BACKGROUND:There is mounting anecdotal and empirical evidence that gardening and art-making afford therapeutic benefits. OBJECTIVES:This randomly controlled pilot study tested the hypothesis that participation in group-based indoor gardening or art-making activities for one hour twice a week for four weeks would provide quantifiably different therapeutic benefits to a population of healthy women ages 26-49. METHODS:A population of 42 volunteers was randomly assigned to parallel gardening or art-making treatment groups. A total of 36 participants initiated the treatment protocol and 32 (Gardening n = 15 and Art n = 17) received the interventions and completed all assessments. Treatments included eight one-hour group-based gardening or art intervention sessions. Self-report psychometric assessments were conducted for anxiety, depression symptomatology, mood disturbance, stress, satisfaction with discretionary social activities, and quality of life measures. Cardiac physiological data were also collected. Outcomes were measured at baseline, during, and post-intervention. RESULTS:Engaging in both gardening and art-making activities resulted in apparent therapeutic improvements for self-reported total mood disturbance, depression symptomatology, and perceived stress with different effect sizes following eight one-hour treatment sessions. Gardening also resulted in improvements for indications of trait anxiety. Based on time-course evidence, dosage responses were observed for total mood disturbance, perceived stress, and depression symptomatology for both gardening and art-making. However, gardening or art-making did not have an apparent influence on heart rate or blood pressure or result in marked improvement for satisfaction with discretionary leisure activities. CONCLUSION:The data did not support the hypothesis of differential therapeutic benefits of gardening and art-making for healthy women. When taken together, group-based gardening or art-making can provide quantitatively measurable improvements in healthy women's psychosocial health status that imply potentially important public health benefits. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03266120.

A human subject experiment involving healthy women ages 26-49 was conducted where study participants were randomly assigned to either a gardening or art intervention consisting of eight one-hour sessions over a four-week period. Self-report psychometric assessments were administered and heart rate and blood pressure monitored in order to quantify treatment effect outcomes relative to mental and physiological health.

Plants provide people with vital resources necessary to sustain life. Nutrition, vitamins, calories, oxygen, fuel, and medicinal phytochemicals are just a few of the life-supporting plant products, but does our relationship with plants transcend these physical and biochemical products? This review synthesizes some of the extant literature on people-plant interactions, and relates key findings relevant to space exploration and the psychosocial and neurocognitive benefits of plants and nature in daily life. Here, a case is made in support of utilizing plant-mediated therapeutic benefits to mitigate potential psychosocial and neurocognitive decrements associated with long-duration space missions, especially for missions that seek to explore increasingly distant places where ground-based support is limited.

Petrifilms are dehydrated agar culture plates that have been used to quantify colony forming units (CFU) mL of either aerobic bacteria (Petrifilm-AC) or fungus (Petrifilm-YM), depending on substrate composition. Microbes in irrigation systems can indicate biofilm risk and potential clogging of irrigation emitters. The research objective was to compare counts on Petrifilms versus traditional, hydrated-agar plates using samples collected from recirculated irrigation waters and cultures of isolated known species. The estimated count (in CFU mL) from a recirculated irrigation sample after 7 d of incubation on Petrifilm-YM was only 5.5% of the count quantified using sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) with chloramphenicol after 14 d. In a separate experiment with a known species, Petrifilm-YM did not successfully culture zoospores of . Isolates of viable zoospores were cultured successfully on potato-dextrose agar (PDA), with comparable counts with a vegetable juice medium supplemented with the antibiotics pimaricin, ampicillin, rifamycin, pentochloronitrobenzene and hymexazol (PARP-H). The quantification of pv. Begoniaceae on Petrifilm-AC was not significantly different ( < 0.05) than on PDA, but was lower than on Reasoner and Goldrich agar (R2A) or with a hemocytometer. The current formulation of Petrifilm-YM is unlikely to be a useful monitoring method for plant pathogens in irrigation water because of the inability to successfully culture oomycetes. However, Petrifilm-AC was an effective method to quantify bacteria and can provide an easy-to-use on-farm tool to monitor biofilm risk and microbial density.

A wide range of plant pathogens have been identified in irrigation water sources and distribution systems. Algae and equipment-clogging biofilms also result from high microbial levels in irrigation water. The literature was reviewed on the effectiveness of water treatment options to control waterborne microbes. Water treatments included chemicals (chlorine, bromine, chlorine dioxide, ionized copper, copper salts, ionized silver, ozone, hydrogen peroxide, and peroxyacetic acid), non-chemical or physical treatments (filtration, heat, and ultraviolet radiation) and ecological alternatives (constructed wetlands, biosurfactants, and slow sand filtration). The objective was to summarize the effective dose for controlling target waterborne microorganisms. The effective dose for chemical water treatments to control plant pathogens was in some cases above documented phytotoxicity thresholds, and for most crops and technologies the phytotoxicity thresholds remain unknown. Most efficacy research has been conducted on chlorine (20 articles) or copper (18), but only 0-7 articles were found on other water treatments currently in use, indicating major knowledge gaps in treatment efficacy. Research is needed on control methods for algae and biofilms, in vivo pathogen studies, phytotoxicity thresholds, and the relationship between pathogen inoculum level and disease incidence in irrigation water. Finally, improved overall system design is required for risk management of waterborne microbes in irrigation, including a multiple barrier approach incorporating pre-filtration, multiple treatment stages, and monitoring of water quality. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Arsenate interferes with enzymatic processes and inhibits inorganic phosphorus (Pi) uptake in many plants. This study examined the role of phytase and phosphatase in arsenate tolerance and phosphorus (P) acquisition in the arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata . Enzyme-mediated hydrolysis of phytate in P. vittata extracts was not inhibited by arsenate at 5 mM or by heating at 100 °C for 10 min. Root exudates of P. vittata exhibited the highest phytase activity (18 nmol Pi mg(-1) protein min(-1)) when available P was low, allowing its growth on media amended with phytate as the sole source of P. Phosphorus concentration in P. vittata gametophyte tissue grown on phytate was equivalent to plants grown with inorganic phosphate at 2208 mg kg(-1), and arsenic was increased from 1777 to 2630 mg kg(-1). After 2 h of mixing with three soils, P. vittata phytase retained more activity, decreasing from ∼ 26 to ∼ 25 nmol Pi mg(-1) protein min(-1), whereas those from Pteris ensiformis and wheat decreased from ∼ 18 to ∼ 1 nmol Pi mg(-1) protein min(-1). These results suggest P. vittata has a uniquely stable phytase enabling its P acquisition in P-limiting soil environments. Furthermore, the P. vittata phytase has potential use as a soil amendment, a transgenic tool, or as a feed additive supplement, reducing the need for nonrenewable, polluting P fertilizers.

Background In tightly closed human habitats such as space stations, locations near volcano vents and closed culture vessels, atmospheric CO2 concentration may be 10 to 20 times greater than Earth's current ambient levels. It is known that super-elevated (SE) CO2 (>1,200 µmol mol−1) induces physiological responses different from that of moderately elevated CO2 (up to 1,200 µmol mol−1), but little is known about the molecular responses of plants to supra-optimal [CO2]. Methodology/Principal Findings To understand the underlying molecular causes for differential physiological responses, metabolite and transcript profiles were analyzed in aerial tissue of Arabidopsis plants, which were grown under ambient atmospheric CO2 (400 µmol mol−1), elevated CO2 (1,200 µmol mol−1) and SE CO2 (4,000 µmol mol−1), at two developmental stages early and late vegetative stage. Transcript and metabolite profiling revealed very different responses to elevated versus SE [CO2]. The transcript profiles of SE CO2 treated plants were closer to that of the control. Development stage had a clear effect on plant molecular response to elevated and SE [CO2]. Photosynthetic acclimation in terms of down-regulation of photosynthetic gene expression was observed in response to elevated [CO2], but not that of SE [CO2] providing the first molecular evidence that there appears to be a fundamental disparity in the way plants respond to elevated and SE [CO2]. Although starch accumulation was induced by both elevated and SE [CO2], the increase was less at the late vegetative stage and accompanied by higher soluble sugar content suggesting an increased starch breakdown to meet sink strength resulting from the rapid growth demand. Furthermore, many of the elevated and SE CO2-responsive genes found in the present study are also regulated by plant hormone and stress. Conclusions/Significance This study provides new insights into plant acclimation to elevated and SE [CO2] during development and how this relates to stress, sugar and hormone signaling.

The objective was to analyze the physical, chemical, and biological water quality in horticulture irrigation systems in 24 ornamental plant greenhouses and nurseries in the United States. At each greenhouse or nursery, water was collected from up to five points (“Sample Types”) which included 1) “Source” from municipal or private well supplies, 2) “Tank” from enclosed storage containers, 3) “Subirrigation” from water applied to crops in ebb-and-flood systems, 4) “Furthest Outlet” that were irrigation emitters most distant from the Source, and 5) “Catchment Basin” from open outdoor retention areas. On average, Source water had the highest physical and microbial quality of Sample Types including the highest ultraviolet (UV) light transmission at 86%, lowest total suspended solids (TSS) at 3.1 mg·L −1 , and lowest density of aerobic bacteria with 1108 cfu/mL of water. Average quality of recycled water from Subirrigation or Catchment Basins did not meet recommended levels for horticultural irrigation water for UV transmission (68% to 72% compared with recommended 75%), microbial counts (>100,000 cfu/mL compared with recommended <10,000 cfu/mL), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) (48.2 to 61.3 mg·L −1 compared with recommended <30 mg·L −1 ). Irrigation water stored in Tanks or applied at Furthest Outlets had lower physical and biological water quality compared with Source water. Level of aerobic bacteria counts highlighted a risk of clogged microirrigation emitters from microbial contaminants, with highest bacteria levels in recirculated irrigation water. The physical, chemical, and microbial water quality results indicate a need for more effective water treatment to improve biological water quality, particularly with recirculated irrigation.

DEAD-box RNA helicases compose a large subfamily of RNA helicases found in all eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Functional DEAD-box RNA helicases are considered to be RNA chaperones that modify RNA secondary structure and perhaps three-dimensional structures during different cellular processes involving RNA metabolism. Although a relationship of DEAD-box RNA helicases to abiotic stress adaptation is known, few reports document the involvement of RNA helicases during plant growth and development. In this study, detailed analyses were performed for two cold-responsive DEAD-box RNA helicases, AtRH22 and AtRH52, on the transcript level during different developmental stages of Arabidopsis thaliana. Expression levels of AtRH22 and AtRH52 were up-regulated markedly in response to cold stress and were enriched in shoot apical meristems, floral buds, and siliques. The expression of AtRH22 and AtRH52 was spatiotemporally regulated during vegetative growth, floral transition and embryonic development. To investigate, the functional role of AtRH22 and AtRH52 in A. thaliana, we functionally characterized independent T-DNA insertion mutant lines for both genes. Genotypic analysis of self-fertilized heterozygous lines revealed only heterozygous (WT/T-DNA) and homozygous wild-type progeny for AtRH22 and AtRH52. Self-fertilized heterozygous mutants of AtRH22 and AtRH52 show normal vegetative phenotype, but produced normal-sized and abortive seeds. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the cold-responsive AtRH22 and AtRH52 genes are spatiotemporally regulated during plant development and are essential during Arabidopsis embryogenesis.

POSTERS 20 G2) were included.SVR was defined as undetectable HCV-RNA at 24 weeks of follow up.The SNP analysis of rs12979860 variant was determined in 50 ng of DNA by RT-PCR using specific oligonucleotide primers and probes to amplify the sequence target in DNA (Tib MoLBIOL GmbH ® , Berlin Germany).All HCV patients were genotyped as CC, CT or TT.Results: CT and TT variants were present in 45 and 18 subjects (56% and 23%, respectively) of the studied population.CC polymorphism had the lowest frequency in our cohort (21%, CI 95%: 12.89-31.83%)and it was strongly associated with response to standard treatment (OR 2.95); 76% of CC carriers achieved SVR compared with 55.5% and 44.4% of SVR in patients with CT and TT variants.Variant rs 12979860 IL28B in HCV patients with Pe Genotype (rs 12979860 IL28B) C/C C/T T/T Patients VHC Tx (Peg-IFN/RBV) n = 80 17 (21%) 45 (56%) 18 (23%) Woman:Men (30:50) 12:5 28:17 10:8 Genotype 60:20 (VHC-1:VHC-2) 13:4 35:10 12:6 Load viral Baseline ±DS 3.26E6±3.51E61.50E6±2.39E69.33E5±1.11E6Early Virological response (EVR) 15 (88.2%) 30 (66.6%) 11 (61.1%)Sustained Virological Response (SVR) 13 (76%) 25 (55.5%) 8 (44.4%)Conclusion: This is the first study that explore the IL28 polymorphism prevalence in Mexican CHC population.The CC IL28 polymorphism frequency was low and it may constitute another factor related with the lower SVR obtained with PegIFN/Ribavirin treatment in hispanic population.

Grapefruit (Citrus×paradisi) develop symptoms of chilling injury (CI) if held at temperatures below about 10°C. Conditioning grapefruit at a low, but non-chilling (16°C) temperature prior to storage at a chilling temperature reduces the development of CI symptoms. Changes in transcript abundance for a number of genes have been correlated with chilling stress in citrus fruit. We tested the hypothesis that conditioning affects transcript abundance of genes related to chilling stress in grapefruit. Grapefruit were harvested from a commercial grove in Florida in September and divided into two groups; one group was placed immediately at 5°C (non-conditioned, NC); the second group was placed at 16°C for 1 week (conditioned, C) and then transferred to 5°C. Symptoms of CI were visible on NC and C fruit following 14 d at 5°C, but were consistently more severe on NC than C fruit. Storage at 5°C caused increases in abundance of transcripts for 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase (ACO), galactinol synthase, a chilling-induced oxygenase, and a temperature-induced lipocalin, consistent with previous reports. Levels of these transcripts were lower in C than in NC fruit during storage at 5°C, but this pattern did not persist following transfer to 20°C. Levels of transcripts for catalase, a metallothionein-like protein, a lipid transfer protein, a stress-responsive zinc finger protein, and a citrus low temperature inducible protein were consistently higher in C than NC fruit during storage at 5°C. Our results show that conditioning increases chilling tolerance in grapefruit and demonstrates that abundance of transcripts of a number of genes related to chilling stress is affected by conditioning. This suggests a potential quantitative relationship between gene expression and conditioning induced chilling tolerance. We cannot say, however, that these changes are related to chilling tolerance per se; they may only reflect the difference between chilling-sensitive and chilling-tolerant fruit.

Leaf senescence is a programmed developmental process governed by various endogenous and exogenous factors, such as the plant developmental stage, leaf age, phytohormone levels, darkness, and exposure to stresses. It was found that, in addition to its well-documented role in the enhancement of plant frost tolerance, overexpression of the C-repeat/dehydration responsive element binding factor 2 (CBF2) gene in Arabidopsis delayed the onset of leaf senescence and extended the life span of the plants by approximately 2 weeks. This phenomenon was exhibited both during developmental leaf senescence and during senescence of detached leaves artificially induced by either darkness or phytohormones. Transcriptome analysis using the Affymetrix ATH1 genome array revealed that overexpression of CBF2 significantly influenced the expression of 286 genes in mature leaf tissue. In addition to 30 stress-related genes, overexpression of CBF2 also affected the expression of 24 transcription factor (TF) genes, and 20 genes involved in protein metabolism, degradation, and post-translational modification. These results indicate that overexpression of CBF2 not only increases frost tolerance, but also affects other developmental processes, most likely through interactions with additional TFs and protein modification genes. The present findings shed new light on the crucial relationship between plant stress tolerance and longevity, as reported for other eukaryotic organisms.

Background Martian regolith (unconsolidated surface material) is a potential medium for plant growth in bioregenerative life support systems during manned missions on Mars. However, hydrated magnesium sulfate mineral levels in the regolith of Mars can reach as high as 10 wt%, and would be expected to be highly inhibitory to plant growth. Methodology and Principal Findings Disabling ion transporters AtMRS2-10 and AtSULTR1;2, which are plasma membrane localized in peripheral root cells, is not an effective way to confer tolerance to magnesium sulfate soils. Arabidopsis mrs2-10 and sel1-10 knockout lines do not mitigate the growth inhibiting impacts of high MgSO4·7H2O concentrations observed with wildtype plants. A global approach was used to identify novel genes with potential to enhance tolerance to high MgSO4·7H2O (magnesium sulfate) stress. The early Arabidopsis root transcriptome response to elevated concentrations of magnesium sulfate was characterized in Col-0, and also between Col-0 and the mutant line cax1-1, which was confirmed to be relatively tolerant of high levels of MgSO4·7H2O in soil solution. Differentially expressed genes in Col-0 treated for 45 min. encode enzymes primarily involved in hormone metabolism, transcription factors, calcium-binding proteins, kinases, cell wall related proteins and membrane-based transporters. Over 200 genes encoding transporters were differentially expressed in Col-0 up to 180 min. of exposure, and one of the first down-regulated genes was CAX1. The importance of this early response in wildtype Arabidopsis is exemplified in the fact that only four transcripts were differentially expressed between Col-0 and cax1-1 at 180 min. after initiation of treatment. Conclusions/Significance The results provide a solid basis for the understanding of the metabolic response of plants to elevated magnesium sulfate soils; it is the first transcriptome analysis of plants in this environment. The results foster the development of Mars soil-compatible plants by showing that cax1 mutants exhibit partial tolerance to magnesium sulfate, and by elucidating a small subset (500 vs. >10,000) of candidate genes for mutation or metabolic engineering that will enhance tolerance to magnesium sulfate soils.

Many plants of tropical and subtropical origin, including a large number of economically important crops, such as tomato, rice, cotton, cucumber and maize, are severely damaged when exposed to temperatures between 2 and 15 C (chilling temperatures). The symptoms of these chilling injuries include cessation of growth, wilting, chlorosis, and necrosis. In contrast with chilling-sensitive species, the cruciferous plant Arabidopsis thaliana is chilling tolerant, and is able to grow to maturity even at a low temperature of 4 C. Therefore, at the genetic level, Arabidopsis may provide a useful model plant system for the identification of chilling-tolerance traits. Taking a mutational approach several ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS) and T-DNA insertion chilling-sensitive mutants have been identified that show wild-type phenotypes when grown at normal temperatures, but are severely damaged following transfer to low temperatures. These mutants provide valuable genetic sources for the identification of structural or regulatory genes that are crucial for plant survival at chilling temperatures. Furthermore, it has been reported that a number of mutations at several genetic loci involved in fatty acid biosynthesis (fab1) and fatty acid desaturation (fad2, fad5 and fad6) resulted in reduced-growth and chlorosis phenotypes at low temperatures, thus providing direct evidence for the contribution of lipid polyunsaturation to low-temperature fitness. Arabidopsis has also proven to be an efficient model system for the identification of major biochemical mechanisms involved in protection of the photosynthesis system from photooxidative damage following exposure to excess light energy at low temperatures. DNA microarray studies have revealed new insights into the complex network of transcriptional regulation at low temperatures and the possible interrelationships between cold-regulated gene expression and acquisition of chilling tolerance but this work is just beginning. At last, recently, Arabidopsis is also being used as a main model plant system to study possible genetic linkages between the programmed cell death (PCD) mechanism and development of necrotic lesions following exposure to biotic and abiotic stresses, including chilling. Overall, it is concluded that Arabidopsis can potentially be an ideal model system for basic studies on chilling stress and for identification of key components of chilling-tolerance traits in plants. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Plants possess inducible tolerance mechanisms to temperature extremes that contribute to survival, yet many aspects of stress-inducible responses remain poorly understood. One example is the cold induction of pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase gene expression that has long been a mystery. In the present work, comparative transcriptome and metabolite profiling analyses of the cold-shock responses of Arabidopsis reveal the specific coordinated induction of ethanolic fermentation during cold shock. Ethanol, a fluidizing agent of membrane physical structure, appears to be particularly beneficial in helping preserve membrane function and stability during the early stages of cold shock and/or during freezing stress. Brief exposure of Arabidopsis plants or protoplasts to ethanolic solutions enhanced membrane integrity during a freeze-thaw stress. These and other findings provide evidence for a novel functional role of ethanolic fermentation in plant low-temperature stress tolerance.