Plant Genome Size Influences Stress Tolerance of Invasive and Native Plants via Plasticity

Plant genome size influences the functional relationships between cellular and whole‐plant physiology, but we know little about its importance to plant tolerance of environmental stressors and how it contributes to range limits and invasion success. We used native and invasive lineages of a wetland plant to provide the first experimental test of the Large Genome Constraint Hypothesis (LGCH)—that plants with large genomes are less tolerant of environmental stress and less plastic under stress gradients than plants with small genomes. We predicted that populations with larger genomes would have a lower tolerance and less plasticity to a stress gradient than populations with smaller genomes. In replicated experiments in northern and southern climates in the United States, we subjected plants from 35 populations varying in genome size and lineage to two salinity treatments. We measured traits associated with growth, physiology, nutrition, defense, and plasticity. Using AICc model selection, we found all plant traits, except stomatal conductance, were influenced by environmental stressors and genome size. Increasing salinity was stressful to plants and affected most plant traits. Notably, biomass in the high‐salinity treatment was 3.0 and 4.9 times lower for the invasive and native lineages, respectively. Plants in the warmer southern greenhouse had higher biomass, stomate density, stomatal conductance, leaf toughness, and lower aboveground percentage of N and total phenolics than in the northern greenhouse. Moreover, responses to the salinity gradient were generally much stronger in the southern than northern greenhouse. Aboveground biomass increased significantly with genome size for the invasive lineage (43% across genome sizes) but not for the native. For 8 of 20 lineage trait comparisons, greenhouse location × genome size interaction was also significant. Interestingly, the slope of the relationship between genome size and trait means was in the opposite direction for some traits between the gardens providing mixed support for LGCH. Finally, for 30% of the comparisons, plasticity was significantly related to genome size—for some plant traits, the relationship was positive, and in others, it was negative. Overall, we found mixed support for LGCH and for the first time found that genome size is associated with plasticity, a trait widely regarded as important to invasion success

Long-term hypocholesterolemic effect of amidated alginate in rats

The effect of octadecylamide of alginic acid on blood serum and hepatic cholesterol, and the faecal output of fat and sterols was examined in female rats fed diets containing cholesterol and palm fat at 10 and 50 g/kg, respectively for 10 weeks. Amidated alginate, supplied at 10 and 20 g/kg, significantly decreased serum cholesterol from 5.25 to 2.99 and 2.39 µmol/ml, respectively, and decreased hepatic cholesterol from 30.7 to 12.3 and 9.4 µmol/g, respectively. Amidated alginate increased the faecal output of fat and at higher dosing significantly decreased faecal output of bile acids. Faecal output of bile acids and hepatic cholesterol significantly correlated (r = 0.791; P < 0.001). The results of the present experiment showed that hypocholesterolemic effect of amidated alginate persisted within 10 weeks of feeding

The impact of solvent characteristics on performance and process stability of printed carbon resistive materials

Carbon conductive pastes deposited by screen printing are used in many commercial applications including sensors, PCB, batteries, and PV, and as such represent an important value-added coating. An experimental investigation was carried out into the role of the solvent on the drying characteristics, conductivity, and process consistency in screen printed carbon pastes. Four materials with solvent boiling points between 166 and 219°C were deposited at film thickness between 6 and 16 μm, and the sheet resistance and film thickness were measured after successive passes through an industrial dryer operating with an air temperature of 155°C. Sheet resistances of 14 Ω/sq. were obtained with the thicker films while thinner films produced a sheet resistance of 46 Ω/sq. Thinner films achieved a stable resistivity within a 2.5-min residence time, while the thicker films required a residence time in excess of 12.5 min to achieve a stable resistivity. As well as prolonging drying times, the higher boiling point increased the resistivity of the cured film. It is postulated that the lower resistance of the faster drying materials is a result of film stressing increasing inter particle contact. Process models indicate that multiple thin layers are a more efficient means of manufacture for the process parameters examined

Histone Deacetylase Activity Modulates Alternative Splicing

There is increasing evidence to suggest that splicing decisions are largely made when the nascent RNA is still associated with chromatin. Here we demonstrate that activity of histone deacetylases (HDACs) influences splice site selection. Using splicing-sensitive microarrays, we identified ∼700 genes whose splicing was altered after HDAC inhibition. We provided evidence that HDAC inhibition induced histone H4 acetylation and increased RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) processivity along an alternatively spliced element. In addition, HDAC inhibition reduced co-transcriptional association of the splicing regulator SRp40 with the target fibronectin exon. We further showed that the depletion of HDAC1 had similar effect on fibronectin alternative splicing as global HDAC inhibition. Importantly, this effect was reversed upon expression of mouse HDAC1 but not a catalytically inactive mutant. These results provide a molecular insight into a complex modulation of splicing by HDACs and chromatin modifications

Opportunities and hurdles of edible insects for food and feed

Entomophagy, the consumption of insects, is promoted as an alternative sustainable source of protein for humans and animals. Seminal literature highlights predominantly the benefits, but with limited empirical support and evaluation. We highlight the historical significance of entomophagy by humans and key opportunities and hurdles identified by research to date, paying particular attention to research gaps. It is known that insects present a nutritional opportunity, being generally high in protein and key micronutrients, but it is unclear how their nutritional quality is influenced by what they are fed. Research indicates that, in ideal conditions, insects have a smaller environmental impact than more traditional Western forms of animal protein; less known is how to scale up insect production while maintaining these environmental benefits. Studies overall show that insects could make valuable economic and nutritional contributions to the food or feed systems, but there are no clear regulations in place to bring insects into such supply systems. Future research needs to examine how the nutritional value of insects can be managed systematically, establish clear processing and storage methodology, define rearing practices and implement regulations with regard to food and feed safety. Each of these aspects should be considered within the specifics of concrete supply and value chains, depending on whether insects are intended for food or for feed, to ensure insects are a sound economic, nutritional and sustainable protein alternative – not just a more expensive version of poultry for food, or soya for feed

Oral Health in Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Background: Diabetes mellitus type 1 is a chronic autoimmune disease with the first clinical manifestations occurring mostly in childhood. In most European countries including the Czech Republic, its incidence has been rising.Diabetes has been thoroughly investigated by all medical specialties, yet, many clinical issues have remained unclear. There have been a number of studies published also in dentistry; however, unambiguous conclusions have been reached only concerning the relationship between diabetes and periodontal diseases. A number of studies have shown higher amounts of dental plaque and increased incidence of chronic gingivitis in both adults and children with diabetes. Periodontitis in children is rare both in healthy subjects and in children with type 1 diabetes. Yet some of the findings of well-performed studies (such as confirmed differences in oral microbial flora or impacts of diabetes compensation and complications on periodontal health) indicate a higher risk of periodontitis in children with type 1 diabetes. Regarding the impact of diabetes on dental caries development, the results of clinical trials are inconsistent. However, it has been confirmed that some of minor caries risk factors are more or less prevalent in a diabetic population compared to a non-diabetic control group. Quantitative and qualitative salivary changes in diabetics have also been confirmed, even though particular detailed results of individual studies vary. Oral health studies focusing on behavioural features of diabetic patients yield even more interesting insights.The results of studies investigating the relationship between diabetes type 1 and oral health clearly indicate the need for continued, thorough research in this area

Modeling of mechanical properties of macroporous hydrogel

The research is supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic by project No GA17-08531S Computational design of hydrogel cell scaffolds.Macroporous hydrogels with controlled morphology are widely used in biomedical fields, as drug delivery, tissue engineering, analytical and technical separations or responsive constructs. Porosity can be achieved by several methods. In the preparation of physical experiments it is made by salt crystals which are extracted from the hydrogel after polymerization. The salt crystals have different sizes and shapes. The pore sizes and their distribution affects the final mechanical properties. Such polymer structure is designed by simulations. The simulated structure is than transfered into ANSYS environment and its mechanical properties are examined and compared with experiments

The Role of Taste in Cephalic Phase of Insulin Secretion

The effect of a short gustatory signal of a sweet solution was tested on 15 young male volunteers. The experiment consisted of mouth rinsing with either a sucrose or aspartate solution or pure water as a placebo. Blood was then taken in short intervals of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 min. Blood glucose, C-peptide, insulin and cortisol were determined. While C-peptide and glucose were unaffected, a short-term increase in insulin was observed after the sucrose, but not after the aspartate or placebo. The increase in insulin was significant, though it amounted to only 0.5 mIU/l and lasted approx. 15 min reaching then the starting value. The decline of cortisol level within 20 min of the experiment was approx. 40 nmol/l, although it was also observed after aspartate or placebo mouth rinsing and was probably caused by stress factors or anticipation. In conclusion, the contribution of taste to the cephalic phase of insulin secretion is small yet significant, and mouth rinsing with 5% sucrose causes an insulin increase of just under 1 IU/l, which returns to starting level within 15 min