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Better understanding on the phases of Indian summer monsoon i.e., onset, progress and withdrawal helps in the decision making and proper management. In this paper, date of onset of monsoon (DOM) and date of withdrawal of monsoon (DWM) is estimated using the long-term daily rainfall data observed by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and cumulative rainfall anomaly concept, as the onset/withdrawal represents a signature of rainfall transition. The results are promising with a better match between the estimated DOM and IMD announced DOM over Kerala. The length of monsoon season variability is also analysed. The concept of onset at grid point (OGP) in India is also evaluated and progress of monsoon is monitored by considering the latitudinal variation, persistent & strength of rainfall in the continental India. The zonal classification of the spread of monsoon in terms of the intensity and time (duration) is presented. Zone wise pentad analysis of onset clearly signifies the progress of monsoon and its dependency on various physical factors like SST, OLR, TTG, ITCZ, Energy budget and wind circulation. The impact of ENSO on the OGP is brought out, which clearly shows that DOM, DWM and progress is almost influenced by the largescale processes. The intensity–duration–frequency analysis quantified the actual ISM length, seasonal rainfall and rainy days at all locations in India. This study will help modellers in better understanding of onset and progress of monsoon dynamics in India and can be integrated with NWP for the accurate and advance prediction of DOM and the progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While wine fermentation has long been known to involve complex microbial communities, the composition and role of bacteria other than a select set of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) has often been assumed either negligible or detrimental. This study served as a pilot study for using barcoded amplicon next-generation sequencing to profile bacterial community structure in wines and grape musts, comparing the taxonomic depth achieved by sequencing two different domains of prokaryotic 16S rDNA (V4 and V5). This study was designed to serve two goals: 1) to empirically determine the most taxonomically informative 16S rDNA target region for barcoded amplicon sequencing of wine, comparing V4 and V5 domains of bacterial 16S rDNA to terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) of LAB communities; and 2) to explore the bacterial communities of wine fermentation to better understand the biodiversity of wine at a depth previously unattainable using other techniques. Analysis of amplicons from the V4 and V5 provided similar views of the bacterial communities of botrytized wine fermentations, revealing a broad diversity of low-abundance taxa not traditionally associated with wine, as well as atypical LAB communities initially detected by TRFLP. The V4 domain was determined as the more suitable read for wine ecology studies, as it provided greater taxonomic depth for profiling LAB communities. In addition, targeted enrichment was used to isolate two species of Alphaproteobacteria from a finished fermentation. Significant differences in diversity between inoculated and uninoculated samples suggest that Saccharomyces inoculation exerts selective pressure on bacterial diversity in these fermentations, most notably suppressing abundance of acetic acid bacteria. These results determine the bacterial diversity of botrytized wines to be far higher than previously realized, providing further insight into the fermentation dynamics of these wines, and demonstrate the utility of next-generation sequencing for wine ecology studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of 102 rhizoplane and endophytic bacteria isolated from rice roots and stems in California, 37% significantly (P 0.05) inhibited the growth in vitro of two pathogens, Achlya klebsiana and Pythium spinosum, causing seedling disease of rice. Four endophytic strains were highly effective against seedling disease in growth pouch assays, and these were identified as Pseudomonasfluorescens (S3), Pseudomonas tolaasii (S20), Pseudomonas veronii (S21), and Sphingomonas trueperi (S12) by sequencing of amplified 16S rRNA genes. Strains S12, S20, and S21 contained the nitrogen fixation gene, nifD, but only S12 was able to reduce acetylene in pure culture. The four strains significantly enhanced plant growth in the absence of pathogens, as evidenced by increases in plant height and dry weight of inoculated rice seedlings relative to noninoculated rice. Three bacterial strains (S3, S20, and S21) were evaluated in pot bioassays and reduced disease incidence by 50%–73%. Strain S3 was as effective at suppressing disease at the lowest inoculum density (10[sup 6] CFU/mL) as at higher density (10[sup 8] CFU/mL or undiluted suspension). This study indicates that selected endophytic bacterial strains have potential for control of seedling disease of rice and for plant growth promotion.Key words: biological control, plant growth promotion, endophytes, rice, seedling disease.Parmi 102 bactéries endophytes et du rhizoplan isolées à partir de racines et de tiges de riz en Californie, 37% on inhibé significativement (P 0,05) la croissance in vitro de deux pathogènes, Achlya klebsiana et Pythium spinosum, causant la maladies des semis chez le riz. Quatre souches endophytiques se sont avérées particulièrement efficaces contre la maladie des semis selon des analyses de croissance en pochettes. Le séquençage des gènes amplifiés de l'ARNr 16S nous a permis d'identifier celles-ci comme étant Pseudomonasfluorescens (S3), Pseudomonas tolaasii (S20), Pseudomonas veronii (S21) et Sphingomonas trueperi (S12). Les souches S12, S20 et S21 étaient porteuses du gène de la fixation de l'azote, nifD, mais seule la souche S12 fut capable de réduire l'acétyène en culture pure. Les quatre souches ont significativement augmenté la croissance végétale en l'absence de pathogènes, comme l'ont indiqué des augmentations dans la hauteur des plantes et dans le poids sec de semis de riz inoculés par rapport à du riz non inoculé. Trois souches bactériennes (S3, S20 et S21) ont été soumises à des bioessais en pots et ont diminué de 50%–73% l'incidence de la maladie. La souche S3 fut en mesure de supprimer efficacement la maladie à la densité d'inoculation la plus faible (10[sup 6] CFU/mL) aussi bien qu'à une densité plus élevée (10[sup 8] CFU/mL ou suspension non diluée). Cette étude indique que des souches de bactéries endophytes sélectionnées démontrent un potentiel dans le contrôle de la maladie des semis et dans la stimulation de la croissance végétale.Mots clés : contrôle biologique, stimulation de la croissance des plantes, endophytes, riz, maladies des semis.[Traduit par la Rédaction] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of Lachancea thermotolerans strains to ferment brewer's wort has been investigated. Initial fermentations with three L. thermotolerans strains compared the use of maltose and maltotriose, as well as production of glycerol and lactic acid and pH evolution over the course of the fermentation. The most promising strain was subsequently tested for additional traits important for beer production, including pitching rate, generational capacity, foam stability, hop tolerance, vicinal diketone production, oxygen requirement and flocculation. These tests suggest that L. thermotolerans may be a good choice for producing sour beers in a single fermentation step without the use of lactic acid bacteria. Copyright © 2016 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of unrelated donor transplantation (URD-BMT) are difficult to analyze since the continuous advances in HLA typing technology allow the detection of new mismatches unknown at the time of transplantation. We sought to confirm that matched recipient–donor pairs are in fact often mismatched when advanced HLA typing techniques are used. We retrospectively studied the impact of the results of high resolution HLA typing for HLA class I (-A, -B, -C) and HLA class II (-DR, -DQ, -DP) loci, and cytotoxic T lymphocyte precursor (CTLp) frequency, on the outcome of 69 URD-BMT procedures. At the time of transplant, six (6/69) and two (2/69) donor–recipient pairs were mismatched for HLA classI (-A and -B by serology) and HLA class II, respectively, while one pair was mismatched for both HLA class I and II. Using high resolution DNA typing, HLA class I mismatches were found in 31 (45%) pairs and HLA class II mismatches in nine (13%) pairs. Twenty-three of the 69 pairs were HLA-C mismatched. Low CTLp frequencies were found among the 19 HLA class I matched pairs tested, and also in 5/14 mismatched pairs (of whom three had severe aGVHD). The overall survival of the cohort was 28 ± 6%. Among the 33 patients who were fully matched with their donors, the survival rate was 66% in the 18 patients with a standard hematological risk and 9% in the 15 high risk patients. Only two of the 33 patients developed severe aGVHD, and only one had graft rejection. Among the 36 mismatched pairs, the survival rate was 31% in the 13 patients with a standard hematological risk and 8% in the 23 high risk patients. Sixteen of these 36 patients died from severe aGVHD and four had graft failure or rejection. Three of the 10 patients with only an HLA-C mismatch died from severe aGVHD, and two had graft rejection. In conclusion: (1) donor–recipient matching based on high resolution HLA class I and II DNA typing is associated with significantly better outcome after... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flor yeasts confer a wide range of organoleptic properties to Sherry-type wines during a process called "biological aging" that takes place after alcoholic fermentation. These kinds of yeasts adapt to a biological aging condition by forming a biofilm known as "flor velum" and by changing from fermentative to oxidative metabolism. It has been reported that some functions such as increase of cell surface hydrophobicity or changes to lipid metabolism are enhanced when yeasts switch to biofilm lifestyle. Here, we attempt to reveal intracellular metabolites and protein molecular functions not documented before that are relevant in biofilm formation and in fermentation by an endometabolome and proteome screening. We report that at early stages of biofilm formation, flor yeasts accumulate mannose, trehalose, glycerol, oleic and stearic acids and synthesize high amounts of GTPases, glycosylases and lipoproteins. On the other hand, in early fermentation, flor yeasts rapidly consume glucose and phosphoric acid; and produce abundant proteins related to chromatin binding, transcription factors and methyl transferases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

α-4T thin films of various thicknesses are prepared by thermal evaporation method. The electrical conductivity (σ) of as deposited α-4T thin films of thicknesses 50 nm, 100 nm and 200 nm have been measured using Hall measurement system (HMS). Using the measured values of conductivity and energy gap, the constant σ0 has been estimated for thin films of various thicknesses. Thus, the electrical conductivity of the thin films of 50 nm, 100 nm and 200 nm have been estimated for various temperatures (T). Ln (σ) vs. 1000/T plots for thin films of various thicknesses have been drawn. The conductivity is found to decrease with increase in thickness of the thin film, as it changes from 50 nm to 200 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]