Managing potato wart: a review of present research status and future perspective

KEY MESSAGE: Identification of resistance genes to potato wart disease caused bySynchytrium endobioticumis the key for developing diagnostic markers for breeding resistant cultivars. We present an overview on the current knowledge of this host-pathogen system and molecular advances while highlighting future research focus. ABSTRACT: Potato wart is a quarantined disease of cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) caused by the obligate biotrophic, soil-borne fungus Synchytrium endobioticum (Schilb.) Perc. Since its discovery by Schilberszky in 1896, the management of wart disease was enabled by research efforts focusing on understanding and classifying the causative agent, its mode of infection, pathogenesis, geographical distribution, detection and chemical control, on developing screening methods for host resistance and on genetic analyses, which led to the development of resistant cultivars. These early successes are currently challenged by new S. endobioticum pathotypes evolving and the increased risk of dissemination by potato tuber trade. New research efforts are therefore required to ensure continuation of effective and sustainable management of the potato wart disease. Advances in molecular biology and genomic tools offer potential for innovations. This review presents an overview on what we know about this complex host-pathogen interaction, highlights recent molecular work and embarks on an outlook towards future research directions

On the hydraulic and structural design of fluid and gas filled inflatable dams to control water flow in rivers

The German Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration operates about 280 weirs, half of which are more than 50 years old. Many of these weirs will therefore need to be refurbished in the near future, even though budget resources are shrinking. An inflatable dam is a relatively new gate type, which enables savings to be made on the capital spending and maintenance costs. It consists of a multi-ply rubber membrane (Figure 1), is filled with air or water and clamped to the weir body with one or two fixing bars (Figure 2). Inflatable dams have a number of advantages when compared with steel gates [2]: - The design is simple and does not include any moving parts (hinges, bearings); there are no problems due to corrosion or sealing and no lubricants used, which might be harmful to the environment. Inflatable dams are not affected by settlements or earthquakes. - Drive mechanisms, such as hydraulic cylinders, electrical actuators or chains, which require a great amount of maintenance are not needed. Inflatable dams are controlled by inflating or deflating by injecting and discharging air or water. - The cost of recesses and reinforcement is low and the transfer of forces into the weir sill is evenly distributed. Major refurbishments are thus facilitated considerably, especially if the existing concrete structure has to be included. - Inflatable dams can be operated safely and can always be deflated to prevent blocking. The membranes can be installed or replaced within a few weeks so that the construction times and periods for inspection and refurbishment are considerably reduced

The supermassive black hole in NGC4486a detected with SINFONI at the VLT

The near-infrared integral field spectrograph SINFONI at the ESO VLT opens a new window for the study of central supermassive black holes. With a near-IR spatial resolution similar to HST optical and the ability to penetrate dust it provides the possibility to explore the low-mass end of the M-sigma relation (sigma<120km/s) where so far very few black hole masses were measured with stellar dynamics. With SINFONI we observed the central region of the low-luminosity elliptical galaxy NGC4486a at a spatial resolution of ~0.1arcsec in the K band. The stellar kinematics was measured with a maximum penalised likelihood method considering the region around the CO absorption band heads. We determined a black hole mass of M_BH=1.25^{+0.75}_{-0.79} x 10^7 M_sun (90% C.L.) using the Schwarzschild orbit superposition method including the full 2-dimensional spatial information. This mass agrees with the predictions of the M-sigma relation, strengthening its validity at the lower sigma end.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Accepted by MNRA

Monster black holes

A combination of ground-based and spacecraft observations has uncovered two black holes of 10 billion solar masses in the nearby Universe. The finding sheds light on how these cosmic monsters co-evolve with galaxies.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, LaTeX. Published in Nature "News & Views