Roles of Aquaporins in Stem Development and Sugar Storage.

is a C grass used as a model for bioenergy feedstocks. The elongating internodes in developing stems grow from an intercalary meristem at the base, and progress acropetally toward fully expanded cells that store sugar. During stem development and maturation, water flow is a driver of cell expansion and sugar delivery.

Carbon dioxide and water transport through plant aquaporins.

Aquaporins are channel proteins that function to increase the permeability of biological membranes. In plants, aquaporins are encoded by multigene families that have undergone substantial diversification in land plants. The plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs) subfamily of aquaporins is of particular interest given their potential to improve plant water relations and photosynthesis.

Effects of reduced carbonic anhydrase activity on CO2 assimilation rates in Setaria viridis: a transgenic analysis.

In C species, the major β-carbonic anhydrase (β-CA) localized in the mesophyll cytosol catalyses the hydration of CO to HCO, which phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase uses in the first step of C photosynthesis. To address the role of CA in C photosynthesis, we generated transgenic Setaria viridis depleted in β-CA. Independent lines were identified with as little as 13% of wild-type CA.

Challenges for using quantitative PCR test batteries as a TIE-type approach to identify metal exposure in benthic invertebrates.

The epibenthic amphipod Melita plumulosa shows unique gene expression profiles when exposed to different contaminants. We hypothesized that specific changes in transcript abundance could be used in a battery of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays as a toxicity identification evaluation (TIE)-like approach to identify the most relevant stressor in field-contaminated sediments. To test this hypothesis, seven candidate transcriptomic markers were selected, and their specificity following metal exposure was confirmed.

Effects of atrazine on endocrinology and physiology in juvenile barramundi, Lates calcarifer (Bloch).

Exposure to certain environmental contaminants such as agricultural pesticides can alter normal endocrine and reproductive parameters in wild fish populations. Recent studies have found widespread pesticide contamination across the rivers that discharge into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. Potential impacts on native fish species exposed to known endocrine disrupting chemicals such as atrazine, simazine, and diuron have not been assessed.

Dissolved and particulate copper exposure induces differing gene expression profiles and mechanisms of toxicity in the deposit feeding amphipod Melita plumulosa.

Uptake of metals via ingestion is an important route of exposure for many invertebrates, and it has been suggested that the toxic response to metals accumulated via food differs from that of metals accumulated via the dissolved phase. To test this hypothesis, the deposit-feeding epibenthic amphipod Melita plumulosa was exposed to nontoxic or reproductively toxic concentrations of copper via the overlying water, via ingestion of sediment, or via a combination of the two. Rates of copper uptake from the two exposure routes were predicted using a biokinetic model.

RNA-Seq analysis of the toxicant-induced transcriptome of the marine diatom, Ceratoneis closterium.

Diatoms are of enormous ecological importance as they account for as much as 20% of global primary production, yet they are still understudied from a genomic perspective. The benthic diatom Ceratoneis closterium is well-characterized from an ecotoxicological perspective including its use in ecotoxicological risk assessments and investigating the mode-of-action of metal toxicity. However, this organism has little sequence information available.

Assessing mechanisms of toxicant response in the amphipod Melita plumulosa through transcriptomic profiling.

This study describes the function of transcripts with altered abundance in the epibenthic amphipod, Melita plumulosa, following whole-sediment exposure to a series of common environmental contaminants. M. plumulosa were exposed for 48 h to sediments spiked and equilibrated with the following contaminants at concentrations predicted to cause sublethal effects to reproduction: porewater ammonia 30 mg L(-1); bifenthrin at 100 μg kg(-1); fipronil at 50 μg kg(-1); 0.

The use of cannabinoids in chronic pain.

We present the case of a 56-year-old man who developed chronic pain following the excision of a facial cancer that was poorly controlled despite multiple analgesic medications. Following the starting of nabilone (a synthetic cannabinoid) his pain control was greatly improved and this had a huge impact on his quality of life. We also managed to significantly reduce his doses of opioid analgesia and ketamine.

Using transcriptomic profiles in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum to identify and prioritize stressors.

The transcriptomic profile of the marine diatom, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, exposed to several ecologically relevant stressors, was used to develop toxicity identification evaluation (TIE)-like gene expression assays. Algal growth inhibition was measured by flow cytometry to determine exposure concentrations that elicited a sublethal toxic response. P.

Comparison of toxicity and transcriptomic profiles in a diatom exposed to oil, dispersants, dispersed oil.

Dispersants are commonly used to mitigate the impact of oil spills, however, the ecological cost associated with their use is uncertain. The toxicity of weathered oil, dispersed weathered oil, and the hydrocarbon-based dispersant Slickgone NS(®), to the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum has been examined using standardized toxicity tests. The assumption that most toxicity occurs via narcosis was tested by measuring membrane damage in diatoms after exposure to one of the petroleum products.