ALBERT

Description: As a consequence of the global climate change, both the reduction on yield potential and the available surface area of cultivated species will compromise the production of food needed for a constant growing population. There is consensus about the significant gap between world food consumption projected for the coming decades and the expected crop yield-improvements, which are estimated to be insufficient to meet the demand. The complexity of this scenario will challenge breeders to develop cultivars that are better adapted to adverse environmental conditions, therefore incorporating a new set of morpho-physiological and physico-chemical traits; a large number of these traits have been found to be linked to heat and drought tolerance. Currently, the only reasonable way to satisfy all these demands is through acquisition of high-dimensional phenotypic data (high-throughput phenotyping), allowing researchers with a holistic comprehension of plant responses, or ‘Phenomics’. Phenomics is still under development. This Research Topic aims to be a contribution to the progress of methodologies and analysis to help understand the performance of a genotype in a given environment.

Description: Autophagy (also known as macroautophagy) is an evolutionarily conserved process by which cytoplasmic components are nonselectively enclosed within a double-membrane vesicle known as the autophagosome and delivered to the vacuole for degradation of toxic components and recycling of needed nutrients. This catabolic process is required for the adequate adaptation and response of the cell, and correspondingly the whole organism, to different types of stress including nutrient starvation or oxidative damage. Autophagy has been extensively investigated in yeasts and mammals but the identification of autophagy-related (ATG) genes in plant and algal genomes together with the characterization of autophagy-deficient mutants in plants have revealed that this process is structurally and functionally conserved in photosynthetic eukaryotes. Recent studies have demonstrated that autophagy is active at a basal level under normal growth in plants and is upregulated during senescence and in response to nutrient limitation, oxidative stress, salt and drought conditions and pathogen attack. Autophagy was initially considered as a non-selective pathway, but numerous observations mainly obtained in yeasts revealed that autophagy can also selectively eliminate specific proteins, protein complexes and organelles. Interestingly, several types of selective autophagy appear to be also conserved in plants, and the degradation of protein aggregates through specific adaptors or the delivery of chloroplast material to the vacuole via autophagy has been reported. This research topic aims to gather recent progress on different aspects of autophagy in plants and algae. We welcome all types of articles including original research, methods, opinions and reviews that provide new insights about the autophagy process and its regulation.

Description: Echolocation has evolved in different groups of animals, from bats and cetaceans to birds and humans, and enables localization and tracking of objects in a dynamic environment, where light levels may be very low or absent. Nature has shaped echolocation, an active sense that engages audiomotor feedback systems, which operates in diverse environments and situations. Echolocation production and perception vary across species, and signals are often adapted to the environment and task. In the last several decades, researchers have been studying the echolocation behavior of animals, both in the air and underwater, using different methodologies and perspectives. The result of these studies has led to rich knowledge on sound production mechanisms, directionality of the sound beam, signal design, echo reception and perception. Active control over echolocation signal production and the mechanisms for echo processing ultimately provide animals with an echoic scene or image of their surroundings. Sonar signal features directly influence the information available for the echolocating animal to perceive images of its environment. In many echolocating animals, the information processed through echoes elicits a reaction in motor systems, including adjustments in subsequent echolocation signals. We are interested in understanding how echolocating animals deal with different environments (e.g. clutter, light levels), tasks, distance to targets or objects, different prey types or other food sources, presence of conspecifics or certain predators, ambient and anthropogenic noise. In recent years, some researchers have presented new data on the origins of echolocation, which can provide a hint of its evolution. Theoreticians have addressed several issues that bear on echolocation systems, such as frequency or time resolution, target localization and beam-forming mechanisms. In this Research Topic we compiled recent work that elucidates how echolocation – from sound production, through echolocation signals to perception- has been shaped by nature functioning in different environments and situations. We strongly encouraged comparative approaches that would deepen our understanding of the processes comprising this active sense.

Description: Plant organ abscission is a developmental process regulated by the environment, stress, pathogens and the physiological status of the plant. In particular, seed and fruit abscission play an important role in seed dispersion and plant reproductive success and are common domestication traits with important agronomic consequences for many crop species. Indeed, in natural populations, shedding of the seed or fruit at the correct time is essential for reproductive success, while for crop species the premature or lack of abscission may be either beneficial or detrimental to crop productivity. The use of model plants, in particular Arabidopsis and tomato, have led to major advances in our understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying organ abscission, and now many workers pursue the translation of these advances to crop species. Organ abscission involves specialized cell layers called the abscission zone (AZ), where abscission signals are perceived and cell separation takes place for the organ to be shed. A general model for plant organ abscission includes (1) the differentiation of the AZ, (2) the acquisition of AZ cells to become competent to respond to various abscission signals, (3) response to signals and the activation of the molecular and cellular processes that lead to cell separation in the AZ and (4) the post-abscission events related to protection of exposed cells after the organ has been shed. While this simple four-phase framework is helpful to describe the abscission process, the exact mechanisms of each stage, the differences between organ types and amongst diverse species, and in response to different abscission inducing signals are far from elucidated. For an organ to be shed, AZ cells must transduce a multitude of both endogenous and exogenous signals that lead to transcriptional and cellular and ultimately cell wall modifications necessary for adjacent cells to separate. How these key processes have been adapted during evolution to allow for organ abscission to take place in different locations and under different conditions is unknown. The aim of the current collection of articles is to present and be able to compare recent results on our understanding of organ abscission from model and crop species, and to provide a basis to understand both the evolution of abscission in plants and the translation of advances with model plants for applications in crop species.

Description: Music processing in severely brain-injured patients with disorders of consciousness has been an emergent field of interest for over 30 years, spanning the disciplines of neuroscience, medicine, the arts and humanities. Disorders of consciousness (DOC) is an umbrella term that encompasses patients who present with disorders across a continuum of consciousness including people who are in a coma, in vegetative state (VS)/have unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS), and in minimally conscious state (MCS). Technological developments in recent years, resulting in improvements in medical care and technologies, have increased DOC population numbers, the means for investigating DOC, and the range of clinical and therapeutic interventions under validation. In neuroimaging and behavioural studies, the auditory modality has been shown to be the most sensitive in diagnosing awareness in this complex population. As misdiagnosis remains a major problem in DOC, exploring auditory responsiveness and processing in DOC is, therefore, of central importance to improve therapeutic interventions and medical technologies in DOC. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the role of music as a potential treatment and medium for diagnosis with patients with DOC, from the perspectives of research, clinical practice and theory. As there are almost no treatment options, such a non-invasive method could constitute a promising strategy to stimulate brain plasticity and to improve consciousness recovery. It is therefore an ideal time to draw together specialists from diverse disciplines and interests to share the latest methods, opinions, and research on this topic in order to identify research priorities and progress inquiry in a coordinated way. This Research Topic aimed to bring together specialists from diverse disciplines involved in using and researching music with DOC populations or who have an interest in theoretical development on this topic. Specialists from the following disciplines participated in this special issue: neuroscience; medicine; music therapy; clinical psychology; neuromusicology; and cognitive neuroscience.

Description: This Research Topic explores issues that are central to the continued relevance of organizational and vocational psychology, and equally central to the well-being of individuals and communities. The cohering theme of this publication revolves around the question of how people can establish meaningful lives and meaningful work experiences in light of the many challenges that are reducing access to decent work. Another essential contextual factor that is explored in this volume is the Decent Work Agenda (International Labour Organization, 2008), which represents an initiative by the International Labour Organization. In this book, we hope to enrich the Decent Work Agenda by infusing the knowledge and perspectives of psychology into contemporary discourses about work, and well-being. Another inspiration for this project emerged from the UNESCO Chair in Lifelong guidance and counseling, recently established in Poland in 2013 under the leadership of Jean Guichard, which has focused on advancing research and policy advocacy about decent work. This new era calls for an innovative perspective in constructing decent work and decent lives: the passage from the paradigm of motivation to the paradigm of meaning, where the sustainability of the decent life project is anchored to a meaningful construction. During this period when work is changing so rapidly, leaving people yearning for a sense of connection and meaning, it’s fundamental to create a framework for an explicitly psychological analysis of decent work.

Description: One of the distinguishing features of plants is the presence of membrane-bound organelles called plastids. Starting from proplastids (undifferentiated plastids) they readily develop into specialised types, which are involved in a range of cellular functions such as photosynthesis, nitrogen assimilation, biosynthesis of sucrose, starch, chlorophyll, carotenoids, fatty acids, amino acids, and secondary metabolites as well as a number of metabolic reactions. The central role of plastids in many aspects of plant cell biology means an in-depth understanding is key for a holistic view of plant physiology. Despite the vast amount of research, the molecular details of many aspects of plastid biology remains limited. Plastids possess their own high-copy number genome known as the plastome. Manipulation of the plastid genome has been developed as an alternative way to developing transgenic plants for various biotechnological applications. High-copy number of the plastome, site-specific integration of transgenes through homologous recombination, and potential to express proteins at high levels (〉70% of total soluble proteins has been reported in some cases) are some of the technologies being developed. Additionally, plastids are inherited maternally, providing a natural gene containment system, and do not follow Mendelian laws of inheritance, allowing each individual member of the progeny of a transplastomic line to uniformly express transgene(s). Both algal and higher plant chloroplast transformation has been demonstrated, and with the ability to be propagated either in bioreactors or in the field, both systems are well suited for scale up of production. The manipulation of chloroplast genes is also essential for many approaches that attempt to increase biomass accumulation or re-routing metabolic pathways for biofortification, food and fuel production. This includes metabolic engineering for lipid production, adapting the light harvesting apparatus to improve solar conversion efficiencies and engineering means of suppressing photorespiration in crop species, which range from the introduction of artificial carbon concentrating mechanisms, or those pre-existing elsewhere in nature, to bypassing ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase entirely. The purpose of this eBook is to provide a compilation of the latest research on various aspects of plastid biology including basic biology, biopharming, metabolic engineering, bio-fortification, stress physiology, and biofuel production.One of the distinguishing features of plants is the presence of membrane-bound organelles called plastids. Starting from proplastids (undifferentiated plastids) they readily develop into specialised types, which are involved in a range of cellular functions such as photosynthesis, nitrogen assimilation, biosynthesis of sucrose, starch, chlorophyll, carotenoids, fatty acids, amino acids, and secondary metabolites as well as a number of metabolic reactions. The central role of plastids in many aspects of plant cell biology means an in-depth understanding is key for a holistic view of plant physiology. Despite the vast amount of research, the molecular details of many aspects of plastid biology remains limited. Plastids possess their own high-copy number genome known as the plastome. Manipulation of the plastid genome has been developed as an alternative way to developing transgenic plants for various biotechnological applications. High-copy number of the plastome, site-specific integration of transgenes through homologous recombination, and potential to express proteins at high levels (〉70% of total soluble proteins has been reported in some cases) are some of the technologies being developed. Additionally, plastids are inherited maternally, providing a natural gene containment system, and do not follow Mendelian laws of inheritance, allowing each individual member of the progeny of a transplastomic line to uniformly express transgene(s). Both algal and higher plant chloroplast transformation has been demonstrated, and with the ability to be propagated either in bioreactors or in the field, both systems are well suited for scale up of production. The manipulation of chloroplast genes is also essential for many approaches that attempt to increase biomass accumulation or re-routing metabolic pathways for biofortification, food and fuel production. This includes metabolic engineering for lipid production, adapting the light harvesting apparatus to improve solar conversion efficiencies and engineering means of suppressing photorespiration in crop species, which range from the introduction of artificial carbon concentrating mechanisms, or those pre-existing elsewhere in nature, to bypassing ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase entirely. The purpose of this eBook is to provide a compilation of the latest research on various aspects of plastid biology including basic biology, biopharming, metabolic engineering, bio-fortification, stress physiology, and biofuel production.

Description: Chloroplasts are plant cell organelles that convert light energy into relatively stable chemical energy via the photosynthetic process. By doing so, they sustain life on Earth. Chloroplasts also provide diverse metabolic activities for plant cells, including the synthesis of fatty acids, membrane lipids, isoprenoids, tetrapyrroles, starch, and hormones. The biogenesis, morphogenesis, protection and senescence of chloroplasts are essential for maintaining a proper structure and function of chloroplasts, which will be the theme of this Research Topic. Chloroplasts are enclosed by an envelope of two membranes which encompass a third complex membrane system, the thylakoids, including grana and lamellae. In addition, starch grains, plastoglobules, stromules, eyespots, pyrenoids, etc. are also important structures of chloroplasts. It is widely accepted that chloroplasts evolved from a free-living photosynthetic cyanobacterium, which was engulfed by a eukaryotic cell. Chloroplasts retain a minimal genome, most of the chloroplast proteins are encoded by nuclear genes and the gene products are transported into the chloroplast through complex import machinery. The coordination of nuclear and plastid genome expressions establishes the framework of both anterograde and retrograde signaling pathways. As the leaf develops from the shoot apical meristem, proplastids and etioplastids differentiate into chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are divided by a huge protein complex, also called the plastid-dividing (PD) machinery, and their division is also regulated by many factors to get an optimized number and size of chloroplasts in the cell. These processes are fundamental for the biogenesis and three-dimensional dynamic structure of chloroplasts. During the photosynthesis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and other cellular signals can be made. As an important metabolic hub of the plant cell, the chloroplast health has been found critical for a variety of abiotic and biotic stresses, including drought, high light, cold, heat, oxidative stresses, phosphate deprivation, and programmed cell death at sites of infection. Therefore, a better understanding the responses of chloroplasts to these stresses is part of knowing how the plant itself responds. Ultimately, this knowledge will be necessary to engineer crops more resistant to common stresses. With the current global environment changes, world population growth, and the pivotal role of chloroplasts in carbon metabolism, it is of great significance to represent the advancement in this field, for science and society. Tremendous progresses have been made in the field of chloroplast biology in recent years. Through concerted efforts from the community, greater discoveries definitely will emerge in the future.

Description: Behaviour, language, and reasoning are expressions of neural functions par excellence, as the brain must draw on sensory modalities to gather information on the rest of the body and on the outer world. Cortical areas processing the identity and location of sensory inputs were once thought to be organised hierarchically, with some branches dedicated to basic features and other branches dedicated to complex features. Yet current studies have uncovered synergistic effects at early sensory cortices as well as at higher-level association areas. A less hierarchical functional architecture of the brain has emerged such that, irrespective of sensory modality, inputs would be allocated to the best suited cortical substrate. It is our hope that the articles included in this special issue will offer novel insights into recent developments relating to multisensory integration and brain functioning.

Description: The advent of behavior-independent measures of cognition and major progress in experimental designs have led to substantial advances in the investigation of infant language learning mechanisms. Research in the last two decades has shown that infants are very efficient users of perceptual and statistical cues in order to extract linguistic units and regular patterns from the speech input. This has lent support for learning-based accounts of language acquisition that challenge traditional nativist views. Still, there are many open questions with respect to when and how specific patterns can be learned and the relevance of different types of input cues. For example, first steps have been made to identify the neural mechanisms supporting on-line extraction of words and statistical regularities from speech. Here, the temporal cortex seems to be a major player. How this region works in concert with other brain areas in order to detect and store new linguistic units is a question of broad interest. In this Research Topic of Frontiers in Language Sciences, we bring together experimental and review papers across linguistic domains, ranging from phonology to syntax that address on-line language learning in infancy. Specifically, we focused on papers that explore one of the following or related questions: How and when do infants start to segment linguistic units from the speech input and discover the regularities according to which they are related to each other? What is the role of different linguistic cues during these acquisition stages and how do different kinds of information interact? How are these processes reflected in children’s behavior, how are they represented in the brain and how do they unfold in time? What are the characteristics of the acquired representations as they are established, consolidated and stored in long-term memory? By bringing together behavioral and neurophysiological evidence on language learning mechanisms, we aim to contribute to a more complete picture of the expeditious and highly efficient early stages of language acquisition and their neural implementation.