Virus-induced gene complementation reveals a transcription factor network in modulation of tomato fruit ripening

Plant virus technology, in particular virus-induced gene silencing, is a widely used reverse- and forward-genetics tool in plant functional genomics. However the potential of virus technology to express genes to induce phenotypes or to complement mutants in order to understand the function of plant genes is not well documented. Here we exploit Potato virus X as a tool for virus-induced gene complementation (VIGC). Using VIGC in tomato, we demonstrated that ectopic viral expression of LeMADS-RIN, which encodes a MADS-box transcription factor (TF), resulted in functional complementation of the non-ripening rin mutant phenotype and caused fruits to ripen. Comparative gene expression analysis indicated that LeMADS-RIN up-regulated expression of the SBP-box (SQUAMOSA promoter binding protein-like) gene LeSPL-CNR, but down-regulated the expression of LeHB-1, an HD-Zip homeobox TF gene. Our data support the hypothesis that a transcriptional network may exist among key TFs in the modulation of fruit ripening in tomato

Aortic valve morphology and paravalvular leak regression after a self-expandable transcatheter aortic valve replacement

Aims: The study aimed to compare paravalvular leak (PVL) changes after a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with self-expandable prosthesis between different aortic valve morphologies and evaluate the impact of paravalvular leak regression on clinical prognosis.Methods: Patients with aortic stenosis (AS) successfully treated with a self-expandable TAVR who were followed up for at least 1 year at our centre were consecutively enrolled from January 2016 to August 2019. Paired serial changes in paravalvular leak and other haemodynamic parameters by echocardiography were collected and compared between the bicuspid valve (BAV) and tricuspid aortic valve (TAV). A logistic regression model was used to explore the predictors of paravalvular leak regression (<1 grade) 1 year after transcatheter aortic valve replacement, while its impact on subsequent clinical outcomes (all-cause mortality and rehospitalisation for heart failure (HF)) was further evaluated using Kaplan–Meier analysis.Results: A total of 153 bicuspid valve and 114 tricuspid aortic valve patients were finally enrolled; haemodynamic parameters and paravalvular leak severity were comparable before the discharge between the two groups. The peak transaortic velocity, mean transvalvular gradient, and effective orifice area all significantly improved (p < 0.05) without intergroup differences at all follow-up timepoints. Significant paravalvular leak reduction was observed only in the TAV group (1.75% vs. 4.39%, p = 0.029), while moderate paravalular leak was still more prevalent in BAV (7.19% vs. 1.75%, p = 0.041) at the 1-year follow-up. Multivariable analyses identified the bicuspid valve, asymmetric calcification, and undersizing as independent predictors of failure of the 1-year paravalvular leak reduction in patients with mild or moderate paravalvular leak after discharge. Patients without a paravalvular leak reduction within 1 year showed a relatively higher 2-year all-cause mortality and HF (HR: 5.994, 95% CI: 1.691–21.240, and p = 0.053) rates thereafter.Conclusion: In AS patients after self-expandable transcatheter aortic valve replacement, paravalvular leak regression within 1 year was less prevalent in bicuspid valve morphology. The failure of paravalvular leak reduction might lead to an increased risk of poorer prognosis in the long run

The zinc cluster protein Sut1 contributes to filamentation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Copyright © 2013, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights ReservedSut1 is a transcriptional regulator of the Zn(II)(2)Cys(6) family in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The only function that has been attributed to Sut1 is sterol uptake under anaerobic conditions. Here, we show that Sut1 is also expressed in the presence of oxygen, and we identify a novel function for Sut1. SUT1 overexpression blocks filamentous growth, a response to nutrient limitation, in both haploid and diploid cells. This inhibition by Sut1 is independent of its function in sterol uptake. Sut1 downregulates the expression of GAT2, HAP4, MGA1, MSN4, NCE102, PRR2, RHO3, and RHO5. Several of these Sut1 targets (GAT2, HAP4, MGA1, RHO3, and RHO5) are essential for filamentation in haploids and/or diploids. Furthermore, the expression of the Sut1 target genes, with the exception of MGA1, is induced during filamentous growth. We also show that SUT1 expression is autoregulated and inhibited by Ste12, a key transcriptional regulator of filamentation. We propose that Sut1 partially represses the expression of GAT2, HAP4, MGA1, MSN4, NCE102, PRR2, RHO3, and RHO5 when nutrients are plentiful. Filamentation-inducing conditions relieve this repression by Sut1, and the increased expression of Sut1 targets triggers filamentous growth.The project was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant HO 2098/

Aridity-driven shift in biodiversity–soil multifunctionality relationships

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2021-01-07, accepted 2021-08-12, registration 2021-08-25, pub-electronic 2021-09-09, online 2021-09-09, collection 2021-12Publication status: PublishedFunder: National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001809; Grant(s): 31770430Abstract: Relationships between biodiversity and multiple ecosystem functions (that is, ecosystem multifunctionality) are context-dependent. Both plant and soil microbial diversity have been reported to regulate ecosystem multifunctionality, but how their relative importance varies along environmental gradients remains poorly understood. Here, we relate plant and microbial diversity to soil multifunctionality across 130 dryland sites along a 4,000 km aridity gradient in northern China. Our results show a strong positive association between plant species richness and soil multifunctionality in less arid regions, whereas microbial diversity, in particular of fungi, is positively associated with multifunctionality in more arid regions. This shift in the relationships between plant or microbial diversity and soil multifunctionality occur at an aridity level of ∼0.8, the boundary between semiarid and arid climates, which is predicted to advance geographically ∼28% by the end of the current century. Our study highlights that biodiversity loss of plants and soil microorganisms may have especially strong consequences under low and high aridity conditions, respectively, which calls for climate-specific biodiversity conservation strategies to mitigate the effects of aridification

Understanding Beijing’s Moving Urban Fringe through a Spatial Equilibrium Model

The growth of the main built-up area of Beijing is characterised by a pancake like expansion, from 100 km2 in 1950 to 1210 km2 in 2005 in successive waves. The approach to future urban expansion will require careful consideration, as economic, environmental and social conflicts at the urban fringe have intensified. Two successive greenbelts have been designated to contain expansion and engender more compact growth. However, the first greenbelt has not been achieved successfully and many areas designated as the second greenbelt is facing implementation challenges. This paper builds on existing research into greenbelt policy implementation and investigates the impacts of alternative urban growth boundary proposals under a systematic modelling framework. It reviews the theoretical insights into growth at the urban fringe, and puts forward a methodology that links development at the urban fringe to the functioning of the entire metropolitan area. It outlines six alternative development scenarios that encompass the existing planning proposals for the urban fringe: trend growth, densification, stringent greenbelt, loose greenbelt, hybrid controls, and green wedges. We use a prototypical spatial equilibrium model to quantify the performance of the development scenarios in terms of production costs, consumer welfare, wages, floorspace rents, and commuting times. The analyses suggest that the physical forms of fringe area development do significantly affect the economic performance of the whole municipality.Alternative proposals, including those that have rarely considered in the past, should be investigated carefully in this light, in conjunction with related studies on social and environmental impacts of urban fringe development.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from SPSD Press via http://doi.org/10.14246/irspsd.2.2_1

USJ770115_Supplementary_material – Supplemental material for Economic impacts of alternative greenspace configurations in fast growing cities: The case of Greater Beijing

<p>Supplemental material, USJ770115_Supplementary_material for Economic impacts of alternative greenspace configurations in fast growing cities: The case of Greater Beijing by Mingfei Ma, Ying Jin in Urban Studies</p

Free In-Plane Vibration Analysis of Circular, Annular, and Sector Plates Using Isogeometric Approach

The in-plane free vibration of sector, annular, and circular plates is investigated by isogeometric finite element approach on the basis of nonuniform rational B-spline (NURBS) basis functions. Under the current framework, both the displacement field and geometry of the sector, annular, and circular plates are modeled by NURBS basis functions to bridge the gap between the design of geometry and the analysis of variable field. The NURBS basic functions can not only preserve the exact geometry of sector, annular, and circular plates, but also provide higher continuity of basis function and its derivatives. The governing equations can be derived by employing the principle of virtual work and the desired solutions are obtained by using the Arnoldi Method. Several numerical examples of sector, annular, and circular plates are performed, and three refinement schemes (the h-, p-, and k-refinement strategies) are applied to demonstrate the convergence. Then the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed approach are validated through comparisons with results obtained from the finite element analysis as well as open available literature. On this basis, some new numerical results of frequency parameters with mode shapes are shown and may be used as benchmark results for the vibration investigation in the future. In addition, the effects of sector angles and ratio of inside to outside radii on the in-plane vibration of sector, annular, and circular plates under different boundary conditions are fully demonstrated