Dynamics of Responses in Compatible Potato - Potato virus Y Interaction Are Modulated by Salicylic Acid

To investigate the dynamics of the potato – Potato virus Y (PVY) compatible interaction in relation to salicylic acid - controlled pathways we performed experiments using non-transgenic potato cv. Désirée, transgenic NahG-Désirée, cv. Igor and PVYNTN, the most aggressive strain of PVY. The importance of salicylic acid in viral multiplication and symptom development was confirmed by pronounced symptom development in NahG-Désirée, depleted in salicylic acid, and reversion of the effect after spraying with 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid (a salicylic acid - analogue). We have employed quantitative PCR for monitoring virus multiplication, as well as plant responses through expression of selected marker genes of photosynthetic activity, carbohydrate metabolism and the defence response. Viral multiplication was the slowest in inoculated potato of cv. Désirée, the only asymptomatic genotype in the study. The intensity of defence-related gene expression was much stronger in both sensitive genotypes (NahG-Désirée and cv. Igor) at the site of inoculation than in asymptomatic plants (cv. Désirée). Photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism gene expression differed between the symptomatic and asymptomatic phenotypes. The differential gene expression pattern of the two sensitive genotypes indicates that the outcome of the interaction does not rely simply on one regulatory component, but similar phenotypical features can result from distinct responses at the molecular level

Subsidiary Protection

Magistrska naloga obravnava institut subsidiarne zaščite, ki je ena od oblik mednarodne zaščite v Evropski uniji. Subsidiarna zaščita je bila v pravo EU vpeljana na podlagi praks držav članic in predstavlja zaščito, ki dopolnjuje Konvencijo o statusu beguncev iz leta 1951. Osebe s statusom subsidiarne zaščite uživajo manj pravic kot osebe s statusom begunca. Zaradi skope podlage za razlago v sami direktivi, v travaux préparatoires in v sodni praksi Sodišča Evropske unije je interpretacija instituta zahtevna, kar vodi do razlik pri uporabi instituta med državami članicami. Prvi del magistrske naloge je namenjen predstavitvi instituta. Drugi del se osredotoča na identifikacijo elementov instituta, ki povzročajo največ težav pri interpretaciji. Za vsak institut so podane interpretativne smernice, podprte s sodno prakso SEU, ESČP in slovenskih sodišč. V tretjem delu magistrske naloge je prikazano, da različna ureditev statusa subsidiarne zaščite, ki upravičencem zagotavlja krajše trajanje zaščite in omejen dostop do socialnih pravic v primerjavi s statusom begunca, ni potrebna in objektivno utemeljena. V sklepu magistrske naloge je kritična opredelitev do previdene reforme Skupnega evropskega azilnega sistema, v okviru katerega se predvideva sprejem Kvalifikacijske uredbe. Predlog Kvalifikacijske uredbe državam članicam ne ponudi trdnejše opore za interpretacijo instituta niti ne rešuje vprašanja različne obravnave oseb s statusom begunca in statusom subsidiarne zaščite.The thesis addresses subsidiary protection, a form of international protection in the European Union. Subsidiary protection was incorporated in the EU law on the basis of EU member states practices, complementing the protection granted by the 1951 Refugee Convention. Subsidiary protection beneficiaries enjoy fewer rights than persons with refugee status. Interpretation of the legal construct is often challenging due to very limited basis for interpretation in the Directive, travaux préparatoires and CJEU case-law. That, consequently, leads to different applications of subsidiary protection among member states. The first part of the thesis consists of a brief introduction of subsidiary protection. The second part is focused on the identification of the elements of subsidiary protection definition, which are causing major difficulties in interpretation. Interpretational guidelines supported by the CJEU, ECtHR and Slovenian courts case-law are provided for each of the elements. The third part of the thesis illustrates that different regulations of refugee status and subsidiary protection status, which grants a shorter duration of the protection and limited access to social welfare to the beneficiaries, is not necessary and objectively justified. The thesis is concluded with critical observations on the intended Common European Asylum System reform and expected adoption of the Qualification Regulation. The proposal of the Qualification Regulation neither offers a more solid basis for interpretation of subsidiary protection nor solves the issue of different treatment of refugees and persons with subsidiary protection status

Subsidiary Protection in the European and International Asylum Systems – Upgrading or Undermining the System? (Subsidiarna zaščita v evropskem in mednarodnem azilnem sistemu – nadgradnja ali spodkopavanje sistema?)

EU asylum law has without doubt a significant impact on international asylum law. The article focuses on the question if and how the subsidiary protection, the invention of the EU asylum law, should be extended to the international legal level. The EU has already been criticized for trying to replace the international refugee protection regime with the Qualification Directive rather than complementing it. Noting that the subsidiary protection is a subject of controversy within the EU itself regarding its interpretation and differences in use among the Member States, the criticism carries even more weight. The first part of the article presents the development and codification of complementary protection in the EU. The second part deals with the issue of discrimination among persons with refugee status and subsidiary protection. In the third part, current impact of the institute on the international asylum system is examined, while the last section gives a stance on the rationality and suitability of the application of subsidiary protection to the international level

Comparison between Proteome and Transcriptome Response in Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Leaves Following Potato Virus Y (PVY) Infection

Plant diseases caused by viral infection are affecting all major crops. Being an obligate intracellular organisms, chemical control of these pathogens is so far not applied in the field except to control the insect vectors of the viruses. Understanding of molecular responses of plant immunity is therefore economically important, guiding the enforcement of crop resistance. To disentangle complex regulatory mechanisms of the plant immune responses, understanding system as a whole is a must. However, integrating data from different molecular analysis (transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, smallRNA regulation etc.) is not straightforward. We evaluated the response of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) following the infection with potato virus Y (PVY). The response has been analyzed on two molecular levels, with microarray transcriptome analysis and mass spectroscopy-based proteomics. Within this report, we performed detailed analysis of the results on both levels and compared two different approaches for analysis of proteomic data (spectral count versus MaxQuant). To link the data on different molecular levels, each protein was mapped to the corresponding potato transcript according to StNIB paralogue grouping. Only 33% of the proteins mapped to microarray probes in a one-to-one relation and additionally many showed discordance in detected levels of proteins with corresponding transcripts. We discussed functional importance of true biological differences between both levels and showed that the reason for the discordance between transcript and protein abundance lies partly in complexity and structure of biological regulation of proteome and transcriptome and partly in technical issues contributing to it

Finance Committee - Three-hundred-and-sixty-first Meeting

RT-qPCR primers and probes used. Quantitative real-time PCR assay targets are specified, together with their IDs, primer and probe sequences are shown together with optimal concentrations to be used in the reaction. (DOCX 21 kb