Natural history of Arabidopsis thaliana and oomycete symbioses

Molecular ecology of plant–microbe interactions has immediate significance for filling a gap in knowledge between the laboratory discipline of molecular biology and the largely theoretical discipline of evolutionary ecology. Somewhere in between lies conservation biology, aimed at protection of habitats and the diversity of species housed within them. A seemingly insignificant wildflower called Arabidopsis thaliana has an important contribution to make in this endeavour. It has already transformed botanical research with deepening understanding of molecular processes within the species and across the Plant Kingdom; and has begun to revolutionize plant breeding by providing an invaluable catalogue of gene sequences that can be used to design the most precise molecular markers attainable for marker-assisted selection of valued traits. This review describes how A. thaliana and two of its natural biotrophic parasites could be seminal as a model for exploring the biogeography and molecular ecology of plant–microbe interactions, and specifically, for testing hypotheses proposed from the geographic mosaic theory of co-evolution

The watchdogs of 'Washminster' – parliamentary scrutiny of executive patronage in the UK

The role of legislatures in scrutinising executive patronage has received scant attention in the context of parliamentary democracy. This article addresses this lacuna by focusing on the parliamentary scrutiny of public appointments in the UK. Presenting the results of an extensive programme of research, it reveals how select committees have accrued increasing powers to challenge ministerial appointments, and how this has resulted in a series of unintended consequences that raise critical concerns regarding the overall added-value of pre-appointment scrutiny. The article is therefore of comparative significance for theories of legislative scrutiny in particular and executive–legislature dynamics more broadly

The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights Education and Dissemination

At the invitation of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, in co-ordination with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, with the participation of around one hundred human rights experts and defenders from forty human rights groups from 14 Arab states, as well as experts from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, the Conference on Human Rights Education and Dissemination: A 21st Century Agenda was held in Cairo from the 13th to the 16th of October, 2000. At the close of this conference, the delegates adopted the following declaration. [excerpt]peer-reviewe

Reshaping Curriculum to Enhance the Relevance of Literary Competence in Children's Education06

Twenty-first century learners face a multi-literacy landscape as they strive to acquire the cognitive skills needed for independent learning, apply linguistic skills to other knowledge base, and become computer literate. This article envisions a combination of skill sets and knowledge bases as the foundation of a literary competence-based curriculum. Such a curriculum would have the goal of enhancing young learners"critical thinking abilities; this would also help them take charge of the cognitive,linguistic, and sociocultural dimensions of written and spoken language in order to make learning transferable and applicable to the real world

Implementation of Integrated Learning Program in neurosciences during first year of traditional medical course: Perception of students and faculty

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Our college introduced an integrated learning program (ILP) for first year undergraduates with an aim to develop, implement and evaluate a module for CNS in basic sciences and to assess the feasibility of an ILP in phase I of medical education in a college following traditional medical curriculum.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The idea of implementing ILP for Central Nervous System (CNS) in phase one was conceived by curriculum development committee drawn from faculty of all phases. After a series of meetings of curriculum development committee, inputs from basic science and clinical departments, a time table was constructed. Various teaching learning methods, themes for integrated didactic lectures, case based learning and clinical exposure were decided. Basic science faculty were made to participate actively in both case based learning and hospital visits along with clinical experts. The completed program was evaluated based on structured questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sixty percent students rated the program good to excellent with reference to appreciation, understanding and application of basic science knowledge in health and disease. Seventy eight percent felt that this program will help them perform better in later days of clinical training. However sixty percent students felt that ILP will not help them perform better at the first professional examination. Seventy two per cent of faculty agreed that this program improved understanding and application of basic science knowledge of students. Ninety percent of faculty felt that this program will help them perform better in later days of clinical training.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The adoption of present integrated module for CNS and the use of multiple teaching learning methods have been proven to be useful in acquisition of knowledge from the student satisfaction point of view. Students and faculty expressed an overall satisfaction towards ILP for CNS. The study showed that it is possible to adopt an integrated learning module in the first year of medical course under a conventional curriculum.</p

Autoimmunity conferred by chs3-2D relies on CSA1, its adjacent TIR-NB-LRR encoding neighbour

Plant innate immunity depends on the function of a large number of intracellular immune receptor proteins, the majority of which are structurally similar to mammalian nucleotidebinding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) proteins. CHILLING SENSITIVE 3 (CHS3) encodes an atypical Toll/Interleukin 1 Receptor (TIR)-type NLR protein with an additional Lin-11, Isl-1 and Mec-3 (LIM) domain at its C-terminus. The gain-of-function mutant allele chs3-2D exhibits severe dwarfism and constitutively activated defense responses, including enhanced resistance to virulent pathogens, high defence marker gene expression, and salicylic acid accumulation. To search for novel regulators involved in CHS3-mediated immune signaling, we conducted suppressor screens in the chs3-2D and chs3-2D pad4-1 genetic backgrounds. Alleles of sag101 and eds1-90 were isolated as complete suppressors of chs3-2D, and alleles of sgt1b were isolated as partial suppressors of chs3-2D pad4-1. These mutants suggest that SAG101, EDS1-90, and SGT1b are all positive regulators of CHS3-mediated defense signaling. Additionally, the TIR-type NLR-encoding CSA1 locus located genomically adjacent to CHS3 was found to be fully required for chs3-2D-mediated autoimmunity. CSA1 is located 3.9kb upstream of CHS3 and is transcribed in the opposite direction. Altogether, these data illustrate the distinct genetic requirements for CHS3-mediated defense signaling