Special issue: Ribosome-inactivating proteins : commemorative issue in honor of Professor Fiorenzo Stirpe

The family of ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) groups all enzymes (EC.3.2.2.22) with a so-called RIP domain which comprises N-glycosidase activity and enables these proteins to catalytically inactivate ribosomes.[...

ENMat international projects: FP7 NMP large collaborative project: 3D-LightTrans

Large scale manufacturing technology for high-performance lightweight 3D multifunctional composites The goal of the 3D-LightTrans project is to provide groundbreaking, highly flexible, efficient and adaptable low-cost technologies for the manufacturing of integral large scale 3D textile reinforced plastic composites, including innovative approaches for the individual processes and its integration in complete manufacturing chains, which will enable to shift them from its current position in cost intensive, small series niche markets, to broadly extended mass product applications, not only in transportation, but also in other key sectors, like health and leisure. To fulfil this goal, the 3DLightTrans manufacturing chains will be based on multimaterial semifinished fabrics, processed to deep draped prefixed multilayered and multifunctional 3D -textile preforms, which will be processed into composites by a thermoforming process. By integrating these new, innovative process steps with full automation in -nowadays mostly manually performed- complex handling operations, it will be possible to obtain a fully automated and highly adaptable manufacturing chain to achieve integral large scale 3D composites. 3D-LightTrans will open the way to a totally new concept for the design, manufacturing and application of composites for low-cost mass products in a wide range of sectors. The Consortium brings together multidisciplinary research teams involving European leading companies, including industrial stakeholders from machine tools and machine automation and several OEM active in the field of processing of flexible materials and composite manufacturing, as well as from the application sector, and extensive expertise from well known research specialists in the area of materials, production research and technical textiles in particular. Start date : 01/04/2011 Project duration : 4 years More information: Dr. Erich Kny Austrian Institute of Technology, [email protected] URL: http://www.3d-lighttrans.com

Overexpression of Nictaba-like lectin genes from glycine max confers tolerance towards Pseudomonas syringae infection, aphid infestation and salt stress in transgenic Arabidopsis plants

Plants have evolved a sophisticated immune system that allows them to recognize invading pathogens by specialized receptors. Carbohydrate-binding proteins or lectins are part of this immune system and especially the lectins that reside in the nucleocytoplasmic compartment are known to be implicated in biotic and abiotic stress responses. The class of Nictaba-like lectins (NLL) groups all proteins with homology to the tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) lectin, known as a stress-inducible lectin. Here we focus on two Nictaba homologs from soybean (Glycine max), referred to as GmNLL1 and GmNLL2. Confocal laser scanning microscopy of fusion constructs with the green fluorescent protein either transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves or stably transformed in tobacco BY-2 suspension cells revealed a nucleocytoplasmic localization for the GmNLLs under study. RT-qPCR analysis of the transcript levels for the Nictaba-like lectins in soybean demonstrated that the genes are expressed in several tissues throughout the development of the plant. Furthermore, it was shown that salt treatment, Phytophthora sojae infection and Aphis glycines infestation trigger the expression of particular NLL genes. Stress experiments with Arabidopsis lines overexpressing the NLLs from soybean yielded an enhanced tolerance of the plant towards bacterial infection (Pseudomonas syringae), insect infestation (Myzus persicae) and salinity. Our data showed a better performance of the transgenic lines compared to wild type plants, indicating that the NLLs from soybean are implicated in the stress response. These data can help to further elucidate the physiological importance of the Nictaba-like lectins from soybean, which can ultimately lead to the design of crop plants with a better tolerance to changing environmental conditions

ENMat international projects: FP7 NMP coordination action: 2BFUNTEX

Boosting collaboration between research centres and industry to enhance rapid industrial uptake of innovative functional textile structures and textile-related materials in a mondial market 2BFUNTEX will exploit the untapped potential in functional textile structures and textile related materials. It will bring together all innovation actors in the field fostering a multidisciplinary approach between universities, research institutes, SMEs and sector associations. The 2BFUNTEX team will identify technological gaps and eliminate barriers resulting in a faster industrial uptake of added value functional materials with new functionalities and improved performance and resulting in creation of new business worldwide. Technological needs will be mapped, new joint international research disciplines will be identified and multidisciplinary lab teams will be created. International cooperation will be favoured to exploit the worldwide market expansion potential. Industry will be involved at all stages of the process. The inventory will enlarge the team of important textile universities and renowned materials research centres and will identify new collaborations. Synergy will be reinforced and created which will enable to identify and develop new functional materials. Training materials regarding functional materials for research and industrial purposes will be developed and implemented to allow a common language regarding functional textile structures and text ile related materials, and will increase the number of well-trained people in this field. Further, the 2BFUNTEX partners will organise and participate in conferences, workshops and brokerage events. Along with a website with an extensive database comprising all information gained throughout the project, collaboration will be boosted and rapid industrial uptake catalysed and enhanced. The project duration will be 4 years and the consortium includes 26 partners from 16 countries. Start date : 01/01/2012 More information: Ir. Els Van der Burght Department of Textiles/Ghent University [email protected] [email protected] URL: http://www.2bfuntex.e

Extensive evolution of cereal ribosome-inactivating proteins translates into unique structural features, activation mechanisms, and physiological roles

Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are a class of cytotoxic enzymes that can depurinate rRNAs thereby inhibiting protein translation. Although these proteins have also been detected in bacteria, fungi, and even some insects, they are especially prevalent in the plant kingdom. This review focuses on the RIPs from cereals. Studies on the taxonomical distribution and evolution of plant RIPs suggest that cereal RIPs have evolved at an enhanced rate giving rise to a large and heterogeneous RIP gene family. Furthermore, several cereal RIP genes are characterized by a unique domain architecture and the lack of a signal peptide. This advanced evolution of cereal RIPs translates into distinct structures, activation mechanisms, and physiological roles. Several cereal RIPs are characterized by activation mechanisms that include the proteolytic removal of internal peptides from the N-glycosidase domain, a feature not documented for non-cereal RIPs. Besides their role in defense against pathogenic fungi or herbivorous insects, cereal RIPs are also involved in endogenous functions such as adaptation to abiotic stress, storage, induction of senescence, and reprogramming of the translational machinery. The unique properties of cereal RIPs are discussed in this review paper

Evaluating hospital performance based on excess cause-specific incidence

Formal evaluation of hospital performance in specific types of care is becoming an indispensable tool for quality assurance in the health care system. When the prime concern lies in reducing the risk of a cause-specific event, we propose to evaluate performance in terms of an average excess cumulative incidence, referring to the center's observed patient mix. Its intuitive interpretation helps give meaning to the evaluation results and facilitates the determination of important benchmarks for hospital performance. We apply it to the evaluation of cerebrovascular deaths after stroke in Swedish stroke centers, using data from Riksstroke, the Swedish stroke registry

Surface morphology of polyimide thin film dip-coated on polyester filament for dielectric layer in fibrous organic field effect transistor

The idea of wearable electronics automatically leads to the concept of integrating electronic functions on textile substrates. Since this substrate type implies certain challenges in comparison with their rigid electronic companions, it is of utmost importance to investigate the application of materials for generating the electronic functions on the textile substrate. Only when interaction of materials and textile substrate is fully understood, the electronic function can be generated on the textile without changing the textile's properties, being flexible or stretchable. This research deals with the optimization of the dielectric layer in a fibrous organic field effect transistor (OFET). A transistor can act as an electrical switch in a circuit. In this work, the polyimide layer was dip-coated on a copper-coated polyester filament. After thoroughly investigating the process conditions, best results with minimal thickness and roughness at full insulation could be achieved at a dip-coating speed of 50 mm/min. The polyimide solution was optimal at 15w% and the choice for the solvent NMP was made. In this paper, details on the pre-treatment methods, choice of solvent and dip-coating speed and their effect on layer morphology and thickness, electrical properties and roughness are reported. Results show that the use of polyimide as a dielectric layer in the architecture of a fibrous OFET is promising. Further research deals with the application of the semiconductor layer within the mentioned architecture, to finally build an OFET on a filament for application in smart textiles

Nictaba homologs from Arabidopsis thaliana are involved in plant stress responses

Plants are constantly exposed to a wide range of environmental stresses, but evolved complicated adaptive and defense mechanisms which allow them to survive in unfavorable conditions. These mechanisms protect and defend plants by using different immune receptors located either at the cell surface or in the cytoplasmic compartment. Lectins or carbohydrate-binding proteins are widespread in the plant kingdom and constitute an important part of these immune receptors. In the past years, lectin research has focused on the stress-inducible lectins. The Nicotiana tabacum agglutinin, abbreviated as Nictaba, served as a model for one family of stress-related lectins. Here we focus on three non-chimeric Nictaba homologs from Arabidopsis thaliana, referred to as AN3, AN4, and AN5. Confocal microscopy of ArathNictaba enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) fusion constructs transiently expressed in N. benthamiana or stably expressed in A. thaliana yielded fluorescence for AN4 and AN5 in the nucleus and the cytoplasm of the plant cell, while fluorescence for AN3 was only detected in the cytoplasm. RT-qPCR analysis revealed low expression for all three ArathNictabas in different tissues throughout plant development. Stress application altered the expression levels, but all three ArathNictabas showed a different expression pattern. Pseudomonas syringae infection experiments with AN4 and AN5 overexpression lines demonstrated a significantly higher tolerance of several transgenic lines to P. syringae compared to wild type plants. Finally, AN4 was shown to interact with two enzymes involved in plant defense, namely TGG1 and BGLU23. Taken together, our data suggest that the ArathNictabas represent stress-regulated proteins with a possible role in plant stress responses. On the long term this research can contribute to the development of more stress-resistant plants