Changes in Antioxidant Defence System in Durum Wheat under Hyperosmotic Stress: A Concise Overview

Durum wheat is one of the most commonly cultivated species in the world and represents a key commodity for many areas worldwide, as its grain is used for production of many foods, such as pasta, bread, couscous, and bourghul. Durum wheat grain has a relevant role in the human diet, providing carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, fibres, vitamins, and minerals, as well as highly valued bioactive compounds contributing to a healthy diet. Durum wheat is largely cultivated in the Mediterranean basin, where it is mainly grown under rain-fed conditions, thus currently undergoing drought stress, as well as soil salinity, which can hamper yield potential and influence the qualitative characteristics of grain. When plants suffer drought and/or salinity stress, a condition known as hyperosmotic stress is established at cellular level. This leads to the accumulation of ROS thus generating in turn an oxidative stress condition, which can ultimately result in the impairment of cellular integrity and functionality. To counteract oxidative damage due to excessive ROS production under stress, plants have evolved a complex array of both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant mechanisms, working jointly and synergically for maintenance of ROS homeostasis. Enhancement of antioxidant defence system has been demonstrated as an adaptive mechanism associated to an increased tolerance to hyperosmotic stress. In the light of these considerations, this review provides a concise overview on recent advancements regarding the role of the ascorbate-glutathione cycle and the main antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidases) in durum wheat response to drought and salt stresses that are expected to become more and more frequent due to the ongoing climate changes.

Framing Civil Defence Critique: Swiss Physicians’ Resistance to the Coordinated Medical Services in the 1980s

The Coordinated Medical Services, an emblematic organisation of Switzerland’s total national defence system, were operational at the beginning of the 1980s. Through the Coordinated Medical Services, Swiss authorities propagated a sociotechnical imaginary the core of which was that Switzerland was able to survive a nuclear war through a huge collective effort. This vision faced severe criticism, in particular, from members of the Physicians for Social Responsibility and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (PSR/IPPNW Switzerland). The chapter sheds light on their resistive actions, including conscientious objection, as well as on their effective discursive strategy of subjectivisation centring around the figure of the conscientious physician. This resistance contributed to a growing civil defence criticism that challenged the Swiss total national defence imaginary.

CRISPR-Cas is associated with fewer antibiotic resistance genes in bacterial pathogens

The acquisition of antibiotic resistance (ABR) genes via horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a key driver of the rise in multidrug resistance amongst bacterial pathogens. Bacterial defence systems per definition restrict the influx of foreign genetic material, and may therefore limit the acquisition of ABR. CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems are one of the most prevalent defences in bacteria, found in roughly half of bacterial genomes, but it has remained unclear if and how much they contribute to restricting the spread of ABR. We analysed approximately 40 000 whole genomes comprising the full RefSeq dataset for 11 species of clinically important genera of human pathogens, including Enterococcus , Staphylococcus , Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas . We modelled the association between CRISPR-Cas and indicators of HGT, and found that pathogens with a CRISPR-Cas system were less likely to carry ABR genes than those lacking this defence system. Analysis of the mobile genetic elements (MGEs) targeted by CRISPR-Cas supports a model where this host defence system blocks important vectors of ABR. These results suggest a potential ‘immunocompromised’ state for multidrug-resistant strains that may be exploited in tailored interventions that rely on MGEs, such as phages or phagemids, to treat infections caused by bacterial pathogens. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The secret lives of microbial mobile genetic elements’.

Japan's priorities in Taiwan: Its impacts on Japanese relations with America and China

America-Japan partnership is now at the core of the America-led defence system in the East Asia. The unresolved state of Taiwan is already one of the worst security conditions in the region in the terms of this partnership. It may contribute to a big confrontation of one or both countries with China. The broader Taiwan-Japan-China-America ties usually regard Taiwan and Japan as the least influential combination imaginable. Despite this fact, the depth of engagement, hard to categorize and with great potential to affect stability and security in the field, is reversed from this tertiary regional connection. Therefore, Japan's major goal to balance the power with Taiwan is to preserve and develop constructive de-facto state-to-state ties between the liberal and democratic powers of similar consciousness, both of which are scared of the Chinese control. This paper discusses the specific ties between Japan and Taiwan in conjunction with Japanese domestic priorities and analyses the repercussions for America-Japan cooperation in the future. Especially about Japan, the American and Taiwanese governments should identify areas of difference early on and resolve emerging issues within the alliance's auspices.

Japan's priorities in Taiwan: Its impacts on Japanese relations with America and China

America-Japan partnership is now at the core of the America-led defence system in the East Asia. The unresolved state of Taiwan is already one of the worst security conditions in the region in the terms of this partnership. It may contribute to a big confrontation of one or both countries with China. The broader Taiwan-Japan-China-America ties usually regard Taiwan and Japan as the least influential combination imaginable. Despite this fact, the depth of engagement, hard to categorize and with great potential to affect stability and security in the field, is reversed from this tertiary regional connection. Therefore, Japan's major goal to balance the power with Taiwan is to preserve and develop constructive de-facto state-to-state ties between the liberal and democratic powers of similar consciousness, both of which are scared of the Chinese control. This paper discusses the specific ties between Japan and Taiwan in conjunction with Japanese domestic priorities and analyses the repercussions for America-Japan cooperation in the future. Especially about Japan, the American and Taiwanese governments should identify areas of difference early on and resolve emerging issues within the alliance's auspices.