Response of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Leaf Surface Defenses to Exogenous Methyl Jasmonate

Helianthus annuus, the common sunflower, produces a complex array of secondary compounds that are secreted into glandular trichomes, specialized structures found on leaf surfaces and anther appendages of flowers. The primary components of these trichome secretions are sesquiterpene lactones (STL), a diverse class of compounds produced abundantly by the plant family Compositae and believed to contribute to plant defense against herbivory. We treated wild and cultivated H. annuus accessions with exogenous methyl jasmonate, a plant hormone that mediates plant defense against insect herbivores and certain classes of fungal pathogens. The wild sunflower produced a higher density of glandular trichomes on its leaves than the cultivar. Comparison of the profiles of glandular trichome extracts obtained by liquid chromatography–mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) showed that wild and cultivated H. annuus were qualitatively similar in surface chemistry, although differing in the relative size and proportion of various compounds detected. Despite observing consistent transcriptional responses to methyl jasmonate treatment, we detected no significant effect on glandular trichome density or LC-MS profile in cultivated or wild sunflower, with wild sunflower exhibiting a declining trend in overall STL production and foliar glandular trichome density of jasmonate-treated plants. These results suggest that glandular trichomes and associated compounds may act as constitutive defenses or require greater levels of stimulus for induction than the observed transcriptional responses to exogenous jasmonate. Reduced defense investment in domesticated lines is consistent with predicted tradeoffs caused by selection for increased yield; future research will focus on the development of genetic resources to explicitly test the ecological roles of glandular trichomes and associated effects on plant growth and fitness

The influence of salinity on the effects of Multi-walled carbon nanotubes on polychaetes

Salinity shifts in estuarine and coastal areas are becoming a topic of concern and are one of the main factors influencing nanoparticles behaviour in the environment. For this reason, the impacts of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) under different seawater salinity conditions were evaluated on the common ragworm Hediste diversicolor, a polychaete species widely used as bioindicator of estuarine environmental quality. An innovative method to assess the presence of MWCNT aggregates in the sediments was used for the first time. Biomarkers approach was used to evaluate the metabolic capacity, oxidative status and neurotoxicity of polychaetes after long-term exposure. The results revealed an alteration of energy-related responses in contaminated polychaetes under both salinity conditions, resulting in an increase of metabolism and expenditure of their energy reserves (lower glycogen and protein contents). Moreover, a concentration-dependent toxicity (higher lipid peroxidation, lower ratio between reduced and oxidized glutathione and activation of antioxidant defences and biotransformation mechanisms) was observed in H. diversicolor, especially when exposed to low salinity. Additionally, neurotoxicity was observed by inhibition of Cholinesterases activity in organisms exposed to MWCNTs at both salinities.publishe

Deoxynivalenol and its toxicity

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of several mycotoxins produced by certain Fusarium species that frequently infect corn, wheat, oats, barley, rice, and other grains in the field or during storage. The exposure risk to human is directly through foods of plant origin (cereal grains) or indirectly through foods of animal origin (kidney, liver, milk, eggs). It has been detected in buckwheat, popcorn, sorgum, triticale, and other food products including flour, bread, breakfast cereals, noodles, infant foods, pancakes, malt and beer. DON affects animal and human health causing acute temporary nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, dizziness, and fever. This review briefly summarizes toxicities of this mycotoxin as well as effects on reproduction and their antagonistic and synergic actions

Molecular Evidence of the Toxic Effects of Diatom Diets on Gene Expression Patterns in Copepods

Diatoms are dominant photosynthetic organisms in the world's oceans and are considered essential in the transfer of energy through marine food chains. However, these unicellular plants at times produce secondary metabolites such as polyunsaturated aldehydes and other products deriving from the oxidation of fatty acids that are collectively termed oxylipins. These cytotoxic compounds are responsible for growth inhibition and teratogenic activity, potentially sabotaging future generations of grazers by inducing poor recruitment in marine organisms such as crustacean copepods.Here we show that two days of feeding on a strong oxylipin-producing diatom (Skeletonema marinoi) is sufficient to inhibit a series of genes involved in aldehyde detoxification, apoptosis, cytoskeleton structure and stress response in the copepod Calanus helgolandicus. Of the 18 transcripts analyzed by RT-qPCR at least 50% were strongly down-regulated (aldehyde dehydrogenase 9, 8 and 6, cellular apoptosis susceptibility and inhibitor of apoptosis IAP proteins, heat shock protein 40, alpha- and beta-tubulins) compared to animals fed on a weak oxylipin-producing diet (Chaetoceros socialis) which showed no changes in gene expression profiles.Our results provide molecular evidence of the toxic effects of strong oxylipin-producing diatoms on grazers, showing that primary defense systems that should be activated to protect copepods against toxic algae can be inhibited. On the other hand other classical detoxification genes (glutathione S-transferase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, cytochrome P450) were not affected possibly due to short exposure times. Given the importance of diatom blooms in nutrient-rich aquatic environments these results offer a plausible explanation for the inefficient use of a potentially valuable food resource, the spring diatom bloom, by some copepod species

Influence of Lag Effect, Soil Release, And Climate Change on Watershed Anthropogenic Nitrogen Inputs and Riverine Export Dynamics

This study demonstrates the importance of the nitrogen-leaching lag effect, soil nitrogen release, and climate change on anthropogenic N inputs (NANI) and riverine total nitrogen (TN) export dynamics using a 30-yr record for the Yongan River watershed in eastern China. Cross-correlation analysis indicated a 7-yr, 5-yr, and 4-yr lag time in riverine TN export in response to changes in NANI, temperature, and drained agricultural land area, respectively. Enhanced by warmer temperature and improved agricultural drainage, the upper 20 cm of agricultural soils released 270 kg N ha(-1) between 1980 and 2009. Climate change also increased the fractional export of NANI to river. An empirical model (R(2) = 0.96) for annual riverine TN flux incorporating these influencing factors estimated 35%, 41%, and 24% of riverine TN flux originated from the soil N pool, NANI, and background N sources, respectively. The model forecasted an increase of 45%, 25%, and 6% and a decrease of 13% in riverine TN flux from 2010 to 2030 under continued development, climate change, status-quo, and tackling scenarios, respectively. The lag effect, soil N release, and climate change delay riverine TN export reductions with respect to decreases in NANI and should be considered in developing and evaluating N management measures

Position Paper on Water, Energy, Food and Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus and Sustainable development Goals (SDGs)

The EU and the international community is realising that the Water, Energy, Food and Ecosystem components are interlinked and require a joint planning in order to meet the daunting global challenges related to Water, Energy and Food security and maintaining the ecosystem health and in this way, reach the SDGs. If not dealt with, the world will not be able to meet the demand for water, energy and food in a not too far future and, in any case, in a not sustainable way. The strain on the ecosystems resulting from unsustainable single-sector planning will lead to increasing poverty, inequality and instability. The Nexus approach is fully aligned with and supportive of the EU Consensus on Development. Key elements of the Consensus will require collaborative efforts across sectors in ways that can be supported/implemented by a Nexus approach. In this way, transparent and accountable decision-making, involving the civil society is key and common to the European Consensus on Development and the Nexus approach. The Nexus approach will support the implementation of the SDG in particular SDG 2 (Food), SDG 6 (Water) and SDG 7 (Energy), but most SDGs have elements that link to food, water and energy in one or other way, and will benefit from a Nexus approach. The SDGs are designed to be cross-cutting and be implemented together, which is also reflected in a WEFE Nexus approach. A Nexus approach offers a sustainable way of addressing the effects of Climate Change and increase resilience. The WEFE Nexus has in it the main drivers of climate change (water, energy and food security) and the main affected sectors (water and the environment). Decisions around policy, infrastructure, … developed based on the WEFE Nexus assessments will be suitable as elements of climate change mitigation and adaptation. In fact, it is difficult to imagine solutions to the climate change issue that are not built on a form of Nexus approach. The Nexus approach is being implemented around the world, as examples in the literature demonstrate. These examples together with more examples from EU and member state development cooperation will help build experience that can be consolidated and become an important contribution to a Toolkit for WEFE Nexus Implementation. From the expert discussions, it appears that because of the novelty of the approach, a Toolkit will be an important element in getting the Nexus approach widely used. This should build on experiences from practical examples of NEXUS projects or similar inter-sectorial collaboration projects; and, there are already policy, regulation and practical experience to allow institutions and countries to start applying the Nexus concept.JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource

A Network Biology Approach Identifies Molecular Cross-Talk between Normal Prostate Epithelial and Prostate Carcinoma Cells

© 2016 The Authors. Published by Public Library of Science. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004884The advent of functional genomics has enabled the genome-wide characterization of the molecular state of cells and tissues, virtually at every level of biological organization. The difficulty in organizing and mining this unprecedented amount of information has stimulated the development of computational methods designed to infer the underlying structure of regulatory networks from observational data. These important developments had a profound impact in biological sciences since they triggered the development of a novel data-driven investigative approach. In cancer research, this strategy has been particularly successful. It has contributed to the identification of novel biomarkers, to a better characterization of disease heterogeneity and to a more in depth understanding of cancer pathophysiology. However, so far these approaches have not explicitly addressed the challenge of identifying networks representing the interaction of different cell types in a complex tissue. Since these interactions represent an essential part of the biology of both diseased and healthy tissues, it is of paramount importance that this challenge is addressed. Here we report the definition of a network reverse engineering strategy designed to infer directional signals linking adjacent cell types within a complex tissue. The application of this inference strategy to prostate cancer genome-wide expression profiling data validated the approach and revealed that normal epithelial cells exert an anti-tumour activity on prostate carcinoma cells. Moreover, by using a Bayesian hierarchical model integrating genetics and gene expression data and combining this with survival analysis, we show that the expression of putative cell communication genes related to focal adhesion and secretion is affected by epistatic gene copy number variation and it is predictive of patient survival. Ultimately, this study represents a generalizable approach to the challenge of deciphering cell communication networks in a wide spectrum of biological systems.Cancer research UK, BBSRC, NI