An Acid-Bath Technique to Break Seed Dormancy in Common Sunflower, Helianthus L. annuus (Asteraceae)

The phenomenon of seed dormancy is widespread in plants and serves to prevent all or most of a given population from germinating at the “wrong” time, e.g., during an unusually mild fall in an area subject to typically harsh winters. Seed dormancy is an effective survival strategy in many plant populations, but may greatly complicate efforts to establish large cohorts of seedlings (groups of similar age or developmental stage) needed for re-search and other purposes. In an effort to break seed dormancy in common sunflower, Helianthus annuus L. (Asteraceae), we conducted experiments designed to compare germination times and overall germination success among groups of field-collected H. annuus seeds subjected to several treatments. Overall germination success during a 14-d period posttreatment was lowest among untreated controls and groups soaked in a disinfecting solution for 15-h (1.2% and 2.6% germination, respectively;

CHARACTERIZATION OF ARSENIC-TOLERANT BACTERIAL CULTURES FROM THE LOWER LAGUNA MADRE OF SOUTH TEXAS

Two forms of arsenic are found in the environment: As(V) and As(III), the latter being more toxic, water-soluble, and mobile. Microorganisms may increase the mobility of arsenic by reducing As(V) to As(III); however, detoxification and immobilization can occur via the oxidation of As(III) to As(V). The US EPA has set a minimum contaminant level of 10 parts per billion (ppb) for arsenic in drinking water. The research objective was to confirm the presence of arsenic-tolerant bacteria in the Lower Laguna Madre of south Texas. Sediment samples were collected and inoculated into growth media which contained either 2 mM As(III) or 2 mM As(V) to enrich for As(III)-tolerant and As(V)-tolerant bacteria, respectively. Twenty six (26) As (III)-tolerant and 12 As(V)-tolerant cultures were obtained. Most isolates were small white colonies of Gram-positive rods. Biochemical tests using commercially-made test strips showed that As(V)-tolerant isolates displayed greater resource usage compared to As(III)-tolerant isolates but overall, few cultures demonstrated a wide-range of biochemical capabilities. Isolates with distinct morphological and biochemical phenotypes were subjected to Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplification and sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes to identify the bacteria. Closest sequence matches were to the eubacterial genera Mycoplasma, Salinispora, Frankia, and Pelodictyon. These results suggest that the Lower Laguna Madre is inhabited by a diverse group of microorganisms able to tolerate toxic concentrations of different arsenic species

New Frontiers for the NFIL3 bZIP Transcription Factor in Cancer, Metabolism and Beyond

The bZIP transcription factor NFIL3 (Nuclear factor Interleukin 3 regulated, also known as E4 binding protein 4, E4BP4) regulates diverse biological processes from circadian rhythm to cellular viability. Recently, a host of novel roles have been identified for NFIL3 in immunological signal transduction, cancer, aging and metabolism. Elucidating the signaling pathways that are impacted by NFIL3 and the regulatory mechanisms that it targets, inhibits or activates will be critical for developing a clearer picture of its physiological roles in disease and normal processes. This review will discuss the recent advances and emerging issues regarding NFIL3-mediated transcriptional regulation of CEBPb and FOXO1 activated genes and signal transduction

Engaging Minority Students in Sustainable Bioenergy and Water Quality through an Education and Research Network

Growing energy demand is connected to water availability and climate change and it places additional stress on the environment. Thereby, It is critical to prepare the next generation of engineers and professionals to face the challenges in bioenergy, expand sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels1 and enable climate-smart agriculture2,3. To address this challenge, a career-oriented multidisciplinary educational model is being implemented at three minority-serving institutions. This paper discusses the foundation of this educational program, which provides a robust response to the current sustainability issues by conducting multidisciplinary coordinated education, mentoring, research and extension activities among multiple universities and laboratories. This educational program aims to accomplish the ultimate goal of increasing minority participation in pursuing advanced degrees in STEM and attaining a diverse highly trained and skillful workforce with a strong pragmatic, experimental, analytical and computational background as well as scientific literacy in sustainable energy and the energywater nexus. In this model, students are expected to gain knowledge and understanding of the operational complexity of sustainable energy systems from source-to-use. Students will be able to conduct research and discovery from the feedstock properties passing through the conversion technologies to the mathematical modeling and optimization of the whole bioenergy value chain. In addition, students will be able to translate their findings in the laboratory regarding water quality and treatment into operational parameters to be included in comprehensive water systems models

Undergraduate Research: A Bridge to Graduate Education in Agricultural Biotechnology for Hispanics

Hispanics lag behind all other U.S. ethnic groups in education, and are especially poorly represented in science careers. Undergraduate research is an efficient method to attract undergraduate students to science, and many universities are taking advantage of this; however, much still needs to be done to fully explore its potential. In 2000, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, in collaboration with the University of Texas at Brownsville and the University of Texas Pan-American, initiated a undergraduate research internship program in citrus biotechnology to channel Hispanic undergraduate students into graduate education. To date, 51 internships have been provided, and 20 students have been channeled into graduate school, including four at the doctoral level. Most were first-generation college students

NVP-BEZ235 or JAKi Treatment leads to decreased survival of examined GBM and BBC cells

Cancer cells almost universally harbor constitutively active Phosphatidylinositol-3 Kinase (PI3K) Pathway ac-tivity via mutation of key signaling components and/or epigenetic mechanisms. Scores of PI3K Pathway in-hibitors are currently under investigation as putative chemotherapeutics. However, feedback and stem cell mechanisms induced by PI3K Pathway inhibition can lead to reduced treatment efficacy. To address therapeutic barriers, we examined whether JAKi would reduce stem gene expression in a setting of PI3K Pathway inhibition in order to improve treatment efficacy. We targeted the PI3K Pathway with NVP-BEZ235 (dual PI3K and mTOR inhibitor) in combination with the Janus Kinase inhibitor JAKi in glioblastoma (GBM) and basal-like breast cancer (BBC) cell lines. We examined growth, gene expression, and apoptosis in cells treated with NVP-BEZ235 and/or JAKi. Growth and recovery assays showed no significant impact of dual treatment with NVP-BEZ235/ JAKi compared to NVP-BEZ235 treatment alone. Gene expression and flow cytometry revealed that single and dual treatments induced apoptosis. Stem gene expression was retained in dual NVP-BEZ235/JAKi treatment samples. Future in vivo studies may give further insight into the impact of combined NVP-BEZ235/JAKi treat-ment in GBM and BBC

Optical studies of Ge islanding on Si(111)

We report an experimental study of the optical properties of island layers resulting from molecular beam epitaxial deposition of Ge on Si(111) substrates. The combination of electroreflectance spectroscopy of the E1 transition and Raman scattering allows us to separately determine the strain and composition of the islands. For deposition at 500 °C a deposited layer of 1.36 nm of Ge assembles into 80 nm diameter islands 11 nm thick. The average Si impurity content in the islands is 2.5% while the average in-plane strain is 0.5%. Both strain and Si impurity content in islands decrease with increasing Ge depositio

FOXO1 promotes the expression of canonical WNT target genes in examined basal-like breast and glioblastoma multiforme cancer cells

Basal-like breast cancer (BBC) and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are aggressive cancers associated with poor prognosis. BBC and GBM have stem-cell-like gene expression signatures, which are in part driven by forkhead box O (FOXO) transcription factors. To gain further insight into the impact of FOXO1 in BBC, we treated BT549 cells with AS1842856 and performed RNA sequencing. AS1842856 binds to unphosphorylated FOXO1 and inhibits its ability to directly bind to DNA. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) indicated that a set of WNT pathway target genes, including lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1 (LEF1) and transcription factor 7 (TCF7), were robustly induced after AS1842856 treatment. These same genes were also induced in GBM cell lines U87MG, LN18, LN229, A172 and DBTRG upon AS1842856 treatment. In contrast, follow-up RNA interference (RNAi) targeting of FOXO1 led to reduced LEF1 and TCF7 gene expression in BT549 and U87MG cells. In agreement with RNAi experiments, CRISPR Cas9-mediated FOXO1 disruption reduced the expression of canonical WNT genes LEF1 and TCF7 in U87MG cells. The loss of TCF7 gene expression in FOXO1 disruption mutants was restored by exogenous expression of the DNA-binding-deficient FOXO1-H215R. Therefore, FOXO1 induces TCF7 in a DNA-binding-independent manner, similar to other published FOXO1-activated genes such as TCF4 and hes family bHLH transcription factor 1 (HES1). Our work demonstrates that FOXO1 promotes canonical WNT gene expression in examined BBC and GBM cells, similar to results found in Drosophila melanogaster, T-cell development and murine acute myeloid leukemia (AML) models

Optical Reflection Spectroscopy of Thick Corrosion Layers on 304 Stainless Steel

Corrosion resistant structural materials of both iron and nickel based alloys are used in the electric power industry for the construction of the coolant loops of both conventional and nuclear power generating stations. These materials, in the presence of high temperature (e.g. 287 C), high pH (e.g. 10.0 {at} 20 C) water with dissolved hydrogen will oxidize and form corrosion films that are double metal oxides (or spinels) of the form AB{sub 2}O{sub 4}. This work describes optical reflectivity techniques that have been developed to study the growth of these films in situ. The optical technique uses a dual-beam specular reflection spectrometer to measure the spectrum of reflected light in small angle (i.e. < 15{sup o}) scatter. The reflection spectra are then calibrated using a set of corrosion coupons with corrosion films that are well known. Results are compared with models based on multilayer reflection and Mie scattering from a particle size distribution. Surface roughness is found to be the dominant cause of reduced reflection as the films grow