Anpassung und Eignung von Composite Cross Winterweizen- Populationen und anderen Phänotypen auf unterschiedliche N-Versorgungsniveaus

Evolutionary breeding through the introduction of composite cross populations (CCPs)encourages intra-specific diversity and increases diversity in the agricultural landscape. Increased genetic diversity in crops may help to buffer both biotic and abiotic stresses and will play an increasingly important role in unpredictable climatic conditions become more unpredictable (Østergård et al. 2009). A number of CC winter wheat populations, commercial varieties and CCP line selections were tested at the University of Kassel, under differing N input levels in order to test past adaptation and suitability to differing fertilisation levels. The CCPs have been managed since 2005 under both organic and conventional conditions without conscious selection. Genetically diverse CCPs have the ability to be able to adapt to their environment, which may also include the management system, meaning that CCPs grown under conventional conditions may be better suited to growing conditions with higher N inputs, in comparison to CCPs, which have been managed organically under low N levels

Leistung und agronomisches Potenzial von Composite Cross Winterweizen-Populationen und anderen Phänotypen in einem Mischanbausystem

Unpredictable climatic conditions and increasing pressure on non-renewable resources mean that alternative agricultural systems able to cope with increasing biotic and abiotic stresses, as well as external input costs, are needed. Sustainable agricultural systems should be self-regulating, characterized by a high degree of interand intra-specific diversity (Moreau 2010). Evolutionary breeding through the introduction of Composite Cross Populations (CCPs) increases intra-specific diversity, enabling CCPs to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Increasing interspecific diversity, through mixed cropping, also plays an important role in sustainable systems and suitable crops are needed that are able to cope with the increasing interspecific competition found in these mixed systems. A number of winter wheat CCPs, lines and commercial varieties were tested with white clover as an undersowing in order to test competitive ability and performance

Type 2 Diabetes Risk Alleles Are Associated With Reduced Size at Birth

OBJECTIVE: Low birth weight is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The mechanisms underlying this association are unknown and may represent intrauterine programming or two phenotypes of one genotype. The fetal insulin hypothesis proposes that common genetic variants that reduce insulin secretion or action may predispose to type 2 diabetes and also reduce birth weight, since insulin is a key fetal growth factor. We tested whether common genetic variants that predispose to type 2 diabetes also reduce birth weight. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at five recently identified type 2 diabetes loci (CDKAL1, CDKN2A/B, HHEX-IDE, IGF2BP2, and SLC30A8) in 7,986 mothers and 19,200 offspring from four studies of white Europeans. We tested the association between maternal or fetal genotype at each locus and birth weight of the offspring. RESULTS: We found that type 2 diabetes risk alleles at the CDKAL1 and HHEX-IDE loci were associated with reduced birth weight when inherited by the fetus (21 g [95% CI 11-31], P = 2 x 10(-5), and 14 g [4-23], P = 0.004, lower birth weight per risk allele, respectively). The 4% of offspring carrying four risk alleles at these two loci were 80 g (95% CI 39-120) lighter at birth than the 8% carrying none (P(trend) = 5 x 10(-7)). There were no associations between birth weight and fetal genotypes at the three other loci or maternal genotypes at any locus. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are in keeping with the fetal insulin hypothesis and provide robust evidence that common disease-associated variants can alter size at birth directly through the fetal genotype

Interrogating Type 2 Diabetes Genome-Wide Association Data Using a Biological Pathway-Based Approach

OBJECTIVE-Recent genome-wide association Studies have resulted in a dramatic increase in our knowledge of the genetic loci involved in type 2 diabetes. In a complementary approach to these single-marker studies, we attempted to identify biological pathways associated with type 2 diabetes. This approach could allow its to identify additional risk loci. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS-We used individual level genotype data generated from the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) type 2 diabetes study, consisting of 393,143 autosomal SNPs, genotyped across 1,924 case subjects and 2,938 control subjects. We sought additional evidence from summary level data available from the Diabetes Genetics Initiative (DGI) and the Finland-United States Investigation of NIDDM Genetics (FUSION) studies. Statistical analysis of pathways was performed using a modification of the Gene Set Enrichment Algorithm (GSEA). A total of 439 pathways were analyzed from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, Gene Ontology, and BioCarta databases. RESULTS-After correcting for the number of pathways tested, we found no strong evidence for any pathway showing association with type 2 diabetes (top P-adj = 0.31). The candidate WNT-signaling pathway ranked top (nominal P = 0.0007, excluding TCF7L2; P = 0.002), containing a number of promising single gene associations. These include CCND2 (rs11833537; P = 0.003), SMAD3 (rs7178347; P = 0.0006), and PRICKLE1 (rs1796390; P = 0.001), all expressed in the pancreas. CONCLUSIONS-Common variants involved in type 2 diabetes risk are likely to occur in or near genes in multiple pathways. Pathway-based approaches to genome-wide association data may be more Successful for some complex traits than others, depending on the nature of the underlying disease physiology. Diabetes 58:1463-1467, 200

Genetic evidence that higher central adiposity causes gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: a Mendelian-randomization study

Background: Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is associated with multiple risk factors but determining causality is difficult. We used a genetic approach [Mendelian randomization (MR)] to identify potential causal modifiable risk factors for GORD. Methods: We used data from 451 097 European participants in the UK Biobank and defined GORD using hospital-defined ICD10 and OPCS4 codes and self-report data (N = 41 024 GORD cases). We tested observational and MR-based associations between GORD and four adiposity measures [body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), a metabolically favourable higher body-fat percentage and waist circumference], smoking status, smoking frequency and caffeine consumption. Results: Observationally, all adiposity measures were associated with higher odds of GORD. Ever and current smoking were associated with higher odds of GORD. Coffee consumption was associated with lower odds of GORD but, among coffee drinkers, more caffeinated-coffee consumption was associated with higher odds of GORD. Using MR, we provide strong evidence that higher WHR and higher WHR adjusted for BMI lead to GORD. There was weak evidence that higher BMI, body-fat percentage, coffee drinking or smoking caused GORD, but only the observational effects for BMI and body-fat percentage could be excluded. This MR estimated effect for WHR equates to a 1.23-fold higher odds of GORD per 5-cm increase in waist circumference. Conclusions: These results provide strong evidence that a higher waist-hip ratio leads to GORD. Our study suggests that central fat distribution is crucial in causing GORD rather than overall weight.This article is freely available via Open Access. Click on the Publisher URL to access it via the publisher's site.S.E.J. is funded by the Medical Research Council (grant: MR/M005070/1). A.R.W., T.M.F and H.Y. are supported by the European Research Council grants: SZ-245 50371-GLUCOSEGENES-FP7-IDEAS-ERC and 323195. H.Y. is also funded by the Diabetes UK RD Lawrence fellowship (grant: 17/0005594). R.N.B. is funded by the Wellcome Trust and Royal Society, grant 104150/Z/14/Z. J.T. is supported by an Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) Springboard award, which is supported by the AMS, the Wellcome Trust, GCRF, the Government Department of Business, Energy and Industrial strategy, the British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK (SBF004\1079). N.A.K. declares personal fees from Falk, Takeda and Pharmacosmos; other fees from Janssen; and non-financial support from Janssen, AbbVie and Celltrion outside the submitted work. J.R.G. received honoraria from Falk, AbbVie and Shield therapeutics, outside the submitted work for unrelated topics. T.A. reports grants from AbbVie, MSD, Napp Pharmaceuticals, Celltrion, Pfizer, Janssen and Celgene during this study; personal fees and non-financial support from Immunodiagnostik; personal fees and non-financial support from Napp Pharmaceuticals, AbbVie and MSD; personal fees from Celltrion and Pfizer; grants and personal fees from Takeda; and grants and non-financial support from Tillotts, outside the submitted work.published version, accepted version (12 month embargo), submitted versio

Structure and play: rethinking regulation in the higher education sector

This paper explores possible tactics for academics working within a context of increasing regulation and constraint. One suggested tactic is to move outside of a creativity-conformity binary. Rather than understanding creativity and conformity as separable, where one is seen as excluding the other, the authors consider the potential of examining the relationships between them. The theme of 'structure and play' illustrates the argument. In the first part of the paper, using various examples from art and design - fields generally associated with creativity - the authors explore the interrelatedness of creativity and conformity. For example, how might design styles, which are generally understood as creative outcomes, constrain creativity and lead to conformity within the design field? Is fashion producing creativity or conformity? Conversely, the ways in which conformity provides the conditions for creativity are also examined. For example, the conformity imposed by the state on artists in the former communist bloc contributed to a thriving underground arts movement which challenged conformity and state regulation. Continuing the theme of 'structure and play', the authors recount a story from an Australian university which foregrounds the ongoing renegotiation of power relations in the academy. This account illustrates how programmatic government in a university, with its aim of regulating conduct, can contribute to unanticipated outcomes. The authors propose that a Foucauldian view of distributed power is useful for academics operating in a context of increasing regulation, as it brings into view sites where power might begin to be renegotiated

Crossing media boundaries: adaptations and new media forms of the book

t is necessary to continuously review the definition of the book moving from one bound by its material form to one determined by its function as a means of communication. The book’s social function as the high status vehicle for communicating new ideas and cultural expressions is being challenged by sophisticated systems of conveying meaning in other media. In this article, we report on two projects: electronic book (e-book) publication and reader forum for Nature Mage and the transmedia augmented reality (AR) fiction Sherwood Rise, which investigate these issues. Claudio Pires Franco’s work is based on the adaptation of a source work: Duncan Pile’s Nature Mage. The project aims to develop the book from e-book to a fan-produced enhanced digital book. Through this practice-based research, Franco investigates the definitions and classification of the e and i forms of the book and adaptation in new media; the role of the author in creative collaboration with readers through online forums; the extension of the story world through creative collaboration and reader participation while respecting and safeguarding creative properties. One remove from the traditional book, David Miller’s Sherwood Rise, research the user experience with AR to examine narrative problems and explore new storytelling aesthetics. These new media forms define the outer borders of the book system within which content is formed and moulded, and around which society is shaped

Improved genetic testing for monogenic diabetes using targeted next-generation sequencing

addresses: Institute for Biomedical and Clinical Science, University of Exeter Medical School, Barrack Road, Exeter EX2 5DW, UK. [email protected]: PMCID: PMC3737433types: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tOpen Access ArticleCurrent genetic tests for diagnosing monogenic diabetes rely on selection of the appropriate gene for analysis according to the patient's phenotype. Next-generation sequencing enables the simultaneous analysis of multiple genes in a single test. Our aim was to develop a targeted next-generation sequencing assay to detect mutations in all known MODY and neonatal diabetes genes

Filtration artefacts in bacterial community composition can affect the outcome of dissolved organic matter biolability assays

Inland waters are large contributors to global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, in part due to the vulnerability of dissolved organic matter (DOM) to microbial decomposition and respiration to CO2 during transport through aquatic systems. To assess the degree of this vulnerability, aquatic DOM is often incubated in standardized biolability assays. These assays isolate the dissolved fraction of aquatic OM by size filtration prior to incubation. We test whether this size selection has an impact on the bacterial community composition and the consequent dynamics of DOM degradation using three different filtration strategies: 0.2&thinsp;µm (filtered and inoculated), 0.7&thinsp;µm (generally the most common DOM filter size) and 106&thinsp;µm (unfiltered). We found that bacterial community composition, based on 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, was significantly affected by the different filter sizes. At the same time, the filtration strategy also affected the DOM degradation dynamics, including the δ13C signature. However, the dynamics of these two responses were decoupled, suggesting that filtration primarily influences biolability assays through bacterial abundance and the presence of their associated predators. By the end of the 41-day incubations all treatments tended to converge on a common total DOM biolability level, with the 0.7&thinsp;µm filtered incubations reaching this point the quickest. These results suggest that assays used to assess the total biolability of aquatic DOM should last long enough to remove filtration artefacts in the microbial population. Filtration strategy should also be taken into account when comparing results across biolability assays.</p