Innovative hydrogels based on semi-interpenetrating p(HEMA)/PVP networks for the cleaning of water-sensitive cultural heritage artifacts.

Water-based detergent systems offer several advantages, over organic solvents, for the cleaning of cultural heritage artifacts in terms of selectivity and gentle removal of grime materials or aged varnish, which are known to alter the readability of the painting. Unfortunately, easel paintings present specific characteristics that make the usage of water-based systems invasive. The interaction of water with wood or canvas support favors mechanical stresses between the substrate and the paint layers leading to the detachment of the pictorial layer.

A mutation, tl2, in pea (Pisum sativum L.) affects leaf development only in the heterozygous state.

After gamma irradiation of pea seeds, a mutation designated as tendril-less2 (tl2) was induced. In the heterozygous state, it transforms tendrils into very narrow leaflets that resemble the heterozygote phenotype of the classic tl mutation. The tendrils of the double heterozygote tl2/+, tl/+ are converted into oval leaflets.

Large changes in the structure of the major histone H1 subtype result in small effects on quantitative traits in legumes.

Electrophoretic analysis of the most abundant subtype of histone H1 (H1-1) of 301 accessions of grasspea (Lathyrus sativus) and 575 accessions of lentil (Lens culinaris) revealed allelic variants which most probably arose due to recent mutations. In each species, a single heterozygote for a mutation was taken for construction of isogenic lines carrying different H1-1 variants. Sequencing of alleles encoding H1-1 in lentil, grasspea, pea and Lathyrus aphaca showed the presence of an extended region in C-terminal tail which we termed 'regular zone' (RZ).

Tertiary trisomics in the garden pea as a model of B chromosome evolution in plants.

It is hypothesized that, in plants, genetically empty B chromosomes may originate from the extra chromosome (E) of tertiary trisomics if (i) the region of basic chromosomes homologous to the E (H-region) harbors a sporophytic lethal covered by the wild-type allele in E, and (ii) crossing-over between E and the H-region is suppressed. Under these conditions, most loss-of-function mutations occurring in the H-region are deleterious for haploid gametophytes, whereas those occurring in E are neutral or advantageous for hyperploid (n+1) gametophytes. As a result, natural selection at the gametophyte level can lead to the degeneration of E, leaving the H-region intact.