Metabolomics and biochemical approaches link salicylic acid biosynthesis to cyanogenesis in peach plants

Despite the long-established importance of salicylic acid (SA) in plant stress responses and other biological processes, its biosynthetic pathways have not been fully characterized. The proposed synthesis of SA originates from chorismate by two distinct pathways: the isochorismate and phenylalanine (Phe) ammonia-lyase (PAL) pathways. Cyanogenesis is the process related to the release of hydrogen cyanide from endogenous cyanogenic glycosides (CNglcs), and it has been linked to plant plasticity improvement. To date, however, no relationship has been suggested between the two pathways. In this work, by metabolomics and biochemical approaches (including the use of [C-13]-labeled compounds), we provide strong evidences showing that CNglcs turnover is involved, at least in part, in SA biosynthesis in peach plants under control and stress conditions. The main CNglcs in peach are prunasin and amygdalin, with mandelonitrile (MD), synthesized from phenylalanine, controlling their turnover. In peach plants MD is the intermediary molecule of the suggested new SA biosynthetic pathway and CNglcs turnover, regulating the biosynthesis of both amygdalin and SA. MD-treated peach plants displayed increased SA levels via benzoic acid (one of the SA precursors within the PAL pathway). MD also provided partial protection against Plum pox virus infection in peach seedlings. Thus, we propose a third pathway, an alternative to the PAL pathway, for SA synthesis in peach plantsThis work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Project AGL2014-52563-R). PDV and CP thank CSIC and UPCT, respectively, as well as the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for their ‘Ramon & Cajal’ research contract, co-financed by FEDER funds. We also acknowledge Prof. Manuel Acosta Echeverría for his very useful commentaries and discussion

O USO DAS ESCALAS LIKERT NAS PESQUISAS DE CONTABILIDADE

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo constatar, por meio de análise de conteúdo, se os autores que publicaram artigos científicos no XII Congresso ANPCONT fundamentaram, em seus estudos, a motivação do uso da Escala Likert e se, com seu uso, o objetivo do trabalho foi atendido. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo, com abordagem qualitativa, realizado mediante análise das pesquisas. Para a seleção dos artigos, utilizou-se como busca o termo específico “Likert”/“Tipo-Likert”, quando este foi a metodologia utilizada para mensuração nestes artigos. Foram analisados 96 artigos publicados, dos quais 12 continham essa escala como seu meio de mensuração. Os resultados comprovam que, ao utilizar a Escala Likert, os pesquisadores não possuem o cuidado quanto a expor as características da escala, os motivos que levaram à sua escolha, suas limitações e do por que se enquadra no estudo, ou seja, não há fundamento e embasamento nas metodologias quanto à escala utilizada. Além do exposto, quanto à aplicabilidade dos dados em métodos estatísticos, os resultados demonstram que somente 2 artigos utilizaram os meios corretos de análise, isto é, conjecturas relacionais de equivalência com o uso da porcentagem. A aplicação inadequada para análise da escala pode inviabilizar os resultados encontrados nos estudos. Assim, este estudo corrobora a necessidade de se evidenciarem os motivos, os aspectos e os pressupostos da Escala Likert em um artigo científico, para transmitir confiança e transparência em seus dados, e, principalmente, alertar aos pesquisadores sobre a necessidade da análise da escala em relação ao seu objetivo final

Gli Ugonotti

De cada obra s'ha digitalitzat un programa sencer. De la resta s'han digitalitzat les parts que són diferents.Director: Vicente Petri ; director d'escena: Juan VillaviciosaEmpresa: José Rode

La Gioconda

De cada obra s'ha digitalitzat un programa sencer. De la resta s'han digitalitzat les parts que són diferents.Director: Vicente Petri ; director d'escena: Juan VillaviciosaEmpresa: José Rode

La Africana

De cada obra s'ha digitalitzat un programa sencer. De la resta s'han digitalitzat les parts que són diferents.Director: Vicente Petri ; director d'escena, Lorenzo MalvetEmpresa: José Rodé

Lohengrin

De cada obra s'ha digitalitzat un programa sencer. De la resta s'han digitalitzat les parts que són diferents.Director: Vicente Petri ; director d'escena: Lorenzo MalvetEmpresa: José Rode

Brain Network Allostasis after Chronic Alcohol Drinking Is Characterized by Functional Dedifferentiation and Narrowing

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) causes complex alterations in the brain that are poorly understood. The heterogeneity of drinking patterns and the high incidence of comorbid factors compromise mechanistic investigations in AUD patients. Here we used male Marchigian Sardinian alcohol-preferring (msP) rats, a well established animal model of chronic alcohol drinking, and a combination of longitudinal resting-state fMRI and manganese-enhanced MRI to provide objective measurements of brain connectivity and activity, respectively. We found that 1 month of chronic alcohol drinking changed the correlation between resting-state networks. The change was not homogeneous, resulting in the reorganization of pairwise interactions and a shift in the equilibrium of functional connections. We identified two fundamentally different forms of network reorganization. First is functional dedifferentiation, which is defined as a regional increase in neuronal activity and overall correlation, with a concomitant decrease in preferential connectivity between specific networks. Through this mechanism, occipital cortical areas lost their specific interaction with sensory-insular cortex, striatal, and sensorimotor networks. Second is functional narrowing, which is defined as an increase in neuronal activity and preferential connectivity between specific brain networks. Functional narrowing strengthened the interaction between striatal and prefrontocortical networks, involving the anterior insular, cingulate, orbitofrontal, prelimbic, and infralimbic cortices. Importantly, these two types of alterations persisted after alcohol discontinuation, suggesting that dedifferentiation and functional narrowing rendered persistent network states. Our results support the idea that chronic alcohol drinking, albeit at moderate intoxicating levels, induces an allostatic change in the brain functional connectivity that propagates into early abstinence.Peer reviewe

Structural and Functional Insights into Endoglin Ligand Recognition and Binding

Endoglin, a type I membrane glycoprotein expressed as a disulfide-linked homodimer on human vascular endothelial cells, is a component of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β receptor complex and is implicated in a dominant vascular dysplasia known as hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia as well as in preeclampsia. It interacts with the type I TGF-β signaling receptor activin receptor-like kinase (ALK)1 and modulates cellular responses to Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP)-9 and BMP-10. Structurally, besides carrying a zona pellucida (ZP) domain, endoglin contains at its N-terminal extracellular region a domain of unknown function and without homology to any other known protein, therefore called the orphan domain (OD). In this study, we have determined the recognition and binding ability of full length ALK1, endoglin and constructs encompassing the OD to BMP-9 using combined methods, consisting of surface plasmon resonance and cellular assays. ALK1 and endoglin ectodomains bind, independently of their glycosylation state and without cooperativity, to different sites of BMP-9. The OD comprising residues 22 to 337 was identified among the present constructs as the minimal active endoglin domain needed for partner recognition. These studies also pinpointed to Cys350 as being responsible for the dimerization of endoglin. In contrast to the complete endoglin ectodomain, the OD is a monomer and its small angle X-ray scattering characterization revealed a compact conformation in solution into which a de novo model was fitted

Host–Parasite interactions in Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar: what have we learned from their genomes?

Invasive amoebiasis caused by Entamoeba histolytica is a major global health problem. Virulence is a rare outcome of infection, occurring in fewer than 1 in 10 infections. Not all strains of the parasite are equally virulent, and understanding the mechanisms and causes of virulence is an important goal of Entamoeba research. The sequencing of the genome of E. histolytica and the related avirulent species Entamoeba dispar has allowed whole-genome-scale analyses of genetic divergence and differential gene expression to be undertaken. These studies have helped elucidate mechanisms of virulence and identified genes differentially expressed in virulent and avirulent parasites. Here, we review the current status of the E. histolytica and E. dispar genomes and the findings of a number of genome-scale studies comparing parasites of different virulence

A ring-like accretion structure in M87 connecting its black hole and jet

The nearby radio galaxy M87 is a prime target for studying black hole accretion and jet formation^{1,2}. Event Horizon Telescope observations of M87 in 2017, at a wavelength of 1.3 mm, revealed a ring-like structure, which was interpreted as gravitationally lensed emission around a central black hole^3. Here we report images of M87 obtained in 2018, at a wavelength of 3.5 mm, showing that the compact radio core is spatially resolved. High-resolution imaging shows a ring-like structure of 8.4_{-1.1}^{+0.5} Schwarzschild radii in diameter, approximately 50% larger than that seen at 1.3 mm. The outer edge at 3.5 mm is also larger than that at 1.3 mm. This larger and thicker ring indicates a substantial contribution from the accretion flow with absorption effects in addition to the gravitationally lensed ring-like emission. The images show that the edge-brightened jet connects to the accretion flow of the black hole. Close to the black hole, the emission profile of the jet-launching region is wider than the expected profile of a black-hole-driven jet, suggesting the possible presence of a wind associated with the accretion flow.Comment: 50 pages, 18 figures, 3 tables, author's version of the paper published in Natur