Curcuma longa L. Prevents the Loss of β-Tubulin in the Brain and Maintains Healthy Aging in Drosophila melanogaster

Loss of tubulin is associated with neurodegeneration and brain aging. Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) has frequently been employed as a spice in curry and traditional medications in the Indian subcontinent to attain longevity and better cognitive performance. We aimed to evaluate the unelucidated mechanism of how turmeric protects the brain to be an anti-aging agent. D. melanogaster was cultured on a regular diet and turmeric-supplemented diet. β-tubulin level and physiological traits including survivability, locomotor activity, fertility, tolerance to oxidative stress, and eye health were analyzed. Turmeric showed a hormetic effect, and 0.5% turmeric was the optimal dose in preventing aging. β-tubulin protein level was decreased in the brain of D. melanogaster upon aging, while a 0.5% turmeric-supplemented diet predominantly prevented this aging-induced loss of β-tubulin and degeneration of physiological traits as well as improved β-tubulin synthesis in the brain of D. melanogaster early to mid-age. The higher concentration (≥ 1%) of turmeric-supplemented diet decreased the β-tubulin level and degenerated many of the physiological traits of D. melanogaster. The turmeric concentration-dependent increase and decrease of β-tubulin level were consistent with the increment and decrement data obtained from the evaluated physiological traits. This correlation demonstrated that turmeric targets β-tubulin and has both beneficial and detrimental effects that depend on the concentration of turmeric. The findings of this study concluded that an optimal dosage of turmeric could maintain a healthy neuron and thus healthy aging, by preventing the loss and increasing the level of β-tubulin in the brain.

High-altitude erythrocytosis: mechanisms of adaptive and mal-adaptive responses

Erythrocytosis, or increased production of red blood cells, is one of the most well-documented physiological traits that varies within and among in high-altitude populations. Although a modest increase in blood O2-carrying capacity may be beneficial for life in highland environments, erythrocytosis can also become excessive and lead to maladaptive syndromes such as Chronic Mountain Sickness (CMS).

Diurnal stomatal apertures and density ratios affect whole-canopy stomatal conductance, water-use efficiency and yield

Key physiological traits of plants, such as transpiration and stomatal conductance, are usually studied under steady-state conditions or modeled using only a few measured data points. Those measurements do not reflect the dynamic behavior of the plant in response to field conditions. To overcome this bottleneck, we used a gravimetric functional phenotyping platform and a reverse-phenotyping method to examine the dynamic whole-plant water regulation responses of tomato introgression lines and compared those responses with several years of yield performance in commercial fields. Ideotype lines had highly plastic stomatal conductance and high abaxial to adaxial stomatal density ratios and the size of their stomatal apertures peaked early in the day under water-deficit conditions. These traits resulted in dynamic daily water-use efficiency, which allowed for the rapid recovery of transpiration when irrigation was resumed after a period of imposed drought. We found that stomatal density, the abaxial to adaxial stomatal density ratio and the time of maximum stomatal apertures are crucial for plant adaptation and productivity under drought stress conditions. Abaxial stomatal density was also found to be strongly correlated with the expression of the stomatal-development genes SPCH and ZEP. This study demonstrates how a reverse functional phenotyping approach based on field yield data, continuous and simultaneous whole plant waterbalance measurements and anatomical examination of individual leaves can help us to understand and identify dynamic and complex yield-related physiological traits.

Modeling polar marine ecosystem functions guided by bacterial physiological and taxonomic traits

Heterotrophic marine bacteria utilize organic carbon for growth and biomass synthesis. Thus, their physiological variability is key to the balance between the production and consumption of organic matter and ultimately particle export in the ocean. Here we investigate a potential link between bacterial traits and ecosystem functions in the rapidly warming West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) region based on a bacteria-oriented ecosystem model. Using a data assimilation scheme, we utilize the observations of bacterial groups with different physiological traits to constrain the group-specific bacterial ecosystem functions in the model. We then examine the association of the modeled bacterial and other key ecosystem functions with eight recurrent modes representative of different bacterial taxonomic traits. Both taxonomic and physiological traits reflect the variability in bacterial carbon demand, net primary production, and particle sinking flux. Numerical experiments under perturbed climate conditions demonstrate a potential shift from low nucleic acid bacteria to high nucleic acid bacteria-dominated communities in the coastal WAP. Our study suggests that bacterial diversity via different taxonomic and physiological traits can guide the modeling of the polar marine ecosystem functions under climate change.

The evolution of regulated cell death pathways in animals and their evasion by pathogens

The coevolution of host-pathogen interactions underlies many human physiological traits associated with protection from or susceptibility to infections. Among the mechanisms that animals utilize to control infections are the regulated cell death pathways of pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis. Over the course of evolution these pathways have become intricate and complex, coevolving with microbes that infect animal hosts. Microbes, in turn, have evolved strategies to interfere with the pathways of regulated cell death to avoid eradication by the host. Here, we present an overview of the mechanisms of regulated cell death in Animalia and the strategies devised by pathogens to interfere with these processes. We review the molecular pathways of regulated cell death, their roles in infection, and how they are perturbed by viruses and bacteria, providing insights into the coevolution of host-pathogen interactions and cell death pathways.