Impact of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Inoculation and Grafting on Tolerance of Tomato to Combined Water and Nutrient Stress Assessed via Metabolomics Analysis.

In the current study, inoculation with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and grafting were tested as possible cultural practices that may enhance resilience of tomato to stress induced by combined water and nutrient shortage. The roots of tomato grown on perlite were either inoculated or not with PGPR, applying four different treatments. These were PGPR-T1, a mix of two Enterobacter sp. strains (C1.2 and C1.5); PGPR-T2, Paenibacillus sp. strain DN1.2; PGPR-T3, Enterobacter mori strain C3.1; and PGPR-T4, Lelliottia sp. strain D2.4. PGPR-treated plants were either self-grafted or grafted onto Solanum lycopersicum cv. M82 and received either full or 50% of their standard water, nitrogen, and phosphorus needs. The vegetative biomass of plants subjected to PGPR-T1 was not reduced when plants were cultivated under combined stress, while it was reduced by stress to the rest of the PGPR treatments. However, PGPR-T3 increased considerably plant biomass of non-stressed tomato plants than did all other treatments. PGPR application had no impact on fruit biomass, while grafting onto 'M82' increased fruit production than did self-grafting. Metabolomics analysis in tomato leaves revealed that combined stress affects several metabolites, most of them already described as stress-related, including trehalose, myo-inositol, and monopalmitin. PGPR inoculation with E. mori strain C3.1 affected metabolites, which are important for plant/microbe symbiosis (myo-inositol and monopalmitin). The rootstock M82 did not affect many metabolites in plant leaves, but it clearly decreased the levels of malate and D-fructose and imposed an accumulation of oleic acid. In conclusion, PGPR are capable of increasing tomato tolerance to combined stress. However, further research is required to evaluate more strains and refine protocols for their application. Metabolites that were discovered as biomarkers could be used to accelerate the screening process for traits such as stress tolerance to abiotic and/or abiotic stresses. Finally, 'M82' is a suitable rootstock for tomato, as it is capable of increasing fruit biomass production.

A novel use of dextranomer/hyaluronic acid copolymer.

The aim of this study is to present a novel use of Dextranomer/hyaluronic acid copolymer (Deflux) for the treatment of a complicated iatrogenic chronic urethral injury. A 12-year-old boy with a neuropathic bladder presented a groove in the urethral mucosa due to chronic clean intermittent catheterizations (CICs) and suffered a posterior urethral injury during a failed catheterization for a routine examination. The defect on the urethral wall was repaired using Deflux, a technique that is not described in the literature. After the intervention the patient is continuing CICs without further complications.

Somatostatin-producing pancreatic endocrine carcinoma presented as relapsing cholangitis -- a case report.

Somatostatin-producing endocrine tumors are rare neoplasms usually arising in the pancreas and duodenum and they account for less than 1% of all gastrointestinal endocrine tumors. Besides somatostatinoma syndrome, which is characterized by diabetes mellitus, steatorrhea and cholelithiasis, patients with somatostatin-producing endocrine tumors commonly complain of nonspecific symptoms such as vague abdominal pain, weight loss or changes in bowel habits. Tumor behavior cannot be predicted by histological features alone, and malignancy is determined by the presence of metastases. We report here a case of malignant pancreatic endocrine tumor producing somatostatin presented as relapsing cholangitis who was treated with Whipple pancreatoduodenectomy.

Effect of early octreotide administration on the development of esophageal varices in cirrhotic rats.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of chronic octreotide administration on the development of esophageal varices in rats being at the early stages of carbon tetrachloride-induced cirrhosis. For the development of liver cirrhosis and esophageal varices 96 rats underwent ligation of left adrenal vein followed by phenobarbital and carbon tetrachloride administration. After 2 weeks of carbon tetrachloride administration, rats were randomly separated into three groups. Chronic octreotide administration started in group A, normal saline in group B, while 32 rats consisted control group. Haemodynamic studies and morphometric analysis of the lower esophagus were performed 2 weeks after complete induction of cirrhosis. Total submucosal vessel area, mean cross-sectional area of submucosal vessels, percentage of submucosa occupied by vessels, the area of the most dilated submucosal vessel as well as the number of submucosal vessels were studied. Octreotide administration induced a significant ( [Formula: see text] ) decrease of portal vein pressure. Morphometric analysis revealed a significant reduction ( [Formula: see text] ) in octreotide-treated rats of both "total submucosal vessel area" and area of "the most dilated submucosal vessel". Chronic octreotide administration partially prevented rats from the development of esophageal varices. Octreotide-treated rats were found to have a less pronounced dilatation of submucosal veins compared to placebo-treated group rats. We believe that this effect was mainly due to the decrease of portal vein pressure induced by chronic octreotide administration.