†These authors contributed equally to the work.Activated human neuropeptide Y Y 1 receptors rapidly desensitize and internalize through clathrin-coated pits and recycle from early and recycling endosomes, unlike Y 2 receptors that neither internalize nor desensitize. To identify motifs implicated in Y 1 receptor desensitization and trafficking, mutants with varying C-terminal truncations or a substituted Y 2 C-terminus were constructed. Point mutations of key putative residues were made in athat we have identified and in the second intracellular i2 loop. Receptors were analyzed by functional assays, spectrofluorimetric measurements on living cells, flow cytometry, confocal imaging and bioluminescence resonance energy transfer assays for b-arrestin activation and adaptor protein (AP-2) complex recruitment. Inhibitory GTP-binding protein-dependent signaling of Y 1 receptors to adenylyl cyclase and desensitization was unaffected by C-terminal truncations or mutations, while C-terminal deletion mutants of 42 and 61 amino acids no longer internalized. Substitutions of Thr357, Asp358, Ser360 and Thr362 by Ala in the C-terminus abolished both internalization and b-arrestin activation but not desensitization. A Pro145 substitution by His in an i2 consensus motif reported to mediate phosphorylation-independent recruitment of b-arrestins affected neither desensitization, internalization or recycling kinetics of activated Y 1 receptors nor b-arrestin activation. Interestingly, combining Pro145 substitution by His and C-terminal substitutions significantly attenuates Y 1 desensitization. In the Y 2 receptor, replacement of His155 with Pro at this position in the i2 loop motif promotes agonist-mediated desensitization, b-arrestin activation, internalization and recycling. Overall, our results indicate that b-arrestin-mediated desensitization and internalization of Y 1 and Y 2 receptors are differentially regulated by the C-terminal motif and the i2 loop consensus motif.

Objective: To investigate the perceived effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown measures on food availability, accessibility, dietary practices,  and strategies used by participants to cope with these measures. Design: We conducted a cross-sectional multi-country online survey between May and July 2020. We used a study-specific questionnaire mainly based on the adaptation of questions to assess food security and coping strategies from the World Food Programme’s “Emergency Food Security Assessment” and “The Coping Strategy Index”. Setting: The questionnaire was hosted online using Google Forms and shared using social media platforms. Participants: A total of 1075 adult participants from 82 countries completed the questionnaire. Results: As a prelude to COVID-19 lockdowns, 62.7 % of the participants reported to have stockpiled food, mainly cereals (59.5% of the respondents) and legumes (48.8%). An increase in the prices of staples such as cereals and legumes, was widely reported. Price increases have been identified as an obstacle to food acquisition by 32.7% of participants. Participants reported having lesser variety (50.4%), quality (30.2%), and quantity (39.2 %) of foods, with disparities across regions. Vulnerable groups were reported to be facing some struggle to acquire adequate food, especially people with chronic diseases (20.2%), the elderly (17.3%), and children (14.5%). To cope with the situation, participants mostly relied on less preferred foods (49%), reduced portion sizes (30%), and/or reduced the number of meals (25.7%). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted food accessibility and availability, altered dietary practices and worsened the food insecurity situation, particularly in the most fragile regions.

Over the last decades agroforestry parklands in Burkina Faso have come under increasing demographic as well as climatic pressures, which are threatening indigenous tree species that contribute substantially to income generation and nutrition in rural households. Analyzing the threats as well as the species vulnerability to them is fundamental for priority setting in conservation planning. Guided by literature and local experts we selected 16 important food tree species (Acacia macrostachya, Acacia senegal, Adansonia digitata, Annona senegalensis, Balanites aegyptiaca, Bombax costatum, Boscia senegalensis, Detarium microcarpum, Lannea microcarpa, Parkia biglobosa, Sclerocarya birrea, Strychnos spinosa, Tamarindus indica, Vitellaria paradoxa, Ximenia americana, Ziziphus mauritiana) and six key threats to them (overexploitation, overgrazing, fire, cotton production, mining and climate change). We developed a species-specific and spatially explicit approach combining freely accessible datasets, species distribution models (SDMs), climate models and expert survey results to predict, at fine scale, where these threats are likely to have the greatest impact. We find that all species face serious threats throughout much of their distribution in Burkina Faso and that climate change is predicted to be the most prevalent threat in the long term, whereas overexploitation and cotton production are the most important short-term threats. Tree populations growing in areas designated as ‘highly threatened’ due to climate change should be used as seed sources for ex situ conservation and planting in areas where future climate is predicting suitable habitats. Assisted regeneration is suggested for populations in areas where suitable habitat under future climate conditions coincides with high threat levels due to short-term threats. In the case of Vitellaria paradoxa, we suggest collecting seed along the northern margins of its distribution and considering assisted regeneration in the central part where the current threat level is high due to overexploitation. In the same way, population-specific recommendations can be derived from the individual and combined threat maps of the other 15 food tree species. The approach can be easily transferred to other countries and can be used to analyze general and species specific threats at finer and more local as well as at broader (continental) scales in order to plan more selective and efficient conservation actions in time. The concept can be applied anywhere as long as appropriate spatial data are available as well as knowledgeable experts.

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Fruit trees play an important nutritional role for livelihoods of rural people in the West African Sahel through provision of energy and nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and proteins. Research on the domestication of local fruit trees has started recently through projects concentrating on some of the most important indigenous species of dry West Africa, i.e. Adansonia digitata, Parkia biglobosa, Tamarindus indica, Vitellaria paradoxa and Ziziphus mauritiana. We present a status of finalised and ongoing domestication research with the aim of defining research gaps that would need to be covered by future research activities to obtain higher yields and better quality fruits. Germplasm collection in central West Africa has been intense compared to elsewhere in the species' distribution areas, but conservation status of the material is poor since it is only planted in few trials. Knowledge of genetic parameters, especially for fruit traits, is almost absent, but characterisation of genotypes is underway for some of the species. Mating systems and patterns are still unknown for many species. Efficient vegetative propagation based on simple techniques was shown to be possible for all species except P. biglobosa. In 123New Forests (2011) 41:297-315 DOI 10.1007 order to secure immediate as well as long term gains, we recommend combining clonal propagation of selected plus individuals with recombination and breeding of selected genotypes. We discuss whether local institutions in the Sahel have the financial capacity to carry out long term breeding programmes, and suggest that efforts should be made to find new ways of disseminating improved germplasm.

Cancer is a major public health problem worldwide. Over two-thirds of cancer-related deaths could most probably be prevented through lifestyle modification, particularly through dietary means. Proanthocyanidins (PAs), the most abundant polyphenolic substances after lignin in the plant kingdom, have been widely investigated for their chemopreventive potential. The PAs literature has, however, been mostly concerned with positive cardiovascular activities, and recent reviews about cancer chemoprevention are scarce. The present review highlights a series of in vitro and in vivo studies indicating ( 1 ) that PAs can act as anticarcinogenic agents through their antioxidant, apoptosis-inducing, immuno-modulating, and/or enzyme modulating properties, effects on epigenetics; and ( 2 ) that PAs could be particularly safe dietary compounds. These convergent data encourage further research to better understand the many aspects of cancer chemoprevention by PAs.

• Premise of the study: Microsatellite primers were developed for an indigenous fruit tree, Parkia biglobosa, as a tool to study reproductive biology and population structure. Here we use the primers to determine the number of fathers per pod.• Methods and Results: Microsatellite loci were enriched in a genomic sample and isolated using pyrosequencing. Eleven primer pairs were characterized in two populations of P. biglobosa in Burkina Faso (each with 40 trees). The number of alleles per locus ranged from eight to 15, and one locus had null alleles. We genotyped seeds from 24 open-pollinated pods. The genotypic profiles of seeds per pod suggest that all seeds are outcrossed and that only one pollen donor sires all ovules in a single fruit.• Conclusions: Ten microsatellite markers were highly polymorphic. All seeds per pod of P. biglobosa were full siblings. The markers will be useful for reproductive and population genetic studies.

One of the socio-economically important West African parkland trees, Parkia biglobosa yields pods consumed by people and animals. Being animal-pollinated, it is unknown how climate change will affect the species if the guild of pollinators changes. Here, we compare the pollinator guilds and the pod production at two climatically different study sites: the first site, Tiba was drier with lower tree density and fewer fruit bats, whereas the second site, Pinyiri was more humid, with higher tree density and more fruit bats. We carried out a pollinator exclusion trial with bags separating the flower-visitors and made observations of the flower-visitors. Furthermore, we calculated pollination distances based on paternity analysis of the seeds produced within the trial. The numbers of immature fruits were similar for the sites, but the drier site, Tiba experienced more abortion and decreased pod set. At both sites, exclusion of bats led to marginally reduced pod set, while exclusion of bats and honey bees led to significantly reduced pod set. We found a small effect of stingless bees and solitary bees but only at the more humid site, Pinyiri. Tiba experienced a higher level of self-pollination, fewer pollen donors per tree, and longer median distances of pollen flow, compared with Pinyiri. Implications of the results for management of the species and its pollinators in the face of climate change are discussed.