2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid, abscisic acid, and hydrogen peroxide induced resistance-related components against potato early blight (Alternaria solani, Sorauer)

AbstractInduction of acquired resistance activates defense-related genes. Current study aimed to (a) initiate potato acquired resistance to the Early Blight disease caused by Alternaria solani through treating potato plants with low and repetitive doses of 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), abscisic acid (AB), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and (b) test the success of the use of the chemical inducers along with the application of fungicides. Potato cultivars Nicola and Spunta were treated once per wk for 6wk and challenged 1wk later by in the control of A. solani. Results showed that peroxidase (POD), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), and polyphenoloxidase (PPO) enzyme activities and gene regulation were significantly increased after 1d of infection and lasted for more than 15d. The 2,4-D and H2O2 inducers significantly increased both enzyme activities and gene expression of PAL, PPO, and POD for more than 15d post inoculation. PAL was the most increased at the enzyme activity and gene expression levels. Incorporation of such in-expensive treatments might reduce management costs and reduce the environmental pollution

Improving well-being and outcomes for looked after children in Wales: a context sensitive review of interventions

Improving outcomes for looked after children and young people has been a longstanding concern in Wales. This article reports the findings of a scoping study which sought to identify interventions aimed at improving outcomes for looked after children that are effective or promising. The study was commissioned by an independent funding body to inform a £5 million investment programme for Wales. It comprised a rapid review of literature, informed through consultation with an expert advisory panel and groups of young people who had been in care. The article outlines the rapid review method, provides details of shortlisted interventions and describes the interventions subsequently approved for investment. It concludes that although there are many promising interventions which address the factors associated with poor outcomes for looked after children, the evidence base is weak. It is argued that decision-making on interventions should be informed by appraisal of the empirical evidence available, but should also be guided by professional judgement that considers the needs, priorities and preferences of service users, carers, practitioners and policy-makers

Exploring the meaning of protection from abuse: problem construction in Scottish adult support and protection practice and policy

This PhD project by publication begins to explore how Scottish adult support and protection (ASP) policy and practice carves out its role and remit. It examines the ways that concepts like “abuse”, “vulnerability” and “protection” have been constructed, both by individual practitioners and at a policy level. The submission comprises five papers published in peer-reviewed journals and this contextualising document, which knits together the work and draws out overall conclusions and implications. The papers themselves report on a literature review, a further analysis of case study research into ASP practice and a critical policy comparison. The case study research was conducted immediately prior to legislative changes in Scotland with respect to ASP, and the policy comparison was conducted subsequently to these changes. Overall, the findings highlight the ways that a social constructionist approach can usefully deepen our understandings of ASP. That is, they show how understanding concepts like “protection”, “vulnerability” and “abuse” to be actively constructed in unique and complex contexts can promote criticality in policy-making, practice and research

Identification and Reconsidering Phylogeny of Some Aphid Species, (Hemiptera: Aphididae), Based on Molecular DNA Markers Using ISSRs-PCR Technique

Aphids are considered one of the most economically important insect pests worldwide. Successful pest management systems are based on accurate and rapid pest species identification. Traditional morphological identification of closed aphid species may be considered an inaccurate taxonomic process. To overcome the disadvantages of traditional morphological identification, molecular techniques, related to DNA markers and based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR), were approached by using nine ISSRs primers to identify and diagnose fifteen common aphid species that disperse in the Egyptian agroecosystem. The examined ISSRs primers could success-fully discriminate the tested aphid species that reflected 61.39% polymorphism among them. Moreover, four banding patterns were considered unique bands that could characterize three aphid species (Aphis gossypii, Aphis nerii and Myzus persicae). The highest genetic homology (84.9%) was observed between species Rhopalosipum padi and Schizaphis graminum. In addition, each of A. gossypii and Aphis citricola were also genetically homologous species. In contrast, species Aphis craccivora and M. persicae were analogous genetically with a low similarity percentile (59.8%). High genetic di-vergence was observed also between A. nerii and M. persicae. Two alternative molecular branching taxonomic keys were proposed by subjecting the five highest polymorphic ISSRs primers and 29 banding patterns with different molecular sizes

‘The other boys of Kilmichael’: No. 2 Section, ‘C’ Company, Auxiliary Division Royal Irish Constabulary, 28 November 1920

The Kilmichael incident of November 1920, in which an Irish Republican Army (I.R.A.) column of nearly forty men ambushed and killed all bar one of a motorized patrol of eighteen Auxiliary Division Royal Irish Constabulary cadets, proved to be one of the I.R.A.'s most noted victories of the Anglo-Irish War. Recent historiography has been dominated by controversy over the late Peter Hart's 1998 conclusion that contemporary British claims of I.R.A. mutilation of the cadet's dead bodies were true. However, this article aims to demonstrate that studying other aspects of Kilmichael, such as the British unit, can enable a broader understanding of both the ambush, and of contemporary British policy concerns

Rhizosphere Microbiomes Modulated by Pre-crops Assisted Plants in Defense Against Plant-Parasitic Nematodes

Plant-parasitic nematodes cause considerable damage to crop plants. The rhizosphere microbiome can affect invasion and reproductive success of plant-parasitic nematodes, thus affecting plant damage. In this study, we investigated how the transplanted rhizosphere microbiome from different crops affect plant-parasitic nematodes on soybean or tomato, and whether the plant’s own microbiome from the rhizosphere protects it better than the microbiome from fallow soil. Soybean plants growing in sterilized substrate were inoculated with the microbiome extracted from the rhizosphere of soybean, maize, or tomato. Controls were inoculated with extracts from bulk soil, or not inoculated. After the microbiome was established, the root lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans was added. Root invasion of P. penetrans was significantly reduced on soybean plants inoculated with the microbiome from maize or soybean compared to tomato or bulk soil, or the uninoculated control. In the analogous experiment with tomato plants inoculated with either P. penetrans or the root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita, the rhizosphere microbiomes of maize and tomato reduced root invasion by P. penetrans and M. incognita compared to microbiomes from soybean or bulk soil. Reproduction of M. incognita on tomato followed the same trend, and it was best suppressed by the tomato rhizosphere microbiome. In split-root experiments with soybean and tomato plants, a systemic effect of the inoculated rhizosphere microbiomes on root invasion of P. penetrans was shown. Furthermore, some transplanted microbiomes slightly enhanced plant growth compared to uninoculated plants. The microbiomes from maize rhizosphere and bulk soil increased the fresh weights of roots and shoots of soybean plants, and microbiomes from soybean rhizosphere and bulk soil increased the fresh weights of roots and shoots of tomato plants. Nematode invasion did not affect plant growth in these short-term experiments. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of the rhizosphere microbiome in protecting crops against plant-parasitic nematodes. An effect of pre-crops on the rhizosphere microbiome might be harnessed to enhance the resistance of crops towards plant-parasitic nematodes. However, nematode-suppressive effects of a particular microbiome may not necessarily coincide with improvement of plant growth in the absence of plant-parasitic nematodes