Solar radiation drives methane emissions from the shoots of Scots pine.

Plants are recognized as sources of aerobically produced methane (CH ), but the seasonality, environmental drivers and significance of CH emissions from the canopies of evergreen boreal trees remain poorly understood. We measured the CH fluxes from the shoots of Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) and Picea abies (Norway spruce) saplings in a static, non-steady-state chamber setup to investigate if the shoots of boreal conifers are a source of CH during spring. We found that the shoots of Scots pine emitted CH and these emissions correlated with the photosynthetically active radiation.

Inhibition of iNOS expression and NO production by anti-inflammatory steroids. Reversal by histone deacetylase inhibitors.

In inflammation, nitric oxide (NO) is produced by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) induced by bacterial products and cytokines, and NO acts as a regulatory and pro-inflammatory mediator. Glucocorticoids are powerful anti-inflammatory agents that inhibit the expression of iNOS and various other inflammatory factors. Histone deacetylation has been recently described as a novel mechanism how glucocorticoids down-regulate transcriptional activation of some inflammatory genes.