Cosmic kidney disease: an integrated pan-omic, physiological and morphological study into spaceflight-induced renal dysfunction

Missions into Deep Space are planned this decade. Yet the health consequences of exposure to microgravity and galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) over years-long missions on indispensable visceral organs such as the kidney are largely unexplored. We performed biomolecular (epigenomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, epiproteomic, metabolomic, metagenomic), clinical chemistry (electrolytes, endocrinology, biochemistry) and morphometry (histology, 3D imaging, miRNA-ISH, tissue weights) analyses using samples and datasets available from 11 spaceflight-exposed mouse and 5 human, 1 simulated microgravity rat and 4 simulated GCR-exposed mouse missions. We found that spaceflight induces: 1) renal transporter dephosphorylation which may indicate astronauts’ increased risk of nephrolithiasis is in part a primary renal phenomenon rather than solely a secondary consequence of bone loss; 2) remodelling of the nephron that results in expansion of distal convoluted tubule size but loss of overall tubule density; 3) renal damage and dysfunction when exposed to a Mars roundtrip dose-equivalent of simulated GCR

Cosmic kidney disease: an integrated pan-omic, physiological and morphological study into spaceflight-induced renal dysfunction

Missions into Deep Space are planned this decade. Yet the health consequences of exposure to microgravity and galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) over years-long missions on indispensable visceral organs such as the kidney are largely unexplored. We performed biomolecular (epigenomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, epiproteomic, metabolomic, metagenomic), clinical chemistry (electrolytes, endocrinology, biochemistry) and morphometry (histology, 3D imaging, miRNA-ISH, tissue weights) analyses using samples and datasets available from 11 spaceflight-exposed mouse and 5 human, 1 simulated microgravity rat and 4 simulated GCR-exposed mouse missions. We found that spaceflight induces: 1) renal transporter dephosphorylation which may indicate astronauts' increased risk of nephrolithiasis is in part a primary renal phenomenon rather than solely a secondary consequence of bone loss; 2) remodelling of the nephron that results in expansion of distal convoluted tubule size but loss of overall tubule density; 3) renal damage and dysfunction when exposed to a Mars roundtrip dose-equivalent of simulated GCR

Evaluation of resistance of selected cucumber lines to angular leaf spot (Pseudomonas syringae pv. lachrymans)

Angular leaf spot caused by bacteria Pseudomonas syringae pv. lachrymans is a very common cucumber disease, which causes serious yield losses. The objective of this study was to examine the selected cucumber lines regarding their resistance to this pathogen. Twelve cucumber lines bred at the Research Institute of Horticulture were evaluated and compared with the resistant inbred line GY 14 and the susceptible cv. ‘Wisconsin SMR 18’. Plants were inoculated under controlled conditions at cotyledon stage (experiment I) and at leaves stage (experiment II) with the highly aggressive strain of P. s. pv. lachrymans BO 1537. Dis-ease severity was scored 8 days after inoculation using a nine-point rating scale (9 – no symptoms or a few pin-point lesions; 1 – damage up to 100% of leaves). Distribution of plants across severity classes and low variation coefficient indi-cate that all evaluated cucumber lines showed rather good uniformity in their re-spective degrees of resistance to this pathogen. All the materials tested presented lower disease severity in cotyledons stage than in leaves stage. It was also noted that greater differentiation among the lines in regard to their resistance to the bacteria was observed in the leaves stage. Two lines PW 2 and PW 7 exhibited the highest resistance against P. s. pv. lachrymans and can serve as a useful source of this trait in future breeding efforts

Forwards the breeding of male sterile tomato lines with gene ms-10

The aim of the study conducted in 2012-2014 was to evaluate multi-breeding value of the tomato male-sterile lines (gene ms-10). Two (PWS 10, PWS 18) of the five tested lines showed the highest and most stable level of sterility. The good stability of sterility was also found in the two other ms-10 lines (PWS 12, PWS 21), which displayed a low number of fruits with seeds. In the case of the last tested line (PWS 19), regardless of the research year, partially fertile plants were observed. A large variation among tested lines was demonstrated in terms of most analysed agrobotanical traits, as well as the content of basic chemical components and health-enhancing constituents