The experience of yoga for persons with complex interpersonal trauma: A phenomenological approach.

BACKGROUND: and Purpose: Complex Interpersonal Trauma is a phenomenon with great impact on the American population. Persons who have survived complex interpersonal traumas can experience symptoms beyond what is captured in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual's (DSM-5) diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Yoga is an ancient practice that has been found to have healing benefit for persons impacted by complex interpersonal trauma. The purpose of this study is to further the body of clinical research in support of yoga as a therapeutic intervention. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study uses transcendental phenomenology methodology to gain a deeper understanding of the experience of yoga for those who have survived complex interpersonal trauma. Narrative interviews were used to gather data, yielding insight that aligns with current findings in literature supporting yoga as a healing intervention. The sample size for this study was five participants. RESULTS: This study's findings shed light on the benefits of yoga for persons with complex interpersonal trauma. Themes discovered include transformation through yoga, comparing holistic benefits through opposing yoga styles, community and relationships, and trauma healing. CONCLUSION: This study and its findings offer implications for clinical social work practice to incorporate yoga as a therapeutic intervention for trauma.

The development of an unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis of dual-polarization weather surveillance radar observations to assess nocturnal insect abundance and diversity.

Contemporary analyses of insect population trends are based, for the most part, on a large body of heterogeneous and short-term datasets of diurnal species that are representative of limited spatial domains. This makes monitoring changes in insect biomass and biodiversity difficult. What is needed is a method for monitoring that provides a consistent, high-resolution picture of insect populations through time over large areas during day and night. Here, we explore the use of X-band weather surveillance radar (WSR) for the study of local insect populations using a high-quality, multi-week time series of nocturnal moth light trapping data. Specifically, we test the hypotheses that (i) unsupervised data-driven classification algorithms can differentiate meteorological and biological phenomena, (ii) the diversity of the classes of bioscatterers are quantitatively related to the diversity of insects as measured on the ground and (iii) insect abundance measured at ground level can be predicted quantitatively based on dual-polarization Doppler WSR variables. Adapting the quasi-vertical profile analysis method and data clustering techniques developed for the analysis of hydrometeors, we demonstrate that our bioscatterer classification algorithm successfully differentiates bioscatterers from hydrometeors over a large spatial scale and at high temporal resolutions. Furthermore, our results also show a clear relationship between biological and meteorological scatterers and a link between the abundance and diversity of radar-based bioscatterer clusters and that of nocturnal aerial insects. Thus, we demonstrate the potential utility of this approach for landscape scale monitoring of biodiversity.

The relationship between members of the canonical NF-kB pathway, tumour microenvironment and cancer specific survival in colorectal cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the upstream kinase TAK1 and the canonical NF-κB pathway colorectal in cancer (CRC). Immunohistochemistry was used to assess the expression of TAK1/pTAK1 and canonical NF-κB pathway members in a tissue microarray of 242 patients. The relationship between expression, the tumour microenvironment and cancer-specific survival were examined. RESULTS: All the investigated members of the pathway were expressed in CRC tissue. In addition, cytoplasmic pTAK1 was associated with the tumour microenvironment (P=0.045) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) (P=0.032). When cytoplasmic pTAK1 was stratified by BRAF status, cytoplasmic pTAK1 expression association with CSS was strengthened (P=0.014). Cytoplasmic IKKß was significantly associated with the inflammatory cell infiltrate (P=0.015) as graded by Klintrup Makinen grade, systemic inflammation as assessed by neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (P=0.03) and CSS (P=0.046). On multivariate analysis cytoplasmic IKKß was independently associated with CSS (HR 1.75,95%CI 1.05-2.91, P=0.033). CONCLUSION: Cytoplasmic pTAK1 was significantly associated with CSS and this was enhanced in patients with tumours that expressed wild type BRAF. High expression of cytoplasmic IKKß was significantly associated with decreased CSS and with markers of the tumour microenvironment. These results support the hypothesis that NF-κB pathway members are poor prognostic markers in patients with CRC, but this requires to be validated in a large independent cohort.

Correction to: Mixture deconvolution by massively parallel sequencing of microhaplotypes.

The original version of this article contained an author name error. In this article, Katrina Madella has been corrected to Katrina Maddela.

Mixture deconvolution by massively parallel sequencing of microhaplotypes.

Short tandem repeat polymorphisms (STRs) are the standard markers for forensic human identification. STRs are highly polymorphic loci analyzed using a direct PCR-to-CE (capillary electrophoresis) approach. However, STRs have limitations particularly when dealing with complex mixtures. These include slippage of the polymerase during amplification causing stutter fragments that can be indistinguishable from minor contributor alleles, preferential amplification of shorter alleles, and limited number of loci that can be effectively co-amplified with CE. Massively parallel sequencing (MPS), by enabling a higher level of multiplexing and actual sequencing of the DNA, provides forensic practitioners an increased power of discrimination offered by the sequence of STR alleles and access to new sequence-based markers. Microhaplotypes (i.e., microhaps or MHs) are emerging multi-allelic loci of two or more SNPs within < 300 bp that are highly polymorphic, have alleles all of the same length, and do not generate stutter fragments. The growing number of loci described in the literature along with initial mixture investigations supports the potential for microhaps to aid in mixture interpretation and the purpose of this study was to demonstrate that practically. A panel of 36 microhaplotypes, selected from a set of over 130 loci, was tested with the Ion S5™ MPS platform (Thermo Fisher Scientific) on single-source samples, synthetic two-to-six person mixtures at different concentrations/contributor ratios, and on crime scene-like samples. The panel was tested both in multiplex with STRs and SNPs and individually. The analysis of single-source samples showed that the allele coverage ratio across all loci was 0.88 ± 0.08 which is in line with the peak height ratio of STR alleles in CE. In mixture studies, results showed that the input DNA can be much higher than with conventional CE, without the risk of oversaturating the detection system, enabling an increased sensitivity for the minor contributor in imbalanced mixtures with abundant amounts of DNA. Furthermore, the absence of stutter fragments simplifies the interpretation. On casework-like samples, MPS of MHs enabled the detection of a higher number of alleles from minor donors than MPS and CE of STRs. These results demonstrated that MPS of microhaplotypes can complement STRs and enhance human identification practices when dealing with complex imbalanced mixtures.

A novel tumor-based epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition score that associates with prognosis and metastasis in patients with Stage II/III colorectal cancer.

It is increasingly appreciated that host factors within the tumor center and microenvironment play a key role in dictating colorectal cancer (CRC) outcomes. As a result, the metastatic process has now been defined as a result of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Establishment of the role of EMT within the tumor center and its effect on the tumor microenvironment would be beneficial for prognosis and therapeutic intervention in CRC. The present study assessed five immunohistochemical EMT markers within the tumor center on a 185 Stage II/III CRC patient tissue microarray. In 185 patients with CRC, cytoplasmic snail (HR 1.94 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.15-3.29, p = 0.012) and a novel combined EMT score (HR 3.86 95% CI 2.17-6.86, p < 0.001) were associated with decreased cancer-specific survival. The combined EMT score was also associated with increased tumor budding (p = 0.046), and systemic inflammation (p = 0.007), as well as decreased memory T-cells within the stroma (p = 0.030) and at the invasive margin (p = 0.035). Furthermore, the combined EMT score was associated with cancer-specific survival independent of TNM-stage (HR 4.12 95% CI 2.30-7.39, p < 0.001). In conclusion, a novel combined EMT score stratifies patient's survival in Stage II/III CRC and associates with key factors of tumor metastasis. Therefore, the combined EMT score could be used to identify patients at risk of micrometastases and who may benefit from standard adjuvant therapy, potentially in combination with EMT blockade.

Predictive Biomarkers for Endocrine Therapy: Retrospective Study in Tamoxifen and Exemestane Adjuvant Multinational (TEAM) Trial.

Background: Aromatase inhibitors improve disease-free survival compared with tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. The Tamoxifen and Exemestane Adjuvant Multinational (TEAM) trial compared exemestane monotherapy with sequential therapy of tamoxifen followed by exemestane. The trial failed to show a statistically significant difference between treatment arms. A robust translational program was established to investigate predictive biomarkers. Methods: A tissue microarray was retrospectively constructed using a subset of patient tissues (n = 4631) from the TEAM trial (n = 9766). Immunohistochemistry was performed for biomarkers, classed into three groups: MAPK pathway, NF-kappa B pathway, and estrogen receptor (ER) phosphorylation. Expression was analyzed for association with relapse-free survival (RFS) at 2.5 and 10 years and treatment regimen using Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank analysis. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: In univariate analysis, ER167 (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.59 to 0.85, P < .001), IKKα (HR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.60 to 0.92, P = .005), Raf-1338 (HR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.52 to 0.80, P < .001), and p44/42 MAPK202/204 (HR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.64 to 0.92, P = .004) were statistically significantly associated with improved RFS at 10 years in patients receiving sequential therapy. Associations were strengthened when IKKα, Raf-1338, and ER167 were combined into a cumulative prognostic score (HR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.52 to 0.77, P < .001). Patients with an all negative IKKα, Raf-1338, and ER167 score favored exemestane monotherapy (odds ratio = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.35 to 0.90). In multivariable analysis, the IKKα, Raf-1338, and ER167 score (P = .001) was an independent prognostic factor for RFS at 10 years in patients receiving sequential therapy. Conclusions: The IKKα, Raf-1338, and ER167 score is an independent predictive biomarker for lower recurrence on sequential therapy. Negative expression may further offer predictive value for exemestane monotherapy.

Implementation of Glycan Remodeling to Plant-Made Therapeutic Antibodies.

N-glycosylation profoundly affects the biological stability and function of therapeutic proteins, which explains the recent interest in glycoengineering technologies as methods to develop biobetter therapeutics. In current manufacturing processes, N-glycosylation is host-specific and remains difficult to control in a production environment that changes with scale and production batches leading to glycosylation heterogeneity and inconsistency. On the other hand, in vitro chemoenzymatic glycan remodeling has been successful in producing homogeneous pre-defined protein glycoforms, but needs to be combined with a cost-effective and scalable production method. An efficient chemoenzymatic glycan remodeling technology using a plant expression system that combines in vivo deglycosylation with an in vitro chemoenzymatic glycosylation is described. Using the monoclonal antibody rituximab as a model therapeutic protein, a uniform Gal2GlcNAc2Man3GlcNAc2 (A2G2) glycoform without α-1,6-fucose, plant-specific α-1,3-fucose or ß-1,2-xylose residues was produced. When compared with the innovator product Rituxan®, the plant-made remodeled afucosylated antibody showed similar binding affinity to the CD20 antigen but significantly enhanced cell cytotoxicity in vitro. Using a scalable plant expression system and reducing the in vitro deglycosylation burden creates the potential to eliminate glycan heterogeneity and provide affordable customization of therapeutics' glycosylation for maximal and targeted biological activity. This feature can reduce cost and provide an affordable platform to manufacture biobetter antibodies.

The relationship between members of the canonical NF-κB pathway, components of tumour microenvironment and survival in patients with invasive ductal breast cancer.

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between tumour NF-κB activation, tumour microenvironment including local inflammatory response (LIR) and cancer-specific survival in patients with operable ductal breast cancer.Immunohistochemistry (tissue microarray of 376 patients) and western blotting (MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells) was performed to assess expression of key members of the canonical NF-κB pathway (inhibitory kappa B kinase (IKKß) and phosphorylated p65 Ser-536 (p-p65)). Following silencing of IKKß, cell viability and apoptosis was assessed in both MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines.P-p65 was associated with cancer-specific survival (CSS) (nuclear P=0.042 and total P=0.025). High total p-p65 was associated with increase grade tumour grade (P=0.010), ER positivity (P=0.023), molecular subtype (P=0.005), lower Klintrup-Makinen grade (P=0.013) and decreased CD138 count (P=0.032). On multivariate analysis, total p-p65 expression independently associated with poorer CSS (P=0.020). In vitro work demonstrated that the canonical NF-κB pathway was inducible by exposure to TNFα in ER-positive MCF7 cells and to a lesser extent in ER-negative MDA-MB-231 cells. Reduction of IKKß expression by siRNA transfection increased levels of apoptosis and reduced cell viability in both MCF7 (P=<0.001, P=<0.001, respectively) and MDA-MB-231 cells (P=>0.001, P=0.002, respectively). This is consistent with the hypothesis that canonical IKKß-NF-κB signalling drives tumour survival.These results suggest that activation of the canonical NF-κB pathway is an important determinant of poor outcome in patients with invasive ductal breast cancer.

High IKKα expression is associated with reduced time to recurrence and cancer specific survival in oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer.

The aim of our study was to examine the relationship between tumour IKKα expression and breast cancer recurrence and survival. Immunohistochemistry was employed in a discovery and a validation tissue microarray to assess the association of tumour IKKα expression and clinico-pathological characteristics. After siRNA-mediated silencing of IKKα, cell viability and apoptosis were assessed in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. In both the discovery and validation cohorts, associations observed between IKKα and clinical outcome measures were potentiated in oestrogen receptor (ER) positive Luminal A tumours. In the discovery cohort, cytoplasmic IKKα was associated with disease-free survival (p = 0.029) and recurrence-free survival on tamoxifen (p < 0.001) in Luminal A tumours. Nuclear IKKα and a combination of cytoplasmic and nuclear IKKα (total tumour cell IKKα) were associated with cancer-specific survival (p = 0.012 and p = 0.007, respectively) and recurrence-free survival on tamoxifen (p = 0.013 and p < 0.001, respectively) in Luminal A tumours. In the validation cohort, cytoplasmic IKKα was associated with cancer-specific survival (p = 0.023), disease-free survival (p = 0.002) and recurrence-free survival on tamoxifen (p = 0.009) in Luminal A tumours. Parallel experiment with breast cancer cells in vitro demonstrated the non-canonical NF-κB pathway was inducible by exposure to lymphotoxin in ER-positive MCF7 cells and not in ER-negative MDA-MB-231 cells. Reduction in IKKα expression by siRNA transfection increased levels of apoptosis and reduced cell viability in MCF7 but not in MDA-MB-231 cells. IKKα is an important determinant of poor outcome in patients with ER-positive invasive ductal breast cancer and thus may represent a potential therapeutic target.

Relationship between tumour PTEN/Akt/COX-2 expression, inflammatory response and survival in patients with colorectal cancer.

In patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), local and systemic inflammatory responses have been extensively reported to associate with cancer survival. However, the specific signalling pathways responsible for inflammatory responses are not clear. The PTEN/Akt pathway is a plausible candidate as it may play a role in mediating inflammation via COX-2, and has been associated with cancer progression. This study therefore examined the relationship between tumour PTEN/Akt/COX-2 expression, inflammatory responses and survival in CRC patients using a tissue microarray.In 201 CRC patients, activation of tumour-specific PTEN/Akt significantly associated with poorer CSS (12.0yrs v 7.3yrs, P=0.032), poorer differentiation (P=0.032), venous invasion (P=0.008) and peritoneal involvement (P=0.004). Patients were stratified for peri-nuclear expression of COX-2 to examine associations with inflammatory responses. In patients with absent peri-nuclear COX-2 expression, activation of tumour-specific PTEN/Akt significantly associated with poorer CSS (11.9yrs v 5.4yrs, P=0.001), poorer differentiation (P=0.018), venous invasion (P=0.003) and peritoneal involvement (P=0.001). However, no associations were seen with either the local or systemic inflammatory responses.In CRC patients, tumour-specific PTEN/Akt pathway activation was significantly associated with poorer CSS, particularly when peri-nuclear COX-2 expression was absent. However, activation of the PTEN/Akt pathway appears not to be responsible for the regulation of inflammatory responses.

Commercial-scale biotherapeutics manufacturing facility for plant-made pharmaceuticals.

Rapid, large-scale manufacture of medical countermeasures can be uniquely met by the plant-made-pharmaceutical platform technology. As a participant in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Blue Angel project, the Caliber Biotherapeutics facility was designed, constructed, commissioned and released a therapeutic target (H1N1 influenza subunit vaccine) in <18 months from groundbreaking. As of 2015, this facility was one of the world's largest plant-based manufacturing facilities, with the capacity to process over 3500 kg of plant biomass per week in an automated multilevel growing environment using proprietary LED lighting. The facility can commission additional plant grow rooms that are already built to double this capacity. In addition to the commercial-scale manufacturing facility, a pilot production facility was designed based on the large-scale manufacturing specifications as a way to integrate product development and technology transfer. The primary research, development and manufacturing system employs vacuum-infiltrated Nicotiana benthamiana plants grown in a fully contained, hydroponic system for transient expression of recombinant proteins. This expression platform has been linked to a downstream process system, analytical characterization, and assessment of biological activity. This integrated approach has demonstrated rapid, high-quality production of therapeutic monoclonal antibody targets, including a panel of rituximab biosimilar/biobetter molecules and antiviral antibodies against influenza and dengue fever.

Clinical implications for loss or diminution of expression of Raf-1 kinase inhibitory protein and its phosphorylated form in ductal breast cancer.

Raf Kinase inhibitory protein (RKIP) is a well-established metastasis suppressor that is frequently downregulated in aggressive cancers. The impact of RKIP and its phosphorylated form on disease-free survival (DFS) and other clinicopathological parameters in breast cancer is yet to be discovered. To this end, we examined RKIP expression in 3 independent breast cancer cohorts. At the Protein level, loss or reduced total RKIP expression was associated with large-sized tumors characterized by high proliferative index, high-grade and diminished estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptor expression. Loss or diminution of RKIP expression was significantly associated with shorter DFS in all cohorts. Moreover, the complete loss of p-RKIP was an independent prognostic factor using multivariate analysis in operable invasive ductal breast cancer. We show for the first time that ER, partly, drives RKIP expression through MTA3-Snail axis. Consistent with this finding, we found that, at the mRNA level, RKIP expression varied significantly across the different molecular subtypes of breast cancer with the Luminal (ER+) subtype expressing high levels of RKIP and the more aggressive Claudin-low (ER-) subtype, which depicted the highest epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) registered the lowest RKIP expression levels. In conclusion, loss of expression/diminution of RKIP or its phosphorylated form is associated with poor diseases-free survival in breast cancer. Determining the expression of RKIP and p-RKIP adds significant prognostic value to the management and subtyping of this disease.

Androgen receptor phosphorylation at serine 308 and serine 791 predicts enhanced survival in castrate resistant prostate cancer patients.

We previously reported that AR phosphorylation at serine 213 was associated with poor outcome and may contribute to prostate cancer development and progression. This study investigates if specific AR phosphorylation sites have differing roles in the progression of hormone naïve prostate cancer (HNPC) to castrate resistant disease (CRPC). A panel of phosphospecific antibodies were employed to study AR phosphorylation in 84 matched HNPC and CRPC tumours. Immunohistochemistry measured Androgen receptor expression phosphorylated at serine residues 94 (pAR94), 308 (pAR308), 650(pAR650) and 791 (pAR791). No correlations with clinical parameters were observed for pAR94 or pAR650 in HNPC or CRPC tumours. In contrast to our previous observation with serine 213, high pAR308 is significantly associated with a longer time to disease specific death (p = 0.011) and high pAR791 expression significantly associated with a longer time to disease recurrence (p = 0.018) in HNPC tumours and longer time to death from disease recurrence (p = 0.040) in CRPC tumours. This observation in CRPC tumours was attenuated in high apoptotic tumours (p = 0.022) and low proliferating tumours (p = 0.004). These results demonstrate that understanding the differing roles of AR phosphorylation is necessary before this can be exploited as a target for castrate resistant prostate cancer.

Circadian activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase MAK-1 facilitates rhythms in clock-controlled genes in Neurospora crassa.

The circadian clock regulates the expression of many genes involved in a wide range of biological functions through output pathways such as mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. We demonstrate here that the clock regulates the phosphorylation, and thus activation, of the MAPKs MAK-1 and MAK-2 in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. In this study, we identified genetic targets of the MAK-1 pathway, which is homologous to the cell wall integrity pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) pathway in mammals. When MAK-1 was deleted from Neurospora cells, vegetative growth was reduced and the transcript levels for over 500 genes were affected, with significant enrichment for genes involved in protein synthesis, biogenesis of cellular components, metabolism, energy production, and transcription. Additionally, of the ~500 genes affected by the disruption of MAK-1, more than 25% were previously identified as putative clock-controlled genes. We show that MAK-1 is necessary for robust rhythms of two morning-specific genes, i.e., ccg-1 and the mitochondrial phosphate carrier protein gene NCU07465. Additionally, we show clock regulation of a predicted chitin synthase gene, NCU04352, whose rhythmic accumulation is also dependent upon MAK-1. Together, these data establish a role for the MAK-1 pathway as an output pathway of the circadian clock and suggest a link between rhythmic MAK-1 activity and circadian control of cellular growth.

Knowledge translation efforts in child and youth mental health: a systematic review.

The availability of knowledge translation strategies that have been empirically studied and proven useful is a critical prerequisite to narrowing the research-to-practice gap in child and youth mental health. Through this review the authors sought to determine the current state of scientific knowledge of the effectiveness of knowledge translation approaches in child and youth mental health by conducting a systematic review of the research evidence. The findings and quality of the 12 included studies are discussed. Future work of high methodological quality that explores a broader range of knowledge translation strategies and practitioners to which they are applied and that also attends to implementation process is recommended.

Direct transcriptional control of a p38 MAPK pathway by the circadian clock in Neurospora crassa.

MAPK signal transduction pathways are important regulators of stress responses, cellular growth, and differentiation. In Neurospora, the circadian clock controls rhythms in phosphorylation of the p38-like MAPK (OS-2); however, the mechanism for this regulation is not known. We show that the WCC, a transcription factor and clock component, binds to the os-4 MAPKKK promoter in response to light and rhythmically in constant darkness, peaking in the subjective morning. Deletion of the WCC binding sites in the os-4 promoter disrupts both os-4 mRNA and OS-2 phosphorylation rhythms. The clock also indirectly regulates rhythmic expression of the histidyl-phosphotransferase gene, hpt-1, which peaks in the evening. Anti-phase expression of positive (OS-4) and negative (HPT-1) MAPK pathway regulators likely coordinate to enhance rhythmic MAPK activation to prepare cells to respond to osmotic stress during the day in the natural environment. Consistent with this idea, we show that wild type cells have a clock-dependent morning kinetic advantage in glycerol accumulation after salt stress as compared to evening treatment. Thus, circadian transcriptional control of MAPK pathway components leads to striking time-of-day-specific effects on the signaling status and physiological response of the pathway.

Selenium hyperaccumulation offers protection from cell disruptor herbivores.

BACKGROUND: Hyperaccumulation, the rare capacity of certain plant species to accumulate toxic trace elements to levels several orders of magnitude higher than other species growing on the same site, is thought to be an elemental defense mechanism against herbivores and pathogens. Previous research has shown that selenium (Se) hyperaccumulation protects plants from a variety of herbivores and pathogens. Selenium hyperaccumulating plants sequester Se in discrete locations in the leaf periphery, making them potentially more susceptible to some herbivore feeding modes than others. In this study we investigate the protective function of Se in the Se hyperaccumulators Stanleya pinnata and Astragalus bisulcatus against two cell disrupting herbivores, the western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) and the two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae). RESULTS: Astragalus bisulcatus and S. pinnata with high Se concentrations (greater than 650 mg Se kg(-1)) were less subject to thrips herbivory than plants with low Se levels (less than 150 mg Se kg(-1)). Furthermore, in plants containing elevated Se levels, leaves with higher concentrations of Se suffered less herbivory than leaves with less Se. Spider mites also preferred to feed on low-Se A. bisulcatus and S. pinnata plants rather than high-Se plants. Spider mite populations on A. bisulcatus decreased after plants were given a higher concentration of Se. Interestingly, spider mites could colonize A. bisulcatus plants containing up to 200 mg Se kg(-1) dry weight, concentrations which are toxic to many other herbivores. Selenium distribution and speciation studies using micro-focused X-ray fluorescence (µXRF) mapping and Se K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy revealed that the spider mites accumulated primarily methylselenocysteine, the relatively non-toxic form of Se that is also the predominant form of Se in hyperaccumulators. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first reported study investigating the protective effect of hyperaccumulated Se against cell-disrupting herbivores. The finding that Se protected the two hyperaccumulator species from both cell disruptors lends further support to the elemental defense hypothesis and increases the number of herbivores and feeding modes against which Se has shown a protective effect. Because western flower thrips and two-spotted spider mites are widespread and economically important herbivores, the results from this study also have potential applications in agriculture or horticulture, and implications for the management of Se-rich crops.

A connection between MAPK pathways and circadian clocks.

Circadian clocks and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways are fundamental features of eukaryotic cells. Both pathways provide mechanisms for cells to respond to environmental stimuli, and links between them are known. We recently reported that the circadian clock in Neurospora crassa regulates daily rhythms in accumulation of phosphorylated, and thus active, OS-2 MAPK, a relative of mammalian p38 MAPK, when cells are grown in constant conditions. In the absence of acute stress, rhythmically activated MAPK then signals to downstream effector molecules to regulate rhythmic expression of target genes of the pathway. Clock regulation of MAPK signaling pathways provides a mechanism to coordinately control major groups of genes such that they peak at the appropriate times of day to provide a growth and survival advantage to the organism by anticipating stresses. MAPK pathways are well known for their role in cell proliferation and tumor suppression. New evidence reveals that some mammalian clock components also function as tumor suppressors and rhythms in phospho-MAPK have been observed in higher eukaryotes. Thus, the role of the clock in regulation of the activity of MAPK pathways provides important clues into the function of the circadian clock as a tumor suppressor.