Cross-protection and cross-neutralization capacity of ancestral and VOC-matched SARS-CoV-2 adenoviral vector-based vaccines.

COVID-19 vaccines were originally designed based on the ancestral Spike protein, but immune escape of emergent Variants of Concern (VOC) jeopardized their efficacy, warranting variant-proof vaccines. Here, we used preclinical rodent models to establish the cross-protective and cross-neutralizing capacity of adenoviral-vectored vaccines expressing VOC-matched Spike. CoroVaxG.

Functional analysis of polymorphisms in collected in Patagonia.

shows a wide range of natural genetic variation in light responses. Shade avoidance syndrome is a strategy of major adaptive significance that includes seed germination, elongation of vegetative structures, leaf hyponasty, and acceleration of flowering. Previously, we found that the southernmost Arabidopsis accession, collected in the south of Patagonia (Pat), is hyposensitive to light and displays a reduced response to shade light.

Structural basis for the Pr-Pfr long-range signaling mechanism of a full-length bacterial phytochrome at the atomic level.

Phytochromes constitute a widespread photoreceptor family that typically interconverts between two photostates called Pr (red light–absorbing) and Pfr (far-red light–absorbing). The lack of full-length structures solved at the (near-)atomic level in both pure Pr and Pfr states leaves gaps in the structural mechanisms involved in the signal transmission pathways during the photoconversion. Here, we present the crystallographic structures of three versions from the plant pathogen virulence regulator BphP bacteriophytochrome, including two full-length proteins, in the Pr and Pfr states.

A Single Dose of a Hybrid hAdV5-Based Anti-COVID-19 Vaccine Induces a Long-Lasting Immune Response and Broad Coverage against VOC.

Most approved vaccines against COVID-19 have to be administered in a prime/boost regimen. We engineered a novel vaccine based on a chimeric human adenovirus 5 (hAdV5) vector. The vaccine (named CoroVaxG.

Functional and druggability analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 proteome.

The infectious coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, appeared in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has spread worldwide. As of today, more than 46 million people have been infected and over 1.2 million fatalities.

A Spectroscopy-based Methodology for Rapid Screening and Characterization of Phytochrome Photochemistry in Search of Pfr-favored Variants.

Phytochromes are photosensitive proteins with a covalently bound open-chain chromophore that can switch between two principal states: red light absorbing Pr and far-red light absorbing Pfr. Our group has previously shown that the bacteriophytochrome from Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (XccBphP) is a bathy-like phytochrome that uses biliverdin IXα as a co-factor and is involved in bacterial virulence.

Improvement of alfalfa forage quality and management through the down-regulation of MsFTa1.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the most important forage crops worldwide. As a perennial, alfalfa is cut several times each year.

Shade delays flowering in Medicago sativa.

Shade-intolerant plants respond to the decrease in the red (R) to far-red (FR) light ratio (R:FR) occurring under shade by elongating stems and petioles and by re-positioning leaves, in a race to outcompete neighbors for the sunlight resource. In some annual species, the shade avoidance syndrome (SAS) is accompanied by the early induction of flowering. Anticipated flowering is viewed as a strategy to set seeds before the resources become severely limiting.

CONSTANS delays Arabidopsis flowering under short days.

Long days (LD) promote flowering of Arabidopsis thaliana compared with short days (SD) by activating the photoperiodic pathway. Here we show that growth under very-SD (3 h) or darkness (on sucrose) also accelerates flowering on a biological scale, indicating that SD actively repress flowering compared with very-SD. CONSTANS (CO) repressed flowering under SD, and the early flowering of co under SD required FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT).

Draft Genome Sequence of Methylobacterium sp. Strain V23, Isolated from Accretion Ice of the Antarctic Subglacial Lake Vostok.

Here, we report the draft genome sequence of sp. strain V23, a bacterium isolated from accretion ice of the subglacial Lake Vostok (3,592 meters below the surface). This genome makes possible the study of ancient and psychrophilic genes and proteins from a subglacial environment isolated from the surface for at least 15 million years.

Bottom-up Assembly of the Phytochrome Network.

Plants have developed sophisticated systems to monitor and rapidly acclimate to environmental fluctuations. Light is an essential source of environmental information throughout the plant's life cycle. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana possesses five phytochromes (phyA-phyE) with important roles in germination, seedling establishment, shade avoidance, and flowering.

Acute Effects of Light on Alternative Splicing in Light-Grown Plants.

Light modulates plant growth and development to a great extent by regulating gene expression programs. Here, we evaluated the effect of light on alternative splicing (AS) in light-grown Arabidopsis thaliana plants using high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). We found that an acute light pulse given in the middle of the night, a treatment that simulates photoperiod lengthening, affected AS events corresponding to 382 genes.

Emerging Hubs in Plant Light and Temperature Signaling.

Due to their nature as sessile organisms, plants must accurately sense their surroundings and then translate this information into efficient acclimation responses to maximize development. Light and temperature are two major stimuli that provide immediate cues regarding energy availability, daylength, proximity of other species and seasonal changes. Both cues are sensed by complex systems and the integration of these signals is of very high value to properly respond to environmental changes without being disguised by random changes.

Arabidopsis thaliana life without phytochromes.

Plants use light as a source of energy for photosynthesis and as a source of environmental information perceived by photoreceptors. Testing whether plants can complete their cycle if light provides energy but no information about the environment requires a plant devoid of phytochromes because all photosynthetically active wavelengths activate phytochromes. Producing such a quintuple mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana has been challenging, but we were able to obtain it in the flowering locus T (ft) mutant background.