| 1. |
- Barcelo, Marta, et al.
(författare)
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Isolation and culture of strawberry protoplasts and field evaluation of regenerated plants
- 2019
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Ingår i: Scientia Horticulturae. - : ELSEVIER. - 0304-4238 .- 1879-1018. ; 256
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Protoplasts are an useful biotechnological tool for plant improvement In strawberry, very few studies on protoplast technology have been carried out. In this investigation, a procedure for the isolation and culture of strawberry protoplasts, cv. 'Chandler', has been developed. The effect of several factors affecting the successful isolation of protoplasts and formation of microcalli, e.g. explant source, washing procedure, hormonal composition of the culture medium and protoplast density, were evaluated. For shoot regeneration, microcalli derived from isolated protoplasts were transferred to MS medium supplemented with 0.2 mg l(-1) NAA and either 5 mg l(-1) BA or 3 mgl(-1) TDZ, obtaining a similar regeneration rate, 17%, in both media. Twenty-one independent protoclones were transferred to field conditions for agronomic evaluation. Significant alterations in the growth habit, density of foliage, leaf color and leaf morphology were detected in some lines. Fruit yield was significantly reduced in 15 out of the 21 protoclones evaluated due to a reduction in fruit weight and/or the number of fruits. Ploidy level was unaffected in a sample of 6 lines selected at random; however, a study of genetic stability by using 10 EST-SSR markers showed genetic alterations in all the lines analyzed. Despite the high rate of somaclonal variation detected in the protoclones, some of the lines displayed an agronomical behavior similar to control plants, indicating that this protocol could be useful for genetic improvement in this species.
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| 2. |
- DeFrancisco, Justin R., et al.
(författare)
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Torsional Bias as a Strategy To Tune Single-triplet Gaps in Organic Diradicals
- 2018
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Ingår i: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 122:23, s. 12148-12157
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Quinoidal compounds with proaromatic structures possess differing degrees of diradical character, where the open-shell diradical resonance form has restored aromaticity throughout the compound. Methods to tune the diradical character of these compounds have traditionally focused on altering the length and the molecular composition of the pi-conjugated backbones. However, other molecular design strategies to tune the singlet-triplet gap of pi-conjugated quinoidal molecules have not been extensively explored. We previously reported a strikingly small energy gap between the quinoidal and diradical states of a quinoidal small molecule containing methano[10]annulene (TMTQ) that was dictated in large part by the unusual aromaticity of the central annulene ring. Here, we report on two alkylated derivatives of TMTQthat present substantially different torsional biases to the planarity of the TMTQ pi-system. Using a combination of electronic and vibrational spectroscopies, magnetic measurements, and quantum chemical calculations, we demonstrate here how a steric effect rather than pi-electron compositional molecular engineering can dramatically narrow the singlet-triplet gap of a quinoidal compound to as small as -0.52 kcal/mol, determined experimentally. This study offers important insight for the continued development of open-shell diradical molecules that need not rely exclusively on the design of synthesis of new and complex conjugated systems.
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| 3. |
- Garrido-Arandia, Mariá, et al.
(författare)
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Characterisation of a flavonoid ligand of the fungal protein Alt a 1
- 2016
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Spores of pathogenic fungi are virtually ubiquitous and cause human disease and severe losses in crops. The endophytic fungi Alternaria species produce host-selective phytotoxins. Alt a 1 is a strongly allergenic protein found in A. alternata that causes severe asthma. Despite the well-established pathogenicity of Alt a 1, the molecular mechanisms underlying its action and physiological function remain largely unknown. To gain insight into the role played by this protein in the pathogenicity of the fungus, we studied production of Alt a 1 and its activity in spores. We found that Alt a 1 accumulates inside spores and that its release with a ligand is pH-dependent, with optimum production in the 5.0-6.5 interval. The Alt a 1 ligand was identified as a methylated flavonoid that inhibits plant root growth and detoxifies reactive oxygen species. We also found that Alt a 1 changes its oligomerization state depending on the pH of the surrounding medium and that these changes facilitate the release of the ligand. Based on these results, we propose that release of Alt a 1 should be a pathogenic target in approaches used to block plant defenses and consequently to favor fungal entry into the plant.
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| 4. |
- Joshi, Siddarth Koduru, et al.
(författare)
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Space QUEST mission proposal : experimentally testing decoherence due to gravity
- 2018
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Ingår i: New Journal of Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 1367-2630. ; 20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Models of quantum systems on curved space-times lack sufficient experimental verification. Some speculative theories suggest that quantum correlations, such as entanglement, may exhibit different behavior to purely classical correlations in curved space. By measuring this effect or lack thereof, we can test the hypotheses behind several such models. For instance, as predicted by Ralph et al [5] and Ralph and Pienaar [1], a bipartite entangled system could decohere if each particle traversed through a different gravitational field gradient. We propose to study this effect in a ground to space uplink scenario. We extend the above theoretical predictions of Ralph and coworkers and discuss the scientific consequences of detecting/failing to detect the predicted gravitational decoherence. We present a detailed mission design of the European Space Agency's Space QUEST (Space-Quantum Entanglement Space Test) mission, and study the feasibility of the mission scheme.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Ortigoza-Escobar, Juan Darío, et al.
(författare)
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Free-thiamine is a potential biomarker of thiamine transporter-2 deficiency: a treatable cause of Leigh syndrome.
- 2016
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Ingår i: Brain : a journal of neurology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1460-2156. ; 139:Pt 1, s. 31-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thiamine transporter-2 deficiency is caused by mutations in the SLC19A3 gene. As opposed to other causes of Leigh syndrome, early administration of thiamine and biotin has a dramatic and immediate clinical effect. New biochemical markers are needed to aid in early diagnosis and timely therapeutic intervention. Thiamine derivatives were analysed by high performance liquid chromatography in 106 whole blood and 38 cerebrospinal fluid samples from paediatric controls, 16 cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients with Leigh syndrome, six of whom harboured mutations in the SLC19A3 gene, and 49 patients with other neurological disorders. Free-thiamine was remarkably reduced in the cerebrospinal fluid of five SLC19A3 patients before treatment. In contrast, free-thiamine was slightly decreased in 15.2% of patients with other neurological conditions, and above the reference range in one SLC19A3 patient on thiamine supplementation. We also observed a severe deficiency of free-thiamine and low levels of thiamine diphosphate in fibroblasts from SLC19A3 patients. Surprisingly, pyruvate dehydrogenase activity and mitochondrial substrate oxidation rates were within the control range. Thiamine derivatives normalized after the addition of thiamine to the culture medium. In conclusion, we found a profound deficiency of free-thiamine in the CSF and fibroblasts of patients with thiamine transporter-2 deficiency. Thiamine supplementation led to clinical improvement in patients early treated and restored thiamine values in fibroblasts and cerebrospinal fluid.
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| 7. |
- Rudebusch, Gabriel E., et al.
(författare)
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Diindeno-fusion of an anthracene as a design strategy for stable organic biradicals
- 2016
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Ingår i: Nature Chemistry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1755-4330 .- 1755-4349. ; 8:8, s. 753-759
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The consequence of unpaired electrons in organic molecules has fascinated and confounded chemists for over a century. The study of open-shell molecules has been rekindled in recent years as new synthetic methods, improved spectroscopic techniques and powerful computational tools have been brought to bear on this field. Nonetheless, it is the intrinsic instability of the biradical species that limits the practicality of this research. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of a molecule based on the diindeno[b,i]anthracene framework that exhibits pronounced open-shell character yet possesses remarkable stability. The synthetic route is rapid, efficient and possible on the gram scale. The molecular structure was confirmed through single-crystal X-ray diffraction. From variable-temperature Raman spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility measurements a thermally accessible triplet excited state was found. Organic field-effect transistor device data show an ambipolar performance with balanced electron and hole mobilities. Our results demonstrate the rational design and synthesis of an air-and temperature-stable biradical compound.
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