Une tumeur est composée de plusieurs sous populations cellulaires. L’une d’entre elles, celle des cellules souches tumorales, est à l’origine du développement des tumeurs. Une des propriétés majeures de ces cellules est la capacité d’entrer dans un état de quiescence. De ce fait, elles sont résistantes aux thérapies anticancéreuses conventionnelles qui visent les cellules cyclantes et peuvent ainsi persister pendant de nombreuses années. Ce phénomène est appelé dormance tumorale. L’activation de ces cellules souches tumorales quiescentes conduit à la récidive de la maladie. Le passage de l’état quiescent à l’état activé serait réversible, cependant les mécanismes responsables ne sont pas encore connus. Notre hypothèse est que les facteurs inflammatoires stimulent la transition des cellules de l’état quiescent à l’état activé. Dans ce but, nous avons étudié les effets de la principale cytokine pro-inflammatoire, le TNF, sur le compartiment des cellules souches de mélanome et leur activation. Pour cela, nous avons utilisé un système d’expression, inductible par la tétracycline, qui nous a permis d’identifier et d’étudier les cellules quiescentes H2B-GFP positives et cela dans les modèles in vitro des mélanosphères et des équivalents de peaux humaines reconstruites, afin de se rapprocher de l’organisation tumorale in vivo. Grâce à des tests fonctionnels, comme la formation de mélanosphères et de colonies, et diverses techniques telles que la cytométrie en flux, la microscopie à fluorescence et l’analyse de l’expression de gènes au niveau protéique, nous avons mis en évidence que les cellules H2B-GFP positives (« label retaining cells ») au sein des mélanosphères montrent un enrichissement en marqueurs de cellules souches du mélanome (ABCB5, VEGFR). De plus, nous avons montré que le TNF agit sur le compartiment des cellules souches. En effet, un traitement au TNF augmente le pourcentage de cellules exprimant des marqueurs de cellules souches de mélanome, inhibe la différenciation des cellules de mélanome (inhibition de l’expression de Melan-A dans les mélanosphères et diminution de la pigmentation des équivalents de peau), active les cellules souches quiescentes et induit des effets qui perdurent après le retrait du TNF. Notre étude a montré que ces effets seraient causés par une activation des voies PI3K/Akt et NFκB par le TNF. Un grand nombre de données suggérant qu’une sous-population de cellules cancéreuses est capable d’entrer en quiescence en réponse à une thérapie anticancéreuse, nous avons également étudié les effets de la première thérapie ciblée du mélanome : le vemurafenib, sur le compartiment des cellules souches. Nos résultats ont montré que le vemurafenib augmente le compartiment des cellules souches de mélanome (augmentation du nombre de mélanosphères formées et du pourcentage de cellules exprimant un marqueur de cellules souches de mélanome : ABCB5) et induit leur quiescence (augmentation du pourcentage de cellules H2B-GFP+ et en phase GO du cycle cellulaire). Nous avons également montré que le vemurafenib stimule l’activation de protéines régulant la quiescence des cellules souches.Nous espérons que nos recherches apporteront de nouvelles connaissances sur les mécanismes qui contrôlent l’activation des cellules souches cancéreuses quiescentes et offrir de nouvelles perspectives pour le traitement du cancer. / Accumulating data suggest that both cancer development and recurrence depend on the ability of resistant tumor cells to adopt a quiescent or dormant phenotype following treatment. These dormant cells reside in various tissues of patients in complete remission without any clinical manifestation until they reactivate and cause tumor recurrence. Mechanisms that control the activation of quiescent tumor cells remain poorly understood, however, the tumor microenvironment, cellular interactions and various diffusible factors appear essential. Herein, our goal is to decipher whether a major pro-inflammatory cytokine, Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) contributes to the quiescence/activation phenotypic switch in melanoma. For this purpose, we used a 3D melanosphere and the in vivo-like skin equivalent models in which to reconstitute the in vivo-relevant cellular heterogeneity and tumor organization and an inducible histone 2B coupled to the GFP (H2B-GFP) expression system to identify the quiescent cell compartment and to monitor the TNF-induced changes. Our results suggest that TNF increases the proportion of H2B-GFP-positive, label retaining cells (LRC) in melanospheres. The LRCs were enriched in melanoma stem cell markers, ABCB5 and VEGFR and this was upregulated by TNF. Furthermore, TNF increases the number of melanospheres, and in skin equivalents, the presence of TNF seems to inhibit the differentiation of melanoma cells and increase the stem cell compartment. This effect appears to be governed by the activation of the PI3K / Akt pathway. In conclusion, these data show that inflammatory environment induced by TNF, activates melanoma quiescent stem cells and increases the compartment of stem cells in skin equivalents by preventing their differentiation. Therefore, the control of inflammation and signaling pathways involved in the maintenance of tumor dormancy during the treatment of the original tumor would be a good therapeutic strategy in the fight against cancer recurrences.A lot of data suggest that a cancer cell subpopulation is able to enter quiescence in response to cancer therapy, therefore we have also studied the effects of the first targeted therapy of melanoma: vemurafenib, on the stem cell compartment. Our results show that vemurafenib increases the number of melanospheres and the percentage of ABCB5+ cells. So vemurafenib increases the melanoma stem cell compartment. Vemurafenib increases also the percentage of H2B-GFP + cells and the percentage of cells in the GO phase of the cell cycle, so induces quiescence of melanoma cells. We also showed that vemurafenib stimulates activation of proteins regulating quiescence of stem cells.We hope that our research will provide new knowledge about the mechanisms that control the activation of quiescent cancer stem cells and provide new perspectives for the treatment of cancer.

We present the first spectral search for neutron stars (NSs) in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) between outbursts in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We identify and discuss candidate LMXBs in quiescence in the SMC using deep Chandra X-ray observations of two portions of the SMC. We produce X-ray color-magnitude-diagrams of XRSs of these two fields and identify 10 candidates for quiescent NS LMXBs. Spectral fitting and searches for optical counterparts rule out five, leaving five candidate quiescent NS LMXBs. We estimate that we are sensitive to ~10% of quiescent NS LMXBs in our fields. Our fields include 4.410^7 M of stellar mass, giving an upper limit of 10^{6} LMXBs per M in the SMC. We place a lower limit on the average duty cycle of NS LMXBs as ~0.003.

No description available.

The potential of increasing disease problems through the use of recycled irrigation water in horticultural operations is a serious concern, yet basic research on waterborne plant pathogens in Virginia is lacking. In this work seasonal fluctuations and locations of Pythiaceae in a recycled water irrigation system at a container nursery were determined. <i>Pythium</i> spp. were recovered more frequently and in greater numbers than <i>Phytophthora</i> spp. Species of <i>Phytophthora</i> recovered in filtering assays were identified as <i>P. capsici, P. citricola, P. citrophthora, P. cryptogea, P. drechsleri,</i> and <i>P. nicotianae. P. cryptogea</i> and <i>P. drechsleri</i> were the only <i>Phytophthora</i> spp. recovered from baits placed on the surface of the irrigation reservoir, whereas a greater diversity of species was recovered from baits placed at depths. Hymexazol-amended medium was found to have limitations in recovery of <i>Phytophthora</i> spp. In pathogenicity tests, <i>P. cactorum, P. capsici, P. citrophthora,</i> and <i>P. nicotianae</i> caused significant mortality of <i>Salvia officinalis</i> and <i>P. cactorum</i> showed limited pathogenicity on <i>Gerbera jamesonii</i>. Asymptomatic (aboveground) plants were found to harbor inoculum long after <i>Phytophthora</i>-inoculation. Fresh weight analyses of roots and shoots of asymptomatic plants demonstrated that <i>Phytophthora</i> inoculation may either reduce or stimulate plant shoot growth, but little effect is apparent on roots. Irrigation with naturally infested irrigation water reduced plant growth. This research provides data for prioritizing development of detection technology and management practices for plant pathogens in irrigation water. The results may also lead to improvements in conventional water assay protocols for plant pathogens. / Master of Science

Duas espécies de Colletotrichum podem causar antracnose em goiabas: C. gloeosporioides e C. acutatum. Apesar de ser a principal doença pós-colheita da cultura, a influência de variáveis ambientais no seu desenvolvimento é desconhecida. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi determinar a influência das variáveis ambientais no desenvolvimento in vitro e nos processos de infecção e colonização dos fungos Colletotrichum gloeosporioides e C. acutatum em goiabas. A germinação e a formação de apressórios foram determinadas sob temperaturas de 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 e 40 ºC, com períodos de molhamento de 6, 12 e 24 horas, sob escuro contínuo. Nos experimentos in vivo, goiabas \"Kumagai\" e \"Pedro Sato\" foram inoculadas, por ferimento, com suspensão de conídios das duas espécies e incubadas em câmaras de crescimento a 15, 20, 25 e 30 ºC e períodos de molhamento de 6 e 24 horas. Avaliou-se a incidência de frutos doentes, o diâmetro das lesões, a taxa de progresso da doença e os períodos de incubação e latência. Nas goiabas \"Kumagai\" também foi avaliada a influência dos estádios de maturação dos frutos no progresso da doença. Não houve germinação a 40 ºC em nenhuma das duas espécies. A faixa favorável à germinação e à formação de apressórios in vitro foi de 15 a 30 ºC para C. gloeosporioides, com máximo a 25 ºC e de 20 a 25 ºC para C. acutatum, com máximo a 20 ºC. Para C. acutatum, a germinação foi mais sensível a variações no período de molhamento, sendo significativamente menor com 6 horas em relação a 12 e 24 horas. Nos experimentos in vivo, temperaturas de 25 e 30 ºC e 24 horas de molhamento foram mais favoráveis para as variáveis analisadas em goiaba \"Kumagai\". Os diâmetros máximos de lesão foram de 4,0 cm para C. gloeosporioides e 4,1 cm para C. acutatum, em frutos em ponto de colheita, incubados sob temperatura de 25 ºC. A maior incidência da doença (100%) ocorreu 10 dias após a inoculação, a 30ºC e 24 horas de molhamento. O menor período de incubação foi de 7 dias para as duas espécies, observado a 30 ºC e o menor período de latência foi de 10 e 9 dias para C. gloeosporioides e C. acutatum, respectivamente, sob temperaturas de 25 ou 30 ºC. Em goiabas \"Pedro Sato\", as temperaturas entre 20 e 30 ºC e 24 horas de molhamento foram mais favoráveis. Os diâmetros máximos de lesão foram de 3,3 cm para C. gloeosporioides e 3,2 cm para C. acutatum sob temperatura de 25 ºC. A maior incidência da doença (100%) ocorreu 10 dias após a inoculação, a 25 e 30ºC sob 6 horas de molhamento. O período de incubação foi de 7 dias para as duas espécies entre 20 e 30 ºC e o período de latência foi de 8 dias para C. gloeosporioides e 9 dias para C. acutatum sob temperaturas de 25 e 30 ºC. As condições requeridas para as duas espécies fúngicas foram semelhantes, embora o intervalo de favorabilidade seja mais amplo na goiaba \"Pedro Sato\". / The main causal agents of Anthracnose in guava are Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. acutatum. Although anthracnose is the main postharvest disease affecting guava, little is known about the influence of environmental variables on its development. Consequently, the objective of the present study was to determine the influence of environmental factors on in vitro development and on colonization and infection processes of C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum fungi in guava. The germination and apressorium formation were determined at temperatures of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 °C, with wetness durations of 6, 12 or 24 hours under continuous darkness. The in vivo experiments involved puncturing the skin of the Kumagai and Pedro Sato varieties of guava with a needle followed by inoculation with conidial suspensions of C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum. Fruits were then incubated in growth chambers at temperatures of 15, 20, 25 and 30 °C with wetness duration of 6 and 24 hours. Assessments were made of the following: incidence of disease, lesion diameter, rate of disease progress, as well as incubation and latency periods. In the Kumagai variety, the influence of maturity on disease progression was also evaluated. There was no germination at 40 oC in any of the species. The germination and apressorium formation rate were rather high in the range of 15 to 30 ºC for C. gloeosporioides, with a maximum at 25 ºC and of 20 to 25 ºC for C. acutatum, with a maximum at 20 ºC. For the species C. acutatum, germination rate was more sensitive to variations in wetting periods, thus significantly smaller with 6 hours on 12 and 24 hours. Temperatures of 25 and 30 °C were found to be more favorable for the variables analyzed in the in vivo experiments of Kumagai variety. The maximum lesion diameter recorded in this variety was 4.0 cm for C. gloeosporioides and 4.1 cm for C. acutatum in harvest ready fruit that had been incubated at temperatures lower than 25 °C. The highest incidence of the disease (100%) occurred 10 days after inoculation, at 30 º C and 24 hours of wetting. The lowest incubation period for both species was 7 days at 30 °C and the lowest latency period of 9 days for C. gloeosporioides and 10 days for C. acutatum at temperatures between 25 and 30 °C. For the Pedro Sato variety, temperatures between 20 and 30 °C with a 24 hour wetness period were found to be the most favorable conditions. The maximum lesion diameter was 3.3 cm for C. gloeosporioides and 3.2 cm for C. acutatum at temperatures below 25 °C. The highest incidence of the disease (100%) occurred 10 days after inoculation, at 25 and 30 º C and 6 hours of wetting. The lowest incubation period for both species was 7 days at temperatures between 20 and 30 °C and the lowest latency period of 8 days for C. gloeosporioides and 9 days for C. acutatum at temperatures between 25 and 30 °C. In conclusion, development conditions for Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Colletotrichum acutatum were similar, although the range of conditions favorable for the Pedro Sato variety was wider than that of the Kumagai cultivar.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:33:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-02-28Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:05:55Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 aguiar_rl_dr_jabo.pdf: 130693 bytes, checksum: facda5e5a2148436998cad65879831e5 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundecitrus / A mancha preta dos citros (MPC), causada pelo fungo Guignardia citricarpa, produz lesões nos frutos que os depreciam para o mercado interno e os restringem para a exportação. O grande período de suscetibilidade dos frutos, em adição ao fato do patógeno causar infecções latentes, dificulta o entendimento do período de incubação da doença. O objetivo do trabalho foi determinar se o período de incubação da mancha preta do citros. Inoculou-se frutos de laranjeira ‘Valência’ em diferentes estádios fenológicos e também foi determinado a importância das pulverizações de fungicida cúprico, da fase de queda das pétalas e, até sete meses após, no controle da mancha preta dos citros. Os resultados obtidos indicaram uma relação linear negativa entre o período de incubação da MPC e o diâmetro dos frutos inoculados. O período de incubação em frutos inoculados, ainda imaturos (2,0, 2,5 e 3,0 cm de diâmetro), foi longo, sendo de 266 dias nos de menor diâmetro menor, enquanto que em frutos já desenvolvidos (5,0 e 7,0 cm de diâmetro) o período para expressão de sintomas foi mais curto, sendo de cerca de 30 dias. A mancha preta em frutos cítricos apresenta período de incubação variável, dependente do estádio fenológico em que os frutos tornaram-se infectados. A concentração do inóculo de Guignardia citricarpa não interfere no período de incubação da doença. Em relação à incidência da MPC, mesmo com seis pulverizações de cobre a cada 28 dias, 53,3% dos frutos expressaram sintomas da doença. Quanto à severidade, não há diferença de resposta entre os tratamentos. Portanto, os dados mostraram que as infecções precoces interferem na qualidade visual do fruto, porém não na produção. Com o crescimento dos frutos, as infecções interferem negativamente na produção, levando a um aumento na queda de frutos / The citrus (Citrus spp.) black spot, caused by Guignardia citricarpa produces lesions on the fruit that depreciate the domestic market and to restrain them for export. The great period of susceptibility of the fruits in addition to the fact that the pathogen causing latent infection of complicates the understanding of the incubation period of the disease. The aim of this study was to determine the incubation period of the citrus black spot is constant or variable, inoculating fruits of 'Valência' orange at the different phenological stages and was also given the importance of copper fungicide sprays, stage of petal drop and up to seven months in the control of citrus black spot The results indicate a negative linear relationship between the incubation period of the CBS and the diameter of the fruits inoculated. The incubation period observed in fruits inoculated still immature (2,0, 2,5 and 3,0 cm diameter) was long, smaller in diameter occurred around 266 days, and fruits already developed (5,0 and 7,0 cm diameter) for the disease expression was shorter in diameter occurred in approximately 30 days. The citrus black spot has a variable incubation period depends on the phenological stages in which fruit is inoculated. The concentration of inoculum of Guignardia citricarpa not interfere with the incubation period of the disease. Regarding the incidence of CBS, even with six copper sprays every 28 days, 53.3% of the fruit expressed disease symptoms. For severity, there is no difference in response between treatments. Therefore, the data showed that early infections influence the visual quality of the fruit, but not in production. With the growth of the fruit, infections can affect negatively the production, leading to an increase in fruit drop

Duas espécies de Colletotrichum podem causar antracnose em goiabas: C. gloeosporioides e C. acutatum. Apesar de ser a principal doença pós-colheita da cultura, a influência de variáveis ambientais no seu desenvolvimento é desconhecida. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi determinar a influência das variáveis ambientais no desenvolvimento in vitro e nos processos de infecção e colonização dos fungos Colletotrichum gloeosporioides e C. acutatum em goiabas. A germinação e a formação de apressórios foram determinadas sob temperaturas de 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 e 40 ºC, com períodos de molhamento de 6, 12 e 24 horas, sob escuro contínuo. Nos experimentos in vivo, goiabas \"Kumagai\" e \"Pedro Sato\" foram inoculadas, por ferimento, com suspensão de conídios das duas espécies e incubadas em câmaras de crescimento a 15, 20, 25 e 30 ºC e períodos de molhamento de 6 e 24 horas. Avaliou-se a incidência de frutos doentes, o diâmetro das lesões, a taxa de progresso da doença e os períodos de incubação e latência. Nas goiabas \"Kumagai\" também foi avaliada a influência dos estádios de maturação dos frutos no progresso da doença. Não houve germinação a 40 ºC em nenhuma das duas espécies. A faixa favorável à germinação e à formação de apressórios in vitro foi de 15 a 30 ºC para C. gloeosporioides, com máximo a 25 ºC e de 20 a 25 ºC para C. acutatum, com máximo a 20 ºC. Para C. acutatum, a germinação foi mais sensível a variações no período de molhamento, sendo significativamente menor com 6 horas em relação a 12 e 24 horas. Nos experimentos in vivo, temperaturas de 25 e 30 ºC e 24 horas de molhamento foram mais favoráveis para as variáveis analisadas em goiaba \"Kumagai\". Os diâmetros máximos de lesão foram de 4,0 cm para C. gloeosporioides e 4,1 cm para C. acutatum, em frutos em ponto de colheita, incubados sob temperatura de 25 ºC. A maior incidência da doença (100%) ocorreu 10 dias após a inoculação, a 30ºC e 24 horas de molhamento. O menor período de incubação foi de 7 dias para as duas espécies, observado a 30 ºC e o menor período de latência foi de 10 e 9 dias para C. gloeosporioides e C. acutatum, respectivamente, sob temperaturas de 25 ou 30 ºC. Em goiabas \"Pedro Sato\", as temperaturas entre 20 e 30 ºC e 24 horas de molhamento foram mais favoráveis. Os diâmetros máximos de lesão foram de 3,3 cm para C. gloeosporioides e 3,2 cm para C. acutatum sob temperatura de 25 ºC. A maior incidência da doença (100%) ocorreu 10 dias após a inoculação, a 25 e 30ºC sob 6 horas de molhamento. O período de incubação foi de 7 dias para as duas espécies entre 20 e 30 ºC e o período de latência foi de 8 dias para C. gloeosporioides e 9 dias para C. acutatum sob temperaturas de 25 e 30 ºC. As condições requeridas para as duas espécies fúngicas foram semelhantes, embora o intervalo de favorabilidade seja mais amplo na goiaba \"Pedro Sato\". / The main causal agents of Anthracnose in guava are Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and C. acutatum. Although anthracnose is the main postharvest disease affecting guava, little is known about the influence of environmental variables on its development. Consequently, the objective of the present study was to determine the influence of environmental factors on in vitro development and on colonization and infection processes of C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum fungi in guava. The germination and apressorium formation were determined at temperatures of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 °C, with wetness durations of 6, 12 or 24 hours under continuous darkness. The in vivo experiments involved puncturing the skin of the Kumagai and Pedro Sato varieties of guava with a needle followed by inoculation with conidial suspensions of C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum. Fruits were then incubated in growth chambers at temperatures of 15, 20, 25 and 30 °C with wetness duration of 6 and 24 hours. Assessments were made of the following: incidence of disease, lesion diameter, rate of disease progress, as well as incubation and latency periods. In the Kumagai variety, the influence of maturity on disease progression was also evaluated. There was no germination at 40 oC in any of the species. The germination and apressorium formation rate were rather high in the range of 15 to 30 ºC for C. gloeosporioides, with a maximum at 25 ºC and of 20 to 25 ºC for C. acutatum, with a maximum at 20 ºC. For the species C. acutatum, germination rate was more sensitive to variations in wetting periods, thus significantly smaller with 6 hours on 12 and 24 hours. Temperatures of 25 and 30 °C were found to be more favorable for the variables analyzed in the in vivo experiments of Kumagai variety. The maximum lesion diameter recorded in this variety was 4.0 cm for C. gloeosporioides and 4.1 cm for C. acutatum in harvest ready fruit that had been incubated at temperatures lower than 25 °C. The highest incidence of the disease (100%) occurred 10 days after inoculation, at 30 º C and 24 hours of wetting. The lowest incubation period for both species was 7 days at 30 °C and the lowest latency period of 9 days for C. gloeosporioides and 10 days for C. acutatum at temperatures between 25 and 30 °C. For the Pedro Sato variety, temperatures between 20 and 30 °C with a 24 hour wetness period were found to be the most favorable conditions. The maximum lesion diameter was 3.3 cm for C. gloeosporioides and 3.2 cm for C. acutatum at temperatures below 25 °C. The highest incidence of the disease (100%) occurred 10 days after inoculation, at 25 and 30 º C and 6 hours of wetting. The lowest incubation period for both species was 7 days at temperatures between 20 and 30 °C and the lowest latency period of 8 days for C. gloeosporioides and 9 days for C. acutatum at temperatures between 25 and 30 °C. In conclusion, development conditions for Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Colletotrichum acutatum were similar, although the range of conditions favorable for the Pedro Sato variety was wider than that of the Kumagai cultivar.

abstract: With the push for integration, a slew of modern switching power management circuits are operating at higher switching frequencies in order to reduce passive filter sizes. But while these switching regulators provide power conversion at high efficiencies, their output is prone to ripples due to the inherent switching behavior. These switching regulators use linear-low dropout regulators (LDOs) downstream to provide clean supplies. Typically, these LDOs have good power supply rejection (PSR) at lower frequencies but this degrades at higher frequencies. Therefore, some residual ripple is still manifested on the output. Because of this, high power supply rejection (PSR) with a wide rejection frequency band is becoming a critical requirement in linear low-dropout regulators (LDOs) used in complex systems- on-chip (SOCs). Typical LDOs achieve higher PSR within their loop-bandwidth; however, their supply rejection performance degrades with reduced loop-gain outside their loop- bandwidth. The LDOs with external filtering capacitors may also have spectral peaking in their PSR response, causing excess system- level supply noise. This work presents an LDO design approach, which achieves a PSR of higher than 68 dB up to 2 MHz frequency and over a wide range of loads up to 250 mA. The wide PSR bandwidth is achieved using a current-mode feedforward ripple canceller (CFFRC) amplifier which provides up to 25 dB of PSR improvement. The feedforward path gain is inherently matched to the forward gain of the LDO, not requiring calibration. The LDO has a fast load transient response with a recovery time of 6.1μs and has a quiescent current of 5.6μA. For a full load transition, the LDO achieves settling with overshoot and undershoot voltages below 27.6 mV and 36.36 mV, respectively. The LDO is designed and fabricated in a 180 nm bipolar/CMOS/DMOS (BCD) technology. The CFFRC amplifier helps to achieve low quiescent power due to its inherent current mode nature, eliminating the need for supply ripple summing amplifiers and adaptive biasing. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2020

About 2,000 of the more than 27,000 genes of the genetic model plant Arabidopsis thaliana encode for transcription factors (TFs), proteins that bind DNA in the promoter region of their target genes and thus act as transcriptional activators and repressors. Since TFs play essential roles in nearly all biological processes, they are of great scientific and biotechnological interest. This thesis concentrated on the functional characterisation of four selected members of the Arabidopsis DOF-family, namely DOF1.2, DOF3.1, DOF3.5 and DOF5.2, which were selected because of their specific expression pattern in the root tip, a region that comprises the stem cell niche and cells for the perception of environmental stimuli. DOF1.2, DOF3.1 and DOF3.5 are previously uncharacterized members of the Arabidopsis DOF-family, while DOF5.2 has been shown to be involved in the phototrophic flowering response. However, its role in root development has not been described so far. To identify biological processes regulated by the four DOF proteins in detail, molecular and physiological characterization of transgenic plants with modified levels of DOF1.2, DOF3.1, DOF3.5 and DOF5.2 expression (constitutive and inducible over-expression, artificial microRNA) was performed. Additionally expression patterns of the TFs and their target genes were analyzed using promoter-GUS lines and publicly available microarray data. Finally putative protein-protein interaction partners and upstream regulating TFs were identified using the yeast two-hybrid and one-hybrid system. This combinatorial approach revealed distinct biological functions of DOF1.2, DOF3.1, DOF3.5 and DOF5.2 in the context of root development. DOF1.2 and DOF3.5 are specifically and exclusively expressed in the root cap, including the central root cap (columella) and the lateral root cap, organs which are essential to direct oriented root growth. It could be demonstrated that both genes work in the plant hormone auxin signaling pathway and have an impact on distal cell differentiation. Altered levels of gene expression lead to changes in auxin distribution, abnormal cell division patterns and altered root growth orientation. DOF3.1 and DOF5.2 share a specific expression pattern in the organizing centre of the root stem cell niche, called the quiescent centre. Both genes redundantly control cell differentiation in the root´s proximal meristem and unravel a novel transcriptional regulation pathway for genes enriched in the QC cells. Furthermore this work revealed a novel bipartite nuclear localisation signal being present in the protein sequence of the DOF TF family from all sequenced plant species. Summing up, this work provides an important input into our knowledge about the role of DOF TFs during root development. Future work will concentrate on revealing the exact regulatory networks of DOF1.2, DOF3.1, DOF3.5 and DOF5.2 and their possible biotechnological applications. / Mehr noch als Tiere, die ihren Lebensraum unter widrigen Umständen verlassen können, sind Pflanzen mit einem festen Standort auf ihre Anpassungsfähigkeit angewiesen. Einen entscheidenden Beitrag dazu leistet die Genregulation, d.h. das gezielte An- und Ausschalten von Erbanlagen, den Genen. Vermittelt wird dieser Regulationsprozess unter anderem durch Transkriptionsfaktoren: Proteine, die die Fähigkeit besitzen, an bestimmte Regionen der Gene zu binden und damit deren Aktivität zu beeinflussen. In der Ackerschmalwand (Arabidopsis thaliana), die als Modellpflanze in der Genetik verwendet wird, existieren etwa 2000 solcher Transkriptionsfaktoren, eingeteilt in Familien, von denen einige auch in tierischen Organismen auftreten, andere pflanzenspezifisch sind. Auf Grund ihrer Funktion als wichtige Kontrollelemente sind sie von großem wissenschaftlichem und biotechnologischem Interesse. Im Rahmen dieser Doktorarbeit sollte die Funktion von vier pflanzenspezifischen Transkriptionsfaktoren, genannt DOF1.2, DOF3.1, DOF3.5 und DOF5.2, untersucht werden, welche durch ihre spezifische Aktivität in der Wurzelspitze der Ackerschmalwand identifiziert wurden. Um die Funktion dieser vier Regulatoren aufzuklären, wurden an der Modellpflanze gentechnische Veränderungen durchgeführt und die so veränderten, auch als transgen bezeichneten Pflanzen mit molekularbiologischen und physiologischen Methoden untersucht. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass DOF1.2 und DOF3.5 eine wesentliche Funktion beim gerichteten Wurzelwachstum spielen und ein seitliches Wachsen der Wurzel aufgrund veränderter Umwelteinflüsse verhindern, bzw. hervorrufen können. Die beiden anderen Proteine DOF3.1 und DOF5.2 erfüllen ihre Funktion in der Stammzellnische der Wurzel. Vergleichbar mit tierischen Stammzellen sind auch pflanzliche Stammzellen nicht zu einem bestimmten Zelltyp herangereift, sondern verbleiben in einem sogenannten undifferenzierten Zustand. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass DOF3.1 und DOF5.2 zum Erhalt dieses Zustands benötigt werden, da nach Inaktivierung beider Proteine Zellspezialisierungen auftreten, die bei gentechnisch unveränderten Pflanzen nicht auftreten. Desweiteren konnte in dieser Arbeit geklärt werden, welcher Proteinabschnitt der DOF-Proteine für ihren Transport in den Zellkern notwendig ist. Denn da die pflanzlichen Erbanlagen im Zellkern vorliegen, muss für eine Einflussnahme auf deren Aktivität zunächst ein Transport der Regulationsproteine in den Zellkern stattfinden. Zusammengenommen konnte mit dieser Doktorarbeit das Wissen über Transkriptionsfaktoren und Entwicklungsprozesse der Wurzel erheblich erweitert werden. Zudem ist die Grundlage für interessante zukünftige Arbeiten gelegt worden. Dabei wird es von zentraler Bedeutung sein, komplexe Regulationsnetzwerke verstehen zu lernen und durch gezielte Manipulationen biotechnologisch nutzen zu können.

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