75 research outputs found

    A DIGE proteomic analysis of wheat flag leaf treated with TERRA-SORB® foliar, a free amino acid high content biostimulant

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    The flag leaf is the most important source of carbohydrate during wheat kernel filling. Around a 75% of all sugars stored in the kernel come from carbon fixed by this leaf. Terra-Sorb® foliar is an L-α-amino acid-based product from enzymatic hydrolysis for foliar application with a high ratio of free to total amino acids. Previous agronomical studies carried out on grassy, horticultural and tree crops have shown that the application of Terra-Sorb® increases photosynthetic plant activity and chlorophyll content, promotes rapid recovery from stress and improves fruit set. In this work, we have undertaken a proteomic approach to explore molecular mechanisms potentially involved in the stimulating effect of Terra-Sorb® Foliar on wheat yield when applied in commercial fields. Wheat plants at the flag leaf stage were treated, and a DIGE approach was used to compare the proteomes of treated vs. control plants in four biological replicates. Thirty-seven protein spots were found to change in abundance (ANOVA p<0.05) out of which 8 were down-regulated and 29 up-regulated in treated leaves. Twenty protein spots (1.2<fold change <1.9) encoded by 11 different genes were successfully identified by nLC-ESI-MS/MS and NCBInr database search. The deregulated proteins identified were mainly related to the life cycle of Rubisco. Importantly, two proteins involved in the positive regulation of Rubisco activity, namely Rubisco activase, and the large subunit of Rubisco binding protein, were found up-regulated in treated plants, suggesting a better performance of Rubisco. Down-regulated proteins were of metabolic and anti-stress enzymes, including Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase that protects photosystem 11 from photooxidation. In conclusion, significant changes were shown to occur in the wheat flag leaf proteome upon Terra-Sorb® Foliar application. The deregulated proteins identified are directly or indirectly involved in the C02 fixation which may correlate with the known stimulating effect of Terra-Sorb® Foliar of wheat yield, although further functional experiments are needed to validate the proposed hypothesis.This work was supported by Bioibérica, S.A. MJME acknowledged a grant contract from Fundación CajaMurcia-Universidad de Alicante

    Evaluación del modelo de capacidades dinámicas en el sector ovino de Castilla-La Mancha (España)

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    The production of sheep's milk in Castilla-La Mancha is of great importance both economically and socially. The Manchegan sheep plays a key role in the conservation of the environment since it acts preventively with respect to fires and contributes to the sustainability of the population and the development of rural areas. At the same time, it must face a globalized word with changing consumer tastes. This research is a qualitative validation of quantitative elements for the measurement of capabilites that can be found in the published model of dynamic capacities in the dairy sheep industry. The valuation provided by experts empowers the reliability of this model. The Delphi method was applied to a panel of 107 experts in the Manchego dairy sheep industry. About 46 % of the experts come from the academic environment with accredited transfer in the sector in a period of at least 5 years, and 54 % are managers, workers and professionals who advise this sector in a period of at least 5 years. In addition, equity has been maintained from a gender perspective. Persons consulted a 56 % of the indicators identified in the model have been ratified, and an explanation for 77 % of the differences identified has been provided. The study concludes with a favorable evaluation after analyzing the differences detected. This model is useful for establishing actions to strengthen the competitive position of the farms.La producción de leche de oveja en Castilla-La Mancha tiene una gran importancia, tanto a nivel económico como social. La oveja manchega juega un papel relevante en la conservación del medioambiente, dado que actúa de forma preventiva con respecto a los incendios y contribuye a la sostenibilidad de la población y el desarrollo de las zonas rurales. Al mismo tiempo, debe enfrentarse a un mundo globalizado con los gustos cambiantes de los consumidores. Esta investigación es una validación cualitativa de los elementos cuantitativos para la medición de capacidades que pueden encontrarse en el modelo publicado de capacidades dinámicas en el sector ovino lechero y, desde una perspectiva profesional, al someterlo a la opinión de personas expertas se aporta valoración profesional a este modelo. Se ha aplicado el método Delphi a un panel de 107 personas expertas en el ámbito de producción animal del sector ovino lechero manchego, siendo un requisito conocer profesionalmente las explotaciones de dicho sector en Castilla-La Mancha. Un 46 % de los expertos proceden del entorno académico con transferencia avalada en el sector, en un periodo de al menos cinco años y donde un 54 % son gerentes, trabajadores y profesionales que asesoran a este sector en un periodo similar. Además, se ha mantenido la equidad desde una perspectiva de género. Las personas consultadas ratificaron en un 56 % los indicadores identificados en el modelo y se encontró una explicación al 77 % de las diferencias identificadas. El estudio concluye con una evaluación favorable tras analizar las diferencias detectadas, donde además, este modelo avalado por expertos es de utilidad para establecer acciones tendentes a reforzar la posición competitiva de las explotaciones

    Revisión de la medición de capacidades dinámicas: una propuesta de indicadores para el sector ovino

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    The sheep industry is one of the leading sectors in the Castilla-La Mancha economy in Spain. It occupied the fourth position in the European context in 2017. The income of this sector stems mainly from the sale of milk and derived products with PDO (protected designation of origin) as the “Manchego cheese” that generated 61.21  % of the economic value of the PDO products in Spain during 2016. However, nowadays these farms need to develop management skills to improve their competitiveness as they suffer from lack of adequate managerial performance. These circumstances joined to the fall in the prices of milk used for PDO and the increase in the cost of animal feed is generating viability problems. Considering the above, the aim of this research consisted in identifying a group of indexes that allow measuring dynamic capabilities in the sheep industry. From the methodological perspective, a revision of the academic literature in dynamic capabilities was carried out, and specific potential indicators for the sheep management industry have been identified to measure these capabilities. As a result, 54 indicators have been identified and justified to measure different kinds of capabilities. To conclude, it should be noted that these indicators constitute a standard for managers to measure, diagnose and make decisions focused towards improving farm management.El sector ovino es uno de los principales sectores que impulsan la economía en Castilla-La Mancha. Así, en 2016 la denominación de origen protegida (dop) “queso manchego” generó el 61,21 % del valor económico de los productos con denominación de origen en toda España. Sin embargo, actualmente las explotaciones adolecen de un adecuado desempeño gerencial que, unido a la caída en el precio de la leche destinada a la dop y el aumento en el coste de alimentación del ganado, está generando problemas de viabilidad. Teniendo en cuenta esta problemática, el objetivo de este trabajo consiste en identificar un conjunto de indicadores que permitan medir capacidades dinámicas en el sector ovino. Desde la perspectiva metodológica, se ha realizado una revisión de la literatura en capacidades dinámicas y se han determinado potenciales indicadores propios de la gestión ovina que permitan medir dichas capacidades. Como resultado, se han identificado y justificado 54 indicadores para medir los distintos tipos de capacidades. A modo de conclusión, estos indicadores constituyen un referente para que los gerentes puedan medir, diagnosticar y tomar decisiones de mejora en la gestión de sus granjas

    Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the open Mediterranean Sea. II: Basin-wide distribution and drivers of fluorescent DOM

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    Research articleFluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) in the Mediterranean Sea was analysed by excitation–emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy and parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis during the cruise HOTMIX 2014. A 4–component model, including 3 humic–like and 1 protein–like compounds, was obtained. To decipher the environmental factors that dictate the distributions of these components, we run generalized additive models (GAMs) in the epipelagic layer and an optimum multiparametric (OMP) water masses analysis in the meso– and bathypelagic layers. In the epipelagic layer, apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) and temperature presented the most significant effects on the variability of the marine humic-like peak M fluorescence, suggesting that its distribution was controlled by the net community respiration of organic matter and photobleaching. On the contrary, the variability of the soil humic-like peak E and the protein–like peak T fluorescence was explained mainly by the prokaryotic heterotrophic abundance, which decreased eastwards. In the meso– and bathypelagic layers, water mass mixing and basin–scale mineralization processes explained >72% and 63% of the humic–like and protein–like fluorescence variability, respectively. When analysing the two basins separately, the OMP model offered a better explanation of the distribution of fluorescence in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, as expected from the reduced biological activity in this ultra–oligotrophic basin. Furthermore, while western Mediterranean deep waters display the usual trend in the global ocean (increase of humic–like fluorescence and decrease of protein–like fluorescence with higher AOU values), the eastern Mediterranean deep waters presented an opposite trend. Different initial fluorescence intensities of the water masses that mix in the eastern basin, with Adriatic and Aegean origins, seem to be behind this contrasting pattern. The analysis of the transect–scale mineralization processes corroborate this hypothesis, suggesting a production of humic–like and a consumption of protein–like fluorescence in parallel with water mass ageing. Remarkably, the transect–scale variability of the chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) absorbing at the excitation wavelength of the humic–like peak M indicates an unexpected loss with increasing AOU, which suggests that the consumption of the non–fluorescent fraction of CDOM absorbing at that wavelength exceeded the production of the fluorescent fraction observed hereProject HOTMIX (reference CTM2011–30010–C02 01–MAR and 02–MAR), co–financed with FEDER funds (re ference BES–2012–056175) ; the project MODMED from CSIC (PIE, 201730E020) and the project FERMIO (MINECO, CTM2014–57334–JIN), co–financed with FEDER fundsVersión del editor3,26

    Nuevo cultivar con frutos y sépalos convertidos en frutos de alto interés para su consumo fresco y procesado industrial

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    Número de publicación: 2 341 527 21 Número de solicitud: 200900003 51 Int. Cl.: C12N 15/82 (2006.01) A01H 5/00 (2006.01Nuevo cultivar con frutos y sépalos convertidos en frutos de alto interés para su consumo fresco y procesado industrial. En la presente invención se describen secuencias de nucleótidos capaces de incrementar la expresión de un gen de desarrollo reproductivo lo que tiene como resultado la generación de cultivares con un fruto de alto interés para su consumo fresco y procesado industrial caracterizado por poseer características mejoradas respecto de los cultivares conocidos de variedades comerciales. Estos nuevos cultivares tienen el cáliz de la flor carnoso y convertido en fruto. El fruto verdadero y el cáliz tienen mayores niveles de azúcares y licopeno y un mayor contenido en grados Brix. Además, exhiben una mayor tasa de cuajado de fruto y tienen inhibida la zona de abscisión del fruto, lo que facilita la recolección mecánica.Universidad de Almerí

    Nomophobia in university students during COVID-19 outbreak: a cross-sectional study

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    Introduction: Currently, access to the Internet through smartphones has led to their functions going beyond purely communicative ones, allowing the management of massive, instantaneous, and easily accessible information. This research analyzed the differences in smartphone use and the prevalence of nomophobia, mainly according to gender and university degree of Health Sciences students at the University of Zaragoza during the COVID-19 confinement in Spain. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 318 first and second-grade students, who completed an online questionnaire sent to their institutional email, which included sociodemographic questions, other questions about smartphone use, and the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) scale. Results: Compared to men (n = 58), women (n = 260) were more likely to use their smartphones more intensively daily, as were occupational therapy students compared to the other degree programs studied. The prevalence of nomophobia was moderate, being around the risk of suffering from it. No significant differences in scores for nomophobia among students were found according to gender, university degree, or population nucleus for the nomophobia scores of the students. Discussion: The present study extends the existing literature on nomophobia by providing results of interest in terms of gender and the exceptional healthcare context of COVID-19. The results suggest that despite intense daily smartphone use young people did not reach severe nomophobia figures. This fact underlines the need for appropriate and healthy technology education. Understanding the characteristics of the populations that use the smartphone the most may help to analyze nomophobia rates and the massive use of the device
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