3,577 research outputs found
Microspore embryogenesis in barley: anther pre-treatment stimulates plant defence gene expression
Microspore embryogenesis (ME) is a process in which the gametophytic pollen programme of the microspore is reorientated towards a new embryo sporophytic programme. This process requires a stress treatment, usually performed in the anther or isolated microspores for several days. Despite the universal use of stress to induce ME, very few studies have addressed the physiological processes that occur in the anther during this step. To further understand the processes triggered by stress treatment, we followed the response of anthers by measuring the expression of stress-related genes in two barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars differing in their ME response. Genes encoding enzymes involved in oxidative stress (glutathione-S-transferase, GST; oxalate oxidase, OxO), in the synthesis of jasmonic acid (13-lipoxygenase, Lox; allene oxide cyclase, AOC; allene oxide synthase, AOS) and in the phenylpropanoid pathway (phenylalanine ammonia lyase, PAL), as well as those encoding PR proteins (Barwin, chitinase 2b, Chit 2b; glucanase, Gluc; basic pathogenesis-related protein 1, PR1; pathogenesis-related protein 10, PR10) were up-regulated in whole anthers upon stress treatment, indicating that anther perceives stress and reacts by triggering general plant defence mechanisms. In particular, both OxO and Chit 2b genes are good markers of anther reactivity owing to their high level of induction during the stress treatment. The effect of copper sulphate appeared to limit the expression of defence-related genes, which may be correlated with its positive effect on the yield of microspor
Image transfer through a chaotic channel by intensity correlations
The three-wave mixing processes in a second-order nonlinear medium can be
used for imaging protocols, in which an object field is injected into the
nonlinear medium together with a reference field and an image field is
generated. When the reference field is chaotic, the image field is also chaotic
and does not carry any information about the object. We show that a clear image
of the object be extracted from the chaotic image field by measuring the
spatial intensity correlations between this field and one Fourier component of
the reference. We experimentally verify this imaging protocol in the case of
frequency downconversion.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure
Exploring the relationship between education and obesity
An epidemic of obesity has been developing in virtually all OECD countries over the last 30 years. Existing evidence provides a strong suggestion that such an epidemic has affected certain social groups more than others. In particular, a better education appears to be associated with a lower likelihood of obesity, especially among women. This paper sheds light on the nature and the strength of the correlation between education and obesity. Analyses of health survey data from Australia, Canada, England, and Korea were undertaken with the aim of exploring this relationship. Social gradients in obesity were assessed across the entire education spectrum, overall and in different population sub-groups. Furthermore, investigations testing for mediation effects and for the causal nature of the links observed were undertaken to better understand the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between education and obesity. © OECD 2011
Experimental status of the isoscalar S wave at low energy: pole and scattering length
The experimental results obtained in the last few years on kaon decays
(K and, above all, Ke4 decays) allow a reliable, model independent
determination of low energy scattering in the S0 wave. Using them and,
eventually, other sets of data, it is possible to give a precise
parametrization of the S0 wave as well as to find the scattering length and
effective range parameter. One can also perform an extrapolation to the pole of
the " resonance" []. We obtain the results
and, for the pole, M_\sigma=484\pm17 \mev,\quad\gammav_\sigma/2=
255\pm10 {\rm MeV}.Comment: Plain TeX;4 figures; improved data used; version to appear in Phys.
Rev.
Texture analysis in an apple progeny through instrumental, sensory and histological phenotyping
Phenotypic analysis of texture traits was performed in an apple progeny by three complementary approaches: two classical instrumental measurements (compression and penetrometry), sensory assessment and histological screening. The progeny was composed of 141 individuals harvested over 2 years. Sensory and instrumental texture were assessed at harvest and after 2 and 4 months of cold storage. Histological screening was performed by combining macro-vision of outer parenchyma sections and image analysis on fruits after 2 months storage. Harvest year was observed to have a major impact on texture phenotypes followed by storage and genetic factors. Principal component analysis of data from the instrumental texture evaluations showed that the two methods complemented each other in characterizing the texture of the apple progeny. Compression parameters correlated better than penetrometry variables with sensory descriptors related to crispness, firmness, and graininess. Cell size distribution differentiated individuals in the apple progeny. It correlated with instrumental texture analyses and with juiciness perception. All measured texture related traits showed that they were all under genetic control with high heritability values. Higher values were obtained for fruits after 2 months storage. These results provide ground for future search of new apple texture QTLs
Labeling of human erythrocyte membrane proteins by photoactivatable radioiodinated phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylserine A search for the aminophospholipid translocase
AbstractWe have synthesized radioiodinated photoactivatable phosphatidylcholine (125-N3-PC) and phosphatidylserine (125I-N3-PS). After incubation with red blood cells in the dark, the labeled PC could be extracted but not the corresponding PS molecule, indicating that the latter was transported by the aminophospholipid translocase, but not the former. When irradiated immediately after incorporation, N3-PS, but not N3-PC, partially blocked subsequent translocation of spin-labeled aminophospholipids. Analysis of probe distribution by SDSpolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that 125I-N3-PS labeled seven membrane bound components with molecular masses between 140 and 27 kDa: one (or several) of these components should correspond to the aminophospholipid translocase
Can Andean Potato be agronomically biofortified with iron and zinc fertilizers?
This field research shows that application of Zn fertilizers or Zn-enriched NPK fertilizers offers a prompt solution to increasing the Zn concentration in Andean potato tubers, and represents a useful complementary approach to on-going breeding programs. The diploid Chaucha cultivars that showed high tuber Zn concentrations in the absence of Zn fertilization also showed correspondingly higher Zn concentration in tubers following foliar and soil applied Zn. High levels of Zn in potato tubers may significantly improve the diets of Zn-deficient populations with high intake of potato and contribute to better nutritio
Conductivity in organic semiconductors hybridized with the vacuum field
Organic semiconductors have generated considerable interest for their
potential for creating inexpensive and flexible devices easily processed on a
large scale [1-11]. However technological applications are currently limited by
the low mobility of the charge carriers associated with the disorder in these
materials [5-8]. Much effort over the past decades has therefore been focused
on optimizing the organisation of the material or the devices to improve
carrier mobility. Here we take a radically different path to solving this
problem, namely by injecting carriers into states that are hybridized to the
vacuum electromagnetic field. These are coherent states that can extend over as
many as 10^5 molecules and should thereby favour conductivity in such
materials. To test this idea, organic semiconductors were strongly coupled to
the vacuum electromagnetic field on plasmonic structures to form polaritonic
states with large Rabi splittings ca. 0.7 eV. Conductivity experiments show
that indeed the current does increase by an order of magnitude at resonance in
the coupled state, reflecting mostly a change in field-effect mobility as
revealed when the structure is gated in a transistor configuration. A
theoretical quantum model is presented that confirms the delocalization of the
wave-functions of the hybridized states and the consequences on the
conductivity. While this is a proof-of-principle study, in practice
conductivity mediated by light-matter hybridized states is easy to implement
and we therefore expect that it will be used to improve organic devices. More
broadly our findings illustrate the potential of engineering the vacuum
electromagnetic environment to modify and to improve properties of materials.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figure
How lipid flippases can modulate membrane structure
AbstractPhospholipid flippases, are proteins able to translocate phospholipids from one side of a membrane to the other even against a gradient of concentration and thereby able to establish, or annihilate, a transmembrane asymmetrical lipid distribution. This lipid shuttling forms new membrane structures, in particular vesicles, which are associated with diverse physiological functions in eukaryotic cells such as lipid and protein traffic via vesicles between organelles or towards the plasma membrane, and the stimulation of fluid phase endocytosis. The transfer of lipids is also responsible for the triggering of membrane associated events such as blood coagulation, the recognition and elimination of apoptotic or aged cells, and the regulation of phosphatidylserine dependent enzymes. Exposure of new lipid-head groups on a membrane leaflet by rapid flip-flop can serve as a specific signal and, upon recognition, can be the cause of physiological modifications. Membrane bending is one of the mechanisms by which such activities can be triggered. We show that the lateral membrane tension is an important physical factor for the regulation of the size of the membrane invaginations. Finally, we suggest in this review that this diversity of functions benefits from the diversity of the lipids existing in a cell and the ability of proteins to recognize specific messenger molecules
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