Phosphoproteomic Analysis of <em>Craterostigma plantagineum </em>upon Abscisic Acid and Desiccation Stress

Studies aimed at understanding the molecular basis of the desiccation tolerance in angiosperms have mainly focused on the South African plant Craterostigma plantagineum. C. plantagineum belongs to the Linderniaceae family, which comprises both desiccation tolerant and sensitive species. A recent study demonstrated the monophyly of the lineage that includes the genera Craterostigma and Lindernia. The ability of two Lindernia species to withstand severe water stress was investigated at the cellular level, leading to the conclusion that the close relatives Lindernia brevidens and Lindernia subracemosa display different phenotypes regarding the ability to survive desiccation: L. brevidens is desiccation tolerant, whereas L. subracemosa is not. The fact that a genus close to the model plant C. plantagineum displays such opposite phenotypes regarding the ability to survive desiccation provides a useful tool for deciphering the complex trait of the desiccation tolerance. This variability was exploited to analyse a candidate protein whose homologue CDeT11-24 of C. plantagineum has been implicated in the desiccation response and is considered to be related to the late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins. The protein sequences of the Lindernia brevidens (Lb11–24) and Lindernia subracemosa (Ls11–24) counterparts were isolated. Sequence analysis identified conserved motifs common to other proteins known as stress responsive. The LEA-like protein CDeT11-24 was reported as one of the major phosphoproteins accumulating upon desiccation in the vegetative tissues of C. plantagineum. The phosphorylation status of the 11-24 proteins was dissected in response to the tissue priming by the plant hormone ABA and by desiccation treatment, revealing that ABA is able to induce the protein synthesis and that desiccation is necessary and sufficient to trigger its phosphorylation. However, the 11-24 homologue of the desiccation sensitive L. subracemosa is not phosphorylated as strongly as the desiccation-tolerant plants. The 11-24 protein is therefore regulated by phosphorylation and its phosphorylation correlates with the ability of the plants to withstand desiccation. The identification of the phosphorylation sites of the three homologues could then provide additional information about the distribution and conservation of the phosphorylatable residues, since they occur in proximity of predicted coiled-coil regions. The particular regulation and distribution of the phosphorylation led to the investigation of the potential interaction partners of the CDeT11-24 protein. An affinity chromatography-based approach could reveal that the CDeT11-24 protein interacts with itself in its unphosphorylated form, providing evidence for a phosphorylation-driven regulation of its oligomerisation. Finally, a more extensive screening was performed to identify protein whose phosphorylation is regulated in response to the ABA and desiccation treatment. In this study an approach based on phosphoprotein enrichment and 2D SDS–PAGE was applied on C. plantagineum callus tissue. Treatment of callus with ABA induces the expression of a set of genes comparable with that activated upon drying in the whole plant. The callus was dried with or without prior ABA treatment, in order to dissect the different contribution of ABA induction and drought stress on phosphoprotein changes. Moreover, the callus tissue presents the advantage of lacking in the photosynthesis-related proteins, which turned to be the main phosphoproteins identified in leaves, with the RuBisCO being the most abundant. This approach provided a list of candidate proteins whose phosphorylation is regulated during the treatments imposed and furnished novel elements involved in the mechanisms of the desiccation tolerance

The Metabolite Transporters of the Plastid Envelope: An Update

The engulfment of a photoautotrophic cyanobacterium by a primitive mitochondria-bearing eukaryote traces back to more than 1.2 billion years ago. This single endosymbiotic event not only provided the early petroalgae with the metabolic capacity to perform oxygenic photosynthesis, but also introduced a plethora of other metabolic routes ranging from fatty acids and amino acids biosynthesis, nitrogen and sulfur assimilation to secondary compounds synthesis. This implicated the integration and coordination of the newly acquired metabolic entity with the host metabolism. The interface between the host cytosol and the plastidic stroma became of crucial importance in sorting precursors and products between the plastid and other cellular compartments. The plastid envelope membranes fulfill different tasks: they perform important metabolic functions, as they are involved in the synthesis of carotenoids, chlorophylls, and galactolipids. In addition, since most genes of cyanobacterial origin have been transferred to the nucleus, plastidial proteins encoded by nuclear genes are post-translationally transported across the envelopes through the TIC–TOC import machinery. Most importantly, chloroplasts supply the photoautotrophic cell with photosynthates in form of reduced carbon. The innermost bilayer of the plastidic envelope represents the permeability barrier for the metabolites involved in the carbon cycle and is literally stuffed with transporter proteins facilitating their transfer. The intracellular metabolite transporters consist of polytopic proteins containing membrane spans usually in the number of four or more α-helices. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that connecting the plastid with the host metabolism was mainly a process driven by the host cell. In Arabidopsis, 58% of the metabolite transporters are of host origin, whereas only 12% are attributable to the cyanobacterial endosymbiont. This review focuses on the metabolite transporters of the inner envelope membrane of plastids, in particular the electrochemical potential-driven class of transporters. Recent advances in elucidating the plastidial complement of metabolite transporters are provided, with an update on phylogenetic relationship of selected proteins

Microstructural and technological optimisation of magnesium alloys

Magnesium is one of the most abundance element in nature, and it's characterised by a lower density than aluminium. These characteristics confer great potential to magnesium alloys, which are so used for specialised applications, like for military purposes and in the aerospace industry. While some magnesium alloys, including the AM60B alloy, are historically associated to high pressure die casting, for such applications the magnesium alloy components are usually produced by the gravity casting process, in order to minimise the defect's content and to achieve better castings' mechanical properties. Due to the fact that the combination of alloy and casting process represents a niche in the foundry processes panorama, in the literature there's a lack of specific contents regarding these issues. Hence the aim to fill the gap by studying these thematics and by looking for innovations in the gravity casting process of magnesium alloys. For these purposes, the overall process was analysed with the support of specific software for the numerical simulation of the casting process, to identify the process criticalities and the optimisable variables. The data so obtained were then used to design and build an experimental casting equipment, for foundry light alloys casting, which was subsequently used for the production of reference steps castings by gravity casting. The geometry of the die was designed considering the typical weight and thicknesses of the components produced by the aerospace industry. With the aim to establish a correlation between the process parameters, the resulting microstructure and the castings' final properties, several reference castings were produced by using an AM60B magnesium alloys, and then analysed. Static tensile tests and metallographic investigations were carried out on the specimens obtained from different thickness steps of these castings, and the data thus collected were subsequently processed and compared with those resulting from the numerical simulation of the whole casting process, allowing to establish a model to predict the castings' final properties by knowing only the process parameters. An operating protocol to produce, to characterise and to estimate the final properties of light alloy castings (produced by gravity casting process) was so defined. It can be used also to treat more complex geometries and it can be easily extended to industr

Is triple-positive serology for Epstein-Barr virus (VCA-IgG, VCA-IgM, EBNA-IgG) a specific feature of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma?

Purpose: We assessed the frequency of triple-positive serology (viral capsid antigen [VCA]-immunoglobulin G [IgG], VCA-immunoglobulin M, Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen-IgG) for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in a small number of patients with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) at disease onset. Methods: Nine patients with newly diagnosed AITL were retrospectively enrolled in the present study. For all of them, EBV serology data were available. Results: Of 9 patients, 7 (77.7%) had a triple-positive serology (VCA-IgG, VCA-IgM, EBNA-IgG ) for EBV. These patients were characterized by bone marrow involvement, high incidence of thrombocytopenia, and poor prognosis according to Revised International Prognostic Index and Prognostic Index for Angioimmunoblastic T-cell Lymphoma scores. Conclusion: Assessment of both viremia and serology for EBV could be useful in patients with clinical and laboratory data suggesting lymphoma diagnosis; furthermore, although our data need to be validated in a larger cohort of patients, triple positivity for EBV serology might help to direct the diagnosis toward AITL

Two cases of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma with concomitant positive serology for acute Epstein-Barr virus infection

TL) is a rare type of peripheral T-celllymphoma. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) isknown to be associated with pathogenesisand histological progression of AITL andthe onset of the disease often mimics aninfectious process. Here we describe twocases of patients with serology for acuteEBV infection at the onset of AITL.IntroductionAngioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphom

INVASIVE FUNGAL INFECTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LYMPHOPROLIFERATIVE DISORDERS IN THE ERA OF TARGET DRUGS

This review summarizes the more recent evidence about epidemiology and risk factors for invasive fungal infections (IFI) in patients affected by Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), indolent Non Hodgkin Lymphoma (iNHL) and Multiple Myeloma (MM). Despite advances in the prognosis and treatment of hematological malignancies in recent years, susceptibility to infection remains a significant challenge to patient care. A large amount of data regarding patients with acute leukemia has been published while little information is available on the incidence of IFI in chronic lymphoproliferative disorders (CLD). New drugs are now available for treatment of lymphoproliferative disorders which may cause suppression of humoral immunity, cellular immunity, and deficiency of white blood cells, increasing the risk for infections which remain the leading cause of mortality in these patients

Biology and Behaviour of Aedes aegypti in the Human Environment: Opportunities for Vector Control of Arbovirus Transmission

Aedes aegypti is a ubiquitous vector of arboviruses mostly in urbanised areas throughout the tropics and subtropics and a growing threat beyond. Control of Ae. aegypti is difficult and costly, and no vaccines are available for most of the viruses it transmits. With practical control solutions our goal, ideally suitable for delivery by householders in affected communities, we reviewed the literature on adult Ae. aegypti biology and behaviour, within and close to the human home, the arena where such interventions must impact. We found that knowledge was vague or important details were missing for multiple events or activities in the mosquito life cycle, such as the duration or location of the many periods when females rest between blood feeding and oviposition. The existing body of literature, though substantial, is not wholly reliable, and evidence for commonly held “facts” range from untraceable to extensive. Source references of some basic information are poor or date back more than 60 years, while other information that today is accepted widely as “fact” is not supported by evidence in the literature. Many topics, e.g., sugar feeding, resting preferences (location and duration), and blood feeding, merit being revisited in new geographical regions and ecological contexts to identify vulnerabilities for exploitation in contro

Dati VIIRS-Nightfire per il monitoraggio del gas flaring in Amazzonia: il caso Yasun\ued

L\u2019estrazione di combustibili fossili \ue8 un\u2019attivit\ue0 che ha ormai raggiunto aree remote ad alta diversit\ue0 biologica e culturale, tra le quali desta gran preoccupazione l\u2019espansione della frontiera petrolifera in Amazzonia occidentale, specialmente nella Riserva della Biosfera Yasun\uec (YBR), uno dei luoghi pi\uf9 biodiversi del pianeta e casa ancestrale degli indigeni Waorani. In prossimit\ue0 di questa zona, gli impatti socio-ambientali diretti e indiretti delle varie fasi dell\u2019estrazione petrolifera sono ampiamente documentati. Tra queste attivit\ue0, la distribuzione spaziale e gli impatti ambientali del gas flaring non sono stati ancora investigati a fondo, anche a causa della mancanza di un sistema di monitoraggio e documentazione delle posizioni dei flare e dei volumi di gas bruciato. Negli ultimi anni si sta assistendo per\uf2 a un\u2019inversione di tendenza, grazie allo sviluppo di vari metodi di monitoraggio da remoto, attraverso l\u2019analisi multispettrale da satellite. Lo scopo di questo studio \ue8 mappare l\u2019attivit\ue0 di gas flaring nell\u2019area dello YBR, analizzando diacronicamente e valutando gli impatti potenziali sia sulla biodiversit\ue0 che sulle comunit\ue0 locali. I dati giornalieri prodotti dalla NOAA da gennaio 2017 a marzo 2018, basate sull\u2019elaborazione di immagini dal sensore \u201cVisible Infrared Imaging Radiometric Suite\u201d del satellite Suomi-SNPP per il monitoraggio delle attivit\ue0 di gas flaring, sono stati analizzati e geoprocessati con dati sulle aree protette e comunit\ue0 indigene. Per il corretto posizionamento dei flare, quando possibile, \ue8 stato fatto riferimento ai dataset annuali della NOAA, per i nuovi flare \ue8 stato usato il centroide delle rilevazioni. I risultati preliminari mostrano la presenza di un nuovo sito di flare nel campo petrolifero Tiputini vicino all\u2019 \u201cArea Nucleo\u201d della YBR; tre flare sono stati rilevati nella zona buffer e 19 nella zona di transizione della YBR. spaziale ha inoltre identificato 6 comunit\ue0 indigene in un raggio di 6 Km dai flare. Questo studio rivela l\u2019enorme potenziale degli open data come Nightfire della NOAA per il monitoraggio di aree remote ad elevata importanza per la conservazione della biodiversit\ue0 e dei territori indigeni