The Investigation of Flowering Control in Late/Rare Flowering Lolium Perenne

Flowering in Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass) results in reduced digestibility and its inhibition would enhance forage quality. Flowering regulation has been well studied in Arabidopsis thaliana (Simpson and Dean, 2002) and orthologs of Arabidopsis flowering genes underlying heading date Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) have been identified in rice (Yano, M et al., 2000). However it is not clear yet how universally applicable such studies are to Lolium. The project goals are to characterise the gene expression profiles of late/rare flowering L. perenne plants to determine factors affecting flowering and to map the genes involved in the flowering process. Initial studies, reported here, have focussed on the ability of 6 plant lines from the Oak Park breeding programme, previously identified as rare or non-flowering under natural day length conditions, to flower in controlled environments

How effective are on-farm mitigation measures for delivering an improved water environment? A systematic map

Background\ud Agricultural activities are estimated to contribute 70% of nitrates, 28% of phosphates and 76% of sediments measured in UK rivers. Catchments dominated by agriculture also have elevated levels of pesticides and bacterial pathogens. European member states have a policy commitment to tackle this pollution through the water framework directive. Here we report on the results of a systematic map to investigate and describe the nature and coverage of research pertaining to the effectiveness of 6 on-farm mitigation measures, slurry storage, cover/catch crops, woodland creation; controlled trafficking, subsoiling and vegetated buffer strips for delivering an improved water environment in terms of a reduction in nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), sediment, pesticides and faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) or pathogens from faecal material.\ud Methods\ud Research evidence for the effectiveness of the 6 on-farm mitigation measures for delivering an improved water environment (as detailed above) was collated using English language search terms for temperate farming systems in Europe, Canada, New Zealand and northern states of the United States of America. Searches for literature were made from online publication databases, search engines, specialist websites and bibliographies of topic specific reviews. Recognised experts, authors and practitioners were also contacted to identify unpublished literature. Articles were screened for relevance at title, abstract and full text using predefined inclusion criteria set out in an a priori published protocol. All relevant articles were mapped in a searchable database using pre-defined coding and critically appraised for relevance and reliability. Articles reporting the same study were removed. All full text studies without confounding factors were identified and coded for in a separate searchable database.\ud Results\ud A total of 718 articles were included in the database. Buffer strips were the most commonly studied intervention followed by cover crops and slurry storage. Little evidence was found for woodland creation and sub-soiling. No studies were found for controlled trafficking on grassland. Nitrogen was most frequently measured, followed by P, sediment, pesticides and FIOs or pathogens from faecal material.\ud Conclusions\ud The majority of the evidence collated in this map investigated the effectiveness of buffer strips and cover crops for improving water quality. This evidence was predominantly focussed on reducing N pollution. An evidence gap exists for the impact of cover/catch crops in reducing leaching of pesticides, FIOs and pathogens, and for organic forms of N and P. There was limited research investigating the effectiveness of buffer strips for reducing leaching of organic forms of N or P, or for pesticides that are currently authorised for use/commonly used in UK agriculture. Further, long term studies across different seasons with controls, pre and post water quality measurements and multiple sampling points from both field and rivers would improve the evidence base. Evidence gaps exist for woodland creation, subsoiling and controlled trafficking on grassland

The Identification of Genetic Synteny Between \u3ci\u3eLolium Perenne\u3c/i\u3e Chromosome 7 and Rice Chromosome 6 Genomic Regions that have Major Effects on Heading-Date

Comparative genetic mapping between plant species has established that there has been a conservation of genomic organisation which reflects evolutionary relationships. The genetic mapping of L. perenne has identified such syntenic relationships with both the Triticeae and rice. The recent publication of the complete sequence of the rice genome has allowed these relationships to be analysed more closely and has raised the possibility of using the rice genome as a template for chromosome landing-based gene identification in related non-model species. The aim of the present work was to map particular markers and genes associated with heading-date in rice in L. perenne in order to test this comparative genomics approach

Viral vectored hepatitis C virus vaccines generate pan-genotypic T cell responses to conserved subdominant epitopes

Background: Viral genetic variability presents a major challenge to the development of a prophylactic hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine. A promising HCV vaccine using chimpanzee adenoviral vectors (ChAd) encoding a genotype (gt) 1b non-structural protein (ChAd-Gt1b-NS) generated high magnitude T cell responses. However, these T cells showed reduced cross-recognition of dominant epitope variants and the vaccine has recently been shown to be ineffective at preventing chronic HCV. To address the challenge of viral diversity, we developed ChAd vaccines encoding HCV genomic sequences that are conserved between all major HCV genotypes and adjuvanted by truncated shark invariant chain (sIitr). / Methods: Age-matched female mice were immunised intramuscularly with ChAd (108 infectious units) encoding gt-1 and -3 (ChAd-Gt1/3) or gt-1 to -6 (ChAd-Gt1-6) conserved segments spanning the HCV proteome, or gt-1b (ChAd-Gt1b-NS control), with immunogenicity assessed 14-days post-vaccination. / Results: Conserved segment vaccines, ChAd-Gt1/3 and ChAd-Gt1-6, generated high-magnitude, broad, and functional CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses. Compared to the ChAd-Gt1b-NS vaccine, these vaccines generated significantly greater responses against conserved non-gt-1 antigens, including conserved subdominant epitopes that were not targeted by ChAd-Gt1b-NS. Epitopes targeted by the conserved segment HCV vaccine induced T cells, displayed 96.6% mean sequence homology between all HCV subtypes (100% sequence homology for the majority of genotype-1, -2, -4 sequences and 94% sequence homology for gt-3, -6, -7, and -8) in contrast to 85.1% mean sequence homology for epitopes targeted by ChAd-Gt1b-NS induced T cells. The addition of truncated shark invariant chain (sIitr) increased the magnitude, breadth, and cross-reactivity of the T cell response. / Conclusions: We have demonstrated that genetically adjuvanted ChAd vectored HCV T cell vaccines encoding genetic sequences conserved between genotypes are immunogenic, activating T cells that target subdominant conserved HCV epitopes. These pre-clinical studies support the use of conserved segment HCV T cell vaccines in human clinical trials

Co-production of 11α-hydroxyprogesterone and ethanol using recombinant yeast expressing fungal steroid hydroxylases

Background Bioethanol production from sustainable sources of biomass that limit effect on food production are needed and in a biorefinery approach co-products are desirable, obtained from both the plant material and from the microbial biomass. Fungal biotransformation of steroids was among the first industrial biotransformations allowing corticosteroid production. In this work, the potential of yeast to produce intermediates needed in corticosteroid production is demonstrated at laboratory scale following bioethanol production from perennial ryegrass juice. Results Genes encoding the 11?-steroid hydroxylase enzymes from Aspergillus ochraceus (11?-SHAoch) and Rhizopus oryzae (CYP509C12) transformed into Saccharomyces cerevisiae for heterologous constitutive expression in p425TEF. Both recombinant yeasts (AH22:p11?-SHAoch and AH22:p509C12) exhibited efficient progesterone bioconversion (on glucose minimal medial containing 300 ?M progesterone) producing either 11?-hydroxyprogesterone as the sole metabolite (AH22:p11?-SHAoch) or a 7:1 mixture of 11?-hydroxyprogesterone and 6?-hydroxyprogesterone (AH22:p509C12). Ethanol yields for AH22:p11?-SHAoch and AH22:p509C12 were comparable resulting in ?75% conversion of glucose to alcohol. Co-production of bioethanol together with efficient production of the 11-OH intermediate for corticosteroid manufacture was then demonstrated using perennial ryegrass juice. Integration of the 11?-SHAoch gene into the yeast genome (AH22:11?-SHAoch+K) resulted in a 36% reduction in yield of 11?-hydroxyprogesterone to 174 ?mol/L using 300 ?M progesterone. However, increasing progesterone concentration to 955 ?M and optimizing growth conditions increased 11?-hydroxyprogesterone production to 592 ?mol/L product formed. Conclusions The progesterone 11?-steroid hydroxylases from A. ochraceus and R. oryzae, both monooxygenase enzymes of the cytochrome P450 superfamily, have been functionally expressed in S. cerevisiae. It appears that these activities in fungi are not associated with a conserved family of cytochromes P450. The activity of the A. ochraceous enzyme was important as the specificity of the biotransformation yielded just the 11-OH product needed for corticosteroid production. The data presented demonstrate how recombinant yeast could find application in rural biorefinery processes where co-production of value-added products (11?-hydroxyprogesterone and ethanol) from novel feedstocks is an emergent and attractive possibility.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Exploring the ‘middle ground’ between state and market: the example of China

Studies of housing systems lying in the ‘middle ground’ between state and market are subject to three important shortcomings. First, the widely used Esping-Andersen (EA) approach assesses only a subset of the key housing outcomes and may be less helpful for describing changes in housing policy regimes. Second, there is too much emphasis on tenure transitions, and an assumed close correspondence between tenure labels and effective system functioning may not be valid. Third, due attention has not been given to the spatial dimensions in which housing systems operate, in particular when housing policies have a significant devolved or localised emphasis. Updating EA’s framework, we suggest a preliminary list of housing system indicators in order to capture the nature of the housing systems being developed and devolved. We verified the applicability of this indicator system with the case of China. This illustrates clearly the need for a more nuanced and systematic basis for categorising differences and changes in welfare and housing policies

Mass and Angular Momentum Transfer in the Massive Algol Binary RY Persei

We present an investigation of H-alpha emission line variations observed in the massive Algol binary, RY Per. We give new radial velocity data for the secondary based upon our optical spectra and for the primary based upon high dispersion UV spectra. We present revised orbital elements and an estimate of the primary's projected rotational velocity (which indicates that the primary is rotating 7 times faster than synchronous). We use a Doppler tomography algorithm to reconstruct the individual primary and secondary spectra in the region of H-alpha, and we subtract the latter from each of our observations to obtain profiles of the primary and its disk alone. Our H-alpha observations of RY Per show that the mass gaining primary is surrounded by a persistent but time variable accretion disk. The profile that is observed outside-of-eclipse has weak, double-peaked emission flanking a deep central absorption, and we find that these properties can be reproduced by a disk model that includes the absorption of photospheric light by the band of the disk seen in projection against the face of the star. We developed a new method to reconstruct the disk surface density distribution from the ensemble of H-alpha profiles observed around the orbit, and this method accounts for the effects of disk occultation by the stellar components, the obscuration of the primary by the disk, and flux contributions from optically thick disk elements. The resulting surface density distribution is elongated along the axis joining the stars, in the same way as seen in hydrodynamical simulations of gas flows that strike the mass gainer near trailing edge of the star. This type of gas stream configuration is optimal for the transfer of angular momentum, and we show that rapid rotation is found in other Algols that have passed through a similar stage.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures, ApJ in press, 2004 June 20 issu

Introgression Mapping in The Grasses

Key points Lolium perenne/Festuca pratensis hybrids and their derivatives provide an ideal system for intergeneric introgression. The Lolium perenne/Festuca pratensis system is being exploited to elucidate genome organisation in the grasses, determination of the genetic control of target traits and the isolation of markers for MAS in breeding programmes. The potential of the system as an aid to contig the Lolium and Festuca genomes and for gene isolation is discussed

Synergy between industry and agriculture: techno-economic and life cycle assessments of waste recovery for crop growth in glasshouses

Controlled-environment agriculture in agro-industrial systems, where carbon dioxide, heat, and other wastes are recovered or recycled, has potential to be an environmentally friendly approach with economic feasibility. However, such approaches need careful exploration to ensure that environmental and economic benefits are maximised. Techno-economic, and life cycle assessments were applied to evaluate the synergy of producing crops (tomato and hemp) and recovering industrial wastes (e.g., heat and carbon dioxide) in glasshouses with robust uncertainty and sensitivity analyses. For each crop, two scenarios were compared, linear scenarios evaluated the use of raw materials with no waste recovery whereas circular scenarios captured industry flows and reused or recycled them in the glasshouse- avoiding raw materials consumption. Circular practices had a net benefit on the global warming potential for both crops, capturing up to 50,000 kg/y of CO2 in crops biomass and providing competitive product prices. The analysis showed that circular operational conditions can reduce, by almost half, the break-even product selling prices and sequester up to, approximately, 500 kg CO2eq./m2 of glasshouse if compared to linear systems. Future investments in this outstanding strategy to supply the United Kingdom's market demand of tomatoes could lead to a low-cost product and negative CO2eq. emissions by mitigating the importation of these products. Alongside, other impact categories scores may not be as favourable as the global warming potential, due to high impact of the waste management phase, chemical fertilisers, and pesticides utilisation