An insertional mutagenesis programme with an enhancer trap for the identification and tagging of genes involved in abiotic stress tolerance in the tomato wild-related species Solanum pennellii

Salinity and drought have a huge impact on agriculture since there are few areas free of these abiotic stresses and the problem continues to increase. In tomato, the most important horticultural crop worldwide, there are accessions of wild-related species with a high degree of tolerance to salinity and drought. Thus, the finding of insertional mutants with other tolerance levels could lead to the identification and tagging of key genes responsible for abiotic stress tolerance. To this end, we are performing an insertional mutagenesis programme with an enhancer trap in the tomato wild-related species Solanum pennellii. First, we developed an efficient transformation method which has allowed us to generate more than 2,000 T-DNA lines. Next, the collection of S. pennelli T0 lines has been screened in saline or drought conditions and several presumptive mutants have been selected for their salt and drought sensitivity. Moreover, T-DNA lines with expression of the reporter uidA gene in specific organs, such as vascular bundles, trichomes and stomata, which may play key roles in processes related to abiotic stress tolerance, have been identified. Finally, the growth of T-DNA lines in control conditions allowed us the identification of different development mutants. Taking into account that progenies from the lines are being obtained and that the collection of T-DNA lines is going to enlarge progressively due to the high transformation efficiency achieved, there are great possibilities for identifying key genes involved in different tolerance mechanisms to salinity and drought

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe

Morphological aspects of Protozoophaga obesa, in capybaras. (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), in captivity. Mercedes, Corrientes, Argentina

El objetivo de éste trabajo es reportar y esclarecer algunos aspectos controvertidos de la morfología externa del nematode Protozoophaga obesa (Diesing 1851) parásito de H. hydrochaeris, empleando microscopio de luz (ML) y microscopio electrónico de barrido (MEB). Se efectuó el diagnóstico coproparasitológico a 14 carpinchos pertenecientes al criadero experimental de la Estación Experimental Agropecuaria del Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Mercedes, Provincia de Corrientes, Argentina. Adicionalmente se practicó la necropsia y prospección parasitológica a dos ejemplares muertos por causas desconocidas. Se hallaron nematodes en el intestino delgado, intestino grueso y ciego. Quince nematodes machos y 15 hembras fueron seleccionados al azar y preparados para su observación al microscopio óptico. Algunos especímenes fueron procesados para su estudio al MEB. Para la identificación específica de los parásitos se utilizaron las claves taxonómicas para nematodes.The aim of this research is to report and clarify some controversial aspects of the external morphology of the nematode Protozoophaga obesa (Diesing 1851) parasite of H. hydrochaeris using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This work was carried out on 14 capybaras subjected to parasitological stool tests. These animals belong to the experimental farm in the Agricultural Experimental Unit of the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, in Mercedes, province of Corrientes, Argentina. A parasitological necropsy was performed on two animals deceased from unknown causes. Nematodes were found in the small intestine, large intestine and cecum. Random samples of 15 male and 15 female helminths were taken and prepared to be observed by light microscopy. Some specimens were processed for SEM. Nematodes taxonomic keys were used for parasitic species identification.Fil: Pino, M. S.. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Santa Cruz, A.. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Comolli, Javier Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sarmiento, Nestor Fabian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Acuña, Miguel. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Odontología; Argentina.; ArgentinaFil: Roux, Juan Pablo. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez, Alfredo Oscar. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; Argentin

Data from: Crop pests and predators exhibit inconsistent responses to surrounding landscape composition

AbstractThe idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win–win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on pests are inconclusive. The observed heterogeneity in species responses to noncrop habitat may be biological in origin or could result from variation in how habitat and biocontrol are measured. Here, we use a pest-control database encompassing 132 studies and 6,759 sites worldwide to model natural enemy and pest abundances, predation rates, and crop damage as a function of landscape composition. Our results showed that although landscape composition explained significant variation within studies, pest and enemy abundances, predation rates, crop damage, and yields each exhibited different responses across studies, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing in landscapes with more noncrop habitat but overall showing no consistent trend. Thus, models that used landscape-composition variables to predict pest-control dynamics demonstrated little potential to explain variation across studies, though prediction did improve when comparing studies with similar crop and landscape features. Overall, our work shows that surrounding noncrop habitat does not consistently improve pest management, meaning habitat conservation may bolster production in some systems and depress yields in others. Future efforts to develop tools that inform farmers when habitat conservation truly represents a win–win would benefit from increased understanding of how landscape effects are modulated by local farm management and the biology of pests and their enemies