155 research outputs found
Molecular and Genetic Regulation of Sensory Quality of Climacteric Fruit
The sensory quality of fruit has become a major criterion in making the
purchasing decision by consumers. Breeding programs have mainly been directed,
from the post-harvest stand point, towards improving shelf-life. Chance seedlings or
mutants with improved agronomic traits and/or extended shelf-life have been used
for introgressing the long shelf-life character and eventually improved sensory
quality traits in commercial genotypes of apple, melon or tomato. Because the plant
hormone ethylene plays a central role in both storability and ripening of climacteric
fruit, the generation by biotechnology of ethylene-inhibited fruit has offered a
powerful tool to better understand, at the molecular and genetic level, the interrelations
between storability and sensory quality. In the melon, inhibition of ethylene
synthesis results is a strong inhibition of the synthesis of aroma volatiles while the
accumulation of sugars is not affected or is even improved. The softening of the flesh
is strongly affected but not abolished. Mid or long shelf-life melons generated by
classical breeding present the same behavior. The generation of recombinant inbred
lines by crossing a typical climacteric melon (Cantaloupe Charentais of the
cantalupensis group) with a non climacteric melon (PI161375 of the agrestis
chinensis group) allowed to demonstrate that the climacteric character is conferred
by 2 duplicated loci only, which are of great importance for the regulation of
storability and sensory quality. Due to the importance of aroma volatiles in sensory
quality and to the strong negative correlation between aroma production and
ethylene synthesis, we have developed a research program aimed at isolating genes
involved in the synthesis of aroma volatiles. We will report on the recent advances in
the field with special emphasis on the characterization of genes responsible for the
synthesis of esters, a family of compounds crucial for the flavor of many fruit
Numerical Evidence of a Critical Line in the 4d Ising Spin Glass
We study numerically the four-dimensional ± J Ising spin-glass at nonzero external magnetic field. We find numerical evidence of the existence of the Almeida-Thouless critical line. The critical exponents differ from those found at zero external magnetic field
The U(1)-Higgs Model: Critical Behaviour in the Confinig-Higgs region
We study numerically the critical properties of the U(1)-Higgs lattice model,
with fixed Higgs modulus, in the region of small gauge coupling where the Higgs
and Confining phases merge. We find evidence of a first order transition line
that ends in a second order point. By means of a rotation in parameter space we
introduce thermodynamic magnitudes and critical exponents in close resemblance
with simple models that show analogous critical behaviour. The measured data
allow us to fit the critical exponents finding values in agreement with the
mean field prediction. The location of the critical point and the slope of the
first order line are accurately given.Comment: 21 text pages. 12 postscript figures available on reques
Climacteric fruit ripening: Ethylene-dependent and independent regulation of ripening pathways in melon fruit
Cantaloupe melons have a typical climacteric behaviour with ethylene playing a major role in the regulation of the ripening process and
affecting the ripening rate. Crossing of Cantaloupe Charentais melon with a non-climacteric melon indicated that the climacteric character is
genetically dominant and conferred by two duplicated loci only. However, other experiments made by crossing two non-climacteric melons
have generated climacteric fruit, indicating that different and complex genetic regulation exists for the climacteric character. Suppression of
ethylene production by antisense ACC oxidase RNA in Charentais melon has shown that, while many ripening pathways were regulated by
ethylene (synthesis of aroma volatiles, respiratory climacteric and degreening of the rind), some were ethylene-independent (initiation of
climacteric, sugar accumulation, loss of acidity and coloration of the pulp). Softening of the flesh comprised both ethylene-dependent and
independent components that were correlated with differential regulation of cell wall degrading genes. These results indicate that climacteric
(ethylene-dependent) and non-climacteric (ethylene-independent) regulation coexist during climacteric fruit ripening. In addition, ethylenesuppressed
melons allowed demonstrating that the various ethylene-dependent events exhibited differential sensitivity to ethylene and that
ethylene was promoting sensitivity to chilling injury. Throughout this review, the data generated with melon are compared with those
obtained with tomato and other fruit
The confining-Higgs phase transition in U(1)-Higgs LGT
Abstract We simulate the compact U(1)-Higgs model in a four-dimensional lattice. We present a numerical study for the behaviour around the region where the transition between the confining and Higgs phases disappears. The transition line is found to be first order and to end in a second-order point. We measure the critical exponents of the endpoint obtaining the mean field ones within errors
Functional characterization of a melon alcohol acyl-transferase gene family involved in the biosynthesis of ester volatiles. Identification of the crucial role of a threonine residue for enzyme activity
Volatile esters, a major class of compounds contributing to the aroma of many fruit, are synthesized by
alcohol acyl-transferases (AAT). We demonstrate here that, in Charentais melon (Cucumis melo var.
cantalupensis), AAT are encoded by a gene family of at least four members with amino acid identity ranging
from 84% (Cm-AAT1/Cm-AAT2) and 58% (Cm-AAT1/Cm-AAT3) to only 22% (Cm-AAT1/Cm-AAT4).
All encoded proteins, except Cm-AAT2, were enzymatically active upon expression in yeast and show
differential substrate preferences. Cm-AAT1 protein produces a wide range of short and long-chain acyl
esters but has strong preference for the formation of E-2-hexenyl acetate and hexyl hexanoate. Cm-AAT3
also accepts a wide range of substrates but with very strong preference for producing benzyl acetate.
Cm-AAT4 is almost exclusively devoted to the formation of acetates, with strong preference for cinnamoyl
acetate. Site directed mutagenesis demonstrated that the failure of Cm-AAT2 to produce volatile esters is
related to the presence of a 268-alanine residue instead of threonine as in all active AAT proteins. Mutating
268-A into 268-T of Cm-AAT2 restored enzyme activity, while mutating 268-T into 268-A abolished
activity of Cm-AAT1. Activities of all three proteins measured with the prefered substrates sharply increase
during fruit ripening. The expression of all Cm-AAT genes is up-regulated during ripening and inhibited in
antisense ACC oxidase melons and in fruit treated with the ethylene antagonist 1-methylcyclopropene
(1-MCP), indicating a positive regulation by ethylene. The data presented in this work suggest that the
multiplicity of AAT genes accounts for the great diversity of esters formed in melon
Anisotropy studies around the galactic centre at EeV energies with the Auger Observatory
Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory are analyzed to search for
anisotropies near the direction of the Galactic Centre at EeV energies. The
exposure of the surface array in this part of the sky is already significantly
larger than that of the fore-runner experiments. Our results do not support
previous findings of localized excesses in the AGASA and SUGAR data. We set an
upper bound on a point-like flux of cosmic rays arriving from the Galactic
Centre which excludes several scenarios predicting sources of EeV neutrons from
Sagittarius . Also the events detected simultaneously by the surface and
fluorescence detectors (the `hybrid' data set), which have better pointing
accuracy but are less numerous than those of the surface array alone, do not
show any significant localized excess from this direction.Comment: Matches published versio
Atmospheric effects on extensive air showers observed with the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory
Atmospheric parameters, such as pressure (P), temperature (T) and density,
affect the development of extensive air showers initiated by energetic cosmic
rays. We have studied the impact of atmospheric variations on extensive air
showers by means of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The
rate of events shows a ~10% seasonal modulation and ~2% diurnal one. We find
that the observed behaviour is explained by a model including the effects
associated with the variations of pressure and density. The former affects the
longitudinal development of air showers while the latter influences the Moliere
radius and hence the lateral distribution of the shower particles. The model is
validated with full simulations of extensive air showers using atmospheric
profiles measured at the site of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle
Physic
The exposure of the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Observatory is a detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays.
It consists of a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level
and a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the
atmosphere above the array. The "hybrid" detection mode combines the
information from the two subsystems. We describe the determination of the
hybrid exposure for events observed by the fluorescence telescopes in
coincidence with at least one water-Cherenkov detector of the surface array. A
detailed knowledge of the time dependence of the detection operations is
crucial for an accurate evaluation of the exposure. We discuss the relevance of
monitoring data collected during operations, such as the status of the
fluorescence detector, background light and atmospheric conditions, that are
used in both simulation and reconstruction.Comment: Paper accepted by Astroparticle Physic
Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter
Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed
evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the
Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, \nobreak{eV}. The
anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less
than from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc
(using the V\'eron-Cetty and V\'eron catalog). An updated
measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of
cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009.
The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more
precise measurement. The correlating fraction is , compared
with expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early
estimate of . The enlarged set of arrival directions is
examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects:
galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in
hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the
position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions
relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is
shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic
expectation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics on 31 August 201
- …