NIRSpredict: a platform for predicting plant traits from near infra-red spectroscopy.

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has become a popular tool for investigating phenotypic variability in plants. We developed the Shiny NIRSpredict application to get predictions of 81 Arabidopsis thaliana phenotypic traits, including classical functional traits as well as a large variety of commonly measured chemical compounds, based from near-infrared spectroscopy values based on deep learning. It is freely accessible at the following URL: https://shiny.

An allometry perspective on crops.

Understanding trait-trait coordination is essential for successful plant breeding and crop modeling. Notably, plant size drives variation in morphological, physiological, and performance-related traits, as described by allometric laws in ecology. Yet, as allometric relationships have been limitedly studied in crops, how they influence and possibly limit crop performance remains unknown.

Can plants build their niche through modulation of soil microbial activities linked with nitrogen cycling? A test with Arabidopsis thaliana.

In natural systems, different plant species have been shown to modulate specific nitrogen (N) cycling processes so as to meet their N demand, thereby potentially influencing their own niche. This phenomenon might go beyond plant interactions with symbiotic microorganisms and affect the much less explored plant interactions with free-living microorganisms involved in soil N cycling, such as nitrifiers and denitrifiers. Here, we investigated variability in the modulation of soil nitrifying and denitrifying enzyme activities (NEA and DEA, respectively), and their ratio (NEA : DEA), across 193 Arabidopsis thaliana accessions.

Narrow interval dual phase 18F-FDG PET/CT: A practical approach for distinguishing tumor recurrence from radiation necrosis in brain metastasis.

Purpose of our research is to demonstrate efficacy of narrow interval dual phase [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) imaging in distinguishing tumor recurrence (TR) from radiation necrosis (RN) in patients treated for brain metastases. 35 consecutive patients (22 female, 13 male) with various cancer subtypes, lesion size > 1.0 cm3, and suspected recurrence on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) underwent narrow interval dual phase FDG-PET/CT (30 and 90 min after tracer injection).

The Arabidopsis leaf quantitative atlas: a cellular and subcellular mapping through unified data integration.

Quantitative analyses and models are required to connect a plant's cellular organisation with its metabolism. However, quantitative data are often scattered over multiple studies, and finding such data and converting them into useful information is time-consuming. Consequently, there is a need to centralise the available data and to highlight the remaining knowledge gaps.

Growing on calcareous soils and facing climate change.

Soil calcium carbonate (CaCO) impacts plant mineral nutrition far beyond Fe metabolism, imposing constraints for crop growth and quality in calcareous agrosystems. Our knowledge on plant strategies to tolerate CaCO effects mainly refers to Fe acquisition. This review provides an update on plant cellular and molecular mechanisms recently described to counteract the negative effects of CaCO in soils, as well as recent efforts to identify genetic bases involved in CaCO tolerance from natural populations, that could be exploited to breed CaCO-tolerant crops.

Low-dose Paclitaxel with Pembrolizumab Enhances Clinical and Immunologic Responses in Platinum-refractory Urothelial Carcinoma.

Purpose: Single-agent checkpoint inhibition is effective in a minority of patients with platinum-refractory urothelial carcinoma; therefore, the efficacy of combining low-dose paclitaxel with pembrolizumab was tested.

Materials And Methods: This was a prospective, single-arm phase II trial with key inclusion criteria of imaging progression within 12 months of platinum therapy and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group ≤1. Treatment was pembrolizumab 200 mg day 1 and paclitaxel 80 mg/m2 days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle for up to eight cycles unless progression or unacceptable adverse events (AE).

Reduction in PLANT DEFENSIN 1 expression in Arabidopsis thaliana results in increased resistance to pathogens and zinc toxicity.

Ectopic expression of defensins in plants correlates with their increased capacity to withstand abiotic and biotic stresses. This applies to Arabidopsis thaliana, where some of the seven members of the PLANT DEFENSIN 1 family (AtPDF1) are recognised to improve plant responses to necrotrophic pathogens and increase seedling tolerance to excess zinc (Zn). However, few studies have explored the effects of decreased endogenous defensin expression on these stress responses.

AraDiv: a dataset of functional traits and leaf hyperspectral reflectance of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Data from functional trait databases have been increasingly used to address questions related to plant diversity and trait-environment relationships. However, such databases provide intraspecific data that combine individual records obtained from distinct populations at different sites and, hence, environmental conditions. This prevents distinguishing sources of variation (e.

Plant-herbivore interactions: Experimental demonstration of genetic variability in plant-plant signalling.

Plant-herbivore interactions mediated by plant-plant signalling have been documented in different species but its within-species variability has hardly been quantified. Here, we tested if herbivore foraging activity on plants was influenced by a prior contact with a damaged plant and if the effect of such plant-plant signalling was variable across 113 natural genotypes of . We filmed the activity of the generalist herbivore during 1 h on two plants differing only in a prior contact with a damaged plant or not.

Solving the grand challenge of phenotypic integration: allometry across scales.

Phenotypic integration is a concept related to the cascade of trait relationships from the lowest organizational levels, i.e. genes, to the highest, i.

A Perspective on Plant Phenomics: Coupling Deep Learning and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

The trait-based approach in plant ecology aims at understanding and classifying the diversity of ecological strategies by comparing plant morphology and physiology across organisms. The major drawback of the approach is that the time and financial cost of measuring the traits on many individuals and environments can be prohibitive. We show that combining near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) with deep learning resolves this limitation by quickly, non-destructively, and accurately measuring a suite of traits, including plant morphology, chemistry, and metabolism.

Sublethal effects of metal toxicity and the measure of plant fitness in ecotoxicological experiments.

Anthropogenic pollution is a major driver of global environmental change. To be properly addressed, the study of the impact of pollutants must consider both lethal effects and sublethal effects on individual fitness. However, measuring fitness remains challenging.

Water deficit changes the relationships between epidemiological traits of Cauliflower mosaic virus across diverse Arabidopsis thaliana accessions.

Changes in plant abiotic environments may alter plant virus epidemiological traits, but how such changes actually affect their quantitative relationships is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effects of water deficit on Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) traits (virulence, accumulation, and vectored-transmission rate) in 24 natural Arabidopsis thaliana accessions grown under strictly controlled environmental conditions. CaMV virulence increased significantly in response to water deficit during vegetative growth in all A.

Genome-wide and comparative phylogenetic analysis of senescence-associated NAC transcription factors in sunflower (Helianthus annuus).

Background: Leaf senescence delay impacts positively in grain yield by maintaining the photosynthetic area during the reproductive stage and during grain filling. Therefore a comprehensive understanding of the gene families associated with leaf senescence is essential. NAC transcription factors (TF) form a large plant-specific gene family involved in regulating development, senescence, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses.

National-scale changes in crop diversity through the Anthropocene.

Expansion of crops beyond their centres of domestication is a defining feature of the Anthropocene Epoch. This process has fundamentally altered the diversity of croplands, with likely consequences for the ecological functioning and socio-economic stability of agriculture under environmental change. While changes in crop diversity through the Anthropocene have been quantified at large spatial scales, the patterns, drivers, and consequences of change in crop diversity and biogeography at national-scales remains less explored.

Trait Diversity of Pulse Species Predicts Agroecosystem Properties Trade-Offs.

Crop diversity management in agriculture is a fundamental principle of agroecology and a powerful way to promote resilient and sustainable production systems. Pulses are especially relevant for diversification issues. Yet, the specific diversity of legumes is poorly represented in most cropping systems.

Risk factors for symptomatic radiation pneumonitis after stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Background And Purpose: Radiation pneumonitis (RP) can be a potential fatal toxicity of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for medically inoperable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aimed to examine the risk factors that predict RP and explore dosimetric tolerance for safe practice in a large institutional series of NSCLC patients.

Materials And Methods: Patients with early-stage and locally recurrent NSCLC who received lung SBRT between 2002 and 2015 formed the study population.

An exploration of the variability of physiological responses to soil drying in relation with C/N balance across three species of the under-utilized genus Vigna.

The genus Vigna (Fabaceae) is an agriculturally important taxon, which includes several crop species such as cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.), mung bean (Vigna radiata) and azuki bean (Vigna angularis). Most studies have focused on cowpea (V.

Domestication-driven changes in plant traits associated with changes in the assembly of the rhizosphere microbiota in tetraploid wheat.

Despite the large morphological and physiological changes that plants have undergone through domestication, little is known about their impact on their microbiome. Here we characterized rhizospheric bacterial and fungal communities as well as the abundance of N-cycling microbial guilds across thirty-nine accessions of tetraploid wheat, Triticum turgidum, from four domestication groups ranging from the wild subspecies to the semi dwarf elite cultivars. We identified several microbial phylotypes displaying significant variation in their relative abundance depending on the wheat domestication group with a stronger impact of domestication on fungi.