1,720,965 research outputs found
Biotechnological approaches: Gene overexpression, gene silencing, and genome editing to control fungal and oomycete diseases in grapevine
Full text linkDowny mildew, powdery mildew, and grey mold are some of the phytopathological diseases causing economic losses in agricultural crops, including grapevine, worldwide. In the current scenario of increasing global warming, in which the massive use of agrochemicals should be limited, the management of fungal disease has become a challenge. The knowledge acquired on candidate resistant (R) genes having an active role in plant defense mechanisms has allowed numerous breeding programs to integrate these traits into selected cultivars, even though with some limits in the conservation of the proper qualitative characteristics of the original clones. Given their gene-specific mode of action, biotechnological techniques come to the aid of breeders, allowing them to generate simple and fast modifications in the host, without introducing other undesired genes. The availability of efficient gene transfer procedures in grapevine genotypes provide valid tools that support the application of new breeding techniques (NBTs). The expertise built up over the years has allowed the optimization of these techniques to overexpress genes that directly or indirectly limit fungal and oomycetes pathogens growth or silence plant susceptibility genes. Furthermore, the downregulation of pathogen genes which act as virulence effectors by exploiting the RNA interference mechanism, represents another biotechnological tool that increases plant defense. In this review, we summarize the most recent biotechnological strategies optimized and applied on Vitis species, aimed at reducing their susceptibility to the most harmful fungal and oomycetes diseases. The best strategy for combating pathogenic organisms is to exploit a holistic approach that fully integrates all these available tools
From induction to embryo proliferation: improved somatic embryogenesis protocol in grapevine for Italian cultivars and hybrid Vitis rootstocks
Full text linkSomatic embryogenesis is the most common regeneration method for the application of new genomic techniques like cisgenesis/intragenesis, genome editing, and RNAi. However, some local important genotypes show recalcitrance to this morphogenetic strategy, which represents an obstacle for the application of genetic engineering techniques. Whole flowers, stamens, and pistils of three different Italian Vitis vinifera L. cultivars (Ancellotta, Glera, and Lambrusco Salamino), and four hybrid rootstocks (110 Richter, 17.37, SO4, Star 50) have been tested in several culture media with changing basal salts (NN and MS), different combinations of growth regulators (BAP, 2,4-D, NOA, PIC, and NAA), and gelling agents, to initiate somatic embryogenesis. The formation of embryogenic calli was observed mainly from whole flowers cultured on PIV medium (NN salts, B5 vitamins, 3 g L−1 gelrite, 60 g L−1 sucrose, 8.9 μM BAP, and 4.5 μM 2,4-D), and stamens on MS1 medium (MS salts and vitamins, 7 g L−1 plant agar, 20 g L−1 sucrose, 4.5 μM BAP, and 5 μM 2,4-D), in the cv. Ancellotta, Lambrusco Salamino, and all the rootstocks, except for Star 50, which showed the best embryogenetic response from pistils placed on MS1. In a recalcitrant cv. as Glera, pistils placed on MS medium supplemented with 1 μM BAP, 5 μM 2,4-D, and gelrite as gelling agent, showed the highest percentage of embryogenesis. In addition, a two-step protocol was efficiently optimized for further induction of secondary embryo production for the above-listed grapevine genotypes, which guaranteed the long-term maintenance of embryogenic cultures from clusters or single somatic embryos
Factors affecting the regeneration, via organogenesis, and the selection of transgenic calli in the peach Rootstock Hansen 536 (Prunus persica × prunus amygdalus) to express an RNAi construct against PPV virus
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Comparison of regeneration capacity and Agrobacterium-mediated cell transformation efficiency of different cultivars and rootstocks of Vitis spp. via organogenesis.
Full text linkThe success of in vitro plant regeneration and the competence of genetic transformation greatly depends on the genotype of the species of interest. In previous work, we developed a method for the efficient Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation via organogenesis of V. vinifera cultivar Thompson Seedless, by using meristematic bulk (MB) as starting tissue. In this study, we applied this method for the regeneration and transformation of MBs obtained from the Italian cultivar Ciliegiolo and two of the commonly used Vitis rootstocks, 110 Richter and Kober 5BB, in comparison with Thompson Seedless. The A. tumefaciens strain EHA105, harbouring pK7WG2 binary vector, was used for the transformation trials, which allowed selection through the enhanced-green fluorescent protein (eGFP) and the neomycin phosphotransferase (nptII) gene. Putative transformed tissues and/or shoots were identified by either a screening based on the eGFP expression alone or its use in combination with kanamycin in the medium. MBs obtained from Thompson Seedless showed the highest regeneration and transformation cell competence, which subsequently allowed the recovery of stably transformed plants. Ciliegiolo, 110 Richter, and Kober 5BB, produced actively growing transgenic calli showing eGFP fluorescence, more consistently on selective media, but had no regenerative competence
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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