Antidumping: Positions, negotiations, and Relevance for Syria

Anti-dumping, WTO, Syria, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade,

Participatory Approach Potentials in Adoption of Agronomic, Land and Water Management Technologies in Semi Arid Areas of Tanzania

The study was conducted to asses the potentials of Participatory Approach (PA) in enhancing adoption of improved technologies. Literature consists plenty of general information on Participatory Approach (PA) in Tanzania. However, it has inadequate scholarly information on the contribution of PA in adoption of improved technologies. Specifically, the study determined rates of technologies adoption. A cross sectional research design was adopted for the study. Methodologies used for data collection include Focus Group Discussions (FGD), questionnaires survey, Key Informant Interviews (KII) and participant observation. Questionnaire data were collected from 240 households selected randomly. Data from questionnaires were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Content analysis was used to analyse information from FGD, KII, participant observations and document reviews. The results show that PA improved knowledge and skills of beneficiaries as most of respondents from Participatory Irrigation Development Programme (PIDP) schemes (61.3%) adopted improved technologies than respondents in Non-PIDP schemes (25%). The results further revealed that farmers using PA adopted more improved agronomic technologies as 63.7 % of respondents in PIDP adopted improved maize varieties while in non-PIDP were 22.5 %. Further more, 61.2 % of respondents in PIDP schemes planted trees while in Non-PIDP schemes were 24.4%.  It was concluded that PA encourage large proportion of farmers to adopt improved technologies as farmer’s ideas have been incorporated. The study recommends institutionalisation of the PA in tertiary agricultural and forestry institutions curricula and provision of PA training to farmers using PIDP training methods and approaches. Keywords: participatory-management, technology-adoption, food-security, and PID

MECHANISTIC ASPECTS OF CAROTENOID BIOSYNTHESIS

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Chemical Reviews, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/cr400106

The influence of cultural values and beliefs on school governance : a case study of two Ekurhuleni schools (Gauteng S.A.).

The research project aimed at understanding how culture and history shape the role of governance in public schools. It has highlighted the role that parents can and should play in school governance, as supporters, as governors, as co-teachers, as informed consumers and as partners. All these roles are within the legislative framework of the South African School Act 84 of 1996 (SASA). However, this study suggests that much of the literature has not looked at specific ways in which parents participate that are influenced by their interests, values, cultural background and beliefs. One of the major insights in the study is the cultural understanding of the role of school governance, which translates into a very different conception of justice and how it is articulated in the role of governing in conflict management. This study has shown that through the particular cultural practices that privilege restorative justice over retributive justice, traditional conceptions can be a strong force for conflict management and stability at schools. More specifically, this study has shown how governors can consciously use the framework legislation, i.e. the SASA, to reinforce particular social or cultural identifies

Effect of the strigolactone analogs methyl phenlactonoates on spore germination and root colonization of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Strigolactones (SLs), a novel class of plant hormones, are key regulator of plant architecture and mediator of biotic interactions in the rhizosphere. Root-released SLs initiate the establishment of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis by inducing spore germination and hyphal branching in AM fungi (AMF). However, these compounds also trigger the germination of root parasitic weeds, paving the way for deleterious infestation. Availability of SLs is required for investigating of their functions and also for application in agriculture. However, natural SLs are difficult to synthesize due to their complex structure and cannot be isolated at large scale, as they are released at very low concentrations. Therefore, there is a need for synthetic SL analogs. Recently, we reported on the development of simple SL analogs, methyl phenlactonoates (MPs), which show high SL activity in plants. Here, we investigate the effect of MP1, MP3 and the widely used SL-analog GR24 on AMF spore germination and host root colonization. Our results show that MP1 and MP3 inhibit AMF spore germination, but promote the intra-radical root colonization, both more efficiently than GR24. These results indicate that field application of MP1 and MP3 does not have negative impact on mycorrhizal fungi. In conclusion, our data together with the previously reported simple synthesis, high activity in regulating plant architecture and inducing Striga seed germination, demonstrate the utility of MP1 and MP3 as for field application in combating root parasitic weeds by inducing germination in host's absence

Analysis of al-2 Mutations in Neurospora

The orange pigmentation of the fungus Neurospora crassa is due to the accumulation of the xanthophyll neurosporaxanthin and precursor carotenoids. Two key reactions in the synthesis of these pigments, the formation of phytoene from geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate and the introduction of β cycles in desaturated carotenoid products, are catalyzed by two domains of a bifunctional protein, encoded by the gene al-2. We have determined the sequence of nine al-2 mutant alleles and analyzed the carotenoid content in the corresponding strains. One of the mutants is reddish and it is mutated in the cyclase domain of the protein, and the remaining eight mutants are albino and harbor different mutations on the phytoene synthase (PS) domain. Some of the mutations are expected to produce truncated polypeptides. A strain lacking most of the PS domain contained trace amounts of a carotenoid-like pigment, tentatively identified as the squalene desaturation product diapolycopene. In support, trace amounts of this compound were also found in a knock-out mutant for gene al-2, but not in that for gene al-1, coding for the carotene desaturase. The cyclase activity of the AL-2 enzyme from two albino mutants was investigated by heterologous expression in an appropriately engineered E. coli strain. One of the AL-2 enzymes, predictably with only 20% of the PS domain, showed full cyclase activity, suggesting functional independence of both domains. However, the second mutant showed no cyclase activity, indicating that some alterations in the phytoene synthase segment affect the cyclase domain. Expression experiments showed a diminished photoinduction of al-2 transcripts in the al-2 mutants compared to the wild type strain, suggesting a synergic effect between reduced expression and impaired enzymatic activities in the generation of their albino phenotypes

The oxygenase CAO-1 of Neurospora crassa is a resveratrol cleavage enzyme.

The genome of the ascomycete Neurospora crassa encodes CAO-1 and CAO-2, two members of the carotenoid cleavage oxygenase family that target double bonds in different substrates. Previous studies demonstrated the role of CAO-2 in cleaving the C40 carotene torulene, a key step in the synthesis of the C35 apocarotenoid pigment neurosporaxanthin. In this work, we investigated the activity of CAO-1, assuming that it may provide retinal, the chromophore of the NOP-1 rhodopsin, by cleaving β-carotene. For this purpose, we tested CAO-1 activity with carotenoid substrates that were, however, not converted. In contrast and consistent with its sequence similarity to family members that act on stilbenes, CAO-1 cleaved the interphenyl Cα-Cβ double bond of resveratrol and its derivative piceatannol. CAO-1 did not convert five other similar stilbenes, indicating a requirement for a minimal number of unmodified hydroxyl groups in the stilbene background. Confirming its biological function in converting stilbenes, adding resveratrol led to a pronounced increase in cao-1 mRNA levels, while light, a key regulator of carotenoid metabolism, did not alter them. Targeted Δcao-1 mutants were not impaired by the presence of resveratrol, a phytoalexin active against different fungi, which did not significantly affect the growth and development of wild-type Neurospora. However, under partial sorbose toxicity, the Δcao-1 colonies exhibited faster radial growth than control strains in the presence of resveratrol, suggesting a moderate toxic effect of resveratrol cleavage products