Maternal environment and seed size are important for successful germination and seedling establishment of Pterocarpus erinaceus (Fabaceae)

Seed size and the growth environment are important variables that influence seed germination, growth and biomass of seedlings and future tree harvest and should thus be taken into account in agroforestry and reforestation programmes for endangered species like Pterocarpus erinaceus. In the present study, to assess seedling germination and vigour in P. erinaceus as a function of seed size in two environments, 1080 seeds and 360 seedlings were evaluated at two separate sites in Côte d'Ivoire. The results show that large seeds had very high germination rates (up to 100%) and produced more vigorous plants better able to adapt to climate change. The maternal environment and seed size had a significant influence on seed germination (P < 0.05) and seedling development (P < 0.05) and biomass (P < 0.05). Seedlings were most successful at the site with a humid tropical climate (Daloa). Seedling leaves had the same resistance regardless of seed size and study site, but leaf moisture content was more stable in seedlings grown from medium and small seeds. These results will help guide conservation strategies for the species and are key factors for rural populations, loggers, and forest management structures for the silviculture of this species.

癌症的免疫精准医学:一种基于免疫效应细胞作用的新策略

癌细胞生长与免疫监视逃逸相关。目前,恢复对癌细胞的免疫应答仍是一种主要的治疗策略。得益于生物学领域的最新研究成果,人们已经开发出了可支持免疫精准治疗相关的最佳生物临床途径的有效治疗工具。免疫治疗中最重要的、有效的成果之一是单克隆抗体的应用,特别是利妥昔单抗在B细胞淋巴增生性疾病中的应用。最近,也开发出一些其他的单克隆抗体,通过抑制限制免疫抑制的肿瘤微环境中的免疫检查点,或者通过联合如Toll受体激动剂等免疫佐剂针对不同靶点来增强免疫功能。其目的是通过减少/消除癌症残留细胞来抑制癌症增殖,在临床上改善反应持续时间而无副作用或副作用较小。该效应是依靠直接或间接通过疫苗特别是新抗原来增强免疫效应细胞[包括自然杀伤(natural killer,NK)淋巴细胞、NKT-淋巴细胞、γδT-淋巴细胞、细胞毒性T-淋巴细胞]的数量、功能和活性,以及依靠降低免疫抑制细胞的功能而产生的。除了这些新疗法及其个体化治疗外,还必须考虑新的因素,例如表观遗传调控(特别是来自微生物菌群)、横向功能的评估(特别是细胞代谢),以及对身体整体的临床疗效。本综述旨在探讨免疫治疗的一些实践,向临床医生介绍如何在免疫效应细胞的控制和耐受之间取得平衡。免疫精准医学是现代生物学知识和着眼于患者全局的临床治疗决策的结合。

Correction to:Maternal environment and seed size are important for successful germination and seedling establishment of Pterocarpus erinaceus(Fabaceae)

In the original publication,the year mentioned in the references 1 and 4 of the document have two date errors.The first reference is 2021 and not 2020:Adji BI,Akaffou SD,Kouassi KH,Houphouet YP,Duminil J,Sabatier S(2021)Bioclimate infl uence on seed germination and seedling morphology parameters in Pterocarpus erinaceus Poir.,1804(Fabaceae).International Journal of Environment,Agriculture and Biotechnology 6(3):2456–1878.

Consistency of the k-Nearest Neighbor Classifier for Spatially Dependent Data

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the k-nearest neighbor classification rule for spatially dependent data.Some spatial mixing conditions are considered,and under such spatial structures,the well known k-nearest neighbor rule is suggested to classify spatial data.We established consistency and strong consistency of the classifier under mild assumptions.Our main results extend the consistency result in the i.i.d.case to the spatial case.

The productivity of two serial chemostats

This paper considers the production of biomass of two interconnected chemostats in series with biomass mortality and a growth kinetic of the biomass described by an increasing function.A comparison is made with the productivity of a single chemostat with the same mortality rate and with volume equal to the sum of the volumes of the two chemostats.We determine the operating conditions under which the productivity of the serial configuration is greater than the productivity of the single chemostat.Moreover,the differences and similarities in the results corresponding to the case with mortality and the one without mortality,are highlighted.The mortality leads to surprising results where the productivity of a steady state where the bacteria are washed out in the first chemostat is greater than the one where the bacteria are present in both chemostats.

Immune precision medicine for cancer:a novel insight based on the efficiency of immune effector cells

Cancer cell growth is associated with immune surveillance failure.Nowadays,restoring the desired immune response against cancer cells remains a major therapeutic strategy.Due to the recent advances in biological knowledge,efficient therapeutic tools have been developed to support the best bio-clinical approaches for immune precision therapy.One of the most important successes in immune therapy is represented by the applicational use of monoclonal antibodies,particularly the use of rituximab for B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders.More recently,other monoclonal antibodies have been developed,to inhibit immune checkpoints within the tumor microenvironment that limit immune suppression,or to enhance some immune functions with immune adjuvants through different targets such as Toll-receptor agonists.The aim is to inhibit cancer proliferation by the diminishing/elimination of cancer residual cells and clinically improving the response duration with no or few adverse effects.This effect is supported by enhancing the number,functions,and activity of the immune effector cells,including the natural killer(NK)lymphocytes,NKT-lymphocytes,γδT-lymphocytes,cytotoxic T-lymphocytes,directly or indirectly through vaccines particularly with neoantigens,and by lowering the functions of the immune suppressive cells.Beyond these new therapeutics and their personalized usage,new considerations have to be taken into account,such as epigenetic regulation particularly from microbiota,evaluation of transversal functions,particularly cellular metabolism,and consideration to the clinical consequences at the body level.The aim of this review is to discuss some practical aspects of immune therapy,giving to clinicians the concept of immune effector cells balancing between control and tolerance.Immunological precision medicine is a combination of modern biological knowledge and clinical therapeutic decisions in a global vision of the patient.

Bacterial microcosms obey Taylor’s law:effects of abiotic and biotic stress and genetics on mean and variance of population density

Introduction:According to the empirical regularity called Taylor’s law,the variance of population density in samples of populations is a power of the mean population density.The exponent is often between 1 and 2.Our experiments investigated how genetics,evolution,and environment shape Taylor’s law.Methods:Genetically different strains(wild type and hypermutator)of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens evolved and were assayed under different environmental conditions(with and without antibiotic rifampicin and bacteriophage SBW25
2,separately and in combination).Results:Experimental treatments altered the exponent b,but not the power law form,of the relation between variance and mean population density.Bacterial populations treated only with rifampicin had a narrow range of mean population densities and exponent b=5.43.Populations exposed to rifampicin plus phage had b=1.51.In ancestral,control,and phage-exposed populations,mean abundance varied widely and b was not significantly different from 2.Evolutionary factors(mutation rate,selection)and ecological factors(abiotic,biotic)jointly influenced b.Conclusions:Taylor’s power law relationship accurately and robustly described variance as a function of mean population density,with overall exponent b=1.89.These and other experiments with different factors acting on bacterial population size support the relevance of models that predict‘universal’patterns of fluctuation scaling.

Plasma phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) as an emerging determinant of the adaptive immune response

Plasma phospholipid transfer protein(PLTP)is a multifunctional lipid transporter.In addition to phospholipids,PLTP transports various amphipathic compounds,such as cholesterol,alphatocopherol,diacylglycerides,and lipopolysaccharides.In addition to its impact on lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis development,PLTP has recently been reported to modulate inflammation and immune responses.It modulates the phagocytic activity of macrophages and microglial cells1,2 and increases the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 6(IL-6).3–5 In further support of the pro-inflammatory effect of PLTP,the expression level of IL-6 and the number of infiltrating macrophages in aortic tissue after experimental aneurysm induction were shown to be lower in PLTP-deficient mice than in wild-type mice;6 additionally,recombinant PLTP was shown to exert a direct pro-inflammatory effect on rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes,independent of its lipid transfer activity.7 Notably,despite its direct pro-inflammatory actions,PLTP can exert indirect antiinflammatory actions through its ability to transport and detoxify lipopolysaccharides in gram-negative bacteria.8,9 In humans,the majority of PLTP-associated proteins are involved in innate immunity and/or the inflammatory response in plasma,and PLTP activity is significantly increased in patients with bacterial infections and systemic inflammation.In addition to the key roles of PLTP in innate immunity,a recent publication from our group entitled“Plasma phospholipid transfer protein(PLTP)modulates adaptive immune functions through alternation of T-helper-cell polarization”10 demonstrated for the first time that PLTP can also modulate adaptive immune responses.This modulation occurred through a profound effect on CD4+T-cell polarization toward the pro-inflammatory Th1 subtype.This novel property also supports the pro-inflammatory and pro-atherogenic effects of PLTP(Fig.1).

The structure of natural microbial enemy-victim networks

Introduction:The persistence of generalists and specialists is a topical question in community ecology and results from both ecological and evolutionary processes.At fine taxonomical scales,ecological specialisation,i.e.organisms preferentially exploiting a subset of available habitats,is thought to be a driver promoting niche diversity.It is not clear,however,how different mechanisms interact to shape specialist-generalist coexistence.Methods:We reconstruct the structure of five bacteria-phage networks from soil isolates,and perform an analysis of the relationships between host phylogenetic diversity,parasite specialism,and parasite performance.Results:We show that the co-occurrence of species on a continuum of specialism/generalism is influenced by niche overlap,phage impact on bacterial hosts,and host phylogenetic structure.In addition,using a null-model analysis we show that infection strategies of the phages have more explanatory power than bacterial defenses on key structural features of these antagonistic communities.Conclusions:We report that generalists have more impact on their hosts than specialists,even when the phylogenetic heterogeneity of hosts is controlled for.We discuss our results in the light of their implications for the evolution of biotic interactions.