Catálogo de publicaciones - revistas

<jats:p>Membrane trafficking contributes to distinct protein compositions of organelles and is essential for proper organellar maintenance and functions. The <jats:italic>trans</jats:italic>-Golgi network (TGN) acts as a sorting station where various cargo proteins are sorted and directed to post-Golgi compartments, such as the multivesicular body or pre-vacuolar compartment, vacuoles, and plasma membrane. The spatial and temporal segregation of cargo proteins within the TGN, which is mediated with different sets of regulators including small GTPases and cargo adaptors, is a fundamental process in the sorting machinery. Recent studies with powerful imaging technologies have suggested that the TGN possesses spatially distinct subdomains or zones for different trafficking pathways. In this review, we will summarize the spatially and dynamically characteristic features of the plant TGN and their relation to cargo protein trafficking.</jats:p>

<jats:p>Within-species variation is a key component of biodiversity and linking it to climatic gradients may significantly improve our understanding of ecological processes. High variability can be expected in plant traits, but it is unclear to which extent it varies across populations under different climatic conditions. Here, we investigated seed trait variability and its environmental dependency across a latitudinal gradient of two widely distributed dune-engineering species (<jats:italic>Thinopyrum junceum</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Calamagrostis arenaria</jats:italic>). Seed germination responses against temperature and seed mass were compared within and among six populations exposed to a gradient of temperature and precipitation regimes (Spiekeroog, DE; Bordeaux, FR; Valencia, ES; Cagliari, IT, Rome, IT; Venice, IT). Seed germination showed opposite trends in response to temperature experienced during emergence in both species: with some expectation, in populations exposed to severe winters, seed germination was warm-cued, whereas in populations from warm sites with dry summer, seed germination was cold-cued. In <jats:italic>C. arenaria</jats:italic>, variability in seed germination responses disappeared once the seed coat was incised. Seed mass from sites with low precipitation was smaller than that from sites with higher precipitation and was better explained by rainfall continentality than by aridity in summer. Within-population variability in seed germination accounted for 5 to 54%, while for seed mass it was lower than 40%. Seed trait variability can be considerable both within- and among-populations even at broad spatial scale. The variability may be hardly predictable since it only partially correlated with the analyzed climatic variables, and with expectation based on the climatic features of the seed site of origin. Considering seed traits variability in the analysis of ecological processes at both within- and among-population levels may help elucidate unclear patterns of species dynamics, thereby contributing to plan adequate measures to counteract biodiversity loss.</jats:p>

<jats:p>As one of the four most important woody oil-tree in the world, <jats:italic>Camellia oleifera</jats:italic> has significant economic value. Rapid and accurate acquisition of <jats:italic>C. oleifera</jats:italic> tree-crown information is essential for enhancing the effectiveness of <jats:italic>C. oleifera</jats:italic> tree management and accurately predicting fruit yield. This study is the first of its kind to explore training the ResU-Net model with UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) images containing elevation information for automatically detecting tree crowns and estimating crown width (CW) and crown projection area (CPA) to rapidly extract tree-crown information. A Phantom 4 RTK UAV was utilized to acquire high-resolution images of the research site. Using UAV imagery, the tree crown was manually delineated. ResU-Net model’s training dataset was compiled using six distinct band combinations of UAV imagery containing elevation information [RGB (red, green, and blue), RGB-CHM (canopy height model), RGB-DSM (digital surface model), EXG (excess green index), EXG-CHM, and EXG-DSM]. As a test set, images with UAV-based CW and CPA reference values were used to assess model performance. With the RGB-CHM combination, ResU-Net achieved superior performance. Individual tree-crown detection was remarkably accurate (Precision = 88.73%, Recall = 80.43%, and F1score = 84.68%). The estimated CW (<jats:italic>R</jats:italic><jats:sup>2</jats:sup> = 0.9271, RMSE = 0.1282 m, rRMSE = 6.47%) and CPA (<jats:italic>R</jats:italic><jats:sup>2</jats:sup> = 0.9498, RMSE = 0.2675 m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup>, rRMSE = 9.39%) values were highly correlated with the UAV-based reference values. The results demonstrate that the input image containing a CHM achieves more accurate crown delineation than an image containing a DSM. The accuracy and efficacy of ResU-Net in extracting <jats:italic>C. oleifera</jats:italic> tree-crown information have great potential for application in non-wood forests precision management.</jats:p>

<jats:p>We report a novel approach for establishing the number and position of CO events in individual homozygous inbred plants by combining low level EMS mutagenesis, speed breeding, whole genome shotgun sequencing and sliding window analysis of the induced molecular variant data. We demonstrate the approach by exploring CO frequency and distribution in self-fertilised progeny of the inbred barley cultivar Bowman and compare these observations to similar data obtained from a Bowman nearly isogenic line (BW230 <jats:italic>Hvmlh3)</jats:italic> containing a mutation in the DNA mismatch repair gene <jats:italic>HvMLH3.</jats:italic> We have previously shown that <jats:italic>Hvmlh3</jats:italic> decreases both plant fertility and recombination by ~50%. We compare our results to those from previously published traditional genetic analysis of F3 families derived from multiple F2 lines containing WT or mutant alleles of <jats:italic>HvMLH3,</jats:italic> revealing a high level of correspondence between analyses. We discuss possible applications of the approach in streamlining the assessment of recombination in plant meiosis research.</jats:p>

<jats:p>Inositol pyrophosphates (PP-InsPs), derivatives of inositol hexakisphosphate (phytic acid, InsP<jats:sub>6</jats:sub>) or lower inositol polyphosphates, are energy-rich signaling molecules that have critical regulatory functions in eukaryotes. In plants, the biosynthesis and the cellular targets of these messengers are not fully understood. This is because, in part, plants do not possess canonical InsP<jats:sub>6</jats:sub> kinases and are able to synthesize PP-InsP isomers that appear to be absent in yeast or mammalian cells. This review will shed light on recent discoveries in the biosynthesis of these enigmatic messengers and on how they regulate important physiological processes in response to abiotic and biotic stresses in plants.</jats:p>

<jats:p>The correlations were explored between fertility indicators of intraspecific <jats:italic>V. vinifera</jats:italic> hybrids and different cultivars were subjected to selfing or used in reciprocal crosses by testing them as female parents or male parents. Two cold-resistant and four high-quality cultivars were selected, and the offspring of fourteen crosses and six self-combinations were evaluated. The pollen viability of the six cultivars was determined by TTC staining. Compatibility and the rates of fruit-setting, seediness, germination, emergence, and seedling were measured as parameters that can affect fertility of both hybridization and self-crossing processes. Using principal component analysis, the six fertility indexes were transformed into comprehensive principal components, and the weights of the indexes were determined. Combined with the membership function method, the fertility index was comprehensively evaluated for different crosses to screen for hybrid combinations with higher fertility. The results showed a high positive correlation between the pollen viability of the cultivar subjected to selfing and the fruit-setting rate, seediness rate, and hybrid compatibility index of the cultivar used as the male parent for crossing. Additionally, there was a one-to-one positive correlation between the fruit-setting rate, germination rate, emergence rate, and seedling rate of the selfed cultivar and the fruit-setting rate, germination rate, and seedling rate of the cultivar used as the female parent for crossing. There was some variation in the comprehensive fertility index values for the parents and combinations in different years. The comprehensive fertility index was always the highest for Ecolly as the male parent. The composite fertility index values were relatively high when Dunkelfelder, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Marselan were used as the female parent. The combinations of C1 (Cabernet Sauvignon × Ecolly), C3 (Marselan × Ecolly) and C6 (Dunkelfelder × Ecolly) exhibited relatively high comprehensive fertility indices, and pedigree clustering shows that these three combinations cluster into one class of highly fertile hybrid combinations. This study provides the basis for effective intraspecific hybrid breeding of grape (<jats:italic>V. vinifera</jats:italic>).</jats:p>

<jats:p>Plants evolve diverse mechanisms to eliminate the drastic effect of biotic and abiotic stresses. Drought is the most hazardous abiotic stress causing huge losses to crop yield worldwide. Osmotic stress decreases relative water and chlorophyll content and increases the accumulation of osmolytes, epicuticular wax content, antioxidant enzymatic activities, reactive oxygen species, secondary metabolites, membrane lipid peroxidation, and abscisic acid. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) eliminate the effect of drought stress by altering root morphology, regulating the stress-responsive genes, producing phytohormones, osmolytes, siderophores, volatile organic compounds, and exopolysaccharides, and improving the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase activities. The use of PGPR is an alternative approach to traditional breeding and biotechnology for enhancing crop productivity. Hence, that can promote drought tolerance in important agricultural crops and could be used to minimize crop losses under limited water conditions. This review deals with recent progress on the use of PGPR to eliminate the harmful effects of drought stress in traditional agriculture crops.</jats:p>

<jats:p><jats:italic>Vitis vinifera</jats:italic> is the most widely cultivated grapevine species. It is highly susceptible to <jats:italic>Plasmopara viticola</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Erysiphe necator</jats:italic>, the causal agents of downy mildew (DM) and powdery mildew (PM), respectively. Current strategies to control DM and PM mainly rely on agrochemical applications that are potentially harmful to humans and the environment. Breeding for resistance to DM and PM in wine grape cultivars by introgressing resistance loci from wild <jats:italic>Vitis</jats:italic> spp. is a complementary and more sustainable solution to manage these two diseases. During the last two decades, 33 loci of resistance to <jats:italic>P. viticola</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>Rpv</jats:italic>) and 15 loci of resistance to <jats:italic>E. necator</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>Ren</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Run</jats:italic>) have been identified. Phenotyping is salient for QTL characterization and understanding the genetic basis of resistant traits. However, phenotyping remains a major bottleneck for research on <jats:italic>Rpv</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Ren/Run</jats:italic> loci and disease resistance evaluation. A thorough analysis of the literature on phenotyping methods used for DM and PM resistance evaluation highlighted phenotyping performed in the vineyard, greenhouse or laboratory with major sources of variation, such as environmental conditions, plant material (organ physiology and age), pathogen inoculum (genetic and origin), pathogen inoculation (natural or controlled), and disease assessment method (date, frequency, and method of scoring). All these factors affect resistance assessment and the quality of phenotyping data. We argue that the use of new technologies for disease symptom assessment, and the production and adoption of standardized experimental guidelines should enhance the accuracy and reliability of phenotyping data. This should contribute to a better replicability of resistance evaluation outputs, facilitate QTL identification, and contribute to streamline disease resistance breeding programs.</jats:p>

<jats:p>Postharvest quality of litchi reduces rapidly during storage at room temperature. This study aimed to investigate the effect of melatonin treatment on postharvest quality and oxidative stress markers of litchi fruit during cold storage. The “Feizixiao” litchi was treated with melatonin solution concentrations of 0.2 and 0.6 mmol·L<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> and then stored at 4°C for 12 days. The results confirmed that the melatonin treatment effectively maintained the appearance and color of the litchi fruit, suppressed the peel browning, and improved the litchi quality. The treatment also significantly enhanced the levels of endogenous melatonin, antioxidant components (total phenolics, flavonoids, and anthocyanin), and antioxidant enzyme activities of the fruit. It also inhibited the other oxidative stress markers, such as <jats:inline-formula><mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mrow><mml:msubsup><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">O</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn><mml:mo>−</mml:mo></mml:msubsup></mml:mrow></mml:math></jats:inline-formula>, H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>O<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>, MDA, and protein carbonyl content, and upregulated the expressions of antioxidant and Msr-related genes. Correlation and principal component analyses further confirmed that the melatonin treatment effectively delayed the fruit senescence by enhancing the antioxidant enzyme activities and modulating peel browning and reactive oxygen species metabolism of the litchi fruit <jats:italic>via</jats:italic> regulating gene expression of the related enzymes (SOD and PPO). These findings suggested that the exogenous application of melatonin to litchi during the postharvest is an ideal way to preserve the fruit quality and delay fruit senescence.</jats:p>