Phytohormonal and metabolism analysis of <i>Brassica rapa</i> L. ssp. <i>pekinensis</i> with different resistance during <i>Plasmodiophora brassicae</i> infection

Clubroot of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis), caused by the obligate parasite Plasmodiophora brassicae, accounts for serious yield losses. The aim of our study was to explore the phytohormone levels and metabolome changes in the roots of resistant and susceptible B. rapa genotypes at a late stage of infection, i.e., 28 days post-infection. Both genotypes showed decreased auxin levels after P. brassicae infection except for indole-3-acetic acid. Overall, the susceptible genotype had higher auxin and cytokinin levels after infection, with the exception of trans-zeatin and 3- indolebutyric acid as compared to the resistant genotype. Jasmonic acid levels declined after infection regardless of the genotype. Resistance against clubroot was evident with the increased levels of salicylic acid in the resistant genotype. The susceptible genotype had a higher number of differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) (262) than the resistant genotype (238) after infection. Interestingly, 132 DAMs were commonly detected in both genotypes when infected with the pathogen, belonging to metabolite classes such as phenolic acids, amino acids, and derivatives, glucosinolates, organic acids, flavonoids, nucleotides and derivatives, and fatty acids. The differential metabolite analysis revealed that metabolites related to amino acid biosynthesis, fatty acid biosynthesis and elongation, glutathione metabolism, and glucosinolate metabolism were highly accumulated in the resistant genotype, suggesting their essential roles in resistance against P. brassicae infection.     

In-situ investigation of grain boundary and triple junction kinetics in aluminium – 10 p.p.m. magnesium

A special technique for in‐situ observation and recording of triple junction motion is introduced. The described method makes it possible to study the motion of connected grain boundaries, i.e. triple junctions and their geometry. The results of an investigation of the steady‐state motion of grain boundary systems with triple junctions in aluminium–magnesium are presented. The analysed triple junctions show a distinctive deviation of contact angle from the equilibrium value 120° as assumed for the deviation of the Von Neumann–Mullins relation. The type of triple junction can have an essential influence on grain boundary motion and thus on grain growth.     

Retraction of ‘Basu,S., Dahl,K.N. & Rohde,G.K. (2013) Localizing and extracting filament distributions from microscopy images. Journal of Microscopy, 250, 57–67. doi:10.1111/jmi.12018’

The above article, published online on 4 March 2013 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor in Chief, Tony Wilson, the Royal Microscopical Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.  The retraction has been agreed following an investigation by an ad hoc advisory committee of senior faculty members assembled by the College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University. The committee concluded that all the parties involved acted honourably, but implicit misunderstandings and unintended miscommunications led to the unfortunate inclusion of several images used in the study without proper approval from the copyright owner.     

Negative ion cleavages of (M–H)− anions of peptides. Part 3. Post‐translational modifications

It is now 25 years since we commenced the study of the negative‐ion fragmentations of peptides and we have recently concluded this research with investigations of the negative‐ion chemistry of most post‐translational functional groups. Our first negative‐ion peptide review (Bowie, Brinkworth, & Dua, 2002) dealt with the characteristic backbone fragmentations and side‐chain cleavages from (M–H)^? ions of underivatized peptides, while the second (Bilusich & Bowie, 2009) included negative‐ion backbone cleavages for Ser and Cys and some initial data on some post‐translational groups including disulfides. This third and final review provides a brief summary of the major backbone and side chain cleavages outlined before (Bowie, Brinkworth, & Dua, 2002) and describes the quantum mechanical hydrogen tunneling associated with some proton transfers in enolate anion/enolate systems. The review then describes, in more depth, the negative‐ion cleavages of the post‐translational groups Kyn, isoAsp, pyroglu, disulfides, phosphates, and sulfates. Particular emphasis is devoted to disulfides (both intra‐ and intermolecular) and phosphates because of the extensive and spectacular anion chemistry shown by these groups. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev     

Age-related modifications of macrophages influenced by “inflammageing” in graft <i>vs.</i> host disease

Most studies focus on the adaptive immune cells in the GVHD pathogenesis, while little is known about innate immune cells in GVHD occurrence and development, especially macrophages. Meanwhile, a higher incidence of graft versus host disease (GVHD) is also found in the elderly patients. Though advances have been made in the modification of macrophages influenced by the inflamm-ageing, there is still no review on the role of macrophages in GVHD and the association between GVHD and the altered macrophages by inflamm-ageing. In this review, we focus on the potential age-related modifications of macrophage in GVHD, which contributes to the change of morbidity and mortality of GVHD. Via literature review, we found that the infiltration of macrophages is associated with GVHD and macrophages are modified in inflamm-ageing state, including the proliferation, migration, phagocytosis, antigen presentation, interaction with other immune cells, and pro-fibrosis. We suppose that altered macrophage functions in inflamm-ageing state contribute to GVHD in elderly patients.     

<i>In vitro</i> propagation of <i>Opuntia ellisiana</i> Griff. and acclimatization to field conditions

The genus Opuntia is a valuable forage resource in arid and semiarid lands during periods of drought and shortage of herbaceous plants. However, absolute minimum temperatures in the plains of Mendoza represent a limiting factor to cultivate several species.
Opuntia ellisiana is a cold hardy species, so the goals of this study were to massively propagate it using in vitro culture techniques, and then to acclimatize plantlets obtained to field conditions.
Different sterilization protocols were tested. Areoles were isolated in laminar airflow cabinet, and cultured on Murashige-Skoog medium, supplemented with sucrose and different BAP and IBA combinations. Explants were grown at 27±2ºC, under a 16-h photoperiod. The shoots produced were used in the rooting assay using different auxin combinations. In the most efficient growth treatment, plantlets reached 100% shooting after 35 days of culture, and a mean length of 10.2 mm after 49 days of culture. A 100% rooted plantlets was obtained on a medium containing 5 mg L^-1 IBA, after 12 days of culture. Acclimatization was achieved under greenhouse conditions, showing 100% plantlet survival.
This study suggests that O. ellisiana can be successfully micropropagated by areoles, and easily acclimatizated to field conditions.