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In humans, studies have shown that contrast illusions can affect perceptions of facial attractiveness and dominance. In non-human animals, recent research found that contrast illusions of size positively affected male mate value. In humans, male height is a potentially important indicator of mate value, with women preferring men taller than themselves. We tested in two studies whether height contrast illusions could affect women’s perceptions of male height and mate value, particularly attractiveness, dominance, and muscularity. Using computer-generated images of men of different heights standing in groups of three, 104 female participants rated targets either surrounded by shorter, same height, or taller distractors in a within-subject design. The second experiment (N=80) replicated and extended the first by making the images more realistic and adding natural backgrounds, suggesting that when participants are given a visual anchor, in order to get a better sense of the absolute height of the targets, the effects remain. In both studies, results showed that, compared with same height distractors, male targets were rated as taller when surrounded by shorter distractors, and as shorter when surrounded by taller distractors. Additionally, attractiveness, dominance, and muscularity perceptions were affected in a similar manner, with most of the differences in these appraisals being mediated by the perceived height differences. Therefore, differently sized distractors affected the perceived height and mate value of the targets, which were in effect all of the same constant size. These findings indicate that context dependent effects could potentially influence attractiveness judgments. The same man might thus be perceived as more attractive when surrounded by men of similar or smaller height, as opposed to when surrounded by men who are taller.

Developing nutritious rice with a higher yield is one approach to alleviating the problem of micronutrient deficiency in developing countries, especially human malnutrition involving zinc and iron (Fe) deficiency, and achieving better adoption. The transport of micronutrients such as Fe and Zn is mainly regulated via the nicotianamine synthase ( OsNAS ) gene family, whereas yield is a complex trait that involves multiple loci. Genome editing via CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat)-Cas9, focusing on the OsNAS2 promoter, particularly the deletion of the cis -regulatory element ARR1AT at position -933, was conducted for an enhanced accumulation of Zn in the grain and per plant. The results showed that our promoter editing increased Zn concentration per plant. Evidence also showed that an improved spikelet number per main panicle led to increased grain per plant. The traits were inherited in "transgene-free" and homozygous plant progenies. Further investigation needs to be conducted to validate trait performance under field conditions and elucidate the cause of the spikelet increase., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Ludwig, Dueñas, Arcillas, Macalalad-Cabral, Kohli, Reinke and Slamet-Loedin.)

Sanfilippo syndrome Type-B, also known as mucopolysaccharidosis IIIB (MPS IIIB), accounts for approximately one-third of all Sanfilippo syndrome patients and is characterized by a similar natural history as Type-A. Patients suffer from developmental regression, bone malformation, organomegaly, GI distress, and profound neurological deficits. Despite human trials of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) (SBC-103, AX250) in MPS IIIB, there is currently no FDA approved treatment and a few palliative options. The major concerns of ERT and gene therapy for the treatment of bone malformation are the inadequate biodistribution of the missing enzyme, N-acetyl-α-glucosaminidase (NAGLU), and that the skeleton is a poorly hit target tissue in ERT and gene therapy. Each of the four known human types of MPS III (A, B, C, and D) is usually regarded as having mild bone manifestations, yet it remains poorly characterized. This study aimed to determine bone mineral content (BMC), volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), and biomechanical properties in femurs MPS IIIB C57BL/6 mice compared to phenotypic control C57BL/6 mice. Significant differences were observed in MPS IIIB mice within various cortical and cancellous bone parameters for both males and females ( p < 0.05). Here, we establish some osteogenic manifestations of MPS IIIB within the mouse model by radiographic and biomechanical tests, which are also differentially affected by age and sex. This suggests that some skeletal features of the MPS IIIB mouse model may be used as biomarkers of peripheral disease correction for preclinical treatment of MPS IIIB.

Aim: Hernia repair strengthens the abdominal wall with a textile mesh. Recurrence and pain indicate weak bonds between mesh and tissue. It remains a question which biomechanical factors strengthen the mesh-tissue interface, and whether surgeons can enhance the bond between mesh and tissue. Material and Methods: This study assessed the strength of the mesh-tissue interface by dynamic loads. A self-built bench test delivered dynamic impacts. The test simulated coughing. Porcine and bovine tissue were used for the bench test. Tissue quality, mesh adhesiveness, and fixation intensity influenced the retention power. The influences were condensed in a formula to assess the durability of the repair. The formula was applied to clinical work. The relative strength of reconstruction was related to the individual human abdominal wall. From computerized tomography at rest and during Valsalva's Maneuver, the tissue quality of the individual patient was determined before surgery. Results: The results showed that biomechanical parameters observed in porcine, bovine, and human tissue were in the same range. Tissues failed in distinct patterns. Sutures slackened or burst at vulnerable points. Both the load duration and the peak load increased destruction. Stress concentrations elevated failure rates. Regional areas of force contortions increased stress concentrations. Hernia repair improved strain levels. Measures for improvement included the closure of the defect, use of higher dynamic intermittent strain (DIS) class meshes, increased mesh overlap, and additional fixation. Surgeons chose the safety margin of the reconstruction as desired. Conclusion: The tissue quality has now been introduced into the concept of a critical and a gained resistance toward pressure-related impacts. A durable hernia repair could be designed from available coefficients. Using biomechanical principles, surgeons could minimize pain levels. Mesh-related complications such as hernia recurrence can potentially be avoided in incisional hernia repair., Competing Interests: FK has received research grants from Baxter®, Dahlhausen®, and Medtronic® not related to the research perspective described in the manuscript. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Kallinowski, Ludwig, Gutjahr, Gerhard, Schulte-Hörmann, Krimmel, Lesch, Uhr, Lösel, Voß, Heuveline, Vollmer, Görich and Nessel.)

Genome editing holds the potential for rapid crop improvement to meet the challenge of feeding the planet in a changing climate. The delivery of gene editing reagents into the plant cells has been dominated by plasmid vectors delivered using agrobacterium or particle bombardment. This approach involves the production of genetically engineered plants, which need to undergo regulatory approvals. There are various reagent delivery approaches available that have enabled the delivery of DNA-free editing reagents. They invariably involve the use of ribonucleoproteins (RNPs), especially in the case of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing. The explant of choice for most of the non-DNA approaches utilizes protoplasts as the recipient explant. While the editing efficiency is high in protoplasts, the ability to regenerate individual plants from edited protoplasts remains a challenge. There are various innovative delivery approaches being utilized to perform in planta edits that can be incorporated in the germline cells or inherited via seed. With the modification and adoption of various novel approaches currently being used in animal systems, it seems likely that non-transgenic genome editing will become routine in higher plants., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Incisional hernia is a frequent consequence of major surgery. Most repairs augment the abdominal wall with artificial meshes fixed to the tissues with sutures, tacks, or glue. Pain and recurrences plague at least 10-20% of the patients after repair of the abdominal defect. How should a repair of incisional hernias be constructed to achieve durability? Incisional hernia repair can be regarded as a compound technique. The biomechanical properties of a compound made of tissue, textile, and linking materials vary to a large extent. Tissues differ in age, exercise levels, and comorbidities. Textiles are currently optimized for tensile strength, but frequently fail to provide tackiness, dynamic stiction, and strain resistance to pulse impacts. Linking strength with and without fixation devices depends on the retention forces between surfaces to sustain stiction under dynamic load. Impacts such a coughing or sharp bending can easily overburden clinically applied composite structures and can lead to a breakdown of incisional hernia repair. Our group developed a bench test with tissues, fixation, and textiles using dynamic intermittent strain (DIS), which resembles coughing. Tissue elasticity, the size of the hernia under pressure, and the area of instability of the abdominal wall of the individual patient was assessed with low-dose computed tomography of the abdomen preoperatively. A surgical concept was developed based on biomechanical considerations. Observations in a clinical registry based on consecutive patients from four hospitals demonstrate low failure rates and low pain levels after 1 year. Here, results from the bench test, the application of CT abdomen with Valsalva's maneuver, considerations of the surgical concept, and the clinical application of our approach are outlined., Competing Interests: FK has received research grants from Baxter®, Dahlhausen®, Ethicon®, and Medtronic® not related to the research perspective described in the manuscript. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Kallinowski, Gutjahr, Harder, Sabagh, Ludwig, Lozanovski, Löffler, Rinn, Görich, Grimm, Vollmer and Nessel.)

The micronutrient iron (Fe) is not only essential for plant survival and proliferation but also crucial for healthy human growth and development. Rice and wheat are the two leading staples globally; unfortunately, popular rice and wheat cultivars only have a minuscule amount of Fe content and mainly present in the outer bran layers. Unavailability of considerable Fe-rich rice and wheat germplasms limits the potential of conventional breeding to develop this micronutrient trait in both staples. Agronomic biofortification, defined as soil and foliar fertilizer application, has potential but remains quite challenging to improve grain Fe to the significant level. In contrast, recent accomplishments in genetic biofortification can help to develop Fe-enriched cereal grains to sustainably address the problem of "hidden hunger" when the roadmap from proof of concept to product and adoption can be achieved. Here, we highlight the different genetic biofortification strategies for rice and wheat and path to develop a product.

Background: Cyst nematodes are biotrophs that form specialized feeding structures in the roots of host plants, which consist of a syncytial fusion of hypertrophied cells. The formation of syncytium is accompanied by profound transcriptional changes and active metabolism in infected tissues. The challenge in gene expression studies for syncytium has always been the isolation of pure syncytial material and subsequent extraction of intact RNA. Root fragments containing syncytium had been used for microarray analyses. However, the inclusion of neighbouring cells dilutes the syncytium-specific mRNA population. Micro-sectioning coupled with laser capture microdissection (LCM) offers an opportunity for the isolation of feeding sites from heterogeneous cell populations. But recovery of intact RNA from syncytium dissected by LCM is complicated due to extended steps of fixation, tissue preparation, embedding and sectioning., Results: In the present study, we have optimized the procedure of sample preparation for LCM to isolate high quality of RNA from cyst nematode induced syncytia in Arabidopsis roots which can be used for transcriptomic studies. We investigated the effect of various sucrose concentrations as cryoprotectant on RNA quality and morphology of syncytial sections. We also compared various types of microscopic slides for strong adherence of sections while removing embedding material., Conclusion: The use of optimal sucrose concentrations as cryoprotection plays a key role in RNA stability and morphology of sections. Treatment with higher sucrose concentrations minimizes the risk of RNA degradation, whereas longer incubation times help maintaining the morphology of tissue sections. Our method allows isolating high-quality RNA from nematode feeding sites that is suitable for downstream applications such as microarray experiments.

The maize (Zea mays L.) Aux/IAA protein RUM1 (ROOTLESS WITH UNDETECTABLE MERISTEM 1) is a key regulator of lateral and seminal root formation. An ancient maize genome duplication resulted in the emergence of its homeolog rum1-like1 (rul1), which displays 92% amino acid sequence identity with RUM1. Both, RUL1 and RUM1 exhibit the canonical four domain structure of Aux/IAA proteins. Moreover, both are localized to the nucleus, are instable and have similar short half-lives of ~23min. Moreover, RUL1 and RUM1 can be stabilized by specific mutations in the five amino acid degron sequence of domain II. In addition, proteins encoded by both genes interact in vivo with auxin response factors (ARFs) such as ZmARF25 and ZmARF34 in protoplasts. Although it was demonstrated that RUL1 and RUM1 can homo and heterodimerize in vivo, rul1 expression is independent of rum1. Moreover, on average rul1 expression is ~84-fold higher than rum1 in the 12 tested tissues and developmental stages, although the relative expression levels in different root tissues are very similar. While RUM1 and RUL1 display conserved biochemical properties, yeast-two-hybrid in combination with BiFC experiments identified a RUM1-associated protein 1 (RAP1) that specifically interacts with RUM1 but not with RUL1. This suggests that RUM1 and RUL1 are at least in part interwoven into different molecular networks., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.)

The paralogous maize (Zea mays) LBD (Lateral Organ Boundaries Domain) genes rtcs (rootless concerning crown and seminal roots) and rtcl (rtcs-like) emerged from an ancient whole-genome duplication. RTCS is a key regulator of crown root initiation. The diversity of expression, molecular interaction and phenotype of rtcs and rtcl were investigated. The rtcs and rtcl genes display highly correlated spatio-temporal expression patterns in roots, despite the significantly higher expression of rtcs. Both RTCS and RTCL proteins bind to LBD downstream promoters and act as transcription factors. In line with its auxin inducibility and binding to auxin response elements of rtcs and rtcl promoters, ARF34 (AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR 34) acts as transcriptional activator. Yeast two-hybrid screening combined with bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) experiments revealed conserved and unique interaction partners of RTCS and RTCL. The rtcl mutation leads to defective shoot-borne root elongation early in development. Cooperative action of RTCS and RTCL during shoot-borne root formation was demonstrated by rtcs-dependent repression of rtcl transcription in coleoptilar nodes. Although RTCS is instrumental in shoot-borne root initiation, RTCL controls shoot-borne root elongation early in development. Their conserved role in auxin signaling, but diverse function in shoot-borne root formation, is underscored by their conserved and unique interaction partners., (© 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.)

Only little is known about target genes of auxin signalling downstream of the Aux/IAA-ARF module. In the present study, it has been demonstrated that maize lateral root primordia 1 (lrp1) encodes a transcriptional activator that is directly regulated by the Aux/IAA protein ROOTLESS WITH UNDETECTABLE MERISTEM 1 (RUM1). Expression of lrp1 is confined to early root primordia and meristems and is auxin-inducible. Based on its primary protein structure, LRP1 is predicted to be a transcription factor. This notion is supported by exclusive LRP1 localization in the nucleus and its ability to activate downstream gene activity. Based on the observation that lrp1 transcription is completely repressed in the semi-dominant gain of function mutant rum1, it was demonstrated that the lrp1 promoter is a direct target of RUM1 proteins. Subsequently, promoter activation assays indicated that RUM1 represses the expression of a GFP reporter fused to the native promoter of lrp1. Constitutive repression of lrp1 in rum1 mutants is a consequence of the stability of mutated rum1 proteins which cannot be degraded by the proteasome and thus constitutively bind to the lrp1 promoter and repress transcription. Taken together, the repression of the transcriptional activator lrp1 by direct binding of RUM1 to its promoter, together with specific expression of lrp1 in root meristems, suggests a function in maize root development via the RUM1-dependent auxin signalling pathway., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.)

AUXIN/INDOLE-3-ACETIC ACID (Aux/IAA) proteins are central regulators of auxin signal transduction. They control many aspects of plant development, share a conserved domain structure and are localized in the nucleus. In the present study, five maize Aux/IAA proteins (ZmIAA2, ZmIAA11, ZmIAA15, ZmIAA20 and ZmIAA33) representing the evolutionary, phylogenetic and expression diversity of this gene family were characterized. Subcellular localization studies revealed that ZmIAA2, ZmIAA11 and ZmIAA15 are confined to the nucleus while ZmIAA20 and ZmIAA33 are localized in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Introduction of specific point mutations in the degron sequence (VGWPPV) of domain II by substituting the first proline by serine or the second proline by leucine stabilized the Aux/IAA proteins. While protein half-life times between ∼11 min (ZmIAA2) to ∼120 min (ZmIAA15) were observed in wild-type proteins, the mutated forms of all five proteins were almost as stable as GFP control proteins. Moreover, all five maize Aux/IAA proteins repressed downstream gene expression in luciferase assays to different degrees. In addition, bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) analyses demonstrated interaction of all five Aux/IAA proteins with RUM1 (ROOTLESS WITH UNDETECTABLE MERISTEM 1, ZmIAA10) while only ZmIAA15 and ZmIAA33 interacted with the RUM1 paralog RUL1 (RUM-LIKE 1, ZmIAA29). Moreover, ZmIAA11, ZmIAA15 ZmIAA33 displayed homotypic interaction. Hence, despite their conserved domain structure, maize Aux/IAA proteins display a significant variability in their molecular characteristics which is likely associated with the wide spectrum of their developmental functions.

Different plant cell types express unique transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes. Therefore, the isolation of specific cell types prior to molecular analyses is important to understand the specification, differentiation, and function of these cells. Isolation of specific plant cell types from composite organs can be achieved by laser microdissection (LMD). A wide variety of methods to fix and embed tissues prior to LMD and downstream molecular analyses have been developed for different plant species and tissues. The present review summarizes and highlights the most recently applied LMD approaches in plant science.

The plant hormone auxin plays a key role in the coordination of many aspects of growth and development. AUXIN/INDOLE-3-ACETIC ACID (Aux/IAA) genes encode instable primary auxin responsive regulators of plant development that display a protein structure with four characteristic domains. In the present study, a comprehensive analysis of the 34 members of the maize Aux/IAA gene family was performed. Phylogenetic reconstructions revealed two classes of Aux/IAA proteins that can be distinguished by alterations in their domain III. Seven pairs of paralogous maize Aux/IAA proteins were discovered. Comprehensive root-type and tissue-specific expression profiling revealed unique expression patterns of the diverse members of the gene family. Remarkably, five of seven pairs of paralogous genes displayed highly correlated expression patterns in roots. All but one (ZmIAA23) tested maize Aux/IAA genes were auxin inducible, displaying two types of auxin induction within three hours of treatment. Moreover, 51 of 55 (93%) differential Aux/IAA expression patterns between different root-types followed the expression tendency: crown roots > seminal roots > primary roots > lateral roots. This pattern might imply root-type-specific regulation of Aux/IAA transcript abundance. In summary, the detailed analysis of the maize Aux/IAA gene family provides novel insights in the evolution and developmental regulation and thus the function of these genes in different root-types and tissues.

We present an experimental approach by the help of which structure and passive permeability of the nuclear envelope (NE) can be investigated thoroughly, by combining imaging, fluorescent, and electrophysiological techniques. A mature Xenopus laevis oocyte features a large nucleus offering an excellent system for these investigations. Using the emerging technique of atomic force microscopy, NE structure and the conformational state of nuclear pore complexes (NPCs), known to rule NPC and inevitably NE permeability, can be visualised at high resolution and under near physiological conditions. Passive NE permeability to macromolecules can be determined by the long-established confocal laser scanning microscopy, applying fluorescent macromolecules (dextran). Passive NE permeability to small molecules, which has long remained confounded by the lack of an appropriate technique, can finally be investigated following development of a proper technique designated the "nuclear hourglass" technique. The experimental approach presented here thus opens unique perspectives towards understanding the correlation between NE structure and passive permeability. This chapter describes in detail the protocols for performing such investigations.