Long-Term Mild Heat Causes Post-Mitotic Pollen Abortion Through a Local Effect on Flowers.

Crop reproductive success is significantly challenged by heatwaves, which are increasing in frequency and severity globally. Heat-induced male sterility is mainly due to aborted pollen development, but it is not clear whether this is through direct or systemic effects. Here, long-term mild heat (LTMH) treatment, mimicking a heatwave, was applied locally to tomato flowers or whole plants and followed up by cytological, transcriptomic, and biochemical analyses.

Redox-engineering enhances maize thermotolerance and grain yield in the field.

Increasing populations and temperatures are expected to escalate food demands beyond production capacities, and the development of maize lines with better performance under heat stress is desirable. Here, we report that constitutive ectopic expression of a heterologous glutaredoxin S17 from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtGRXS17) can provide thermotolerance in maize through enhanced chaperone activity and modulation of heat stress-associated gene expression. The thermotolerant maize lines had increased protection against protein damage and yielded a sixfold increase in grain production in comparison to the non-transgenic counterparts under heat stress field conditions.

Low Salicylic Acid Level Improves Pollen Development Under Long-Term Mild Heat Conditions in Tomato.

Exposure to high temperatures leads to failure in pollen development, which may have significant implications for food security with ongoing climate change. We hypothesized that the stress response-associated hormone salicylic acid (SA) affects pollen tolerance to long-term mild heat (LTMH) (≥14 days exposure to day-/nighttime temperature of 30-34/24-28°C, depending on the genotype), either positively, by inducing acclimation, or negatively, by reducing investment in reproductive development. Here, we investigated these hypotheses assessing the pollen thermotolerance of a tomato line, which has low SA levels.

Quantification of Head Tremors in Medical Conditions: A Comparison of Analyses Using a 2D Video Camera and a 3D Wireless Inertial Motion Unit.

This study compares two methods to quantify the amplitude and frequency of head movements in patients with head tremor: one based on video-based motion analysis, and the other using a miniature wireless inertial magnetic motion unit (IMMU). Concomitant with the clinical assessment of head tremor severity, head linear displacements in the frontal plane and head angular displacements in three dimensions were obtained simultaneously in forty-nine patients using one video camera and an IMMU in three experimental conditions while sitting (at rest, counting backward, and with arms extended). Head tremor amplitude was quantified along/around each axis, and head tremor frequency was analyzed in the frequency and time-frequency domains.

Psycho-sensory modalities of visual hallucinations and illusions in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Visual illusions (VI) in Parkinson's disease (PD) are generally considered part of the prodrome towards fully formed visual hallucinations (VH), and classified as minor hallucinations. However, this sequential relationship has not been clearly demonstrated and very little is known about the specific phenomenology of VI in regards to VH. We aimed to describe and compare psycho-sensory modalities associated with VI and VH in PD patients.

Visual hallucinations and illusions in Parkinson's disease: the role of ocular pathology.

Introduction: Whether different mechanisms, particularly ocular pathology, could lead to the emergence of visual hallucinations (VH) (defined as false perceptions with no external stimulus) versus visual illusions (VI) (defined as a misperception of a real stimulus) in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains debated. We assessed retinal, clinical and structural brain characteristics depending on the presence of VH or VI in PD.

Methods: In this case-control study, we compared retinal thickness using optical coherence tomography (OCT), between PD patients with: VI (PD-I; n = 26), VH (PD-H; n = 28), and without VI or VH (PD-C; n = 28), and assessed demographic data, disease severity, treatment, anatomical and functional visual complaints, cognitive and visuo-perceptive functions and MRI brain volumetry for each group of PD patients.

Interactive Responses of to Drought and Insect Feeding are Herbivore Species-Specific.

In nature, plants are frequently subjected to multiple biotic and abiotic stresses, resulting in a convergence of adaptive responses. We hypothesised that hormonal signalling regulating defences to different herbivores may interact with drought responses, causing distinct resistance phenotypes. To test this, we studied the hormonal and transcriptomic responses of subjected to drought and herbivory by the generalist (beet armyworm; BAW) or the specialist (Colorado potato beetle; CPB).

Glucose dysregulation in Parkinson's disease: Too much glucose or not enough insulin?

Objective: To detect changes in glucose regulation in moderate to advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) patients in response to oral glucose intake.

Methods: Blood glucose and insulin kinetics during a 75-g Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) were compared between 50 PD patients and 50 healthy controls (CT) matched for body mass index (BMI), age and sex. Potential relationships between changes in glucose kinetics and clinical parameters were analyzed including Parkinson's disease severity and autonomic function using SCOPA-AUT (Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease, Autonomic dysfunction).

A disturbed auxin signaling affects adventitious root outgrowth in Solanum dulcamara under complete submergence.

Flooding negatively affects the growth and even survival of most terrestrial plants. Upon flooding, the excess water quickly decreases the gas exchange between atmosphere and the submerged plant tissues, which leads to oxygen deficiency resulting in a plant cell energy crisis, and eventually plant death. Solanum dulcamara survives flooding by producing aerenchymatous adventitious roots (ARs) from pre-formed primordia on the stem, which replace the original flood-sensitive root system.

Untargeted metabolomic analysis of tomato pollen development and heat stress response.

Pollen development metabolomics. Developing pollen is among the plant structures most sensitive to high temperatures, and a decrease in pollen viability is often associated with an alteration of metabolite content. Most of the metabolic studies of pollen have focused on a specific group of compounds, which limits the identification of physiologically important metabolites.

Mapping quantitative trait loci for heat tolerance of reproductive traits in tomato ().

Global warming has become a worldwide concern due to its adverse effects on agricultural output. In particular, long-term mildly high temperatures interfere with sexual reproduction and thus fruit and seed set. To uncover the genetic basis of observed variation in tolerance against heat, a bi-parental F mapping population from two contrasting cultivars, i.

Transcriptomic responses of Solanum dulcamara to natural and simulated herbivory.

Plants are attacked by diverse herbivores and respond with manifold defence responses. To study transcriptional and other early regulation events of these plant responses, herbivory is often simulated to standardize the temporal and spatial dynamics that vary tremendously for natural herbivory. Yet, to what extent such simulations of herbivory are able to elicit the same plant response as real herbivory remains largely undetermined.

Pollen Development at High Temperature: From Acclimation to Collapse.

Pollen development at high temperature depends on a fine balance between acclimation and injury.

High-Temperature-Induced Defects in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Anther and Pollen Development Are Associated with Reduced Expression of B-Class Floral Patterning Genes.

Sexual reproduction is a critical process in the life-cycle of plants and very sensitive to environmental perturbations. To better understand the effect of high temperature on plant reproduction, we cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants in continuous mild heat. Under this condition we observed a simultaneous reduction in pollen viability and appearance of anthers with pistil-like structures, while in a more thermotolerant genotype, both traits were improved.

How plants handle multiple stresses: hormonal interactions underlying responses to abiotic stress and insect herbivory.

Adaptive plant responses to specific abiotic stresses or biotic agents are fine-tuned by a network of hormonal signaling cascades, including abscisic acid (ABA), ethylene, jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid. Moreover, hormonal cross-talk modulates plant responses to abiotic stresses and defenses against insect herbivores when they occur simultaneously. How such interactions affect plant responses under multiple stresses, however, is less understood, even though this may frequently occur in natural environments.

Acclimation to high temperature during pollen development.

Pollen heat acclimation. As a consequence of global warming, plants have to face more severe and more frequently occurring periods of high temperature stress. While this affects the whole plant, development of the male gametophyte, the pollen, seems to be the most sensitive process.

Impact of Mood and Behavioral Disorders on Quality of Life in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Mood symptoms negatively affect quality of life of Parkinson's disease (PD); however little is known about the impact of behavioral disorders such as impulse control disorders, and non-motor fluctuations on quality of life.

Objective: To assess the impact of mood and behavioral disorders on quality of life in PD.

Methods: 136 (84% male) PD were included (mean age: 61 ± 8y; mean duration of disease: 8.

Breeding for plant heat tolerance at vegetative and reproductive stages.

Thermotolerant crop research. Global warming has become a serious worldwide threat. High temperature is a major environmental factor limiting crop productivity.

A Co-Opted Hormonal Cascade Activates Dormant Adventitious Root Primordia upon Flooding in Solanum dulcamara.

Soil flooding is a common stress factor affecting plants. To sustain root function in the hypoxic environment, flooding-tolerant plants may form new, aerenchymatous adventitious roots (ARs), originating from preformed, dormant primordia on the stem. We investigated the signaling pathway behind AR primordium reactivation in the dicot species Solanum dulcamara Transcriptome analysis indicated that flooding imposes a state of quiescence on the stem tissue, while increasing cellular activity in the AR primordia.

Drought and flooding have distinct effects on herbivore-induced responses and resistance in Solanum dulcamara.

In the field, biotic and abiotic stresses frequently co-occur. As a consequence, common molecular signalling pathways governing adaptive responses to individual stresses can interact, resulting in compromised phenotypes. How plant signalling pathways interact under combined stresses is poorly understood.