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Abstract: Water scarcity is one of the greatest threats for human survival and quality of life, and this is increasingly contributing to the risk of human, animal and plant infections due to waterborne viruses. Viruses are transmitted through polluted water, where they can survive and cause infections even at low concentrations. Plant viruses from the genus Tobamovirus are highly mechanically transmissible, and cause considerable damage to important crops, such as tomato. The release of infective tobamoviruses into environmental waters has been reported, with the consequent risk for arid regions, where these waters are used for irrigation. Virus inactivation in water is thus very important and cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is emerging in this field as an efficient, safe, and sustainable alternative to classic waterborne virus inactivation methods. In the present study we evaluated CAP-mediated inactivation of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) in water samples. PMMoV is a very resilient water-transmissible tobamovirus that can survive transit through the human digestive tract. The efficiency of PMMoV inactivation was characterized for infectivity and virion integrity, and at the genome level, using test plant infectivity assays, transmission electron microscopy, and molecular methods, respectively. Additionally, the safety of CAP treatment was determined by testing the cytotoxic and genotoxic properties of CAP-treated water on the HepG2 cell line. 5-min treatment with CAP was sufficient to inactivate PMMoV without introducing any cytotoxic or genotoxic effects in the in-vitro cell model system. These data on inactivation of such stable waterborne virus, PMMoV, will encourage further examination of CAP as an alternative for treatment of potable and irrigation waters, and even for other water sources, with emphasis on inactivation of various viruses including enteric viruses.
Keywords: enteric viruses, pepper mild mottle virus, virus inactivation, water decontamination, cold atmospheric plasma
Published in DiRROS: 19.07.2024; Views: 307; Downloads: 189
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Abstract: The global decline of brown algal forests along rocky coasts is causing an exceptional biodiversity loss. Regardless of conservation efforts, different techniques have been developed for large-scale restoration strategies in the Mediterranean Sea. In this study we tested ex situ pilot restoration of Gongolaria barbata (=Treptacantha barbata) for the first time in Slovenian coastal waters. Healthy apical fronds of the species were collected and the development of recruits on clay tiles was followed under laboratory conditions for 20 days. Despite the experimental difficulties experienced, especially due to the lack of antibiotics to prevent the growth of the biofilm, G. barbata recruits were outplanted in the sea on two concrete plates with 48 tiles each, protected by purpose-built cages to avoid grazing by herbivorous fish. The high survival rate of juveniles after four months in the field (89% of the tiles on the plate that was constantly protected) suggests that outplanting G. barbata is an operable approach for restoration efforts in the northern Adriatic Sea. Our first experiment in Slovenian coastal waters provides new information for the optimization of the best practices during the laboratory cultivation and addresses the early steps of restoration and introduction of young thalli in the natural environment.
Published in DiRROS: 19.07.2024; Views: 291; Downloads: 200
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Abstract: This study investigates the potential of ensemble forecasting using full realistic high-resolution nested atmosphere–ocean models for the prediction of meteotsunamis in Ciutadella (Menorca, Spain). The sensitivity of model results to the parameterizations of the atmospheric model is assessed considering the ten most significant recent meteotsunami events for which observations are available. Different schemes adapted to high-resolution Weather Research and Forecasting model simulations were used for the representation of cumulus, microphysics, planetary boundary layer and longwave and shortwave radiations. Results indicate a large spread of the ensemble simulations in terms of the final magnitude of the meteotsunamis. While the modeling system is shown to be able to realistically trigger tsunamigenic atmospheric disturbances in more than 90% of the situations, the small-scale characteristics of these disturbances are significantly modified with the change of parameterizations, leading to significant differences in the magnitude of the simulated sea-level response. No preferred set of parameterizations can be identified that leads to either the largest or the most realistic magnitudes in the majority of situations. Instead, the performance of a given set of parameterizations is found to change with the meteotsunami event under consideration. Importantly, the observed magnitude of the extreme sea-level oscillations lies within the range of a nine-member ensemble in 70% of the cases. This ensemble approach would then allow to generate a realistic range of possibilities in the majority of events, thus improving the realism of meteotsunami predictions compared to single deterministic forecasts.
Keywords: meteotsunamis prediction, atmosphere, ocean modeling, ensemble forecasting, atmospheric model parameterizations
Published in DiRROS: 19.07.2024; Views: 277; Downloads: 196
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Abstract: The major weakness of the current in vitro genotoxicity test systems is the inability of the indicator cells to express metabolic enzymes needed for the activation and detoxification of genotoxic compounds, which consequently can lead to misleading results. Thus, there is a significant emphasis on developing hepatic cell models, including advanced in vitro three-dimensional (3D) cell-based systems, which better imitate in vivo cell behaviour and offer more accurate and predictive data for human exposures. In this study, we developed an approach for genotoxicity testing with 21-day old spheroids formed from human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2/C3A) using the dynamic clinostat bioreactor system (CelVivo BAM/bioreactor) under controlled conditions. The spheroids were exposed to indirect-acting genotoxic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon [PAH; benzo(a) pyrene B(a)P], and heterocyclic aromatic amine [PhIP]) at non-cytotoxic concentrations for 24 and 96 h. The results showed that both environmental pollutants B(a)P and PhIP significantly increased the level of DNA strand breaks assessed by the comet assay. Further, the mRNA level of selected genes encoding metabolic enzymes from phase I and II, and DNA damage responsive genes was determined (qPCR). The 21-day old spheroids showed higher basal expression of genes encoding metabolic enzymes compared to monolayer culture. In spheroids, B(a)P or PhIP induced compound-specific up-regulation of genes implicated in their metabolism, and deregulation of genes implicated in DNA damage and immediate-early response. The study demonstrated that this model utilizing HepG2/C3A spheroids grown under dynamic clinostat conditions represents a very sensitive and promising in vitro model for genotoxicity and environmental studies and can thus significantly contribute to a more reliable assessment of genotoxic activities of pure chemicals, and complex environmental samples even at very low for environmental exposure relevant concentrations.
Keywords: in vitro 3D cell model, 21-day old spheroids, cytotoxic, genotoxic, gene expression
Published in DiRROS: 19.07.2024; Views: 250; Downloads: 226
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Abstract: TGA (TGACG-binding) transcription factors, which bind their target DNA through a conserved basic region leucine zipper (bZIP) domain, are vital regulators of gene expression in salicylic acid (SA)-mediated plant immunity. Here, we investigated the role of StTGA2.1, a potato (Solanum tuberosum) TGA lacking the full bZIP, which we named a mini-TGA. Such truncated proteins have been widely assigned as loss-of-function mutants. We, however, confirmed that StTGA2.1 overexpression compensates for SA-deficiency, indicating a distinct mechanism of action compared with model plant species. To understand the underlying mechanisms, we showed that StTGA2.1 can physically interact with StTGA2.2 and StTGA2.3, while its interaction with DNA was not detected. We investigated the changes in transcriptional regulation due to StTGA2.1 overexpression, identifying direct and indirect target genes. Using in planta transactivation assays, we confirmed that StTGA2.1 interacts with StTGA2.3 to activate StPRX07, a member of class III peroxidases (StPRX), which are known to play role in immune response. Finally, via structural modeling and molecular dynamics simulations, we hypothesized that the compact molecular architecture of StTGA2.1 distorts DNA conformation upon heterodimer binding to enable transcriptional activation. This study demonstrates how protein truncation can lead to distinct functions and that such events should be studied carefully in other protein families.
Published in DiRROS: 18.07.2024; Views: 449; Downloads: 168
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