Pseudothionin-St1. A potato peptide active against potato pathogens.

A 5-kDa polypeptide, pseudothionin Solanum tuberosum 1(Pth-St1), which was active against Clavibacter michiganensis subspecies sepedonicus, a bacterial pathogen of potatoes, has been purified from the buffer-insoluble fraction of potato tubers by salt extraction and HPCL. Pth-St1 was also active against other potato pathogens tested (Pseudomonas solanacearum and Fusarium solani). The N-terminal amino acid sequence of this peptide was identical (except for a N/H substitution at position 2) to that deduced from a previously reported cDNA sequence (EMBL accession number X-13180), which had been misclassified as a Bowman-Birk protease inhibitor. Pth-St1 did not inhibit either trypsin or insect α-amylase activities, and, in contrast with true thionins, did not affect cell-free protein synthesis or β-glucuronidase activity. Northern-blot and tissue-print analyses showed that steady-state mRNA levels were highest in flowers (especially in petals), followed by tubers (especially in the epidermal cell layers and in leaf primordia), stems and leaves. Infection of leaves with a bacterial pathogen suspended in 10 mM MgCl2 switched off the gene, whereas mock inoculation with 10 mM MgCl2 alone induced higher mRNA levels

Programa de videos didácticos en la expresión y comprensión oral del inglés con estudiantes de primero de secundaria de Monsefú

Los videos cumplen un rol muy importante al momento de impartir sesiones de inglés, porque llama la atención e interés de los alumnos de forma rápida ayudando a que sus habilidades mejoren. Es importante recalcar que el docente es la persona responsable de determinar los tiempos para el manejo del video dentro de las actividades a desarrollarse en clases, obteniendo resultados positivos de aprendizaje a diferencia de los métodos que la enseñanza tradicional ha utilizado, el vídeo capta la atención de los alumnos que es lo más importante en el proceso de aprendizaje. Es importante tomar en cuenta las competencias de comprensión y expresión oral; producción y comprensión de textos en el inglés. Es que se decidió apoyarse en estos recursos tecnológicos como es el uso de videos didácticos para lograr su adquisición de una manera adecuada el cual facilita la preparación de diferentes actividades para que el estudiante adquiera un aprendizaje significativo, es por ello que la presente investigación tiene como objetivo general la aplicación de videos didácticos para mejorar la comprensión oral en el idioma inglés. Este estudio se sustentó metodológicamente en el método científico que consiste en una serie de pasos que se siguen para alcanzar conocimiento de forma sistemática y ordenada. La investigación desarrollada es cualitativa, para lo cual se diseñó un programa basado en videos didácticos. La población estuvo conformada por 21 estudiantes del Primer grado de secundaria de la Institución Educativa Carlos Weiss de Monsefú, para lo cual la hipótesis planteada fue “Si se usa un programa basado en videos como recurso didáctico entonces se mejorará significativamente la expresión y comprensión oral en el aprendizaje del idioma Inglés en los estudiantes del Primer Grado de Educación Secundaria de la Institución Educativa Particular Carlos Weiss de Monsefú

El trap es poesía: desencorsetando la poesía

La poesía suele generar ciertos recelos en un segmento grande de la población, y de igual manera, esta circunstancia se ve reflejada en las aulas, donde el alumnado tiende a comenzar el aprendizaje de esta disciplina literaria con grandes prejuicios. La presentación de la poesía como un espacio lúdico y libre, y la enseñanza de dicha expresión literaria con cuidado y contemporaneidad, son los pilares de este Trabajo Fin de Máster, que presenta una propuesta didáctica dirigida al alumnado de 1º ESO con el objetivo de hacer de los y las alumnas lectores y poetas.<br /

Virgin olive phenolic profile as a result of the anabolic and catabolic enzymes status in the olive fruit

XXVIII International Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People (IHC2010): Olive Trends Symposium - From the Olive Tree to Olive Oil: New Trends and Future ChallengesThe demand for high quality virgin olive oil (VOO) may be attributed to its potential health benefits related to protection against cancer and cardiovascular diseases and also to its extraordinary organoleptic properties. It is well established that phenolic compounds have a direct influence on both factors, as antioxidants they provide important nutritional benefits, and additionally, some of them are associated with the bitter and pungent sensory notes of the oil. VOO phenolic profile may be affected by multiple preharvest and postharvest factors. In this sense, though processing technology may severely affect VOO quality, it is clear that most quality attributes of the oil are determined by the chemical composition and biochemical status of the olive fruit. Thus, the content of the main hydrophilic phenols found in VOO is closely related to the activity of enzymes hydrolyzing the main phenolic glycosides initially present in the olive tissue and the pool of enzymes, associated to the oxidative catabolism, acting both on those glycosides and on the derived hydrophilic phenols. Management of VOO phenolic profile requires a deeper knowledge on the anabolic and catabolic enzymes features in the olive fruit and the activity pattern of these enzymes during the industrial process to obtain this product.This work was supported by Research Project AGL2008-00258 from Programa Nacional de Recursos y Tecnologías Alimentarias funded by the Spanish Government.Peer Reviewe

Truncated distributions of valuation multiples: an application to European food firms

[EN] Company valuation is increasingly used in company management for various purposes. However, in Spain, information that is useful for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is non-existent. In order to broaden this information, a mass model for valuation of companies is proposed to enable valuation multiples to be obtained. This model has been applied to SMEs in the food sector in Spain. However, the asymmetry of the distributions obtained causes an upwards bias of the mean multiples and makes it difficult to establish statistically significant differences between the distributions. To solve this problem, an algorithm to eliminate outliers has been designed which enables the most probable range of values to be obtained for each multiple. The multiples obtained are compared with the multiples for European food companies listed on the stock market, revealing statistically significant differences.Ribal Sanchis, FJ.; Blasco Ruiz, A.; Segura García Del Río, B. (2009). Truncated distributions of valuation multiples: an application to European food firms. International Journal of Mathematics in Operational Research. 1(4):419-432. doi:10.1504/IJMOR.2009.026275S4194321

Snakin-1, a Peptide from Potato That Is Active Against Plant Pathogens

A new type of antimicrobial peptide, snakin-1 (SN1), has been isolated from potato tubers and found to be active, at concentrations <10 uM, against bacterial and fungal pathogens from potato and other plant species. The action of SN1 and potato defensin PTH1 was synergistic against the bacterium Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus and additive against the fungus Botrytis cinérea. Snakin-1 causes aggregation of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The peptide has 63 amino acid residues (Mr 6,922), 12 of which are cysteines, and is unrelated to any previously isolated protein, although it is homologous to amino acid sequences deduced from cloned cDNAs that encode gibberellin-inducible mRNAs and has some sequence motifs in common with kistrin and other hemotoxic snake venoms. A degenerate oligonucleotide probé based on the internal sequence CCEECKC has been used to clone an SN1 cDNA. With the cDNA used as probé, one copy of the StSNl gene per haploid genome has been estimated and expression of the gene has been detected in tubers, stems, axillary buds, and young floral buds. Expression levéis in petáis and carpels from fully developed flowers were much higher than in sepáis and stamens. The expression pattern of gene StSNl suggests that protein SN1 may be a component of constitutive defense barriers, especially those of storage and reproductive plant organs

Developmental Sex Differences in the Metabolism of Cardiolipin in Mouse Cerebral Cortex Mitochondria

Cardiolipin (CL) is a mitochondrial-specific phospholipid. CL content and acyl chain composition are crucial for energy production. Given that estradiol induces CL synthesis in neurons, we aimed to assess CL metabolism in the cerebral cortex (CC) of male and female mice during early postnatal life, when sex steroids induce sex-dimorphic maturation of the brain. Despite the fact that total amount of CL was similar, its fatty acid composition differed between males and females at birth. In males, CL was more mature (lower saturation ratio) and the expression of the enzymes involved in synthetic and remodeling pathways was higher, compared to females. Importantly, the sex differences found in CL metabolism were due to the testosterone peak that male mice experience perinatally. These changes were associated with a higher expression of UCP-2 and its activators in the CC of males. Overall, our results suggest that the perinatal testosterone surge in male mice regulates CL biosynthesis and remodeling in the CC, inducing a sex-dimorphic fatty acid composition. In male’s CC, CL is more susceptible to peroxidation, likely explaining the testosterone-dependent induction of neuroprotective molecules such as UCP-2. These differences may account for the sex-dependent mitochondrial susceptibility after perinatal hypoxia/ischemia

High conservation among sequences encoding type-V thionins in wheat and Aegilops

Thionins are Cys-rich plant polypeptides of about 5 kD that are synthesized as larger precursors, which include a typical signal peptide and a posttranslationally processed, C-terminal peptide, and are thought to be involved in plant defense (García-Olmedo et al., 1989, 1991, 1992). We have previously reported on a nove1 neutral thionin type in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), designated type V, which has diverged extensively from type I by a process of acceler- ated evolution specially affecting the mature protein do- main of the precursor (Castagnaro et al., 1992). It was further shown that type-V genes were located within a few kilobases of type-I genes in the long arms of group-1 chro- mosomes in the three genomes (ABD) of allohexaploid wheat and that both types were simultaneously ex- pressed in endosperm (Castagnaro et al., 199

Degradation of phenanthrene by Novosphingobium sp. HS2a improved plant growth in PAHs-contaminated environments

At the same time that the European Union (EU) policy recommend to direct efforts towards reductions of heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mining residues, there is the need to increase the cultivable areas within Europe to cope with the increasing demands for food and energy crops. Bioremediation is a good technique for the restoration of contaminated soils; however, it has not been used extensively because of the variability of the outcome. This variability is frequently due to a bad establishment of foreign degrading populations in soil. We have demonstrated that Novosphingobium sp. HS2aR (i) is able to compete with other root colonizers and with indigenous bacteria, (ii) is able to establish in high numbers in the contaminated environments and (iii) is able to remove more than 90 % of the extractable phenanthrene in artificially contaminated soils. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that the capacity to remove phenanthrene is linked to the ability to promote plant growth in contaminated environments. The fact that the presence of Novosphingobium sp. HS2aR improves the growth of plants in contaminated soil suggests that it may be a useful strain for utilization in amelioration of soil quality while improving the growth of economically important energy crops, thus adding value to the bioremediation strategy.Fil: Rodriguez Conde, Sara. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Estación Experimental del Zaidín; EspañaFil: Molina, Lázaro. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Estación Experimental del Zaidín; EspañaFil: González, Paola Solange. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales; Argentina. Centro de Investigaciones Cientificas ; Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicas y Naturales ; Universidad Nacional de Cordoba;Fil: García Puente, Alicia. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Estación Experimental del Zaidín; EspañaFil: Segura, Ana. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Estación Experimental del Zaidín; Españ

Comparison of Two Stationary Phases for the Determination of Phytosterols and Tocopherols in Mango and Its By-Products by GC-QTOF-MS

Two different gas chromatography coupled to quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (GC-QTOF-MS) methodologies were carried out for the analysis of phytosterols and tocopherols in the flesh of three mango cultivars and their by-products (pulp, peel, and seed). To that end, a non-polar column ((5%-phenyl)-methylpolysiloxane (HP-5ms)) and a mid-polar column (crossbond trifluoropropylmethyl polysiloxane (RTX-200MS)) were used. The analysis time for RTX-200MS was much lower than the one obtained with HP-5ms. Furthermore, the optimized method for the RTX-200MS column had a higher sensibility and precision of peak area than the HP-5ms methodology. However, RTX-200MS produced an overlapping between β-sitosterol and Δ5-avenasterol. Four phytosterols and two tocopherols were identified in mango samples. As far as we are concerned, this is the first time that phytosterols have been studied in mango peel and that Δ5-avenasterol has been reported in mango pulp. α- and γ-tocopherol were determined in peel, and α-tocopherol was the major tocopherol in this fraction (up to 81.2%); however, only α-tocopherol was determined in the pulp and seed. The peel was the fraction with the highest total concentration of phytosterols followed by seed and pulp, and “Sensación” was the cultivar with the highest concentration of total phytosterols in most cases. There were no significant differences between quantification of tocopherols with both columns. However, in most cases, quantification of phytosterols was higher with RTX-200MS than with HP-5ms column