Keeping Control: The Role of Senescence and Development in Plant Pathogenesis and Defense

Many plant pathogens show interactions with host development. Pathogens may modify plant development according to their nutritional demands. Conversely, plant development influences pathogen growth. Biotrophic pathogens often delay senescence to keep host cells alive, and resistance is achieved by senescence- like processes in the host. Necrotrophic pathogens promote senescence in the host, and preventing early senescence is a resistance strategy of plants. For hemibiotrophic pathogens both patterns may apply. Most signaling pathways are involved in both developmental and defense reactions. Increasing knowledge about the molecular components allows to distinguish signaling branches, cross-talk and regulatory nodes that may influence the outcome of an infection. In this review, recent reports on major molecular players and their role in senescence and in pathogen response are reviewed. Examples of pathosystems with strong developmental implications illustrate the molecular basis of selected control strategies. A study of gene expression in the interaction between the hemibiotrophic vascular pathogen Verticillium longisporum and its cruciferous hosts shows processes that are fine-tuned to counteract early senescence and to achieve resistance. The complexity of the processes involved reflects the complex genetic control of quantitative disease resistance, and understanding the relationship between disease, development and resistance will support resistance breeding. View Full-Tex

Recombinant Production of MFHR1, A Novel Synthetic Multitarget Complement Inhibitor, in Moss Bioreactors

The human complement system is an important part of the immune system responsible for lysis and elimination of invading microorganisms and apoptotic body cells. Improper activation of the system due to deficiency, mutations, or autoantibodies of complement regulators, mainly factor H (FH) and FH-related proteins (FHRs), causes severe kidney and eye diseases. However, there is no recombinant FH therapeutic available on the market. The first successful recombinant production of FH was accomplished with the moss bioreactor, Physcomitrella patens. Recently, a synthetic regulator, MFHR1, was designed to generate a multitarget complement inhibitor that combines the activities of FH and the FH-related protein 1 (FHR1). The potential of MFHR1 was demonstrated in a proof-of-concept study with transiently transfected insect cells. Here, we present the stable production of recombinant glyco-engineered MFHR1 in the moss bioreactor. The key features of this system are precise genome engineering via homologous recombination, Good Manufacturing Practice-compliant production in photobioreactors, high batch-to-batch reproducibility, and product stability. Several potential biopharmaceuticals are being produced in this system. In some cases, these are even biobetters, i.e., the recombinant proteins produced in moss have a superior quality compared to their counterparts from mammalian systems as for example moss-made aGal, which successfully passed phase I clinical trials. Via mass spectrometry-based analysis of moss-produced MFHR1, we now prove the correct synthesis and modification of this glycoprotein with predominantly complex-type N-glycan attachment. Moss-produced MFHR1 exhibits cofactor and decay acceleration activities comparable to FH, and its mechanism of action on multiple levels within the alternative pathway of complement activation led to a strong inhibitory activity on the whole alternative pathway, which was higher than with the physiological regulator FH

Keeping Control: The Role of Senescence and Development in Plant Pathogenesis and Defense

Many plant pathogens show interactions with host development. Pathogens may modify plant development according to their nutritional demands. Conversely, plant development influences pathogen growth. Biotrophic pathogens often delay senescence to keep host cells alive, and resistance is achieved by senescence-like processes in the host. Necrotrophic pathogens promote senescence in the host, and preventing early senescence is a resistance strategy of plants. For hemibiotrophic pathogens both patterns may apply. Most signaling pathways are involved in both developmental and defense reactions. Increasing knowledge about the molecular components allows to distinguish signaling branches, cross-talk and regulatory nodes that may influence the outcome of an infection. In this review, recent reports on major molecular players and their role in senescence and in pathogen response are reviewed. Examples of pathosystems with strong developmental implications illustrate the molecular basis of selected control strategies. A study of gene expression in the interaction between the hemibiotrophic vascular pathogen Verticillium longisporum and its cruciferous hosts shows processes that are fine-tuned to counteract early senescence and to achieve resistance. The complexity of the processes involved reflects the complex genetic control of quantitative disease resistance, and understanding the relationship between disease, development and resistance will support resistance breeding

Impact of artificial illumination on the development of a leafmining moth in urban trees

Light emission from street lighting or other light sources alters the living conditions for organisms in urban areas. Nowadays, the impact of light at night (ALAN) on urban plants and their trophic environment is not well understood. To gain more insight about herbivore plant’s interaction when exposed to ALAN, outdoor and greenhouse tests were conducted using the horse-chestnut leafminer, Cameraria ohridella, as a test organism due to its adaptive behavior. At the end of the season, the development of chestnut tree leaves and the leafminer were measured at illuminated versus non-illuminated sites in the city of Berlin and the rural area of Brandenburg. Illuminated leaves were larger than those grown in darker rural areas and, extended larval activity was recorded. Additionally, in the greenhouse, infested chestnut seedlings were exposed to two different light regimes; one treatment provided continuous illumination and the other short daylight conditions. After only one week, the mine size was lower on illuminated seedlings, presumably due to reduced leaf senescence. The leafminer developed a lower proportion of diapausing pupae and a higher proportion of free pupae, which leads to a further generation within the season. The results indicate a strong impact of ALAN on plant metabolism, a secondary effect on leafminer development and its larval activity. For urban trees, the consequence might be an increased herbivore / parasite pressure. For herbivores and parasites less adapted to winter damages than the invasive leafminer a reduced dormancy due to direct or indirect effects of ALAN could even threat the population

Tracing the Flow of Genetic Resources in our Collections – How the Nagoya challenge supports the integration of our collection data

Transparency as well as complete and traceable documentation of specimens, samples and associated information are prerequisites to comply with laws and regulations in Provider and User Countries to ensure benefits of utilised genetic resources are shared. Besides legal compliance, these measures should also help to build trust among users, suppliers and collaborators. This concerns for example laws of providing countries that have established access laws under the Nagoya Protocol, such as Mexico's Ley General de la Vida Silvestre, or under the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), such as the Brazil Law No. 13,123, regulating access to the country's genetic heritage. On the other hand there are laws and regulations in user countries that ensure compliance with access laws of providing countries under the Nagoya protocol (e. g. Regulation (EU) No 511/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16. April 2014, which has to be implemented at national level in the EU member states).  As an institution holding genetic resources as living collections (including seeds), herbarium specimens and DNA and tissue samples as well as a wealth of associated data, the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin (BGBM) aims at creating transparency on the processes associated with the handling of these materials and data, such as metadata or associated analytical research results (Fig. 1). As a member of CETAF (Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities), IPEN (International Plant Exchange Network), and GGBN (Global Genome Biodiversity Network) the workflows and documentation of biological collections at BGBM are in compliance with CETAF’s Code of Conduct on Access and Benefit Sharing (https://www.cetaf.org/services/natural-science-collections-and-access-and-benefit-sharing) for herbarium specimens including algae, IPEN´s Code of Conduct (http://www.bgci.org/policy/ipen) for living plants and seeds, and GGBN’s (https://library.ggbn.org/share/s/UM5JietQR9aevtYDymHbjw) code of conduct (CoC) for DNA and tissue samples. A major challenge was to ensure the comprehensive, transparent, and traceable documentation of specimens and associated material and information along our internal workflows that have evolved with the development of a manifold of protocols. However, this challenge presented the opportunity to revise the existing protocols that cover the handling, collecting, and processing of the specimens, which had accumulated over the long history of our collections and our databases, into a consistent set of workflows (Stevens et al. 2019). A key component is the Collection Data Form (CDF) which guarantees that all necessary documentation will be imported into our collection management systems, including potential restriction of destructive sampling or loaning. The latest version of the CDF as wells as other information about BGBM’s collection and data workflows can be found at https://wiki.bgbm.org/collectionworkflows. This site has been created in late 2018 to be used by everyone to explore BGBM’s routines and examples. All legal and formal documents, such as collecting permits, Prior Informed Consent (PIC), CITES documentation, phytosanitary documents, Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), long term agreements with partner institutions, project agreements etc., are digitized and managed using a digital asset management software (Alfresco, an open source document management system, www.alfresco.com. The challenge is to link all this information unambiguously. To achieve this, all of BGBM’s collections (tissue and DNA-samples as well as living plants, seeds and diatom cultures) must have, whenever possible, a herbarium specimen that can be permanently stored and that allows a correct taxonomic identification of the material. These voucher specimens shall be digitized. Therefore, all data and all documentation can be traced back to identifiers referring to a herbarium specimen or living accession. The other collections (e. g. DNA and tissue samples) also get unique identifiers that are cross-referenced with each other. By this process we ensure that genetic material is identified by collecting number (assigned by the collector), as well as accession number and barcodes (assigned by BGBM according to type of material such as plant tissue, DNA, sample, seed lot, plant accession number of living plants, environmental sample, culture strain or herbarium specimen), and, most importantly in this regard, the document number/identifier of the legal or formal documents issued by the national legal entity or signed by a partner institution (assigned by the documentation office at BGBM when digitized). All these identifiers or numbers must refer to the respective material and as such allow BGBM to trace back the material at all stages of processing. This is of vital importance when genetic material is exchanged with partners. If there are any restrictions or any requirements for the further processing, use or exchange of plant material this is documented and flagged in all database modules and accession numbers

Describing Living Collections and Specimens

Many institutions harbor living collections in the form of living plants, animals, microrganisms or seeds. In the framework of the TDWG collections and specimen descriptions standards, it has become important to align exisiting standards for living collections and specimens or to identify where concepts or controlled vocabularies would be needed in the current TDWG standards. In September 2021 a workshop was organized in the framework of the COST Action Mobilise (https://www.mobilise-action.eu/) to get a better common understanding of the different types of living collections to consider and set the scene for further work on standards alignments. The EU COST Action CA17106 on “Mobilising Data, Experts and Policies in Scientific Collections”. Invited experts to these workshop were representatives of the TDWG Collection Description Group, the GGBN and TDWG molecular collections group, living plants collections and seed banks (Botanic Gardens Conservation International: BGCI, https://www.bgci.org/), living animal and biobanks (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria: EAZA, https://www.eaza.net/) and the culture collections (World Federation for Culture Collections: WFCC, http://www.wfcc.info/), who gave presentations on their currently used standards and challenges.The second day was devoted to break out sessions to brainstorm the specific needs for the different living collections with the aim to check and update the controlled vocabularies and concepts as needed.Identified topics were : Session 1: Voucher specimens of living accessions.Session 2: Living collections and GBIF.Session 3: How do we compare botanical gardens with herbaria?Session 4: How do we compare zoos and aquaria with natural history collections?Session 5: Culture collections: best practices and guidelines.The goal of this presentation is to address the outcome of these sessions and recommend future steps in collaboration with TDWG and the different identified stakeholders

Permits, contracts and their terms for biodiversity specimens

We present two different typologies of legal/contractual information in the context of natural history objects: the Biodiversity Permit/Contract Typology categorises permits and contracts, and the Typology of Legal/Contractual Terms for Biodiversity Specimens categorises the terms within permits and contracts. The Typologies have been developed under the EU-funded SYNTHESYS+ project with the participation of experts from outside the consortium. The document further addresses a possible technical integration of these typologies into the Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo). The implementation in the DiSSCo data model is outlined and a concrete use case is presented to show how conditions, e.g. the Typology of Legal/Contractual Terms, can be introduced into the DiSSCo Electronic Loans and Visits System (ElViS). Finally, we give an outlook on the next steps to develop the typologies into a standard that supports compliance with legal and contractual obligations within the wider community of natural science collections

Supplementary material 3 from: Schiller EK, Wiltschke-Schrotta K, Häffner E, Buschbom J, Leliaert F, Zimkus BM, Dickie JB, Gomes SR, Lyal CH.C, Mulcahy D, Paton A, Droege G (2024) Permits, contracts and their terms for biodiversity specimens. Research Ideas and Outcomes 10: e114366. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.10.e114366

Links to Australian legislation related to biodiversit