Frailty trajectories in community-dwelling older adults during COVID-19 pandemic: The PRESTIGE study.

BACKGROUND: Frailty has been recognized as potential surrogate of biological age and relevant risk factor for COVID-19 severity. Thus, it is important to explore the frailty trajectories during COVID-19 pandemic and understand how COVID-19 directly and indirectly impacts on frailty condition. METHODS: We enrolled 217 community-dwelling older adults with available information on frailty condition as assessed by multidimensional frailty model both at baseline and at one-year follow-up using Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI) tools. Pre-frail/frail subjects were identified at baseline as those with MPI score >0.33 (MPI grades 2-3). Frailty worsening was defined by MPI difference between 12 months follow-up and baseline ≥0.1. Multivariable logistic regression was modelled to identify predictors of worsening of frailty condition. RESULTS: Frailer subjects at baseline (MPI grades 2-3 = 48.4%) were older, more frequently female and had higher rates of hospitalization and Sars-CoV-2 infection compared to robust ones (MPI grade 1). Having MPI grades 2-3 at baseline was associated with higher risk of further worsening of frailty condition (adjusted odd ratio (aOR): 13.60, 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.01-46.09), independently by age, gender and Sars-CoV-2 infection. Specifically, frail subjects without COVID-19 (aOR: 14.84, 95% CI: 4.26-51.74) as well as those with COVID-19 (aOR: 12.77, 95% CI: 2.66-61.40, p = 0.001) had significantly higher risk of worsening of frailty condition. CONCLUSIONS: Effects of COVID-19 pandemic among community-dwelling frailer individuals are far beyond the mere infection and disease, determining a significant deterioration of frailty status both in infected and non-infected subjects.

Comprehensive polyphenolic profiling in promising resistant grapevine hybrids including 17 novel breeds in northern Italy.

BACKGROUND: A promising way to overcome the susceptibility of Vitis vinifera L. to fungal diseases is the integration of genetic resistance by the interspecific crossing between V. vinifera varieties and resistant species. However, the products of such hybrids are still not accepted by customers, particularly due to their organoleptic characteristics, not least influenced by their polyphenolic profile. RESULTS: A total of 58 resistant breeding lines, 41 from international programs and 17 new progeny individuals, were grown in one untreated vineyard to exclude any variances by climatic and pedologic conditions or vineyard practice. A total of 60 polyphenols (including acids, anthocyanins, flavonols, flavan-3-ols, and stilbenoids) were determined in grapevine berries by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in two consecutive years. The overall profiles were rather consistent (variation P > 0.05) within the two harvests, with the exceptions of epicatechin and caftaric acid. Anthocyanin diglucosides were found in ten of the red breeding lines, malvidin-3,5-O-diglucoside being predominant in nine of them. Total polyphenol content of the unknown progeny individuals and international breeding lines was comparable, with the exception of significantly increased amounts of gallic acid and some flavonoids. CONCLUSION: The comprehensive study reported herein of the polyphenolic profile of hybrids from international breeding programs, but also of new breeds from private initiatives, all cultivated in the same vineyard, will support the selection of promising candidates for further breeding programs to overcome impairment due to undesired sensory characteristics of new highly resistant varieties.

R-Loci Arrangement Versus Downy and Powdery Mildew Resistance Level: A Vitis Hybrid Survey.

For the viticulture of the future, it will be an essential prerequisite to manage grapevine diseases with fewer chemical inputs. The development and the deployment of novel mildew resistant varieties are considered one of the most promising strategies towards a sustainable viticulture. In this regard, a collection of 102 accessions derived from crossing Vitis hybrids with V. vinifera varieties was studied. In addition to the true-to-type analysis, an exhaustive genetic characterization was carried out at the 11 reliable mildew resistance (R) loci available in the literature to date. Our findings highlight the pyramiding of R-loci against downy mildew in 15.7% and against powdery mildew in 39.2% of the total accessions. The genetic analysis was coupled with a three-year evaluation of disease symptoms in an untreated field in order to assess the impact of the R-loci arrangement on the disease resistance degree at leaf and bunch level. Overall, our results strongly suggest that R-loci pyramiding does not necessarily mean to increase the overall disease resistance, but it guarantees the presence of further barriers in case of pathogens overcoming the first. Moreover, our survey allows the discovery of new mildew resistance sources useful for novel QTL identifications towards marker-assisted breeding.

"Ageism" Is Associated With Self-Reported Multidimensional Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Subjects: A Population-Based Study.

Ageism is a stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination against people, based on age. Ageism may impact the quality of life and the care of older people, a problem that can be greater when the older person is "frail." However, few studies explored the role of frailty as a factor related to ageism. The aim of this study was to assess the association between perceived age discrimination (PAD), i.e., ageism, and multidimensional frailty in a cohort of community-dwelling older adults. We enrolled 1,337 community-dwelling subjects over-65 years that filled out a structured questionnaire to collect psycho-socio-economic and behavioral information. Multidimensional frailty was assessed by the SELFY-Multidimensional Prognostic Index Short-Form (SELFY-MPI-SF). PAD, over the past 5 years, was assessed based on explicit criteria. Overall, 83 out of 1,337 participants (6.2%) reported PAD. These subjects were older, more frequently women, with greater economic difficulties, lower level of cultural fruition, social network and psychological well-being, and a greater degree of frailty compared to their counterparts. After adjustment for age and gender, multidimensional frailty (SELFY-MPI-SF score) and negative affectivity were the two only "predictors" significantly associated with PAD (SELFY -MPI-SF, Odds Ratio: 1.19, 95%CI: 1.029-1.370; PANAS negative: Odds Ratio: 1.06, 95%CI: 1.033-1.099). In conclusion, self-reported frailty and negative affectivity are independently associated with PAD in community-dwelling older people. Interventions to prevent and treat frailty could be useful to reduce ageism and improve the well-being of the older people.

QTL validation and stability for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in apple.

The aroma trait in apple is a key factor for fruit quality strongly affecting the consumer appreciation, and its detection and analysis is often an extremely laborious and time consuming procedure. Molecular markers associated to this trait can to date represent a valuable selection tool to overcome these limitations. QTL mapping is the first step in the process of targeting valuable molecular markers to be employed in marker-assisted breeding programmes (MAB). However, a validation step is usually required before a newly identified molecular marker can be implemented in marker-assisted selection. In this work the position of a set of QTLs associated to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was confirmed and validated in three different environments in Switzerland, namely Wädenswil, Conthey and Cadenazzo, where the progeny 'Fiesta×Discovery' was replicated. For both QTL identification and validation, the phenotypic data were represented by VOCs produced by mature apple fruit and assessed with a Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS) instrument. The QTL-VOC combined analysis performed among these three locations validated the presence of important QTLs in three specific genomic regions, two located in the linkage group 2 and one in linkage group 15, respectively, for compounds related to esters (m/z 43, 61 and 131) and to the hormone ethylene (m/z 28). The QTL set presented here confirmed that in apple some compounds are highly genetically regulated and stable across environments.

The genome of the domesticated apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.).

We report a high-quality draft genome sequence of the domesticated apple (Malus × domestica). We show that a relatively recent (>50 million years ago) genome-wide duplication (GWD) has resulted in the transition from nine ancestral chromosomes to 17 chromosomes in the Pyreae. Traces of older GWDs partly support the monophyly of the ancestral paleohexaploidy of eudicots. Phylogenetic reconstruction of Pyreae and the genus Malus, relative to major Rosaceae taxa, identified the progenitor of the cultivated apple as M. sieversii. Expansion of gene families reported to be involved in fruit development may explain formation of the pome, a Pyreae-specific false fruit that develops by proliferation of the basal part of the sepals, the receptacle. In apple, a subclade of MADS-box genes, normally involved in flower and fruit development, is expanded to include 15 members, as are other gene families involved in Rosaceae-specific metabolism, such as transport and assimilation of sorbitol.