EIL (ethylene-insensitive 3-like) transcription factors in apple affect both ethylene- and cold response-dependent fruit ripening.

EIN3/EIL (ethylene-insensitive 3/EIN3-like) transcription factors are positive downstream transcriptional regulators of ethylene signalling. In apple (Malus × domestica), a small family of MdEIL genes was identified, with four expressed in fruit. Transgenic lines were generated to manipulate MdEIL1 expression, and fruits were sampled at harvest maturity and after cold treatment.

Unravelling genotype-phenotype correlations in Stargardt disease using patient-derived retinal organoids.

Stargardt disease is an inherited retinopathy affecting approximately 1:8000 individuals. It is characterised by biallelic variants in ABCA4 which encodes a vital protein for the recycling of retinaldehydes in the retina. Despite its prevalence and impact, there are currently no treatments available for this condition.

Swept-source visible-light optical coherence tomography.

We demonstrate the feasibility of swept-source visible-light optical coherence tomography (SS-vis-OCT). We used a fanout periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal for second-harmonic generation (SHG) to convert a commercial near-infrared swept-source (NIR-SS) laser into a visible-light SS laser. To enhance SHG efficiency, we amplified the NIR-SS output with booster optical amplifiers (BOAs) and generated up to 580 µW of power.

Shorebirds Are Shrinking and Shape-Shifting: Declining Body Size and Lengthening Bills in the Past Half-Century.

Animals are predicted to shrink and shape-shift as the climate warms, declining in size, while their appendages lengthen. Determining which types of species are undergoing these morphological changes, and why, is critical to understanding species responses to global change, including potential adaptation to climate warming. We examine body size and bill length changes in 25 shorebird species using extensive field data (> 200,000 observations) collected over 46 years (1975-2021) by community scientists.

A necrotizing toxin enables Pseudomonas syringae infection across evolutionarily divergent plants.

The Pseudomonas syringae species complex harbors a diverse range of pathogenic bacteria that can infect hosts across the plant kingdom. However, much of our current understanding of P. syringae is centered on its infection of flowering plants.