In plants, the hormone auxin shapes gene expression to regulate growth and development. Despite the detailed characterization of auxin-inducible genes, a comprehensive overview of the temporal and spatial dynamics of auxin-regulated gene expression is lacking. Here, we analyze transcriptome data from many publicly available Arabidopsis profiling experiments and assess tissue-specific gene expression both in response to auxin concentration and exposure time and in relation to other plant growth regulators. Our analysis shows that the primary response to auxin over a wide range of auxin application conditions and in specific tissues comprises almost exclusively the up-regulation of genes and identifies the most robust auxin marker genes. Tissue-specific auxin responses correlate with differential expression of Aux/IAA genes and the subsequent regulation of context- and sequence-specific patterns of gene expression. Changes in transcript levels were consistent with a distinct sequence of conjugation, increased transport capacity and down-regulation of biosynthesis in the temperance of high cellular auxin concentrations. Our data show that auxin regulates genes associated with the biosynthesis, catabolism and signaling pathways of other phytohormones. We present a transcriptional overview of the auxin response. Specific interactions between auxin and other phytohormones are highlighted, particularly the regulation of their metabolism. Our analysis provides a roadmap for auxin-dependent processes that underpins the concept of an 'auxin code'--a tissue-specific fingerprint of gene expression that initiates specific developmental processes.

Background: Surgeons urgently need guidance on how to deliver surgical services safely and effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim was to identify the key domains that should be considered when developing pandemic preparedness plans for surgical services. Methods: A scoping search was conducted to identify published articles relating to management of surgical patients during pandemics. Key informant interviews were conducted with surgeons and anaesthetists with direct experience of working during infectious disease outbreaks, in order to identify key challenges and solutions to delivering effective surgical services during the COVID-19 pandemic.Results: Thirteen articles were identified from the scoping search, and surgeons and anaesthetists representing 11 territories were interviewed. To mount an effective response to COVID-19, a pandemic response plan for surgical services should be developed in advance. Key domains that should be included are: provision of staff training (such as patient transfers, donning and doffing personal protection equipment, recognizing and managing COVID-19 infection); support for the overall hospital response to COVID-19 (reduction in non-urgent activities such as clinics, endoscopy, non-urgent elective surgery); establishment of a team-based approach for running emergency services; and recognition and management of COVID-19 infection in patients treated as an emergency and those who have had surgery. A backlog of procedures after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is inevitable, and hospitals should plan how to address this effectively to ensure that patients having elective treatment have the best possible outcomes.

Peri-operative SARS-CoV-2 infection increases postoperative mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal duration of planned delay before surgery in patients who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection. This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study included patients undergoing elective or emergency surgery during October 2020. Surgical patients with pre-operative SARS-CoV-2 infection were compared with those without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality. Logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted 30-day mortality rates stratified by time from diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection to surgery. Among 140,231 patients (116 countries), 3127 patients (2.2%) had a pre-operative SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis. Adjusted 30-day mortality in patients without SARS-CoV-2 infection was 1.5% (95%CI 1.4-1.5). In patients with a pre-operative SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, mortality was increased in patients having surgery within 0-2 weeks, 3-4 weeks and 5-6 weeks of the diagnosis (odds ratio (95%CI) 4.1 (3.3-4.8), 3.9 (2.6-5.1) and 3.6 (2.0-5.2), respectively). Surgery performed ≥ 7 weeks after SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis was associated with a similar mortality risk to baseline (odds ratio (95%CI) 1.5 (0.9-2.1)). After a ≥ 7 week delay in undertaking surgery following SARS-CoV-2 infection, patients with ongoing symptoms had a higher mortality than patients whose symptoms had resolved or who had been asymptomatic (6.0% (95%CI 3.2-8.7) vs. 2.4% (95%CI 1.4-3.4) vs. 1.3% (95%CI 0.6-2.0), respectively). Where possible, surgery should be delayed for at least 7 weeks following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients with ongoing symptoms ≥ 7 weeks from diagnosis may benefit from further delay.

The ability of certain plants, invertebrates, and microorganisms to survive almost complete loss of water has long been recognized, but the molecular mechanisms of this phenomenon remain to be defined. One phylogenetically widespread adaptation is the presence of abundant, highly hydrophilic proteins in desiccation-tolerant organisms. The best characterized of these polypeptides are the late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins, first described in plant seeds >20 years ago but recently identified in invertebrates and bacteria. The function of these largely unstructured proteins has been unclear, but we now show that a group 3 LEA protein from the desiccation-tolerant nematode Aphelenchus avenae is able to prevent aggregation of a wide range of other proteins both in vitro and in vivo. The presence of water is essential for maintenance of the structure of many proteins, and therefore desiccation stress induces unfolding and aggregation. The nematode LEA protein is able to abrogate desiccation-induced aggregation of the water-soluble proteomes from nematodes and mammalian cells and affords protection during both dehydration and rehydration. Furthermore, when coexpressed in a human cell line, the LEA protein reduces the propensity of polyglutamine and polyalanine expansion proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases to form aggregates, demonstrating in vivo function of an LEA protein as an antiaggregant. Finally, human cells expressing LEA protein exhibit increased survival of dehydration imposed by osmotic upshift, consistent with a broad protein stabilization function of LEA proteins under conditions of water stress.anhydrobiosis ͉ late embryogenesis abundant protein W ater is essential for life, but some organisms survive desiccation and the dry state for long periods during which metabolism and life processes come to a halt, but resume on rehydration. Desiccation tolerance, or anhydrobiosis (''life without water''), is found across all biological kingdoms, including animals and plants such as the nematode Aphelenchus avenae and the resurrection plant Craterostigma plantagineum (1-3). Investigations into the molecular mechanisms of desiccation tolerance have highlighted the importance of various hydrophilic proteins, chief among which are the late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins (4).LEA proteins have been known for many years to accumulate in maturing plant seeds as they acquire desiccation tolerance (5, 6), but their discovery in invertebrates (7-13) suggests that similar mechanisms govern anhydrobiosis in both animals and plants. LEA proteins are known to be largely unstructured in solution, probably because their extreme hydrophilicity favors association with water over intrachain interactions, but they can show increased folding when dried or when associated with phospholipid bilayers (14-16). Although LEA proteins are widely held to protect cells against water stress, their precise role has been a puzzle since they were first described. Recently, evidence supporting possible functions has bee...

Summary Prions are a paradigm-shifting mechanism of inheritance in which phenotypes are encoded by self-templating protein conformations rather than nucleic acids. Here we examine the breadth of protein-based inheritance across the yeast proteome by assessing the ability of nearly every open reading frame (∼5,300 ORFs) to induce heritable traits. Transient overexpression of nearly 50 proteins created traits that remained heritable long after their expression returned to normal. These traits were beneficial, had prion-like patterns of inheritance, were common in wild yeasts, and could be transmitted to naïve cells with protein alone. Most inducing proteins were not known prions and did not form amyloid. Instead, they are highly enriched in nucleic acid binding proteins with large intrinsically disordered domains that have been widely conserved across evolution. Our data thus establish a common type of protein-based inheritance through which intrinsically disordered proteins can drive the emergence of new traits and adaptive opportunities.