'Mexican' lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) was transformed with constructs that contained chimeric promoter-gus gene fusions of phloem-specific rolC promoter of Agrobacterium rhizogenes, Arabidopsis thaliana sucrose-H(+) symporter (AtSUC2) gene promoter of Arabidopsis thaliana, rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) promoter and sucrose synthase l (RSs1) gene promoter of Oryza sativa (rice). Histochemical β-glucuronidase (GUS) analysis revealed vascular-specific expression of the GUS protein in citrus. The RTBV promoter was the most efficient promoter in this study while the RSs1 promoter could drive low levels of gus gene expression in citrus. These results were further validated by reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction and northern blotting. Southern blot analysis confirmed stable transgene integration, which ranged from a single insertion to four copies per genome. The use of phloem-specific promoters in citrus will allow targeted transgene expression of antibacterial constructs designed to battle huanglongbing disease (HLB or citrus greening disease), associated with a phloem-limited Gram-negative bacterium.

Honey is a natural sweetener composed mostly of sugars, but it contains also pollen grains, proteins, free amino acids, and minerals. The amounts and proportions of these components depend on the honey type and bee species. Despite the low content of honey protein, they are becoming a popular study object, and have recently been used as markers of the authenticity and quality of honey. Currently, the most popular methods of protein isolation from honey are dialysis against distilled water, lyophilization of dialysate, or various precipitation protocols. In this work, we propose a new method based on saturated phenol. We tested it on three popular polish honey types and we proved its compatibility with both 1D and 2D polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and MS (mass spectrometry) techniques. The elaborated technique is also potentially less expensive and less time-consuming than other previously described methods, while being equally effective.

Simple Summary: Snake venom is mostly composed of proteins and peptides, which are of interest to many researchers due to their potential pharmacological properties. Due to their biochemical character, these components are analyzed using proteomic techniques such as electrophoresis, chromatography and mass spectrometry. A very important stage of such studies is the measurement of protein concentration in the sample, which is most often performed by colorimetric methods. In the presented article, we used five such techniques on venoms of two snake species, namely Agkistrodon contortrix and Naja ashei. In the case of A. contortrix venom, four methods provide similar concentration values, whereas, in the case of N. ashei, the differences between results are very significant. The source of these differences should probably be seen in the differences in amino acid composition of proteins of these two venoms. With this report, we would like to draw attention to the need to select an appropriate method for measuring the concentration of protein in the venom, especially in the case of Elapid species.Abstract: Snake venom is an extremely interesting natural mixture of proteins and peptides, characterized by both high diversity and high pharmacological potential. Much attention has been paid to the study of venom composition of different species and also detailed analysis of the properties of individual components. Since proteins and peptides are the active ingredients in venom, rapidly developing proteomic techniques are used to analyze them. During such analyses, one of the routine operations is to measure the protein concentration in the sample. The aim of this study was to compare five methods used to measure protein content in venoms of two snake species: the Viperids representative, Agkistrodon contortrix, and the Elapids representative, Naja ashei. The study showed that for A. contortrix venom, the concentration of venom protein measured by four methods is very similar and only the NanoDrop method clearly stands out from the rest. However, in the case of N. ashei venom, each technique yields significantly different results. We hope that this report will help to draw attention to the problem of measuring protein concentration, especially in such a complex mixture as animal venoms.

Main conclusion Changes in proteome level as a result of methyl jasmonate and cholesterol treatment were investigated. The identified proteins were often involved in response to stress caused by various treatments. Furthermore, 18 proteins were expressed in treatmentspecific manner. In this study, the fenugreek plants were treated with methyl jasmonate (as an elicitor) and cholesterol (as a precursor of steroids and steroidal saponins) to check reaction at the level of the proteome to stress and to investigate steroidal saponin (diosgenin) biosynthesis. Proteins were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and identified by MALDI-ToF/ToF followed by database searches using Mascot search engine. Totally, 63 and 41 protein spots were differentially expressed after methyl jasmonate and cholesterol treatment, respectively. These proteins were classified into seven groups: photosynthesis, energy, metabolism, protein metabolism, secondary metabolism, stress and defense, and other. We found that 9 proteins were responsive to all treatments, and 18 proteins expressed in treatment-specific manner. Higher level of photosynthetic proteins sensitive to both biotic and abiotic stimuli was detected. In addition, proteins related to the stress (especially oxidative) and defense, protein, and secondary metabolism were overexpressed. The results indicate that methyl jasmonate and cholesterol elicited a defense reaction at the proteome level as a response to stress. The usefulness of 2-DE method for identification of proteins related with species-specific metabolic pathways is restricted. Integration of transcriptome data with proteomic analysis improved annotation process.

Analysis of bacterial proteomes can be used to obtain large amounts of information about adaptive microbial mechanisms to changing extracellular conditions. In the past, many bacterial species with the ability to degrade acrylamide were isolated. In this study differences in the Enterococcus faecalis proteome upon acrylamide exposure were investigated. We revealed substantial changes in the proteome of bacteria cultured in different environmental conditions. Microorganisms exposed to acrylamide showed higher accumulation of proteins associated with energy metabolism and its regulation. Moreover, several proteins involved in protection of cells from stress conditions were also identified. These biomacromolecules are involved in proper folding of newly synthesized polypeptides like chaperones or participate in mechanisms of DNA repair. In contradiction with previous reports, the presence of amidase was not detected. However, identification of aminopeptidase with activity to hydrolyze amino acid amides can indicate that it can degrade acrylamide to acrylic acid and ammonia instead of amidase. According to identified proteomic profiles, a new mechanism of acrylamide degradation by Enterococcus faecalis is proposed.

CEL/TEZA: Celem pracy jest opis podstaw statystycznej metody analizy szeregów czasowych, zbadanie możliwości jej zastosowania do krótkoterminowego prognozowania rozwoju dyscyplin naukowych w oparciu o dane na temat cytowalności publikacji dyscyplinarnych, wykorzystanie zapewnianej przez metodę możliwości oceny niepewności prognozy, a także interpretacja uzyskanych wyników w kategoriach naukoznawczych. KONCEPCJA/METODY BADAŃ: W ramach niniejszego opracowania zastosowano metodę analitycznej dekompozycji szeregu czasowego jako metodę wyodrębniania trendu rozwojowego w oparciu o dane na temat dynamiki zjawisk masowych. Zjawiskiem masowym było w tym przypadku cytowanie literatury naukowej w polskojęzycznej sferze nauk o Ziemi. Metoda polega w głównej mierze na sformułowaniu równania opisującego ilościowo przebieg zjawiska z rozróżnieniem trendu głównego oraz składowej odpowiadającej wahaniom przypadkowym. Równanie stanowi podstawę przewidywania przyszłych wartości szeregu czasowego. WYNIKI I WNIOSKI: Uzyskane wyniki przemawiają za możliwością efektywnego zastosowania statystycznej analizy szeregów czasowych do krótkoterminowego prognozowania tempa rozwoju dyscyplin naukowych. W przypadku zrealizowanego badania prognozy okazały się akceptowalne dla dwuletniego horyzontu prognozy, chociaż istnieją podstawy, aby przypuszczać, że skonstruowanie prognoz w postaci przedziałów ufności lub nieznaczne zmodyfikowanie metody mogłoby wydłużyć ten okres. Wyniki zinterpretowano w kategoriach naukoznawczych jako uproszczony indeks natychmiastowości dyscyplin, który jest szczególnie predysponowany do praktycznych zastosowań komparatywnych. ORYGINALNOŚĆ/WARTOŚĆ POZNAWCZA: W ramach analizy literatury przedmiotu nie natrafiono na przykłady badań, które byłyby prowadzone w sposób zaproponowany w ramach niniejszej publikacji. Analiza szeregów czasowych była wcześniej stosowana jedynie do wyników podziału zbioru publikacji dyscyplinarnych na, nazywane „klastrami”, podzbiory prac w założeniu reprezentatywnych dla określonych subdyscyplin. Operacja podziału jest zawsze dokonywana w oparciu o jedno z wielu dostępnych kryteriów podobieństwa publikacji, a w szczególności kryterium oparte na współwystępowaniu słów i terminów kluczowych oraz w oparciu o bardzo liczne i dające różne efekty algorytmy grupujące. Wydaje się w związku z tym, że podejście oparte na bezpośredniej cytowalności publikacji pozwala wyeliminować ze zbioru wyników element pewnej niejednoznaczności (względności) uwarunkowany znaczącym zróżnicowaniem i brakiem uniwersalności w zakresie sposobu działania algorytmów grupujących oraz kryteriów kognitywnego podobieństwa publikacji naukowych.

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Biomass is one of the most significant renewable energy sources. Doubts arise from large-area plantations of energy monocultures, which can lead to the depletion of, and a decrease in, soil biodiversity. Community association analyses of Lumbricidae may help to indicate environmental change. Therefore, the study objectives were to determine the qualitative and quantitative diversity of Lumbricids in plantations of energy crops—basket willow (Salix viminalis L.), foxglove tree (Paulownia tomentosa Steud.), and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.)—by investigating the following cultivation treatments: SV and SVSS—S. viminalis without (w/o) and with the addition of sewage sludge to the soil (+SS); PT and PTSS—P. tomentosa w/o and + SS; RP and RPSS—R. pseudoacacia w/o and +SS; and MW—meadow community. A significantly higher density (p < 0.05) and biomass (p < 0.05) of earthworms were found in the SV and SVSS plantations than in other sites. The application of sewage sludge contributed to a significant increase in the mean number and biomass of all Lumbricids within cultivations of S. viminalis and R. pseudoacacia, which were significantly higher than those in the control site. This work suggests that woody energy crop production with an appropriate selection of plants and fertilisation can be a favourable habitat for the development of earthworm populations.