Metabolomics to target insecticidal compounds of var. against (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

The fall armyworm is the most prevalent plague in crops associated with a reduction in corn production by up to 34%. Pesticides have been used to reduce this plague, but they cause several environmental problems including resistance, ecological imbalance, and toxicity to the final consumer. The use of plant extracts has been an effective manner of eradicating this plague from crop plantations.

Marker-Assisted Pyramiding of Blast-Resistance Genes in a Elite Rice Cultivar through Forward and Background Selection.

Rice blast, caused by , is one of the main rice diseases worldwide. The pyramiding of blast-resistance () genes, coupled to Marker-Assisted BackCrossing (MABC), provides broad-spectrum and potentially durable resistance while limiting the donor genome in the background of an elite cultivar. In this work, MABC coupled to foreground and background selections based on KASP marker assays has been applied to introgress four genes (, and ) in a renowned Italian rice variety, highly susceptible to blast.

Distinct architectural requirements for the centromeric sequence of the pSM19035 plasmid partition machinery.

Three-component ParABS partition systems ensure stable inheritance of many bacterial chromosomes and low-copy-number plasmids. ParA localizes to the nucleoid through its ATP-dependent nonspecific DNA-binding activity, whereas centromere-like -DNA and ParB form partition complexes that activate ParA-ATPase to drive the system dynamics. The essential sequence arrangements vary among ParABS systems, reflecting the architectural diversity of their partition complexes.

Genome-wide association study for morphological, phenological, quality, and yield traits in einkorn (Triticum monococcum L. subsp. monococcum).

Einkorn (Triticum monococcum L. subsp. monococcum, 2n = 2× = 14, AmAm) is a diploid wheat whose cultivation was widespread in the Mediterranean and European area till the Bronze Age, before it was replaced by the more productive durum and bread wheats.

Isolation and Characterization of Strain ST9; Rhizomicrobiota and in Planta Studies.

The development of biotechnologies based on beneficial microorganisms for improving soil fertility and crop yields could help to address many current agriculture challenges, such as food security, climate change, pest control, soil depletion while decreasing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Plant growth-promoting (PGP) microbes can be used as probiotics in order to increase plant tolerance/resistance to abiotic/biotic stresses and in this context strains belonging to the group have shown to have potential as PGP candidates. In this study a new isolate is reported and tested for (i) in vitro PGP features, (ii) whole-genome sequence analysis, and (iii) its effects on the rhizosphere microbiota composition, plant growth, and different plant genes expression levels in greenhouse experiments.

Insecticidal activity of copper (II) complexes with flavanone derivatives.

In this work, we describe the insecticidal activity against of flavanone derivatives (naringin, naringenin and hesperidin) complexed to copper (II). For the assays, the compounds were incorporated into an artificial diet and offered to during its larval period. The duration of larval and pupal phases, the weight of pupae and the percentage of dead insects at the end of the larval phase were evaluated.

Potential insecticidal activity of aminonaphthoquinone Mannich bases derived from lawsone and their copper (II) complex derivatives.

The fall armyworm, , is a polyphagous pest that causes important damage in different regions of America and mainly affects corn crops in both tropical and subtropical areas. Currently, control relies on both transgenic plants and/or chemical pesticides. In this work, we describe insecticidal activity against the fall armyworm from a series of Mannich bases (), derived from 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (lawsone), substituted benzaldehydes, and two primary amines, and their Cu complexes ().

Genome wide association studies for japonica rice resistance to blast in field and controlled conditions.

Background: Rice blast, caused by the fungus Pyricularia oryzae, represents the most damaging fungal disease of rice worldwide. Utilization of rice resistant cultivars represents a practical way to control the disease. Most of the rice varieties cultivated in Europe and several other temperate regions are severely depleted of blast resistance genes, making the identification of resistant sources in genetic background adapted to temperate environments a priority.

GWAS for Starch-Related Parameters in Rice ( L.).

Rice quality is mainly related to the following two starch components, apparent amylose content (AAC) and resistant starch (RS). The former affects grain cooking properties, while RS acts as a prebiotic. In the present study, a Genome Wide Association Scan (GWAS) was performed using 115 rice accessions, including tropical and temperate genotypes, with the purpose of expanding the knowledge of the genetic bases affecting RS and AAC.

Effects of water management and cultivar on carbon dynamics, plant productivity and biomass allocation in European rice systems.

Water saving techniques, such as alternate wetting and drying (AWD), are becoming a necessity in modern rice farming because of climate change mitigation and growing water use scarcity. Reducing water can vastly reduce methane (CH) emissions; however, this net climate benefit may be offset by enhanced carbon dioxide (CO) emissions from soil. The main aims of this study were: to determine the effects of AWD on yield and ecosystem C dynamics, and to establish the underlying mechanistic basis for observed trends in net ecosystem C gain or loss in an Italian rice paddy.

Genome-Wide Analysis of Rice Performance under Limited Water and Permanent Flooding Conditions.

A rice GWAS panel of 281 accessions of rice was phenotypically characterized for 26 traits related to phenology, plant and seed morphology, physiology and yield for 2 years in field conditions under permanent flooding (PF) and limited water (LW). A genome-wide analysis uncovered a total of 160 significant marker-trait associations (MTAs), of which 32 were LW-specific, 59 were PF-specific, and 69 were in common between the two water management systems. LW-specific associations were identified for several agronomic traits including days to maturation, days from flowering to maturation, leaf traits, plant height, panicle and seed traits, hundred grain weight, yield and tillering.

The major Boswellia serrata active 3-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid strengthens interleukin-1α upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase-9 via JNK MAP kinase activation.

Background: Boswellia serrata gum resin has attracted pharmacological interest as an alternative antinflammatory.

Purpose: We studied the application of an ethanolic extract of the resin and its main active 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid (AKBA) against inflammatory degeneration of skin extracellular matrix.

Study Design: We compared the effects of the extract and AKBA on the activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 (72-kDa and 92-kDa type IV collagenases) in HaCaT keratinocytes exposed to interleukin-1α (IL-1α) as a skin inflammation model.

Rice diversity panel provides accurate genomic predictions for complex traits in the progenies of biparental crosses involving members of the panel.

Rice breeding programs based on pedigree schemes can use a genomic model trained with data from their working collection to predict performances of progenies produced through rapid generation advancement. So far, most potential applications of genomic prediction in plant improvement have been explored using cross validation approaches. This is the first empirical study to evaluate the accuracy of genomic prediction of the performances of progenies in a typical rice breeding program.

High-resolution mapping of the pericentromeric region on wheat chromosome arm 5AS harbouring the Fusarium head blight resistance QTL Qfhs.ifa-5A.

The Qfhs.ifa-5A allele, contributing to enhanced Fusarium head blight resistance in wheat, resides in a low-recombinogenic region of chromosome 5A close to the centromere. A near-isogenic RIL population segregating for the Qfhs.

Identification of bakanae disease resistance loci in japonica rice through genome wide association study.

Background: Bakanae disease, caused by seed-borne Fusarium species, mainly F. fujikuroi, is a rice disease whose importance is considerably increasing in several rice growing countries, leading to incremental production losses.

Results: A germplasm collection of japonica rice was screened for F.

Geographic differentiation of domesticated einkorn wheat and possible Neolithic migration routes.

To analyse the spread of domesticated einkorn into Europe, 136 landraces, 9 wild einkorns and 3 Triticum urartu were fingerprinted by the diversity array technology sequence (DArT-seq) marker technology. The obtained 3455 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers confirmed earlier results about the separation of wild and domesticated einkorn from T. urartu and about the pinpointing of the domesticated forms to the Karacadağ Mountains (Turkey).

Next generation breeding.

The genomic revolution of the past decade has greatly improved our understanding of the genetic make-up of living organisms. The sequencing of crop genomes has completely changed our vision and interpretation of genome organization and evolution. Re-sequencing allows the identification of an unlimited number of markers as well as the analysis of germplasm allelic diversity based on allele mining approaches.

Physical Mapping of Bread Wheat Chromosome 5A: An Integrated Approach.

The huge size, redundancy, and highly repetitive nature of the bread wheat [Triticum aestivum (L.)] genome, makes it among the most difficult species to be sequenced. To overcome these limitations, a strategy based on the separation of individual chromosomes or chromosome arms and the subsequent production of physical maps was established within the frame of the International Wheat Genome Sequence Consortium (IWGSC).

The interaction of ω2 with the RNA polymerase β' subunit functions as an activation to repression switch.

The ω gene is encoded in broad-host range and low-copy plasmids. It is genetically linked to antibiotic resistance genes of the major human pathogens of phylum Firmicutes. The homodimeric forms of ω (ω2) coordinate the plasmid copy number control, faithful partition (ω2 and δ2) and better-than-random segregation (ζϵ2ζ) systems.

ParAB Partition Dynamics in Firmicutes: Nucleoid Bound ParA Captures and Tethers ParB-Plasmid Complexes.

In Firmicutes, small homodimeric ParA-like (δ2) and ParB-like (ω2) proteins, in concert with cis-acting plasmid-borne parS and the host chromosome, secure stable plasmid inheritance in a growing bacterial population. This study shows that (ω:YFP)2 binding to parS facilitates plasmid clustering in the cytosol. (δ:GFP)2 requires ATP binding but not hydrolysis to localize onto the cell's nucleoid as a fluorescent cloud.

The Interplay between Different Stability Systems Contributes to Faithful Segregation: Streptococcus pyogenes pSM19035 as a Model.

The Streptococcus pyogenes pSM19035 low-copy-number θ-replicating plasmid encodes five segregation (seg) loci that contribute to plasmid maintenance. These loci map outside of the minimal replicon. The segA locus comprises β2 recombinase and two six sites, and segC includes segA and also the γ topoisomerase and two ssiA sites.

Molecular Anatomy of ParA-ParA and ParA-ParB Interactions during Plasmid Partitioning.

Firmicutes multidrug resistance inc18 plasmids encode parS sites and two small homodimeric ParA-like (δ2) and ParB-like (ω2) proteins to ensure faithful segregation. Protein ω2 binds to parS DNA, forming a short left-handed helix wrapped around the full parS, and interacts with δ2. Protein δ2 interacts with ω2 and, in the ATP-bound form, binds to nonspecific DNA (nsDNA), forming small clusters.

A RAD tag derived marker based eggplant linkage map and the location of QTLs determining anthocyanin pigmentation.

Both inter- and intra-specific maps have been developed in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). The former benefit from an enhanced frequency of marker polymorphism, but their relevance to marker-assisted crop breeding is limited.

Molecular anatomy of the Streptococcus pyogenes pSM19035 partition and segrosome complexes.

Vancomycin or erythromycin resistance and the stability determinants, δω and ωεζ, of Enterococci and Streptococci plasmids are genetically linked. To unravel the mechanisms that promoted the stable persistence of resistance determinants, the early stages of Streptococcus pyogenes pSM19035 partitioning were biochemically dissected. First, the homodimeric centromere-binding protein, ω2, bound parS DNA to form a short-lived partition complex 1 (PC1).

Platelet lysate modulates MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression, matrix deposition and cell-to-matrix adhesion in keratinocytes and fibroblasts.

Cell-matrix interactions are an essential element of wound healing, while platelet derivatives are used in clinical settings for the treatment of chronic wounds. We used a platelet lysate (PL), which had been previously shown to accelerate in vitro the wounding of HaCaT keratinocytes and fibroblasts (J Cell Mol Med, 13, 2009, 2030; Br J Dermatol, 159, 2008, 537), to study the modulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 collagenase expression, collagen type I and III production and syndecan-4 expression and rearrangement in these cells. Zymography and Western blot analyses showed that exposure to 20% (v/v) PL for 24 h induced an apparently ERK1/2- and p38-dependent, NF-kappaB-independent, translational upregulation of MMP-9 in HaCaT, while HaCaT MMP-2 and fibroblast collagenases were almost unaffected.