Abstract P150: Concerted Diurnal Rhythms Of Gut Microbiota With Salt-sensitive Hypertension And Renal Damage

Circadian, diurnal rhythm is a vital physiological feature of life forms, which enables holobionts to adapt to the day and night cycles. Evidence suggests that both factions of the holobiont, i.e, the host and its microbiota demonstrate physiological circadian rhythms. Blood pressure is a good example of a host physiological feature with a well-defined diurnal rhythm. In a healthy human, blood pressure (BP) rises to its peak during awakening morning hours and declines to the lowest level during night. In salt-sensitive hypertension, aberrant diurnal rhythms of BP and gut dysbiosis have been demonstrated. Given the critical role of gut microbiota in BP regulation, our current objective was to investigate whether there are synchronous rhythms of holobiont in rodents on low salt and high salt diets and if inflammation pattern also changes diurnally. We examined Dahl Salt-Sensitive (S) rats on low (0.3%) and high (2%) salt diets and BP and inflammation pattern was checked. As hypothesized, both microbiota and kidney inflammation showed diurnal rhythm in response to low salt and high salt diet. Major shifts in diurnal patterns of specific groups of microbiota were observed between the dark (active) and light (rest) phases, which correlated with the diurnal rhythmicity of BP. Diurnal rhythms of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria were independently associated with BP. Discrete bacterial taxa were observed to correlate independently or interactively with one or more of the following 3 factors- 1) BP rhythm, 2) dietary salt, 3) amplitude of BP. PICRUSt analysis revealed diurnal rhythmicity of microbial pathways, characterized by microbiota upregulated biosynthetic processes during active phase and upregulated degradation pathways of metabolites in resting phase. These diurnal changes in microbiota, their functional pathways and BP amplitude were associated with concerted rhythmicity of renal Lipocalin 2 and Kim1 expression and circulating β-hydroxybutyrate in high salt S rats. Such concerted rhythmicity of holobiont with peak of changes at active phase of salt hypertension suggests that targeting this timepoint to reshape microbiota and/or intervene with medication could efficiently benefit the hypertensives

Disturbances in the Biosynthesis or Signalling of Brassinosteroids That Are Caused by Mutations in the HvDWARF, HvCPD and HvBRI1 Genes Increase the Tolerance of Barley to the Deacclimation Process

Tolerance to deacclimation is an important physiological feature in plants in the face of global warming, which is resulting in incidents of increases in winter temperatures. The aim of the work was to explore how disturbances in the signalling and synthesis of brassinosteroids (BR) influence the deacclimation tolerance of barley. One group of mutants and their reference cultivars (Bowman and Delisa) was cold-acclimated, deacclimated and then tested for frost tolerance at − 12 °C. After cold acclimation, the second group of plants was additionally exposed to frost (− 6 °C) and then, deacclimated and tested for frost tolerance at − 12 °C. The deacclimated brassinosteroid mutants were characterised by an increased tolerance to frost, and consequently, had a higher tolerance to deacclimation than their wild-type cultivars. The mechanism of this phenomenon may be partly explained by analysing the hormonal homeostasis in the crowns. For all of the tested plants, a characteristic feature of the response to the deacclimation phase was an increase in the growth-promoting hormones and abscisic acid compared to the cold acclimation phase. The increase was greater in the BR-deficient (BW084) and BR-insensitive (BW312) mutants compared to the Bowman reference cultivar. Mutant 522DK was characterised by a lower accumulation of total cytokinins and gibberellins as well as an enhanced auxin deactivation compared to the Delisa. In the second group, when the plants were exposed to a temperature of − 6 °C before deacclimation, the hormonal homeostasis was further altered in both the mutants and reference cultivars, but all of the mutants had a higher frost tolerance than the wild types.

Summary

This chapter summarizes the key points of the preceding chapters and embarks on a number of speculations. It shows that the strength of the evidence for each of the preceding statements varies. On one hand, some propositions are based merely on the supposition that it would make sense if an anatomical or physiological feature functioned in a certain way (such as sensory processing by back-projections). On the other hand, the proposition for “time-chunking” seems irrefutable in view of the abundant evidence from masking experiments. Further, given the existence of time-chunking, then not only is the case for binding of sensory features by common rhythmical activity untenable, but one can also then look for neurophysiological activity that would fit in with time-chunking. Ultimately, this chapter presents both of these key speculations and the evidence for them and leaves the reader to decide for themselves.

An Unnoted Nuance in Genesis 2:21-22

Rather than understanding the creation of woman in Gen 2:21-22 as an etiology of some physiological feature, this brief article suggests that the removal of part of Adam’s body to create Eve can instead be seen as parallel to a horticultural process, namely, the taking of cuttings.