qPCR tomography was developed to study mRNA localization in complex biological samples that are embedded and cryo-sectioned. After total RNA extraction and reverse transcription, the spatial profiles of mRNAs and other functional RNAs were determined by qPCR. The Xenopus laevis oocyte was selected as model, because of its large size (more than 1mm) and large amount of total RNA (approximately 5...

Ultra-violet (u.v.) irradiation of the vegetal pole of newly fertilized eggs has three documented effects: reduction of primordial germ cells (PGCs), cytological damage to the vegetal hemisphere and disruption of the normal mechanism by which the vegetal yolk mass induces the formation of the dorsal axis of the embryo. In this study, we find that 90 degrees rotation of the egg for various perio...

The subcellular localization of specific mRNAs is a widespread mechanism for regulating gene expression. In Xenopus oocytes microtubules are required for localization of Vg1 mRNA to the vegetal cortex during the late RNA localization pathway. The factors that mediate microtubule-based RNA transport during the late pathway have been elusive. Here we show that heterotrimeric kinesin II becomes en...

Marijuana is the illicit drug most commonly used worldwide. The mechanisms by which this drug affects the brain have been studied exhaustively during the last 40 years, and better understood in the last decade. For example, the discovery of receptors to which marijuana binds, has been a major achievement in neurosciences and in the study of drug addiction. Moreover, the description of the endog...

During oogenesis, hundreds of maternal RNAs are selectively localized to the animal or vegetal pole, including determinants of somatic and germline fates. Although microarray analysis has identified localized determinants, it is not comprehensive and is limited to known transcripts. Here, we utilized high-throughput RNA-sequencing analysis to comprehensively interrogate animal and vegetal pole ...

BACKGROUND The vegetal biomembrane has been used to treat cutaneous ulcers. OBJECTIVES To assess the role of the vegetal biomembrane on the chronic venous ulcers treatment compared to treatment with collagenase cream. METHODS Fourteen patients were selected to be treated with vegetal biomembrane and 7 with Fibrase(®) (CONTROL), followed clinically and photographically by the Wound Healing I...

In zebrafish, as in many animals, maternal dorsal determinants are vegetally localized in the egg and are transported after fertilization in a microtubule-dependent manner. However, the organization of early microtubules, their dynamics and their contribution to axis formation are not fully understood. Using live imaging, we identified two populations of microtubules, perpendicular bundles and ...

Embryos with no dorsal axis were obtained when more than 15% of the egg surface was deleted from the vegetal pole of the early 1-cell embryo of Xenopus laevis. The timing of the deletion in the first cell cycle was critical: dorsal-deficient embryos were obtained when the deletion began before time 0.5 (50% of the first cell cycle) whereas normal dorsal axis usually formed when the deletion was...

Citation: Lucini L, Rouphael Y, Cardarelli M, Bonini P, Baffi C and Colla G (2018) A Vegetal Biopolymer-Based Biostimulant Promoted Root Growth in Melon While Triggering Brassinosteroids and Stress-Related Compounds. Front. Plant Sci. 9:472. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2018.00472 A Vegetal Biopolymer-Based Biostimulant Promoted Root Growth in Melon While Triggering Brassinosteroids and Stress-Related Com...

The canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway is a key regulator of body plan organization and axis formation in metazoans, being involved in germ layer specification, posterior growth and patterning of the anteroposterior axis. Results from animals spanning a wide phylogenetic range suggest that a unifying function of β-catenin in metazoans is to define the posterior/vegetal part of the embryo. Although...