Further characterization of expression of auxin-induced genes in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) cell-suspension cultures

Plant science

Looking for transparent and measurable performance criteria as an alternative for the membership requirement. The BNN case

Contains fulltext : 64659-OA.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)The Dutch public broadcasting system is facing a problem which sounds all too familiar for every public broadcaster in Europe; their most loyal audiences tend to be older people and they seem to lack appeal for young audiences. BNN, the youngest member within the public broadcasting service in The Netherlands, and specifically aimed at teenagers and young adults, has to make head against the ‘requirement of membership’ (just like the other seven public broadcasting companies). The latter can be seen as a left-over from the past century, and is unequivocal; in order to have their broadcasting license renewed in September 2005, BNN needed 150,000 members by March 1st, 2004. Nevertheless, it is not only BNN that has a membership problem, but also the other seven broadcasting companies suffer from shrinking membership figures. This may ultimately render their legal legitimacy highly uncertain. Although the requirement of 150,000 members is only half of what the other broadcasting companies need in order to be considered full-fledged broadcasters, this article explains why the criterion of permanent membership is hardly attainable for BNN in the long run. In any event, for the coming five years, BNN’s future seems ‘safe.’ No stone was left unturned to obtain the required member figure. Thanks to a major TV show canvassing for members, the figure of 153,000 members was attained and publicized (this figure still needs to be checked by the Directorate of the Media). In light of performance criteria considered relevant in, e. g. European media policy-making, it is argued that there are objective criteria, both qualitative and quantitative, other than the membership figure requirement that should be taken into account in order to decide upon the future of a broadcaster. Ultimately, BNN fulfills a crowbar function in denouncing the lack of viability of the membership figure requirement in the Dutch public broadcasting system

Polar auxin transport: an early invention

In higher plants, cell-to-cell polar auxin transport (PAT) of the phytohormone auxin, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), generates maxima and minima that direct growth and development. Although IAA is present in all plant phyla, PAT has only been detected in land plants, the earliest being the Bryophytes. Charophyta, a group of freshwater green algae, are among the first multicellular algae with a land plant-like phenotype and are ancestors to land plants. IAA has been detected in members of Charophyta, but its developmental role and the occurrence of PAT are unknown. We show that naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA)-sensitive PAT occurs in internodal cells of Chara corallina. The relatively high velocity (at least 4–5 cm/h) of auxin transport through the giant (3–5 cm) Chara cells does not occur by simple diffusion and is not sensitive to a specific cytoplasmic streaming inhibitor. The results demonstrate that PAT evolved early in multicellular plant life. The giant Chara cells provide a unique new model system to study PAT, as Chara allows the combining of real-time measurements and mathematical modelling with molecular, developmental, cellular, and electrophysiological studies