Multi-stage resistance to <i>Zymoseptoria tritici</i> revealed by GWAS in an Australian bread wheat diversity panel

Septoria tritici blotch (STB) has been ranked the third most important wheat disease in the world, threatening a large area of wheat production. Although major genes play an important role in the protection against Zymoseptoria tritici infection, the lifespan of their resistance unfortunately is very short in modern wheat production systems. Combinations of quantitative resistance with minor effects, therefore, are believed to have prolonged and more durable resistance to Z. tritici. In this study, new quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified that are responsible for seedling-stage resistance and adult-plant stage resistance (APR). More importantly was the characterisation of a previously unidentified QTL that can provide resistance during different stages of plant growth or multi-stage resistance (MSR). At the seedling stage, we discovered a new isolate-specific QTL, QSt.wai.1A.1. At the adult-plant stage, the new QTL QStb.wai.6A.2 provided stable and consistent APR in multiple sites and years, while the QTL QStb.wai.7A.2 was highlighted to have MSR. The stacking of multiple favourable MSR alleles was found to improve resistance to Z. tritici by up to 40%

Transposon-Mediated Horizontal Transfer of the Host-Specific Virulence Protein ToxA between Three Fungal Wheat Pathogens

Most known examples of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between eukaryotes are ancient. These events are identified primarily using phylogenetic methods on coding regions alone. Only rarely are there examples of HGT where noncoding DNA is also reported. The gene encoding the wheat virulence protein ToxA and the surrounding 14 kb is one of these rare examples. ToxA has been horizontally transferred between three fungal wheat pathogens (Parastagonospora nodorum, Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, and Bipolaris sorokiniana) as part of a conserved ∼14 kb element which contains coding and noncoding regions. Here we used long-read sequencing to define the extent of HGT between these three fungal species. Construction of near-chromosomal-level assemblies enabled identification of terminal inverted repeats on either end of the 14 kb region, typical of a type II DNA transposon. This is the first description of ToxA with complete transposon features, which we call ToxhAT. In all three species, ToxhAT resides in a large (140-to-250 kb) transposon-rich genomic island which is absent in isolates that do not carry the gene (annotated here as toxa−). We demonstrate that the horizontal transfer of ToxhAT between P. tritici-repentis and P. nodorum occurred as part of a large (∼80 kb) HGT which is now undergoing extensive decay. In B. sorokiniana, in contrast, ToxhAT and its resident genomic island are mobile within the genome. Together, these data provide insight into the noncoding regions that facilitate HGT between eukaryotes and into the genomic processes which mask the extent of HGT between these species.M.C.M. acknowledges The Sun Foundation’s Peer Prize for Women in Science for support to sequence additional ToxA isolates. E.H. acknowledges The Grains and Research Development Corporation (project UHS11002). M.C.M., A.M., S.S., and P.S.S. also acknowledge The Grains and Research Development Corporation for the collection of isolates (projects DAN00203 and DAN00177)

A thousand-genome panel retraces the global spread and adaptation of a major fungal crop pathogen

Human activity impacts the evolutionary trajectories of many species worldwide. Global trade of agricultural goods contributes to the dispersal of pathogens reshaping their genetic makeup and providing opportunities for virulence gains. Understanding how pathogens surmount control strategies and cope with new climates is crucial to predicting the future impact of crop pathogens. Here, we address this by assembling a global thousand-genome panel of Zymoseptoria tritici, a major fungal pathogen of wheat reported in all production areas worldwide. We identify the global invasion routes and ongoing genetic exchange of the pathogen among wheat-growing regions. We find that the global expansion was accompanied by increased activity of transposable elements and weakened genomic defenses. Finally, we find significant standing variation for adaptation to new climates encountered during the global spread. Our work shows how large population genomic panels enable deep insights into the evolutionary trajectory of a major crop pathogen

Effect of remote ischaemic conditioning on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI): a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischaemic conditioning with transient ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm has been shown to reduce myocardial infarct size in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). We investigated whether remote ischaemic conditioning could reduce the incidence of cardiac death and hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months. METHODS: We did an international investigator-initiated, prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI) at 33 centres across the UK, Denmark, Spain, and Serbia. Patients (age >18 years) with suspected STEMI and who were eligible for PPCI were randomly allocated (1:1, stratified by centre with a permuted block method) to receive standard treatment (including a sham simulated remote ischaemic conditioning intervention at UK sites only) or remote ischaemic conditioning treatment (intermittent ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm through four cycles of 5-min inflation and 5-min deflation of an automated cuff device) before PPCI. Investigators responsible for data collection and outcome assessment were masked to treatment allocation. The primary combined endpoint was cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02342522) and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Nov 6, 2013, and March 31, 2018, 5401 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=2701) or the remote ischaemic conditioning group (n=2700). After exclusion of patients upon hospital arrival or loss to follow-up, 2569 patients in the control group and 2546 in the intervention group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 12 months post-PPCI, the Kaplan-Meier-estimated frequencies of cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure (the primary endpoint) were 220 (8·6%) patients in the control group and 239 (9·4%) in the remote ischaemic conditioning group (hazard ratio 1·10 [95% CI 0·91-1·32], p=0·32 for intervention versus control). No important unexpected adverse events or side effects of remote ischaemic conditioning were observed. INTERPRETATION: Remote ischaemic conditioning does not improve clinical outcomes (cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure) at 12 months in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, University College London Hospitals/University College London Biomedical Research Centre, Danish Innovation Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, TrygFonden

Tapping into ancient sources of disease resistance to protect our modern barley cultivars - barley scald 2015

Key findings »» Ancient barley germplasm from Ethiopia harbours resistance to scald and other diseases. »» Twenty-eight out of 355 Ethiopian lines were moderately resistant to scald. »» Careful selection for disease-resistant lines is important to retain other desirable traits

Reaction of Australian barley varieties to scald from southern NSW 2015

Successful disease management requires an in- depth understanding of the pathogens present in a region. Barley scald is a highly variable disease. Changes in virulence have been observed in a number of varieties at the adult stage in recent years, therefore a better understanding of the virulence profile present in sNSW is required. This experiment is beginning to characterise the reaction of Australian barley varieties at the seedling stage to scald isolates collected from southern NSW. It complements the adult plant screening process

Law, Lawyers and the Interregnum: 1649-1660

In the revolution that marked the beginning of the English Commonwealth and Protectorates, law and the lawyers were subject to devastating challenge. Radicals, perceiving a failure of the law to guard the liberties of the subject, demanded sweeping changes which Oliver Cromwell and succeeding parliaments consistently threatened to implement. Yet these attacks were not against the law as law. Through political discourse and the imagery of legal ceremony, Interregnum governments invoked the authority of law. The law was a scene of contention as protagonists of various persuasions sought to possess it. Lawyers were therefore under enormous strain. This thesis will study that strain, the responses of the lawyers as a whole and, where possible, as individuals, to the competition for the sanction of legal authority. The key element of the lawyers' response was the refinement of a professional ideology characterised by a rigorous attention to form and precedent. That ideology ran counter to early seventeenth-century advances in the study of legal history which in turn supported the legal positivism so important to the intellectual underpinnings of the republic. Though John Selden is considered to be the better jurist, Sir Edward Coke's ancient constitutionalism offered lawyers the tools to preserve the shape of a law in which they held a proprietary interest. That ideology had political and professional consequences. In parliament, lawyers placed a conservative stamp on the direction of constitutional development. Partly in reaction to the instability occasioned by a plethora of constitutional innovations, partly out of their faith in the old forms of the past, lawyers tended to impede parliamentary business in the early 1650s. However, under the more conservative 'Humble Petition' and Advice of 1657, lawyers acted pragmatically. They saw in that constitutional package progress towards their goal of a restoration of the monarchy if not of Charles II. Professionally, the lawyers' ideology justified service in the courts of a usurping power. After 1642, patterns of practice in the courts changed little. This continuity testified to the pre-eminence the profession gave to the law over the state, as well as to the success of the bench in insulating the courts from reformist fervour

Durum wheat quality in high-input irrigation systems in south-eastern Australia

To extend the production base of durum wheat in Australia, field trials were conducted on seven registered durum varieties across four seasons and six sites in locations where irrigation was supplied during crop growth. The purpose was to determine if the quality of the grain produced met the requirements for good milling and pasta-making quality and to understand the genotype, environment and their interaction in affecting yield and technological quality of the grain and derived pasta. High grain yields and grain protein were obtained, producing large grain weights, low screenings and low percentage of hard vitreous kernels. Yellow colour of semolina and pasta was reduced marginally but dough and other pasta technological characteristics were similar to typical dryland durum production, with some exceptions. Varieties were identified with potential for production under irrigation