Identification of functional apple scab resistance gene promoters

Apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) is one of the most damaging diseases affecting commercial apple production. Some wild Malus species possess resistance against apple scab. One gene, HcrVf2, from a cluster of three genes derived from the wild apple Malus floribunda clone 821, has recently been shown to confer resistance to apple scab when transferred into a scab-susceptible apple variety. For this proof-of-function experiment, the use of the 35S promoter from Cauliflower mosaic virus was reliable and appropriate. However, in order to reduce the amount of non-plant DNA in genetically modified apple to a minimum, with the aim of increasing genetically modified organism acceptability, these genes would ideally be regulated by their own promoters. In this study, sequences from the promoter region of the three members of the HcrVf gene family were compared. Promoter constructs containing progressive 5′ deletions were prepared and used for functional analyses. Qualitative assessment confirmed promoter activity in apple. Quantitative promoter comparison was carried out in tobacco (Nicotiana glutinosa) and led to the identification of several promoter regions with different strengths from a basal level to half the strength of the 35S promoter from Cauliflower mosaic viru

Neurodevelopmental outcomes of very preterm infants born following early foetal growth restriction with absent end-diastolic umbilical flow

This study aims to assess the impact of time of onset and features of early foetal growth restriction (FGR) with absent end-diastolic flow (AEDF) on pregnancy outcomes and on preterm infants' clinical and neurodevelopmental outcomes up to 2 years corrected age. This is a retrospective, cohort study led at a level IV Obstetric and Neonatal Unit in Bologna, Italy. Pregnant women were eligible if having singleton pregnancies, with no major foetal anomaly detected, and diagnosed with early FGR + AEDF (defined as FGR + AEDF detected before 32 weeks gestation). Early FGR + AEDF was further classified according to time of onset and specific features into very early and persistent (VEP, FGR + AEDF first detected at 20-24 weeks gestation and persistent at the following scans), very early but transient (VET, FGR + AEDF detected at 20-24 weeks gestation and progressively improving at the following scans) and later (LA, FGR + AEDF detected between 25 and 32 weeks gestation). Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes and infant follow-up data were collected and compared among groups. Neurodevelopment was assessed using the revised Griffiths Mental Developmental Scales (GMDS-R) 0-2 years. A regression analysis was performed to identify early predictors of preterm infants' neurodevelopmental impairment. Fifty-two pregnant women with an antenatal diagnosis of early FGR + AEDF were included in the study (16 VEP, 14 VET, 22 LA). Four intrauterine foetal deaths occurred, all in the VEP group (p = 0.010). Compared to LA infants, VEP infants were born with lower gestational age and lower birth weight, had lower arterial cord blood pH and were at higher risk for intraventricular haemorrhage and periventricular leukomalacia (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). At 12 months, VEP infants had worse GMDS-R scores, both in the general quotient (mean [SD] 91.8 [12.4] vs 104.6 [8.7] in LA) and in the performance domain (mean [SD] 93.3 [15.4] vs 108.8 [8.8] in LA). This latter difference persisted at 24 months (mean [SD] 68.3 [17.0] vs 92.9 [17.7] in LA). In multivariate analysis, at 12 months corrected age, PVL was found to be an independent predictor of impaired general quotient, while the features and timing of antenatal Doppler alterations predicted worse scores in the performance domain.Conclusion: Timing of onset and features of early FGR + AEDF might impact differently on neonatal clinical and neurodevelopmental outcomes. Shared awareness of the importance of FGR + AEDF features between obstetricians and neonatologists may offer valuable tools for antenatal counselling and for tailoring pregnancy management and neonatal follow-up in light of specific antenatal and neonatal risk factors

Efficacy of the treatment of developmental language disorder: A systematic review

Background. Language disorder is the most frequent developmental disorder in childhood and it has a significant negative impact on children’s development. The goal of the present review was to systematically analyze the effectiveness of interventions in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) from an evidence-based perspective. Methods. We considered systematic reviews, meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), control group cohort studies on any type of intervention aimed at improving children’s skills in the phono-articulatory, phonological, semantic-lexical, and morpho-syntactic fields in preschool and primary school children (up to eight years of age) that were diagnosed with DLD.We identified 27 full-length studies, 26 RCT and one review. Results. Early intensive intervention in three- and four-year-old children has a positive effect on phonological expressive and receptive skills and acquisitions are maintained in the medium term. Less evidence is available on the treatment of expressive vocabulary (and no evidence on receptive vocabulary). Intervention on morphological and syntactic skills has effective results on expressive (but not receptive) skills; however, a number of inconsistent results have also been reported. Only one study reports a positive effect of treatment on inferential narrative skills. Limited evidence is also available on the treatment of meta-phonological skills. More studies investigated the effectiveness of interventions on general language skills, which now appears as a promising area of investigation, even though results are not all consistent. Conclusions. The effectiveness of interventions over expressive and receptive phonological skills, morpho-syntactic skills, as well as inferential skills in narrative context underscores the importance that these trainings be implemented in children with DLD

QTL dynamics for fruit firmness and softening around an ethylene-dependent polygalacturonase gene in apple (Malus×domestica Borkh.)

Apple fruit are well known for their storage life, although a wide range of flesh softening occurs among cultivars. Loss of firmness is genetically coordinated by the action of several cell wall enzymes, including polygalacturonase (PG) which depolymerizes cell wall pectin. By the analysis of ‘Fuji’ (Fj) and ‘Mondial Gala’ (MG), two apple cultivars characterized by a distinctive ripening behaviour, the involvement of Md-PG1 in the fruit softening process was confirmed to be ethylene dependent by its transcript being down-regulated by 1-methylcyclopropene treatment in MG and in the low ethylene-producing cultivar Fj. Comparing the PG sequence of MG and Fj, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was discovered. Segregation of the Md-PG1SNP marker within a full-sib population, obtained by crossing Fj and MG, positioned Md-PG1 in the linkage group 10 of MG, co-located with a quantitative trait locus (QTL) identified for fruit firmness in post-harvest ripening. Fruit firmness and softening analysed in different stages, from harvest to post-storage, determined a shift of the QTL from the top of this linkage group to the bottom, where Md-ACO1, a gene involved in ethylene biosynthesis in apple, is mapped. This PG–ethylene-related gene has beeen positioned in the apple genome on chromosome 10, which contains several QTLs controlling fruit firmness and softening, and the interplay among the allelotypes of the linked loci should be considered in the design of a marker-assisted selection breeding scheme for apple texture

Developmental language disorder: Early predictors, age for the diagnosis, and diagnostic tools. A scoping review

Background. Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is frequent in childhood and may have long-term sequelae. By employing an evidence-based approach, this scoping review aims at identifying (a) early predictors of DLD; (b) the optimal age range for the use of screening and diagnostic tools; (c) effective diagnostic tools in preschool children. Methods. We considered systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and primary observational studies with control groups on predictive, sensitivity and specificity values of screening and diagnostic tools and psycholinguistic measures for the assessment of DLD in preschool children. We identified 37 studies, consisting of 10 systematic reviews and 27 primary studies. Results. Delay in gesture production, receptive and/or expressive vocabulary, syntactic comprehension, or word combination up to 30 months emerged as early predictors of DLD, a family history of DLD appeared to be a major risk factor, and low socioeconomic status and environmental input were reported as risk factors with lower predictive power. Optimal time for screening is suggested between age 2 and 3, for diagnosis around age 4. Because of the high variability of sensitivity and specificity values, joint use of standardized and psycholinguistic measures is suggested to increase diagnostic accuracy. Conclusions. Monitoring risk situations and employing caregivers\u2019 reports, clinical assessment and multiple linguistic measures are fundamental for an early identification of DLD and timely interventions

Present and future trends in fruit research

Lecture presented at the International Meeting for the 50th anniversary of the Estación Experimental de Aula Dei, October 1994, Zaragoza.Peer reviewe