Ectomycorrhizal symbiosis prepares its host locally and systemically for abiotic cue signaling.

Tree growth and survival are dependent on their ability to perceive signals, integrate them, and trigger timely and fitted molecular and growth responses. While ectomycorrhizal symbiosis is a predominant tree-microbe interaction in forest ecosystems, little is known about how and to what extent it helps trees cope with environmental changes. We hypothesized that the presence of Laccaria bicolor influences abiotic cue perception by Populus trichocarpa and the ensuing signaling cascade.

Overfeeding Extends the Period of Annual Cyclicity but Increases the Risk of Early Embryonic Death in Shetland Pony Mares.

Obesity has been associated with altered reproductive activity in mares, and may negatively affect fertility. To examine the influence of long-term high-energy (HE) feeding on fertility, Shetland pony mares were fed a diet containing 200% of net energy (NE) requirements during a three-year study. The incidence of hemorrhagic anovulatory follicles (HAF) and annual duration of cyclicity were compared to those in control mares receiving a maintenance diet.

Element content and expression of genes of interest in guard cells are connected to spatiotemporal variations in stomatal conductance.

Element content and expression of genes of interest on single cell types, such as stomata, provide valuable insights into their specific physiology, improving our understanding of leaf gas exchange regulation. We investigated how far differences in stomatal conductance (g ) can be ascribed to changes in guard cells functioning in amphistomateous leaves. g was measured during the day on both leaf sides, on well-watered and drought-stressed trees (two Populus euramericana Moench and two Populus nigra L.

[Successful treatment in the day clinic of the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of LMU Munich. Experienced changes from the patients' perspective].

Background: In the day clinic of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the LMU Munich, a multimodal therapy concept is offered. The goals of treatment are, in addition to the reduction of symptoms, an expansion of everyday life skills and the professional and social reintegration of patients.

Method: The effectiveness of the therapeutic work was evaluated over a period of just under 3 years.

Quantitative dissection of variations in root growth rate: a matter of cell proliferation or of cell expansion?

Plant organ growth results from cell production and cell expansion. Deciphering the contribution of each of these processes to growth rate is an important issue in developmental biology. Here, we investigated the cellular processes governing root elongation rate, considering two sources of variation: genotype and disturbance by chemicals (NaCl, polyethylene glycol, H2O2, abscisic acid).

Changes in the epigenome and transcriptome of the poplar shoot apical meristem in response to water availability affect preferentially hormone pathways.

The adaptive capacity of long-lived organisms such as trees to the predicted climate changes, including severe and successive drought episodes, will depend on the presence of genetic diversity and phenotypic plasticity. Here, the involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in phenotypic plasticity toward soil water availability was examined in Populus×euramericana. This work aimed at characterizing (i) the transcriptome plasticity, (ii) the genome-wide plasticity of DNA methylation, and (iii) the function of genes affected by a drought-rewatering cycle in the shoot apical meristem.

Non-invasive Protocol for Kinematic Monitoring of Root Growth under Infrared Light.

Phenotyping the dynamics of root responses to environmental cues is necessary to understand plant acclimation to their environment. Continuous monitoring of root growth is challenging because roots normally grow belowground and are very sensitive to their growth environment. This protocol combines infrared imaging with hydroponic cultivation for kinematic analyses.

Genes and gene clusters related to genotype and drought-induced variation in saccharification potential, lignin content and wood anatomical traits in Populus nigra.

Wood is a renewable resource that can be employed for the production of second generation biofuels by enzymatic saccharification and subsequent fermentation. Knowledge on how the saccharification potential is affected by genotype-related variation of wood traits and drought is scarce. Here, we used three Populus nigra L.

The build-up of osmotic stress responses within the growing root apex using kinematics and RNA-sequencing.

Molecular regulation of growth must include spatial and temporal coupling of cell production and cell expansion. The underlying mechanisms, especially under environmental challenge, remain obscure. Spatial patterns of cell processes make the root apex well suited to deciphering stress signaling pathways, and to investigating both processes.

3D deformation field in growing plant roots reveals both mechanical and biological responses to axial mechanical forces.

Strong regions and physical barriers in soils may slow root elongation, leading to reduced water and nutrient uptake and decreased yield. In this study, the biomechanical responses of roots to axial mechanical forces were assessed by combining 3D live imaging, kinematics and a novel mechanical sensor. This system quantified Young's elastic modulus of intact poplar roots (32MPa), a rapid <0.

Length and activity of the root apical meristem revealed in vivo by infrared imaging.

Understanding how cell division and cell elongation influence organ growth and development is a long-standing issue in plant biology. In plant roots, most of the cell divisions occur in a short and specialized region, the root apical meristem (RAM). Although RAM activity has been suggested to be of high importance to understand how roots grow and how the cell cycle is regulated, few experimental and numeric data are currently available.

Phenotypic plasticity toward water regime: response of leaf growth and underlying candidate genes in Populus.

Phenotypic plasticity is considered as an important mechanism for plants to cope with environmental challenges. Leaf growth is one of the first macroscopic processes to be impacted by modification of soil water availability. In this study, we intended to analyze and compare plasticity at different scales.

Separation of actin-dependent and actin-independent lipid rafts.

Lipid rafts have been isolated on the basis of their resistance to various detergents and more recently by using detergent-free procedures. The actin cytoskeleton is now recognized as a dynamic regulator of lipid raft stability. We carefully analyzed the effects of the cortical actin-disrupting agent latrunculin B on lipid raft markers of both protein and lipid nature and show that two detergent-free membrane subtypes can be isolated and separated from each other on a one-step density gradient combined with pooling of the appropriate gradient fractions.

Developmental and environmental regulation of Aquaporin gene expression across Populus species: divergence or redundancy?

Aquaporins (AQPs) are membrane channels belonging to the major intrinsic proteins family and are known for their ability to facilitate water movement. While in Populus trichocarpa, AQP proteins form a large family encompassing fifty-five genes, most of the experimental work focused on a few genes or subfamilies. The current work was undertaken to develop a comprehensive picture of the whole AQP gene family in Populus species by delineating gene expression domain and distinguishing responsiveness to developmental and environmental cues.

The function of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter ABCB1 is not susceptible to actin disruption.

Previously we have shown that the activity of the multidrug transporter ABCC1 (multidrug resistance protein 1), and its localization in lipid rafts, depends on cortical actin (Hummel I, Klappe K, Ercan C, Kok JW. Mol. Pharm.

[Psychotic and non-psychotic denial of pregnancy].

We report about two patients with denial of pregnancy. While the first patient was free of psychopathological symptoms besides denial of pregnancy until rupture of the membranes, and was able to accomodate the new born, the second patient with psychotic denial of pregnancy could not accomodate the child because of the schizophrenia, so that an adoption was necessary. On the basis of the two cases aetiological, epidemiological, clinical und prognostic implications of psychotic and non-psychotic denial of pregnancy are discussed.

Function of MRP1/ABCC1 is not dependent on cholesterol or cholesterol-stabilized lipid rafts.

MRP1 (multidrug-resistance-related protein 1)/ABCC1 (ATP-binding cassette transporter C1) has been localized in cholesterol-enriched lipid rafts, which suggests a role for these lipid rafts and/or cholesterol in MRP1 function. In the present study, we have shown for the first time that nearly complete oxidation of free cholesterol in the plasma membrane of BHK-MRP1 (MRP1-expressing baby hamster kidney) cells did not affect MRP1 localization in lipid rafts or its efflux function, using 5-carboxyfluorescein diacetate as a substrate. Inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis, using lovastatin in combination with RO 48-8071, an inhibitor of oxidosqualene cyclase, resulted in a shift of MRP1 out of lipid raft fractions, but did not affect MRP1-mediated efflux in Neuro-2a (neuroblastoma) cells.

PHENOPSIS DB: an information system for Arabidopsis thaliana phenotypic data in an environmental context.

Background: Renewed interest in plant×environment interactions has risen in the post-genomic era. In this context, high-throughput phenotyping platforms have been developed to create reproducible environmental scenarios in which the phenotypic responses of multiple genotypes can be analysed in a reproducible way. These platforms benefit hugely from the development of suitable databases for storage, sharing and analysis of the large amount of data collected.

Multidrug resistance-related protein 1 (MRP1) function and localization depend on cortical actin.

MRP1 (ABCC1) is known to be localized in lipid rafts. Here we show in two different cell lines that localization of Mrp1/MRP1 (Abcc1/ABCC1) in lipid rafts and its function as an efflux pump are dependent on cortical actin. Latrunculin B disrupts both cortical actin and actin stress fibers.

Arabidopsis plants acclimate to water deficit at low cost through changes of carbon usage: an integrated perspective using growth, metabolite, enzyme, and gene expression analysis.

Growth and carbon (C) fluxes are severely altered in plants exposed to soil water deficit. Correspondingly, it has been suggested that plants under water deficit suffer from C shortage. In this study, we test this hypothesis in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) by providing an overview of the responses of growth, C balance, metabolites, enzymes of the central metabolism, and a set of sugar-responsive genes to a sustained soil water deficit.

Extensive sphingolipid depletion does not affect lipid raft integrity or lipid raft localization and efflux function of the ABC transporter MRP1.

We show that highly efficient depletion of sphingolipids in two different cell lines does not abrogate the ability to isolate Lubrol-based DRMs (detergent-resistant membranes) or detergent-free lipid rafts from these cells. Compared with control, DRM/detergent-free lipid raft fractions contain equal amounts of protein, cholesterol and phospholipid, whereas the classical DRM/lipid raft markers Src, caveolin-1 and flotillin display the same gradient distribution. DRMs/detergent-free lipid rafts themselves are severely depleted of sphingolipids.

Monitoring the regulation of gene expression in a growing organ using a fluid mechanics formalism.

Background: Technological advances have enabled the accurate quantification of gene expression, even within single cell types. While transcriptome analyses are routinely performed, most experimental designs only provide snapshots of gene expression. Molecular mechanisms underlying cell fate or positional signalling have been revealed through these discontinuous datasets.

Lipid dependence of ABC transporter localization and function.

Lipid rafts have been implicated in many cellular functions, including protein and lipid transport and signal transduction. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters have also been localized in these membrane domains. In this review the evidence for this specific localization will be evaluated and discussed in terms of relevance to ABC transporter function.