Cytokinins (CKs) are a complex group of compounds. The complexity of CKs is not just present at the level of chemical structures, but as a family of compounds. CKs occur in plants as nucleotides, ...nucleosides (ribosides) that are produced during de novo biosynthesis, free bases, and conjugates that are in stored/inactivated forms. Almost all organisms make cytokinins. CKs are structural components of the tRNA, and they are located next to the anticodon loop beginning with U of a subset of tRNAs in most eukaryotes and bacteria. The biosynthesis of CKs uses several pathways, and there is evidence that its biosynthesis is also regulated by other growth regulators such as auxins, strigolactones and abscisic acid. Its signaling pathway involves a phosphotransfer signal cascade. Despite advances made so far in the knowledge of CKs, there is still a long way to go. In this review, we summarize the most up-to-date knowledge on the biosynthesis of CKs and the signaling pathway that leads to the response to the presence of CKs in plant tissue, and we identify areas that require more research to complete our understanding of the role of the CKs in plants.
An effective practice for monitoring bird communities is the recognition and identification of their acoustic signals, whether simple, complex, fixed or variable. A method for the passive monitoring ...of diversity, activity and acoustic phenology of structural species of a bird community in an annual cycle is presented. The method includes the semi-automatic elaboration of a dataset of 22 vocal and instrumental forms of 16 species. To analyze bioacoustic richness, the UMAP algorithm was run on two parallel feature extraction channels. A convolutional neural network was trained using STFT-Mel spectrograms to perform the task of automatic identification of bird species. The predictive performance was evaluated by obtaining a minimum average precision of 0.79, a maximum equal to 1.0 and a mAP equal to 0.97. The model was applied to a huge set of passive recordings made in a network of urban wetlands for one year. The acoustic activity results were synchronized with climatological temperature data and sunlight hours. The results confirm that the proposed method allows for monitoring a taxonomically diverse group of birds that nourish the annual soundscape of an ecosystem, as well as detecting the presence of cryptic species that often go unnoticed.
•Monitoring bird communities,•UMAP algorithm,•Convolutional neural networks
From bizarre palindromic repeats to a bacterial defense mechanism, to genome editing tool, and more, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats or CRISPR has significantly impacted the ...way we study genome modification in less than a decade. In this review, we would like to highlight some key players over 30 years of research and explain this biotechnological tool's basic mechanisms. We also refer to the evolution of the CRISPR variants and some of the applications derived from them. The understanding and upgrading of this system will be a valuable tool in the years to come to solve some of the challenges in diverse fields from pharmaceuticals to therapeutics, from basic plant genetics to crop improvement, from metabolic engineering to waste management and industrial processing.
In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in developing new inorganic compounds with exceptional properties for advanced materials. Specifically, compounds containing europium have ...attracted much attention due to their luminescent properties. These compounds are used in electronics, biotechnology, medicine, and catalysis. Eu is known for its characteristic red emission, which can be influenced by the environment. This study investigates the surface-enhancement luminescence of europium-doped spinel oxides using modified surface with silver (Ag@SiO2 core-shell) nanoparticles as the enhancers. The europium-doped spinels were synthesized through a sol-gel method, and characterization techniques were used to analyze their structure and morphology. Photoluminescence spectra exhibited characteristic Eu3+ transitions, with the hypersensitive transition being the most prominent. The interaction with an Ag@SiO2 modified-surface led to a significant increase in photoluminescence. The study also analyzed the photoluminescence excitation and lifetimes of the oxides, leading to a 7.3-fold increase in photoluminescence. The improvements observed in the luminescence of these tailor-made materials show their potential interest in next-generation technologies.In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in developing new inorganic compounds with exceptional properties for advanced materials. Specifically, compounds containing europium have attracted much attention due to their luminescent properties. These compounds are used in electronics, biotechnology, medicine, and catalysis. Eu is known for its characteristic red emission, which can be influenced by the environment. This study investigates the surface-enhancement luminescence of europium-doped spinel oxides using modified surface with silver (Ag@SiO2 core-shell) nanoparticles as the enhancers. The europium-doped spinels were synthesized through a sol-gel method, and characterization techniques were used to analyze their structure and morphology. Photoluminescence spectra exhibited characteristic Eu3+ transitions, with the hypersensitive transition being the most prominent. The interaction with an Ag@SiO2 modified-surface led to a significant increase in photoluminescence. The study also analyzed the photoluminescence excitation and lifetimes of the oxides, leading to a 7.3-fold increase in photoluminescence. The improvements observed in the luminescence of these tailor-made materials show their potential interest in next-generation technologies.
Abalone is a high-value resource that is an important export market fishery of Mexico that is managed through territorial use rights for fisheries allocated to a coastal community. A specific ...age-structured spatial bioeconomic model was applied to this fishery to undertake stock recovery to target levels. The model incorporates uncertainty in the parameter k of a von Bertalanffy growth function with environmental variability. The risk of falling below and exceeding the target and bioeconomic limit reference points of the population with alternative fisheries management strategies was studied using a Monte Carlo analysis. The management strategy evaluation showed that Emin (minimum effort) and EmaxNPV (resource rent maximization effort) generated higher biomass levels and higher present value of resource rent than Emsy (effort in maximum sustainable yield) at the end of the simulation period, regardless of the bioeconomic reference points and assuming a reduction in fishing effort. Emin and EmaxNPV increased and maximized the present value of resource rent generated by the species while avoiding its overexploitation. The social consequences of the management strategies were considered with the participation of fishers of this co-managed fishery.
Pseudocercospora fijiensis
causes black Sigatoka disease, the most important threat to banana. The cell wall is crucial for fungal biological processes, including pathogenesis. Here, we performed ...cell wall proteomics analyses of two
P. fijiensis
strains, the highly virulent Oz2b, and the less virulent C1233 strains. Strains were starved from nitrogen to mimic the host environment. Interestingly, in vitro cultures of the C1233 strain grew faster than Oz2b in PDB medium, suggesting that C1233 survives outside the host better than the highly virulent Oz2b strain. Both strains were submitted to nitrogen starvation and the cell wall proteins were isolated and subjected to nano-HPLC–MS/MS. A total of 2686 proteins were obtained from which only 240 had a known function and thus, bioinformatics analyses were performed on this group. We found that 90 cell wall proteins were shared by both strains, 21 were unique for Oz2b and 39 for C1233. Shared proteins comprised 24 pathogenicity factors, including Avr4 and Ecp6, two effectors from
P. fijiensis
, while the unique proteins comprised 16 virulence factors in C1233 and 11 in Oz2b. The
P. fijiensis
cell wall proteome comprised canonical proteins, but thirty percent were atypical, a feature which in other phytopathogens has been interpreted as contamination. However, a comparison with the identities of atypical proteins in other reports suggests that the
P. fijiensis
proteins we detected were not contaminants. This is the first proteomics analysis of the
P. fijiensis
cell wall and our results expands the understanding of the fundamental biology of fungal phytopathogens and will help to decipher the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis and virulence in
P. fijiensis
.
Graphic abstract
Frailty and sarcopenia are well-recognized factors related to worse outcomes in patients with cirrhosis, including liver transplant (LT) candidates. Implications of pre-LT functional and muscle ...deterioration also affect post-LT outcomes. Patients with cirrhosis and acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) have a lower survival rate, both before and after LT. There is a need to better identify those patients with ACLF who would benefit from LT. This review aims to present the available data about frailty and sarcopenia in patients with ACLF in the LT setting. An exhaustive review of the published literature was conducted. Data regarding frailty and sarcopenia in LT candidates with ACLF are scarce and heterogeneous. Studies evaluating frailty and sarcopenia in critically ill patients outside the liver literature are also presented in this review to enrich the knowledge of this field in expansion. Frailty and sarcopenia seem to contribute to worse outcomes in LT candidates with ACLF, both before and after LT. Sarcopenia evaluation may be the most prudent approach for those very sick patients. Skeletal muscle index assessed by computed tomography is recommended to evaluate sarcopenia. The role of muscle ultrasound and bioelectrical impedance analysis is to be determined. Frailty and sarcopenia are crucial factors to consider on a case-by-case basis in LT candidates with ACLF to improve patient outcomes.
Background & Aims: Norfloxacin is highly effective in preventing spontaneous bacterial peritonitis recurrence in cirrhosis, but its role in the primary prevention of this complication is uncertain. ...Methods: Patients with cirrhosis and low protein ascitic levels (<15 g/L) with advanced liver failure (Child–Pugh score ≥ 9 points with serum bilirubin level ≥ 3 mg/dL) or impaired renal function (serum creatinine level ≥ 1.2 mg/dL, blood urea nitrogen level ≥ 25 mg/dL, or serum sodium level ≤ 130 mEq/L) were included in a randomized controlled trial aimed at comparing norfloxacin (35 patients) vs placebo (33 patients) in the primary prophylaxis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. The main end points of the trial were 3-month and 1-year probability of survival. Secondary end points were 1-year probability of development of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and hepatorenal syndrome. Results: Norfloxacin administration reduced the 1-year probability of developing spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (7% vs 61%, P < .001) and hepatorenal syndrome (28% vs 41%, P = .02), and improved the 3-month (94% vs 62%, P = .003) and the 1-year (60% vs 48%, P = .05) probability of survival compared with placebo. Conclusions: Primary prophylaxis with norfloxacin has a great impact in the clinical course of patients with advanced cirrhosis. It reduces the incidence of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, delays the development of hepatorenal syndrome, and improves survival.
The massive explosion by the January 15, 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in Tonga triggered a trans-oceanic tsunami generated by coupled ocean and atmospheric shock waves during the explosion. ...The tsunami reached first the coast of Tonga, and later many coasts around the world. The shock wave went around the globe, causing sea perturbations as far as the Caribbean and the Mediterranean seas. We present the effects of the January 15, 2022 Tonga tsunami on the Mexican Pacific Coast, Gulf of Mexico, and Mexican Caribbean coast, and discuss the underrated hazard caused by great volcanic explosions, and the role of early tsunami warning systems, in particular in Mexico. The shock wave took about 7.5 h to reach the coast of Mexico, located about 9000 km away from the volcano, and the signal lasted several hours, about 133 h (5.13 days). The shock wave was the only cause for sea alterations on the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, while at the Mexican Pacific coast both shock wave and the triggered tsunami by the volcano eruption and collapse affected this coast. The first tsunami waves recorded on the Mexican Pacific coast arrived around 12:35 on January 15, at the Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán tide gauge station. The maximum tsunami height exceeded 2 m at the Ensenada, Baja California, and Manzanillo, Colima, tide gauge stations. Most tsunami warning advisories, with two exceptions, reached communities via social media (Twitter and Facebook), but did not clearly state that people must stay away from the shore. We suggest that, although no casualties were reported in Mexico, tsunami warning advisories of far-field tsunamis and those triggered non-seismic sources, such as landslides and volcanic eruptions, should be included and improved to reach coastal communities timely, explaining the associated hazards on the coast.
