Wood is one of our most important natural resources. Surprisingly, we know hardly anything about the details of the process of wood formation. The aim of this work was to describe the main proteins ...expressed in wood forming tissue of a conifer species (Pinus pinaster Ait.). Using high resolution 2‐DE with linear pH gradient ranging from 4 to 7, a total of 1039 spots were detected. Out of the 240 spots analyzed by MS/MS, 67.9% were identified, 16.7% presented no homology in the databases, and 15.4% corresponded to protein mixtures. Out of the 57 spots analyzed by MALDI‐MS, only 15.8% were identified. Most of the 175 identified proteins play a role in either defense (19.4%), carbohydrates (16.6%) and amino acid (14.9%) metabolisms, genes and proteins expression (13.1%), cytoskeleton (8%), cell wall biosynthesis (5.7%), secondary (5.1%) and primary (4%) metabolisms. A summary of the identified proteins, their putative functions, and behavior in different types of wood are presented. This information was introduced into the PROTICdb database and is accessible at http://cbib1.cbib.u‐bordeaux2.fr/Protic/Protic/home/index.php. Finally, the average protein amount was compared with their respective transcript abundance as quantified through EST counting in a cDNA‐library constructed with mRNA extracted from wood forming tissue.
An improved version of the global hydrodynamic tide solutions finite element solutions (FESs) FES94, FES95.2.1, and FES98 has been developed, implemented, and validated. The new model is based on the ...resolution of the tidal barotropic equations on a global finite element grid without any open boundary condition, which leads to solutions independent of in situ data (no open boundary conditions and no assimilation). The accuracy of these "free" solutions is improved by assimilating tide gauge and TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) altimeter information through a representer assimilation method. This leads to the FES99 version of this model. For the eight main constituents of the tidal spectrum (M2, S2, N2, K2, 2N2, K1, O1, and Q1), about 700 tide gauges and 687 T/P altimetric measurements are assimilated. An original algorithm is developed to calculate the tidal harmonic constituents at crossover points of the T/P altimeter database. Additional work is performed for the S2 wave by reconsidering the inverse barometer correction. To complete the spectrum, 19 minor constituents have been added by admittance. The accuracy of FES99 is evaluated against the former FESs. First, it is compared to two tide gauge datasets: ST95 (95 open-ocean measurements) and ST739 (739 coastal measurements). For ST95, the root-sum square of the differences between observations and solutions is reduced from 2.8 (FES95.2.1) to 2.4 cm (FES99), a gain of 17% in overall accuracy. Second, the variance of the sea surface variability is calculated and compared for FES95.2.1, FES98, and FES99 at the T/P and the European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-2) crossover data points. FES99 performed best, with a residual standard deviation for the independent ERS-2 dataset of 13.5 cm (15.2 cm for FES95.2.1). Third, tidal predictions are implemented for the FESs to provide along-track estimates of the sea surface variability for T/P and ERS-2. Compared to ERS-2, FES99 residuals are 11.8 cm (12.4 cm for FES95.2.1). All the accuracy tests show that FES99 is a significant improvement compared to former FESs both in the deep ocean and along coasts.
High-energy physics experiments will require sophisticated trigger systems in which massively parallel processing structures such as the Aspex Associative String Processor (ASP) could take an ...important part. For such systems, ultimate real-time performance may be achieved in a matched network of high-performance (computation and communication oriented) conventional processors, using ASPs for data searching and filtering. Requirements and specifications for an ASP Embedded Node (ASPEN) are defined, and the application of a prototype ASPEN architecture to medium-term trigger applications is reviewed. Larger applications which could integrate such nodes for local and/or global data processing, are presented.< >
One of the key goals of oak genomics research is to identify genes of adaptive significance. This information may help to improve the conservation of adaptive genetic variation and the management of ...forests to increase their health and productivity. Deep-coverage large-insert genomic libraries are a crucial tool for attaining this objective. We report herein the construction of a BAC library for Quercus robur, its characterization and an analysis of BAC end sequences.
The EcoRI library generated consisted of 92,160 clones, 7% of which had no insert. Levels of chloroplast and mitochondrial contamination were below 3% and 1%, respectively. Mean clone insert size was estimated at 135 kb. The library represents 12 haploid genome equivalents and, the likelihood of finding a particular oak sequence of interest is greater than 99%. Genome coverage was confirmed by PCR screening of the library with 60 unique genetic loci sampled from the genetic linkage map. In total, about 20,000 high-quality BAC end sequences (BESs) were generated by sequencing 15,000 clones. Roughly 5.88% of the combined BAC end sequence length corresponded to known retroelements while ab initio repeat detection methods identified 41 additional repeats. Collectively, characterized and novel repeats account for roughly 8.94% of the genome. Further analysis of the BESs revealed 1,823 putative genes suggesting at least 29,340 genes in the oak genome. BESs were aligned with the genome sequences of Arabidopsis thaliana, Vitis vinifera and Populus trichocarpa. One putative collinear microsyntenic region encoding an alcohol acyl transferase protein was observed between oak and chromosome 2 of V. vinifera.
This BAC library provides a new resource for genomic studies, including SSR marker development, physical mapping, comparative genomics and genome sequencing. BES analysis provided insight into the structure of the oak genome. These sequences will be used in the assembly of a future genome sequence for oak.
The prion protein PrP has a key role in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies but its biological function remains largely unknown. Recently, a related protein, Shadoo, was discovered. Its ...biological properties and brain distribution partially overlap that of PrP. We report that the Shadoo-encoding gene knockdown in PrP-knockout mouse embryos results in a lethal phenotype, occurring between E8 and E11, not observed on the wild-type genetic background. It reveals that these two proteins play a shared, crucial role in mammalian embryogenesis, explaining the lack of severe phenotype in PrP-knockout mammals, an appreciable step towards deciphering the biological role of this protein family.
Modern agriculture often involves the use of pesticides to protect crops. These substances are harmful to target organisms (pests and pathogens). Nevertheless, they can also damage non-target ...animals, such as pollinators and entomophagous arthropods. It is obvious that the undesirable side effects of pesticides on the environment should be reduced to a minimum. Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) are very important organisms from an agricultural perspective and are vulnerable to pesticide-induced impacts. They contribute actively to the pollination of cultivated crops and wild vegetation, making food production possible. Of course, since Apis mellifera occupies the same ecological niche as many other species of pollinators, the loss of honey bees caused by environmental pollutants suggests that other insects may experience a similar outcome. Because pesticides can harm honey bees and other pollinators, it is important to register pesticides that are as selective as possible. In this manuscript, we describe a selection of methods used for studying pesticide toxicity/selectiveness towards Apis mellifera. These methods may be used in risk assessment schemes and in scientific research aimed to explain acute and chronic effects of any target compound on Apis mellifera.
The paper aims to study the factors affecting the decision of international tourists to choose a tourism destination at Hoi An World Cultural Heritage Site. Based on the theory of intended behavior ...integrates new factors: Tourism products; Destination image; and Perceived risk. The research results show that: Using the Theory of Intended Behavior (TPB) with integration with 03 new components in the study of destination choice decisions of international visitors at the Hoi An World Cultural Heritage Site is appropriate; The model achieves composite reliability, discriminant, and extracted variance. The empirical model reached a high level of explaining the variation of variance and the predictive power reached a medium level; Two intermediate structures have been identified in the model, namely Attitude and Destination Image; Affirming the importance of structures has a strong influence on the decision structure of tourist destination selection, namely, perceived risk, social influence, image, and tourism product.
The study’s aim is to examine the antecedents of destination loyalty, and considers the role and influence of tourism products and destination image to international tourisms’ loyalty in case of ...HoiAn World Cultural Heritage Site. The study suggested an integrated approach to understand tourists’ loyalty model and investigate the empirical evidence about the relationship among tourism products, destination image, risk perception, tourist experience, destination satisfaction and tourists’ loyalty. This study also mentions important questions concerning how tourism products, destination image, tourist experience, risk perception, and tourists’ satisfaction affect tourists’ loyalty. Smart PLS3 is used to estimate and test the relationships in the research model. Mediation analysis and importance performance matrix analysis are also used to consider clearly the relationship between the constructs of research model. The study’s results indicate that tourism products, destination image, tourism experience, risk perception, and satisfaction are antecedents of international tourists’ loyalty in Hoi An World Cultural Heritage Site. And in them, tourism products affect significantly positively to destination imagine and satisfaction, beside destination image and satisfaction hold the role of mediator in this relationship. Implementing IPMA to identify the predecessors that have relatively high importance for loyalty but also a relatively low performance. The results pointed out that the constructs as satisfaction, tourism product, risk perception and image have a high importance for the tourist loyalty. The study added the antecedent of tourism products and risk perception to the model and could enrich the literature, pointing to be possibility of a destination loyalty model that can be applied to various contexts, especially after COVID- 19 pandemic. The study also discussed theoretical and managerial implications for marketing tourism.
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•An online tool identifies optimal landscape compositions for desired ecosystem services.•When the desired services are synergic, the optimum is their common best landscape ...composition.•When the desired services trade-off, a mix of grassland intensity is most multifunctional.•Such tools could support decision-making processes and aid conflict resolution.
Land-use intensification has contrasting effects on different ecosystem services, often leading to land-use conflicts. While multiple studies have demonstrated how landscape-scale strategies can minimise the trade-off between agricultural production and biodiversity conservation, little is known about which land-use strategies maximise the landscape-level supply of multiple ecosystem services (landscape multifunctionality), a common goal of stakeholder communities.
We combine comprehensive data collected from 150 German grassland sites with a simulation approach to identify landscape compositions, with differing proportions of low-, medium-, and high-intensity grasslands, that minimise trade-offs between the six main grassland ecosystem services prioritised by local stakeholders: biodiversity conservation, aesthetic value, productivity, carbon storage, foraging, and regional identity. Results are made accessible through an online tool that provides information on which compositions best meet any combination of user-defined priorities (https://neyret.shinyapps.io/landscape_composition_for_multifunctionality/).
Results show that an optimal landscape composition can be identified for any pattern of ecosystem service priorities. However, multifunctionality was similar and low for all landscape compositions in cases where there are strong trade-offs between services (e.g. aesthetic value and fodder production), where many services were prioritised, and where drivers other than land use played an important role. We also found that if moderate service levels are deemed acceptable, then strategies in which both high and low intensity grasslands are present can deliver landscape multifunctionality. The tool presented can aid informed decision-making by predicting the impact of future changes in landscape composition, and by allowing for the relative roles of stakeholder priorities and biophysical trade-offs to be understood by scientists and practitioners alike.
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