Species and Their Associations with Chaparral and Oak Woodland Vegetation in Southern California.

Evidence of unintended introductions of species into native habitats has become increasingly prevalent in California. If not managed adequately, species can become devastating agricultural and forest plant pathogens. Additionally, California's natural areas, characterized by a Mediterranean climate and dominated by chaparral (evergreen, drought-tolerant shrubs) and oak woodlands, lack sufficient baseline knowledge on biology and ecology, hindering effective management efforts.

Comparing the Extent of Methionine Oxidation in the Prion and Native Conformations of PrP.

Scrapie is a prion disease of sheep and goats. Prions (PrP) replicate by inducing a natively expressed protein (PrP) to refold into the prion conformation. PrP and PrP contain a disproportionately large number of methionines.

Permeability Benchmarking: Guidelines for Comparing , , and Measurements.

Permeability is a measure of the degree to which cells can transport molecules across biological barriers. Units of permeability are distance per unit time (typically cm/s), where accurate measurements are needed to define drug delivery in homeostasis and to model dysfunction occurring during disease. This perspective offers a set of community-led guidelines to benchmark permeability data across multidisciplinary approaches and different biological contexts.

A comparative analysis of Marburg virus-infected bat and human models from public high-throughput sequencing data.

Marburg virus (MARV) disease (MVD) is an uncommon yet serious viral hemorrhagic fever that impacts humans and non-human primates. In humans, infection by the MARV is marked by rapid onset, high transmissibility, and elevated mortality rates, presenting considerable obstacles to the development of vaccines and treatments. Bats, particularly , are suspected to be natural hosts of MARV.

Sex-ratio distortion in a weed biological control agent, Ceratapion basicorne (Coleoptera: Brentidae), associated with a species of Rickettsia.

Many endosymbionts of insects have been shown to manipulate and alter their hosts' reproduction with implications for agriculture, disease transmission, and ecological systems. Less studied are the microbiota of classical biological control agents and the implications of inadvertent endosymbionts in laboratory colonies for field establishment and effects on target pests or nontarget organisms. While native-range field populations of agents may have a low incidence of vertically transmitted endosymbionts, quarantine and laboratory rearing of inbred populations may increase this low prevalence to fixation in relatively few generations.

Analytical tools to assess polymer biodegradation: A critical review and recommendations.

Many petroleum-derived plastic materials are highly recalcitrant and persistent in the environment, posing significant threats to human and ecological receptors due to their accumulation in ecosystems. In recent years, research efforts have focused on advancing biological methods for polymer degradation. Enzymatic depolymerization has emerged as particularly relevant for biobased plastic recycling, potentially scalable for industrial use.

Novel str. 1D1416 for Citrus Transformation.

Citrus is one of the world's most important and widely produced fruit crops, with over a 100 million metric tons harvested from nearly 10 million hectares in 2023. Challenges in crop maintenance, production, and fruit quality necessitate developing new traits through Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation. While a few strains (EHA105, GV3101, LBA4404) are known to transform citrus, many wild strains remain untested.

Improving the Efficiency and Safety of Sentinel Stink Bug Eggs Using X-rays.

Sentinel eggs used to monitor field parasitism of stink bug pests (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) can only be deployed for a few days to avoid releasing the pest in the monitored area. Using sterile eggs removes the risk of accidental pest introduction and extends deployment time. Freezing the eggs before deployment is one common method of sterilizing sentinel eggs.

Dynamic Hydration and Viscosity Control of Konjac Glucomannan Enhance Long-Term Antiobesity Effects by Reducing Food Intake in High-Fat-Diet-Fed Mice.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the necessity and importance of dynamic hydration rate and ultimate viscosity control of konjac glucomannan (KGM) for long-term antiobesity effects in C57BL/6J mice on high-fat (HF) diets. KGM supplementation effectively attenuated HF-diet-induced increases in body and tissue weights. The hydration rate and viscosity changes of KGM in the digestive tract were found to have marked impacts on antiobesity effects.

First Report of Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus (INSV) Infecting Lettuce in Mexico.

Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV; Order Bunyavirales, Family Tospoviridae) is transmitted by several thrips species and has emerged as an important pathogen of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) in several countries (Beris et al., 2020 and Hasegawa & Del Pozo-Valdivia, 2023). In 2023, a total of 22,092 hectares of lettuce were planted in Mexico, with a total production of 523,739 tons (Agri-Food and Fisheries Information Service, 2024).

CLAVATA3 Signaling Buffers Arabidopsis Shoot Apical Meristem Activity in Response to Photoperiod.

Land plants grow throughout their life cycle via the continuous activity of stem cell reservoirs contained within their apical meristems. The shoot apical meristem (SAM) of Arabidopsis and other land plants responds to a variety of environmental cues, yet little is known about the response of meristems to seasonal changes in day length, or photoperiod. Here, the vegetative and reproductive growth of Arabidopsis wild-type and plants in different photoperiod conditions was analyzed.

Fitness factors impacting survival of a subsurface bacterium in contaminated groundwater.

Many factors contribute to the ability of a microbial species to persist when encountering complexly contaminated environments, including time of exposure, the nature and concentration of contaminants, availability of nutritional resources, and possession of a combination of appropriate molecular mechanisms needed for survival. Herein we sought to identify genes that are most important for survival of Gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae in contaminated groundwater environments containing high concentrations of nitrate and metals using the metal-tolerant Oak Ridge Reservation isolate, Pantoea sp. MT58 (MT58).

Zürich II Statement on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs): Scientific and Regulatory Needs.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a class of synthetic organic chemicals of global concern. A group of 36 scientists and regulators from 18 countries held a hybrid workshop in 2022 in Zürich, Switzerland. The workshop, a sequel to a previous Zürich workshop held in 2017, deliberated on progress in the last five years and discussed further needs for cooperative scientific research and regulatory action on PFASs.

Association mapping of tan spot and septoria nodorum blotch resistance in cultivated emmer wheat.

A total of 65 SNPs associated with resistance to tan spot and septoria nodorum blotch were identified in a panel of 180 cultivated emmer accessions through association mapping Tan spot and septoria nodorum blotch (SNB) are foliar diseases caused by the respective fungal pathogens Pyrenophora tritici-repentis and Parastagonospora nodorum that affect global wheat production. To find new sources of resistance, we evaluated a panel of 180 cultivated emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccum) accessions for reactions to four P.

Structure and Formation Mechanisms in Tantalum and Niobium Oxides in Superconducting Quantum Circuits.

Improving the qubit's lifetime (T) is crucial for fault-tolerant quantum computing. Recent advancements have shown that replacing niobium (Nb) with tantalum (Ta) as the base metal significantly increases T, likely due to a less lossy native surface oxide. However, understanding the formation mechanism and nature of both surface oxides is still limited.

Defined synthetic microbial communities colonize and benefit field-grown sorghum.

The rhizosphere constitutes a dynamic interface between plant hosts and their associated microbial communities. Despite the acknowledged potential for enhancing plant fitness by manipulating the rhizosphere, the engineering of the rhizosphere microbiome through inoculation has posed significant challenges. These challenges are thought to arise from the competitive microbial ecosystem where introduced microbes must survive, and the absence of adaptation to the specific metabolic and environmental demands of the rhizosphere.

Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-Surface (REASON).

The Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON) is a dual-frequency ice-penetrating radar (9 and 60 MHz) onboard the Europa Clipper mission. REASON is designed to probe Europa from exosphere to subsurface ocean, contributing the third dimension to observations of this enigmatic world. The hypotheses REASON will test are that (1) the ice shell of Europa hosts liquid water, (2) the ice shell overlies an ocean and is subject to tidal flexing, and (3) the exosphere, near-surface, ice shell, and ocean participate in material exchange essential to the habitability of this moon.