TFG 2014/2015

Amb aquesta publicació, EINA, Centre universitari de Disseny i Art adscrit a la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, dóna a conèixer el recull dels Treballs de Fi de Grau presentats durant el curs 2014-2015. Voldríem que un recull com aquest donés una idea més precisa de la tasca que es realitza a EINA per tal de formar nous dissenyadors amb capacitat de respondre professionalment i intel·lectualment a les necessitats i exigències de la nostra societat. El treball formatiu s’orienta a oferir resultats que responguin tant a paràmetres de rigor acadèmic i capacitat d’anàlisi del context com a l’experimentació i la creació de nous llenguatges, tot fomentant el potencial innovador del disseny.Con esta publicación, EINA, Centro universitario de diseño y arte adscrito a la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, da a conocer la recopilación de los Trabajos de Fin de Grado presentados durante el curso 2014-2015. Querríamos que una recopilación como ésta diera una idea más precisa del trabajo que se realiza en EINA para formar nuevos diseñadores con capacidad de responder profesional e intelectualmente a las necesidades y exigencias de nuestra sociedad. El trabajo formativo se orienta a ofrecer resultados que respondan tanto a parámetros de rigor académico y capacidad de análisis, como a la experimentación y la creación de nuevos lenguajes, al tiempo que se fomenta el potencial innovador del diseño.With this publication, EINA, University School of Design and Art, affiliated to the Autonomous University of Barcelona, brings to the public eye the Final Degree Projects presented during the 2014-2015 academic year. Our hope is that this volume might offer a more precise idea of the task performed by EINA in training new designers, able to speak both professionally and intellectually to the needs and demands of our society. The educational task is oriented towards results that might respond to the parameters of academic rigour and the capacity for contextual analysis, as well as to considerations of experimentation and the creation of new languages, all the while reinforcing design’s innovative potential

Presentación y apertura de les XIII Jornadas de SIG libre: 29-30 de mayo 2019: Girona

Presentació de les XIII Jornadas de SIG Libre a càrrec de Gemma Boix, Directora del SIGTE i Maria Pla de Solà-Morales, Vicerectora de Recerca i Transferència de Coneixement de la Ud

ABC-Immunitat: guia didàctica

ABC-Immunitat és una guia didàctica de repàs preparada específicament per a la introducció a la immunologia que s'imparteix dintre de l'assignatura Ampliació de biologia cel·lular a la Universitat de Girona. Aquesta guia no pretén de cap manera substituir els llibres d'immunologia. Actualment hi ha al mercat excel·lents textos generals i específics escrits molt acuradament i amb detall. El nostre objectiu és proporcionar un text de lectura ràpida i de fàcil comprensió que reflecteixi una visió general i evolutiva dels sistemes de defensa dels animals. Ens considerarem satisfets si serveix per estimular l'aprenentatge i proporcionar la informació bàsica als nostres alumnes. Necessàriament aquesta guia és incompleta perquè la ciència en què és basa és una de les àrees en progressió més ràpida de la biologia. Molts aspectes estan oberts a important controvèrsia i encara n'hi ha molts que són desconegut

Novel Rosaceae Plant Elicitor Peptides as sustainable tools to control Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni in Prunus spp

Fruit crops are regarded as important health promoters and constitute a major part of global agricultural production, and Rosaceae species are of high economic impact. Their culture is threatened by bacterial diseases, which control is only based on preventive treatment with compounds with limited efficacy and a negative environmental impact. One of the most economically relevant examples is the pathogen Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni (Xap) affecting Prunus spp. Plant immune response against pathogens can be triggered and amplified by plant elicitor peptides (Peps), perceived by specific receptors (PEPRs). Although they have been described in various Angiosperms, scarce information is available on Rosaceae species. Here we identified the Pep precursor (PROPEP), Pep and PEPR orthologues of ten Rosaceae species and confirmed the presence of the Pep/PEPR system in this family. We showed perception and elicitor activity of Rosaceae Peps using the Prunus/Xap pathosystem as a proof-of-concept. Treatment with nanomolar doses of Peps induced the corresponding PROPEP and a set of defence-related genes in Prunus leaves; and enhanced resistance against Xap. Peps from the same species had the highest efficiencies. Rosaceae Peps could potentially be used to develop natural, targeted and environmental-friendly strategies to enhance resistance of Prunus species against biotic attackersThis work was supported by the Spanish MINECO AGL2013-41405-R and the FP7 KBBE.2013.1.2-04 with reference # 613678 (DROPSA

Sensitive and label-free biosensing of RNA with predicted secondary structures by a triplex affinity capture method

A novel biosensing approach for the label-free detection of nucleic acid sequences of short and large lengths has been implemented, with special emphasis on targeting RNA sequences with secondary structures. The approach is based on selecting 8-aminoadenine-modified parallel-stranded DNA tail-clamps as affinity bioreceptors. These receptors have the ability of creating a stable triplex-stranded helix at neutral pH upon hybridization with the nucleic acid target. A surface plasmon resonance biosensor has been used for the detection. With this strategy, we have detected short DNA sequences (32-mer) and purified RNA (103-mer) at the femtomol level in a few minutes in an easy and level-free way. This approach is particularly suitable for the detection of RNA molecules with predicted secondary structures, reaching a limit of detection of 50fmol without any label or amplification steps. Our methodology has shown a marked enhancement for the detection (18 for short DNA and 54 for RNA), when compared with the conventional duplex approach, highlighting the large difficulty of the duplex approach to detect nucleic acid sequences, especially those exhibiting stable secondary structures. We believe that our strategy could be of great interest to the RNA fieldProject FUNMOL of the EECC (FP7-NMP-213382-2); the Spanish Ministry of Education (BFU2007-63287, CTQ2010-20541, TEC2009-08729 and AGL2010-17181); the project Microplex from CIBER-BBN (CIBER-BBN [The Biomedical Research Networking center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine] which is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&D&i Plan 2008-2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program, CIBER Actions and financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund.); the Generalitat de Catalunya (2009/SGR/208) and M. Botin Foundation. Funding for open access publication charges: Spanish Ministry of Education: CTQ2010-20541, AGL2010-17181, TEC2009-0872

Constitutive expression of transgenes encoding derivatives of the synthetic antimicrobial peptide BP100: impact on rice host plant fitness

The Biopeptide BP100 is a synthetic and strongly cationic α-helical undecapeptide with high, specific antibacterial activity against economically important plant-pathogenic bacteria, and very low toxicity. It was selected from a library of synthetic peptides, along with other peptides with activities against relevant bacterial and fungal species. Expression of the BP100 series of peptides in plants is of major interest to establish disease-resistant plants and facilitate molecular farming. Specific challenges were the small length, peptide degradation by plant proteases and toxicity to the host plant. Here we approached the expression of the BP100 peptide series in plants using BP100 as a proof-of-concept. Results: Our design considered up to three tandemly arranged BP100 units and peptide accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), analyzing five BP100 derivatives. The ER retention sequence did not reduce the antimicrobial activity of chemically synthesized BP100 derivatives, making this strategy possible. Transformation with sequences encoding BP100 derivatives (bp100der) was over ten-fold less efficient than that of the hygromycin phosphotransferase (hptII) transgene. The BP100 direct tandems did not show higher antimicrobial activity than BP100, and genetically modified (GM) plants constitutively expressing them were not viable. In contrast, inverted repeats of BP100, whether or not elongated with a portion of a natural antimicrobial peptide (AMP), had higher antimicrobial activity, and fertile GM rice lines constitutively expressing bp100der were produced. These GM lines had increased resistance to the pathogens Dickeya chrysanthemi and Fusarium verticillioides, and tolerance to oxidative stress, with agronomic performance comparable to untransformed lines. Conclusions: Constitutive expression of transgenes encoding short cationic α-helical synthetic peptides can have a strong negative impact on rice fitness. However, GM plants expressing, for example, BP100 based on inverted repeats, have adequate agronomic performance and resistant phenotypes as a result of a complex equilibrium between bp100der toxicity to plant cells, antimicrobial activity and transgene-derived plant stress response. It is likely that these results can be extended to other peptides with similar characteristicsThis work was financially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (projects AGL2010-17181/AGR and PLANT-KBBE EUI2008-03769) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR-2009-12

Modeling gene flow distribution within conventional fields and development of a simplified sampling method to quantify adventitious GM contents in maize

Cationic a-helical antimicrobial peptides such as BP100 are of increasing interest for developing novel phytosanitary or therapeutic agents and products with industrial applications. Biotechnological production of these peptides in plants can be severely impaired due to the toxicity exerted on the host by high-level expression. This can be overcome by using inducible promoters with extremely low activity throughout plant development, although the yields are limited. We examined the use of modified atmospheres using the increased levels of [CO2], commonly used in the food industry, as the inductor agent to biotechnologically produce phytotoxic compounds with higher yields. Here we show that 30 % [CO2] triggered a profound transcriptional response in rice leaves, including a change in the energy provision from photosynthesis to glycolysis, and the activation of stress defense mechanisms. Five genes with central roles in up-regulated pathways were initially selected and their promoters successfully used to drive the expression of phytotoxic BP100 in genetically modified (GM) rice. GM plants had a normal phenotype on development and seed production in non-induction conditions. Treatment with 30 % [CO2] led to recombinant peptide accumulation of up to 1 % total soluble protein when the Os.hb2 promoter was used. This is within the range of biotechnological production of other peptides in plants. Using BP100 as a proof-of-concept we demonstrate that very high [CO2] can be considered an economically viable strategy to drive production of recombinant phytotoxic antimicrobial peptides in plant biofactorie

Cytoplasmic male sterility as a biological confinement tool for maize coexistence: optimization of pollinator spatial arrangement

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) allows efficient biological confinement of transgenes if pollen-mediated gene flow has to be reduced or eliminated. For introduction of CMS maize in agricultural practice, sufficient yields comparable with conventional systems should be achieved. The plus-cultivar-system in maize offers a possibility for biological confinement together with high and stable yields whereas pollinator amount and distribution within the CMS crop is crucial. The aim of this EU-funded study was to identify the best proportion (10, 15, and 20%) and spatial arrangement (inserted rows, mixed seeds) of the pollinator within the CMS maize cultivar under field conditions in the Czech Republic, in Germany and in Spain. In Germany and in the Czech Republic, a pollinator proportion of 10% produced significantly lower yield than the treatments with a pollinator proportion of 15% and 20%. Differences in yield between row and mix arrangements were not detected. No differences between the tested arrangements occurred in Spain. With respect to practical conditions, a pollinator proportion of 15% can be recommended for achieving a satisfactory yield. CMS maize cultivar released no or merely a small amount of pollen and self-pollinated plants developed no or only a small number of kernels indicating that currently recommended isolation distances between genetically modified (GM) and non-GM fields can be substantially shortened if the CMS confinement tool is use

Cytoplasmic male sterility as a biological confinement tool for maize coexistence: Optimization of pollinator spatial arrangement

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) allows efficient biological confinement of transgenes if pollen-mediated gene flow has to be reduced or eliminated. For introduction of CMS maize in agricultural practice, sufficient yields comparable with conventional systems should be achieved. The plus-cultivar-system in maize offers a possibility for biological confinement together with high and stable yields whereas pollinator amount and distribution within the CMS crop is crucial. The aim of this EU-funded study was to identify the best proportion (10, 15, and 20%) and spatial arrangement (inserted rows, mixed seeds) of the pollinator within the CMS maize cultivar under field conditions in the Czech Republic, in Germany and in Spain. In Germany and in the Czech Republic, a pollinator proportion of 10% produced significantly lower yield than the treatments with a pollinator proportion of 15% and 20%. Differences in yield between row and mix arrangements were not detected. No differences between the tested arrangements occurred in Spain. With respect to practical conditions, a pollinator proportion of 15% can be recommended for achieving a satisfactory yield. CMS maize cultivar released no or merely a small amount of pollen and self-pollinated plants developed no or only a small number of kernels indicating that currently recommended isolation distances between genetically modified (GM) and non-GM fields can be substantially shortened if the CMS confinement tool is use

Proposed criteria for the evaluation of the scientific quality of mandatory rat and mouse feeding trials with whole food/feed derived from genetically modified plants

In recent years, animal feeding trials conducted with whole food/feed have been a focal issue in the controversy on the safety assessment of genetically modified (GM) plants and derived food/feed. Within the scientific community and among stakeholders, quite different views have been expressed on how these studies should be conducted, analysed and interpreted, what they might add in terms of information relevant to safety and whether 90-day rodent feeding trials should be mandator