Characterization and disruption of the cipC gene in the ochratoxigenic fungus Aspergillus carbonarius

Aspergillus carbonarius is considered the most important ochratoxin A (OTA) producing fungi among those causing OTA contamination in grapes and grape-derived products. CipC is a small protein with unknown function that was previously found to be highly up-regulated in an OTA producer strain of A. carbonarius in comparison to a non OTA producer strain. In this study, cipC was characterized and disrupted via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation in an ochratoxigenic A. carbonarius strain in order to study whether this gene has a role in OTA production. Sequence analysis indicated that the promoter region of cipC contains putative binding sites for transcription factors that regulate the utilization of nutrients, the stress response and detoxification processes, all factors that can influence mycotoxin biosynthesis. Although the {increment}. cipC mutant grew similarly to the wild type strain, the null mutant showed a much higher OTA production. Moreover, when A. carbonarius was grown under the oxidative stress conditions imposed by the presence of hydrogen peroxide, cipC gene expression was up-regulated. These results indicate that cipC is not directly involved in OTA biosynthesis, but sequence analysis of the A. carbonarius cipC gene promoter and the phenotype of the δ cipC disrupted mutant suggests that CipC could be a stress response protein that would be up-regulated concomitantly with OTA production. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.A. Crespo-Sempere was recipient of a FPI fellowship from the Spanish Government. This research was supported by grants AGL2005-00707 and AGL2008-04828-C03-02 from the Spanish Government.Peer Reviewe

Altimetry for the future: Building on 25 years of progress

In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the ‘‘Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

Altimetry for the future: building on 25 years of progress

In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the “Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

Genome, transcriptome, and functional analyses of Penicillium expansum provide new insights into secondary metabolism and pathogenicity

The relationship between secondary metabolism and infection in pathogenic fungi has remained largely elusive. The genus Penicillium comprises a group of plant pathogens with varying host specificities and with the ability to produce a wide array of secondary metabolites. The genomes of three Penicillium expansum strains, the main postharvest pathogen of pome fruit, and one Pencillium italicum strain, a postharvest pathogen of citrus fruit, were sequenced and compared with 24 other fungal species. A genomic analysis of gene clusters responsible for the production of secondary metabolites was performed. Putative virulence factors in P. expansum were identified by means of a transcriptomic analysis of apple fruits during the course of infection. Despite a major genome contraction, P. expansum is the Penicillium species with the largest potential for the production of secondary metabolites. Results using knockout mutants clearly demonstrated that neither patulin nor citrinin are required by P. expansum to successfully infect apples.Work at L.González-Candelas’ lab was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Innovation (Research Grants AGL-2008-04828-C03-02 and AGL2011-30519-C03-01) and by the Generalitat Valenciana, Spain (PROMETEO/2010/010 and PROMETEOII/2014/027). A.-R. Ballester is grateful to CSIC and the European Social Fund for her postdoctoral contract JAE-Doc. C. Selma-Lázaro is recipient of a FPI Predoctoral fellowship from the Spanish MICINN (BES-2012-054595). The T. Gabaldón group research is funded, in part, by a grant from the Spanish ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BIO2012-37161), a Grant from the Qatar National Research Fund grant (NPRP 5-298-3-086), and a grant from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013)/ERC (Grant Agreement n. ERC-2012-StG-310325).Peer Reviewe

Genome, transcriptome, and functional analyses of penicillium expansum provide new insights into secondary metabolism and pathogenicity

The relationship between secondary metabolism and infection in pathogenic fungi has remained largely elusive. The genus Penicillium comprises a group of plant pathogens with varying host specificities and with the ability to produce a wide array of secondary metabolites. The genomes of three Penicillium expansum strains, the main postharvest pathogen of pome fruit, and one Pencillium italicum strain, a postharvest pathogen of citrus fruit, were sequenced and compared with 24 other fungal species. A genomic analysis of gene clusters responsible for the production of secondary metabolites was performed. Putative virulence factors in P. expansum were identified by means of a transcriptomic analysis of apple fruits during the course of infection. Despite a major genome contraction, P. expansum is the Penicillium species with the largest potential for the production of secondary metabolites. Results using knockout mutants clearly demonstrated that neither patulin nor citrinin are required by P. expansum to successfully infect apples. Li et al. ( MPMI-12-14-0398-FI ) reported similar results and conclusions in their recently accepted paper.Work at L. González-Candelas’ lab was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Innovation (Research Grants AGL-2008-04828-C03-02 and AGL2011-30519-C03-01) and by the Generalitat Valenciana, Spain(PROMETEO/2010/010 and PROMETEOII/2014/027). A.-R. Ballester is grateful to CSIC and the European Social Fund for her postdoctoral contract JAE-Doc. C. Selma-Lázaro is recipient of a FPI Predoctoral fellowship from the Spanish MICINN (BES-2012-054595). The T. Gabaldón group research is funded, in part, by a grant from the Spanish ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BIO2012-37161), a Grant from the Qatar National Research Fund grant (NPRP 5-298-3-086), and a grant from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013)/ERC (Grant Agreement n. ERC-2012- StG-310325)