The differential response of cold-experienced Arabidopsis thaliana to larval herbivory benefits an insect generalist, but not a specialist

Background In native environments plants frequently experience simultaneous or sequential unfavourable abiotic and biotic stresses. The plant’s response to combined stresses is usually not the sum of the individual responses. Here we investigated the impact of cold on plant defense against subsequent herbivory by a generalist and specialist insect. Results We determined transcriptional responses of Arabidopsis thaliana to low temperature stress (4 °C) and subsequent larval feeding damage by the lepidopteran herbivores Mamestra brassicae (generalist), Pieris brassicae (specialist) or artificial wounding. Furthermore, we compared the performance of larvae feeding upon cold-experienced or untreated plants. Prior experience of cold strongly affected the plant’s transcriptional anti-herbivore and wounding response. Feeding by P. brassicae, M. brassicae and artificial wounding induced transcriptional changes of 1975, 1695, and 2239 genes, respectively. Of these, 125, 360, and 681 genes were differentially regulated when cold preceded the tissue damage. Overall, prior experience of cold mostly reduced the transcriptional response of genes to damage. The percentage of damage-responsive genes, which showed attenuated transcriptional regulation when cold preceded the tissue damage, was highest in M. brassicae damaged plants (98%), intermediate in artificially damaged plants (89%), and lowest in P. brassicae damaged plants (69%). Consistently, the generalist M. brassicae performed better on cold-treated than on untreated plants, whereas the performance of the specialist P. brassicae did not differ. Conclusions The transcriptional defense response of Arabidopsis leaves to feeding by herbivorous insects and artificial wounding is attenuated by a prior exposure of the plant to cold. This attenuation correlates with improved performance of the generalist herbivore M. brassicae, but not the specialist P. brassicae, a herbivore of the same feeding guild

Pre-exposure of Arabidopsis to the abiotic or biotic environmental stimuli "chilling" or "insect eggs" exhibits different transcriptomic responses to herbivory

Plants can retain information about environmental stress and thus, prepare themselves for impending stress. In nature, it happens that environmental stimuli like ‘cold’ and ‘insect egg deposition’ precede insect herbivory. Both these stimuli are known to elicit transcriptomic changes in Arabidposis thaliana. It is unknown, however, whether they affect the plant’s anti- herbivore defence and feeding-induced transcriptome when they end prior to herbivory. Here we investigated the transcriptomic response of Arabidopsis to feeding by Pieris brassicae larvae after prior exposure to cold or oviposition. The transcriptome of plants that experienced a five-day-chilling period (4 °C) was not fully reset to the pre-chilling state after deacclimation (20 °C) for one day and responded differently to herbivory than that of chilling-inexperienced plants. In contrast, when after a five-day- lasting oviposition period the eggs were removed, one day later the transcriptome and, consistently, also its response to herbivory resembled that of egg-free plants. Larval performance was unaffected by previous exposure of plants to cold and to eggs, thus indicating P. brassicae tolerance to cold- mediated plant transcriptomic changes. Our results show strong differences in the persistence of the plant’s transcriptomic state after removal of different environmental cues, and consequently differential effects on the transcriptomic response to later herbivory

Online-Rollenspiele in der Lehrkräfteausbildung

Online-Rollenspiele ermöglichen eine realistische Simulation von typischen Handlungsszenarien, in denen Lehramtsstudierende ihre kommunikativen Fertigkeiten mittels eines Avatars interaktiv erproben und reflektieren können. In diesem Beitrag werden die Unterschiede zwischen Online- und Präsenz-Rollenspielen sowie die Vor- und Nachteile beider Formate anhand von Rollenspielaufzeichnungen, Lernjournalen und Gruppeninterviews untersucht. Zusammenfassend scheint eine Kombination beider Rollenspielformate, beginnend mit den Online-Rollenspielen, ideal zu sein, um anfängliche Ängste zu verringern und die Komplexität der Übungen durch eine Zunahme der Kommunikationsebenen gezielt zu steigern.Academic online role-play facilitates a realistic simulation of typical professional scenarios in which pre-service teachers can train and reflect on their communicative skills by means of an avatar. This paper examines the differences between online and classroom role-play as well as the pros and cons of both formats on the basis of recorded role-plays, learning journals, and group interviews. In summary, a combination of both formats appears to be optimal, starting with online role-play in order to reduce initial fears and then, later on, switching to classroom role-play so as to increase the complexity of the training

Career service papers - csp 21/2024

Themen dieser Ausgabe sind Veränderungen bei der Nachfrage nach Beschäftigung und Kompetenzen durch den Strukturwandel des Arbeitsmarktes, die berufliche Relevanz und der gesellschaftliche Wert des Studiums, Kompetenzen die auf dem Arbeitsmarkt erfolgreich machen, Konzepte und Veränderungen für die Gestaltung der Zukunft von Musikhochschulen und Strategien für das Finden eines individuell passenden Arbeitsplatzes trotz undurchsichtiger Auswahlverfahren. Artikelübersicht: Jana Fingerhut, Larissa Klemme, Luisa Kunze, Eric Thode: Wie der Strukturwandel die Nachfrage nach Beschäftigten und Kompetenzen am Arbeitsmarkt verändert Jonas Breetzke, Prof. Dr. Carla Bohndick: Ist mein Studium relevant? Wie Studierende den beruflichen und gesellschaftlichen Wert ihres Studiums wahrnehmen und wie Hochschulen ihn steigern können. Dr. Emilia Kmiotek-Meier, Lena Hoffmann, Dr. Carlo Klauth: Welche Kompetenzen brauchen Akademiker*innen, um auf dem Arbeitsmarkt erfolgreich zu sein? Carmen M. Thiel: „Wir brauchen Visionen, neue Konzepte und Veränderungen, um die Zukunft der Musikhochschulen positiv gestalten zu können.“ Prof. Dr. Uwe P. Kanning: Wie finde ich einen Arbeitsplatz, der zu mir passt? Professionelles Auftreten in unprofessionellen Auswahlverfahren

Causes of death and comorbidities in hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Infection by the new corona virus strain SARS-CoV-2 and its related syndrome COVID-19 has been associated with more than two million deaths worldwide. Patients of higher age and with preexisting chronic health conditions are at an increased risk of fatal disease outcome. However, detailed information on causes of death and the contribution of pre-existing health conditions to death yet is missing, which can be reliably established by autopsy only. We performed full body autopsies on 26 patients that had died after SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 at the Charite University Hospital Berlin, Germany, or at associated teaching hospitals. We systematically evaluated causes of death and pre-existing health conditions. Additionally, clinical records and death certificates were evaluated. We report findings on causes of death and comorbidities of 26 decedents that had clinically presented with severe COVID-19. We found that septic shock and multi organ failure was the most common immediate cause of death, often due to suppurative pulmonary infection. Respiratory failure due to diffuse alveolar damage presented as immediate cause of death in fewer cases. Several comorbidities, such as hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and obesity were present in the vast majority of patients. Our findings reveal that causes of death were directly related to COVID-19 in the majority of decedents, while they appear not to be an immediate result of preexisting health conditions and comorbidities. We therefore suggest that the majority of patients had died of COVID-19 with only contributory implications of preexisting health conditions to the mechanism of death

Recommendations to Improve Tick-Borne Encephalitis Surveillance and Vaccine Uptake in Europe

There has been an increase in reported TBE cases in Europe since 2015, reaching a peak in some countries in 2020, highlighting the need for better management of TBE risk in Europe. TBE surveillance is currently limited, in part, due to varying diagnostic guidelines, access to testing, and awareness of TBE. Consequently, TBE prevalence is underestimated and vaccination recommendations inadequate. TBE vaccine uptake is unsatisfactory in many TBE-endemic European countries. This review summarizes the findings of a scientific workshop of experts to improve TBE surveillance and vaccine uptake in Europe. Strategies to improve TBE surveillance and vaccine uptake should focus on: aligning diagnostic criteria and testing across Europe; expanding current vaccine recommendations and reducing their complexity; and increasing public education of the potential risks posed by TBEV infection.Peer reviewe

Recommendations to Improve Tick-Borne Encephalitis Surveillance and Vaccine Uptake in Europe

There has been an increase in reported TBE cases in Europe since 2015, reaching a peak in some countries in 2020, highlighting the need for better management of TBE risk in Europe. TBE surveillance is currently limited, in part, due to varying diagnostic guidelines, access to testing, and awareness of TBE. Consequently, TBE prevalence is underestimated and vaccination recommendations inadequate. TBE vaccine uptake is unsatisfactory in many TBE-endemic European countries. This review summarizes the findings of a scientific workshop of experts to improve TBE surveillance and vaccine uptake in Europe. Strategies to improve TBE surveillance and vaccine uptake should focus on: aligning diagnostic criteria and testing across Europe; expanding current vaccine recommendations and reducing their complexity; and increasing public education of the potential risks posed by TBEV infection.Peer reviewe

An integrated molecular risk score early in life for subsequent childhood asthma risk.

BACKGROUND Numerous children present with early wheeze symptoms, yet solely a subgroup develops childhood asthma. Early identification of children at risk is key for clinical monitoring, timely patient-tailored treatment, and preventing chronic, severe sequelae. For early prediction of childhood asthma, we aimed to define an integrated risk score combining established risk factors with genome-wide molecular markers at birth, complemented by subsequent clinical symptoms/diagnoses (wheezing, atopic dermatitis, food allergy). METHODS Three longitudinal birth cohorts (PAULINA/PAULCHEN, n = 190 + 93 = 283, PASTURE, n = 1133) were used to predict childhood asthma (age 5-11) including epidemiological characteristics and molecular markers: genotype, DNA methylation and mRNA expression (RNASeq/NanoString). Apparent (ap) and optimism-corrected (oc) performance (AUC/R2) was assessed leveraging evidence from independent studies (Naïve-Bayes approach) combined with high-dimensional logistic regression models (LASSO). RESULTS Asthma prediction with epidemiological characteristics at birth (maternal asthma, sex, farm environment) yielded an ocAUC = 0.65. Inclusion of molecular markers as predictors resulted in an improvement in apparent prediction performance, however, for optimism-corrected performance only a moderate increase was observed (upto ocAUC = 0.68). The greatest discriminate power was reached by adding the first symptoms/diagnosis (up to ocAUC = 0.76; increase of 0.08, p = .002). Longitudinal analysis of selected mRNA expression in PASTURE (cord blood, 1, 4.5, 6 years) showed that expression at age six had the strongest association with asthma and correlation of genes getting larger over time (r = .59, p < .001, 4.5-6 years). CONCLUSION Applying epidemiological predictors alone showed moderate predictive abilities. Molecular markers from birth modestly improved prediction. Allergic symptoms/diagnoses enhanced the power of prediction, which is important for clinical practice and for the design of future studies with molecular markers

DNAm-based signatures of accelerated aging and mortality in blood are associated with low renal function

Background The difference between an individual's chronological and DNA methylation predicted age (DNAmAge), termed DNAmAge acceleration (DNAmAA), can capture life-long environmental exposures and age-related physiological changes reflected in methylation status. Several studies have linked DNAmAA to morbidity and mortality, yet its relationship with kidney function has not been assessed. We evaluated the associations between seven DNAm aging and lifespan predictors (as well as GrimAge components) and five kidney traits (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR], urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio [uACR], serum urate, microalbuminuria and chronic kidney disease [CKD]) in up to 9688 European, African American and Hispanic/Latino individuals from seven population-based studies. Results We identified 23 significant associations in our large trans-ethnic meta-analysis (p < 1.43E-03 and consistent direction of effect across studies). Age acceleration measured by the Extrinsic and PhenoAge estimators, as well as Zhang's 10-CpG epigenetic mortality risk score (MRS), were associated with all parameters of poor kidney health (lower eGFR, prevalent CKD, higher uACR, microalbuminuria and higher serum urate). Six of these associations were independently observed in European and African American populations. MRS in particular was consistently associated with eGFR (beta = - 0.12, 95% CI = [- 0.16, - 0.08] change in log-transformed eGFR per unit increase in MRS, p = 4.39E-08), prevalent CKD (odds ratio (OR) = 1.78 [1.47, 2.16], p = 2.71E-09) and higher serum urate levels (beta = 0.12 [0.07, 0.16], p = 2.08E-06). The first-generation clocks (Hannum, Horvath) and GrimAge showed different patterns of association with the kidney traits. Three of the DNAm-estimated components of GrimAge, namely adrenomedullin, plasminogen-activation inhibition 1 and pack years, were positively associated with higher uACR, serum urate and microalbuminuria. Conclusion DNAmAge acceleration and DNAm mortality predictors estimated in whole blood were associated with multiple kidney traits, including eGFR and CKD, in this multi-ethnic study. Epigenetic biomarkers which reflect the systemic effects of age-related mechanisms such as immunosenescence, inflammaging and oxidative stress may have important mechanistic or prognostic roles in kidney disease. Our study highlights new findings linking kidney disease to biological aging, and opportunities warranting future investigation into DNA methylation biomarkers for prognostic or risk stratification in kidney disease