TY - JOUR A1 - Lämke, Jörn A1 - Bäurle, Isabel T1 - Epigenetic and chromatin-based mechanisms in environmental stress adaptation and stress memory in plants JF - Genome biology : biology for the post-genomic era N2 - Plants frequently have to weather both biotic and abiotic stressors, and have evolved sophisticated adaptation and defense mechanisms. In recent years, chromatin modifications, nucleosome positioning, and DNA methylation have been recognized as important components in these adaptations. Given their potential epigenetic nature, such modifications may provide a mechanistic basis for a stress memory, enabling plants to respond more efficiently to recurring stress or even to prepare their offspring for potential future assaults. In this review, we discuss both the involvement of chromatin in stress responses and the current evidence on somatic, intergenerational, and transgenerational stress memory. KW - remodeling atpase brahma KW - transcriptional memory KW - DNA methylation KW - transgenerational inheritance KW - acquired thermotolerance KW - Arabidopsis-thaliana KW - gene-expression KW - responses KW - protein KW - defense Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-017-1263-6 SN - 1474-760X VL - 18 SP - 8685 EP - 8693 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Huss, Matthias A1 - Bookhagen, Bodo A1 - Huggel, C. A1 - Jacobsen, Dean A1 - Bradley, Raymond S. A1 - Clague, J. J. A1 - Vuille, Mathias A1 - Buytaert, Wouter A1 - Cayan, D. R. A1 - Greenwood, G. A1 - Mark, B. G. A1 - Milner, A. M. A1 - Weingartner, Rolf A1 - Winder, M. T1 - Toward mountains without permanent snow and ice JF - Earths future N2 - The cryosphere in mountain regions is rapidly declining, a trend that is expected to accelerate over the next several decades due to anthropogenic climate change. A cascade of effects will result, extending from mountains to lowlands with associated impacts on human livelihood, economy, and ecosystems. With rising air temperatures and increased radiative forcing, glaciers will become smaller and, in some cases, disappear, the area of frozen ground will diminish, the ratio of snow to rainfall will decrease, and the timing and magnitude of both maximum and minimum streamflow will change. These changes will affect erosion rates, sediment, and nutrient flux, and the biogeochemistry of rivers and proglacial lakes, all of which influence water quality, aquatic habitat, and biotic communities. Changes in the length of the growing season will allow low-elevation plants and animals to expand their ranges upward. Slope failures due to thawing alpine permafrost, and outburst floods from glacier-and moraine-dammed lakes will threaten downstream populations.Societies even well beyond the mountains depend on meltwater from glaciers and snow for drinking water supplies, irrigation, mining, hydropower, agriculture, and recreation. Here, we review and, where possible, quantify the impacts of anticipated climate change on the alpine cryosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, and consider the implications for adaptation to a future of mountains without permanent snow and ice. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2016EF000514 SN - 2328-4277 VL - 5 SP - 418 EP - 435 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hentrich, Doreen A1 - Tauer, Klaus A1 - Espanol, Montserrat A1 - Ginebra, Maria-Pau A1 - Taubert, Andreas T1 - EDTA and NTA effectively tune the mineralization of calcium phosphate from bulk aqueous solution JF - Biomimetics N2 - This study describes the effects of nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) and ethylenediaminotetraacetic acid (EDTA) on themineralization of calciumphosphate from bulk aqueous solution. Mineralization was performed between pH 6 and 9 and with NTA or EDTA concentrations of 0, 5, 10, and 15 mM. X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy show that at low pH, mainly brushite precipitates and at higher pH, mostly hydroxyapatite forms. Both additives alter the morphology of the precipitates. Without additive, brushite precipitates as large plates. With NTA, the morphology changes to an unusual rod-like shape. With EDTA, the edges of the particles are rounded and disk-like particles form. Conductivity and pH measurements suggest that the final products form through several intermediate steps. KW - biomineralization KW - biomimetic mineralization KW - calcium phosphate KW - NTA KW - EDTA KW - precipitation KW - brushite KW - hydroxyapatite Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics2040024 SN - 2313-7673 VL - 2 IS - 4 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Surminski, Swenja A1 - Thieken, Annegret T1 - Promoting flood risk reduction BT - the role of insurance in Germany and England JF - Earth's Future N2 - Improving society's ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from flooding requires integrated, anticipatory flood risk management (FRM). However, most countries still focus their efforts on responding to flooding events if and when they occur rather than addressing their current and future vulnerability to flooding. Flood insurance is one mechanism that could promote a more ex ante approach to risk by supporting risk reduction activities. This paper uses an adapted version of Easton's System Theory to investigate the role of insurance for FRM in Germany and England. We introduce an anticipatory FRM framework, which allows flood insurance to be considered as part of a broader policy field. We analyze if and how flood insurance can catalyze a change toward a more anticipatory approach to FRM. In particular we consider insurance's role in influencing five key components of anticipatory FRM: risk knowledge, prevention through better planning, property‐level protection measures, structural protection and preparedness (for response). We find that in both countries FRM is still a reactive, event‐driven process, while anticipatory FRM remains underdeveloped. Collaboration between insurers and FRM decision‐makers has already been successful, for example in improving risk knowledge and awareness, while in other areas insurance acts as a disincentive for more risk reduction action. In both countries there is evidence that insurance can play a significant role in encouraging anticipatory FRM, but this remains underutilized. Effective collaboration between insurers and government should not be seen as a cost, but as an investment to secure future insurability through flood resilience. KW - flooding KW - insurance KW - governance KW - risk reduction Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2017EF000587 SN - 2328-4277 VL - 5 SP - 979 EP - 1001 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Olatunji, Akinade S. A1 - Kolawole, Tesleem O. A1 - Oloruntola, Moroof A1 - Günter, Christina T1 - Evaluation of pollution of soils and particulate matter around metal recycling factories in Southwestern Nigeria JF - Journal of health and pollutuin N2 - Background. Metal recycling factories (MRFs) have developed rapidly in Nigeria as recycling policies have been increasingly embraced. These MRFs are point sources for introducing potentially toxic elements (PTEs) into environmental media. Objectives. The aim of this study was to determine the constituents (elemental and mineralogy) of the wastes (slag and particulate matter, (PM)) and soils around the MRFs and to determine the level of pollution within the area. Methods. Sixty samples (30 slag samples, 15 soil samples and 15 PM samples) were collected for this study. The soils, slag and PM samples were analyzed for elemental constituents using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Mineralogy of the PM was determined using scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and soil mineralogy was determined by an X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Results. The results of the soil analyses revealed the following concentrations for the selected metals in mg/kg include lead (Pb) (21.0-2399.0), zinc (Zn) (56.0-4188.0), copper (Cu) (10.0-1470.0), nickel (Ni) (6.0-215.0), chromium (Cr) (921.0-1737.0) and cadmium (Cd) (below detectable limit (Bdl)-18.1). For the slags the results were Pb (68.0-.333.0), Zn (1364.0-3062), Cu (119.0-1470.0), Ni (12.0-675.0), Cr (297-1737) and Cd (Bdl-15.8). The results in mu g/g for the metal analysis in PM were Pb (4.6-160.0), Zn (18.0-471.0), Cu (2.5-11.0), Ni (0.8-4.2), and Cr (2.5-11.0), while Cd was undetected. The slags are currently utilized for filling the foundations of buildings and roads, providing additional pathways for the introduction of PTEs into the environment from the suspended materials generated from mechanical breakdown of the slags. Conclusions. The MRFs were found to have impacted the quality of environmental media through the introduction of PTEs, impairing soil quality, in addition to PM, which can have detrimental health consequences. Further studies on the health implications of these pollutants and their impacts on human health are needed. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests KW - potentially toxic elements KW - metal recycling plants KW - slags KW - pollution indices Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5696/2156-9614-8.17.20 SN - 2156-9614 VL - 8 IS - 17 SP - 20 EP - 30 PB - Blacksmith Institute and Pure Earth CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pradhan, Prajal A1 - Costa, Luís Fílípe Carvalho da A1 - Rybski, Diego A1 - Lucht, Wolfgang A1 - Kropp, Jürgen T1 - A Systematic Study of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Interactions JF - Earths Future N2 - Sustainable development goals (SDGs) have set the 2030 agenda to transform our world by tackling multiple challenges humankind is facing to ensure well-being, economic prosperity, and environmental protection. In contrast to conventional development agendas focusing on a restricted set of dimensions, the SDGs provide a holistic and multidimensional view on development. Hence, interactions among the SDGs may cause diverging results. To analyze the SDG interactions we systematize the identification of synergies and trade-offs using official SDG indicator data for 227 countries. A significant positive correlation between a pair of SDG indicators is classified as a synergy while a significant negative correlation is classified as a trade-off. We rank synergies and trade-offs between SDGs pairs on global and country scales in order to identify the most frequent SDG interactions. For a given SDG, positive correlations between indicator pairs were found to outweigh the negative ones in most countries. Among SDGs the positive and negative correlations between indicator pairs allowed for the identification of particular global patterns. SDG 1 (No poverty) has synergetic relationship with most of the other goals, whereas SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production) is the goal most commonly associated with trade-offs. The attainment of the SDG agenda will greatly depend on whether the identified synergies among the goals can be leveraged. In addition, the highlighted trade-offs, which constitute obstacles in achieving the SDGs, need to be negotiated and made structurally nonobstructive by deeper changes in the current strategies. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2017EF000632 SN - 2328-4277 VL - 5 SP - 1169 EP - 1179 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zimmermann, Heike Hildegard A1 - Raschke, Elena A1 - Epp, Laura Saskia A1 - Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen Rosemarie A1 - Schirrmeister, Lutz A1 - Schwamborn, Georg A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - The history of tree and shrub taxa on Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island (New Siberian Archipelago) since the Last Interglacial Uncovered by Sedimentary Ancient DNA and Pollen Data JF - Genes N2 - Ecosystem boundaries, such as the Arctic-Boreal treeline, are strongly coupled with climate and were spatially highly dynamic during past glacial-interglacial cycles. Only a few studies cover vegetation changes since the last interglacial, as most of the former landscapes are inundated and difficult to access. Using pollen analysis and sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) metabarcoding, we reveal vegetation changes on Bol’shoy Lyakhovsky Island since the last interglacial from permafrost sediments. Last interglacial samples depict high levels of floral diversity with the presence of trees (Larix, Picea, Populus) and shrubs (Alnus, Betula, Ribes, Cornus, Saliceae) on the currently treeless island. After the Last Glacial Maximum, Larix re-colonised the island but disappeared along with most shrub taxa. This was probably caused by Holocene sea-level rise, which led to increased oceanic conditions on the island. Additionally, we applied two newly developed larch-specific chloroplast markers to evaluate their potential for tracking past population dynamics from environmental samples. The novel markers were successfully re-sequenced and exhibited two variants of each marker in last interglacial samples. SedaDNA can track vegetation changes as well as genetic changes across geographic space through time and can improve our understanding of past processes that shape modern patterns. KW - sedaDNA KW - metabarcoding KW - trnL KW - single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) KW - treeline KW - MIS 5 to 1 KW - permafrost deposits KW - radiocarbon ages KW - palaeoenvironment KW - Larix Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/genes8100273 SN - 2073-4425 VL - 8 IS - 10 SP - 273 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bernacchioni, Caterina A1 - Ghini, Veronica A1 - Cencetti, Francesca A1 - Japtok, Lukasz A1 - Donati, Chiara A1 - Bruni, Paola A1 - Turano, Paola T1 - NMR metabolomics highlights sphingosine kinase-1 as a new molecular switch in the orchestration of aberrant metabolic phenotype in cancer cells JF - Molecular oncology / Federation of European Biochemical Societies N2 - Strong experimental evidence in animal and cellular models supports a pivotal role of sphingosine kinase-1 (SK1) in oncogenesis. In many human cancers, SK1 levels are upregulated and these increases are linked to poor prognosis in patients. Here, by employing untargeted NMR- based metabolomic profiling combined with functional validations, we report the crucial role of SK1 in the metabolic shift known as the Warburg effect in A2780 ovarian cancer cells. Indeed, expression of SK1 induced a high glycolytic rate, characterized by increased levels of lactate along with increased expression of the proton/monocarboxylate symporter MCT1, and decreased oxidative metabolism, associated with the accumulation of intermediates of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and reduction in CO2 production. Additionally, SK1-expressing cells displayed a significant increase in glucose uptake paralleled by GLUT3 transporter upregulation. The role of SK1 is not limited to the induction of aerobic glycolysis, affecting metabolic pathways that appear to support the biosynthesis of macromolecules. These findings highlight the role of SK1 signaling axis in cancer metabolic reprogramming, pointing out innovative strategies for cancer therapies. KW - NMR-based metabolomics KW - ovarian cancer KW - sphingosine kinase-1 KW - Warburg effect Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/1878-0261.12048 SN - 1878-0261 VL - 11 SP - 517 EP - 533 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hintsche, Marius A1 - Waljor, Veronika A1 - Grossmann, Robert A1 - Kühn, Marco J. A1 - Thormann, Kai M. A1 - Peruani, Fernando A1 - Beta, Carsten T1 - A polar bundle of flagella can drive bacterial swimming by pushing, pulling, or coiling around the cell body JF - Scientific reports N2 - Bacteria swim in sequences of straight runs that are interrupted by turning events. They drive their swimming locomotion with the help of rotating helical flagella. Depending on the number of flagella and their arrangement across the cell body, different run-and-turn patterns can be observed. Here, we present fluorescence microscopy recordings showing that cells of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida that are decorated with a polar tuft of helical flagella, can alternate between two distinct swimming patterns. On the one hand, they can undergo a classical push-pull-push cycle that is well known from monopolarly flagellated bacteria but has not been reported for species with a polar bundle of multiple flagella. Alternatively, upon leaving the pulling mode, they can enter a third slow swimming phase, where they propel themselves with their helical bundle wrapped around the cell body. A theoretical estimate based on a random-walk model shows that the spreading of a population of swimmers is strongly enhanced when cycling through a sequence of pushing, pulling, and wrapped flagellar configurations as compared to the simple push-pull-push pattern. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-16428-9 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 7 PB - Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Frieler, Katja A1 - Schauberger, Bernhard A1 - Arneth, Almut A1 - Balkovic, Juraj A1 - Chryssanthacopoulos, James A1 - Deryng, Delphine A1 - Elliott, Joshua A1 - Folberth, Christian A1 - Khabarov, Nikolay A1 - Müller, Christoph A1 - Olin, Stefan A1 - Pugh, Thomas A. M. A1 - Schaphoff, Sibyll A1 - Schewe, Jacob A1 - Schmid, Erwin A1 - Warszawski, Lila A1 - Levermann, Anders T1 - Understanding the weather signal in national crop-yield variability JF - Earths future N2 - Year-to-year variations in crop yields can have major impacts on the livelihoods of subsistence farmers and may trigger significant global price fluctuations, with severe consequences for people in developing countries. Fluctuations can be induced by weather conditions, management decisions, weeds, diseases, and pests. Although an explicit quantification and deeper understanding of weather-induced crop-yield variability is essential for adaptation strategies, so far it has only been addressed by empirical models. Here, we provide conservative estimates of the fraction of reported national yield variabilities that can be attributed to weather by state-of-the-art, process-based crop model simulations. We find that observed weather variations can explain more than 50% of the variability in wheat yields in Australia, Canada, Spain, Hungary, and Romania. For maize, weather sensitivities exceed 50% in seven countries, including the United States. The explained variance exceeds 50% for rice in Japan and South Korea and for soy in Argentina. Avoiding water stress by simulating yields assuming full irrigation shows that water limitation is a major driver of the observed variations in most of these countries. Identifying the mechanisms leading to crop-yield fluctuations is not only fundamental for dampening fluctuations, but is also important in the context of the debate on the attribution of loss and damage to climate change. Since process-based crop models not only account for weather influences on crop yields, but also provide options to represent human-management measures, they could become essential tools for differentiating these drivers, and for exploring options to reduce future yield fluctuations. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2016EF000525 SN - 2328-4277 VL - 5 SP - 605 EP - 616 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER -