquez, M. A., & Alabadi, D. (2010). Transcriptional Diversification and Functional Conservation between DELLA Proteins in Arabidopsis. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 27(6), 1247-1256. doi:10.1093/molbev/msq012Gomez, M. D., Barro-Trastoy, D., Escoms, E., Saura-Sánchez, M., Sánchez, I., Briones-Moreno, A., … Perez-Amador, M. A. (2018). Gibberellins negatively modulate ovule number in plants. Development. doi:10.1242/dev.163865G�mez, M. D., Beltr�n, J.-P., & Ca�as, L. A. (2004). The pea END1 promoter drives anther-specific gene expression in different plant species. Planta, 219(6), 967-981. doi:10.1007/s00425-004-1300-zGómez, M. D., Fuster-Almunia, C., Ocaña-Cuesta, J., Alonso, J. M., & Pérez-Amador, M. A. (2019). RGL2 controls flower development, ovule number and fertility in Arabidopsis. Plant Science, 281, 82-92. doi:10.1016/j.plantsci.2019.01.014Gomez, M. D., Ventimilla, D., Sacristan, R., & Perez-Amador, M. A. (2016). Gibberellins Regulate Ovule Integument Development by Interfering with the Transcription Factor ATS. Plant Physiology, 172(4), 2403-2415. doi:10.1104/pp.16.01231Hedden, P., & Sponsel, V. (2015). A Century of Gibberellin Research. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation, 34(4), 740-760. doi:10.1007/s00344-015-9546-1Khakhar, A., Leydon, A. R., Lemmex, A. C., Klavins, E., & Nemhauser, J. L. (2018). Synthetic hormone-responsive transcription factors can monitor and re-program plant development. eLife, 7. doi:10.7554/elife.34702Koorneef, M., Elgersma, A., Hanhart, C. J., Loenen-Martinet, E. P., Rijn, L., & Zeevaart, J. A. D. (1985). A gibberellin insensitive mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana. Physiologia Plantarum, 65(1), 33-39. doi:10.1111/j.1399-3054.1985.tb02355.xKurihara, D., Mizuta, Y., Sato, Y., & Higashiyama, T. (2015). ClearSee: a rapid optical clearing reagent for whole-plant fluorescence imaging. Development. doi:10.1242/dev.127613Lee, S. (2002). Gibberellin regulates Arabidopsis seed germination via RGL2, a GAI/RGA-like gene whose expression is up-regulated following imbibition. Genes & Development, 16(5), 646-658. doi:10.1101/gad.969002Li, Q.-F., Wang, C., Jiang, L., Li, S., Sun, S. S. M., & He, J.-X. (2012). An Interaction Between BZR1 and DELLAs Mediates Direct Signaling Crosstalk Between Brassinosteroids and Gibberellins in Arabidopsis. Science Signaling, 5(244). doi:10.1126/scisignal.2002908Lieber, D., Lora, J., Schrempp, S., Lenhard, M., & Laux, T. (2011). Arabidopsis WIH1 and WIH2 Genes Act in the Transition from Somatic to Reproductive Cell Fate. Current Biology, 21(12), 1009-1017. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.05.015Lora, J., Herrero, M., Tucker, M. R., & Hormaza, J. I. (2016). The transition from somatic to germline identity shows conserved and specialized features during angiosperm evolution. New Phytologist, 216(2), 495-509. doi:10.1111/nph.14330Murashige, T., & Skoog, F. (1962). A Revised Medium for Rapid Growth and Bio Assays with Tobacco Tissue Cultures. Physiologia Plantarum, 15(3), 473-497. doi:10.1111/j.1399-3054.1962.tb08052.xPeng, J., Carol, P., Richards, D. E., King, K. E., Cowling, R. J., Murphy, G. P., & Harberd, N. P. (1997). The Arabidopsis GAI gene defines a signaling pathway that negatively regulates gibberellin responses . Genes & Development, 11(23), 3194-3205. doi:10.1101/gad.11.23.3194Pinto, S. C., Mendes, M. A., Coimbra, S., & Tucker, M. R. (2019). Revisiting the Female Germline and Its Expanding Toolbox. Trends in Plant Science, 24(5), 455-467. doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2019.02.003Schneitz, K., Hulskamp, M., & Pruitt, R. E. (1995). Wild-type ovule development in Arabidopsis thaliana: a light microscope study of cleared whole-mount tissue. The Plant Journal, 7(5), 731-749. doi:10.1046/j.1365-313x.1995.07050731.xErbasol Serbes, I., Palovaara, J., & Groß-Hardt, R. (2019). Development and function of the flowering plant female gametophyte. Plant Development and Evolution, 401-434. doi:10.1016/bs.ctdb.2018.11.016Sun, T. (2011). The Molecular Mechanism and Evolution of the GA–GID1–DELLA Signaling Module in Plants. Current Biology, 21(9), R338-R345. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.02.036Tucker, M. R., Okada, T., Hu, Y., Scholefield, A., Taylor, J. M., & Koltunow, A. M. G. (2012). Somatic small RNA pathways promote the mitotic events of megagametogenesis during female reproductive development in Arabidopsis. Development, 139(8), 1399-1404. doi:10.1242/dev.075390Ursache, R., Andersen, T. G., Marhavý, P., & Geldner, N. (2018). A protocol for combining fluorescent proteins with histological stains for diverse cell wall components. The Plant Journal, 93(2), 399-412. doi:10.1111/tpj.13784Villanueva, J. M., Broadhvest, J., Hauser, B. A., Meister, R. J., Schneitz, K., & Gasser, C. S. (1999). INNER NO OUTER regulates abaxial- adaxial patterning in Arabidopsis ovules. Genes & Development, 13(23), 3160-3169. doi:10.1101/gad.13.23.3160Wen, C.-K., & Chang, C. (2002). Arabidopsis RGL1 Encodes a Negative Regulator of Gibberellin Responses. The Plant Cell, 14(1), 87-100. doi:10.1105/tpc.010325Wu, J., Mohamed, D., Dowhanik, S., Petrella, R., Gregis, V., Li, J., … Gazzarrini, S. (2020). Spatiotemporal Restriction of FUSCA3 Expression by Class I BPCs Promotes Ovule Development and Coordinates Embryo and Endosperm Growth. The Plant Cell, 32(6), 1886-1904. doi:10.1105/tpc.19.00764Yang, W.-C., Shi, D.-Q., & Chen, Y.-H. (2010). Female Gametophyte Development in Flowering Plants. Annual Review of Plant Biology, 61(1), 89-108. doi:10.1146/annurev-arplant-042809-112203Yang, W.-C., Ye, D., Xu, J., & Sundaresan, V. (1999). The SPOROCYTELESS gene of Arabidopsis is required for initiation of sporogenesis and encodes a novel nuclear protein. Genes & Development, 13(16), 2108-2117. doi:10.1101/gad.13.16.2108Zhao, L., He, J., Cai, H., Lin, H., Li, Y., Liu, R., … Qin, Y. (2014). Comparative expression profiling reveals gene functions in female meiosis and gametophyte development in Arabidopsis. The Plant Journal, 80(4), 615-628. doi:10.1111/tpj.12657Zhou, R., Benavente, L. M., Stepanova, A. N., & Alonso, J. M. (2011). A recombineering-based gene tagging system for Arabidopsis. The Plant Journal, 66(4), 712-723. doi:10.1111/j.1365-313x.2011.04524.

Effectiveness of Fosfomycin for the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli Bacteremic Urinary Tract Infections

IMPORTANCE The consumption of broad-spectrum drugs has increased as a consequence of the spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli. Finding alternatives for these infections is critical, for which some neglected drugs may be an option. OBJECTIVE To determine whether fosfomycin is noninferior to ceftriaxone or meropenem in the targeted treatment of bacteremic urinary tract infections (bUTIs) due to MDR E coli. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This multicenter, randomized, pragmatic, open clinical trial was conducted at 22 Spanish hospitals from June 2014 to December 2018. Eligible participants were adult patients with bacteremic urinary tract infections due to MDR E coli; 161 of 1578 screened patients were randomized and followed up for 60 days. Data were analyzed in May 2021. INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized 1 to 1 to receive intravenous fosfomycin disodium at 4 g every 6 hours (70 participants) or a comparator (ceftriaxone or meropenem if resistant; 73 participants) with the option to switch to oral fosfomycin trometamol for the fosfomycin group or an active oral drug or pa renteral ertapenem for the comparator group after 4 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was clinical and microbiological cure (CMC) 5 to 7 days after finalization of treatment; a noninferiority margin of 7% was considered. RESULTS Among 143 patients in the modified intention-to-treat population (median [IQR] age, 72 [62-81] years; 73 [51.0%] women), 48 of 70 patients (68.6%) treated with fosfomycin and 57 of 73 patients (78.1%) treated with comparators reached CMC (risk difference, -9.4 percentage points; 1-sided 95% CI, -21.5 to infinity percentage points; P = .10). While clinical or microbiological failure occurred among 10 patients (14.3%) treated with fosfomycin and 14 patients (19.7%) treated with comparators (risk difference, -5.4 percentage points; 1-sided 95% CI. -infinity to 4.9; percentage points; P = .19), an increased rate of adverse event-related discontinuations occurred with fosfomycin vs comparators (6 discontinuations [8.5%] vs 0 discontinuations; P = .006). In an exploratory analysis among a subset of 38 patients who underwent rectal colonization studies, patients treated with fosfomycin acquired a new ceftriaxone-resistant or meropenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria at a decreased rate compared with patients treated with comparators (0 of 21 patients vs 4 of 17 patients [23.5%]; 1-sided P = .01). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This study found that fosfomycin did not demonstrate noninferiority to comparators as targeted treatment of bUTI from MDR E coli; this was due to an increased rate of adverse event-related discontinuations. This finding suggests that fosfomycin may be considered for selected patients with these infections