Morphological and Chemical Differentiation between Tunisian Populations of Pinus halepensis,Pinus brutia,and Pinus pinaster

The lipid fraction of seeds from different pine species and populations was studied regarding total lipid content, fatty acid profile and vitamin E composition. The investigated seeds contained a high percentage of lipid (13.6 to 31.5 %). Lipid fractions were found to be rich in vitamin E, which varied significantly among species and populations. P. halepensis (Ph−Hn) showed the highest content of vitamin E (256.3 mg/kg of seeds) and the uppermost content of α-tocopherol (44 mg/kg). However, P. halepensis (Ph−Kas) was the richest in γ-tocopherol (204.9 mg/kg). Lipid fractions had a low content of δ-tocopherol (1.2 to 3.6 mg/kg. The highest content of γ-tocotrienol (∼18 %) was determined for P. halepensis (Ph−Dc and Ph−Hn). Thirteen fatty acids were identified by GC-FID with significant variation between the investigated species. The linoleic acid was the major fatty acid followed by oleic acid and palmitic acid. The chemical differentiation among species for the composition of fatty acids and vitamin E was confirmed by PCA. Significant correlations were observed between the content of vitamin E and fatty acids and ecological parameters of P. halepensis populations.     

Felling the giants: integral projection models indicate adult management to control an exotic invasive palm

Plant Ecology - Population models are helpful for understanding demographic trends in invasive plants and crucial in defining effective management actions. Here, we assessed the dynamics of three...     

Disentangling Two QTL on Porcine Chromosome 12 for Backfat Fatty Acid Composition

A previous study allowed the identification of two QTL regions at positions 11–34 cM (QTL1) and 68–76 cM (QTL2) on porcine chromosome SSC12 affecting several backfat fatty acids in an Iberian x Landrace F2 intercross. In the current study, different approaches were performed in order to better delimit the quoted QTL regions and analyze candidate genes. A new chromosome scan, using 81 SNPs selected from the Porcine 60KBeadChip and six previously genotyped microsatellites have refined the QTL positions. Three new functional candidate genes (ACOX1, ACLY, and SREBF1) have been characterized. Moreover, two putative promoters of porcine ACACA gene have also been investigated. New isoforms and 24 SNPs were detected in the four candidate genes, 19 of which were genotyped in the population. ACOX1 and ACLY SNPs failed to explain the effects of QTL1 on palmitic and gadoleic fatty acids. QTL2, affecting palmitoleic, stearic, and vaccenic fatty acids, maps close to the ACACA gene location. The most significant associations have been detected between one intronic (g.53840T > C) and one synonymous (c.5634T > C) ACACA SNPs and these fatty acids. Complementary analyses including ACACA gene expression quantification and association studies in other porcine genetic types do not support the expected causal effect of ACACA SNPs.     

Reduced impact of ocean acidification on growth and swimming performance of newly hatched tropical sharks (Chiloscyllium plagiosum)

ABSTRACT

Sharks have been facing unprecedented pressure over the last decades, and ocean acidification may represent an additional threat, particularly during their most susceptible life stages. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of ocean acidification (control pCO₂ ~ 400 μatm; high pCO₂ ~ 900 μatm) on the growth, swimming performance and cholinergic system of juvenile white-spotted bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium plagiosum). After 45 days of exposure, we observed that high CO₂ did not affect most of the end-points studied. However, somatic growth rate and the percentage of time that sharks spent swimming was significantly reduced under high CO₂ conditions. Moreover, AChE activity decreased in two of the seven brain macroareas analyzed, the telencephalon and optic lobes. As this near-threatened shark species showed small sub-lethal effects to high CO₂ levels, we argue that within a longer time-frame they can potentially reduce individual performance with cascading consequences to shark population dynamics.     

Evaluation of the Antioxidant Properties of Propofol and its Nitrosoderivative. Comparison with Homologue Substituted Phenols

Propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol), some substituted phenols (2,6-dimethylphenol and 2,6-ditertbutylphenol) and their 4-nitrosoderivatives have been compared for their scavenging ability towards 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and for their inhibitory action on lipid peroxidation. These products were also compared to the classical antioxidants butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole. When measuring the reactivity of the various phenolic derivatives with 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl the following order of effectiveness was observed: butylated hydroxyanisole>propofol>2,6-dimethylphenol>2,6-di-tertbutylphenol?>?butylated hydroxytoluene. In cumene hydroperoxide-dependent microsomal lipid peroxidation, propofol acts as the most effective antioxidant, while butylated hydroxyanisole, 2,6-di-tertbutylphenol and butylated hydroxytoluene exhibit a rather similar effect, although lower than propofol. In the iron/ascorbate-dependent lipid peroxidation propofol, at concentrations higher than 10?μM, exhibits antioxidant properties comparable to those of butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole. 2,6-Dimethylphenol is scarcely effective in both lipoperoxidative systems. The antioxidant properties of the various molecules depend on their hydrophobic characteristics and on the steric and electronic effects of their substituents. However, the introduction of the nitroso group in the 4-position almost completely removes the antioxidant properties of the examined compounds. The nitrosation of the aromatic ring of antioxidant molecules and the consequent loss of antioxidant capacity can be considered a condition potentially occurring in vivo since nitric oxide and its derivatives are continuously formed in biological systems.     

The Impact of Different Antioxidant Agents alone or in Combination on Reactive Oxygen Species,Antioxidant Enzymes and Cytokines in a Series of Advanced Cancer Patients at Different Sites: Correlation with Disease Progression

In the present study we tested the ability of different antioxidant agents, used alone or in combination, to reduce the reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and to increase the glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. Moreover, we tested the ability of such antioxidant agents to reduce the serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF &#102 . Fifty-six advanced stage cancer patients with tumors at different sites were included in the study: they were mainly stage III (12.5%) and stage IV (82.1%). The study was divided into two phases. In the 1 st phase 28 patients were divided into five groups and a single different antioxidant agent was administered to each group. The selected antioxidant agents were: alpha lipoic acid or carboxycysteine-lysine salt, amifostine, reduced glutathione, vitamin A plus vitamin E plus Vitamin C. In the 2 nd phase of the study 28 patients were divided into five groups and a combination of two different antioxidant agents was administered to each group. The antioxidant treatment was administered for 10 consecutive days. The patients were studied at baseline and after antioxidant treatment. Our results show that all single antioxidants tested were effective in reducing the ROS levels and three of them in increasing GPx activity, too. Among the combinations of antioxidant agents, three were effective in reducing ROS, while three were effective in increasing GPx activity (arm 4 was effective in both instances). Comprehensively, the "antioxidant treatment" was found to be effective both on ROS levels and GPx activity. Moreover, the antioxidant treatment was able to reduce serum levels of IL-6 and TNF &#102 . Furthermore, a correlation was shown between the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status of patients and blood levels of ROS, GPx activity, serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines.     

Parallel-Stranded DNA Formed by New Base Pairs Related to the Isoguanine-Cytosine or Isocytosine-Guanine Motifs

Abstract

Parallel-stranded (ps) oligonucleotide duplexes containing several new base pairs formed between 7-deazaisoguanine and cytosine, 8-aza-7-deaza-isoguanine and cytosine, and 5-aza-7-deaza guanine and guanine are described. The stability of the pshybrids increased if the duplex contains 8-aza-7-deazaisoguanine instead of isoguanine and is decreased by 7-deazaisoguanine incorporation. The purine-purine base pair between 5-aza-7-deazaguanine and guanine was found to be more stable than that of 5-methylisocytosine with guanine.     

New Arabidopsis thaliana Cytochrome c Partners: A Look Into the Elusive Role of Cytochrome c in Programmed Cell Death in Plants

Programmed cell death is an event displayed by many different organisms along the evolutionary scale. In plants, programmed cell death is necessary for development and the hypersensitive response to stress or pathogenic infection. A common feature in programmed cell death across organisms is the translocation of cytochrome c from mitochondria to the cytosol. To better understand the role of cytochrome c in the onset of programmed cell death in plants, a proteomic approach was developed based on affinity chromatography and using Arabidopsis thaliana cytochrome c as bait. Using this approach, ten putative new cytochrome c partners were identified. Of these putative partners and as indicated by bimolecular fluorescence complementation, nine of them bind the heme protein in plant protoplasts and human cells as a heterologous system. The in vitro interaction between cytochrome c and such soluble cytochrome c-targets was further corroborated using surface plasmon resonance. Taken together, the results obtained in the study indicate that Arabidopsis thaliana cytochrome c interacts with several distinct proteins involved in protein folding, translational regulation, cell death, oxidative stress, DNA damage, energetic metabolism, and mRNA metabolism. Interestingly, some of these novel Arabidopsis thaliana cytochrome c-targets are closely related to those for Homo sapiens cytochrome c (Martínez-Fábregas et al., unpublished). These results indicate that the evolutionarily well-conserved cytosolic cytochrome c, appearing in organisms from plants to mammals, interacts with a wide range of targets on programmed cell death. The data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD000280.Programmed cell death (PCD)¹ is a fundamental event for the development of multicellular organisms and the homeostasis of their tissues. It is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism present in organisms ranging from yeast to mammals (1–3).In mammals, cytochrome c (Cc) and dATP bind to apoptosis protease-activating factor-1 (Apaf-1) in the cytoplasm, a process leading to the formation of the Apaf-1/caspase-9 complex known as apoptosome. This apoptosome subsequently activates caspases-3 and -7 (4, 5). In other organisms, such as Caenorhabditis elegans or Drosophila melanogaster, however, Cc is not essential for the assembly and activation of the apoptosome (6) despite the presence of proteins homologous to Apaf-1—cell death abnormality-4 (CED-4) in C. elegans and Drosophila Apaf-1-related killer (Dark) in D. melanogaster—which have been found to be essential for caspase cascade activation. Furthermore, other organisms such as Arabidopsis thaliana lack Apaf-1 (7). In fact, only highly distant caspase homologues (metacaspases) (8, 9), serine proteases (saspases) (10), phytaspases (11) and VEIDases (12–14) with caspase-like activity have been detected in plants; however, their targets remain veiled and whether they are activated by Cc remains unclear.Intriguingly, the release of Cc from mitochondria into the cytoplasm during the onset of PCD is an evolutionarily conserved event found in organisms ranging from yeast (15) and plants (16) to flies (17), and mammals (18). However, understanding of the roles of this phenomenon in different species can be said to be uneven at best. In fact, the release of Cc from mitochondria has thus far been considered a random event in all organisms, save mammals. Thus, the participation of Cc in the onset and progression of PCD needs to be further elucidated.Even in the case of mammals, the role(s) of Cc in the cytoplasm during PCD remain(s) controversial. Recently, new putative functions of Cc, going beyond the already-established apoptosome assembly process, have been proposed in the nucleus (19, 20) and the endoplasmic reticulum (21–23). Neither these newly proposed functions nor other arising functions, such as oxidative stress (24), are as yet fully understood. This current state of affairs demands deeper exploration of the additional roles played by Cc in nonmammalian species.In this study, putative novel Cc-partners involved in plant PCD were identified. For this identification, a proteomic approach was employed based on affinity chromatography and using Cc as bait. The Cc-interacting proteins were identified using nano-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (NanoLC-MS/MS). These Cc-partners were then further confirmed in vivo through bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) in A. thaliana protoplasts and human HEK293T cells, as a heterologous system. Finally, the Cc-GLY2, Cc-NRP1 and Cc-TCL interactions were corroborated in vitro using surface plasmon resonance (SPR).These results indicate that Cc is able to interact with targets in the plant cell cytoplasm during PCD. Moreover, they provide new ways of understanding why Cc release is an evolutionarily well-conserved event, and allow us to propose Cc as a signaling messenger, which somehow controls different essential events during PCD.