Determining the footprint of breeding in the seed microbiome of a perennial cereal

Background Seed endophytes have a significant impact on plant health and fitness. They can be inherited and passed on to the next plant generation. However, the impact of breeding on their composition in seeds is less understood. Here, we studied the indigenous seed microbiome of a recently domesticated perennial grain crop (Intermediate wheatgrass, Thinopyrum intermedium L.) that promises great potential for harnessing microorganisms to enhance crop performance by a multiphasic approach, including amplicon and strain libraries, as well as molecular and physiological assays.Results Intermediate wheatgrass seeds harvested from four field sites in Europe over three consecutive years were dominated by Proteobacteria (88%), followed by Firmicutes (10%). Pantoea was the most abundant genus and Pantoea agglomerans was identified as the only core taxon present in all samples. While bacterial diversity and species richness were similar across all accessions, the relative abundance varied especially in terms of low abundant and rare taxa. Seeds from four different breeding cycles (TLI C3, C5, C704, C801) showed significant differences in bacterial community composition and abundance. We found a decrease in the relative abundance of the functional genes nirK and nifH as well as a drop in bacterial diversity and richness. This was associated with a loss of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) in Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Bacilli, which could be partially compensated in offspring seeds, which have been cultivated at a new site. Interestingly, only a subset assigned to potentially beneficial bacteria, e.g. Pantoea, Kosakonia, and Pseudomonas, was transmitted to the next plant generation or shared with offspring seeds.Conclusion Overall, this study advances our understanding of the assembly and transmission of endophytic seed microorganisms in perennial intermediate wheatgrass and highlights the importance of considering the plant microbiome in future breeding programs

Constructive friction? Charting the relation between educational research and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

While educational research and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) are overlapping fields, over time there has appeared considerable friction between the two. There are claims that educational research has been tainted by SoTL’s emergence and that those engaged in SoTL lack adequate training. They maintain that those engaged in SoTL would benefit from a better understanding of educational research theories and methods. Some engaged in SoTL perceive educational research as too distanced from practice. What underpins these perceived differences between the two fields? How might this friction be explained? The study described in this article explored empirical, interview-based viewpoints from new and experienced educational researchers and SoTL scholars, respectively. Participants were purposefully drawn from attendees at two European conferences specializing in educational research and SoTL. The data was examined using thematic analysis and focused mainly on the perceived differences between these communities. The central themes that emerged where differences occurred are community membership and governance, scope and purpose of inquiry, and intended recipients of inquiry results. Some differences include what and who determines the value of the contribution to the field and why it is valuable. This article provides an empirically based understanding of the relative attributes of both communities. We hope that it leads to future discussions about further developing fruitful and constructive interrelationships

Plant performance in living wall systems in the Scandinavian climate

The concept of green façades is not new (Koehler, 2008), but their reintroduction may offer benefits in the current urban design, which is increasingly focused on urban densification. The benefits of vertical greening include noise abatement (Van Renterghem et al., 2013), filtering of airborne dust and pollutants (Ottele et al., 2010 and Sternberg et al., 2010), and reduction of temperature close to the area of vertical greening (Onishi et al., 2010, Wong et al., 2010 and Perini et al., 2011a). The thermal aspects of vertical greening are, however, still under debate (Hunter et al., 2014). One particular type of green façade is living wall systems, which are vertical greening systems where plants are grown without the need for contact with the ground (Koehler, 2008, Francis and Lorimer, 2011 and Perini et al., 2011b). Living wall systems can be seen as an alternative way of introducing urban greening in dense urban areas in the same way as e.g. green roofs, which have shown to support a high arthropod diversity (Rumble and Gange, 2013 and Madre et al., 2013). Like plants on green roofs (Emilsson and Rolf, 2005 and Emilsson, 2008), plants in living wall systems must be able to cope with extreme conditions, such as high irradiation, considerable differences in temperature and possible water shortage. The main aim of this study was to determine whether it is possible to grow perennial plants in living wall systems in the Scandinavian climate and we hypothesized that perennial plants could survive in, and would be a viable option for, living wall systems in the Scandinavian climate

Manual and Electroacupuncture for Labour Pain: Study Design of a Longitudinal Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction. Results from previous studies on acupuncture for labour pain are contradictory and lack important information on methodology. However, studies indicate that acupuncture has a positive effect on women's experiences of labour pain. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of two different acupuncture stimulations, manual or electrical stimulation, compared with standard care in the relief of labour pain as the primary outcome. This paper will present in-depth information on the design of the study, following the CONSORT and STRICTA recommendations. Methods. The study was designed as a randomized controlled trial based on western medical theories. Nulliparous women with normal pregnancies admitted to the delivery ward after a spontaneous onset of labour were randomly allocated into one of three groups: manual acupuncture, electroacupuncture, or standard care. Sample size calculation gave 101 women in each group, including a total of 303 women. A Visual Analogue Scale was used for assessing pain every 30 minutes for five hours and thereafter every hour until birth. Questionnaires were distributed before treatment, directly after the birth, and at one day and two months postpartum. Blood samples were collected before and after the first treatment. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01197950

Agronomic performance, nitrogen acquisition and water-use efficiency of the perennial grain crop Thinopyrum intermedium in a monoculture and intercropped with alfalfa in Scandinavia

The perennial forage grass Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & Dewey, commonly known as intermediate wheatgrass (IWG) or by the commercial name Kernza (TM), is being developed as a perennial grain crop, i.e. being bred for its improved agronomic performance and food qualities. Intercropping legumes and grasses is a strategy for improving resource use and sustainability in cropping systems. Here, we show for the first time the agronomic performance of IWG as a perennial cereal grown as a monocrop and as an intercrop (alternate row, 0.5:0.5) with Medicago sativa L. (alfalfa/lucerne) in southern Sweden. The seeds of cycle 3 IWG were accessed from The Land Institute (TLI) of Salinas, Kansas, USA, and used to establish a local seed production plot (in 2014) for the establishment of the perennial systems (in 2016) utilised in this study. Both the monocrop and intercrop were sown with 25 cm row spacing with alternate rows of IWG and alfalfa in the intercrop (i.e. replacement design) with unknown sowing density. Intercropping provided sustained IWG grain production under the dry conditions of 2018, but also in the following year. This was evidently associated with a higher nitrogen accumulation in intercropped practice. Thus, intercropping seems to have stabilised the IWG grain production in the dry conditions of 2018, when the grain production in the intercrop was similar to that of the monocrop in the same year. This result was further supported by the lower discrimination against C-13 (as an indicator of water use efficiency) in the intercrop components compared to the sole crop in 2018. The lower discrimination indicates high water use efficiency in the intercropped IWG in comparison to the IWG in monoculture, and we conclude that intercropping perennial cereal grain crops with legumes provides better growing conditions in terms of nitrogen acquisition, and water status, to cope with more extreme drought spells expected from climate change

Targeting the Antibody Checkpoints to Enhance Cancer Immunotherapy–Focus on FcγRIIB

Immunotherapy with therapeutic antibodies has increased survival for patients with hematologic and solid cancers. Still, a significant fraction of patients fails to respond to therapy or acquire resistance. Understanding and overcoming mechanisms of resistance to antibody drugs, and in particular those common to antibody drugs as a class, is therefore highly warranted and holds promise to improve response rates, duration of response and potentially overall survival. Activating and inhibitory Fc gamma receptors (FcγR) are known to coordinately regulate therapeutic activity of tumor direct-targeting antibodies. Similar, but also divergent, roles for FcγRs in controlling efficacy of immune modulatory antibodies e.g., checkpoint inhibitors have been indicated from mouse studies, and were recently implicated in contributing to efficacy in the human clinical setting. Here we discuss evidence and mechanisms by which Fc gamma receptors–the “antibody checkpoints”–regulate antibody-induced antitumor immunity. We further discuss how targeted blockade of the sole known inhibitory antibody checkpoint FcγRIIB may help overcome resistance and boost activity of clinically validated and emerging antibodies in cancer immunotherapy

Kombiuppdrag - vara eller icke vara

Syftet med uppsatsen är att diskutera och analysera huruvida de från 2007 nya bestämmelserna om byråjäv uppnår sitt syfte, genom att undersöka dess påverkan på revisorns oberoende med avseende på kvalitet, tilltro och överensstämmelse. Uppsatsen är av induktiv karaktär med ett deskriptivt syfte. En kvalitativ metod valdes som forskningsstrategi för att samla in information. Vidare användes semistrukturerade intervjuer för datainsamlingen. Uppsatsens teoretiska referensram baseras på ämnesspecifika begrepp samt den internationella och svenska oberoenderegleringen. Det empiriska underlaget hämtas från de fyra internationellt största revisionsbyråerna. Respondenterna har en ledande position inom byrån eller annan spetskompetens som är av relevans för området. Empiri hämtas även från sju företag som påverkas av de nya bestämmelserna angående byråjäv

Introducing Perennial Grain in Grain Crops Rotation: The Role of Rooting Pattern in Soil Quality Management

The use of the perennial grain intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium(Host) Barkworth & D.R. Dewey) may have the potential to sustain soil health and fertility through the development of an extensive root system. However, references are scarce to demonstrate its potential influence in a context of a limited perennial grain growth phase, integrated into annual grain crops succession. This study aims at determining how early a perennial crop rooting system differs from that of an annual crop through root development and root traits and microbial indicators. Our results indicate that the two-year-old intermediate wheatgrass promotes a denser and deeper rooting system with proportionally more root biomass and length deeper in the soil profile. From the first growing season, the perennial grain demonstrated a suite of root traits typical of a more resource-conservative strategy, and more belowground-oriented resource allocation. Soil fungal biomass indicators were enhanced. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) indicators were notably found to be improved at 1 m depth during the second growing season. This study provides evidence that grain-based agriculture can benefit from the potential of deeper and long-lived root systems of intermediate wheatgrass to manage soils. The periodic use of a short-term perennial phase in the crop rotation has the potential to improve soil functioning in the long term

Det fleråriga spannmålet Kernza™ som ett element i växtföljden: En pilotstudie om metoder för att bryta beståndet och dess förfruktseffekter på rödbeta

Fleråriga spannmål, baljväxter och oljeväxter representerar ett paradigmskifte inom jordbruket och har potential att bidra till ökad hållbarhet i produktionssystemen1 . En flerårig spannmålsgröda, såsom perenn vetegräs (Kernza™; Thinopyrum intermedium; bild 1) har många miljömässiga fördelar jämfört med ettårig spannmål2,3,4. I ekologiska växtföljder använder vi fleråriga vallgrödor för att bryta livscykeln för ogräs5 och för att bygga upp markens bördighet och kvalitet6 . Här kan Kernza™ utgöra ett alternativ med sin tilläggstjänst för att producera en kärnskörd för humankonsumtion. Icke-kemiska metoder för att bryta en flerårig örtartad gröda är önskvärt i ekologisk där vallar ofta plöjs. Plöjning kan ha positiva effekter på markstrukturen men negativa effekter på markens innehåll av organiskt material7 , aktiv markmikrobiell biomassa8 , daggmaskförekomst9 och därmed jordens bördighet och kvalitet10. Vidare bygger ogräshanteringen i ekologisk produktion främst på mekanisk markstörning, så som falsk såbädd innan huvudgrödan etableras11 eller radhackning i de redan etablerade grödorna12. Forskning på odlingsåtgärder i ett odlingssystemperspektiv är viktigt för att vi ska kunna dra nytta av de många funktioner som fleråriga spannmålsgrödor, som Kernza™, erbjuder. Forskning om växtföljdseffekter av IWG är fortfarande begränsad. Detta faktablad presenterar resultaten från ett försök där ett femårigt bestånd av Kernza™ avbrutits och använts för odling av rödbeta (Beta vulgaris subsp. Vulgaris, bild 2). I det ena försöket tittade vi på tre olika strategier för att bryta beståndet med Kernza™ och följde därefter förfruktseffekter av Kernza™ på rödbeta. I våra studier har vi testat följande hypoteser: När vi avslutar ett bestånd Kernza™ så antar vi att oönskad återväxt av Kernza™ är lägre efter djupare än efter mera grund jordbearbetning. När vi avslutar ett bestånd Kernza™ så antar vi att skörden av den efterföljande rotfrukten, rödbetan, samt ogrästillväxten, lägst efter djupare än efter mera grund jordbearbetning. När vi avslutar ett bestånd Kernza™ så antar vi att markens egenskaper är bättre bevarade efter ytligare än efter djupare jordbearbetning