I Am No One. No One Is Perfect…Therefore I Am Perfect

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Ascophyllum nodosum extract improves leaf thermoregulation by reducing stomatal sensitivity to VPD in Vitis vinifera L

AbstractClimate change scenarios and the need of sustainable tools to reduce global warming impact on agriculture have led to the formulation of a large number of natural products or biostimulants that should increase plant resilience to abiotic stress. Ascophyllum nodosum (AN) extract is one of the most studied biostimulants to increase tolerance to drought stress, but the physiological mechanism underlying its action is still poorly understood. The aim of the present work was to determine AN extract impact on grapevine gas exchange under well-watered and water stress conditions and to examine its mode of action under stress (light and temperature). AN caused a slight increase in stomatal conductance that resulted in an increase of water plant conductivity to atmosphere. Increased transpiration induced by AN improved leaf thermoregulation, facilitating vine recovery after a stress period. AN increased transpiration through a reduction of stomatal sensitivity to VPD. AN action on stomata regulation indicated that this biostimulant could be a new potential tool to limit leaf damage during events of extreme temperature, even when they are not combined with water stress conditions

Changes in Within-Shoot Carbon Partitioning in Pinot Noir Grapevines Subjected to Early Basal Leaf Removal

Early leaf removal significantly alters the source-sink balance within grapevine shoots, leading to a reduction in fruit set. However, no research has previously examined the conditions controlling this process in terms of carbon allocation among major sink organs following defoliation. In this study, the impact of defoliation at bloom on the distribution dynamics of leaf assimilates among clusters and growing shoot apices was investigated on Vitis vinifera, cv. Pinot noir, grown in Michigan, a cool climate viticultural region. Three levels of defoliation: no leaves removed (LR-0); six leaves removed from six basal nodes (LR-6); and ten leaves removed from ten basal nodes (LR-10), were imposed at full bloom. A 13C pulsing was performed 1 week after the treatment application to the defoliated shoots. Single leaf gas exchange (Pn), diurnal changes of the leaf net CO2 assimilation rate, carbon distribution, fruit-set, yield, and fruit composition were measured. Higher Pn was recorded in diurnal measurements of gas exchange in leaf removal (LR) treatments compared to LR-0. The shoot apex of LR-10 experienced the highest 13C allocation (%) after 3 and 7 days following the carbon pulsing. LR-10 had lower percentage of 13C allocated to clusters, which decreased fruit set by 60%, compared to the control, and enhanced the concentration of phenolic compounds in fruit. Alteration of carbon portioning among shoot sink organs indicated that an increasing severity of leaf removal significantly reduced fruit set, and was linearly correlated to shoot apex sink strength, which occurred at the expense of the cluster

Effects of a new arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Glomus iranicum) on grapevine development

During the spring of 2016, one-year-old own-rooted and 3-year-old grafted vines of cv. Sangiovese were treated with MycoUp, a formulation based on a recently identified mycorrhizal fungus, Glomus iranicum var. tenuihypharum sp. nova. The results are showing an impact on the development of the root system of the two different vine groups. The treated root systems were more expanded and able to explore a higher volume of soil. We observed a significant increase in total root volume and the volume of the soil explored by the entire root system, suggesting a more efficient use of water and nutrients, phosphorus in particular, with the potential of better overcoming periods of water stress

Percutaneous Laser Thermal Ablation in a Patient with 22 Liver Metastases from Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours: A Case Report

The relatively indolent nature of well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumours (NET) and their proclivity to be hormonally active warrants aggressive multimodal treatment, even for advanced stage disease. Good results have been reported in well-selected patients with a median of 23 liver metastases (LM) from NET treated with surgical resection combined with intraoperative radiofrequency ablation. We report the case of a patient who underwent percutaneous laser thermal ablation (LTA) of 22 small LM from NET, treated over three consecutive sessions. After 2 years, five new LM were detected and treated with LTA. At present, 82 months after the first LTA session, the patient is still alive and disease-free. Due to enabling the use of one to four optical fibres at once to tailor the thermal lesion size to the nodule size, LTA could represent the ablation technique of choice in the presence of multiple, small, and variably sized LM

Yield in almond is related more to the abundance of flowers than the relative number of flowers that set fruit

Almond tree yield is a function of the number of flowers on a tree and the percentage of flowers that set fruit. Almonds are borne on spurs (short proleptic shoots that can have both leaves and flowers). Almond tree spur dynamics research has documented that previous year spur leaf area is a predictive parameter for year-to-year spur survival, spur flowering and to a lesser extent spur fruiting, while previous year fruit bearing has a negative impact on subsequent year flowering. However, a question remained about whether yields are more dependent on flower numbers or relative fruit set of the flowers that are present. The aim of the present work was to compare the importance of flower abundance with that of relative fruit set in determining the productivity of a population of tagged spurs in almond trees over a 6-year period. Overall tree yield among years was more sensitive to total number of flowers on a tree rather than relative fruit set. These results emphasize the importance of maintaining large populations of healthy flowering spurs for sustained high production in almond orchards

Thermal Ablation of Liver Tumours: How the Scenario Has Changed in the Last Decade

Surgical resection has long been considered the gold standard for the local treatment of primary and secondary liver tumours. Until recent years, percutaneous thermal ablation (PTA), in particular radiofrequency ablation (RFA), was not accepted as a first-line option for the treatment of liver tumours and was reserved for patients who were unsuitable for surgery. However, in the last decade the scenario has changed: interesting technical developments and innovations have improved the performance of RFA and broadened the availability of other ablative technologies, such as microwave ablation (MWA) and laser ablation (LA). The latest generation of MWA systems can achieve larger ablation areas than RFA and LA, with a multifibre technique that uses very thin needles, allowing physicians to treat nodules in at-risk locations with high flexibility and a very low risk ofcomplications. Nowadays, there is an increasingly accepted consensus on the role of PTA as a first-line option for the treatment of liver tumours <2 cm in size, as well as in patients potentially eligible for surgery, and it is likely that in the near future the 2 cm barrier could also be surpassed and extended to at least 3 cm. PTA is becoming more effective and important in the treatment of primary and secondary liver tumours, and, in the well-established scenario of a multimodal tailoredtreatment, it plays and will continue to play a central role. The aim of this paper is to examine the current role of PTA in such a scenario, focussing on advantages and limitations of the three available ablative techniques: RFA, MWA, and LA

Kaolin treatments on Pinot noir grapevines for the control of heat stress damages

The aim of the study was to verify if vineyard kaolin application during the 2017 hot summer could reduce the negative effects of high temperatures and heat stress on canopy physiological processes, yield and fruit quality. The kaolin was applied once at the beginning of August, at 3% concentration, in a Pinot Noir vineyard. The application was performed only to the west side of the rows, where the vines were more subjected to heat stress. The 2017 summer was very hot, with maximum air temperature higher than 35 °C for several consecutive days in June, July and August and with heat waves that reached 42.3 °C in August. The kaolin coating works by significantly reducing leaf temperatures in comparison to untreated vines, with an average of about − 4 °C and up to −6 °C. Moreover, it maintains high the photosynthetic activity preventing irreversible photoinhibition phenomena, whereas untreated vines exhibit a marked physiological damage with chlorotic and necrotic leaves, dehydrated berries and sunburn damages. At harvest, 30-35% of the untreated vines were affected by severe water stress symptoms and produced unmarketable fruits. In comparison to the untreated vines, those sprayed with kaolin showed a higher yield (+27%), higher anthocyanins (+35%) and higher concentration of organic acids (+11%

Carbon partitioning between shoot organs following early leaf removal

In grapevines, basal leaf removal at bloom often induces a reduction of fruit set. The effect is related to a reduction in carbon availability for different plant organs competing for photosynthates. To understand and quantify carbon allocation among major sink organs following the early basal leaf removal, the effect of early basal defoliation was studied in Pinot noir grapevines. The experiment was performed in Michigan, a cool climate viticultural region, and three levels of defoliation were imposed at full bloom: (1) no leaves removed (DF-0); (2) six leaves removed from six basal nodes (DF-6); and (3) ten leaves removed from ten basal nodes (DF-10). A week after the defoliation treatment, 13C pulsing was executed to the defoliated shoots. Photosynthesis (Pn), carbon distribution, fruit set, vine performance and basic fruit composition were measured. LR treatments induced higher Pn when compared to LR-0. The highest 13C allocation (%) was recorded in the shoot apex of the LR-10 treatment and LR-10 had the lowest percentage of 13C transported to the cluster, with a reduced fruit set of about 60% when compared to LR-0. The severity of leaf removal reduced significantly fruit set and increased shoot apex sink strength at the expense of the cluster

Carbon partitioning between shoot organs following early leaf removal

In grapevines, basal leaf removal at bloom often induces a reduction of fruit set. The effect is related to a reduction in carbon availability for different plant organs competing for photosynthates. To understand and quantify carbon allocation among major sink organs following the early basal leaf removal, the effect of early basal defoliation was studied in Pinot noir grapevines. The experiment was performed in Michigan, a cool climate viticultural region, and three levels of defoliation were imposed at full bloom: (1) no leaves removed (DF-0); (2) six leaves removed from six basal nodes (DF-6); and (3) ten leaves removed from ten basal nodes (DF-10). A week after the defoliation treatment, 13C pulsing was executed to the defoliated shoots. Photosynthesis (Pn), carbon distribution, fruit set, vine performance and basic fruit composition were measured. LR treatments induced higher Pn when compared to LR-0. The highest 13C allocation (%) was recorded in the shoot apex of the LR-10 treatment and LR-10 had the lowest percentage of 13C transported to the cluster, with a reduced fruit set of about 60% when compared to LR-0. The severity of leaf removal reduced significantly fruit set and increased shoot apex sink strength at the expense of the cluster