Water deficit affects inter-kingdom microbial connections in plant rhizosphere

The frequency and severity of drought are increasing due to anthropogenic climate change and are already limiting cropping system productivity in many regions around the world. Few microbial groups within plant microbiomes can potentially contribute towards the fitness and productivity of their hosts under abiotic stress events including water deficits. However, microbial communities are complex and integrative work considering the multiple co-existing groups of organisms is needed to better understand how the entire microbiome responds to environmental stresses. We hypothesize that water deficit stress will differentially shape bacterial, fungal, and protistan microbiome composition and influence inter-kingdom microbial interactions in the rhizospheres of corn and sugar beet. We used amplicon sequencing to profile bacterial, fungal, and protistan communities in corn and sugar beet rhizospheres grown under irrigated and water deficit conditions. The water deficit treatment had a stronger influence than host species on bacterial composition, whereas the opposite was true for protists. These results indicate that different microbial kingdoms have variable responses to environmental stress and host factors. Water deficit also influenced intra- and inter-kingdom microbial associations, wherein the protist taxa formed a separate cluster under water deficit conditions. Our findings help elucidate the influence of environmental and host drivers of bacterial, fungal, and protistan community assembly and co-occurrence in agricultural rhizosphere environments.

Multisegment Extradural Tuberculoma Masquerading as a Spinal Tumor

We report a case of a man who presented with features of spinal cord compression, and imaging showed an L3-S2 space-occupying lesion that mimicked a spinal tumor. The patient underwent L3 to S2 laminectomy and a fibrous, thick sheet-like, poorly vascular lesion was observed macroscopically. The histopathological examination of the lesion showed caseous necrosis and epithelioid giant cells. This raised suspicion of tuberculosis and which was later confirmed on a polymerase chain reaction. The present case illustrates that tuberculosis is a disease that should not be ignored, particularly considering its ability to resemble other types of mass lesions.

Primary Ewing sarcoma of the kidney: A series of four cases

INTRODUCTION

Ewing sarcoma (ES), the neuroectodermal derived tumour typically occurs in the bone and soft tissue of children and young adults. Primary ES of the kidney is strikingly rare and only a few cases and small case series have been documented. Due to the highly aggressive nature of this neoplasm, distinction from other morphological mimickers is truly indispensable in terms of treatment and prognosis. Here we describe the clinicopathological features of four cases of primary ES of the kidney with special emphasis on one case having extensive neural differentiation postneo- adjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). Extensive neural differentiation in renal ES has not been documented to date.

CASE SERIES

Four patients (age range from 15-35 years) had kidney mass and multiple distant metastases at first presentation. Primary diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma was rendered by histopathology with the help of immunohistochemistry on core biopsy material. Tumour cells in all cases showed diffuse membranous CD99, nuclear FLI-1 and NKX2.2. Two of the patients had undergone radical nephrectomy followed by combination chemotherapy. Another two patients were first treated with neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) followed by radical nephrectomy. In one of them, histopathological examination of nephrectomy specimens revealed extensive neural differentiation. The adrenal gland was free in all four cases. The follow-up period was 12 -24 months. Three patients had survived and one of them became disease-free.

CONCLUSION

Primary ES of the kidney is a rare and lethal entity. Due to overwhelming rarity, chemotherapy protocol has not been standardised and followed as ES in bone/soft tissue. Histopathological confirmation and prompt initiation of treatment may improve patient survival and outcome.

Label-free proteomics approach reveals candidate proteins in rice (Oryza sativa L.) important for ACC deaminase producing bacteria-mediated tolerance against salt stress

The omics-based studies are important for identifying characteristic proteins in plants to elucidate the mechanism of ACC deaminase producing bacteria-mediated salt tolerance. This study evaluates the changes in the proteome of rice inoculated with ACC deaminase producing bacteria under salt stress conditions. Salt stress resulted in a significant decrease in photosynthetic pigments, whereas inoculation of Methylobacterium oryzae CBMB20 had significantly increased pigment contents under normal and salt stress conditions. A total of 76, 51 and 33 differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) were identified in non-inoculated salt stressed plants, bacteria inoculated plants under normal and salt stress conditions, respectively. The abundances of proteins responsible for ethylene emission and programmed cell death were increased, and that of photosynthesis-related proteins were decreased in non-inoculated plants under salt stress. Whereas, bacteria-inoculated plants had shown higher abundance of antioxidant proteins, RuBisCo and ribosomal proteins that are important for enhancing stress tolerance and improving plant physiological traits. Collectively, salt stress might affect plant physiological traits by impairing photosynthetic machinery and accelerating apoptosis leading to a decline in biomass. However, inoculation of plants with bacteria can assist in enhancing photosynthetic activity, antioxidant activities and ethylene regulation related proteins for attenuating salt induced apoptosis and sustaining growth and development. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

High Spatial Resolution Fluorescence Imagery for Optimized Pest Management in a Huanglongbing-Infected Citrus Grove

Huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening disease, has significantly decreased citrus production all over the world. The disease management currently depends on the efficient application and adequate distribution of insecticides to reduce the density of the disease vector, the Asian citrus psyllid. Here, we use a novel fluorescent-based method to evaluate insecticide distribution in an HLB-infected citrus grove in Florida. Specifically, we evaluated six different locations within citrus trees, the top and bottom sides of leaves, the effect of application approach (tractor versus airplane), and different application rates. We found that despite the insecticide distribution being highly variable among the different locations within a tree, the top of the leaves received an average increase of 21 times more than the bottom of the leaves. Application by tractor also resulted in a 4- to 87-fold increase in insecticide coverage compared with aerial application, depending on the location in the tree and side of the leaf. When taken to context with the type of insecticide that is applied (systemic vs. contact), these results can be used to optimize a pest management strategy to effectively target psyllids and other pests while minimizing the time and money spent on insecticide application and reducing risk to the environment.

Multisegment Intradural Extramedullary Ependymoma

Ependymomas are commonly reported at an intradural intramedullary location and more frequently at the conus medullaris or filum terminale. In comparison to this, the incidence of spinal tumors being reported at an intradural extramedullary site is less. We describe a young patient who presented with urinary retention and a long-standing history of back pain radiating to the right lower limb. Imaging revealed an intradural ependymoma extending from D11 to S1 and measuring 21 cm in length. The patient underwent D10 to S1 laminectomy. Although the tumor originated from the conus medullaris, the histological evaluation revealed a WHO grade II ependymoma, which is rare, as only 30% of tumors in this location are non-myxopapillary.

Comparative analysis of three methods in anti-dsDNA antibodies detection: implications for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus diagnosis

The evaluation of anti-dsDNA antibodies represents one of the essential diagnostic and prognostic marker features in patients affected by Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). In this study, we have compared immunoblotting (IB) with Crithidia luciliae indirect immunofluorescence test (CLIFT) and chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) in 91 patients referred to our hospital for anti-dsDNA antibodies detection. The concordance and correlation measured by Cohen's kappa and Spearman's coefficient respectively was significant between CLIFT and CLIA (0.70; 0,7404, P < .0001) and among CLIA and IB (0.79; 0,5377, P < 0,0001) and lower between CLIFT and IB (0.55; 0,4373, P  <0,0001). Among the 46 IB-positive samples, 14 were positive for either CLIA or CLIFT. It is noteworthy that 11 out of these 14 samples had the final diagnosis of SLE. Thirteen out of fourteen samples were also positive for anti-nucleosome antibodies as measured concomitantly in immunoblotting. While our observations are based on a limited number of samples and will have to be confirmed in a bigger cohort, they underline the contribution of immunoblotting as an additional assay in defining the anti-dsDNA antibody profile in association with other well-established methods such as CLIA and CLIFT.

ACC deaminase and indole acetic acid producing endophytic bacterial co-inoculation improves physiological traits of red pepper (Capsicum annum L.) under salt stress

Salinity induces myriad of physiological and biochemical perturbations in plants and its amelioration can be attained by the use of potential bacterial synthetic communities. The use of microbial consortia in contrast to single bacterial inoculation can additively enhance stress tolerance and productivity of agricultural crops. In this study, co-inoculation of Pseudomonas koreensis S2CB45 and Microbacterium hydrothermale IC37-36 isolated from arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) spore and rice seed endosphere, respectively, were used to evaluate the physiological and biochemical effects on red pepper at two salt concentrations (75 mM and 150 mM). Plant growth promoting characteristics particularly 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase activity, indole acetic acid (IAA) and cytokinin production were higher during co-culturing compared to the individual bacterial culture. The higher ACC deaminase activity had resulted in 20% and 22% decrease in stress ethylene emission compared to the non-inoculated plants at 75 mM and 150 mM salt stress, respectively. The decline in ethylene emission had eventually reduced ROS accumulation, and the co-inoculated plants had also harbored enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities and higher sugar accumulation compared to the other treatments suggesting enhanced tolerance to salinity. Collectively, these results put forward a novel consortium of bacterial strains that can be used for sustainable agricultural practices against salinity.

Calcineurin Gamma Catalytic Subunit PPP3CC Inhibition by miR-200c-3p Affects Apoptosis in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) outpaces all the other forms of the female reproductive system malignancies. MicroRNAs have emerged as promising predictive biomarkers to therapeutic treatments as their expression might characterize the tumor stage or grade. In EOC, miR-200c is considered a master regulator of oncogenes or tumor suppressors. To investigate novel miR-200c-3p target genes involved in EOC tumorigenesis, we evaluated the association between this miRNA and the mRNA expression of several potential target genes by RNA-seq data of both 46 EOC cell lines from Cancer Cell line Encyclopedia (CCLE) and 456 EOC patient bio-specimens from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Both analyses showed a significant anticorrelation between miR-200c-3p and the protein phosphatase 3 catalytic subunit γ of calcineurin (PPP3CC) levels involved in the apoptosis pathway. Quantitative mRNA expression analysis in patient biopsies confirmed the inverse correlation between miR-200c-3p and PPP3CC levels. In vitro regulation of PPP3CC expression through miR-200c-3p and RNA interference technology led to a concomitant modulation of BCL2- and p-AKT-related pathways, suggesting the tumor suppressive role of PPP3CC in EOC. Our results suggest that inhibition of high expression of miR-200c-3p in EOC might lead to overexpression of the tumor suppressor PPP3CC and subsequent induction of apoptosis in EOC patients.

When Viruses Cross Developmental Pathways

Aberrant regulation of developmental pathways plays a key role in tumorigenesis. Tumor cells differ from normal cells in their sustained proliferation, replicative immortality, resistance to cell death and growth inhibition, angiogenesis, and metastatic behavior. Often they acquire these features as a consequence of dysregulated Hedgehog, Notch, or WNT signaling pathways. Human tumor viruses affect the cancer cell hallmarks by encoding oncogenic proteins, and/or by modifying the microenvironment, as well as by conveying genomic instability to accelerate cancer development. In addition, viral immune evasion mechanisms may compromise developmental pathways to accelerate tumor growth. Viruses achieve this by influencing both coding and non-coding gene regulatory pathways. Elucidating how oncogenic viruses intersect with and modulate developmental pathways is crucial to understanding viral tumorigenesis. Many currently available antiviral therapies target viral lytic cycle replication but with low efficacy and severe side effects. A greater understanding of the cross-signaling between oncogenic viruses and developmental pathways will improve the efficacy of next-generation inhibitors and pave the way to more targeted antiviral therapies.

Global homogenization of the structure and function in the soil microbiome of urban greenspaces

The structure and function of the soil microbiome of urban greenspaces remain largely undetermined. We conducted a global field survey in urban greenspaces and neighboring natural ecosystems across 56 cities from six continents, and found that urban soils are important hotspots for soil bacterial, protist and functional gene diversity, but support highly homogenized microbial communities worldwide. Urban greenspaces had a greater proportion of fast-growing bacteria, algae, amoebae, and fungal pathogens, but a lower proportion of ectomycorrhizal fungi than natural ecosystems. These urban ecosystems also showed higher proportions of genes associated with human pathogens, greenhouse gas emissions, faster nutrient cycling, and more intense abiotic stress than natural environments. City affluence, management practices, and climate were fundamental drivers of urban soil communities. Our work paves the way toward a more comprehensive global-scale perspective on urban greenspaces, which is integral to managing the health of these ecosystems and the well-being of human populations.

An empirical investigation of the relationship between TSR, value-based and accounting-based performance measures

Purpose

The paper aims to find out the information content of performance measures from accounting and value-based measures that best explain the total shareholder return.

Design/ methodology/ approach

To achieve this aim, static and dynamic panel data regression analysis is applied to the sample of 56 Indian companies taken from the Nifty Midcap 100 Index, between 2012 and 2019.

Findings

It is found that accounting-based measures have more relative information content in predicting total shareholder return as compared to value-based measures. Economic value added (EVA) and cash value added (CVA) do not add to the information content provided by accounting-based measures. A combination of accounting-based measures and value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) adds marginally to the information content provided by accounting-based measures in explaining the total shareholder return. Dynamic panel regression analysis shows that return on assets (ROA), return on capital employed (ROCE), return on equity (ROE) and EVA have a significant impact on total shareholder return.

Originality/value

In this study, along with EVA, other measures from value-based measures, i.e. CVA are empirically tested to explain the total shareholder return. Intellectual capital efficiency computed by VAIC is also empirically tested along with accounting-based measures, EVA, CVA and market value added (MVA). To bring robustness to findings, data are tested by using dynamic panel regression analysis.

Enabling sustainable agriculture through understanding and enhancement of microbiomes

Harnessing plant-associated microbiomes offers an invaluable strategy to help agricultural production become more sustainable while also meeting growing demands for food, feed and fiber. A plethora of interconnected interactions among the host, environment and microbes, occurring both above and below ground, drive recognition, recruitment and colonization of plant-associated microbes, resulting in activation of downstream host responses and functionality. Dissecting these complex interactions by integrating multiomic approaches, high-throughput culturing, and computational and synthetic biology advances is providing deeper understanding of the structure and function of native microbial communities. Such insights are paving the way towards development of microbial products as well as microbiomes engineered with synthetic microbial communities capable of delivering agronomic solutions. While there is a growing market for microbial-based solutions to improve crop productivity, challenges with commercialization of these products remain. The continued translation of plant-associated microbiome knowledge into real-world scenarios will require concerted transdisciplinary research, cross-training of a next generation of scientists, and targeted educational efforts to prime growers and the general public for successful adoption of these innovative technologies.

Quantification of insecticide spatial distribution within individual citrus trees and efficacy through Asian citrus psyllid reductions under different application methods

BACKGROUND

Citrus greening disease (Huanglongbing, HLB) has infected >90% of Florida's oranges and thus growers are desperate to improve pest management strategies. In this field study, insecticide application efficacy was investigated with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry to determine if insecticide concentration and distribution were effective at killing the target pest Asian citrus psyllids (ACP). Sample discs attached to leaves were sprayed with imidacloprid and malathion at a field site in Florida. Application method, canopy height and depth, cardinal side of tree, and leaf side were considered to assess the spatial distribution of insecticides throughout citrus trees. Furthermore, ACP were inspected before and after insecticide applications to quantify psyllid population response.

RESULTS

Our findings show that although insecticide concentrations were high enough to kill ACP, the spatial distribution of insecticides throughout individual trees was highly variable and live ACP were detected after insecticide application. The top side of leaves received significantly more insecticide than the underside of leaves. Additionally, inadequate distribution to different areas of the tree canopy was observed for all application methods tested (aerial, ground speed-sprayer, and ground side-sprayer). Inspections of ACP populations before and after insecticide applications resulted in reductions of 85% (malathion) and 48-80% (imidacloprid).

CONCLUSIONS

The variability in insecticide spatial distribution due to application method allows remaining ACP to continue spreading citrus greening disease to unprotected trees. Further research is needed to improve insecticide application methods and technology for citrus trees in order to implement effective pest management strategies and fully target ACP to eliminate HLB. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

MiR-200c-3p Contrasts PD-L1 Induction by Combinatorial Therapies and Slows Proliferation of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer through Downregulation of β-Catenin and c-Myc

Conventional/targeted chemotherapies and ionizing radiation (IR) are being used both as monotherapies and in combination for the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Several studies show that these therapies might favor oncogenic signaling and impede anti-tumor responses. MiR-200c is considered a master regulator of EOC-related oncogenes. In this study, we sought to investigate if chemotherapy and IR could influence the expression of miR-200c-3p and its target genes, like the immune checkpoint PD-L1 and other oncogenes in a cohort of EOC patients’ biopsies. Indeed, PD-L1 expression was induced, while miR-200c-3p was significantly reduced in these biopsies post-therapy. The effect of miR-200c-3p target genes was assessed in miR-200c transfected SKOV3 cells untreated and treated with olaparib and IR alone. Under all experimental conditions, miR-200c-3p concomitantly reduced PD-L1, c-Myc and β-catenin expression and sensitized ovarian cancer cells to olaparib and irradiation. In silico analyses further confirmed the anti-correlation between miR-200c-3p with c-Myc and β-catenin in 46 OC cell lines and showed that a higher miR-200c-3p expression associates with a less tumorigenic microenvironment. These findings provide new insights into how miR-200c-3p could be used to hold in check the adverse effects of conventional chemotherapy, targeted therapy and radiation therapy, and offer a novel therapeutic strategy for EOC.

BII-Implementation: The causes and consequences of plant biodiversity across scales in a rapidly changing world

The proposed Biology Integration Institute will bring together two major research institutions in the Upper Midwest—the University of Minnesota (UMN) and University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW)—to investigate the causes and consequences of plant biodiversity across scales in a rapidly changing world—from genes and molecules within cells and tissues to communities, ecosystems, landscapes and the biosphere. The Institute focuses on plant biodiversity, defined broadly to encompass the heterogeneity within life that occurs from the smallest to the largest biological scales. A premise of the Institute is that life is envisioned as occurring at different scales nested within several contrasting conceptions of biological hierarchies, defined by the separate but related fields of physiology, evolutionary biology and ecology. The Institute will emphasize the use of ‘spectral biology’—detection of biological properties based on the interaction of light energy with matter—and process-oriented predictive models to investigate the processes by which biological components at one scale give rise to emergent properties at higher scales. Through an iterative process that harnesses cutting edge technologies to observe a suite of carefully designed empirical systems—including the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and some of the world’s longest running and state-of-the-art global change experiments—the Institute will advance biological understanding and theory of the causes and consequences of changes in biodiversity and at the interface of plant physiology, ecology and evolution.

INTELLECTUAL MERIT

The Institute brings together a diverse, gender-balanced and highly productive team with significant leadership experience that spans biological disciplines and career stages and is poised to integrate biology in new ways. Together, the team will harness the potential of spectral biology, experiments, observations and synthetic modeling in a manner never before possible to transform understanding of how variation within and among biological scales drives plant and ecosystem responses to global change over diurnal, seasonal and millennial time scales. In doing so, it will use and advance state-of-the-art theory. The institute team posits that the designed projects will unearth transformative understanding and biological rules at each of the various scales that will enable an unprecedented capacity to discern the linkages between physiological, ecological and evolutionary processes in relation to the multi-dimensional nature of biodiversity in this time of massive planetary change. A strength of the proposed Institute is that it leverages prior federal investments in research and formalizes partnerships with foreign institutions heavily invested in related biodiversity research. Most of the planned projects leverage existing research initiatives, infrastructure, working groups, experiments, training programs, and public outreach infrastructure, all of which are already highly synergistic and collaborative, and will bring together members of the overall research and training team.

BROADER IMPACTS

A central goal of the proposed Institute is to train the next generation of diverse integrative biologists. Post-doctoral, graduate student and undergraduate trainees, recruited from non-traditional and underrepresented groups, including through formal engagement with Native American communities, will receive a range of mentoring and training opportunities. Annual summer training workshops will be offered at UMN and UW as well as training experiences with the Global Change and Biodiversity Research Priority Program (URPP-GCB) at the University of Zurich (UZH) and through the Canadian Airborne Biodiversity Observatory (CABO). The Institute will engage diverse K-12 audiences, the general public and Native American communities through Market Science modules, Minute Earth videos, a museum exhibit and public engagement and educational activities through the Bell Museum of Natural History, the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (CCESR) and the Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Association.

Thyroid Hormones Interaction With Immune Response, Inflammation and Non-thyroidal Illness Syndrome

The interdependence between thyroid hormones (THs), namely, thyroxine and triiodothyronine, and immune system is nowadays well-recognized, although not yet fully explored. Synthesis, conversion to a bioactive form, and release of THs in the circulation are events tightly supervised by the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. Newly synthesized THs induce leukocyte proliferation, migration, release of cytokines, and antibody production, triggering an immune response against either sterile or microbial insults. However, chronic patho-physiological alterations of the immune system, such as infection and inflammation, affect HPT axis and, as a direct consequence, THs mechanism of action. Herein, we revise the bidirectional crosstalk between THs and immune cells, required for the proper immune system feedback response among diverse circumstances. Available circulating THs do traffic in two distinct ways depending on the metabolic condition. Mechanistically, internalized THs form a stable complex with their specific receptors, which, upon direct or indirect binding to DNA, triggers a genomic response by activating transcriptional factors, such as those belonging to the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Alternatively, THs engage integrin αvβ3 receptor on cell membrane and trigger a non-genomic response, which can also signal to the nucleus. In addition, we highlight THs-dependent inflammasome complex modulation and describe new crucial pathways involved in microRNA regulation by THs, in physiological and patho-physiological conditions, which modify the HPT axis and THs performances. Finally, we focus on the non-thyroidal illness syndrome in which the HPT axis is altered and, in turn, affects circulating levels of active THs as reported in viral infections, particularly in immunocompromised patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus.

Fertilization alters protistan consumers and parasites in crop-associated microbiomes

Crop plants carry an enormous diversity of microbiota that provide massive benefits to hosts. Protists, as the main microbial consumers and a pivotal driver of biogeochemical cycling processes, remain largely understudied in the plant microbiome. Here, we characterized the diversity and composition of protists in sorghum leaf phyllosphere, and rhizosphere and bulk soils, collected from an 8-year field experiment with multiple fertilization regimes. Phyllosphere was an important habitat for protists, dominated by Rhizaria, Alveolata and Amoebozoa. Rhizosphere and bulk soils had a significantly higher diversity of protists than the phyllosphere, and the protistan community structure significantly differed among the three plant-soil compartments. Fertilization significantly altered specific functional groups of protistan consumers and parasites. Variation partitioning models revealed that soil properties, bacteria and fungi predicted a significant proportion of the variation in the protistan communities. Changes in protists may in turn significantly alter the compositions of bacterial and fungal communities from the top-down control in food webs. Altogether, we provide novel evidence that fertilization significantly affects the functional groups of protistan consumers and parasites in crop-associated microbiomes, which have implications for the potential changes in their ecological functions under intensive agricultural managements.

Cobomarsen, an Oligonucleotide Inhibitor of miR-155, Slows DLBCL Tumor Cell Growth In Vitro and In Vivo

PURPOSE

miRNA-155 is an oncogenic miRNA highly expressed in B-cell malignancies, particularly in the non-germinal center B-cell or activated B-cell subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (ABC-DLBCL), where it is considered a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker. Thus, miR-155 inhibition represents an important therapeutic strategy for B-cell lymphomas. In this study, we tested the efficacy and pharmacodynamic activity of an oligonucleotide inhibitor of miR-155, cobomarsen, in ABC-DLBCL cell lines and in corresponding xenograft mouse models. In addition, we assessed the therapeutic efficacy and safety of cobomarsen in a patient diagnosed with aggressive ABC-DLBCL.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

Preclinical studies included the delivery of cobomarsen to highly miR-155-expressing ABC-DLBCL cell lines to assess any phenotypic changes, as well as intravenous injections of cobomarsen in NSG mice carrying ABC-DLBCL xenografts, to study tumor growth and pharmacodynamics of the compound over time. To begin to test its safety and therapeutic efficacy, a patient was recruited who underwent five cycles of cobomarsen treatment.

RESULTS

Cobomarsen decreased cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in ABC-DLBCL cell lines. Intravenous administration of cobomarsen in a xenograft NSG mouse model of ABC-DLBCL reduced tumor volume, triggered apoptosis, and derepressed direct miR-155 target genes. Finally, the compound reduced and stabilized tumor growth without any toxic effects for the patient.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings support the potential therapeutic application of cobomarsen in ABC-DLBCL and other types of lymphoma with elevated miR-155 expression.

The influence of soil age on ecosystem structure and function across biomes

The importance of soil age as an ecosystem driver across biomes remains largely unresolved. By combining a cross-biome global field survey, including data for 32 soil, plant, and microbial properties in 16 soil chronosequences, with a global meta-analysis, we show that soil age is a significant ecosystem driver, but only accounts for a relatively small proportion of the cross-biome variation in multiple ecosystem properties. Parent material, climate, vegetation and topography predict, collectively, 24 times more variation in ecosystem properties than soil age alone. Soil age is an important local-scale ecosystem driver; however, environmental context, rather than soil age, determines the rates and trajectories of ecosystem development in structure and function across biomes. Our work provides insights into the natural history of terrestrial ecosystems. We propose that, regardless of soil age, changes in the environmental context, such as those associated with global climatic and land-use changes, will have important long-term impacts on the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems across biomes.

Soil age is thought to be an important driver of ecosystem development. Here, the authors perform a global survey of soil chronosequences and meta-analysis to show that, contrary to expectations, soil age is a relatively minor ecosystem driver at the biome scale once other drivers such as parent material, climate, and vegetation type are accounted for.

Plant Microbiomes: Do Different Preservation Approaches and Primer Sets Alter Our Capacity to Assess Microbial Diversity and Community Composition?

The microbial communities associated with plants (the plant microbiome) play critical roles in regulating plant health and productivity. Because of this, in recent years, there have been significant increase in studies targeting the plant microbiome. Amplicon sequencing is widely used to investigate the plant microbiome and to develop sustainable microbial agricultural tools. However, performing large microbiome surveys at the regional and global scales pose several logistic challenges. One of these challenges is related with the preservation of plant materials for sequencing aiming to maintain the integrity of the original diversity and community composition of the plant microbiome. Another significant challenge involves the existence of multiple primer sets used in amplicon sequencing that, especially for bacterial communities, hampers the comparability of datasets across studies. Here, we aimed to examine the effect of different preservation approaches (snap freezing, fresh and kept on ice, and air drying) on the bacterial and fungal diversity and community composition on plant leaves, stems and roots from seven plant species from contrasting functional groups (e.g. C3, C4, N-Fixers, etc.). Another major challenge comes when comparing plant to soil microbiomes, as different primers sets are often used for plant vs. soil microbiomes. Thus, we also investigated if widely used 16S rRNA primer set (779F/1193R) for plant microbiome studies provides comparable data to those often used for soil microbiomes (341F/805R) using 86 soil samples. We found that the community composition and diversity of bacteria or fungi were robust to contrasting preservation methods. The primer sets often used for plants provided similar results to those often used for soil studies suggesting that simultaneous studies on plant and soil microbiomes are possible. Our findings provide novel evidence that preservation approaches do not significantly impact plant microbiome data interpretation and primer differences do not impact the treatment effect, which has significant implication for future large-scale and global surveys of plant microbiomes.