Exploration of flowering control in Lolium perenne L.

End of project reportFlowering or heading in Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass) is induced by a period of vernalization, followed by long days at higher temperatures. When heading occurs there is a reduction in the feed quality of the forage and therefore extending the period of vegetative growth or eliminating heading during the growing season will improve the potential of perennial ryegrass in agriculture. Conversely, a better control of flowering time and increased heading will lead to higher seed yield for commercial producers. The aim of this project was to investigate the underlying genetic control of flowering time in perennial ryegrass. An F1 population was created by crosspollinating two lines with different heading dates and a genetic linkage map was constructed using Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers. The population and genetic linkage map was then used to identify Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) associated with heading date, spike length and spikelets per spike. A number of QTL were identified for all traits, some of which had not previously been identified in perennial ryegrass. A Suppression Subtractive Hybridization (SSH) study was also employed to identify genes differentially expressed between an extremely late flowering line and earlier flowering sibling line. Expression analysis of a number of identified genes through floral induction was performed using real time RT-PCR. This revealed a number of transcripts with expression profiles indicative of a role to play in floral induction

Arms Industry

A summary assessment of the dimensions and concentrations of military equipment manufacture primarily in the United States and western Europe and the extent of availability of this equipment to buyers throughout the world. Treaty-based limitations are also listed

Mangroves, garbage, fishing: Bringing everyday ecology to Sydney's industrial Georges River

Post war problems of rising urban, industrial pollution and intractable waste disposal are usually considered as technical and economic problems only, solutions to which were led by experts at State level, and filtered into Australia from the ferments occurring in the United States and Britain in the 1960s and 70s. This paper investigates the change which arose from the localities in which the impact of those effects of modern city development were occurring. In particular, this study looks at a working class, industrial area, the Georges River near Bankstown Municipality, which was severely affected by Sydneys post-war expansion. Here, action to address urgent environmental problems was initiated first at the local level, and only later were professional engineers and public health officials involved in seeking remedies. It was even later that these local experts turned from engineering strategies to environmental science, embracing the newly developed ecological analyses to craft changing approaches to local problems. This paper centres on the perspective of one local public health surveyor, employed by a local municipal council to oversee waste disposal, to identify the motives for his decisions to intervene dramatically in river health and waste disposal programs. Rather than being prompted to act by influences from higher political levels or overseas, this officer drew his motivation from careful local data collection, from local political agitation and from his own recreational knowledge of the river. It was his involvement with the living environments of the area the ways in which he knew the river - through personal and recreational experiences, which prompted him to seek out the new science and investigate emerging waste disposal technologies

Waterborne: Vietnamese Australians and river environments in Vietnam and Sydney

Vietnamese Australians who arrived in Australia as refugees since the 1970s and later as migrants, have developed complex relationships of remembering, knowing and belonging to environments in Vietnam and Sydney. Water was a frequent point of reference in our interviews with Vietnamese people in Sydney, and their relationships with water are used in this article to explore interviewees associations with places. The article focuses on cultural knowledge of environments, which people bring with them, such as their connections with rivers and oceans, central to both memories of place and the histories of Vietnam. These memories also change with return visits and experiences between these places. Vietnamese refugees experiences of escape and trauma coming across oceans from Vietnam also influence subsequent relationships with place. Finally, relationships with Sydney parks and urban waterways are explored by examining popular places for family and community get-togethers along Georges River, located near where many Sydney Vietnamese people live. These have become key places in making Sydney home for Vietnamese people. The article considers how Vietnamese Australian cultural knowledge of place could be shared and acknowledged by park managers and used in park interpretati

Waters of belonging : Al-miyahu Tajma'unah: Arabic Australians and the Georges River Parklands

This series arises from Parklands, Culture and Communities, a project which looks at how cultural diversity shapes people's understandings and use of the Georges River and green spaces in Sydney's south west. We focus on the experiences of four local communities (Aboriginal, Vietnamese, Arabic and Anglo Australians) and their relationships with the river, parks and each other. Culturally diverse uses and views have not often been recognised in Australia in park and green space management models, which tend to be based on Anglo-Celtic 'norms' about nature and recreation. UTS and the Office of Environment and Heritage supported this research because they have been interested in how the more diverse cultural knowledges held by Australians today might offer support for managing green spaces more effectively

Daily energy expenditure, cardiorespiratory fitness and glycaemic control in people with type 1 diabetes.

Published onlineJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tThis is the final version of the article. Available from Public Library of Science via the DOI in this record.OBJECTIVE: Encouraging daily physical activity improves cardiorespiratory fitness and many cardiovascular risk factors. However, increasing physical activity often creates a challenge for people with type 1 diabetes, because of difficulties maintaining euglycemia in the face of altered food intake and adjustments to insulin doses. Our aim was to examine the triangular relationship between glucose control measured by continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS), objective measures of total daily energy expenditure (TEE) recorded by a multi-sensory monitoring device, and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), in free-living subjects with type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Twenty-three individuals (12 women) with type 1 diabetes who were free from micro- and macrovascular complications were recruited. TEE and glucose control were monitored simultaneously for up to 12 days, using a multi-sensory device and CGMS respectively. CRF was recorded as V02 max from a maximal treadmill test with the Bruce protocol. RESULTS: Subjects (mean±SD) were aged 37±11 years, with BMI = 26.5±5.1 kg.m⁻², HbA1c = 7.7±1.3% (61±14 mmol/mol) and V02 max (ml.min⁻¹.kg⁻¹)  = 39.9±8.4 (range 22.4-58.6). TEE (36.3±5.5 kcal.kg⁻¹.day⁻¹) was strongly associated with CRF(39.9±8.4 ml.min⁻¹.kg⁻¹) independently of sex (r = 0.63, p<0.01). However, neither TEE (r = -0.20, p = 0.36) nor CRF (r = -0.20, p = 0.39; adjusted for sex), were significantly associated with mean glycaemia measured by CGMS. CONCLUSION: Higher levels of energy expenditure (due to a more active lifestyle) are associated with increased cardiorespiratory fitness, but not necessarily better glycaemic control. Since increased levels of energy expenditure and good glycaemic control are both needed to protect against diabetes-related complications our data suggest they need to be achieved independently.Diabetes UK funded this work under grant BDA: RD06/0003306. JJV also gratefully acknowledges the support of the UK EPSRC PhD plus programme. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Waterborne: Vietnamese Australians and Sydney's Georges River parks and green spaces

Waterborne: Vietnamese Australians and Sydney's Georges River parks and green spaces, has been created by talking with the Vietnamese Australians who live around the Georges River and who often visit its parklands. They explain here their memories of their early homelands, which are given a context with information about the histories of rivers and parks in Vietnam. Then these Vietnamese Australians talk about their hopes about parks in Australia and their actual experiences in the parks and rivers around their new homes near the Georges River

A glutamine 'tug-of-war': targets to manipulate glutamine metabolism for cancer immunotherapy

Within the tumour microenvironment (TME), there is a cellular ‘tug-of-war’ for glutamine, the most abundant amino acid in the body. This competition is most evident when considering the balance between a successful anti-tumour immune response and the uncontrolled growth of tumour cells that are addicted to glutamine. The differential effects of manipulating glutamine abundance in individual cell types is an area of intense research and debate. Here, we discuss some of the current strategies in development altering local glutamine availability focusing on inhibition of enzymes involved in the utilisation of glutamine and its uptake by cells in the TME. Further studies are urgently needed to complete our understanding of glutamine metabolism, to provide critical insights into the pathways that represent promising targets and for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of advanced or drug resistant cancers

The cellular magnetic response and biocompatibility of biogenic zinc- and cobalt-doped magnetite nanoparticles.

The magnetic moment and anisotropy of magnetite nanoparticles can be optimised by doping with transition metal cations, enabling their properties to be tuned for different biomedical applications. In this study, we assessed the suitability of bacterially synthesized zinc- and cobalt-doped magnetite nanoparticles for biomedical applications. To do this we measured cellular viability and activity in primary human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and human osteosarcoma-derived cells. Using AC susceptibility we studied doping induced changes in the magnetic response of the nanoparticles both as stable aqueous suspensions and when associated with cells. Our findings show that the magnetic response of the particles was altered after cellular interaction with a reduction in their mobility. In particular, the strongest AC susceptibility signal measured in vitro was from cells containing high-moment zinc-doped particles, whilst no signal was observed in cells containing the high-anisotropy cobalt-doped particles. For both particle types we found that the moderate dopant levels required for optimum magnetic properties did not alter their cytotoxicity or affect osteogenic differentiation of the stem cells. Thus, despite the known cytotoxicity of cobalt and zinc ions, these results suggest that iron oxide nanoparticles can be doped to sufficiently tailor their magnetic properties without compromising cellular biocompatibility

A critical role for IRF5 in regulating allergic airway inflammation

Interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) is a key transcription factor involved in the control of the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine and responses to infection, however its role in regulating pulmonary immune responses to allergen is unknown. We used genetic ablation, adenoviral vector-driven overexpression and adoptive transfer approaches to interrogate the role of IRF5 in pulmonary immunity and during challenge with the aero-allergen, house dust mite. Global IRF5 deficiency resulted in impaired lung function and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition. IRF5 was also essential for effective responses to inhaled allergen, controlling airway hyper- responsiveness, mucus secretion and eosinophilic inflammation. Adoptive transfer of IRF5- deficient alveolar macrophages into the WT pulmonary milieu was sufficient to drive airway hyper-reactivity, at baseline or following antigen challenge. These data identify IRF5-expressing macrophages as a key component of the immune defence of the airways. Manipulation of IRF5 activity in the lung could therefore be a viable strategy for the redirection of pulmonary immune responses and thus, the treatment of lung disorders