Expression of Mn-sod, PAL1, aos1 and HPL genes in soybean plants overexpressing the NmDef02 defensin.

Plant defensins are a potential tool in crop improvement programs through biotechnology. Their antifungal action makes them attractive molecules for the production of transgenic plants. Information is currently lacking on what happens to the expression of defense genes in transgenic plants that overexpress a defensin. Here we show the relative expression of four defense-related genes: Mn-sod, PAL1, aos1 and HPL evaluated in two transgenic soybean events (Def1 and Def17) constitutively expressing the NmDef02 defensin gene from Nicotiana megalosiphon. The expression of these defense genes showed a differential profile in the transgenic events, with the increased expression of the aos1 gene and the repression of the Mn-sod gene in both events, when compared to the non-transgenic control. Furthermore, the expression of the PAL1 gene only increased in the Def17 event. The results indicate that although there were some changes in the expression of defense genes in transgenic plants overexpressing the defensin NmDef02; the morphoagronomic parameters evaluated were similar to the non-transgenic control. Understanding the molecular changes that occur in these transgenic plants could be of interest in the short, medium and long term.

Field Resistance to Phakopsora pachyrhizi and Colletotrichum truncatum of Transgenic Soybean Expressing the NmDef02 Plant Defensin Gene.

Fungal diseases lead to significant losses in soybean yields and a decline in seed quality; such is the case of the Asian soybean rust and anthracnose caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi and Colletotrichum truncatum, respectively. Currently, the development of transgenic plants carrying antifungal defensins offers an alternative for plant protection against pathogens. This paper shows the production of transgenic soybean plants expressing the NmDef02 defensin gene using the biolistic delivery system, in an attempt to improve resistance against diseases and reduce the need for chemicals. Transgenic lines were assessed in field conditions under the natural infections of P. pachyrhizi and C. truncatum. The constitutive expression of the NmDef02 gene in transgenic soybean plants was shown to enhance resistance against these important plant pathogens. The quantification of the P. pachyrhizi biomass in infected soybean leaves revealed significant differences between transgenic lines and the non-transgenic control. In certain transgenic lines there was a strong reduction of fungal biomass, revealing a less severe disease. Integration and expression of the transgenes were confirmed by PCR, Southern blot, and qRT-PCR, where the Def1 line showed a higher relative expression of defensin. It was also found that the expression of the NmDef02 defensin gene in plants of the Def1 line did not have a negative effect on the nodulation induced by Bradyrhizobium japonicum. These results indicate that transgenic soybean plants expressing the NmDef02 defensin gene have a substantially enhanced resistance to economically important diseases, providing a sound environmental approach for decreasing yield losses and lowering the burden of chemicals in agriculture.

Stress induced dynamic adjustment of conserved miR164:NAC module.

Aims including the rationale: Salinity and drought are the two major stresses limiting the productivity of economically important crops such as Glycine max (soybean). The incidence of these stresses during the pod development stages affects the quality and quantity of seeds, which compromise the yield of soybean. The miR164:NAC module has been shown to play a critical role in regulating the response to salt and drought stress in several plant species. However, biological role of miR164:NAC module in salt stress in soybean is not fully understood. Methods: In this study, we identified 215 salt responsive miRNAs, using miScript miRNA array with a sensitive and a tolerant soybean genotype, William82 and INCASoy36, respectively. The targets of these salt regulated miRNAs were searched in the degradome datasets. Key results: It was found that four salt stress deregulated miRNAs targeted the NAC transcription factor and among these miR164k and miR408d showed antagonistic expression in the two soybean genotypes. The expression of miR164k was higher in salt tolerant INCASoy36 as compared to salt sensitive William82, under unstressed conditions. However under salt stress, miR164k was downregulated in INCASoy36 (-2.65 fold), whereas it was upregulated in William82 (4.68 fold). A transient co-expression assay validated that gma-miR164k directs the cleavage of GmNAC1 transcript. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the regulation of NAC transcription factor family by members of miR164 family is conserved across many species. The dynamic expression profiles of miR164 and NAC-TFs were captured in different tissues of rice, tobacco, and two soybean genotypes under drought and salt stress conditions. Main conclusion: Collectively, our results suggest that genetically determined dynamic modulation of the conserved miR164:NAC-TF module may play an important role in determining the adaptive response of plants to stress.

Reflexiones acerca de la Enfermería transcultural / Some thoughts about cross-cultural nursing

Madeleine Leininger, enfermera profesional y antropóloga, centró su teoría a partir de la creencia de que las culturas pueden determinar casi todos los cuidados que deseen o necesiten recibir y que las personas tienen derecho a que sus valores culturales sean conocidos, respetados, comprendidos y usados en los servicios de atención sanitaria y, por supuesto, de Enfermería. Estableció principios, suposiciones y premisas para la atención basada en la comunidad, partiendo de que la atención cultural es el objetivo de las acciones enfermeras para la curación y el bienestar de los individuos y grupos de cultura diversa. Tanto los valores, las creencias y las prácticas de atención cultural estarán influenciados por factores tales como el punto de vista del paciente sobre el mundo, su idioma, filosofía, religión, afinidad política, educación e historia étnica. Estableció como guía visual de su teoría el modelo del sol naciente(los cuidados) que facilitan a las enfermeras y enfermeros el modelo para ver las diferentes áreas que necesitan ser examinadas al valorar y planificar la atención a enfermos de culturas diferentes, concluyendo en que la dimensión transcultural es una alternativa para dar el toque humanístico al cuidado enfermero como etnicidad, religión, inmigración y las diferencias generacionales y regionales (AU)

Madeleine Leininger, professional nurse and anthropologist, focused her theory from the belief that cultures can determine almost all the care they want or need to receive and that people are entitled to have their cultural values made known, respected, understood and used in healthcare services and, of course, in nursing. She established principles, assumptions and premises for community-based care on the basis that cultural attention is the purpose of nursing actions for the healing and well-being of individuals and groups of a diverse culture. The values, beliefs and practices of cultural attention will be influenced by such factors as the patient's perspective on the world, language, philosophy, religion, political affiliation, education and ethnic history. She established as a visual model of her theory of the rising sun (care) that provide nurses with the model to see the different areas that need to be considered when assessing and planning care for patients of different cultures, concluding that the cultural dimension is an alternative to the humanistic touch to nursing care such as ethnicity, religion, immigration and generational and regional differences (AU)

Grado de conocimiento sobre el climaterio en las mujeres de edad media / Degree of knowledge about climaterium in females of mid-age

El climaterio constituye una de las etapas más importantes en la vida de la mujer, el cual se caracteriza por la transición de la vida reproductiva a la no reproductiva, en el que tienen lugar cambios hormonales debido a la pérdida gradual y progresiva de la función ovárica, lo que trae por consiguiente manifestaciones clínicas denominadas síndrome climatérico y hoy en día es un evento de gran connotación social. Se realizó un estudio de intervención a mujeres de edad comprendida entre 35 y 45 años, pertenecientes al consultorio número 3 del médico de la familia de la Policlínica 3 René Vallejo Ortíz en el período comprendido entre Septiembre del 2009 a Septiembre de 2010, a las cuales se les aplicó una encuesta destinada a diagnosticar el nivel de conocimientos sobre el climaterio. La muestra de estudio estuvo constituida por 50 mujeres, las variables que se incluyeron en el estudio fueron: edad, estado civil, ocupación, escolaridad y antecedentes patológicos personales. Los resultados más significativos de la investigación estuvieron dados por el casi total desconocimiento del climaterio, el grupo de edades que participó en su mayoría fue el de 35 a 37 años, el nivel de escolaridad que incidió fue el pre-universitario y se logró finalmente un elevado conocimiento sobre el climaterio(AU)

Climaterium is one of the most important stages in females and it is characterized by the transition of reproductive life to the non-reproductive, in which there are some hormonal changes due to the gradual and progressive loss of the ovarian function, which brings about some clinical manifestations known as the climateric syndrome and nowadays it is a social outstanding event. It was performed a research for women between 35 and 45 years old belonging to the family medical consult # 3, from Renee Vallejo Policlinic since September 2009 to September 2010. They were surveyed with the purpose to know the level of knowledge about climaterium. The sample was made by 50 women, the variables that were included in the research were: age, marital status, occupation, school levels, personal clinical antecedents. The most significant results of the research were the cause of the ignorance of climaterium. The group of age that participated was from 35 to 37 years old, the most prevalent school level was pre- university and it was finally obtained a high knowledge about climaterium(EU)