In sugar beet production, weed control is one of the most important and most expensive practices to ensure yield. Since glyphosate-resistant sugar beets are not yet approved for cultivation in the EU, little commercial experience exists with these sugar beets in Europe. Experimental field trials were conducted at five environments (Germany, Poland, 2010, 2011) to compare the effects of glyphosate with the effects of conventional weed control programs on the development of weeds, weed control efficiency and yield. The results show that the glyphosate weed control programs compared to the conventional methods decreased not only the number of herbicide applications but equally in magnitude decreased the dosage of active ingredients. The results also showed effective weed control with glyphosate when the weed covering was greater and sugar beets had a later growth stage of four true leaves. Glyphosate-resistant sugar beets applied with the glyphosate herbicide two or three times had an increase in white sugar yield from 4 to 18 % in comparison to the high dosage conventional herbicide systems. In summary, under glyphosate management sugar beets can positively contribute to the increasingly demanding requirements regarding efficient sugar beet cultivation and to the demands by society and politics to reduce the use of chemical plant protection products in the environment.
Share ideas that matter on the social web and experience
the benefits of curating the world's best content.
I don't have a Facebook, a Twitter or a LinkedIn account
|
Scooped by Jean-Pierre Zryd onto plant cell genetics |
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
 Your new post is loading...
Scoop.it!
Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal toxin (Bt) rice will be commercialized as a main food source. Traditional safety assessments on genetically modified products pay little attention on gastrointestinal (GI) health. More data about GI health of Bt rice must be provided to dispel public' doubts about the potential effects on human health. We constructed an improved safety assessment animal model using a basic subchronic toxicity experiment, measuring a range of parameters including microflora composition, intestinal permeability, epithelial structure, fecal enzymes, bacterial activity, and intestinal immunity. Significant differences were found between rice-fed groups and AIN93G-fed control groups in several parameters, whereas no differences were observed between genetically modified and non-genetically modified groups. No adverse effects were found on GI health resulting from genetically modified T2A-1 rice. In conclusion, this study may offer a systematic safety assessment model for GM material with respect to the effects on GI health.
Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Other management models for transgenic crops than the European one (which allows only the big companies to enter the market) are possible.
In general any scientific advance brings a benefit to society that improves the living standards and eliminates social inequalities. Consider for instance the mechanization, which has improved working conditions and lower costs involving access to goods by a greater section of the population, or how the internet and computers have allowed access to all sorts of information or to communicate easily.
In Europe we are now in a debate on the use of plant biotechnology, the demonized transgenic plants. The problem is that you cannot set up a debate in conditions when most of the information circulating on the subject is inaccurate or false. For starters, we should remember that transgenic technology – i.e. inserting a piece of DNA from one organism into another – already is part of our lives, since this technology is used for many drugs, cotton clothing, Euro bills, enzymes that are used in various industries or in detergents. However, when it comes to GM crops and making this technology available to farmers it is when all misgivings arise, sometimes justified and sometimes not.
One of the arguments of those who advocate the prohibition of GMOs is that they are in the hands of a few companies and that we lose control of our food. Well, actually most of the seeds used in agriculture are already in the hands of these companies, and they sell GMOs on top of that. The paradox is that by wanting to stop them makes it easier for them to succeed. European anti-GMO policy arbitrarily applies the precautionary principle demanding more controls and tests. This increases both the cost of the product and it eliminates the possibility that a small or public can compete, leaving in the race only large multinationals. However, because the European model does not work does not mean that we cannot see how alternatives have been applied in other parts of the world and recognize that there is debate and it is used each year more because the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
Other models of transgenic crop management
Argentina is one of the leading producers of genetically modified soybeans. Being outside the international patent system, it was using Monsanto seeds without paying royalties, until they came to an agreement, but still paying much less. Why has it succeeded? Because by lowering production costs, the technology benefitted mainly small and medium producers who have seen increased profitability of their land. What did the government do? Place a rate of 30% on exports to ensure (besides corruption) the distribution of the profit generated. The Indian model is similar for cotton, since the greatest benefit occurs among small and medium producers (the story of suicides because of transgenics is urban legend.)
The soy “fever” spread to Brazil in a curious way. Lula da Silva came to power with a manifesto that included a rejection of GMOs. However, during his tenure Brazil became the second largest producer of these crops. What brought the change? Basically farmers in Rio Grande do Sul, who obtained GM seeds from Argentina, planted in Brazil and then smuggled their soybeans into Argentina to sell them. He spoke with them and saw that the best thing for the region was to authorize them. As the strategy was working but was in the hands of foreign companies, he decided to make a strong public commitment for the national agricultural company EMBRAPA to create varieties that solved specific problems and so has been launched a transgenic virus-resistant bean variety. This model has been followed by Cuba, which in 2012 has joined the list of countries planting biotech, along with Sudan, which has developed own GM maize varieties for their farmers, and by Nigeria, which has also developed a pest-resistant bean. The next to follow this path is Indonesia, which has begun field trials with drought-tolerant and herbicide-tolerant sugarcane.
So the debate is open and the theme is multifaceted, but total refusal to use this technology only leads to injury to farmers and ultimately society as a whole. We cannot take a stationary position, but have to learn to separate the wheat from the chaff in the debate. Other models of GM crop management than the European (allowing market entry only to big companies) are possible. In these models, the advantages are maximized versus drawbacks. Our country and our citizens have a big stake in this debate.
[Slightly edited machine translation from http://www.mundoobrero.es/pl.php?id=2823
Via Alexander J. Stein 
AckerbauHalle's curator insight,
June 8, 6:40 AM
Es gibt auch andere Modelle zur Nutzung von GVOs - hier das Beispiel Argentinien. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
The French emergency measures document not only contains no new scientific evidence, but also distorts, misquotes and falsely interprets authentic scientific reports, including those of the EFSA GMO panel. Other scientific articles (at least eight since 2008) relevant to the subject and providing a different picture are ignored. On the most important concerns raised by the emergency measures document, we have obtained direct supporting evidence from several authors of the cited scientific articles and from other experts in the field. It is significant that the French Biosafety Authority (Haut Conseil des Biotechnologies; HCB) was not consulted on this emergency measures document. Consequently, the chairman of the HCB, Jean-François Dhainault, wrote to the French prime minister expressing the displeasure of the HCB members and their shock that “other expertise” was seemingly used for the preparation of the document and that the conclusions of previous HCB reports had been ignored. No reply was received from the prime minister. The actual authors of the emergency measures document, as well as their scientific qualifications, if any, remain unknown (a clear transgression of scientific ethical norms). Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Spice and medicinal plants grown under water deficiency conditions reveal much higher concentrations of relevant natural products compared with identical plants of the same species cultivated with an ample water supply. For the first time, experimental data related to this well-known phenomenon have been collected and a putative mechanistic concept considering general plant physiological and biochemical aspects is presented. Water shortage induces drought stress-related metabolic responses and, due to stomatal closure, the uptake of CO2 decreases significantly. As a result, the consumption of reduction equivalents (NADPH + H+) for CO2 fixation via the Calvin cycle declines considerably, generating a large oxidative stress and an oversupply of reduction equivalents. As a consequence, metabolic processes are shifted towards biosynthetic activities that consume reduction equivalents. Accordingly, the synthesis of reduced compounds, such as isoprenoids, phenols or alkaloids, is enhanced. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Patch-clamp studies carried out on the tonoplast of the moss Physcomitrella patens point to existence of two types of cation-selective ion channels: slowly activated (SV channels), and fast-activated potassium-selective channels. Slowly and instantaneously saturating currents were observed in the whole-vacuole recordings made in the symmetrical KCl concentration and in the presence of Ca2+ on both sides of the tonoplast. The reversal potential obtained at the KCl gradient (10 mM on the cytoplasmic side and 100 mM in the vacuole lumen) was close to the reversal potential for K+ (E K), indicating K+ selectivity. Recordings in cytoplasm-out patches revealed two distinct channel populations differing in conductance: 91.6 ± 0.9 pS (n = 14) at −80 mV and 44.7 ± 0.7 pS (n = 14) at +80 mV. When NaCl was used instead of KCl, clear slow vacuolar SV channel activity was observed both in whole-vacuole and cytoplasm-out membrane patches. There were no instantaneously saturating currents, which points to impermeability of fast-activated potassium channels to Na+ and K+ selectivity. In the symmetrical concentration of NaCl on both sides of the tonoplast, currents have been measured exclusively at positive voltages indicating Na+ influx to the vacuole. Recordings with different concentrations of cytoplasmic and vacuolar Ca2+ revealed that SV channel activity was regulated by both cytoplasmic and vacuolar calcium. While cytoplasmic Ca2+ activated SV channels, vacuolar Ca2+inhibited their activity. Dependence of fast-activated potassium channels on the cytoplasmic Ca2+ was also determined. These channels were active even without Ca2+ (2 mM EGTA in the cytosol and the vacuole lumen), although their open probability significantly increased at 0.1 μM Ca2+ on the cytoplasmic side. Apart from monovalent cations (K+ and Na+), SV channels were permeable to divalent cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+). Both monovalent and divalent cations passed through the channels in the same direction—from the cytoplasm to the vacuole. The identity of the vacuolar ion channels in Physcomitrellaand ion channels already characterised in different plants is discussed. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Together with several partners, scientists from Wageningen UR (University & Research centre) have discovered that RLP-receptors located at the outside of plant cells and playing an important role in plant defence, join forces with other proteins... Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Electric supplemental lighting can account for a significant proportion of total greenhouse energy costs. Thus, the objectives of this study were to compare high-wire tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) production with and without supplemental lighting and to evaluate two different lighting positions + light sources [traditional high-pressure sodium (HPS) overhead lighting (OHL) lamps vs. light-emitting diode (LED) intracanopy lighting (ICL) towers] on several production and energy-consumption parameters for two commercial tomato cultivars. Results indicated that regardless of the lighting position + source, supplemental lighting induced early fruit production and increased node number, fruit number (FN), and total fruit fresh weight (FW) for both cultivars compared with unsupplemented controls for a winter-to-summer production period. Furthermore, no productivity differences were measured between the two supplemental lighting treatments. The energy-consumption metrics indicated that the electrical conversion efficiency for light-emitting intracanopy lighting (LED-ICL) into fruit biomass was 75% higher than that for HPS-OHL. Thus, the lighting cost per average fruit grown under the HPS-OHL lamps was 403% more than that of using LED-ICL towers. Although no increase in yield was measured using LED-ICL, significant energy savings for lighting occurred without compromising fruit yield. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, widespread ice retreat during the 20th century has sharply accelerated since 2004. In Sverdrup Pass, central Ellesmere Island, rapid glacier retreat is exposing intact plant communities whose radiocarbon dates demonstrate entombment during the Little Ice Age (1550–1850 AD). The exhumed bryophyte assemblages have exceptional structural integrity (i.e., setae, stem structures, leaf hair points) and have remarkable species richness (60 of 144 extant taxa in Sverdrup Pass). Although the populations are often discolored (blackened), some have developed green stem apices or lateral branches suggesting in vivo regrowth. To test their biological viability, Little Ice Age populations emerging from the ice margin were collected for in vitro growth experiments. Our results include a unique successful regeneration of subglacial bryophytes following 400 y of ice entombment. This finding demonstrates the totipotent capacity of bryophytes, the ability of a cell to dedifferentiate into a meristematic state (analogous to stem cells) and develop a new plant. In polar ecosystems, regrowth of bryophyte tissue buried by ice for 400 y significantly expands our understanding of their role in recolonization of polar landscapes (past or present). Regeneration of subglacial bryophytes broadens the concept of Ice Age refugia, traditionally confined to survival of land plants to sites above and beyond glacier margins. Our results emphasize the unrecognized resilience of bryophytes, which are commonly overlooked vis-a-vis their contribution to the establishment, colonization, and maintenance of polar terrestrial ecosystems. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Superweeds? Suicides? Stealthy genes? The true, the false and the still unknown about transgenic crops. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
The evolution of multicellular organisms was made possible by the evolution of underlying gene regulatory networks. In animals, the core of gene regulatory networks consists of kernels, stable subnetworks of transcription factors that are highly conserved in distantly related species. However, in plants it is not clear when and how kernels evolved. We show here that RSL (ROOT HAIR DEFECTIVE SIX-LIKE) transcription factors form an ancient land plant kernel controlling caulonema differentiation in the moss Physcomitrella patens and root hair development in the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that RSL proteins evolved in aquatic charophyte algae or in early land plants, and have been conserved throughout land plant radiation. Genetic and transcriptional analyses in loss of function A. thaliana and P. patens mutants suggest that the transcriptional interactions in the RSL kernel were remodeled and became more hierarchical during the evolution of vascular plants. We predict that other gene regulatory networks that control development in derived groups of plants may have originated in the earliest land plants or in their ancestors, the Charophycean algae. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Heat stress is a common and, therefore, an important environmental impact on cells and organisms. While much attention has been paid to severe heat stress, moderate temperature elevations are also important. Here we discuss temperature sensing and how responses to heat stress are not necessarily dependent on denatured proteins. Indeed, it is clear that membrane lipids have a pivotal function. Details of membrane lipid changes and the associated production of signalling metabolites are described and suggestions made as to how the interconnected signalling network could be modified for helpful intervention in disease. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Land plants need precise thermosensors to timely establish molecular defenses in anticipation of upcoming noxious heat waves. The plasma membrane-embedded cyclic nucleotide-gated Ca2+ channels (CNGCs) can translate mild variations of membrane fluidity into an effective heat shock response, leading to the accumulation of heat shock proteins (HSP) that prevent heat damages in labile proteins and membranes. Here, we deleted by targeted mutagenesis the CNGCd gene in two Physcomitrella patens transgenic moss lines containing either the heat-inducible HSP-GUS reporter cassette or the constitutive UBI-Aequorin cassette. The stable CNGCd knockout mutation caused a hyper-thermosensitive moss phenotype, in which the heat-induced entry of apoplastic Ca2+ and the cytosolic accumulation of GUS were triggered at lower temperatures than in wild type. The combined effects of an artificial membrane fluidizer and elevated temperatures suggested that the gene products of CNGCd and CNGCb are paralogous subunits of Ca2+channels acting as a sensitive proteolipid thermocouple. Depending on the rate of temperature increase, the duration and intensity of the heat priming preconditions, terrestrial plants may thus acquire an array of HSP-based thermotolerance mechanisms against upcoming, otherwise lethal, extreme heat waves. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
|
Scoop.it!
Le philosophe et historien des sciences Thomas Kuhn est l’un des deux philosophes des sciences dont les idées ont modifié l’idée que les scientifiques ont de leur métier je pense, l’autre étant Popper. Via Goulu Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Evolution of resistance in pests can reduce the effectiveness of insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) produced by transgenic crops. We analyzed results of 77 studies from five continents reporting field monitoring data for resistance to Bt crops, empirical evaluation of factors affecting resistance or both. Although most pest populations remained susceptible, reduced efficacy of Bt crops caused by field-evolved resistance has been reported now for some populations of 5 of 13 major pest species examined, compared with resistant populations of only one pest species in 2005. Field outcomes support theoretical predictions that factors delaying resistance include recessive inheritance of resistance, low initial frequency of resistance alleles, abundant refuges of non-Bt host plants and two-toxin Bt crops deployed separately from one-toxin Bt crops. The results imply that proactive evaluation of the inheritance and initial frequency of resistance are useful for predicting the risk of resistance and improving strategies to sustain the effectiveness of Bt crops. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Water transport across cellular membranes is regulated by a family of water channel proteins known as aquaporins (AQPs). As most abiotic stresses like suboptimal temperatures, drought or salinity result in cellular dehydration, it is imperative to study the cause–effect relationship between AQPs and the cellular consequences of abiotic stress stimuli. Although plant cells have a high isoform diversity of AQPs, the individual and integrated roles of individual AQPs in optimal and suboptimal physiological conditions remain unclear. Herein, we have identified a plasma membrane intrinsic protein gene (MusaPIP1;2) from banana and characterized it by overexpression in transgenic banana plants. Cellular localization assay performed using MusaPIP1;2::GFP fusion protein indicated that MusaPIP1;2 translocated to plasma membrane in transformed banana cells. Transgenic banana plants overexpressing MusaPIP1;2 constitutively displayed better abiotic stress survival characteristics. The transgenic lines had lower malondialdehyde levels, elevated proline and relative water content and higher photosynthetic efficiency as compared to equivalent controls under different abiotic stress conditions. Greenhouse-maintained hardened transgenic plants showed faster recovery towards normal growth and development after cessation of abiotic stress stimuli, thereby underlining the importance of these plants in actual environmental conditions wherein the stress stimuli is often transient but severe. Further, transgenic plants where the overexpression of MusaPIP1;2 was made conditional by tagging it with a stress-inducible native dehydrin promoter also showed similar stress tolerance characteristics in in vitro and in vivo assays. Plants developed in this study could potentially enable banana cultivation in areas where adverse environmental conditions hitherto preclude commercial banana cultivation Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
The role of genetically modified (GM) crops for food security is the subject of public controversy. GM crops could contribute to food production increases and higher food availability. There may also be impacts on food quality and nutrient composition. Finally, growing GM crops may influence farmers’ income and thus their economic access to food. Smallholder farmers make up a large proportion of the undernourished people worldwide. Our study focuses on this latter aspect and provides the first ex post analysis of food security impacts of GM crops at the micro level. We use comprehensive panel data collected over several years from farm households in India, where insect-resistant GM cotton has been widely adopted. Controlling for other factors, the adoption of GM cotton has significantly improved calorie consumption and dietary quality, resulting from increased family incomes. This technology has reduced food insecurity by 15–20% among cotton-producing households. GM crops alone will not solve the hunger problem, but they can be an important component in a broader food security strategy.
Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are metallo-enzymes that catalyze the dismutation of superoxide radicals. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the expression of CuZn-SOD in both the chloroplast and cytosol was reported to be down-regulated by microRNA398 (miR398) during growth on low copper. The moss Physcomitrella patens contains chloroplastic and cytosolic CuZn-SOD genes, but lacks miR398. From analysis of P. patens microRNA, miR1073 was predicted to target CuZn-SOD mRNAs. We noticed that two chloroplastic CuZn-SOD genes contain the miR1073 target sequence in the 3′ UTR region; however, cytosolic isozyme genes lack this sequence. In this study, we investigated the involvement of miR1073 in the expression of CuZn-SOD genes in P. patens. When protonemata of P. patens were cultured on a copper-depleted medium, SOD activity and mRNA levels of chloroplastic CuZn-SODs were decreased markedly. In contrast, cytosolic CuZn-SODs showed little or no change in mRNA levels or SOD activity. The precursor transcript and the mature form of miR1073 were induced by copper deficiency. The chloroplastic CuZn-SOD (PpCSD1) mRNA was cleaved at the miR1073 target site under copper deficiency. These results suggest that miR1073 is involved in the down-regulation of PpCSD1 expression. In addition to PpCSD1 mRNA, antisense RNAs of PpCSD1 were also detected under normal conditions; however, under copper deficiency, they were cleaved within the ORF region. The cleavage of sense PpCSD1 mRNA was also detected within the ORF region. Although only miR1073 exists in the database, it is presumed that RNA cleavage, other than that mediated by miR1073, is involved in the regulation of PpCSD1 expression. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Betalamic acid is the structural unit of all the natural pigments betalains. These are nitrogen-containing water-soluble compounds with high colorant and bioactive properties, characteristic of plants of the order Caryophyllales. The formation of betalamic acid from the precursor amino acid 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine (l-DOPA) by the enzyme 4,5-DOPA-extradiol-dioxygenase was supposed to be restricted to plants of this order and two fungal species. Here, the first case of betalamic acid formation by an enzyme other than eukaryotes is reported with a homolog enzyme from Escherichia coli. The protein YgiD has been cloned, expressed, and purified to carry out its molecular and functional characterization. The enzyme was obtained as a monomeric active protein with a molecular mass of 32 kDa characterized by chromatography, electrophoresis, and MALDI-TOF analysis. Enzyme kinetic properties are characterized in the transformation of the relevant substrate l-DOPA. Reaction was analyzed spectrophotometrically and by HPLC-DAD, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Online today, the newest Teaching Tool in Plant Biology, "Plant-Plant Interactions", by Ariel Novoplansky and Mary Williams. It's all about how plants sense and respond to their neighbors. Subscription to Plant Cell required. Slides, lecture notes and teaching guide too! Via Mary Williams, Kamoun Lab @ TSL Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
New estimates of the impacts of germplasm improvement in the major staple crops between 1965 and 2004 on global land-cover change are presented, based on simulations carried out using a global economic model (Global Trade Analysis Project Agro-Ecological Zone), a multicommodity, multiregional computable general equilibrium model linked to a global spatially explicit database on land use. We estimate the impact of removing the gains in cereal productivity attributed to the widespread adoption of improved varieties in developing countries. Here, several different effects—higher yields, lower prices, higher land rents, and trade effects—have been incorporated in a single model of the impact of Green Revolution research (and subsequent advances in yields from crop germplasm improvement) on land-cover change. Our results generally support the Borlaug hypothesis that increases in cereal yields as a result of widespread adoption of improved crop germplasm have saved natural ecosystems from being converted to agriculture. However, this relationship is complex, and the net effect is of a much smaller magnitude than Borlaug proposed. We estimate that the total crop area in 2004 would have been between 17.9 and 26.7 million hectares larger in a world that had not benefited from crop germplasm improvement since 1965. Of these hectares, 12.0–17.7 million would have been in developing countries, displacing pastures and resulting in an estimated 2 million hectares of additional deforestation. However, the negative impacts of higher food prices on poverty and hunger under this scenario would likely have dwarfed the welfare effects of agricultural expansion. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
The advent of farming around 12 millennia ago was a cultural as well as technological revolution, requiring a new system of property rights. Among mobile hunter–gatherers during the late Pleistocene, food was almost certainly widely shared as it was acquired. If a harvested crop or the meat of a domesticated animal were to have been distributed to other group members, a late Pleistocene would-be farmer would have had little incentive to engage in the required investments in clearing, cultivation, animal tending, and storage. However, the new property rights that farming required—secure individual claims to the products of one’s labor—were infeasible because most of the mobile and dispersed resources of a forager economy could not cost-effectively be delimited and defended. The resulting chicken-and-egg puzzle might be resolved if farming had been much more productive than foraging, but initially it was not. Our model and simulations explain how, despite being an unlikely event, farming and a new system of farming-friendly property rights nonetheless jointly emerged when they did. This Holocene revolution was not sparked by a superior technology. It occurred because possession of the wealth of farmers—crops, dwellings, and animals—could be unambiguously demarcated and defended. This facilitated the spread of new property rights that were advantageous to the groups adopting them. Our results thus challenge unicausal models of historical dynamics driven by advances in technology, population pressure, or other exogenous changes. Our approach may be applied to other technological and institutional revolutions such as the 18th- and 19th-century industrial revolution and the information revolution today. Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
Viruses have generally been studied either as disease-causing infectious agents that have a negative impact on the host (most eukaryote-infecting viruses), or as tools for molecular biology (especially bacteria-infecting viruses, or phage). Virus ecology looks at the more complex issues of virus-host-environment interactions. For plant viruses this includes studies of plant virus biodiversity, including viruses sampled directly from plants and from a variety of other environments; how plant viruses impact species invasion; interactions between plants, viruses and insects; the large number of persistent viruses in plants that may have epigenetic effects; and viruses that provide a clear benefit to their plant hosts (mutualists). Plants in a non-agricultural setting interact with many other living entities such as animals, insects, and other plants, as well as their physical environment. Wild plants are almost always colonized by a number of microbes, including fungi, bacteria and viruses. Viruses may impact any of these interactions. Via Kamoun Lab @ TSL Delete the scoop?
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
Yes
Scoop.it!
|
|
|
Scooped by Jean-Pierre Zryd |
Scoop.it!
Recently, bryophytes, which diverged from the ancestor of seed plants more than 400 million years ago, came into focus in photosynthesis research as they can provide valuable insights into the evolution of photosynthetic complexes during the adaptation to terrestrial life. This study isolated intact photosystem I (PSI) with its associated light-harvesting complex (LHCI) from the moss Physcomitrella patens and characterized its structure, polypeptide composition, and light-harvesting function using electron microscopy, mass spectrometry, biochemical, and physiological methods. It became evident thatPhyscomitrella possesses a strikingly high number of isoforms for the different PSI core subunits as well as LHCI proteins. It was demonstrated that all these different subunit isoforms are expressed at the protein level and are incorporated into functional PSI–LHCI complexes. Furthermore, in contrast to previous reports, it was demonstrated thatPhyscomitrella assembles a light-harvesting complex consisting of four light-harvesting proteins forming a higher-plant-like PSI superstructure.
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
