Moringa oleifera is widely cultivated in plantations in the tropics and subtropics. Previous cultivation studies with M. oleifera focused primarily only on leaf yield. In the present study, the content of potentially health-promoting secondary metabolites (glucosinolates, phenolic acids, and flavonoids) were also investigated. Six different ecotypes were grown under similar environmental conditions to identify phenotypic differences that can be traced back to the genotype. The ecotypes TOT4880 (origin USA) and TOT7267 (origin India) were identified as having the best growth performance and highest secondary metabolite production, making them an ideal health-promoting food crop. Furthermore, optimal cultivation conditions-exemplarily on sulfur fertilization and water availability-for achieving high leaf and secondary metabolite yields were investigated for M. oleifera. In general, plant biomass and height decreased under water deficiency compared to normal cultivation conditions, whereas the glucosinolate content increased. The effects depended to a great extent on the ecotype.

European mountain ash ringspot-associated virus (EMARaV) is a plant virus inducing characteristic ringspots and mottling in Sorbus aucuparia L. For the first time, EMARaV was detected in mountain ash in Sweden. All four genomic segments of the virus were detectable by RT-PCR after total RNA extraction from leaves showing chlorotic ringspots, mottling or necrotic lesions. The samples originated from southern and northern Sweden. Sequence analyses of amplified fragments revealed low genetic variability of the virus at nucleotide as well as protein level. All investigated coding regions of EMARaV were under strong purifying selection pressure.

Yeast p20 is a small, acidic protein that binds eIF4E, the cap-binding protein. It has been proposed to affect mRNA translation and degradation, however p20′s function as an eIF4E-binding protein (4E-BP) and its physiological significance has not been clearly established. In this paper we present data demonstrating that p20 is capable of binding directly to mRNA due to electrostatic interaction of a stretch of arginine and histidine residues in the protein with negatively charged phosphates in the mRNA backbone. This interaction contributes to formation of a ternary eIF4E/p20/capped mRNA complex that is more stable than complexes composed of capped mRNA bound to eIF4E in the absence of p20. eIF4E/p20 complex was found to have a more pronounced stimulatory effect on capped mRNA translation than purified eIF4E alone. Addition of peptides containing the eIF4E-binding domains present in p20 (motif  YTIDELF), in eIF4G (motif  YGPTFLL) or Eap1 (motif  YSMNELY) completely inhibited eIF4E-dependent capped mRNA translation (in vitro), but had a greatly reduced inhibitory effect when eIF4E/p20 complex was present. We propose that the eIF4E/p20/mRNA complex serves as a stable depository of mRNAs existing in a dynamic equilibrium with other complexes such as eIF4E/eIF4G (required for translation) and eIF4E/Eap1 (required for mRNA degradation).