Topic Review
Cytokinins in Horticultural Fruit Crops
Cytokinins (CKs) are a chemically diverse class of plant growth regulators, exhibiting wide-ranging actions on plant growth and development, hence their exploitation in agriculture for crop improvement and management. Their coordinated regulatory effects and cross-talk interactions with other phytohormones and signaling networks are highly sophisticated, eliciting and controlling varied biological processes at the cellular to organismal levels. In this review, we briefly introduce the mode of action and general molecular biological effects of naturally occurring CKs before highlighting the great variability in the response of fruit crops to CK-based innovations. We present a comprehensive compilation of research linked to the application of CKs in non-model crop species in different phases of fruit production and management. By doing so, it is clear that the effects of CKs on fruit set, development, maturation, and ripening are not necessarily generic, even for cultivars within the same species, illustrating the magnitude of yet unknown intricate biochemical and genetic mechanisms regulating these processes in different fruit crops. Current approaches using genomic-to-metabolomic analysis are providing new insights into the in planta mechanisms of CKs, pinpointing the underlying CK-derived actions that may serve as potential targets for improving crop-specific traits and the development of new solutions for the preharvest and postharvest management of fruit crops. Where information is available, CK molecular biology is discussed in the context of its present and future implications in the applications of CKs to fruits of horticultural significance.
  • 2.3K
  • 27 Aug 2020
Topic Review
PIP2 Regulation in Cell
Phosphoinositides play a crucial role in regulating many cellular functions, such as actin dynamics, signaling, intracellular trafficking, membrane dynamics, and cell–matrix adhesion. Central to this process is phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP2). The levels of PIP2 in the membrane are rapidly altered by the activity of phosphoinositide-directed kinases and phosphatases, and it binds to dozens of different intracellular proteins. Despite the vast literature dedicated to understanding the regulation of PIP2 in cells over past 30 years, much remains to be learned about its cellular functions. Here, we focus on past and recent exciting results on different molecular mechanisms that regulate cellular functions by binding of specific proteins to PIP2 or by stabilizing phosphoinositide pools in different cellular compartments. Moreover, this review summarizes recent findings that implicate dysregulation of PIP2 in many diseases.
  • 2.3K
  • 19 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Grazing
Grazing is a method of feeding in which a herbivore feeds on plants such as grasses, or other multicellular organisms such as algae. In agriculture, grazing is one method used whereby domestic livestock are used to convert grass and other forage into meat, milk and other products. Many small selective herbivores follow larger grazers, who skim off the highest, tough growth of plants, exposing tender shoots. For terrestrial animals, grazing is normally distinguished from browsing in that grazing is eating grass or forbs, and browsing is eating woody twigs and leaves from trees and shrubs. Grazing differs from true predation because the organism being grazed upon is not generally killed. Grazing differs from parasitism as the two organisms live together in a constant state of physical externality (i.e. low intimacy). Water animals that feed for example on algae found on stones are called grazers-scrapers. Grazers-scrapers feed also on microorganisms and dead organic matter on various substrates.
  • 2.3K
  • 16 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Histopathology of Choroidal Melanoma
Choroidal melanoma (CM), despite its rarity, is the most frequent intraocular malignancy. Over time, several histological variants of CM have been distinguished, including spindle A and B cell, fascicular, epithelioid and necrotic type. However, they have been progressively abandoned as having no prognostic value and currently, the American Joint Committee of Cancer (AJCC) classification identifies three CM cell types: spindle, epithelioid and mixed cell type. Other rare histological variants of CM include: (i) diffuse melanoma; (ii) clear cell; and (iii) balloon cell melanoma. Immunohistochemically, CMs are stained with Human Melanoma Black 45 (HMB45) antigen, S-100 protein, Melan-A (also known as melanoma antigen recognized by T cells 1/MART-1), melanocyte inducing transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase, vimentin, and Sex determining region Y-Box 10 (SOX10). Several genetic and histopathological prognostic factors of CM have been reported in the literature, including epithelioid cell type, TNM staging, extraocular extension, monosomy 3 and 6p gain and loss of BAP-1 gene. The aim of this review was to summarize the histopathological, immunohistochemical and genetic features of CM, establishing “the state of the art” and providing colleagues with practical tools to promptly deal with patients affected by this rare malignant neoplasm.
  • 2.3K
  • 17 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Herbalism
Herbalism (also herbal medicine) is the study of botany and use of plants intended for medicinal purposes. Plants have been the basis for medical treatments through much of human history, and such traditional medicine is still widely practiced today. Modern medicine makes use of many plant-derived compounds as the basis for evidence-based pharmaceutical drugs. Although phytotherapy may apply modern standards of effectiveness testing to herbs and medicines derived from natural sources, few high-quality clinical trials and standards for purity or dosage exist. The scope of herbal medicine is sometimes extended to include fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts. The term, phytomedicine, may also refer to the science of pathology and damage to plants, the causes thereof, their manifestations, development, dissemination, methods for maintaining plant health, and measures used to control plant diseases and their causes. Herbal medicine is sometimes also used to refer to paraherbalism or phytotherapy, which is the alternative and pseudoscientific practice of using of extracts of plant or animal origin as supposed medicines or health-promoting agents. Phytotherapy differs from plant-derived medicines in standard pharmacology because it does not isolate and standardize the compounds from a given plant believed to be biologically active. It relies on the false belief that preserving the complexity of substances from a given plant with less processing is safer and potentially more effective. There is no evidence that either condition applies. Herbal dietary supplements most often fall under this category.
  • 2.3K
  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Induced Polyploidy
Polyploidy means having more than two basic sets of chromosomes. Polyploid plants may be artificially obtained through chemical, physical and biological (2n gametes) methods.
  • 2.3K
  • 09 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Dairy Spoilage and Pseudomonas spp.
The refrigerated fresh foods tend to quickly deteriorate along its production and marketing, mainly due to the action of psychrotrophic spoilage microorganisms such as pseudomonads. These bacteria cause discolouration, texture loss and unpleasant flavours, with fatal implications for the quality and shelf life of products. Refirgerated fresh dairy products as well as fresh foods are steadly threatened by these microorganisms against which most control strategies are uneffective.
  • 2.3K
  • 19 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Camel husbandry
Minor species such as camels are lacking for transactional agreements between applied research and regulatory agencies in regards of animal welfare. Given these species being progressively recognized as sustainable livestock even under extreme environmental conditions, camel international science has brought about valuable academic efforts towards its functional revalorization but not updated policy reforms. By means of bibliometrics analysis, camel science upturn and its academic and societal impacts were evaluated to highlight the potential promoting factors for camel research advances and specific parallel law enforcing. Historical camel referring documents that were indexed in ScienceDirect directory from 1880-2019 were considered. Camel as a species did not affect research impact (p > 0.05) despite the journal, author number, corresponding author origin, discipline and publication year affecting it (p < 0.001). However, camel welfare-related laws remain scarcely available. In this framework, research advances must play a cardinal role in influencing business stakeholders and animal welfare advocacies to promote sustainable camel husbandry practices through science-based law enforcement in this emerging industry on a global scale.
  • 2.3K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Salt Stress on Plant Growth
Climate change is causing soil salinization, resulting in crop losses throughout the world. The ability of plants to tolerate salt stress is determined by multiple biochemical and molecular pathways. Here we discuss physiological, biochemical, and cellular modulations in plants in response to salt stress. Knowledge of these modulations can assist in assessing salt tolerance potential and the mechanisms underlying salinity tolerance in plants. Salinity-induced cellular damage is highly correlated with generation of reactive oxygen species, ionic imbalance, osmotic damage, and reduced relative water content. Accelerated antioxidant activities and osmotic adjustment by the formation of organic and inorganic osmolytes are significant and effective salinity tolerance mechanisms for crop plants. In addition, polyamines improve salt tolerance by regulating various physiological mechanisms, including rhizogenesis, somatic embryogenesis, maintenance of cell pH, and ionic homeostasis. 
  • 2.3K
  • 08 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Neutrophil and Natural Killer Cell Interactions in Cancers
Neutrophils are the most abundant circulating leukocytes, accounting for 50–70% of blood cells. Natural killer (NK) cells are large granular lymphocytes from innate immunity, participating in virus-infected and malignant-transformed cells recognition and elimination.
  • 2.3K
  • 29 Mar 2022
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