Auswirkungen von PEN, einem Extrakt aus der Biomasse von Penicillium chrysogenum, auf Pathogene und Pflanzen

Der Ersatz von Kupfer und anderen Pestiziden ist eine der dringlichen Aufgaben der Forschung im biologischen Landbau. Beim direkten Pflanzenschutz stehen fungizid wirkende Substanzen, Biocontrol-Organismen und Pflanzenstärkungsmittel zur Diskussion. Das Konzept der Pflanzenstärkung ist seit langem im biologischen Landbau bekannt. Beispielsweise werden Kompostextrakte, Brennesselextrakte, aber auch kommerzialisierte Produkte aus Reynoutria sachalinensis oder Backpulver eingesetzt. Unter den Resistenzinduktoren (Elicitoren) sind vor allem diejenigen von grossem Interesse, die Resistenz gegen Pathogene auslösen, die ansonsten mit Kupfer bekämpft werden (Tamm, 2000). Der Dünger Agro Biosol (Biochemie GmbH, A-Kundl) weist nebst einer Düngerwirkung auch krankheitsvermindernde Eigenschaften auf. Dies legen Beobachtungen nahe, die bereits in den achtziger Jahren auf Grasflächen gemacht wurden, die mit Fusarium nivale befallen waren. Das aus der Penicillinproduktion gewonnene Trockenmycel ist frei von Penicillin. Agro Biosol enthält 6 % Gesamtstickstoff, 1 % Gesamtphosphor, 1 % Kali, sowie Spurenelemente und Vitamine (Naschberger, pers. Mitteilung). In der Schweiz ist Agro Biosol als Dünger im biologischen Landbau zugelassen (Tamm, Maurer & Alföldi, 2000). E. Mösinger (Sandoz Agro, CH - Witterswil) führte erste Versuche über die krankheitsunterdrückende Wirkung von Agro Biosol durch. Dazu wurde ein Extrakt des Trockenmycels von P. chrysogenum hergestellt, der die Kurzbezeichnung ‚PEN’ erhielt. Diese Untersuchungen von Mösinger und Mitarbeitern wiesen darauf hin, dass PEN an Tomaten und Gurken Resistenz induzieren kann. Ab 1997 wurde das Thema am FiBL weiterverfolgt. Mit den vorliegenden Untersuchungen wurden die Teilziele angestrebt (i) Verifizieren und Charakterisieren der resistenzinduzierenden Eigenschaften von PEN, (ii) Abklären des Potentials für eine Weiterentwicklung von PEN als kommerzialisierbaren Resistenzinduktor und (iii) Charakterisierung der phytotoxischen Eigenschaften von PEN als Ausgangspunkt für die Optimierung von Agro Biosol. Fazit: PEN, der Extrakt von Penicillium chrysogenum, kann bei zahlreichen Wirt- Pathogen-Systemen den Krankheitsbefall markant reduzieren. Dies ist insbesondere bei Krankheitserregern von Interesse, die ansonsten mit biotauglichen Produkten nur schwer kontrollierbar sind. Das Ausgangsmaterial wird als biotauglich eingeschätzt und steht in genügenden Mengen in konstanter Qualität zur Verfügung. Dies sind günstige Voraussetzungen, um einen neuartigen Resistenzinduktor für den biologischen Anbau bis zur Praxisreife zu entwickeln. PEN kann allerdings phytotoxische Effekte auslösen, die eine Praxisanwendung als Resistenzinduktor vorerst ausschliessen. Unsere Forschung hat gegenwärtig zwei Stossrichtungen. Einerseits werden die Effekte von PEN auf die Pflanzenphysiologie untersucht und die involvierten Stoffwechselprozesse detailliert abgeklärt. Andererseits suchen wir nach den aktiven Prinzipien, die für Resistenzinduktion und Phytotoxizität verantwortlich sind

Salivary VEGF: a non-invasive angiogenic and lymphangiogenic proxy in head and neck cancer prognostication

BACKGROUND: Saliva is an enriched milieu containing biologically active proteins, including growth factors and cytokines. The endothelial growth factor family of proteins is important for the development of blood and lymphatic vessels in a healthy individual but also can aide tumour growth.The aim of this study is to develop an independent normative database of values of salivary VEGF in a healthy population and to test the hypothesis that values would be raised in the saliva of patients with oral cancer. METHODS: Twenty-one participants (12 males and 9 females) of whom 14 were healthy and 7 had oral squamous cell carcinoma took part in this study.An immunoassay was employed to quantify a range of specific vascular endothelial and lymphatic endothelial growth factors in various body fluid compartments (blood, saliva). This was correlated to tumour factors and patient outcomes. RESULTS: The mean salivary levels and serum VEGF A165 levels were significantly correlated in the sample as a whole. Additionally, both saliva and serum VEGF A165 levels were significantly correlated with age. There were significant differences in the salivary and serum levels of the control group and the cancer group. CONCLUSION: We present independent normative data on the levels of endothelial growth factor in the saliva of a healthy control population. We also suggest the use of simple non-invasive tests in helping to predict head and neck tumour biology and outcomes

Interface pinning and slow ordering kinetics on infinitely ramified fractal structures

We investigate the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) equation for a non conserved order parameter on an infinitely ramified (deterministic) fractal lattice employing two alternative methods: the auxiliary field approach and a numerical method of integration of the equations of evolution. In the first case the domain size evolves with time as $L(t)\sim t^{1/d_w}$, where $d_w$ is the anomalous random walk exponent associated with the fractal and differs from the normal value 2, which characterizes all Euclidean lattices. Such a power law growth is identical to the one observed in the study of the spherical model on the same lattice, but fails to describe the asymptotic behavior of the numerical solutions of the TDGL equation for a scalar order parameter. In fact, the simulations performed on a two dimensional Sierpinski Carpet indicate that, after an initial stage dominated by a curvature reduction mechanism \`a la Allen-Cahn, the system enters in a regime where the domain walls between competing phases are pinned by lattice defects. The lack of translational invariance determines a rough free energy landscape, the existence of many metastable minima and the suppression of the marginally stable modes, which in translationally invariant systems lead to power law growth and self similar patterns. On fractal structures as the temperature vanishes the evolution is frozen, since only thermally activated processes can sustain the growth of pinned domains.Comment: 16 pages+14 figure

Variational Monte Carlo study of the ground state properties and vacancy formation energy of solid para-H2 using a shadow wave function

A Shadow Wave Function (SWF) is employed along with Variational Monte Carlo techniques to describe the ground state properties of solid molecular para-hydrogen. The study has been extended to densities below the equilibrium value, to obtain a parameterization of the SWF useful for the description of inhomogeneous phases. We also present an estimate of the vacancy formation energy as a function of the density, and discuss the importance of relaxation effects near the vacant site

Kink pair production and dislocation motion

The motion of extended defects called dislocations controls the mechanical properties of crystalline materials such as strength and ductility. Under moderate applied loads, this motion proceeds via the thermal nucleation of kink pairs. The nucleation rate is known to be a highly nonlinear function of the applied load, and its calculation has long been a theoretical challenge. In this article, a stochastic path integral approach is used to derive a simple, general, and exact formula for the rate. The predictions are in excellent agreement with experimental and computational investigations, and unambiguously explain the origin of the observed extreme nonlinearity. The results can also be applied to other systems modelled by an elastic string interacting with a periodic potential, such as Josephson junctions in superconductors

Cost effectiveness of disc prosthesis versus lumbar fusion in patients with chronic low back pain: randomized controlled trial with 2-year follow-up

This randomized controlled health economic study assesses the cost-effectiveness of the concept of total disc replacement (TDR) (Charité/Prodisc/Maverick) when compared with the concept of instrumented lumbar fusion (FUS) [posterior lumbar fusion (PLF) /posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF)]. Social and healthcare perspectives after 2 years are reported. In all, 152 patients were randomized to either TDR (n = 80) or lumbar FUS (n = 72). Cost to society (total mean cost/patient, Swedish kronor = SEK, standard deviation) for TDR was SEK 599,560 (400,272), and for lumbar FUS SEK 685,919 (422,903) (ns). The difference was not significant: SEK 86,359 (−45,605 to 214,332). TDR was significantly less costly from a healthcare perspective, SEK 22,996 (1,202 to 43,055). Number of days on sick leave among those who returned to work was 185 (146) in the TDR group, and 252 (189) in the FUS group (ns). Using EQ-5D, the total gain in quality adjusted life years (QALYs) over 2 years was 0.41 units for TDR and 0.40 units for FUS (ns). Based on EQ-5D, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of using TDR instead of FUS was difficult to analyze due to the “non-difference” in treatment outcome, which is why cost/QALY was not meaningful to define. Using cost-effectiveness probabilistic analysis, the net benefit (with CI) was found to be SEK 91,359 (−73,643 to 249,114) (ns). We used the currency of 2006 where 1 EURO = 9.26 SEK and 1 USD = 7.38 SEK. It was not possible to state whether TDR or FUS is more cost-effective after 2 years. Since disc replacement and lumbar fusion are based on different conceptual approaches, it is important to follow these results over time

Different Gain/Loss Sensitivity and Social Adaptation Ability in Gifted Adolescents during a Public Goods Game

Gifted adolescents are considered to have high IQs with advanced mathematical and logical performances, but are often thought to suffer from social isolation or emotional mal-adaptation to the social group. The underlying mechanisms that cause stereotypic portrayals of gifted adolescents are not well known. We aimed to investigate behavioral performance of gifted adolescents during social decision-making tasks to assess their affective and social/non-social cognitive abilities. We examined cooperation behaviors of 22 gifted and 26 average adolescents during an iterative binary public goods (PG) game, a multi-player social interaction game, and analyzed strategic decision processes that include cooperation and free-riding. We found that the gifted adolescents were more cooperative than average adolescents. Particularly, comparing the strategies for the PG game between the two groups, gifted adolescents were less sensitive to loss, yet were more sensitive to gain. Additionally, the behavioral characteristics of average adolescents, such as low trust of the group and herding behavior, were not found in gifted adolescents. These results imply that gifted adolescents have a high cognitive ability but a low ability to process affective information or to adapt in social groups compared with average adolescents. We conclude that gain/loss sensitivity and the ability to adapt in social groups develop to different degrees in average and gifted adolescents

A Toxin–Antitoxin System Promotes the Maintenance of an Integrative Conjugative Element

SXT is an integrative and conjugative element (ICE) that confers resistance to multiple antibiotics upon many clinical isolates of Vibrio cholerae. In most cells, this ∼100 Kb element is integrated into the host genome in a site-specific fashion; however, SXT can excise to form an extrachromosomal circle that is thought to be the substrate for conjugative transfer. Daughter cells lacking SXT can theoretically arise if cell division occurs prior to the element's reintegration. Even though ∼2% of SXT-bearing cells contain the excised form of the ICE, cells that have lost the element have not been detected. Here, using a positive selection-based system, SXT loss was detected rarely at a frequency of ∼1×10−7. As expected, excision appears necessary for loss, and factors influencing the frequency of excision altered the frequency of SXT loss. We screened the entire 100 kb SXT genome and identified two genes within SXT, now designated mosA and mosT (for maintenance of SXT Antitoxin and Toxin), that promote SXT stability. These two genes, which lack similarity to any previously characterized genes, encode a novel toxin-antitoxin pair; expression of mosT greatly impaired cell growth and mosA expression ameliorated MosT toxicity. Factors that promote SXT excision upregulate mosAT expression. Thus, when the element is extrachromosomal and vulnerable to loss, SXT activates a TA module to minimize the formation of SXT-free cells

Total disc replacement surgery for symptomatic degenerative lumbar disc disease: a systematic review of the literature

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of total disc replacement surgery compared with spinal fusion in patients with symptomatic lumbar disc degeneration. Low back pain (LBP), a major health problem in Western countries, can be caused by a variety of pathologies, one of which is degenerative disc disease (DDD). When conservative treatment fails, surgery might be considered. For a long time, lumbar fusion has been the “gold standard” of surgical treatment for DDD. Total disc replacement (TDR) has increased in popularity as an alternative for lumbar fusion. A comprehensive systematic literature search was performed up to October 2008. Two reviewers independently checked all retrieved titles and abstracts, and relevant full text articles for inclusion. Two reviewers independently assessed the risk of bias of included studies and extracted relevant data and outcomes. Three randomized controlled trials and 16 prospective cohort studies were identified. In all three trials, the total disc replacement was compared with lumbar fusion techniques. The Charité trial (designed as a non-inferiority trail) was considered to have a low risk of bias for the 2-year follow up, but a high risk of bias for the 5-year follow up. The Charité artificial disc was non-inferior to the BAK® Interbody Fusion System on a composite outcome of “clinical success” (57.1 vs. 46.5%, for the 2-year follow up; 57.8 vs. 51.2% for the 5-year follow up). There were no statistically significant differences in mean pain and physical function scores. The Prodisc artificial disc (also designed as a non-inferiority trail) was found to be statistically significant more effective when compared with the lumbar circumferential fusion on the composite outcome of “clinical success” (53.4 vs. 40.8%), but the risk of bias of this study was high. Moreover, there were no statistically significant differences in mean pain and physical function scores. The Flexicore trial, with a high risk of bias, found no clinical relevant differences on pain and physical function when compared with circumferential spinal fusion at 2-year follow up. Because these are preliminary results, in addition to the high risk of bias, no conclusions can be drawn based on this study. In general, these results suggest that no clinical relevant differences between the total disc replacement and fusion techniques. The overall success rates in both treatment groups were small. Complications related to the surgical approach ranged from 2.1 to 18.7%, prosthesis related complications from 2.0 to 39.3%, treatment related complications from 1.9 to 62.0% and general complications from 1.0 to 14.0%. Reoperation at the index level was reported in 1.0 to 28.6% of the patients. In the three trials published, overall complication rates ranged from 7.3 to 29.1% in the TDR group and from 6.3 to 50.2% in the fusion group. The overall reoperation rate at index-level ranged from 3.7 to 11.4% in the TDR group and from 5.4 to 26.1% in the fusion group. In conclusion, there is low quality evidence that the Charité is non-inferior to the BAK cage at the 2-year follow up on the primary outcome measures. For the 5-year follow up, the same conclusion is supported only by very low quality evidence. For the ProDisc, there is very low quality evidence for contradictory results on the primary outcome measures when compared with anterior lumbar circumferential fusion. High quality randomized controlled trials with relevant control group and long-term follow-up is needed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of TDR