Response of growth, yield and berry composition to basal leaf removal in Jaen grapevine

Results from a leaf removal experiment located at Dão Winegrowing region of Portugal are presented. Three intensity levels of defoliation (control non-defoliated, leaves removed up to the third basal node and up to the sixth basal node) are compared. Defoliation treatments had no significant effect on yield and on must soluble solids, showing that the remaining leaves were able to guarantee berry development and sugar accumulation in the fruit. The more intense defoliation treatment induced favorable effects on light microclimate in the cluster zone, with positive consequences for polyphenols synthesis and reduction of Botrytis cinerea Pers. incidenceinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of leaf removal on leaf gas exchange parameters of Vitis vinifera L. (Cv. Jaen)

The effects af three intensity leveis af defoliation (control non-defoliation, leaves removed up lo the third node and up to the sixth node) are compared on photos'ynthetic activity and Icave glucldes af Jaeo grapevines grown the Dão Experimental Center in Nelas (Portugal). Leaf removal produced a significanl increase af (eaf gas exchanges, photosynthetic rate and stamatal conductance af the remaining leaves but had no signiflcant effcct on water use efficiency. 'Nhen compared with controI plants, dcfoliation treatments induced a favourable effect on the leaves hexoses content. The strongest levei of defoliation induced a starch levei signifIcantly higher than the other treatments. These effects seem to have compensaled the influence of reduced leaf area on vigour~ yield components and sugar content in the must, since no significant differences were found about these last variablesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reduced Anxiety and Depression-Like Behaviours in the Circadian Period Mutant Mouse Afterhours

Disruption of the circadian rhythm is a key feature of bipolar disorder. Variation in genes encoding components of the molecular circadian clock has been associated with increased risk of the disorder in clinical populations. Similarly in animal models, disruption of the circadian clock can result in altered mood and anxiety which resemble features of human mania; including hyperactivity, reduced anxiety and reduced depression-like behaviour. One such mutant, after hours (Afh), an ENU-derived mutant with a mutation in a recently identified circadian clock gene Fbxl3, results in a disturbed (long) circadian rhythm of approximately 27 hours.Anxiety, exploratory and depression-like behaviours were evaluated in Afh mice using the open-field, elevated plus maze, light-dark box, holeboard and forced swim test. To further validate findings for human mania, polymorphisms in the human homologue of FBXL3, genotyped by three genome wide case control studies, were tested for association with bipolar disorder.Afh mice showed reduced anxiety- and depression-like behaviour in all of the behavioural tests employed, and some evidence of increased locomotor activity in some tests. An analysis of three separate human data sets revealed a gene wide association between variation in FBXL3 and bipolar disorder (P = 0.009).Our results are consistent with previous studies of mutants with extended circadian periods and suggest that disruption of FBXL3 is associated with mania-like behaviours in both mice and humans

Efeito da desfolha na podridão cinzenta da casta ‘Jaen’, no Dão

Num ensaio instalado numa vinha do Centro de Estudos Vitivinícolas do Dão, em Nelas, analisam-se os efeitos de duas intensidades de desfolha de folhas principais (17 e 33 % de folhas removidas) conjugadas com a eliminação ou não das netas, na densidade do coberto e na incidência e severidade da podridão cinzenta (Botrytis cinerea Pers.) numa casta tinta de entrenós muito curtos e muito susceptível a esta doença. Comparativamente à testemunha não desfolhada, a supressão das folhas basais induziu uma redução na densidade do coberto e a consequente melhoria do microclima luminoso caracterizada por níveis mais elevados de radiação interceptada na zona de frutificação. Este resultado conduziu a uma redução significativa da incidência e severidade de podridão cinzenta dos cachos nas modalidades desfolhadas, mas apenas quando se eliminam também as folhas das netasinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Soybean oil prevents hypothalamic N3 fatty acid composition but does not prevent peripheral tissue fatty acid disturbance in rats

Linoleic (LA) and alpha-linolenic (ALA) acids are the only truly essential N6 and N3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and the precursors of arachidonicand docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids, the most prevalent PUFAs in the mammalian brain. Whilst main dietary sources of N6 are plant oils and red meat, the main sources of DHA include seawater fish. This issue becomes apparent when considering typical westernised diets. Furthermore, marine sources are currently threatened due to overfishing and no sustainability. Here we investigated the serum, hypothalamus, liver and white adipose tissues (WAT) fatty acid (FA) composition of rats fed a diet enriched with either fish oil (FO) or soybean oil (SO). Whilst FO contains abundant DHA, SO provides small amounts of ALA, alongside its important LAcontent. Fifteen 35-day old Wistar rats were fed a control chow, or a diet enriched with FO (FOD) or SO (SOD) for 8 weeks. Rats were sacrificed, trunk blood collected, hypothalamus, liver and WAT dissected, and their FA composition analysed by gas chromatography. FOD increased N3 content and SOD increased N6 content in all tissues. However, SOD significantly increased DHAin hypothalamus and serum, a result not observed in other SOD tissues. Whilst the SOD rats developed obesity, the FOD did not. SOD rats developed obesity and imbalanced N6/N3 peripherally, but their hypothalamic N3 content was increased. Such results further corroborate biomagnification and the preferential FAuptake by the brain. Additional studies are necessary to investigate how nutrient-unbalanced diets further affect brain metabolism