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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the utmost chronic neurodegenerative disorders, which is characterized from a neuropathological point of view by the aggregates of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides that are deposited as senile plaques and tau proteins which form neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Even though advancement has been observed in order to understand AD pathogenesis, currently available therapeutic methods can only deliver modest symptomatic relief. Interestingly, naturally occurring dietary flavonoids have gained substantial attention due to their antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-amyloidogenic properties as alternative candidates for AD therapy. Experimental proof provides support to the idea that some flavonoids might protect AD by interfering with the production and aggregation of Aβ peptides and/or decreasing the aggregation of tau. Flavonoids have the ability to promote clearance of Aβ peptides and inhibit tau phosphorylation by the mTOR/autophagy signaling pathway. Moreover, due to their cholinesterase inhibitory potential, flavonoids can represent promising symptomatic anti-Alzheimer agents. Several processes have been suggested for the aptitude of flavonoids to slow down the advancement or to avert the onset of Alzheimer’s pathogenesis. To enhance cognitive performance and to prevent the onset and progress of AD, the interaction of flavonoids with various signaling pathways is proposed to exert their therapeutic potential. Therefore, this review elaborates on the probable therapeutic approaches of flavonoids aimed at averting or slowing the progression of the AD pathogenesis.

1. Assembly of grassland communities has long been scrutinized through the lens of functional diversity. Studies generally point to an overwhelming influence of climate on observed patterns of functional diversity, despite experimental evidence demonstrating the importance of biotic interactions. We postulate that this is because most observational studies neglect both scale dependencies of assembly processes and phenotypic variation between individuals. Here, we test for changes in the importance of abiotic filtering and biotic interactions along a stress gradient by explicitly accounting for different scales. In addition to quantifying intraspecific trait variability (ITV), we also vary the two components of spatial scale, including grain (i.e. community size) and extent (i.e. the geographical area that defines the species pool). 2. We sampled 20 grassland communities in ten sites distributed along a 975-m elevation gradient. At each site, we measured seven functional traits for a total of 2020 individuals at different spatial grains. We related community functional diversity metrics to the main environmental gradient of our study area, growing season length (GSL), and assessed the dependence of these relationships on spatial grain, spatial extent and ITV. 3. At large spatial grain and extent, the imprint of environmental filtering on functional diversity became more important with increasing stress (i.e. functional diversity decreased with shorter GSL). At small spatial grain and extent, we found a convex relationship between functional diversity and GSL congruent with the hypothesis that competition is dominant at low-stress levels while facilitative interactions are dominant at high-stress levels (i. e. high functional diversity at both extremes of the stress gradient). Importantly, the effect of intraspecific variability on assembly rules was noticeable only at small spatial grain and extent. 4. Synthesis. Our study reveals how the combination of abiotic stress and biotic interactions shapes the functional diversity of alpine grasslands at different spatial scales, and highlights the importance of phenotype variation between individuals for community assembly processes at fine spatial scale. Our results suggest that studies analysing trait-based assembly rules but ignoring ITV and focusing on a single spatial scale are likely to miss essential features of community diversity patterns.

Tree growth limitation at treeline has mainly been studied in terms of carbon limitation while effects and mechanisms of potential nitrogen (N) limitation are barely known, especially in the southern hemisphere. We investigated how soil abiotic properties and microbial community structure and composition change from lower to upper sites within three vegetation belts (Nothofagus betuloides and N. pumilio forests, and alpine vegetation) across an elevation gradient (from 0 to 650 m a.s.l.) in Cordillera Darwin, southern Patagonia. Increasing elevation was associated with a decrease in soil N‐NH₄ ⁺ availability within the N. pumilio and the alpine vegetation belt. Within the alpine vegetation belt, a concurrent increase in the soil C:N ratio was associated with a shift from bacterial‐dominated in lower alpine sites to fungal‐dominated microbial communities in upper alpine sites. Lower forested belts (N. betuloides, N. pumilio) exhibited more complex patterns both in terms of soil properties and microbial communities. Overall, our results concur with recent findings from high‐latitude and altitude ecosystems showing decreased nutrient availability with elevation, leading to fungal‐dominated microbial communities. We suggest that growth limitation at treeline may result, in addition to proximal climatic parameters, from a competition between trees and soil microbial communities for limited soil inorganic N. At higher elevation, soil microbial communities could have comparably greater capacities to uptake soil N than trees, and the shift towards a fungal‐dominated community would favour N immobilization over N mineralization. Though evidences of altered nutrient dynamics in tree and alpine plant tissue with increasing altitude remain needed, we contend that the measured residual low amount of inorganic N available for trees in the soil could participate to the establishment limitation. Finally, our results suggest that responses of soil microbial communities to elevation could be influenced by functional properties of forest communities for instance through variations in litter quality.

In the present study, resveratrol and various oligomeric derivatives were obtained from a 14 L bioreactor culture of elicited grapevine cell suspensions (Vitis labrusca L.). The crude ethyl acetate stilbene extract obtained from the culture medium was fractionated by centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) using a gradient elution method and the major stilbenes contained in the fractions were subsequently identified by using a 13C-NMR-based dereplication procedure and further 2D NMR analyses including HSQC, HMBC, and COSY. Beside δ-viniferin (2), leachianol F (4) and G (4′), four stilbenes (resveratrol (1), ε-viniferin (5), pallidol (3) and a newly characterized dimer (6)) were recovered as pure compounds in sufficient amounts to allow assessment of their biological activity on the cell growth of three different cell lines, including two human skin malignant melanoma cancer cell lines (HT-144 and SKMEL-28) and a healthy human dermal fibroblast HDF line. Among the dimers obtained in this study, the newly characterized resveratrol dimer (6) has never been described in nature and its biological potential was evaluated here for the first time. ε-viniferin as well as dimer (6) showed IC50 values on the three tested cell lines lower than the ones exerted by resveratrol and pallidol. However, activities of the first two compounds were significantly decreased in the presence of fetal bovine serum although that of resveratrol and pallidol was not. The differential tumor activity exerted by resveratrol on healthy and cancer lines was also discussed.

Aims In cold biomes, snow cover mitigates the harsh winter soil conditions, thereby enhancing overwinter decomposition of organic matter which controls the availability of nutrients for plants and microbial uptake at the beginning of the growing season. Yet, how this buffering effect is modulated by litter traits, soil characteristics and herbivory remains poorly studied. Methods We conducted a litter-bag experiment in four types of subalpine grasslands, two of which being naturally free of snow during most of the winter. Litter bags were filled either by grasses or forbs sampled in plots submitted the preceding summer to grasshopper grazing treatments.Results Snow cover strongly increased the decomposition of forbs, but not of grasses. Litter quality (low C:N and polyphenols triggering a priming effect) and soil ammonium content were correlated with litter decomposition rate in the presence of snow only, whereas soil organic matter content was positively associated with decomposition rate under both snow regimes. Herbivory did not affect decomposition.Conclusions Our findings may be explained by the functional differences between copiotrophic and oligotrophic microbes, copiotrophs being more sensitive to harsh abiotic conditions than oligotrophs. As long as copiotrophs are favored by high litter quality and nutrient-rich soils (high ammonium content), litter decompositionis enhanced in the absence of snow only.

Abnormal temperatures induce physiological and biochemical changes resulting in the loss of yield. The present study investigates the impact of the PsJN strain of on tomato ( Mill.) in response to heat stress (32°C). The results of this work showed that bacterial inoculation with strain PsJN increased tomato growth parameters such as chlorophyll content and gas exchange at both normal and high temperatures (25 and 32°C). At normal temperature (25°C), the rate of photosynthesis and the photosystem II activity increased with significant accumulations of sugars, total amino acids, proline, and malate in the bacterized tomato plants, demonstrating that the PsJN strain had a positive effect on plant growth. However, the amount of sucrose, total amino acids, proline, and malate were significantly affected in tomato leaves at 32°C compared to that at 25°C. Changes in photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence showed that the bacterized tomato plants were well acclimated at 32°C. These results reinforce the current knowledge about the PsJN strain of and highlight in particular its ability to alleviate the harmful effects of high temperatures by stimulating the growth and tolerance of tomato plants.

1. Despite playing central roles in nutrient cycles and plant growth, soil microbes are generally neglected in the study of ecosystem services (ES), due to difficulties to assess their diversity and functioning. However, to overcome these hurdles, new conceptual approaches and modern tools now provide a means to assess the role of microorganisms in the evaluation of ES. 2. In managed grasslands, soil microbes are central in providing nitrogen (N)-related ES such as maintenance of soil fertility and retention of mineral forms of N. Here, we applied state-of-the-art techniques in microbial ecology and plant functional ecology to uncover the intrinsic link between N-related bacterial functional groups, important plant functional traits, environmental factors and three proxies of maintenance of soil fertility and potential for N-leaching across managed grasslands in three regions of Europe. 3. By constructing well-defined structural equation modelling, we showed that including key microbial traits improve on average more than >50% of the total variances of ES proxies, that is, ammonium (NH + 4) or nitrate (NO − 3) leaching, and soil organic matter content. Geographic differences arose when considering the direct relationships of these ES proxies with specific microbial traits: nitrate leaching was positively correlated to the maximum rate of nitrification, except in the Austrian site and potentially leached NH + 4 –N was negatively correlated to the fungi/bacteria ratio, with the exception of the French site. 4. Synthesis and applications. The integration of soil microbial functional traits in the assessment of nitrogen-related grassland ecosystem services has direct contributions for understanding sustainable management of grassland ecosystems. The fundamental aspects of this study suggest that integrating a soil microbial component in grassland management may enhance sustainability of such grass-based agroecosystems.

Over the past four decades, seasonal snow cover has declined rapidly in temperate alpine regions. However, the fine-scale dynamics of snowmelt preceding the ongoing warming period remain largely unknown, limiting our understanding of the long-term influence of past snow cover on alpine ecosystems. Here we rely upon the spatial similarities in melt-out patterns and a temperature-based model of fractional snow cover area, to reconstruct fine-scale snow cover changes over the past 250 years in instrumented catchments of the southwestern Alps. We provide evidence that, until the 1980s, prolonged snow cover in many late-lying snowfields delayed ecosystem development and explain why current vegetation cover, soil organic matter content, and mineral weathering are significantly lower in these areas than in surrounding ecosystems. These findings highlight the long-term legacy of snow cover on alpine landscapes and underscore the need to re-evaluate its effects on ecosystem structure, functioning, and responsiveness to ongoing changes. Prolonged snow cover in the southwestern Alps delayed ecosystem development until the 1980s, with current incipient soils and sparse vegetation reflecting a lagged response to recent warming rather than equilibrium with present conditions, as revealed by reconstructing fine-scale snow cover changes over the past 250 years.

The colonization pattern of Vitis vinifera L. by Burkholderia phytofirmans strain PsJN was determined using grapevine fruiting cuttings with emphasis on putative inflorescence colonization under nonsterile conditions. Two-week-old rooted plants harbouring flower bud initials, grown in nonsterile soil, were inoculated with PsJN:gfp2x. Plant colonization was subsequently monitored at various times after inoculation with plate counts and epifluorescence and/or confocal microscopy. Strain PsJN was chronologically detected on the root surfaces, in the endorhiza, inside grape inflorescence stalks, not inside preflower buds and flowers but rather as an endophyte inside young berries. Data demonstrated low endophytic populations of strain PsJN in inflorescence organs, i.e. grape stalks and immature berries with inconsistency among plants for bacterial colonization of inflorescences. Nevertheless, endophytic colonization of inflorescences by strain PsJN was substantial for some plants. Microscopic analysis revealed PsJN as a thriving endophyte in inflorescence organs after the colonization process. Strain PsJN was visualized colonizing the root surface, entering the endorhiza and spreading to grape inflorescence stalks, pedicels and then to immature berries through xylem vessels. In parallel to these observations, a natural microbial communities was also detected on and inside plants, demonstrating the colonization of grapevine by strain PsJN in the presence of other microorganisms.

The significance of foliar uptake of nitrogen (N) compounds in natural conditions is not well understood, despite growing evidence of its importance to plant nutrition. In subalpine meadows, N‐limitation fosters the dominance of specific subalpine plant species, which in turn ensure the provision of essential ecosystems services. Understanding how these plants absorb N and from which sources is important to predict ecological consequences of increasing N deposition. Here, we investigate the sources of N to plants from subalpine meadows with distinct land‐use history in the French Alps, using the triple isotopes (Δ17O, δ18O, and δ15N) of plant tissue nitrate (NO3‐). We use this approach to evaluate the significance of foliar uptake of atmospheric NO3‐ (NO3‐atm). The foliar uptake of NO3‐atm accounted for 4‐16% of the leaf NO3‐ content, and contributed more to the leaf NO3‐ pool after peak biomass. Additionally, the gradual 15N enrichment of NO3‐ from the soil to the leaves reflected the contribution of NO3‐atm assimilation to plants’ metabolism. The present study confirms that foliar uptake is a potentially important pathway for NO3‐atm into subalpine plants. This is of major significance as N emissions (and deposition) are predicted to increase globally in the future.