TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Undercurrents in the Northeastern Black Sea Detected on the Basis of Multi-Model Experiments and Observations

Numerical simulation results of the Black Sea circulation obtained by four ocean dynamics models are compared to each other and to in situ data in order to determine the features of the Black Sea deep-water circulation such as deep-water undercurrents. The year 2011 is chosen as the test period due to the availability of deep-sea observations, including ARGO profiles and ADCP current velocities. Validation of the simulation results is based on comparison with the temperature and salinity measured by the ARGO floats. Anticyclonic currents (undercurrents) under the cyclonic Rim Current are detected by the results of all numerical models near the North Caucasian coast. The main characteristics of undercurrents are consistent with in situ data on current velocity up to a depth of 1000 m obtained by the Aqualog probe at the IO RAS test site near Gelendzhik in June 2011. The analysis of the spatio-temporal variability of the modeled salinity and velocity fields reveals that the most probable origin of the undercurrents is the horizontal density gradient of seawater in the region

Pharmacotherapy of Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury of Transplanted Kidneys in Children: Comparative Study

Background. Prevention of ischemia-reperfusion injury of the allograft (IRIA) is an urgent problem in transplantology, which largely determines the prognosis for both the transplanted organ and the patient as a whole.Objective. Our aim was to study the effectiveness of eculizumab in comparison with plasmapheresis during induction  immunosuppressive therapy in kidney transplantation in children.Methods. The retrospective study includes children with terminal phase of chronic renal failure who have received kidney transplants from either a living relative or deceased donor. The age of patients is from 1 year to 18 years. Induction immunosuppression in both groups was performed with alemtuzumab. Group 1 (main) included children who were treated with eculizumab to prevent IRIA, Group 2 (comparison) included children who were treated with plasmapheresis for the same purpose. The comparative analysis was carried out according to the following criteria: the rate of blood creatinine subnormalization (in days), the rate of glomerular filtration (in ml/min) 30 days after the operation; daily protein excretion (mg/24 h) 30 days after organ transplantation; morphological characteristics of renal biopsy samples by Banff 30 days after surgery.Results. During the comparative analysis from December 2012 to November 2016, eculizumab was administered to 32 patients, 24 patients underwent plasmapheresis. In Group 1, blood creatinine normalized almost 4 days earlier than in Group 2 (p=0.0049); the glomerular filtration rate in Group 1 was 4.5 times higher than in Group 2 (p=0.0018). Daily proteinuria in Group 1 was 4 times lower than in Group 2 (p=0.0019).Conclusion. The carried out study showed better indices of renal allograft function when using eculizumab in comparison with plasmapheresis: consequently, eculizumab more effectively suppresses IRIA than plasmapheresis

Development of DNA aptamers for visualization of glial brain tumors and detection of circulating tumor cells

Here, we present DNA aptamers capable of specific binding to glial tumor cells in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo for visualization diagnostics of central nervous system tumors. We selected the aptamers binding specifically to the postoperative human glial primary tumors and not to the healthy brain cells and meningioma, using a modified process of systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment to cells; sequenced and analyzed ssDNA pools using bioinformatic tools and identified the best aptamers by their binding abilities; determined three-dimensional structures of lead aptamers (Gli-55 and Gli-233) with small-angle X-ray scattering and molecular modeling; isolated and identified molecular target proteins of the aptamers by mass spectrometry; the potential binding sites of Gli-233 to the target protein and the role of post-translational modifications were verified by molecular dynamics simulations. The anti-glioma aptamers Gli-233 and Gli-55 were used to detect circulating tumor cells in liquid biopsies. These aptamers were used for in situ, ex vivo tissue staining, histopathological analyses, and fluorescence-guided tumor and PET/CT tumor visualization in mice with xenotransplanted human astrocytoma. The aptamers did not show in vivo toxicity in the preclinical animal study. This study demonstrates the potential applications of aptamers for precise diagnostics and fluorescence-guided surgery of brain tumors.peerReviewe

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

10.1111/gcb.14904GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY261119-18