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Drought represents a major threat to food security. Mechanistic data describing plantresponses to drought have been studied extensively and genes conferring drought resistancehave been introduced into crop plants. However, plants with enhanced drought resistanceusually display lower growth, highlighting the need for strategies to uncouple droughtresistance from growth. Here, we show that overexpression of BRL3, a vascular-enrichedmember of the brassinosteroid receptor family, can confer drought stress tolerance inArabidopsis. Whereas loss-of-function mutations in the ubiquitously expressed BRI1 receptorleads to drought resistance at the expense of growth, overexpression of BRL3 receptorconfers drought tolerance without penalizing overall growth. Systematic analyses reveal thatupon drought stress, increased BRL3 triggers the accumulation of osmoprotectant metabo-lites including proline and sugars. Transcriptomic analysis suggests that this results fromdifferential expression of genes in the vascular tissues. Altogether, this data suggests thatmanipulating BRL3 expression could be used to engineer drought tolerant crops.

Given the potential health benefits (and adverse effects), of polyphenolic and steroidal glycoalkaloids in thediet there is a growing interest in fully elucidating the genetic control of their levels in foodstuffs. Here wecarried out profiling of the specialized metabolites in the seeds of the Solanum pennellii introgression linesidentifying 338 putative metabolite quantitative trait loci (mQTL) for flavonoids, steroidal glycoalkaloids andfurther specialized metabolites. Two putative mQTL for flavonols and one for steroidal glycoalkaloids werecross-validated by evaluation of the metabolite content of recombinants harboring smaller introgression inthe corresponding QTL interval or by analysis of lines from an independently derived backcross inbred linepopulation. The steroidal glycoalkaloid mQTL was localized to a chromosomal region spanning 14 genes,including a previously defined steroidal glycoalkaloid gene cluster. The flavonoid mQTL was further vali dated via the use of transient and stable overexpression of the Solyc12g098600 and Solyc12g096870 genes,which encode seed-specific uridine 50-diphosphate-glycosyltransferases. The results are discussed in thecontext of our understanding of the accumulation of polyphenols and steroidal glycoalkaloids, and how thisknowledge may be incorporated into breeding strategies aimed at improving nutritional aspects of plantsas well as in fortifying them against abiotic stress.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a prominent fruit with rich genetic resources for crop improvement. By using a phenotype-guided screen of over 7900 tomato accessions from around the world, we identified new associations for complex traits such as fruit weight and total soluble solids (Brix). Here, we present the phenotypic data from several years of trials. To illustrate the power of this dataset we use two case studies. First, evaluation of color revealed allelic variation in phytoene synthase 1 that resulted in differently colored or even bicolored fruit. Secondly, in view of the negative relationship between fruit weight and Brix, we pre-selected a subset of the collection that includes high and low Brix values in each category of fruit size. Genome-wide association analysis allowed us to detect novel loci associated with total soluble solid content and fruit weight. In addition, we developed eight F2 biparental intraspecific populations. Furthermore, by taking a phenotype-guided approach we were able to isolate individuals with high Brix values that were not compromised in terms of yield. In addition, the demonstration of novel results despite the high number of previous genome-wide association studies of these traits in tomato suggests that adoption of a phenotype-guided pre-selection of germplasm may represent a useful strategy for finding target genes for breeding.

Over the past 10 years, knowledge about several aspects of fruit metabolism has been greatly improved. Notably, high-throughput metabolomic technologies have allowed quantifying metabolite levels across various biological processes, and identifying the genes that underly fruit development and ripening. This Special Issue is designed to exemplify the current use of metabolomics studies of temperate and tropical fruit for basic research as well as practical applications. It includes articles about different aspects of fruit biochemical phenotyping, fruit metabolism before and after harvest, including primary and specialized metabolisms, and bioactive compounds involved in growth and environmental responses. The effect of genotype, stages of development or fruit tissue on metabolomic profiles and corresponding metabolism regulations are addressed, as well as the combination of other omics with metabolomics for fruit metabolism studies. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Actualmente se reconoce la importancia de investigar sobre la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la anatomía humana; especialmente si se considera que los cursos universitarios de esta área continúan el esquema tradicional y predominante a nivel mundial en el que se priorizan la enseñanza transmisiva, el aprendizaje memorístico y la evaluación sumativa. El propósito de este trabajo es la construcción de modelos para la enseñanza-aprendizaje (E-A) de la anatomía humana en la que se propone la escritura, la ilustración y la animación de un cuento como método de E-A de la anatomía del plexo braquial (nervios del miembro superior). Para esto se siguió el proceso de construcción de modelos a partir de la definición del objetivo, la observación inicial, la lectura de la teoría, la forma de representación, la comprobación del modelo propuesto y la socialización. Este método de E-A permitió que los estudiantes lograran comprender a profundidad el tema, en particular, la ubicación espacial, la relación de las estructuras anatómicas y su correlación clínica. Por lo tanto, la elaboración de modelos permitió que los alumnos se apropiaran del proceso de aprendizaje, proponiendo, explorando y desplegando su creatividad y pensamiento crítico; además, la actitud de los profesores que participaron como mediadores contribuyó a que los estudiantes se involucraran cognitiva y emocionalmente en la actividad académica.

Fresh berries are a popular and important component of the human diet. The demand for high-quality berries and sustainable production methods is increasing globally, challenging breeders to develop modern berry cultivars that fulfill all desired characteristics. Since 1994, research projects have characterized genetic resources, developed modern tools for high-throughput screening, and published data in publicly available repositories. However, the key findings of different disciplines are rarely linked together, and only a limited range of traits and genotypes has been investigated. The Horizon2020 project BreedingValue will address these challenges by studying a broader panel of strawberry, raspberry and blueberry genotypes in detail, in order to recover the lost genetic diversity that has limited the aroma and flavor intensity of recent cultivars. We will combine metabolic analysis with sensory panel tests and surveys to identify the key components of taste, flavor and aroma in berries across Europe, leading to a high-resolution map of quality requirements for future berry cultivars. Traits linked to berry yields and the effect of environmental stress will be investigated using modern image analysis methods and modeling. We will also use genetic analysis to determine the genetic basis of complex traits for the development and optimization of modern breeding technologies, such as molecular marker arrays, genomic selection and genome-wide association studies. Finally, the results, raw data and metadata will be made publicly available on the open platform Germinate in order to meet FAIR data principles and provide the basis for sustainable research in the future.