A newly identified protein confers drought tolerance to plants

Researchers at the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), have characterized for the first time the function of AtMC3, a protein of the metacaspase family that is involved in drought tolerance in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN AGRICULTURAL GENOMICS (CRAG)

 

IMAGE: THE MODEL PLANT ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA USED IN THE STUDY (CREDIT: CRAG). view more 

CREDIT: CRAG

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• CRAG researchers have discovered that AtMC3 protein is exclusively located in a specific part of the plant vascular system.
• Increased levels of AtMC3 are able to confer enhanced tolerance to severe water scarcity conditions, without affecting plant yield.
• This knowledge will contribute to find tools to cope with increasing drought phenomena due to climate crisis.

 

Bellaterra (Barcelona), 16 June 2023

 

Researchers led by Núria Sánchez-Coll, CSIC researcher at the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), have characterized for the first time the function of AtMC3, a protein of the metacaspase family that is involved in drought tolerance in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

The work, published in the New Phytologist journal in collaboration with several international research centers and universities, highlights the importance of vascular tissue for plants to cope with adverse conditions associated with water scarcity and osmotic stress.

Plants, as sessile organisms that cannot move like animals do, have evolved ways to endure water scarcity and periods of drought stress. However, increasing drought phenomena due to climate crisis pose a serious threat to agricultural productivity.

 

The importance of the plant vascular system

Plants rely on their vascular system connecting distantly separated organs to coordinate an efficient response to water deprivation at the organismal level. The primary components of vascular tissue are the xylem and phloem, tissues which transport fluids and nutrients internally. While the xylem transports water and nutrients upwards from roots to stems and leaves, phloem distributes the soluble organic compounds made in the leaves during photosynthesis to the rest of the plant.

In this work, CRAG researchers have found for the first time that the AtMC3 protein is exclusively located in the phloem. More specifically AtMC3 is found in a particular cell type of the vasculature, called companion cells which are metabolically supporting the main phloem transport cells (sieve elements), as observed by fluorescence microscopy images of the tip of the root.

When facing drought stress, several signalling molecules such as the plant stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA) are synthesized and transported to all plant tissues to trigger a series of physiological responses that will protect the plant. The present study describes that plants lacking AtMC3 are less sensitive to ABA and hence their ability to cope with drought stress is diminished. Moreover, altered levels of the AtMC3 protein lead to differential accumulation of stress-related proteins as well as defects in vascular development under stress conditions. This suggests that AtMC3 plays an important role for plants to respond adequately to osmotic stress and points out a possible new role for companion cells in stress sensing. Furthermore, phloem plasticity emerges as a useful tool to study and manipulate, in order to elucidate the plant responses to drought stress.

 

Tolerance to severe drought stress

When researchers increased the levels of AtMC3, plants increased survival rate and their ability to maintain their photosynthetic capacity in water scarcity conditions, indicating that AtMC3 alone can confer enhanced drought tolerance. More importantly, the altered levels of this protein did not cause any detrimental changes in plant growth, which «is a key finding to be able to fine-tune early drought responses at the whole plant level without affecting growth or yield in crops», states Eugenia Pitsili, first author of the study and former CRAG researcher, who is currently a postdoctoral researcher at VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology in Belgium.

This specific role of AtMC3 in drought stress aligns with the function of previously reported metacaspases, which have been linked to other stress responses such as those caused by pathogens or wounding.

This work opens the door to further studies to elucidate the exact mechanism of action of this protein to be able to understand the whole process in more depth and to evaluate whether it could have an application in crops.

Understanding the tissue specific mechanisms underlying the complex process of response to water scarcity is key to develop new tools to translate this knowledge into biotechnological and breeding solutions. These new tools will be crucial to improve crop performance in the field in a context of climate crisis.

 

 

Reference Article: Pitsili, E., et al. A phloem-localized Arabidopsis metacaspase (AtMC3) improves drought tolerance. New Phytol. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19022

About the authors and funding of the study: Research in the NSC-MV lab is funded by project PID2019-108595RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033, TED2021-131457B-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by the “European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR”, and and through the “Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D” (SEV-2015-0533 and CEX2019-000902-S funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033). This work was also supported by the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya. EP and JS-L were supported by fellowships BES-2016-077242 and BES-2017-080210, respectively, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ESF Investing in your future”. NR and RdP were supported by fellowships FPU2019-03778 and FPU2018-03285, respectively, funded by Ministerio de Universidades. The AR-V lab was funded by the Swiss National Foundation, Stavros-Niarchos/ETH-Foundation (EK) and a Swiss government fellowship (RRT). MJH and CD were supported by the University of Nottingham. The authors acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).

About the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG): CRAG is a centre that forms part of the CERCA system of research centres of the Government of Catalonia (Spain), and which was established as a partnership of four institutions: the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Institute for Agri-Food Research and Technology (IRTA), the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the University of Barcelona (UB). CRAG’s research spans from basic research in plant and farm animal molecular biology, to applications of molecular approaches for breeding of species important for agriculture and food production in close collaboration with industry. In 2020, CRAG was recognized for the second time as a "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence” by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

 

 

Images:

• 1_Arabidopsis-plant_CRAG.jpg: The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana used in the study (Credit: CRAG).
• 2_Arabidopsis-drought_CRAG.jpg: Example of one of the experiments, where several Arabidopsis thaliana plants have been grown in water scarcity conditions (Credit: CRAG).
• 3_Root-fluorescence_CRAG.png: Fluorescence microscopy image of the tip of the root of Arabidopsis thaliana showing specific expression of the protein AtMC3 (green) in the companion cells of the phloem vascular tissue (Credit: CRAG).
• 4_Scheme-AtMC3.jpg: Scheme of the localization of the protein AtMC3 in the root (Credit: CRAG).

Images can be dowloaded here: https://tuit.cat/66et5

  

Example of one of the experiments, where several Arabidopsis thaliana plants have been grown in water scarcity conditions (Credit: CRAG).

Fluorescence microscopy image of the tip of the root of Arabidopsis thaliana showing specific expression of the protein AtMC3 (green) in the companion cells of the phloem vascular tissue (Credit: CRAG).

Scheme of the localization of the protein AtMC3 in the root (Credit: CRAG).

CREDIT

CRAG

JOURNAL

New Phytologist

DOI

10.1111/nph.19022 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

A phloem-localized Arabidopsis metacaspase (AtMC3) improves drought tolerance

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

16-Jun-2023

Sickle cell disease is 11 times more deadly than previously recorded

8 million people suffer from the hereditary disease which disproportionately impacts children, adolescents, and young adults

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH METRICS AND EVALUATION

• A new analysis provides a more complete picture of sickle cell disease mortality burden by combining disease prevalence data in different age groups and trends in overall survival when factoring in resulting secondary conditions.
• When looking across all deaths, sickle cell disease is a leading cause of mortality in children under 5 years as well as in youth 5–14 years and adults 15–49 years.
• Half a million babies were born with sickle cell disease in 2021, and 79% of these infants were in sub-Saharan Africa.
• The largest increases in total deaths due to sickle cell disease since 2000 were in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, with the rise driven by population growth.
• Data gaps and high burden in regions with historically elevated rates of sickle cell disease highlight the urgent need for universal newborn screening systems and increased access to sickle cell disease treatment.

 

SEATTLE, Wash. June 15, 2023 — A new study suggests the number of deaths due to sickle cell disease is 11 times higher than what is indicated from mortality data sources alone. Sickle cell disease is not just underdiagnosed, but it also increases risk of infection and of death from conditions like stroke, heart problems, kidney problems, and pregnancy complications. This means that the doctor taking care of a sickle cell disease patient who died from stroke may not even know that person had sickle cell disease or may not know that sickle cell disease can cause stroke, both of which could lead the doctor to not list sickle cell disease as a cause of death for that person.

When other sources of data on prevalence and birth incidence were combined with mortality data in epidemiological modeling, in 2021, the “total mortality burden” of sickle cell disease was 373,000 deaths, compared to 34,600 sickle-cell-only deaths, or “cause-specific deaths.” The increase was especially pronounced in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where the fatality figures were 67 times higher and nine times higher, respectively.

The study analyzed global health data from 2000 to 2021 and is published today in The Lancet Haematology journal. The research is part of the Global Burden of Disease 2021 study coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine.

“Our research reveals the stark reality that sickle cell disease is far deadlier than its textbook description,” says senior author Dr. Nicholas Kassebaum, Adjunct Associate Professor at IHME. “The number of babies born with sickle cell disease is rising, which means a very difficult early childhood. Patients are more susceptible to infections and other severe conditions, so early detection is key for treatment.”

In 2021, half a million babies were born with sickle cell disease, and more than three-quarters of these births were in sub-Saharan Africa. Under the analysis of total mortality burden (including secondary conditions), sickle cell disease was the 12th leading cause of death globally for children under the age of 5 years. However, total sickle cell disease mortality burden was among the top three causes of death in Portugal, Jamaica, Libya, Oman, and San Marino.

“Improved data collection is critical to tracking progress on sickle cell disease. In order to overcome this data limitation, instead of using mortality data alone to estimate total sickle cell disease deaths, we used a mathematical algorithm that also takes input data from birth incidence, survival over time, and prevalence, and ensures these measures are internally consistent,” explains Azalea Thomson, first author and IHME researcher on the Neonatal and Child Health Team. “By making use of all available data, we were able to strengthen our understanding of the true burden of sickle cell disease and better contextualize it alongside other leading causes of death. For example, in 2021, in kids under 5 years in sub-Saharan Africa, total sickle cell disease deaths exceeded those from malnutrition, measles, or syphilis.”

The research also underscores the need for policymakers and public health advocates to address the largely underrecognized burden of sickle cell disease. Universal newborn screening, case monitoring through public registries, and early intervention treatment can alleviate suffering for some 8 million people living with sickle cell disease.

“Universal newborn screening is essential for early diagnosis and management of sickle cell disease,” says Dr. Theresa McHugh, scientific writer at IHME who focuses on neonatal and child health. “In low- and middle-income countries, the newborn screening process is fragmented. In the US, newborn screening is universal, but a national registry does not yet exist. Increased global awareness and adoption of health policies that expand neonatal screening and make treatment more accessible will go a long way in improving health outcomes.”

The study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  The study team included researchers from IHME and GBD 2021 collaborators from around the world.

IF YOU WISH TO PROVIDE A LINK FOR YOUR READERS, PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING, 

  http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhae/article/PIIS2352-3026(23)00118-7/fulltext

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JOURNAL

The Lancet Haematology

DOI

10.1016/S2352-3026(23)00118-7 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Systematic review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Global, regional and national prevalence and mortality burden of sickle cell disease, 2000-2021: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Jun-2023

New butterfly species named after Smithsonian's retired museum specialist

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PENSOFT PUBLISHERS

 

IMAGE: CAERULEUPTYCHIA HARRISI view more 

CREDIT: NAKAHARA ET AL.

When introducing a new species to science, taxonomists always get to choose its scientific name. And while there are some general rules to naming, there’s also relative freedom. Often, new species are named after the area where they were found, or their key diagnostic features, but researchers may also choose names that recognize those who helped or inspired them in their career: prominent scientists, celebrities, and, sometimes, their grandma, or their dog. In Amazonia, a new species of butterfly was discovered whose name honors the decades-long work of someone who has worked patiently behind the scenes in museum collections to provide invaluable support to researchers.

Caeruleuptychia harrisi was named in recognition of Brian P. Harris, museum specialist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, “for his tireless effort in facilitating butterfly research at USNM by going above and beyond to support visiting researchers,” according to a study which was just published in the journal ZooKeys. “Brian has provided critical support to visiting researchers for many years, including several co-authors on the paper,” writes the team of researchers, led by Harvard University’s Shinichi Nakahara.

In fact, Harris personally collected the type specimen that later facilitated the scientific description of the new species. After collecting it in Brazil, he deposited it at USNM, where it could be studied as a reference for this species.

“I think it is really important to recognize someone who has dedicated а good amount of his lifetime providing technical help to support research,” says Shinichi Nakahara.

Brian Harris started working at the Smithsonian Institution in July 2005. There, he served as a museum specialist for Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) and Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) until he retired in July 2019. 

“Brian's job curating Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera collections is critical for us visiting researchers to conduct research based on these specimens, but sadly this kind of technical support is often not well recognized well in the current scientific community,” says Shinichi Nakahara. “I visited the Smithsonian's Lepidoptera collection three times, in 2015, 2018, and 2023 (after his retirement!), and Brian provided me with the best support I could ever receive in all of these three visits. It was evident to me that he wanted us visitors to make the most out of the collections and he went out of his way to support my short visits to the collection.”

“He always communicated with me in advance about which butterfly group I wanted to examine, would set up an imaging system in advance, and even tried to help me find field notes left by a deceased collector by taking me to the stock room and spending time exploring the museum with me!,“ he adds.

Before working at the Smithsonian Institution, Brian Harris spent 18 years at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (LACM). In the mid-1970s and early 1980s, he played drums for a band before starting at LACM.

  

Caeruleuptychia harrisi

CREDIT

Nakahara et al.

CAPTION

Brian P. Harris at the Smithsonian Institution holding Morpho hecuba

CREDIT

Lynn Cooper

Original source:

Nakahara S, Kleckner K, Barbosa EP, Lourenço GM, Casagrande MM, Willmott KR, Freitas AVL (2023) Reassessment of the type locality of Euptychia stigmatica Godman, 1905, with the description of two new sibling species from Amazonia (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae, Satyrini). ZooKeys 1167: 57-88. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1167.102979

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JOURNAL

ZooKeys

DOI

10.3897/zookeys.1167.102979 

ARTICLE TITLE

Reassessment of the type locality of Euptychia stigmatica Godman, 1905, with the description of two new sibling species from Amazonia (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae, Satyrini)

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

14-Jun-2023

New dinosaur named for Natural History Museum Professor

First armoured dinosaur to be described from the Isle of Wight in 142 years, shows Ankylosaurs may have been far more diverse than originally thought

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP

 

IMAGE: TWO VECTIPELTA BARRETTI - COPYRIGHT STUART POND view more 

CREDIT: STUART POND

A new armoured dinosaur, known as an ankylosaur, has been described and named for Prof Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum.

Vectipelta barretti was discovered in the Wessex formation on the Isle of Wight and represents the first armoured dinosaur from the dinosaur Isle to be described in 142 years.

Lead author Stuart Pond explained the importance of this find, ‘This is an important specimen because it sheds light on ankylosaur diversity within the Wessex formation and Early Cretaceous England.

‘For virtually 142 years, all ankylosaur remains from the Isle of Wight have been assigned to Polacanthus foxii, a famous dinosaur from the island, now all of those finds need to be revisited because we've described this new species.’

The new species differs from Polacanthus foxii, previously the only known ankylosaur from the Isle of Wight, in several key characteristics. The fossilized remains show differences in the neck and back vertebrae, a very different structure to the pelvis and more blade-like spiked armour.

The researchers used phylogenetic analysis to work out the relationships between different ankylosaurs and discovered that they are not actually very closely related. In fact, Vectipelta was found to be most closely related to some Chinese ankylosaurs, suggesting dinosaurs moved freely from Asia to Europe in the Early Cretaceous.

Vectipelta barretti would have been roaming the earth during the Early Cretaceous, a time for which fossil remains are rare worldwide. This has led some to suggest that a mass extinction occurred at the end of the Jurassic, which makes the understanding of dinosaur diversity at this time crucial to understanding if such an event occurred and how life recovered. With rocks from this time mostly absent in North America, the Wessex Formation and the Isle of Wight are hugely important areas in answering these questions.

At the time the Isle of Wight would have had a climate similar to that of the Mediterranean and was a flood plain covered by a large meandering river system. Floods would have washed organic material such as plants, logs and even dinosaur bodies together and, as waters receded, this organic matter would have been isolated in ponds on the floodplain that eventually dried out and were buried in the clay soil, preserving this organic material as the fossils we find today.

On naming the new dinosaur for Prof Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum, senior author Dr Susannah Maidment said, ‘Myself and some of the other authors on this study have been mentored or supervised by Paul for most of our careers, and it was notable to us that Paul hadn’t had a dinosaur named after him yet. He's hugely influential in in vertebrate palaeontology, and he's a world-leading authority on dinosaurs.

‘We really wanted to thank him for his support and mentorship, so we decided to name a, slow-moving, spikey organism after him.’

Prof Paul Barrett has worked at the Natural History Museum, London for 20 years and in that time has published an impressive 220 scientific papers. He has also supervised 31 PhD students and mentored many others, encouraging a whole new generation of palaeontologists.

Of the honour Prof Barrett said, ‘I'm flattered and absolutely delighted to have been recognised in this way, not least as the first paper I ever wrote was also on an armoured dinosaur in the NHM collections. I'm sure that any physical resemblance is purely accidental.’

The team are optimistic that more species will be discovered in the area in the future. Dr Maidment concluded, ‘We have new iguanodontians that we are lining up, to be prepped and to be studied. I think we have at least two new taxa in the collections. With regards to ankylosaurs, they are somewhat rarer, so I think we need to keep our eyes peeled.’

The new dinosaur is part of the internationally important collection held at Dinosaur Isle Museum, operated by the Isle of Wight Council. Parts of the dinosaur will be on display at the museum for the school holidays. The bones have been cleaned from their surrounding matrix by staff and volunteers at the museum which has made the research possible.

The paper Vectipelta barretti, a new ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, UK is published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

Vectipelta barretti reconstruc [VIDEO] | 

JOURNAL

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology

DOI

10.1080/14772019.2023.2210577 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Vectipelta barretti, a new ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

16-Jun-2023

Removing barriers to commercialization of magnesium secondary batteries

KIST increases charge and discharge efficiency with magnesium metal chemical activation process, Expected to commercialize magnesium secondary batteries by utilizing non-corrosive general electrolyte

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: COMPARISON OF ELECTROCHEMICAL REVERSIBILITY OF MAGNESIUM METAL BEFORE AND AFTER CHEMICAL ACTIVATION view more 

CREDIT: KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

A research team led by Dr. Minah Lee of the Energy Storage Research Center at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology(KIST) has developed a chemical activation strategy of magnesium metal that enables efficient operation of magnesium batteries in common electrolytes that are free of corrosive additives and can be mass-produced.

While the demand for lithium-ion batteries is exploding due to the rapid growth of the electric vehicle and energy storage system(ESS) markets, the supply and demand of their raw materials such as lithium and cobalt are mostly dependent on specific countries, and thus there are great concerns about securing a stable supply chain. For this reason, research on next-generation secondary batteries have been actively conducted, and secondary batteries utilizing magnesium, which is abundant in the earth's crust, are gaining attention.

Magnesium secondary batteries can be expected to have a high energy density because they utilize Mg2+, a divalent ion instead of monovalent alkali metal ions such as lithium. The highest energy density can be obtained by directly utilizing magnesium metal as a anode, of which volumetric capacity is about 1.9 times higher than lithium metal.

Despite these advantages, the difficulty of efficiently charging and discharging magnesium metal due to its reactivity with electrolytes, has hindered its commercialization. KIST researchers have developed a technology to induce a highly efficient charge and discharge reaction of magnesium metal, opening the possibility of the commercialization of magnesium secondary batteries. In particular, unlike previous studies that utilized corrosive electrolytes to facilitate the charging and discharging of magnesium, the researchers utilized a common electrolyte with a similar composition to existing commercial electrolytes, enabling the use of high-voltage electrodes and minimizing corrosion of battery components.

The team synthesized an artificial protective layer with a novel composition based on magnesium alkyl halide oligomers on the magnesium surface by a simple process of dipping the magnesium metal to be used as the anode into a reactive alkyl halide solution prior to cell assembly. They found that selecting a specific reaction solvent facilitated the formation of nanostructures on the magnesium surface, which in turn facilitated the dissolution and deposition of magnesium. Based on this, they suppressed unwanted reactions with electrolytes and maximized the reaction area through nanostructuring to induce highly efficient magnesium cycling.

 

By applying the developed technology, the overpotential can be reduced from more than 2 V to less than 0.2 V when charging and discharging magnesium metal in a common electrolyte without corrosive additives, and the Coulombic efficiency can be increased from less than 10% to more than 99.5%. The team demonstrated stable charging and discharging of activated magnesium metal more than 990 cycles, confirming that magnesium rechargeable batteries can operate in conventional electrolytes that can be mass-produced.

"This work provides a new direction for the existing magnesium secondary battery research, which has been using corrosive electrolytes that prevent the formation of interfacial layers on magnesium metal surfaces," said Dr. Minah Lee of KIST. "It will increase the possiblity of low-cost, high-energy-density magnesium secondary batteries based on common electrolytes suitable for energy storage systems (ESS).“

  

Cycling performance of activated magnesium metal

(Left) Lithium metal, (middle) Magnesium metal with the equivalent capacity as the left lithium metal but smaller in size, (right) Magnesium anode immersed in chemical activation solution

CREDIT

Korea Institute of Science and Technology

KIST was established in 1966 as the first government-funded research institute in Korea. KIST now strives to solve national and social challenges and secure growth engines through leading and innovative research. For more information, please visit KIST’s website at https://eng.kist.re.kr/

The research was funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) through the KIST Major Project and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Mid-Career Researchers Program, and the results were published in the latest issue of ACS Nano (IF:18.027, JCR top 5.652%), an international journal in the field of nanomaterials.

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JOURNAL

ACS Nano

DOI

10.1021/acsnano.2c08672 

ARTICLE TITLE

Reversible magnesium metal cycling in additive-free simple salt electrolytes enabled by spontaneous chemical activation

Fathers key to supporting breastfeeding and safe infant sleep

Including fathers in strategies to improve infant health could help narrow disparities

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ANN & ROBERT H. LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO

Fathers can make a huge difference in whether an infant is breastfed and placed to sleep safely, according to a recent survey of new fathers via the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) for Dads. This new tool is modeled on the annual surveillance system that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and public health departments have used for more than 35 years to survey new mothers. By utilizing PRAMS for Dads, this article is the first to describe father-reported rates of infant breastfeeding and sleep practices in a state-representative sample. Findings are published in the journal Pediatrics.

Among fathers who wanted their infant’s mother to breastfeed, 95% reported breastfeeding initiation and 78% reported breastfeeding at eight weeks. This is significantly higher than the rates reported by fathers who had no opinion or did not want their infant’s mother to breastfeed – 69% of these fathers reported breastfeeding initiation and 33% reported breastfeeding at eight weeks.

Researchers also found that 99% of fathers reported placing their infant to sleep, but only 16% implemented all three recommended infant sleep practices (using the back sleep position, an approved sleep surface, and avoiding soft bedding). Almost a third of fathers surveyed were missing at least one key component of safe sleep education.

Black fathers were less likely to use the back sleep position and more likely to use soft bedding than White fathers. Nationally, the rate of sudden unexpected infant death of Black infants is more than twice that of White infants, and unsafe sleep practices may contribute to this disparity.

“Our findings underscore that new fathers are a critical audience to promote breastfeeding and safe infant sleep,” said lead author John James Parker, MD, a pediatrician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, an internist at Northwestern Medicine, and an Instructor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Many families do not gain the health benefits from breastfeeding because they are not provided the support to breastfeed successfully. Fathers need to be directly engaged in breastfeeding discussions and providers need to describe the important role fathers play in breastfeeding success. Additionally, fathers need to receive counseling on all of the safe sleep practices for their infants. To reduce racial disparities in sudden unexpected infant death, we need tailored strategies to increase safe infant sleep practices in the Black community, including public campaigns to increase awareness and home visiting programs. These interventions must involve both parents to be most effective.”

The study included 250 fathers who were surveyed two to six months after their infant’s birth.

“As pediatricians we focus on how to ensure the best health outcomes for children, with successful breastfeeding and safe sleep practices being two key behaviors that impact children’s health,” said senior author Craig Garfield, MD, MAPP, founder of the Family & Child Health Innovations Program (FCHIP) at Lurie Children’s. He is Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Our study highlights the fact that fathers play a big role in both these behaviors but there is more to be done to support fathers. For example, we found that fathers with college degrees were more likely to report that their baby breastfed, and they were more likely to receive guidance on infant sleep safety. To improve child health outcomes, we need to make sure that breastfeeding and safe sleep guidance reaches all new parents equitably.”

Dr. Garfield partnered with the CDC and the Georgia Department of Public Health to develop and pilot PRAMS for Dads, the new survey tool used in this study that gathers data on the health behaviors and experiences of men as they enter fatherhood.

This project was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Cooperative agreement #U38OT00140) and CDC Innovation Fund, Office of Science/Office of Technology and Innovation.

Research at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is conducted through Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute. The Manne Research Institute is focused on improving child health, transforming pediatric medicine and ensuring healthier futures through the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Lurie Children’s is a nonprofit organization committed to providing access to exceptional care for every child. It is ranked as one of the nation’s top children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. Lurie Children’s is the pediatric training ground for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

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JOURNAL

PEDIATRICS

Alcohol and smoking to blame for premature deaths among night owls, 37-year study suggests

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP

Staying up late at night has little impact on how long ‘night owls’ live, according to new research published in the peer-reviewed journal Chronobiology International.

Data based on nearly 23,000 twins, however shows that evening types have a slightly increased risk of dying than morning types, but this is largely linked to smoking and drinking.

The study which tracked people over the course of more than 37 years in Finland suggests that lifestyle should be considered.

This is when analyzing the impact on health of chronotype – the body’s natural inclination to sleep at a certain time.

“Our findings suggest that there is little or no independent contribution of chronotype to mortality,” says author Dr Christer Hublin, from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki.

“In addition, the increased risk of mortality associated with being a clearly ‘evening’ person appears to be mainly accounted for by a larger consumption of tobacco and alcohol. This is compared to those who are clearly ‘morning’ persons.”

There is increasing evidence that sleep duration and quality, and night shift work affect health. Earlier studies have linked night owls with a higher risk of disease especially heart problems.

Data published in 2018 from the UK Biobank, looking at people over the course of 6.5 years, found evening types have a small increased risk of death from any cause including disease, and from heart condition.

It was this previous research which inspired today’s new study, as authors wanted to analyze some things which were not measured – alcohol consumption and the amount people smoked, rather than just status.

This new research, which was co-led by Dr Jaakko Kaprio, from the Finnish Twin Cohort study at the University of Helsinki, followed 22,976 men and women aged 24 years and from 1981 to 2018.

At the start of the study, the twins were asked to pick from four possible responses: ‘I am clearly a morning person’; ‘I am to some extent a morning person’; ‘I am clearly an evening person’; ‘I am to some extent an evening person’.

The researchers followed-up the participants in 2018 to establish if any had died. They based this on data provided by nationwide registers.

The authors took into account education, daily alcohol consumption, smoking status and quantity, BMI, and sleep duration.

Results showed that 7,591 of the twins identified as ‘to some extent’ and 2,262 as ‘definite’ evening types. The figures for morning types were 6,354 and 6,769, respectively.

Compared to morning types, night owls were younger and drank/smoked more. Definite evening types were also less likely to report getting 8 hours sleep.

Of the total participants, 8,728 had died by 2018 and the chance of dying from any cause was 9% higher among definite night owls compared to early birds.

However, the study found that smoking and alcohol largely caused these deaths, not chronotype. This finding was highlighted by the fact non-smokers were at no increased risk of dying.

The causes of deaths from alcohol included related disease as well as from accidental alcohol poisoning.

Dr Kaprio notes that they were more able to relate their findings to society as a whole. Their participants’ health was no different than the general population whereas the UK Biobank’s were healthier than average.

They highlight the access to comprehensive data on lifestyle factors as a strength of their research. However, the findings were based on self-reported data from asking one question.

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JOURNAL

Chronobiology International

DOI

10.1080/07420528.2023.2215342 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Chronotype and mortality - a 37-year follow-up study in Finnish adults

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

16-Jun-2023