Yvonne Ventura

• PhD
• Engineer at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Increasing soil salinization and the growing scarcity of fresh water dictate the need for a creative solution to attain sustainable crop production. To accomplish this aim, the domestication of inherently salt tolerant plant species with economic value is proposed as a straightforward methodology. Most studies investigating salt tolerance mechanism...

The fresh water shortage in agriculture is an increasing problem worldwide, therefore the possibility of cultivating crops under saline conditions is of high importance. Crithmum maritimum, a halophytic plant naturally found on rocky coastlines of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, has a long history of human consumption and recently was...

Background: Freshwater comprises about a mere 2·5% of total global water, of which approximately two-thirds is locked into glaciers at the polar ice caps and on mountains. In conjunction with this, in many instances irrigation with freshwater causes an increase in soil salinity due to overirrigation of agricultural land, inefficient water use and...

Tumor microenvironment plays an important role in cancer progression owing to interactions between the tumor and adjoining cells and, as in bone marrow, the unique ar-chitecture and chemical compounds that characterize it. It has recently been proposed that bone marrow shelters cancer cells in niches which may favor regulation of their quiescence,...

Background/Objectives: Leukocytes play a significant role in both acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), contributing to pathogenesis and tissue damage. The process of leukocyte infiltration into the inflamed tissues is mediated by the interactions between the leukocytes and cell adhesion molecules (CAMs, i.e., E-selectin, P-se...

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system characterized by neuroinflammation, demyelination and axonal loss. Cannabis, an immunomodulating agent, is known for its ability to treat MS effectively. However, due to variations in the profile of secondary metabolites, especially cannabinoids, am...

Cannabidiol (CBD), the major non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid found in cannabis, has anti-neuroinflammatory properties. Despite the increasing use of CBD, little is known about its effect in combination with other substances. Combination therapy has been gaining attention recently, aiming to produce more efficient effects. Angiotensin II activates...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a widespread chronic neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disease. Microglia play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of MS via the release of cytokines and reactive oxygen species, e.g., nitric oxide. Research involving the role of phytocannabinoids in neuroinflammation is currently receiving much attention. Cannabiger...

Increasing plant tolerance to sulfites/SO2 can lead to the development of tolerant crops to biotic and abiotic stresses. Plant sulfite oxidase (SO) is a molybdo-enzyme that oxidizes excess SO2/sulfite into non-toxic sulfate. The effect of toxic sulfite on leaves and fruits was studied in tomato plants with different SO expression: wild-type, SO ove...

Halophytic plants are, by definition, well adapted to saline soils. However, even halophytes can face nutritional imbalance and the accumulation of high levels of compounds such as oxalic acid (OA), and nitrate (NO3⁻). These compounds compromise the potential nutritional health benefits associated with salt-tolerant plants such as Portulaca olerace...

Halophytic plants are, by definition, well adapted to saline soils. However, even halophytes can face nutritional imbalance and accumulation of high levels of compounds such as oxalic acid (OA), and nitrate (NO3¯). These compounds compromise the potential nutritional health benefits associated with salt tolerant plants such as Portulaca oleracea. T...

M. Sagi), yventura@bgu.ac.il (Y. Ventura). Abstract Plant sulfite oxidase) SO(is a molybdo-enzyme responsible for the oxidation of excess SO2/sulfite into non-toxic sulfate. The effect of toxic sulfite level on leaves and fruits was studied in tomato plants with different SO expression levels: wild-type (WT), SO overexpression (OE) and SO RNA inter...

Inflammation with neutrophils infiltration is a prominent feature of alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD) and contributes to the severity of the disease. Although an array of potential treatments has been studied, the standard treatment regimen is controversial and can induce severe side effects and infection-related complications. E-selectin, a cy...

Zinc-based alloys hold promise as next generation biodegradable implants. Although zinc implants exhibit excellent biocompatibility in vivo, they have been found to inhibit cell attachment and viability under in vitro conditions. In order to clarify the cell response disparity and improve the biocompatibility of zinc implant materials, Zn-1Mg and Z...

One of the greatest challenges in cancer therapy is to control metastatic spread, seeding, and growth of tumors in distant organs. Recently, we reported on the design of a novel “drug-free” therapeutic copolymer bearing the antimigratory A5G27 peptide, designated P-(A5G27)-FITC, that shows excellent specificity to cancer cells overexpressing CD44v3...

Increasing interest in biodegradable metals (Mg, Fe, and Zn) as structural materials for orthopedic and cardiovascular applications mainly relates to their promising biocompatibility, mechanical properties and ability to self-remove. However, Mg alloys suffer from excessive corrosion rates associated with premature loss of mechanical integrity and...

Salicornia andSarcocorniaare almost identical halophytes whose edible succulent shoots hold promise for commercial production in saline water. Enhanced sulfur nutrition may be beneficial to crops naturally grown on high sulfate. However, little is known about sulfate nutrition in halophytes. Here we show thatSalicornia europaea(ecotype RN) exhibits...

Porous Mg scaffolds are considered as potential bone growth promoting materials. Unfortunately, the high rate of biocorrosion inherent to Mg alloys may cause a premature loss of mechanical strength, excessive evolution of hydrogen gas, and a rapidly shifting surface topography, all of which may hinder the ability of native cells to attach and grow...

Magnesium alloys have been widely investigated for biodegradable medical applications. However, the shielding of harmful cells (eg. bacteria or tumorous cells) from immune surveillance may be compounded by the increased porosity of biodegradable materials. We previously demonstrated the improved corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of a n...

Sulfite reductase (SiR) is an essential enzyme of the sulfate assimilation reductive pathway, which catalyzes the reduction of sulfite to sulfide. Here we show that tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.) with impaired SiR expression due to RNA interference (SIR Ri) developed early leaf senescence. The visual chlorophyll degradation in leaves of SI...

For many decades, fundamental cancer research has relied on two-dimensional in vitro cell culture models. However, these provide a poor representation of the complex three-dimensional (3D) architecture of living tissues. The more recent 3D culture systems, which range from ridged scaffolds to semiliquid gels, resemble their natural counterparts mor...

Amphiphilic peptides can form bottom-up-designed self-assembled hydrogels composed of elongated fibril matrices that could find uses in various biologically- related systems, acting as platforms for drug delivery or scaffolds that mimic extracellular matrices in tissue regeneration systems. We have previously reported that the amphiphilic and anion...

Aster tripolium L. is a salt marsh halophyte that has recently gained interest as a cash crop vegetable. Leaf yield and quality were investigated in plants grown with salinity in experiments with Perlite in pots and in plots on dune sand. Plants were repetitively harvested in a 14-day cycle. A. tripolium irrigated with 50 mM NaCl exhibited the high...

Plant sulfite oxidase (SO) is a molybdenum cofactor (Moco) containing enzyme located in the peroxisomes. SO is thought to play a role in removing excess sulfite that accumulates upon decomposition of sulfur-containing amino acids or sulfated compounds. SO in plants is the major enzyme responsible for detoxifying the atmospheric or artificially elev...

Sulfite reductase (SiR; EC 1.8.7.1), an essential enzyme in the sulfate reduction pathway, catalyzes the reduction of sulfite to sulfide, as an intermediate for cysteine biosynthesis. The commonly used kinetic assay for the detection of in vitro SiR activity in plants is based on a coupled reaction, in which the sulfide produced is converted to cys...

a b s t r a c t Salicornia is a new vegetable crop that can be irrigated with highly saline water, even at salt concentrations equivalent to full-strength seawater. During leafy vegetable cultivation, the onset of the reproductive phase is an undesired phenomenon that reduces yield and quality and prevents year-round cultivation. Knowledge about th...

The halophyte Salicornia was recently introduced as a fresh vegetable crop that thrives in extreme salt conditions. Two annual Salicornia and two perennial Sarcocornia ecotypes were investigated for yield production and nutritional value in response to different seawater concentrations in the irrigation solution. A harvest schedule based on a three...

The growth of crop plants on full-strength seawater constitutes a major challenge because of the high salt content and the limited availability of essential microelements such as molybdenum. For cultivation of the halophyte Salicornia as seawater-grown crop, the effect of molybdate application on total yield production and the activities of the two...

Progress was made towards a reliable in vitro system for mycorrhizing Cistus incanus seedlings with Tuber melanosporum. A rich growth medium favored extensive growth of mycorrhized Ri-transformed roots (MTR) but inhibited mycelial outgrowth into the medium. A minimal medium, on the other hand, inhibited MTR growth but supported considerable mycelia...

Motivated by the increasing interest in the black Perigord truffle (Tuber melanosporum), we have been seeking to develop a controlled cultivation method for this celebrated fungus. Our strategy is based on establishing optimal conditions for mycorrhizal development in detached media by mimicking natural productive truffle beds. Cistus incanus, a Me...

The effects of suboptimal low temperature were investigated on an array of yield, fruit appearance and fruit quality characters in 23 cultivars of melon, Cucumis melo L. The cultivars were grown in two temperature regimes: (I) a heated greenhouse (T1) with temperatures similar to those used in commercial cultivation in the winter in Israel; and (ii...

The effects of suboptimal cold temperatures were investigated in an array of vegetative, reproductive and leaf characters in 34 cultivars, both open pollinated and hybrid, of melons, Cucumis melo. The cultivars were grown in two treatments: (i) a heated greenhouse (T1) that produced temperatures similar to those used in commercial cultivation in wi...