Search results for "Plant biology"
showing 10 items of 1494 documents
The Philippine Agriculture: Weaknesses and Controversies
2017
The sugarcane plantations of Negros Island epitomize the huge inequalities in the Philippine countryside. Landlords have controlled vast estates, the haciendas, since the Spanish colonial period. Despite the pressure of peasant associations, revolutionary agrarian movements (Huks, then the communist NPA) and the church support for poor farmers, most efforts to implement a substantial agrarian reform, including in the Marcos period and the CARP of Corazon Aquino, have failed in reducing inequities and improving the life of poor peasants in the country. Hacienda Luisita, a property of the Aquino family, illustrates the difficulties to implement a true agrarian reform. The Philippines hence ap…
Potential of science to address the hunger issue: Ecology, biotechnology, cattle breeding and the large pantry of the sea
2018
The knowledge about the real possibilities that current science gives us is basic to support everything that is not negative either for men or for our environment. In this way, it is an advantage to win this battle against hunger with rational use of science advantages. In this paper, we start from the basis that the solution to the problems of hunger requires the multidisciplinary action of sciences and knowledge. We provide a reflection on the possibilities to be considered from disciplines such as ecology, biotechnology, veterinary and aquaculture. The need for ecological studies where the role of human beings as part of ecosystems is considered. In addition, advances in molecular biolog…
Microspore embryogenesis induced through in vitro anther culture of almond (Prunus dulcis Mill.)
2016
Anther culture is one of the most widely used methods to induce gametic embryogenesis. The aim of this investigation was to induce microspore embryogenesis in almond (Prunus dulcis Mill.), through this technique. Anthers were cultured at the vacuolated developmental stage, and seven cultivars, two culture media and two temperature treatments were assessed. Although evidence of the microspore induction was observed in all the genotypes and treatments tested (symmetrical nucleus division and multinucleated structures), calli were produced merely by anthers cultured in the medium P and the regeneration of embryos was detected only in anthers of the cultivars Filippo Ceo, Lauranne and Genco, pl…
Loss of Arabidopsis p24 function affects ERD2 traffic and Golgi structure and activates the unfolded protein response
2017
The p24 family of proteins (also known as the TMED family) are key regulators of protein trafficking along the secretory pathway, but very little is known about their functions in plants. A quadruple loss-of-function mutant affecting the p24 genes from the δ-1 subclass of the p24δ subfamily (p24δ3δ4δ5δ6) showed alterations in the Golgi, suggesting that these p24 proteins play a role in the organization of the compartments of the early secretory pathway in Arabidopsis Loss of p24δ-1 proteins also induced the accumulation of the K/HDEL receptor ERD2a (ER lumen protein-retaining receptor A) at the Golgi and increased secretion of BiP family proteins, ER chaperones containing an HDEL signal, pr…
From the roots to the stem: unveiling pear root colonization and infection pathways by Erwinia amylovora
2020
ABSTRACT Fire blight caused by Erwinia amylovora affects pome fruit worldwide, generating serious economic losses. Despite the abundant literature on E. amylovora infection mechanisms of aerial plant organs, root infection routes remain virtually unexplored. Assessing these infection pathways is necessary for a full understanding of the pathogen's ecology. Using the pathosystem Pyrus communis–E. amylovora and different experimental approaches including a green fluorescent protein transformant (GFP1) and epifluorescence microscopy (EFM) and laser confocal scanning microscopy (LCSM), we demonstrated the pathogen's ability to infect, colonize and invade pear roots and cause characteristic fire…
Evolution of shelf life parameters of ready-to-eat escarole (Cichorium endivia var. latifolium) subjected to different cutting operations
2019
Abstract The present work was carried out to investigate the microbiological and physicochemical parameters of minimally processed escarole (Cichorium endivia var. latifolium) subjected to two different transformation processes, a classic ready-to-eat process (cut leaves, CL) and a process that excluded the cutting operation (entire leaves, EL) as control trial. Both trials were monitored during the refrigerated (4 °C) storage extended until 15 d. Total mesophilic microorganisms, total psychrotrophic microorganisms and pseudomonads were detected at the highest cell densities in all samples. The genotypic characterization of the dominating microbial populations resulted in the identification…
Identification of Stress Associated microRNAs in Solanum lycopersicum by High-Throughput Sequencing
2019
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most important crops around the world and also a model plant to study response to stress. High-throughput sequencing was used to analyse the microRNA (miRNA) profile of tomato plants undergoing five biotic and abiotic stress conditions (drought, heat, P. syringae infection, B. cinerea infection, and herbivore insect attack with Leptinotarsa decemlineata larvae) and one chemical treatment with a plant defence inducer, hexanoic acid. We identified 104 conserved miRNAs belonging to 37 families and we predicted 61 novel tomato miRNAs. Among those 165 miRNAs, 41 were stress-responsive. Reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to valida…
The Combined Effects of Ethylene and MeJA on Metabolic Profiling of Phenolic Compounds in Catharanthus roseus Revealed by Metabolomics Analysis
2016
Phenolic compounds belong to a class of secondary metabolites and are implicated in a wide range of responsive mechanisms in plants triggered by both biotic and abiotic elicitors. In this study, we approached the combinational effects of ethylene and MeJA (methyl jasmonate) on phenolic compounds profiles and gene expressions in the medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus. In virtue of a widely non-targeted metabolomics method, we identified a total of 34 kinds of phenolic compounds in the leaves, composed by 7 C6C1-, 11 C6C3-, and 16 C6C3C6 compounds. In addition, 7 kinds of intermediates critical for the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds and alkaloids were identified and discussed with phenol…
Plant teratologies as a result of phytoplasma infections
2017
The direct correlation between teratological cases and phytoplasma infections was ascertained in spontaneous and cultivated plant species. Plants, belonging to 31 species and 12 families, showing symptoms of growth abnormalities were collected and analysed. Attempted detection of Rhodococcus fascians by isolation, PCR indexing and 16S rRNA sequencing from fasciated tissues allowed to exclude its presence. Nested PCR by universal primers and 16S rRNA sequence analyses indicated the presence of phytoplasmas, belonging to six groups, in the 44% of symptomatic samples. Among the infected species, Austrocylindropuntia exaltata, Opuntia subulata, Euphorbia characias, Euphorbia dendroides, Euphorb…
Transient Transformation of A. thaliana Seedlings by Vacuum Infiltration
2020
Transient expression in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings allows fast expression of fluorescent markers for different subcellular compartments. This protocol describes a transient transformation assay with five-day-old seedlings using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated vacuum infiltration. Three days after infiltration of the Agrobacterium containing an expression vector for a fluorescent marker of interest, cotyledon cells expressing the fluorescent protein can be imaged in a confocal microscope. This assay allows high-throughput screening of new constructs and the study of the localization of a large number of subcellular markers in Arabidopsis seedlings including wild-type, stable over-expr…