Greenhouse gas and ammonia emission mitigation priorities for UK policy targets

Acknowledgements Many thanks to the Association of Applied Biologist’s for organising and hosting the ‘Agricultural greenhouse gases and ammonia mitigation: Solutions, challenges, and opportunities’ workshop. This work was supported with funding from the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme (2022-2027, C2-1 SRUC) and BBSRC (BBS/E/C/000I0320 and BBS/E/C/000I0330). We also acknowledge support from UKRI694 BBSRC (United Kingdom Research and Innovation-Biotechnology and Biological Sciences 695 Research Council; United Kingdom) via grants BBS/E/C/000I0320 and BBS/E/C/000I0330. and Rothamsted Research's Science Initiative Catalyst Award (SICA) supported by BBSRC.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Novel routes towards bioplastics from plants: elucidation of the methylperillate biosynthesis pathway from Salvia dorisiana trichomes

Plants produce a large variety of highly functionalized terpenoids. Functional groups such as partially unsaturated rings and carboxyl groups provide handles to use these compounds as feedstock for biobased commodity chemicals. For instance, methylperillate, a monoterpenoid found in Salvia dorisiana, may be used for this purpose, as it carries both an unsaturated ring and a methylated carboxyl group. The biosynthetic pathway of methylperillate in plants is still unclear. In this work, we identified glandular trichomes from S. dorisiana as the location of biosynthesis and storage of methylperillate. mRNA from purified trichomes was used to identify four genes that can encode the pathway from geranyl diphosphate towards methylperillate. This pathway includes a (–)-limonene synthase (SdLS), a limonene 7-hydroxylase (SdL7H, CYP71A76), and a perillyl alcohol dehydrogenase (SdPOHDH). We also identified a terpene acid methyltransferase, perillic acid O-methyltransferase (SdPAOMT), with homology to salicylic acid OMTs. Transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana of these four genes, in combination with a geranyl diphosphate synthase to boost precursor formation, resulted in production of methylperillate. This demonstrates the potential of these enzymes for metabolic engineering of a feedstock for biobased commodity chemical

Cyber security fear appeals:unexpectedly complicated

Cyber security researchers are starting to experiment with fear appeals, with a wide variety of designs and reported efficaciousness. This makes it hard to derive recommendations for designing and deploying these interventions. We thus reviewed the wider fear appeal literature to arrive at a set of guidelines to assist cyber security researchers. Our review revealed a degree of dissent about whether or not fear appeals are indeed helpful and advisable. Our review also revealed a wide range of fear appeal experimental designs, in both cyber and other domains, which confirms the need for some standardized guidelines to inform practice in this respect. We propose a protocol for carrying out fear appeal experiments, and we review a sample of cyber security fear appeal studies, via this lens, to provide a snapshot of the current state of play. We hope the proposed experimental protocol will prove helpful to those who wish to engage in future cyber security fear appeal research

Risk for valvular heart disease after treatment for hodgkin lymphoma

Background: Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors are at increased risk for developing valvular heart disease (VHD). We evaluated the determinants of the risk and the radiation dose-response. Methods: A case-control study was nested in a cohort of 1852 five-year HL survivors diagnosed at ages 15 to 41 years and treated between 1965 and 1995. Case patients had VHD of at least moderate severity as their first cardiovascular diagnosis following HL treatment. Control patients were matched to case patients for age, gender, and HL diagnosis date. Treatment and follow-up data were abstracted from medical records. Radiation doses to heart valves were estimated by reconstruction of individual treatments on representative computed tomography datasets. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: Eighty-nine case patients with VHD were identified (

DataMan: A global dataset of nitrous oxide and ammonia emission factors for excreta deposited by livestock and land-applied manure

Nitrous oxide (N2O), ammonia (NH3) and methane (CH4) emissions from the manure management chain of livestock production systems are important contributors to greenhouse gases (GHG) and NH3 emitted by human activities. Several studies have evaluated manure-related emissions and associated key variables at regional, national or continental scales. However, there have been few studies focusing on these emissions using a global dataset. An international project was created (DataMan) to develop a global database on GHG and NH3 emissions from the manure management chain (housing, storage and field), to identify key variables influencing emissions, and ultimately to refine EFs for future national GHG inventories and NH3 emission reporting. This paper describes the “field” database that focuses on N2O and NH3 EFs from land-applied manure and excreta deposited by grazing livestock. We collated relevant information (EFs, manure characteristics, soil properties and climatic conditions) from published peer-reviewed research, theses, conference papers and existing databases. The database, containing 5,632 observations compiled from 184 studies, was relatively evenly split between N2O and NH3 (56% and 44% of the EF values, respectively). The N2O data were derived from studies conducted in 21 countries on five continents, with New Zealand, the UK, Kenya and Brazil representing 86% of the data. The NH3 data originated from studies conducted in 17 countries on four continents, with the UK, Denmark, Canada and the Netherlands representing 79% of the data. Wet temperate climates represented 90% of the total database. The DataMan field database is available online at http:// dataman.azurewebsites.net

DEXi-Dairy: an ex post multicriteria tool to assess the sustainability of dairy production systems in various European regions

Growing awareness of global challenges and increasing pressures on the farming sector, including the urgent requirement to rapidly cut greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, emphasize the need for sustainable production, which is particularly relevant for dairy production systems. Comparing dairy production systems across the three sustainability dimensions is a considerable challenge, notably due to the heterogeneity of production conditions in Europe. To overcome this, we developed an ex post multicriteria assessment tool that adopts a holistic approach across the three sustainability dimensions. This tool is based on the DEXi framework, which associates a hierarchical decision model with an expert perspective and follows a tree shaped structure; thus, we called it the DEXi-Dairy tool. For each dimension of sustainability, qualitative attributes were defined and organized in themes, sub-themes, and indicators. Their choice was guided by three objectives: (i) better describe main challenges faced by European dairy production systems, (ii) point out synergies and trade-offs across sustainability dimensions, and (iii) contribute to the identification of GHG mitigation strategies at the farm level. Qualitative scales for each theme, sub-theme, and indicator were defined together with weighting factors used to aggregate each level of the tree. Based on selected indicators, a list of farm data requirements was developed to populate the sustainability tree. The model was then tested on seven case study farms distributed across Europe. DEXi-Dairy presents a qualitative method that allows for the comparison of different inputs and the evaluation of the three sustainability dimensions in an integrated manner. By assessing synergies and trade-offs across sustainability dimensions, DEXi-Dairy is able to reflect the heterogeneity of dairy production systems. Results indicate that, while trade-offs occasionally exist among respective selected sub-themes, certain farming systems tend to achieve a higher sustainability score than others and hence could serve as benchmarks for further analyses

Transcriptional Feedback in Plant Growth and Defense by PIFs, BZR1, HY5, and MYC Transcription Factors

Growth of Arabidopsis is controlled by the activity of a set of bHLH and bZIP transcription factors of which phytochrome interacting factor4 (PIF4), BRASSINAZOLE-RESISTANT 1 (BZR1), and elongated hypocotyl 5 (HY5) have been most extensively studied. Defense responses are controlled by a set of MYC transcription factors of which MYC2 is best characterized. Moreover, hundreds of additional proteins (here named co-factors) have been identified which (in)directly may affect the expression or activity of these TFs. Thus, regulation of expression of genes encoding these co-factors becomes an integral part of understanding the molecular control of growth and defense. Here, we review RNA-seq data related to PIF, BZR1, HY5, or MYC activity, which indicate that 125 co-factor genes affecting PIFs, HY5, BZR1, or MYCs are themselves under transcriptional control by these TFs, thus revealing potential feedback regulation in growth and defense. The transcriptional feedback on co-factor genes related to PIF4, BZR1, and MYC2 by PIFs, BZR1, or MYCs, mostly results in negative feedback on PIF4, BZR1, or MYC2 activity. In contrast, transcription feedback on co-factor genes for HY5 by HY5 mostly results in positive feedback on HY5 activity. PIF4 and BZR1 exert a balanced regulating of photoreceptor-gene expression, whose products directly or indirectly affect PIF4, HY5, and MYC2 protein stability as a function of light. Growth itself is balanced by both multiple positive and multiple negative feedback on PIF4 and BZR1 activity. The balance between growth and defense is mostly through direct cross-regulation between HY5 and MYC2 as previously described, but also through potential transcriptional feedback on co-factor genes for MYC2 by PIF4, BZR1, and HY5 and through transcriptional feedback of co-factors for PIF4 and BZR1 by MYC2. The interlocking feed-forward and feed-backward transcriptional regulation of PIF4, BZR1, HY5, and MYC2 co-factors is a signature of robust and temporal control of signaling related to growth and defense

6. Vegetatiedynamiek in duinen en duinvalleien op Oost-Ameland

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Small steps or giant leaps for male-killers? Phylogenetic constraints to male-killer host shifts"</p><p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/7/238</p><p>BMC Evolutionary Biology 2007;7():238-238.</p><p>Published online 29 Nov 2007</p><p>PMCID:PMC2222251.</p><p></p>spring sex-ratio distortion achieved by the male-killer (proportion male); the correlation is significant (see text). Figure 4b – the relationship between host shift genetic distance and vertical transmission to host offspring (proportion infected); the correlation is not significant (see text). Data points represent means for each species. A least squares best fit line fitted through the origin (4a) and through 1.0 (4b) is shown for each graph. All interspecific transfections are represented apart from (for with no offspring resulted): brown, ; blue, ; green, ; red, , black; , orange; . Error bars show standard errors, where no bar is visible variance was zero (apart from for which n = 1)

Assessing the impact of long-term soil phosphorus on N-transformation pathways using 15N tracing

peer-reviewedA laboratory incubation study was conducted on a temperate grassland soil to quantify the main mineral nitrogen (N) transformation rates and pathways via a15N tracing approach. Soil samples were taken from a long-term phosphorus (P) trial to investigate the effects on gross N-transformations under high and low phosphorus amendment. The soils were incubated over a 2-week period and treated with ammonium-nitrate (NH4NO3) which was applied to the soil both with and without a glucose amendment and labelled with 15N either on the ammonium (NH4+) or nitrate (NO3−) moiety at 50% atom enrichment. The results showed immobilisation to greatly outweigh mineralisation and that NO3− was predominantly produced via heterotrophic nitrification. Individual pathways for NO3− production were quantified including oxidation of NH4+, recalcitrant and labile organic N. Oxidation of labile organic N to NO3−, a newly considered pathway, accounted for between 63 and 83% of total NO3− production across the various treatments and P levels. This process was significantly higher in the low-P rather than the high-P soils (p < 0.05), highlighting the effect of soil P on the microbial community.National Development Pla