Genetic variation of powdery mildew resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana

In interactions between beneficial or pathogenic microbes and host organisms, particular host proteins, referred to as compatibility factors, are considered to be essential for the establishment of compatibility. Induced resistance of the dicot plant Arabidopsis thaliana to powdery mildew fungi based on the lack of compatibility factors has been previously shown in the pmr mutants in the Col-0 ecotype. With respect to natural resistance of Arabidopsis to powdery mildews, only resistance mediated by the unusual resistance (R) gene RPW8 was identified in different accessions. In this study, an approach based on natural variation was conducted to analyze powdery mildew resistance in A. thaliana with an emphasis on the identification of new compatibility factors. To this end, loci mediating resistance were mapped in accessions, in which resistance to the compatible powdery mildew Golovinomyces orontii was likely due to a defect in a compatibility factor (i.e. these accessions showing monogenic and recessively or semi-dominantly inherited resistance). In six accessions, the resistance locus was mapped to the lower arm of chromosome III. In other ecotypes analyzed, resistance was likely to be of polygenic origin. The occurrence of only few accessions selected for putative dominantly inherited resistance mediated by prototypical R-genes indicated that this type of resistance to powdery mildews is probably very rare if not non-existent in A. thaliana. The results of allelism tests between resistant accessions yielded an unexpectedly high percentage of susceptible plants in the F2 progeny, a contradiction to the expected segregation of either two either identical or closely linked genes. It was suggested that this phenomenon could either reflect epistatic effects or be the consequence of pairing between two homologous epialleles (paramutation). A comparative microscopic analysis of resistance in selected accessions revealed differences in timing and strength of defense responses in the plant; either due to different loci responsible for resistance or owing to different genetic backgrounds. In general, resistance to G. orontii was characterized by a reduced production of fungal conidiophores on the leaf surface, pronounced cell death, callose deposition and hydrogen peroxide accumulation, but only in some accessions by reduced host cell entry and retarded hyphal growth. Fine mapping of resistance in segregating F2 populations via mapping populations and analysis of recombinant inbred lines allowed a restriction of the putative target gene region, within which several candidate genes were analyzed. One of these genes was RPW8, an atypical R-gene. Based on results from dsRNAi-mediated RPW8 transcript depletion, RPW8 was proposed to be responsible for resistance to G. orontii in accessions Bu-0, Co-3, Do-0, Ei-4, Ei-5, Kas-1, Nok-3, Ob-0 and Sha. The observed recessive or semi-dominant inheritance of resistance indicated a dosage-dependent effect of RPW8-mediated resistance. Sequence analysis of the conceptual RPW8 protein in several accessions revealed a region of high variability between the predicted transmembrane and coiled-coil domains. It is suggested that powdery mildew resistance in A. thaliana appears to be either of polygenic origin or due to RPW8

Time-dependent density functional approach for the calculation of inelastic x-ray scattering spectra of molecules

7 páginas, 5 figuras.-- et al.We apply time-dependent density functional theory to study the valence electron excitations of molecules and generalize the typically used time-propagation scheme and Casida’s method to calculate the full wavevector dependent response function. This allows the computational study of dipole-forbidden valence electron transitions and the dispersion of spectral weight as a function of the wavevector. The method provides a novel analysis tool for spectroscopic methods such as inelastic x-ray scattering and electron energy loss spectroscopy. We present results for benzene and CF3Cl and make a comparison with experimental results.Acknowledge HPCEuropa2 program, Academy of Finland (1127462, Centers of Excellence Program 2006–2011, and National Graduate School in Materials Physics) for financial support, and CSC-IT Center for Science Ltd for computational resources. A.R. acknowledges Spanish MEC (FIS2007-65702-C02-01), ACI-Promociona (ACI2009-1036), Grupos Consolidados UPV/EHU del Gobierno Vasco (IT-319-07), the European Union through e-13 ETSF (Contract No. 211956), and THEMA (Contract No. 228539) projects, as well as the support by the Red Española de Supercomputación and ARINA.Peer reviewe

Интеграция малого инновационного бизнеса в систему особых экономических зон

В рамках деятельности по стимулированию и развитию малого бизнеса на протяжении уже довольно длительного времени проводились разного рода меры. Однако на сегодняшний день доля малого и среднего бизнеса не превышает 21% ВВП. В структуре малого бизнеса преобладают предприятия, занятые в торговой сфере, а доля инновационных предприятий ничтожна мала. Проблему развития малых инновационных предприятий и повышения их экономической эффективности, необходимо решать путем интеграции данных предприятий с институтом особой экономической зоны технико-внедренческого типа

Inter-Rater Reliability of Neck Reflex Points in Women with Chronic Neck Pain

Background: Neck reflex points (NRP) are tender soft tissue areas of the cervical region that display reflectory changes in response to chronic inflammations of correlated regions in the visceral cranium. Six bilateral areas, NRP C0, C1, C2, C3, C4 and C7, are detectable by palpating the lateral neck. We investigated the inter-rater reliability of NRP to assess their potential clinical relevance. Methods: 32 consecutive patients with chronic neck pain were examined for NRP tenderness by an experienced physician and an inexperienced medical student in a blinded design. A detailed description of the palpation technique is included in this section. Absence of pain was defined as pain index (PI) = 0, slight tenderness = 1, and marked pain = 2. Findings were evaluated either by pair-wise Cohen’s kappa (ĸ) or by percentage of agreement (PA). Results: Examiners identified 40% and 41% of positive NRP, respectively (PI > 0, physician: 155, student: 157) with a slight preference for the left side (1.2:1). The number of patients identified with >6 positive NRP by the examiners was similar (13 vs. 12 patients). ĸ values ranged from 0.52 to 0.95. The overall kappa was ĸ = 0.80 for the left and ĸ = 0.74 for the right side. PA varied from 78.1% to 96.9% with strongest agreement at NRP C0, NRP C2, and NRP C7. Inter-rater agreement was independent of patients’ age, gender, body mass index and examiner’s experience. Conclusion: The high reproducibility suggests the clinical relevance of NRP in women

Was tun? Perspektiven für eine Unterrichtsqualitätsforschung der Zukunft

Die Unterrichtsqualitätsforschung hat in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten viel zum Verständnis der Merkmale beitragen, die einen qualitätsvollen Unterricht auszeichnen. Sie hat einflussreiche Modelle hervorgebracht, die eine gemeinsame Grundlage für die Erforschung des Unterrichts bereitstellen. Gleichzeitig bringen gesellschaftliche Veränderungsprozesse eine Neuorientierung des schulischen Unterrichts mit sich, und es lässt sich fragen, ob die Unterrichtsqualitätsforschung mit ihren bisherigen Ansätzen in der Lage ist, in Zukunft zum Gelingen von Unterricht beizutragen. Im Rahmen einer Zukunftswerkstatt hat das Leibniz-Netzwerk Unterrichtsforschung daher einen längerfristig angelegten Prozess gestartet, um sich mit dem Unterricht der Zukunft zu beschäftigen und zu versuchen, drängende Fragen und Handlungsfelder für die Unterrichtsqualitätsforschung zu identifizieren. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt die Ergebnisse dieses initialen Austauschs dar. Zudem wird ein Einblick in die gegenwärtige Arbeit im Netzwerk gegeben, die aufbauend auf den Ergebnissen der Zukunftswerkstatt eine Weiterentwicklung der Unterrichtsqualitätsforschung anstrebt

Distance Teaching During the COVID-19 Crisis: Social Connectedness Matters Most for Teaching Quality and Students' Learning

In spring 2020, school closures were enacted to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students and teachers faced the challenge of organizing digital teaching and learning without sufficient time to prepare. In this study, we investigated how teachers implemented teaching from a distance and how these different implementations were associated with students’ and parents’ perceptions of teaching quality and students’ social involvement, enjoyment of learning, academic effort, and perceived competence. To this end, we examined data from 277 teachers, 3,159 students in Grades 5 to 10, and 1,688 parents who rated classes in mathematics, German language arts, and English as a foreign language during the school closures. The results showed that teachers’ implementations of distance teaching varied greatly. Teaching methods enabling social connectedness (e.g., video meetings, learning videos created by the teacher) revealed the most consistent positive associations with students’ and parents’ teaching quality ratings and students’ learning experiences