Quantitative monitoring of paramagnetic contrast agents and their allocation in plant tissues via DCE-MRI.

Background: Studying dynamic processes in living organisms with MRI is one of the most promising research areas. The use of paramagnetic compounds as contrast agents (CA), has proven key to such studies, but so far, the lack of appropriate techniques limits the application of CA-technologies in experimental plant biology. The presented proof-of-principle aims to support method and knowledge transfer from medical research to plant science.

A mechanistic view on lodging resistance in rye and wheat: a multiscale comparative study.

The development of crop varieties that are resistant to lodging is a top priority for breeding programmes. Herein, we characterize the rye mutant ´Stabilstroh' ('stable straw') possessing an exceptional combination of high lodging resistance, tall posture and high biomass production. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging displayed the 3-dimensional assembly of vascular bundles in stem.

Grain filling in barley relies on developmentally controlled programmed cell death.

Cereal grains contribute substantially to the human diet. The maternal plant provides the carbohydrate and nitrogen sources deposited in the endosperm, but the basis for their spatial allocation during the grain filling process is obscure. Here, vacuolar processing enzymes have been shown to both mediate programmed cell death (PCD) in the maternal tissues of a barley grain and influence the delivery of assimilate to the endosperm.

Trehalose 6-phosphate promotes seed filling by activating auxin biosynthesis.

Plants undergo several developmental transitions during their life cycle. One of these, the differentiation of the young embryo from a meristem-like structure into a highly specialized storage organ, is believed to be controlled by local connections between sugars and hormonal response systems. However, we know little about the regulatory networks underpinning the sugar-hormone interactions in developing seeds.

Cellular Plasticity in Response to Suppression of Storage Proteins in the Embryo.

The tradeoff between protein and oil storage in oilseed crops has been tested here in oilseed rape () by analyzing the effect of suppressing key genes encoding protein storage products (napin and cruciferin). The phenotypic outcomes were assessed using NMR and mass spectrometry imaging, microscopy, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, immunological assays, and flux balance analysis. Surprisingly, the profile of storage products was only moderately changed in RNA interference transgenics.

The genome of jojoba (): A taxonomically isolated species that directs wax ester accumulation in its seeds.

Seeds of the desert shrub, jojoba (), are an abundant, renewable source of liquid wax esters, which are valued additives in cosmetic products and industrial lubricants. Jojoba is relegated to its own taxonomic family, and there is little genetic information available to elucidate its phylogeny. Here, we report the high-quality, 887-Mb genome of jojoba assembled into 26 chromosomes with 23,490 protein-coding genes.

The highly divergent Jekyll genes, required for sexual reproduction, are lineage specific for the related grass tribes Triticeae and Bromeae.

Phylogenetically related groups of species contain lineage-specific genes that exhibit no sequence similarity to any genes outside the lineage. We describe here that the Jekyll gene, required for sexual reproduction, exists in two much diverged allelic variants, Jek1 and Jek3. Despite low similarity, the Jek1 and Jek3 proteins share identical signal peptides, conserved cysteine positions and direct repeats.

Positive chemical exchange contrast in MRI using Refocused Acquisition of Chemical Exchange Transferred Excitations (RACETE).

Purpose: A new chemical exchange MRI method is proposed which allows for direct detection of exchanging solute protons with concurrent water background suppression.

Methods: The proposed method, RACETE (Refocused Acquisition of Chemical Exchange Transferred Excitations), is based on a stimulated-echo-technique, where the first two excitation pulses are replaced by a train of N solute-selective excitation-transfer modules. This excitation cycle is then followed by a stimulated echo acquisition via selective refocusing of exchanged solute protons now present in the solvent pool.

Vacuolar processing enzyme 4 contributes to maternal control of grain size in barley by executing programmed cell death in the pericarp.

The angiosperm embryo and endosperm are limited in space because they grow inside maternal seed tissues. The elimination of cell layers of the maternal seed coat by programmed cell death (PCD) could provide space and nutrition to the filial organs. Using the barley (Hordeum vulgare L.

A functional imaging study of germinating oilseed rape seed.

Germination, the process whereby a dry, quiescent seed springs to life, has been a focus of plant biologist for many years, yet the early events following water uptake, during which metabolism of the embryo is restarted, remain enigmatic. Here, the nature of the cues required for this restarting in oilseed rape (Brassica napus) seed has been investigated. A holistic in vivo approach was designed to display the link between the entry and allocation of water, metabolic events and structural changes occurring during germination.

Insect haptoelectrical stimulation of Venus flytrap triggers exocytosis in gland cells.

The Venus flytrap captures insects and consumes their flesh. Prey contacting touch-sensitive hairs trigger traveling electrical waves. These action potentials (APs) cause rapid closure of the trap and activate secretory functions of glands, which cover its inner surface.

Spatial and Temporal Mapping of Key Lipid Species in Seeds.

The regulation of lipid synthesis in oil seeds is still not fully understood. Oilseed rape () is the third most productive vegetable oil crop on the global market; therefore, increasing our understanding of lipid accumulation in oilseed rape seeds is of great economic, as well as intellectual, importance. Matrix-assisted laser/desorption ionization-mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) is a technique that allows the mapping of metabolites directly onto intact biological tissues, giving a spatial context to metabolism.

The potential of nuclear magnetic resonance to track lipids in planta.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) provides a highly flexible platform for non invasive analysis and imaging biological samples, since the manipulation of nuclear spin allows the tailoring of experiments to maximize the informativeness of the data. MRI is capable of visualizing a holistic picture of the lipid storage in living plant/seed. This review has sought to explain how the technology can be used to acquire functional and physiological data from plant samples, and how to exploit it to characterize lipid deposition in vivo.

The homeodomain transcription factor TaHDZipI-2 from wheat regulates frost tolerance, flowering time and spike development in transgenic barley.

Homeodomain leucine zipper class I (HD-Zip I) transcription factors (TFs) play key roles in the regulation of plant growth and development under stresses. Functions of the TaHDZipI-2 gene isolated from the endosperm of developing wheat grain were revealed. Molecular characterization of TaHDZipI-2 protein included studies of its dimerisation, protein-DNA interactions and gene activation properties using pull-down assays, in-yeast methods and transient expression assays in wheat cells.

Metabolic Architecture of the Cereal Grain and Its Relevance to Maximize Carbon Use Efficiency.

Here, we have characterized the spatial heterogeneity of the cereal grain's metabolism and demonstrated how, by integrating a distinct set of metabolic strategies, the grain has evolved to become an almost perfect entity for carbon storage. In vivo imaging revealed light-induced cycles in assimilate supply toward the ear/grain of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum). In silico modeling predicted that, in the two grain storage organs (the endosperm and embryo), the light-induced shift in solute influx does cause adjustment in metabolic flux without changes in pathway utilization patterns.

Transcript abundance on its own cannot be used to infer fluxes in central metabolism.

An attempt has been made to define the extent to which metabolic flux in central plant metabolism is reflected by changes in the transcriptome and metabolome, based on an analysis of in vitro cultured immature embryos of two oilseed rape (Brassica napus) accessions which contrast for seed lipid accumulation. Metabolic flux analysis (MFA) was used to constrain a flux balance metabolic model which included 671 biochemical and transport reactions within the central metabolism. This highly confident flux information was eventually used for comparative analysis of flux vs.

Sonographic evaluation of the bladder neck in continent and stress-incontinent women.

Objective: To evaluate a new sonographic method to measure depth and width of proximal urethral dilation during coughing and Valsalva maneuver and to report its use in a group of stress-incontinent and continent women.

Methods: Fifty-eight women were evaluated, 30 with and 28 without stress incontinence proven urodynamically, with a bladder volume of 300 mL and the subjects upright. Urethral pressure profiles at rest were performed with a 10 French microtip pressure catheter.

In vivo and in vitro characterization of two camelpoxvirus isolates with decreased virulence.

Two camelpoxvirus (CPV) strains isolated from camels with generalized skin-disease were serially passaged on Vero cells. Various phenotypic properties were investigated in vitro and in vivo and compared with those of the corresponding wildtype strains. In many aspects no differences were observed.

Characterization of camelpoxvirus isolates from Africa and Asia.

Five orthopoxvirus isolates of camels from different geographic regions of Africa and Asia were analysed with respect to their biological and genomic attributes. The behaviour of the isolates in various cell cultures, the type of pock lesions on the chorioallantoic membrane of embryonated chicken eggs, and the respective ceiling temperatures were determined. Additionally, physical maps for restriction endonucleases HindIII and XhoI were established.

[The effectiveness of immunization with vaccinia virus type "MVA" against an infection with cowpox virus type "OPV 85" in rabbits].

The immunological efficacy of vacciniavirus "MVA" was tested against a dermal and intradermal infection with cowpoxvirus "OPV 85" in rabbits: A single vaccination with "MVA" provided only insufficient immunity, a revaccination induced good immunity. Intramuscular immunizations protected better than subcutaneous applications. Immunized rabbits showed "revaccination reactions" after infection with "OPV 85" indicating a cellular immunity.

[Infections with original cowpox virus and cowpox-like agents in humans and animals: a literature review].

In an evaluation of literature the biological, physical-chemical and antigenic characteristics of cowpoxviruses and cowpox-like agents are presented, the according diseases following a natural and experimental infection are described and their epizootiological and epidemiological aspects discussed.

A serological survey of the prevalence of Aujeszky's disease antibodies in Thailand using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), serum neutralization (SN) and latexagglutination tests (LT).

The presence of Aujeszky's disease (AD) antibodies in eluates of whole blood on filter paper and corresponding sera from Thai pigs was determined by ELISA, SNT and LT. From a total of 800 samples tested by ELISA, 26% of the sera and 18% of the eluates showed positive results. From 640 samples tested by SNT and chosen because they gave negative, suspicious, or weakly positive results by ELISA, 22% were positive.

[Experimental studies of in vitro cultivation of the cells of Kärtner honeybees (Apis mellifera carnica Pollmann, 1879)].

A synopsis about published methods and results on experiments to cultivate bee cells in vitro is given. Experimental investigations were performed with haemocytes of larvae of the L-5 stage using many different media and methods for the preparation of primary tissue culture. Monolayers could be prepared and a high rate of reproduction has been achieved, although subpassages could not be obtained.