Macroevolutionary Patterns In The Evolutionary Radiation Of Archosaurs (Tetrapoda: Diapsida)

The rise of archosaurs during the Triassic and Early Jurassic has been treated as a classic example of an evolutionary radiation in the fossil record. This paper reviews published studies and provides new data on archosaur lineage origination, diversity and lineage evolution, morphological disparity, rates of morphological character change, and faunal abundance during the Triassic–Early Jurassic. The fundamental archosaur lineages originated early in the Triassic, in concert with the highest rates of character change. Disparity and diversity peaked later, during the Norian, but the most significant increase in disparity occurred before maximum diversity. Archosaurs were rare components of Early–Middle Triassic faunas, but were more abundant in the Late Triassic and pre-eminent globally by the Early Jurassic. The archosaur radiation was a drawn-out event and major components such as diversity and abundance were discordant from each other. Crurotarsans (crocodile-line archosaurs) were more disparate, diverse, and abundant than avemetatarsalians (bird-line archosaurs, including dinosaurs) during the Late Triassic, but these roles were reversed in the Early Jurassic. There is no strong evidence that dinosaurs outcompeted or gradually eclipsed crurotarsans during the Late Triassic. Instead, crurotarsan diversity decreased precipitously by the end-Triassic extinction, which helped usher in the age of dinosaurian dominance

Arsenic precipitation by an anaerobic arsenic-respiring bacterial strain isolated from the polluted sediments of Orbetello Lagoon, Italy

AIMS: To isolate and characterize an anaerobic bacterial strain from the deeper polluted lagoon sediment able to use as electron acceptors [As(V)] and sulfate (SO4(2-)), using lactate as an electron donor. METHODS AND RESULTS: Methods for isolation from polluted lagoon sediments included anaerobic enrichment cultures in the presence of As(V) and SO4(2-). Reduction of As(V) to As(III) was observed during the growth of the bacterial strain, and the final concentration of As(III) was lower than the initial As(V) one, suggesting the immobilization of As(III) in the yellow precipitate. The precipitate was identified by energy dispersive spectroscopy X-ray as arsenic sulfide. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed rod-shaped bacterial cells embedded in the precipitate, where net-like formations strictly related to the bacterial cells were visible. The surface of the precipitate showed the adhesion of bacterial cells, forming clusters. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) also highlighted precipitates inside the bacterial cells and on their surface. Following 16S rRNA sequencing, the bacterial strain 063 was assigned to the genus Desulfosporosinus. CONCLUSIONS: This study reports, for the first time, the isolation from the polluted lagoon sediments of a strain capable of respiring and using As(V) and SO4(2-) as electron acceptors with lactate as the sole carbon and energy source with the formation of an arsenic sulfide precipitate. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The identification of these properties provides novel insight into the possible use of the anaerobic strain in bioremediation processes and also adds to the knowledge on the biogeochemical cycling of arsenic

Micropropagation supports reintroduction of an apulian artichoke landrace in sustainable cropping systems

Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus L. var. scolymus (L.) Fiori) is a perennial plant of the Aster-aceae’s family native to the Mediterranean basin. Italy has rich artichoke biodiversity, but many landraces are subjected to genetic erosion caused by increasing use of commercial varieties that are more homogenous in production. An Apulian landrace ‘Troianella’ was established in vitro to valorize and provide high-quality material for propagation in nurseries and, subsequently, for cultivation in production fields. The shoot proliferation was tested on four different growth media, adding cytokinin (-6-benzylamminopurine (BAP-0.05 mg L−1 ). Among these, the best results were achieved on MS519-A and BM media in which MS macronutrients were supplemented with additional doses of CaCl2 and MgSO4 (plus 120 mg L−1 and 190 mg L−1, respectively). In vitro root induction was obtained with 10 mg L−1 of Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and 30 g L−1 of sucrose. Plants derived from tissue culture were acclimatized in greenhouse using mycorrhizal symbiosis to increase survival during the acclimatization phase and to improve their performance after transplanting in field. Three arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (Septoglomus viscosum, Funelliformis mosseae, and Symbivit, a commercial mix) were added to a sterile substrate and compared to a sterile control without any AM fungal inocula. After 3 months, the best growth and plant appearance were on substrates with S. viscosum fungus or the commercial mycorrhizal fungi mix. The results supported a development of an efficient micropropagation protocol and a production of high quality plant material for sustainable farming of the endangered ’Troianella’ landrace

Elevated fetal steroidogenic activity in autism

Autism affects males more than females, giving rise to the idea that the influence of steroid hormones on early fetal brain development may be one important early biological risk factor. Utilizing the Danish Historic Birth Cohort and Danish Psychiatric Central Register, we identified all amniotic fluid samples of males born between 1993 and 1999 who later received ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision) diagnoses of autism, Asperger syndrome or PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified) (n=128) compared with matched typically developing controls. Concentration levels of Δ4 sex steroids (progesterone, 17α-hydroxy-progesterone, androstenedione and testosterone) and cortisol were measured with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. All hormones were positively associated with each other and principal component analysis confirmed that one generalized latent steroidogenic factor was driving much of the variation in the data. The autism group showed elevations across all hormones on this latent generalized steroidogenic factor (Cohen's d=0.37, P=0.0009) and this elevation was uniform across ICD-10 diagnostic label. These results provide the first direct evidence of elevated fetal steroidogenic activity in autism. Such elevations may be important as epigenetic fetal programming mechanisms and may interact with other important pathophysiological factors in autism

The DAG1 transcription factor negatively regulates the seed-to-seedling transition in Arabidopsis acting on ABA and GA levels

BACKGROUND: In seeds, the transition from dormancy to germination is regulated by abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellins (GAs), and involves chromatin remodelling. Particularly, the repressive mark H3K27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) has been shown to target many master regulators of this transition. DAG1 (DOF AFFECTING GERMINATION1), is a negative regulator of seed germination in Arabidopsis, and directly represses the GA biosynthetic gene GA3ox1 (gibberellin 3-β-dioxygenase 1). We set to investigate the role of DAG1 in seed dormancy and maturation with respect to epigenetic and hormonal control. RESULTS: We show that DAG1 expression is controlled at the epigenetic level through the H3K27me3 mark during the seed-to-seedling transition, and that DAG1 directly represses also the ABA catabolic gene CYP707A2; consistently, the ABA level is lower while the GA level is higher in dag1 mutant seeds. Furthermore, both DAG1 expression and protein stability are controlled by GAs. CONCLUSIONS: Our results point to DAG1 as a key player in the control of the developmental switch between seed dormancy and germination

Large-scale plant production of lycium barbarum l. By liquid culture in temporary immersion system and possible application to the synthesis of bioactive substance

Goji (Lycium barbarum L.) has recognized nutritive and antioxidant properties and many products are commercialized for health in food market. Besides its food use, goji has been the subject of more than 2000 years of traditional Chinese medicine, using berries, root bark, and leaves. Here, the potential of the liquid culture in temporary immersion system (TIS) by using the bioreactor Plantform™ was tested for the large-scale production of high-quality goji shoots and the subsequent production of total phenols and flavonoids. The three tested immersion cycles differently influenced the shoot quality in terms of proliferation and hyperhydricity. The best immersion cycle (time and frequency) was proven to have the shortest daily immersion time (6 min every 24 h) which ensured good levels of relative growth and multiplication rate, very limited onset of hyperydricity, and the longest shoots, promoting direct rooting after only 30 days of culture. In comparison with the semisolid culture, the TIS culture resulted in an increase of the total phenolic content (TPC) and in a lower value of the total flavonoid content (TFC). However, considering the higher quantity of biomass produced in the Plantform™ bioreactor, the difference in terms of TFC productivity between semisolid medium and TIS liquid culture was proven to be statistically equivalent

Shared decision-making in trauma and emergency surgery settings. A literature review

Emergency teams are made up of professionals of different specialities, including emergency physicians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses. Such units are characterized by the need to face unexpected situations with little time to make clinical decisions. In trauma and emergency settings, clinicians must act in a coordinated way, ensuring, at the same time, proper knowledge transfer and sharing to reach the best possible result for the patient. While such dynamics must be explicit and clear within the team, involving the patient in the decision-making process may require additional tools and procedures. Indeed, the time to engage with the patient and the family to understand the patient’s wishes and treatment preferences may be limited or absent at all. While the so-called shared decision-making (SDM) stands as one of the pillars of the modern patient-centric healthcare scenario, knowledge translation and transfer dynamics may appear particularly challenging in emergency settings. Starting from an investigation of the recent literature on SDM, the paper presents a literature review of the barriers, facilitators, and knowledge translation dynamics of SDM in trauma and emergency surgery. Results assess the importance, tools, and dynamics of SDM processes

Microbial Ecology of Pecorino Siciliano PDO Cheese Production Systems

Pecorino Siciliano PDO is a semi-hard cheese that is produced in wooden vats using raw sheep's milk and its associated autochthonous microbial community. In the present study, we evaluated the microbial ecology of the milk, curd and whey from five Pecorino Siciliano PDO-producing farms in Sicily using a combination of metagenomic and microbiological approaches. We present an overview of the species and strain-level diversity of dairy lactococcal and streptococcal isolates using established genotyping tools and compare the lactic acid bacterial populations present in samples from these farms. Whole genome sequences of representative isolates of Lactococcus spp. and Streptococcus thermophilus were elucidated and the genetic diversity of the strains was established through analysis of predicted phage-resistance systems and prophage-associated regions. The analysis revealed farm-specific dairy lactococcal and streptococcal isolates that possess diverse genotypic features including newly described phage-resistance systems

Sustainable Consumption : Political Economy of Sustainable Food

This book was written with the assistance of Maija Harju, Ruta Jumite, Juuso Kortelainen, Marianna Laine, Shreya Sood and Sonja SorriThe theoretical structure for this textbook and course were developed over the 2 years of the ATARCA project. We worked to develop a means to mitigate the environmental tragedy of the commons associated with climate change. We diagnosed that two problems to be solved are (1) the negligible impact each individual makes on the global atmospheric commons, and (2) the worry that others will not do their part in making sustainable choices. As well, individuals may not have perfect information about the impact of their consumptive choices. The introductory video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgBEQq0laKE&t=2