פרסומים

Olive (Olea europaea L.) trees are widespread in Mediterranean agroecosystems and are now extensively cultivated in different warm-temperate regions of the world such as North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, and even in the monsoon systems of China and India. In the Mediterranean area, the biological and agronomical success of this species is due to its adaptability to the Mediterranean climatic conditions: mild, wet winters with temperatures that drop below 10 °C but rarely below 0 °C and warm, dry summers. When weather conditions become more extreme (drought, high, or low temperatures) or soil conditions are not optimal for olive growth (salinity, low oxygen, nutrient deficiencies), the plant can be subjected to abiotic stresses, which may have negative effects on its physiology. The damages derived from stresses caused by environmental constrains are often not immediately recognized in olive orchards, since plants are largely grown in non-specialized planting systems that are managed with limited cultural practices. However, due to the renewed interest in extra-virgin olive oil for its beneficial health effects, olive cultivation has now been modified from traditional low-density and low-input to high-density and high-input growing systems. Information on the effect of abiotic stresses on trees under the new cultivation systems is scarce due to the wide differences in management practices, environmental conditions and the increase in the use of selected varieties. Under these new conditions, the abiotic factors and their related stresses might have a strong impact on both yield and quality. In this chapter, we focus on physiological responses of olive trees to drought, salinity, and temperature stress. The reader can refer to the existing literature for other abiotic stresses.

More than 50 species of the genus Allium have been cultivated worldwide for sustenance, flavor, and medicinal purposes, as well as for ornamentals, from the tropics to the temperate zone. In most alliums, intact tissues contain odorless, nonvolatile sulfur-containing molecules that upon cells' disruption break down enzymatically to form volatile flavor compounds that are responsible for the characteristic odor and taste of these species. The genetic makeup, photoperiod, and both storage and growth temperatures are the main factors controlling bulbing and florogenesis in these plant species. The most common Allium food crops are bulb onion garlic, leek, shallot, chives, and Welsh onion. Most fertile cultivated alliums are raised from seed, transplants, or sets. However, some sterile species, such as garlic, elephant garlic, rocambole tree onion, topsetting onions, and shallot are propagated vegetatively. During millennia of cultivation, no natural co-evolution with biotic and abiotic agents has taken place. Hence, most cultivated alliums lack many important traits, including resistance to pests and environmental stresses. Current efforts and employment of both classical and novel tools for genetic and plant physiology studies are expected to accelerate improvements in terms of distribution, yield, and quality of these important crops. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Covering up to January 2016Cannabis sativa L. is a prolific, but not exclusive, producer of a diverse group of isoprenylated resorcinyl polyketides collectively known as phytocannabinoids. The modular nature of the pathways that merge into the phytocannabinoid chemotype translates in differences in the nature of the resorcinyl side-chain and the degree of oligomerization of the isoprenyl residue, making the definition of phytocannabinoid elusive from a structural standpoint. A biogenetic definition is therefore proposed, splitting the phytocannabinoid chemotype into an alkyl- and a $\beta$-aralklyl version, and discussing the relationships between phytocannabinoids from different sources (higher plants, liverworts, fungi). The startling diversity of cannabis phytocannabinoids might be, at least in part, the result of non-enzymatic transformations induced by heat, light, and atmospheric oxygen on a limited set of major constituents (CBG, CBD, $Δ$(9)-THC and CBC and their corresponding acidic versions), whose degradation is detailed to emphasize this possibility. The diversity of metabotropic (cannabinoid receptors), ionotropic (thermos-TRPs), and transcription factors (PPARs) targeted by phytocannabinoids is discussed. The integrated inventory of these compounds and their biological macromolecular end-points highlights the opportunities that phytocannabinoids offer to access desirable drug-like space beyond the one associated to the narcotic target CB(1).

Summary Several studies have reported effects of the plant phenolic acids cinnamic acid (CA) and salicylic acid (SA) on the virulence of soft rot enterobacteria. However, the mechanisms involved in these processes are not yet fully understood. Here, we investigated whether CA and SA interfere with the quorum sensing (QS) system of two Pectobacterium species, P.?aroidearum and P.?carotovorum ssp. brasiliense, which are known to produce N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) QS signals. Our results clearly indicate that both phenolic compounds affect the QS machinery of the two species, consequently altering the expression of bacterial virulence factors. Although, in control treatments, the expression of QS-related genes increased over time, the exposure of bacteria to non-lethal concentrations of CA or SA inhibited the expression of QS genes, including expI, expR, PC1_1442 (luxR transcriptional regulator) and luxS (a component of the AI-2 system). Other virulence genes known to be regulated by the QS system, such as pecS, pel, peh and yheO, were also down-regulated relative to the control. In agreement with the low levels of expression of expI and expR, CA and SA also reduced the level of the AHL signal. The effects of CA and SA on AHL signalling were confirmed in compensation assays, in which exogenous application of N-(?-ketocaproyl)-l-homoserine lactone (eAHL) led to the recovery of the reduction in virulence caused by the two phenolic acids. Collectively, the results of gene expression studies, bioluminescence assays, virulence assays and compensation assays with eAHL clearly support a mechanism by which CA and SA interfere with Pectobacterium virulence via the QS machinery.

Quorum sensing (QS) is a population density-dependent regulatory system in bacteria that couples gene expression to cell density through accumulation of diffusible signaling molecules. Pectobacteria are causal agents of soft rot disease in a range of economically important crops. They rely on QS to coordinate their main virulence factor, production of plant cell wall degrading enzymes (PCWDEs). Plants have evolved an array of antimicrobial compounds to anticipate and cope with pathogens, of which essential oils (EOs) are widely recognized. Here, volatile EOs, carvacrol and eugenol, were shown to specifically interfere with QS, the master regulator of virulence in pectobacteria, resulting in strong inhibition of QS genes, biofilm formation and PCWDEs, thereby leading to impaired infection. Accumulation of the signal molecule N-acylhomoserine lactone declined upon treatment with EOs, suggesting direct interaction of EOs with either homoserine lactone synthase (ExpI) or with the regulatory protein (ExpR). Homology models of both proteins were constructed and docking simulations were performed to test the above hypotheses. The resulting binding modes and docking scores of carvacrol and eugenol support potential binding to ExpI/ExpR, with stronger interactions than previously known inhibitors of both proteins. The results demonstrate the potential involvement of phytochemicals in the control of Pectobacterium.

In this manuscript we focus on Pt(iv) anticancer prodrugs. We explore the main working hypotheses for the design of effective Pt(iv) prodrugs and note the exceptions to the common assumptions that are prevalent in the field. Special attention was devoted to the emerging class of "dual action" Pt(iv) prodrugs, where bioactive ligands are conjugated to the axial positions of platinum in order to obtain orthogonal or complementary effects that will increase the efficacy of killing the cancer cells. We discuss the rationale behind the design of the "dual action" prodrugs and the results of the pharmacological studies obtained. Simultaneous release of two bioactive moieties inside the cancer cells often triggers several processes that together determine the fate of the cell. Pt(iv) complexes provide many opportunities for applying new concepts in targeting, synergistic cell killing and exploiting novel nanodelivery systems.

The playful discussion of 'horsemanship' that opens Sir Philip Sidney's Defence of Poesie has been variously interpreted as a straightforward anecdote about the chivalric arts, or an oblique rhetorical flourish, or something in between. This essay suggests a new context for Sidney's exordium by focusing primarily on its affiliation to the genre of the 'Art of Poetry'. In Horace's Ars poetica and other classical, scholastic and Renaissance treatises, horse-men and other unnatural hybrids embody the tension between decorum and poetic liberty. Three major traditions inform this trope: by the Renaissance the centaur could be an allegory of reason's struggle with the passions, an emblem of the poetic imagination, or a figure for compositional hybridity associated, especially, with Lucianic satire. Reading Sidney in the light of these traditions, finally, this essay explores aspects of the centaur's significance in the Defence and the Arcadia, and suggests that this kind of attention to metaphor might provide a bridge between critical and creative modes of Renaissance poetic thought.

Previous studies showed that the Israeli Ministry of Finance has greater power than finance ministries in most developed countries. The article describes three modes of policy analysis that are used in the Budget Department or on its behalf: in-house work, interministerial committees, and public committees. An examination of the three modes of policy analysis indicates that the major weakness of policy analysis is more evident in the in-house work of the Budget Department, which does not systematically evaluate the expected effects of policy proposals on benefits and costs. The interministerial committees or the public committees do not work according to a fixed methodology, and the quality of their analytical work is therefore arbitrary, depending on the people heading the committee. A tradition of presenting a menu of alternatives to policymakers has not been found in all three modes of policy analysis that were researched here. In addition, the decision rule according to which the

Previous studies showed that the Israeli Ministry of Finance has greater power than finance ministries in most developed countries. The article describes three modes of policy analysis that are used in the Budget Department or on its behalf: in-house work, interministerial committees, and public committees. An examination of the three modes of policy analysis indicates that the major weakness of policy analysis is more evident in the in-house work of the Budget Department, which does not systematically evaluate the expected effects of policy proposals on benefits and costs. The interministerial committees or the public committees do not work according to a fixed methodology, and the quality of their analytical work is therefore arbitrary, depending on the people heading the committee. A tradition of presenting a menu of alternatives to policymakers has not been found in all three modes of policy analysis that were researched here. In addition, the decision rule according to which the

Previous studies showed that the Israeli Ministry of Finance has greater power than finance ministries in most developed countries. The article describes three modes of policy analysis that are used in the Budget Department or on its behalf: in-house work, interministerial committees, and public committees. An examination of the three modes of policy analysis indicates that the major weakness of policy analysis is more evident in the in-house work of the Budget Department, which does not systematically evaluate the expected effects of policy proposals on benefits and costs. The interministerial committees or the public committees do not work according to a fixed methodology, and the quality of their analytical work is therefore arbitrary, depending on the people heading the committee. A tradition of presenting a menu of alternatives to policymakers has not been found in all three modes of policy analysis that were researched here. In addition, the decision rule according to which the