Signs of Silence: Small RNAs and Antifungal Responses in Arabidopsis thaliana and Zea mays

Plant small RNAs (sRNAs) are pivotal regulators of gene expression, which are crucial in maintaining genome integrity and flexibility during development, abiotic and biotic stress responses. Current evidence suggests that sRNAs might be inherent to the sophisticated plant innate immune system battling bacteria. However, the role of sRNAs during antifungal plant defences is less clear. Therefore, this chapter investigates the sRNA‐mediated plant antifungal responses against the hemibiotrophic fungi Colletotrichum higginsianum and Colletotrichum graminicola in their respective compatible hosts Arabidopsis thaliana and Zea mays. A phenotypic and metabolomic analysis of A. thaliana sRNA mutants in response to C. higginsianum infection was performed, showing a hormonal and metabolic imbalance during fungal infection in these plants. To find whether fungal-induced sRNA could directly regulate defence genes in an agricultural important plant model, the expression of maize miRNAs in response to C. graminicola leaf and root infections was investigated. The results revealed the tissue‐specific local and systemic adaptation of the miRNA transcriptome, where only a few miRNAs were targeting defence pathways. The general picture presented here points towards a role of sRNAs as fine‐tuners of genetic and metabolomic defence response layers. This chapter also further discusses the potential of utilizing sRNA‐based fungal control strategies

The corporate brand and strategic direction: Senior business school managers’ cognitions of corporate brand building and management

This revelatory study focuses on top Financial Times (FT) ranked British business school managers cognitions of corporate brand building and management. The study insinuates there is a prima facie bilateral link between corporate branding and strategic direction. Among this genus of business school, the data revealed corporate brand building entailed an on-going concern with strategic management, stakeholder management, corporate communications, service focus, leadership, and commitment. These empirical findings, chime with the early conceptual scholarship on corporate brand management dating back to the mid-1990s. These foundational articles stressed the multi-disciplinary and strategic nature of corporate brand management and stressed the significant role of the CEO. As such, this research adds further credence to the above in terms of best-practice vis-à-vis corporate brand management. Curiously, whilst senior managers espouse a corporate brand orientation, corporate brand management is seemingly not accorded a similar status in the curriculum. Drawing on general embedded case study methodological approach, data was collected within eight leading (FT-ranked) business schools in Great Britain at Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Bradford, Cranfield, Warwick, Lancaster and City (London) Universities. Each of these eight British business schools can be deemed as ‘top’ business schools by virtue of their inclusion in the influential Financial Times (FT) worldwide list of top business schools. The primary mode of qualitative data collection was the 37 in-depth interviews with business school Deans, Associate Deans and other senior faculty members and other managers

Working with bacteria and putting bacteria to work: The biopolitics of synthetic biology for energy in the United Kingdom

The UK government has made significant investment into so called ‘fourth-generation’ biofuel technologies. These biofuels are based on engineering the metabolic pathways of bacteria in order to create products compatible with existing infrastructure. Bacteria play an important role in what is promoted as a potentially new biological industrial revolution, which could address some of the negative environmental legacies of the last. This article presents results from ethnographic research with synthetic biologists who are challenged with balancing the curiosity-driven and intrinsically fulfilling scientific task of working with bacteria, alongside the policy-driven task of putting bacteria to work for extrinsic economic gains. In addition, the scientists also have to balance these demands with a new research governance framework, Responsible Research and Innovation, which envisions technoscientific innovation will be responsive to societal concerns and work in collaboration with stakeholders and members of the public. Major themes emerging from the ethnographic research revolve around stewardship, care, responsibility and agency. An overall conflict surfaces between individual agents assuming responsibility for ‘stewarding’ bacteria, against funding systems and structures imposing responsibility for economic growth. We discuss these findings against the theoretical backdrop of a new concept of ‘energopolitics’ and an anthropology of ethics and responsibility

Demographic drivers of decline and recovery in an Afro-Palaearctic migratory bird population

Across Europe, rapid population declines are ongoing in many Afro-Palaearctic migratory bird species, but the development of appropriate conservation actions across such large migratory ranges is severely constrained by lack of understanding of the demographic drivers of these declines. By constructing regional integrated population models (IPMs) for one of the suite of migratory species that is declining in the south-east of Britain but increasing in the north-west, we show that, while annual population growth rates in both regions vary with adult survival, the divergent regional trajectories are primarily a consequence of differences in productivity. Between 1994 and 2012, annual survival and productivity rates ranged over similar levels in both regions, but high productivity rates were rarer in the declining south-east population and never coincided with high survival rates. By contrast, population growth in the north-west was fuelled by several years in which higher productivity coincided with high survival rates. Simulated population trajectories suggest that realistic improvements in productivity could have reversed the decline (i.e. recovery of the population index to ≥ 1) in the south-east. Consequently, actions to improve productivity on European breeding grounds are likely to be a more fruitful and achievable means of reversing migrant declines than actions to improve survival on breeding, passage or sub-Saharan wintering grounds

Variação da composição de aminoácidos em caules e raízes de algodoeiro (Gossypium hirsutum L.) de acôrdo com a suscetibilidade aFusarium oxysporwn f. vasinfectum (Atk.) SNYD e HANS

The amino acids content of stems of cotton plants inoculated in the cotiledonary stage was greater for the susceptible variety IAC-12 than for the resistant variety and line respectivelly IAC-RM4 and Acala 3109. For the non inoculated plants of the same age the amino acids content of the stems of the susceptible variety was also greater than the one observed for the resistant plants. The amino acids content of stems of cotton plants inoculated in the stage of three to four true leaves was much greater for the susceptible variety than for the resistant plants. However in the case of non inoculated plants of the same age the amino acids content of the susceptible variety was slighthly lower than the one observed for resistant plants.Os resultados do estudo da variação na composição dos aminoácidos em caules e raízes de plantas de algodoeiro resistentes e suscetíveis a Fusarium oxysporum f. vasinfectum, revelaram maiores diferenças nos caules, quando comparados com aquêles obtidos para raízes. No estágio cotiledonar, tanto para plantas inoculadas como n]ao inoculadas, os caules de plantas da variedade suscetível apresentaram maior teor de aminoácidos, quando comparados com aquêles de plantas resistentes. Os caules das plantas suscetíveis em estágio de 3a 4 fôlhas verdadeiras, quando inoculadas, apresentaram maior teor de aminoácidos, quando comparadas com aquêles de plantas resistentes inoculadas com a mesma idade. Porém, para o caso de plantas não inoculadas, o teor de aminoácidos das plantas suscetíveis era ligeiramente inferior que o observado para as plantas resistentes

Influência da "murcha do algodoeiro" na composição mineral do algodoeiro

Young plants were grown in complete and deficient solutions and inoculated or not with on active culture in the lower part of the stem. The treatments were: complete; complete + fungi; -N; -N + fungi; -P; -P + fungi; -K; -K + fungi; -Ca; -Ca + fungi; -Mg; -Mg + fungi. When the symptoms appeared the leaves were harvested and analised for N, P, K, Ca and Mg. The results are given in Table 1, 2 and 3. The main results way be summarized as follow: a) For the complete treatment the diseased plants presented lower quantities of N in the leaves than healthy ones. b) Wilting disease increased the total quantities of phosphorus in the leaves independently of nutrition status of the plants. c) Nitrogen distribution in the plants was affected by Fusarium only in nitrogen defficient plants. d) The phosphorus distributions in healthy the plants of the complete treatment was also affected by the disease.No presente trabalho os autores procuraram estudar a influência da "Murcha do Algodoeiro" na nutrição mineral do algodoeiro. Para tanto, cultivaram o algodoeiro em vasos contendo sílica fornecendo soluções nutritivas, através dos seguintes tratamentos: Completo; completo + fungo; -N; -N + fungo; -P; -P + fungo; -K; -K + fungo; -Ca; -Ca + fungo; -Mg; -Mg + fungo. Uma vez evidenciados os sintomas de murcha associados aos de carência mineral, foram colhidas as fôlhas correspondentes aos diversos nós e analisadas quantitativamente para N, P, K, Ca e Mg. Concluiram os autores que torna-se mais difícil identificar sintomas de murcha quando associados à carência dos macronutrientes; observaram igualmente que há uma variação na quantidade total e distribuição de N e P em plantas afetadas pelo Fusarium

Using citizen science to assess drivers of Common House Martin Delichon urbicum breeding performance

Many hirundine (swallows and martins) species are declining throughout their ranges. The Common House Martin Delichon urbicum is a migratory hirundine that breeds throughout Europe but has shown recent declines in some parts of the UK, particularly in the south. We conducted a large‐scale citizen science survey to assess how the breeding performance of House Martins, measured by the number of attempted broods and nest success, is influenced by nest‐specific, landscape and weather factors. Pairs in eastern parts of the UK started breeding earlier than those in the west, and breeding performance was higher in eastern regions. There was no effect of latitude on either aspect of breeding performance, so our measures of breeding performance alone do not help to explain differences in population trends across the UK. The probability of attempting multiple broods and producing successful nests was higher in previously used nests than in newly built nests, and in artificial nests than in natural nests. Nests built on plastic soffits of buildings were less likely to be multi‐brooded and less likely to be successful compared with other materials. Suggested conservation measures therefore include discouraging the removal of old nests and encouraging the installation of artificial nests, particularly on buildings with plastic soffits. This study provides comprehensive insight into the breeding biology of House Martins, and although our findings do not show conclusively that breeding performance is the sole driver of population trends, they go some way to explain declines in House Martins and ultimately provide information that may help conserve this species

Reações fisiológicas de resistência à Xanthomonas malvacearum (E. P. Smith) Dowson, em algumas variedades de algodão

The pathogenicity of one isolate of Xanthomonas malvacearum (E. F. Smith) Dowson was tested under greenhouse conditions on the cotton varieties Stoneville-20, Nu-16, Gregg, Mebane, RM2 and IAC-12 and under field conditions on Stoneville-20, Nu-16, RM2 and RM4 varieties. Stoneville-20 and Nu-16 varieties showed a high degree of resistance when tested either under greenhouse or field conditions. The varieties RM4, Gregg, Mebane an IAC-12 showed to be susceptible to the isolate tested. The variety RM2 was found to be composed of resistant and susceptible plants. Only 20% of the progenies of RM2 plants selected as resistante plants when artificially inoculated under field conditions, showed to have a high degree of resistance when artificialy inoculation under greenhouse conditions.No presente trabalho foi observado o comportamento das variedades Stoneville-20, Nu-16, Gregg, Mebane, RM2 e IAC-12, quando üioculadas com um isolamento de Xanthomanas malvacearum (E. F. Smiith) Dowson, em condições de casa de vegetação e das variedades Stoneville-20, Nu-16, RM4 e RM2, quando em condições de campo. Pelos dados dados, obtidos, as variedades Stoneville-20 e Nu-16 mostraram-se resistentes ao isolamento testado, enquanto que as variedades RM4, Gregg, Mebane e IAC-12 máostraram-se suscetíveis. A variedade RM2 testada continha plantas que apresentavam reações fisiológicas, de resistência e suscetibilidade. Dentre as, progênies obtidas de plantas da variedade RM2 selecionadas em campo como resistentes só aproximadamente 20% mostraram alto grau de resistência quando testadas em casa de vegetação