Mechanisms of vegetative propagation in bulbs : a molecular approach

Vegetative propagation is very important for the survival of species with long juvenile and adult vegetative phases, as it is the case for bulbous plants. Bulbous plants are ornamental geophytes with a bulb as an underground storage organ. Among flower bulbs, tulip and lily are the two commercially leading plants in The Netherlands. Tulip propagates vegetatively via axillary bud outgrowth, while lily propagates via adventitious bulblet formation. The vegetative propagation rate in tulip is very low due to the limited amount of axillary buds that will grow successfully. Moreover, tulip is very recalcitrant to in vitro regeneration. On the other hand, lily propagates efficiently via adventitious bulblet formation, either naturally from the underground portion of the stem of the apical bud, or artificially from detached bulb scales. This thesis study aimed to understand how axillary bud outgrowth is controlled in tulip bulbs and how regeneration capacity is established in lily bulb scales. As a first step towards these goals, the state of the art of the molecular control of sexual and vegetative reproduction was reviewed for model species. Moreover, two approaches, “bottom-up” and “top-down”, to transfer the knowledge from model to non-model species were described (Chapter 2). In short, the “bottom-up” approach usually goes from individual genes to systems, assuming conservation of molecular pathways and using sequence homology searches to identify candidate genes. ”Top-down” methodologies go from systems to genes, and are based on large scale transcriptome profiling via e.g. microarrays or RNA sequencing, followed by the identification of associations between phenotypes, genes, and gene expression patterns and levels. Next (Chapter 3), two sets of high quality transcriptomes, one for tulip and one for lily were generated from a collection of several tissues using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. Several assembly filtering parameters were applied, to highlight the limitations of stringent but routinely used filtering in de novo transcriptome assembly. The final created transcriptomes were made publicly available via a user friendly Transcriptome browser (http://www.bioinformatics.nl/bulbs/db/species/index) and their usefulness was exemplified by a search for all potential transcription factors in lily and tulip, with special focus on the TCP transcription factor family. One TCP member was of special interest because it has proven to integrate several pathways that control axillary bud outgrowth in a wide range of species. It is called TEOSINTE BRANCHED 1 (TB1) in monocots and BRNACHED 1 (BRC1) in dicots. A Tulipa gesneriana TB1 transcript was identified from the generated transcriptome and subsequently, tulip axillary bud outgrowth was studied through a “bottom-up” approach (Chapter 4). The degree of axillary bud outgrowth in tulip determines the success of their vegetative propagation. However the number of axillary meristems in one bulb is low –six on average– and not all of them seem to have the same growth capacity. The combination of physiological and targeted molecular experiments indicated that the first two inner located buds do not seem to experience dormancy (assessed by weight increase and TgTB1expression) at any point of the growth cycle, while mid-located buds enter dormancy by the end of the growing season. Moreover it was shown that TgTB1 expression in tulip bulbs can be modulated by sucrose, cytokinin and strigolactone, just as it has been reported for other species. However, the limited growth of mid-located buds even when their TgTB1 expression was naturally or artificially downregulated, pointed at other factors, probably physical, inhibiting their growth. Next, the remarkable regeneration capacity of lily by initiating de novo shoot meristems from excised bulb scales without the addition of exogenous hormones or growth regulators was studied using a “top-down” approach (Chapter 5). An extensive and comprehensive transcriptome set was generated from lily bulb scales in a time-series using two cultivars and two explant types, all differing in regeneration capacity. This set up provided first insight in the key molecular process underlying pro-meristem induction and meristem initiation in lily. We found that wounding activates a very fast regeneration response, probably mediated by APETALA2/ETHYLENE RESPONSIVE FACTORS (AP2/ERF,) such as LoERF115 and WOUND INDUCED DEDIFFERENTIATION 2 (LoWIND2), which in turn might mediate polar auxin re-distribution, cell proliferation and de-differentiation. Moreover, the timing and level of induction of shoot meristem regulators, such as ENHANCER OF SHOOT REGENERATION 2 (LoESR2) and SHOOT MERISTEMLESS (LoSTM) correlated with the regeneration capacity of the scale. Regardless the regeneration capacity of the different explants e.g. cultivar or position within the scale, regeneration occurs at the proximal-adaxial side of the bulb scale, right on top of the excision line. Thus the possible cellular and physiological factors granting lily bulb scales their competence to regenerate was investigated (Chapter 6). We found that the adaxial parenchyma tissue seems to be more competent than the abaxial tissue, partially because of higher number of secondary veins and larger cell population than the abaxial parenchyma region. It was proposed that upon explant excision, the polar auxin transport is disrupted, creating an auxin maximum at the excision line, which might create a gradient of cell divisions favouring the adaxial parenchyma tissue. The direction of this cell division gradient proved to be negatively affected by the absence of the adaxial epidermis. Moreover, explants without epidermis reduced dramatically their regeneration capacity, and lost the typical proximal-adaxial orientation of regeneration. Thus, a better understanding of the composition and physiology of the epidermis in lily bulb scales is essential to identify the regeneration stimulating signals originating from this tissue layer in Lilium sp. Finally in Chapter 7, integration of all the results was done and I addressed how this may contributes to the fundamental and applied understanding of vegetative propagation in bulbous plants. Also, some challenges are discussed, for example, the complexity in the architecture of tulip bulbs and how this influences ways for improving its rate of axillary bud outgrowth. The challenge to prove the findings of this thesis through functional analysis is also discussed and the possibility of using transient virus-induced gene silencing is highlighted. Moreover, the potential of lily bulb scales as a model system to study some aspects of de novo regeneration, as well as to study the recalcitrance of in vitro propagation is highlighted, supporting the idea that more “omics” data and biotechnological tools for bulbous plant research are necessary.</p

Is function paired with structure in the musician brain? A DTI-TBSS study with left-handed musicians

Treball Final de Màster Universitari en Investigació en Cervell i Conducta. Codi: SBM024. Curs: 2019/2020.Brain differences between musicians and non-musicians have been found mainly in the primary auditory and motor cortex of the right hemisphere, as well as in their connections. Some previous investigations attempting to describe the peculiarities of the musician’s brain have focused in the Corpus callosum (CC), being the common result of most of these investigations a larger anterior CC and overall thicker CC in the musician’s brain. However, differences have also been found in the way their brains work, showing that musicians have less inter-hemispherical functional connectivity between the primary motor cortices associated to the movement of the upper limbs. Thus, the aim of our study was to investigate whether structural connectivity between these regions is also different in musicians by measuring white matter (WM) tracts using Diffusion MRI in a left-handed sample of 29 musicians and 43 nonmusicians. As expected, it was found that musicians present lower FA than non-musicians in the callosal tracts connecting the upper limbs' primary motor cortices, suggesting more independence between both hands

Bridging the Gap Between the Least and the Most Influential Twitter Users

Social networks play an increasingly important role in shaping the behaviour of users of the Web. Conceivably Twitter stands out from the others, not only for the platform's simplicity but also for the great influence that the messages sent over the network can have. The impact of such messages determines the influence of a Twitter user and is what tools such as Klout, PeerIndex or TwitterGrader aim to calculate. Reducing all the factors that make a person influential into a single number is not an easy task, and the effort involved could become useless if the Twitter users do not know how to improve it. In this paper we identify what specific actions should be carried out for a Twitterer to increase their influence in each of above-mentioned tools applying, for this purpose, data mining techniques based on classification and regression algorithms to the information collected from a set of Twitter users.This work has been partially founded by the European Commission Project ”SiSOB: An Observatorium for Science in Society based in Social Models” (http://sisob.lcc.uma.es) (Contract no.: FP7 266588), ”Sistemas Inalámbricos de Gestión de Información Crítica” (with code number TIN2011-23795 and granted by the MEC, Spain) and ”3DTUTOR: Sistema Interoperable de Asistencia y Tutoría Virtual e Inteligente 3D” (with code number IPT-2011-0889- 900000 and granted by the MINECO, Spain

Who takes the cake Effects of ECB monetary policy across income classes

This work provides evidence on the effects of monetary policy on the income class structure via stimulating economic activity and employment in Eurozone countries over the period 2007Q32016Q1. Based on European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data, we compute the share of the market income perceived by each income class (lower, lower-middle, upper-middle, and upper) for the states that originated the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU11). We analyse the impact of monetary policy impulses under a Bayesian Vector Autoregressive approach and find that a monetary easing shock involving a decrease in nominal interest rates tends to increase the income share of middle classes at the expense of a smaller income share of the upper class, while, the lower class is not significantly affected. Our findings highlight the identified effects are mostly triggered by short-term interest rates cuts as long as they tend to vanish as the monetary policy proxy is located further in the yield curve. This suggests that the egalitarian impacts of monetary policy on market income distribution are to a lesser extent driven by decisions modifying longer-term interest rates.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Monetary policy and middle class

The global financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the subsequent period of financial and economic instability have forced central banks to implement ultra-loose monetary policies for combating the downturn and the stagnation of inflation, which has led the question about how monetary policy might affect inequality to the foreground of economic and political debates. This paper attepts to evaluate how monetary policy implemented in the Euro area (EURO-11) has affected two aspects of income distribution, namely, the size of middle class dimension and its mobility. To this end, an econometric model is estimated based on data from 2003 to 2015 for the set of countries belonging to the Economic and Monetary Union that originated the Union (EMU1999). We apply the vector autoregressive (VAR) methodology to country-level panel data as a first approach of the short-term dynamics among the considered variables, where the impulse-response functions have been orthogonalized due to the existing serial correlation between the unobserved terms. Subsequently, this analysis is complimented with a more robust one. Since our variables are non-stationary but indeed co-integrated, the vector error correction model (VECM) allows us to consider the medium-term relationship between monetary policy and income inequality via the stimulus of the economic activity.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

How does monetary policy affect the income class structure? Evidence from the Eurozone.

This work provides evidence on the potential effects of monetary policy on the income class structure via stimulating economic activity and employment in the Eurozone countries over the period 2007Q3-2016Q1. Based on European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data, we compute the size of income classes (lower, lower-middle, upper-middle, and upper) for the stats that originated the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU-11) and analyse the impact of monetary policy impulses under a Bayesian Vector Autoregressive approach. We focus on the earnings heterogeneity and the income composition channel and find that a monetary easing shock involving a decrease short-term nominal interest rate has diverse effects on the different income classes, which seems to have led to a more equal income distribution. As theoretically argued by these monetary policy transmission mechanisms, our results confirm the GDP growth and the decrease in unemployment caused by the monetary policies implemented by the European Central Bank since the onset of the financial crisis have had a positive effect for those households located at the bottom of the income-class structure as well as for the middle class.Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Lithic Technology in the highlands of El Alto-Ancasti, Catamarca

Las Sierras de El Alto-Ancasti han sido históricamente construidas como áreas de transición cultural entre la región andina hacia el oeste y la región chaco-santiagueña hacia el este, constituyéndose como un sector poco poblado. Las únicas prácticas allí realizadas habrían sido el pastoreo de camélidos y la ejecución de rituales basados en el consumo del cebil y la representación de escenas a través del arte rupestre en cuevas y aleros. Sin embargo, trabajos recientes han comenzado a evidenciar otra forma de ocupación del espacio, relacionada con prácticas agrícolas y unidades habitacionales. Estas evidencias estarían vinculadas a ocupaciones humanas permanentes con una inversión de trabajo a largo plazo. Conocida esta ocupación, nuestro objetivo específico es caracterizar, a través de la tecnología lítica recuperada de las excavaciones de una de estas unidades habitacionales, las prácticas sociales en las cuales participaron estos materiales. Con el fin de aportar al conocimiento de la escala doméstica, a partir de los materiales líticos, abordamos aspectos puntuales de la tecnología cotidiana, como la selección de materias primas para la manufactura de instrumentos, las características tecnológicas de estos conjuntos y las posibles prácticas en las que habrían participado.The highlands of El Alto-Ancasti (Ancasti Department, Catamarca Province) have been historically built as areas of cultural transition between the Andean zone to the west and the Chaco-santiagueña region to the east, establishing itself as a sparsely populated area, where there should have been developed two principal practices: the camelid’s herding and the performance of rituals based on the consumption of the cebil and the representation of scenes through rock art in caves and eaves. However, recent investigations found evidence of another occupation form of this space, related to agricultural practices and residential units. These evidences would be related to permanent human occupations with a long term work investment. The specific object of this paper is to deepen the domestic scale in this area, specifically regarding practices developed in that place and interpreted through the study of lithic technology recovered from the excavation of two site enclosures El Taco 19 (T19). These materials will allow an approach to the selection of raw materials for the instrument’s manufacturing, as well as the technological characteristics of these sets and the possible practices in which they would have participated.Fil: Moreno, Enrique Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Escuela de Arqueología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sentinelli, Natalia. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Escuela de Arqueología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Microbiota bacteriana aeróbica conjuntival em pacientes diabéticos com hemoglobina glicada normal e alterada em duas regiões brasileiras

Purpose:To study the aerobic bacterial microbiota of the conjunctiva in diabetic patient with regard to the management of diabetes, assessed using glycated hemoglobin levels.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted using conjunctival smears of diabetic patients from both sexes and with different ages, residing in two different Brazilian cities (Sorocaba and Rio Branco). A control group of non-diabetic patients was also included. The diabetic patients were considered to have controlled diabetes when their glycated hemoglobin level was ≤7% and blood glucose level was ≤126 mg/dL. Patients with non-controlled diabetes were those with glycated hemoglobin levels >7% and blood glucose levels >126 mg/dL. The samples obtained were inoculated in Brain-Heart Infusion broth and in culture media for aerobic bacteria (blood and chocolate agars); bacterial growth wa evaluated in a microbiology laboratory.Results:A total of 120 eyes of 120 patients were included in the present study. The percentage of cultures in which bacterial growth was observed was greater in diabetic patients, although the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.103). There was a greater trend toward bacterial growth in the conjunctiva of diabetic patients with altered fasting blood glucose. There was no difference in the frequency of bacterial growth on the conjunctiva between diabetic patient with normal or altered glycated hemoglobin levels. In Sorocaba, conjunctival bacterial growth was similar to that observed in Rio Branco. The microorganism most frequently detected in the present study was Staphylococcuepidermidis, followed by Staphylococcus aureus,Proteus mirabilis, and Escherichia coli.Conclusion:There was no difference between diabetic patients with normal or altered glycated hemoglobin levels. The microorganisms found were similar to those found in studie investigating the conjunctival bacterial flora of diabetic and non-diabetic patients.Objetivo:Estudar a microbiota conjuntival bacteriana aeróbica dos pacientes diabéticos em relação ao controle glicêmico, verificado através da hemoglobina glicada, em dua cidades distintas.Métodos:Foi realizado um estudo transversal utilizando raspados de conjuntiva de indivíduos diabéticos de ambos os sexos e idades variáveis de duas cidades: Sorocaba e Rio Branco. O grupo controle foi constituído de pacientes não diabéticos. A amostra foi constituída de pacientes diabéticos que foram considerados controlados com hemoglobina glicada ≤7% e glicemia de jejum ≤126 mg/dl e não controlados com hemoglobina glicada >7% e glicemia de jejum >126 mg/dl. O material obtido foi semeado em meio líquido Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) e em meios de cultivo para bactérias aeróbicas (ágar sangue e ágar chocolate). O crescimento bacteriano foi avaliado em laboratório de microbiologia.Resultados:Foram incluídos 120 olhos de 120 pacientes. A porcentagem de culturas nas quai houve crescimento bacteriano foi maior em pacientes diabéticos, sendo a diferença não estatisticamente significante (p=0,103). Não houve diferença entre o crescimento bacteriano em pacientes com hemoglobina glicada normal e alterada. Houve uma tendência maior de crescimento bacteriano em conjuntivas de paciente diabéticos com glicemias de jejum elevada. Em Sorocaba houve crescimento bacteriano conjuntival semelhante a Rio Branco. O microrganismo mais frequente encontrado neste estudo foi Staphylococcus epidermidis, seguido de Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis e Escherichiacoli.Conclusões:Não ocorreu diferença entre pacientes diabéticos com hemoglobina glicada normal e alterada. Os microrganismos encontrados foram semelhantes aos estudos da flora bacteriana de conjuntivas normais e de diabéticos.Federal University of São Paulo Department of Ophthalmology and Visual SciencesFederal University of Acre Department of OphthalmologyFederal University of São Paulo Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Cornea and External Diseases SectionUNIFESP, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual SciencesUNIFESP, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Cornea and External Diseases SectionSciEL

Menos violencia, más crecimiento- Caso colombiano: 2005-2015

Este artículo presenta un análisis de como se ha visto afectado el crecimiento económico a nivel departamental en Colombia durante el periodo 2005-2015 por la variación de la criminalidad -- El objetivo del mismo, es establecer las relaciones existentes entre las variables, por el aumento en la inversión en seguridad que se dio durante la presidencia de Álvaro Uribe Vélez en el periodo 2002-2006 -- Para ello, se parte de la hipótesis de que la inversión en seguridad aumenta la confianza en el país, lo que estimula la inversión nacional y extranjera, y finalmente se ve reflejado de manera significativa y positiva en el crecimiento económico -- Para corroborar esto se implementa un modelo de panel de datos dinámico de la forma Arellano Blundell-Bond, donde los resultados corroboran la relación inversa entre el índice de criminalidad, que es utilizado como proxy de la inversión en seguridad y el nivel de producción departamentalThis article presents an analysis of how economic growth at the departmental level in Colombia between the years 2005-2015 has been affected by crime -- The objective is to establish the existing relationships between these variables, by the increase in security expenditure that occurred during the presidency of Álvaro Uribe Velez in the period 2002-2006, so it is based on the hypothesis that investment in security increases confidence in the country, which stimulates domestic and foreign investment, and finally is reflected in a significant and positive way in economic growth -- To corroborate this, a dynamic data panel model of the Arellano Blundell-Bond form is implemented, where the results corroborate the inverse relationship between the crime and the departmental outpu

La innovación social como origen de la innovación científica técnica y de la innovación económica empresarial

La innovación social comprendida como nuevas y mejores formas de satisfacer las necesidades sociales, permite establecerla como origen de la innovación técnica científica y de la innovación económica empresarial. En primer lugar, la innovación social le otorga las necesidades sociales que requieren de innovación técnica científica para encontrar tales nuevas y mejores formas para satisfacerlas. En segundo lugar, la innovación social como origen de la innovación económica empresarial, con la premisa de satisfacer necesidades sociales, las empresas, a través de I y D logran ofrecer productos, procesos o servicios con mayor calidad y producirlos con menos recursos justificando que hoy en día la innovación sea un concepto que toma mayor relevancia para entender el funcionamiento de la economía