Ethylene is involved in strawberry fruit ripening in an organ-specific manner

The fruit of the strawberry Fragaria×ananassa has traditionally been classified as non-climacteric because its ripening process is not governed by ethylene. However, previous studies have reported the timely endogenous production of minor amounts of ethylene by the fruit as well as the differential expression of genes of the ethylene synthesis, reception, and signalling pathways during fruit development. Mining of the Fragaria vesca genome allowed for the identification of the two main ethylene biosynthetic genes, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase and ACC oxidase. Their expression pattern during fruit ripening was found to be stage and organ (achene or receptacle) specific. Strawberry plants with altered sensitivity to ethylene could be employed to unravel the role of ethylene in the ripening process of the strawberry fruit. To this end, independent lines of transgenic strawberry plants were generated that overexpress the Arabidopsis etr1-1 mutant ethylene receptor, which is a dominant negative allele, causing diminished sensitivity to ethylene. Genes involved in ethylene perception as well as in its related downstream processes, such as flavonoid biosynthesis, pectin metabolism, and volatile biosynthesis, were differently expressed in two transgenic tissues, the achene and the receptacle. The different transcriptional responsiveness of the achene and the receptacle to ethylene was also revealed by the metabolic profiling of the primary metabolites in these two organs. The free amino acid content was higher in the transgenic lines compared with the control in the mature achene, while glucose and fructose, and citric and malic acids were at lower levels. In the receptacle, the most conspicuous change in the transgenic lines was the depletion of the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates at the white stage of development, most probably as a consequence of diminished respiration. The results are discussed in the context of the importance of ethylene during strawberry fruit ripening.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasInstituto de Fisiología Vegeta

'Amiga' strawberry

‘Amiga’ is a short-day strawberry cultivar developed by the Spanish public breeding program. ‘Amiga’ has a very high fruit firmness, high production, long fruit shape, and good appearance. An agronomic and sensory characterization of this new cultivar, in comparison with the well-adapted cultivars Camarosa, Carisma, Marina and Medina, was undertaken during the 2000 and 2001 crop seasons. Most strawberries produced in Spain are shipped fresh to destinations throughout Europe. Growers therefore need cultivars producing fruit that, in addition to attractiveness and top-class sensory attributes, ensures maintenance of quality after long-distance shipment. During the crop season 2006, a total of 58.3% of the total strawberry output at Huelva (312,066 t) was shipped fresh to market (Anonymous, 2006). The main destinations were Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. As a result of the economic and social significance of strawberry production in Spain, which is currently the leading European producer of fresh-market strawberries (López-Aranda et al., 2003), a number of public institutions, including the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias (INIA), the Instituto de Investigacio´n y Formacio´n Agraria y Pesquera (IFAPA), and the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), are carrying out a breeding program to develop new strawberry cultivars well adapted to growing conditions in Spanish production areas, and particularly in Huelva. ‘Amiga’ is the latest cultivar released from this program in cooperation with the private partner, Viveros California, S.L. Previous cultivars released include ‘Andana’ (Bartual et al., 1997), ‘Carisma’ (Bartual et al., 2002), ‘Marina’ (López-Aranda et al., 2004), ‘Medina’ (López-Aranda et al., 2005a), and ‘Aguedilla’ (López-Aranda et al., 2005b). The new short-day strawberry (Fragaria · ananassa Duch.) cultivar Amiga is remarkable for its very high firmness, high production in annual production systems, long fruit shape, and good appearance. Its harvest season is early, which is extremely important for economic production on the southwest coast of Spain, and its firmness is essential for long-distance shipment

Ethylene is involved in strawberry fruit ripening in an organ-specific manner

The fruit of the strawberry Fragaria×ananassa has traditionally been classified as non-climacteric because its ripening process is not governed by ethylene. However, previous studies have reported the timely endogenous production of minor amounts of ethylene by the fruit as well as the differential expression of genes of the ethylene synthesis, reception, and signalling pathways during fruit development. Mining of the Fragaria vesca genome allowed for the identification of the two main ethylene biosynthetic genes, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase and ACC oxidase. Their expression pattern during fruit ripening was found to be stage and organ (achene or receptacle) specific. Strawberry plants with altered sensitivity to ethylene could be employed to unravel the role of ethylene in the ripening process of the strawberry fruit. To this end, independent lines of transgenic strawberry plants were generated that overexpress the Arabidopsis etr1-1 mutant ethylene receptor, which is a dominant negative allele, causing diminished sensitivity to ethylene. Genes involved in ethylene perception as well as in its related downstream processes, such as flavonoid biosynthesis, pectin metabolism, and volatile biosynthesis, were differently expressed in two transgenic tissues, the achene and the receptacle. The different transcriptional responsiveness of the achene and the receptacle to ethylene was also revealed by the metabolic profiling of the primary metabolites in these two organs. The free amino acid content was higher in the transgenic lines compared with the control in the mature achene, while glucose and fructose, and citric and malic acids were at lower levels. In the receptacle, the most conspicuous change in the transgenic lines was the depletion of the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates at the white stage of development, most probably as a consequence of diminished respiration. The results are discussed in the context of the importance of ethylene during strawberry fruit ripening.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasInstituto de Fisiología Vegeta

It’s not about security, it’s about racism : counter-terror strategies, civilizing processes and the post-race fiction

Using a range of international examples, this article examines the ways in which members of the black and minority ethnic population continue to be viewed as problematic and deviant, challenging the claim that we are now living in a post-race state. The article considers how race and racism are still in reality, used to socially order society—and specifically criminalize those black and minority ethnic groups of (real or perceived) Muslim background—what I call “brown bodies”. Turning its focus to the United Kingdom, although offering an analysis applicable to other countries with similar racialized conditions, the article discusses how sub-measures under current counter-terror discourse not only serve to control and regulate Muslim populations, but more so, the civilizing undertone of its Western (or, British) values and national security narrative continue to normalize and perpetuate antiMuslim sentiment and construct Muslims as “suspect” communities at every possible opportunity. This process draws on a “post-colonial fantasy” and re-uses established practices of “race-consumption” to control brown bodies. This ensures that anti-Muslim racism remains a key feature of contemporary British society. The article ends noting its support for that body of literature that critiques the claim that we are now living in a post-race state. This article is published as part of a collection on racism in counter-terrorism and surveillance discourse

A tempestade global da lei e ordem: sobre punição e neoliberalismo

Este artigo reflete sobre a recepção internacional ao livro Prisões da miséria como reveladora da expansão penal nas sociedades avançadas na década de 2000. Ele revela que a tempestade global da "lei e ordem" inspirada pelos Estados Unidos, que o livro detectou em 1999, continuou a espalhar-se por toda a parte. Na verdade, ela estendeu-se dos países do Primeiro Mundo para os do Segundo Mundo e alterou a política e as práticas de punição em todo o globo de uma forma que ninguém previa e que ninguém teria pensado como possível há cerca de 15 anos. O artigo estende a análise para o papel dos institutos de consultoria (em especial o Manhattan Institute) na difusão das noções de combate ao crime e das panacéias no estilo estadunidense na América Latina como um elemento da circulação internacional dos pacotes de política pró-mercado que alimentam a gerência punitiva da pobreza. O artigo elabora e revê o modelo original do nexo entre neoliberalismo e penalidade punitiva, levando a análise da montagem do Estado na era da insegurança social, desenvolvida no livro Punindo os pobres

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified