Sonderstandort Fahrspur

Fahrspuren sind Sonderstandorte in Wäldern. Durch befahrungsinduzierte Standortveränderungen erfahren Fahrspuren einen ökologischen Wandel und weisen oftmals eine höhere pflanzliche Biodiversität als angrenzende Waldbestände auf. Erschließung verdichteter Böden durch Pflanzenwurzel ist ein wichtiger Prozess der Regeneration von verformten Waldböden. In experimentellen Versuchen soll der Einfluss der pflanzlichen Artenvielfalt auf die Bodenstrukturbildung untersucht werden

Neutrality, compensation, and negative selection during evolution of B-cell development transcriptomes

B cells develop in the mammalian bone marrow through a sequence of precursor stages, which can be ordered by the recombination status of their immunoglobulin loci. This developmental pathway is functionally similar between mice and man. However, whether this similarity is based on usage of the same genes is unknown. We show that large-scale gene expression patterns differ substantially between human and mouse B-cell development. Among 644 genes which were differentially expressed in 4 early stages of human B-cell development, only 48, 86, and 75 genes could be identified, which are upregulated in both human and mouse pre-BI, large pre-BII, and small pre-BII cells, respectively. A comparison of mouse B- and T-cell development reveals that gene expression patterns of early murine B- and T-cell precursors are most similar, whereas in more differentiated precursors, human and mouse B cells have a more similar gene expression profile. We conclude that large-scale differences in gene expression patterns between human and mouse B-cell precursors may stem from either selective neutrality or compensatory evolution, whereas the few similarities may stem from negative selection. Gene expression patterns are shaped by ontogenic relationships in early and by functional specialization in later stages of development

Enhancing innovation capacity through vertical, horizontal, and third-party networks for traditional foods

Across many sectors, the locus of innovation has shifted from the individual firm to networks of collaboration. Networking is one way for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the food sector to cope with the many challenges they face with regards to innovation. In this article, we investigate the influence of different types of networking on the innovation capacity of chain networks in the traditional food sector. Our results highlight that networking among the vertical network members contributes most to the enhancement of the innovation capacity of all members. We also find that, horizontal or third-party networking can enhance the innovation capacity of each member of a vertical network. Managerial implications include a prescription for network engagement through a set of joint activities and effort