In plants, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) acts as a signalling molecule that facilitates various biochemical and physiological processes. H2O2 is a versatile molecule, involved in several cellular processes both under stress and stress-free conditions. In regulating plant metabolism under stress conditions, exogenous application of H2O2 also plays a pivotal role which is manifested in improved growth, photosynthetic capacity, and antioxidant protection. Abiotic stress is an inevitable environmental factor that extensively affects and reduces growth, quality, yield, and productivity of plants. Several signalling pathways involved in H2O2-mediated stress and defense responses have been extensively studied and there is ample scope of additional research that could further clarify the mechanism and modulating factors which regulate these pathways. An attempt has been made to dissect the role of H2O2 under low temperature stress and how it affects plant growth and development, photosynthetic capacity, regulation of antioxidant system, and signalling., T. A. Khan, M. Yusuf, Q. Fariduddin., and Obsahuje bibliografii
by O. Nordgaard. The protist plankton and the diatoms in bottom samples / by E. Jørgensen., KČSN - signatura S-E 128, Poškozené desky., and Desky skenovány z jiné signatury. S-E 128
Previous studies revealed altered levels of the circulating insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and of its binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) in subjects with coronary atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome and premature atherosclerosis. Hyperlipidemia is a powerful risk factor of atherosclerosis. We expected IGF-I and IGFBP-3 alterations in subjects with moderate/severe hyperlipidemia but without any clinical manifestation of atherosclerosis. Total IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were assessed in 56 patients with mixed hyperlipidemia (MHL; cholesterol>6.0 mmol/l, triglycerides>2.0 mmol/l), in 33 patients with isolated hypercholesterolemia (IHC; cholesterol>6.0 mmol/l, triglycerides<2.0 mmol/l), and in 29 healthy controls (cholesterol<6.0 mmol/l, triglycerides<2.0 mmol/l). The molar ratio of IGF-I/IGFBP-3 was used as a measure of free IGF-I. IHC subjects differed from controls by lower total IGF-I (164±60 vs. 209±73 ng/ml, p=0.01) and IGF-I/IGFBP-3 ratio (0.14±0.05 vs. 0.17±0.04, p=0.04). Compared to controls, MHL subjects had lower total IGF-I (153±54 ng/ml, p=0.0002) and IGFBP-3 (2.8±0.6 mg/ml, p<0.0001), but higher IGF-I/IGFBP-3 ratio (0.25±0.06, p<0.0001). Differences remained significant after the adjustment for clinical and biochemical covariates, except for triglycerides. Patients with both IHC and MHL have lower total IGF-I compared to controls. The mechanism is presumably different in IHC and MHL. Because of prominent reduction of IGFBP-3 in patients with MHL, they have reduced total IGF-I despite the actual elevation IGF-I/IGFBP-3 ratio as a surrogate of free IGF-I., J. Malík, T. Štulc, D. Wichterle, V. Melenovský, E. Chytilová, Z. Lacinová, J. Marek, R. Češka., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Hypobaria (low total atmospheric pressure) is essential in sustainable, energy-efficient plant production systems for long-term space exploration and human habitation on the Moon and Mars. There are also critical engineering, safety, and materials handling advantages of growing plants under hypobaria, including reduced atmospheric leakage from extraterrestrial base environments. The potential for producing crops under hypobaria and manipulating hypoxia (low oxygen stress) to increase health-promoting bioactive compounds is not well characterized. Here we showed that hypobaric-grown lettuce plants (25 kPa ≈ 25% of normal pressure) exposed to hypoxia (6 kPa pO2 ≈ 29% of normal pO2) during the final 3 d of the production cycle had enhanced antioxidant activity, increased synthesis of anthocyananins, phenolics, and carotenoids without reduction of photosynthesis or plant biomass. Net photosynthetic rate (PN) was not affected by total pressure. However, 10 d of hypoxia reduced PN, dark respiration rate (RD),
PN/RD ratio, and plant biomass. Growing plants under hypobaria and manipulating hypoxia during crop production to enhance health-promoting bioactive compounds is important for the health and well-being of astronauts exposed to space radiation and other stresses during long-term habitation. and C. He ... [et al.].
Analogickým studiím z Tichomoří a Mexika se podařilo experimentálně prokázat, že i lesní plži čeledi Clausiliidae - Cochlodina laminata a Alinda biplicata s rozměry těla cca 20 mm mohou projít živí zažívacím traktem středně velkých ptáků. Zajímavým poznatkem je, že ačkoli přežila pouze 2 % všech plžů, tak pokud nedošlo k poškození jejich schránky, přežilo plných 62 % jedinců nalezených v trusu., Analogously to the studies of the Pacific area and Mexico, we were able to prove experimentally that the forest snails from family Clausiliidae - Cochlodina laminata and Alinda biplicata with a body size of approximately 20 mm can pass through the digestive tract of a medium-sized bird. There is an interesting finding that although only 2% of gastropods survived at all, 62% of those with intact (undamaged) shells survived., and Jasna Simonová.
Článek přináší informace o vývoji a současném stavu ichtyofauny ve vodách pražské aglomerace. Celkem zde bylo zaznamenáno přes 50 druhů mihulí a ryb. Skladba zdejší fauny byla a je ovlivňována příslušností k labskému říčnímu systému (výskyt anadromních druhů) a rybářským obhospodařováním (vysazování násad, obhospodařování rybníků a sportovní rybolov). Z hlediska skladby ichtyofauny 8 druhů vymizelo, 15 druhů náleží mezi nepůvodní labské faunistické prvky, které se zde vyskytují přičiněním člověka. Do pražských vod je vysazováno rybáři cca 25 druhů a nejvíce jsou sportovními rybáři loveni kapr obecný, cejn velký, okoun říční, karas stříbřitý, štika obecná a candát obecný. Celkem 37 druhů je klasifikováno v různých kategoriích Červeného seznamu, pět druhů je chráněno zákonem., The development and present state of the ichtyofauna in flowing and stagnant waters in Prague are presented. In total, over 50 species of lampreys and fishes were found in the waters of the Prague conurbation. The ichtyofauna diversity in Prague waters is influenced by the location of the Elbe River system and angling activities (angling and fisheries stocking). In total, 8 species can be classified as extinct, and 15 species are nonnative. The following species are most frequently angled: Cyprinus carpio, Abramis brama, Perca fluviatilis, Carassius gibelio, Esox lucius and Sander lucioperca. Two fishes are classified as invasive aliens, namely Carassius gibelio and Pseudorasbora parva. Generally, about 25 fish species are stocked - the majority of them comes from artificial breeding. In total, 37 native species are classified into various categories of the Red List of Czech ichtyofauna and 8 species are protected by the law., and Lubomír Hanel, Jiří Vostradovský.
The sex determination cascades in insects are diversified at the top of the cascade, where different primary molecular signals are employed, while at the bottom of the cascades, particularly the doublesex genes, are highly conserved. Here, we identified the doublesex ortholog (Btau-dsx) of Bactrocera tau, a pumpkin fruit fly, and found that Btau-dsx is composed of six exons and five introns with an additional short "m" exon located in the second intron. Btau-dsx is different from its orthologs in most dipteran insects: Its pre-mRNA is sex-specifically spliced to yield three (two male and one female) instead of two transcript variants. The two deduced proteins produced by the male-specific transcripts are a functional (Btau-DSXM1) and a truncated (Btau-DSXM2) protein, while the female-specific transcript produces the functional Btau-DSXF protein. These three proteins contain all conserved domains except Btau-DSXM2 which has no OD2 domain. The female-specific transcript is detected in both fertilized and unfertilized eggs and in both somatic and germ cells of the adult females, while the male-specific transcript is detected only in fertilized eggs and in the abdominal tissues and testes of adult males. The presence of the Btau-dsxM1 transcript in fertilized eggs at the early syncytium stage suggests that in XY embryos, the Y-linked M factor gene may function quite soon after fertilization to alter the splicing pattern of Btau-dsx pre-mRNA from the female-specific to the male-specific mode. Injection of Btau-dsxF dsRNA into recently emerging females can reduce the expression of vitellogenin (Btau-Vg) and causes some defects in the ovaries, indicating that Btau-dsxF works upstream of Btau-Vg., Thanaset Thongsaiklaing, Hataichanok Passara, Mingkwan Nipitwathanaphon, Lertluk Ngersiri., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Macrocentrus cingulum is an important polyembryonic endoparasitic wasp that attacks larvae of the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenée) and the European corn borer, O. nubilalis (Hübner). Parasitoids use antennae as the main sensory organ to recognize herbivore-induced plant volatiles as host searching cues. The antennal olfaction proteins, odorant receptors (ORs) and ionotropic receptors (IRs) are involved in olfactory signal transduction pathway as a sensory neuron response. In the present study, we constructed a cDNA library from the male and female antennae for identifying the olfaction-related genes in M. cingulum. For that, we sequenced 3160 unique gene sequences and annotated them with gene ontology (GO), cluster of orthologous groups of proteins (COG), and KEGG ontology (KO). Through the homology search, we identified 9 odorant receptors (ORs), 3 ionotropic receptors (IRs) and 1 odorant binding protein (OBP) genes from the cDNA library sequences. Additionally, the expression patterns of these ORs and IRs in different tissues (antennae, heads, thoraxes, abdomens, and legs) were demonstrated by RT-PCR. The qualitative gene expression analyses showed that most of the OR genes were more highly expressed in female than male antennae; whereas IRs, unlike ORs, were more expressed in various male than females tissues. We are the first to report ORs and IRs in M. cingulum, which should help in deciphering the molecular basis of olfaction system in this wasp., Tofael Ahmed, Tian-Tao Zhang, Zhen-Ying Wang, Kang-Lai He, Shu-Xiong Bai., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Novel microsatellite markers for the spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus L.) are identified and characterized using next generation sequencing technology. 18 polymorphic loci were obtained by screening 10,684 reads and tested on 35 bark beetle samples from different locations in Bavaria, Germany. Allelic richness ranged from two to 38 alleles, observed heterozygosity from 0.03 to 0.66 and expected heterozygosity from 0.08 to 0.97. Four loci showed significant deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and no linkage between loci was detected. The 18 loci, along with another six loci previously described, provide effective analytical tools for analyzing the fine-scale genetic structure of bark beetle populations. The result of this study demonstrates that next generation sequencing technology is a valuable method for isolating microsatellites of a coleopteran species. and Bernhard C. STOECKLE, Ralph KUEHN.
Novel microsatellite markers for the solitary bee, Anthophora plumipes, were identified and characterised using 454 GS-FLX Titanium pyrosequencing technology. Thirty seven loci were tested using fluorescently labelled primers on a sample of 20 females from Prague. The number of alleles ranged from 1 to 10 (with a mean of 4 alleles per locus), resulting in an observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.05 to 0.9 and an expected heterozygosity from 0.097 to 0.887. None of the loci showed a significant deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and only two loci showed the significant presence of null alleles. No linkage between loci was detected. We further provide information on a single multiplex PCR consisting of 11 of the most polymorphic loci. This multiplex approach provides an effective analytical tool for analysing genetic structure and carrying out parental analyses on Anthophora populations. Most of the 37 loci tested also showed robust amplification in five other Anthophora species (A. aestivalis, A. crinipes, A. plagiata, A. pubescens and A. quadrimaculata). The result of this study demonstrates that next generation sequencing technology is a valuable method for isolating quality microsatellites in non-model species of solitary bees. and Obsahuje seznam literatury