Summary Vacuolar processing enzyme (VPE) is a cysteine‐type endopeptidase that has a substrate‐specificity for asparagine or aspartic acid residues and cleaves peptide bonds at their carboxyl‐terminal side. Various vacuolar proteins are synthesized as larger proprotein precursors, and VPE is an important initiator of maturation and activation of these proteins. It mediates programmed cell death (PCD) by provoking vacuolar rupture and initiating the proteolytic cascade leading to PCD. Vacuolar processing enzyme also possesses a peptide ligation activity, which is responsible for producing cyclic peptides in several plant species. These unique functions of VPE support developmental and environmental responses in plants. The number of VPE homologues is higher in angiosperm species, indicating that there has been differentiation and specialization of VPE function over the course of evolution. Angiosperm VPEs are separated into two major types: the γ‐type VPEs, which are expressed mainly in vegetative organs, and the β‐type VPEs, whose expression occurs mainly in storage organs; in eudicots, the δ‐type VPEs are further separated within γ‐type VPEs. This review also considers the importance of processing and peptide ligation by VPE in vacuolar protein maturation.

The interrelations between human activity and animal populations are of increasing interest due to the emergence of the novel COVID-19 and the consequent pandemic across the world. Anthropogenic impacts of the pandemic on animals in urban-suburban environments are largely unknown. In this study, the temporal and spatial patterns of urban animal response to the COVID-19 lockdown were assessed using animal-vehicle collisions (AVC) data. We collected AVC data over two 6-month periods in 2019 and 2020 (January to June) from the largest metropolis in southern Poland, which included lockdown months. Furthermore, we used traffic data to understand the impact of lockdown on AVC in the urban area. Our analysis of 1063 AVC incidents revealed that COVID-19 related lockdown decreased AVC rates in suburban areas. However, in the urban area, even though traffic volume had significantly reduced, AVC did not decrease significantly, suggesting that lockdown did not influence the collision rates in the urban area. Our results suggest that there is a need to focus on understanding the effects of changes in traffic volume on both human behaviour and wildlife space use on the resulting impacts on AVC in the urban area.

Background Cellular components are controlled by genetic and physiological factors that define their shape and size. However, quantitively capturing the morphological characteristics and movement of cellular organelles from micrograph images is challenging, because the analysis deals with complexities of images that frequently lead to inaccuracy in the estimation of the features. Here we show a unique quantitative method to overcome biases and inaccuracy of biological samples from confocal micrographs. Results We generated 2D images of cell walls and spindle-shaped cellular organelles, namely ER bodies, with a maximum contrast projection of 3D confocal fluorescent microscope images. The projected images were further processed and segmented by adaptive thresholding of the fluorescent levels in the cell walls. Micrographs are composed of pixels, which have information on position and intensity. From the pixel information we calculated three types of features (spatial, intensity and Haralick) in ER bodies corresponding to segmented cells. The spatial features include basic information on shape, e.g., surface area and perimeter. The intensity features include information on mean, standard deviation and quantile of fluorescence intensities within an ER body. Haralick features describe the texture features, which can be calculated mathematically from the interrelationship between the pixel information. Together these parameters were subjected to multivariate analysis to estimate the morphological diversity. Additionally, we calculated the displacement of the ER bodies using the positional information in time-lapse images. We captured similar morphological diversity and movement within ER body phenotypes in several microscopy experiments performed in different settings and scanned under different objectives. We then described differences in morphology and movement of ER bodies between A. thaliana wild type and mutants deficient in ER body-related genes. Conclusions The findings unexpectedly revealed multiple genetic factors that are involved in the shape and size of ER bodies in A. thaliana. This is the first report showing morphological characteristics in addition to the movement of cellular components and it quantitatively summarises plant phenotypic differences even in plants that show similar cellular components. The estimation of morphological diversity was independent of the cell staining method and the objective lens used in the microscopy. Hence, our study enables a robust estimation of plant phenotypes by recognizing small differences in complex cell organelle shapes and their movement, which is beneficial in a comprehensive analysis of the molecular mechanism for cell organelle formation that is independent of technical variations.

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The interrelations between human activity and animal populations are of increasing interest due to the emergence of the novel COVID-19 across the world. Anthropogenic impacts of the pandemic on animals in urban-suburban environments, at this stage, are largely unknown. In this study, temporal and spatial aspects of urban animal response to the COVID-19 lockdown were assessed using animal-vehicle collisions (AVC) data. We used AVC and traffic data over two six-month periods in 2019 and 2020 (January to June) from southern Poland, which included lockdown months. Our analysis of 1741 AVC incidents involving 21 animal species revealed that COVID-19 related lockdown did not significantly impact AVC rates even though traffic levels were reduced, suggesting that animals increased utilisation of urban-suburban interfaces in response to reduced human activity. Given the high incidence and diversity of species involved in AVC in this study, we emphasise the importance of data integrity and mitigation measures to minimise this human wildlife conflict.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is an immune complex mediated hypersensitivity complex that typically involves the skin and mucous membranes. While minor presentations may occur, significant involvement of oral, nasal, eye, vaginal, urethral, gastrointestinal, and lower respiratory mucous membranes may develop in the course of the illness. GI and respiratory involvement may progress to necrosis. Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a serious systemic disorder with the potential for severe morbidity and even death. The syndrome was first described in 1922, when the American pediatricians Albert Mason Stevens and Frank Chambliss Johnson reported the cases of 2 boys aged 7 and 8 years with "an extraordinary, generalized eruption with continued fever, inflamed buccal mucosa, and severe purulent conjunctivitis". Both cases had been misdiagnosed by primary care physicians as hemorrhagic measles. Erythema multiforme (EM), originally described by Von Hebra in 1866, was part of the differential diagnosis in both cases but was excluded because of the 'character of skin lesions, the lack of subjective symptoms, the prolonged high fever, and the terminal heavy crusting". Despite the presence of leucopenia in both cases, Stevens and Johnson in their initial report suspected an infectious disease of unknown etiology as the cause. In 1950, Thomas divided EM into 2 catagories: erythema multiforme minor (Von Hebra) and Erythema multiforme major (EMM). Since 1983, erythema multiforme major and Stevens-Johnson syndrome had been considered synonymous. In the 1990s, however, Bastuji and Roujeau each proposed that Erythema multiforme major and Stevens-Johnson syndrome are 2 distinct disorders. Several investigators propose that Stevens-Johnson syndrome and Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) represent the same disease at different levels of severity. Although several classification schemes have been reported, the simplest breaks the disease down as follows: * Stevens-Johnson syndrome-A "minor form of TEN", with less than 10% body surface area (BSA) detachment. * Overlapping Stevens-Johnson syndrome/Toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN)-Detachment of 10-30% BSA. * Toxic epidermal necrolysis-Detachment of more than 30%BSA.KYAMC Journal Vol. 8, No.-2, Jan 2018, Page 31-35

Indole glucosinolates (IGs) are tryptophan (Trp)-derived sulfur-containing specialized metabolites that play a crucial role in plant-microbe interactions in plants of the order Brassicales, including Arabidopsis thaliana. Despite the growing body of evidence implicating IG biosynthetic pathways in root-microbiota interactions, how myrosinases, the enzymes that convert inert IGs into bioactive intermediate/terminal products, contribute to this process remains unknown. Here, we describe the roles of the PYK10 and BGLU21 myrosinases in root-microbiota assembly partly via metabolites secreted from roots into the rhizosphere. PYK10 and BGLU21 localize to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) body, an ER-derived organelle observed in plants of the family Brassicaceae. We investigated the root microbiota structure of mutants defective in the Trp metabolic (cyp79b2b3 and myb34/51/122) and ER body (nai1 and pyk10bglu21) pathways and found that these factors together contribute to the assembly of root microbiota. Microbial community composition in soils as well as in bacterial synthetic communities (SynComs) treated with root exudates axenically collected from pyk10bglu21 and cyp79b2b3 differed significantly from those treated with exudates derived from wild-type plants, pointing to a direct role of root-exuded compounds. We also show that growth of the pyk10bglu21 and cyp79b2b3 mutants was severely inhibited by fungal endophytes isolated from healthy A. thaliana plants. Overall, our findings demonstrate that root ER body-resident myrosinases influencing the secretion of Trp-derived specialized metabolites represent a lineage-specific innovation that evolved in Brassicaceae to regulate root microbiota structure.SignificanceER bodies were first identified in roots of Brassicaceae plants more than 50 years ago, but their physiological functions have remained uncharacterized. A series of previous studies have suggested their possible role in root-microbe interactions. Here, we provide clear experimental evidence showing a role for ER bodies in root-microbiota interactions, which overlaps with that of root-exuded Trp-derived metabolites. Our findings delineate a plant lineage-specific innovation involving intracellular compartments and metabolic enzymes that evolved to regulate plant-microbe interactions at the root-soil interface.

Background: Cellular components are controlled by genetic and physiological factors that define their shape and size. However, quantitively capturing the morphological characteristics and movement of cellular organelles from micrograph images is challenging, because the analysis deals with complexities of images that frequently lead to inaccuracy in the estimation of the features. Here we show a unique quantitative method to overcome biases and inaccuracy of biological samples from confocal micrographs. Results: We generated 2D images of cell walls and spindle-shaped cellular organelles, namely ER bodies, with a maximum contrast projection of 3D confocal fluorescent microscope images. The projected images were further processed and segmented by adaptive thresholding of the fluorescent levels in the cell walls. Micrographs are composed of pixels, which have information on position and intensity. From the pixel information we calculated three types of features (spatial, intensity and Haralick) in ER bodies corresponding to segmented cells. The spatial features include basic information on shape, e.g., surface area and perimeter. The intensity features include information on mean, standard deviation and quantile of fluorescence intensities within an ER body. Haralick features describe the texture features, which can be calculated mathematically from the interrelationship between the pixel information. Together these parameters were subjected to multivariate analysis to estimate the morphological diversity. Additionally, we calculated the displacement of the ER bodies using the positional information in a time-lapse image. We captured similar morphological diversity and movement within ER body phenotypes on several microscopy experiments performed in different settings and scanned under different objectives. We then described differences in morphology and movement of ER bodies between A. thaliana wild type and mutants deficient in ER body-related genes. Conclusions: The findings unexpectedly revealed multiple genetic factors that are involved in the shape and size of ER bodies in A. thaliana. This is the first report showing morphological characteristics in addition to the movement of cellular components and quantitatively summarises plant phenotypic differences even in plants that show similar cellular components. The estimation of morphological diversity was independent of the cell staining method and the objective lens used in the microscopy. Hence, our study enables a robust estimation of plant phenotypes by recognizing small differences of complex cell organelle shapes and their movement, which is beneficial in a comprehensive analysis of the molecular mechanism for cell organelle formation that is independent of technical variations.