Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.): Genetic Diversity According to ISSR and SCoT Markers, Relative Gene Expression, and Morpho-Physiological Variation under Salinity Stress

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a halophytic crop that can withstand a variety of abiotic stresses, including salt. The present research examined the mechanisms of salt tolerance in five different quinoa genotypes at four different salinity levels (control (60), 80, 120, and 160 mM NaCl). ISSR and SCoT analysis revealed high polymorphism percentages of 90.91% and 85.26%, respectively. Furthermore, ISSR 1 and SCoT 7 attained the greatest number of polymorphic amplicons (27 and 26), respectively. Notably, LINE-6 and M-28 genotypes demonstrated the greatest number of unique positive and negative amplicons (50 and 42) generated from ISSR and SCoT, respectively. Protein pattern analysis detected 11 bands with a polymorphism percentage 27.27% among the quinoa genotypes, with three unique bands distinguishable for the M-28 genotype. Similarity correlation indicated that the highest similarity was between S-10 and Regeolone-3 (0.657), while the lowest similarity was between M-28 and LINE-6 (0.44). Significant variations existed among the studied salinity treatments, genotypes, and the interactions between them. The highest and lowest values for all the studied morpho-physiological and biochemical traits were recorded at 60 and 160 mM NaCl concentrations, respectively, except for the Na and proline contents, which exhibited the opposite relationship. The M-28 genotype demonstrated the highest values for all studied characteristics, while the LINE-6 genotype represented the lowest in both seasons. On the other hand, mRNA transcript levels for CqSOS1 did not exhibit differential expression in roots and leaf tissues, while the expression of CqNHX1 was upregulated more in both tissues for the M-28 genotype than for the LINE-6 genotype, and its maximum induction was seen in the leaves. Overall, the genotypes M-28 and LINE-6 were identified as the most and least salinity-tolerant, respectively.

Blood Vessel Patterning on Retinal Astrocytes Requires Endothelial Flt-1 (VEGFR-1)

Feedback mechanisms are critical components of many pro-angiogenic signaling pathways that keep vessel growth within a functional range. The Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-A (VEGF-A) pathway utilizes the decoy VEGF-A receptor Flt-1 to provide negative feedback regulation of VEGF-A signaling. In this study, we investigated how the genetic loss of flt-1 differentially affects the branching complexity of vascular networks in tissues despite similar effects on endothelial sprouting. We selectively ablated flt-1 in the post-natal retina and found that maximum induction of flt-1 loss resulted in alterations in endothelial sprouting and filopodial extension, ultimately yielding hyper-branched networks in the absence of changes in retinal astrocyte architecture. The mosaic deletion of flt-1 revealed that sprouting endothelial cells flanked by flt-1−/− regions of vasculature more extensively associated with underlying astrocytes and exhibited aberrant sprouting, independent of the tip cell genotype. Overall, our data support a model in which tissue patterning features, such as retinal astrocytes, integrate with flt-1-regulated angiogenic molecular and cellular mechanisms to yield optimal vessel patterning for a given tissue.

Analysis of magnetic losses in Fe-polymer composites

The most important properties of soft magnetic materials are peak induction and magnetic losses, determining the size and efficiency of electric devices. Conventional soft magnetic materials are not suitable for the construction of miniaturized magnetic cores. Soft magnetic composites meet miniaturization requirements of electric and electronic devices. In this paper, magnetic losses in self-developed Fe-polymer composites are analyzed. The frequency dependencies of magnetic losses are measured at different level of maximum induction. The influence of Fe-grain size on magnetic losses is also discussed.

Enhancing resistance of rice bean to diseases by seed treatmentwith Pseudomonas flourescens and Bacillus species

Efficacy of seed bacterization with six rhizobacterial isolates was assessed in laboratory conditions to evaluate their resistance inducing ability in rice bean. Pseudomonas. fluorescens isolates B5, B6, B8, B9 and B17 and Bacillus species isolate B18 were found effective in reducing the percentage of diseased seedling but showed the plant growth promotion. Increased levels of catalase, phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and poly phenol oxidase (PPO) were observed in seedlings indicating higher levels of ISR. Maximum induction of defense enzymes was observed with isolate B5 followed by B6 and B18. The utilization of indigenous PGPR strains as inducers of plant defense response may offer a practical solution for eco-friendly management of plant diseases.

Impact of preharvest and postharvest treatment combinations on increase of stilbene content in grape

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Aims</strong>: Stilbene-enriched grape is an interesting new food product with numerous health-promoting properties, mainly due to its high added-value compound content, notably resveratrol. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different elicitors, alone or in combination with ultraviolet C light (UVC) postharvest treatment, on stilbene concentration in grapes.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Methods and results</strong>: Three preharvest treatments were tested, namely benzothiadiazole, (BTH), methyl jasmonate (MEJA) and chitosan (CHIT). After harvesting, these treatments were combined with UVC postharvest treatment. The stilbene extraction method was validated method. Moreover, and grape quality was evaluated. Of the preharvest treatments, only BTH significantly increased <em>trans</em>-resveratrol concentration in grape, but this appears to be linked to a ripening delay. When pre- and postharvest treatments were combined, only the MEJA-UVC combination was successful in reducing by three days the day of maximum induction of stilbenes (<em>trans</em>-resveratrol and piceatannol).</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusion</strong>: The MEJA-UVC combination reached similar grape <em>trans</em>-resveratrol contents than UVC alone, but additionally the time to reach maximum <em>trans</em>-resveratrol after the UVC treatment was reduced by three days and therefore grape quality was preserved.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Significance and impact of the study</strong>: The achieved results provide a potential treatment combination that allows functional grapes to be obtained in a shorter period than with UVC light alone, making it more applicable.</p>