Identification and genetic inheritance of a new source of broad-spectrum extreme resistance to turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) in Brassica rapa

Brassica rapa line K185 was identified with broad-spectrum extreme resistance to turnip mosaic virus (TuMV). The resistance was effective against TuMV isolates UK 1, CZE 1, GBR 6, POL 1 and CDN 1 (representing major pathotypes 1, 3 and 4 and major resistance-breaking isolates) following mechanical inoculation. F1 plants from a cross between K185 and the rapid-cycling B. rapa ssp. trilocularis line R-o-18 (uniformly susceptible to all the above TuMV isolates), were resistant following challenge with TuMV isolates CDN 1 and GBR 6, indicating the involvement of dominant gene(s). F2 plants derived from a single F1, CDN 1- and GBR 6-resistant plant segregated for resistance to TuMV isolate GBR 6. The segregation ratio of resistant to susceptible plants was consistent with at least two loci controlling resistance and with both loci having dominant alleles for resistance. Other sources of broad-spectrum resistance to TuMV have been shown to involve the recessive allele retr01. The broad-spectrum resistance in K185 clearly involves different alleles to retr01 and provides the opportunity to introgress an alternative form of TuMV resistance into commercial B. rapa lines and thereby reduce the selection pressure for retr01 resistance breaking

The influence of psychosocial factors at work and life style on health and work ability among professional workers

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this article is to explore the associations of psychosocial factors at work, life style, and stressful life events on health and work ability among white-collar workers. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among workers in commercial services (n = 1141). The main outcome variables were work ability, measured by the work ability index (WAI), and mental and physical health, measured by the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12). Individual characteristics, psychosocial factors at work, stressful life events, and lifestyle factors were determined by a questionnaire. Maximum oxygen uptake, weight, height, and biceps strength were measured during a physical examination. RESULTS: Work ability of white-collar workers in commercial services industry was strongly associated with psychosocial factors at work such as teamwork, stress handling, and self-development and, to a lesser extent, with stressful life events, lack of physical activity, and obesity. Determinants of mental health were very similar to those of work ability, whereas physical health was influenced primarily by life style factors. With respect to work ability, the influence of unhealthy life style seems more important for older workers, than for their younger colleagues. CONCLUSION: Among white-collar workers mental and physical health were of equal importance to work ability, but only mental health and work ability shared the same determinants. The strong associations between psychosocial factors at work and mental health and work ability suggest that in this study population health promotion should address working conditions rather than individual life style factors

Drugs foresight 2020: a Delphi expert panel study

Peer reviewe

Unexpected diversity in socially synchronized rhythms of shorebirds

The behavioural rhythms of organisms are thought to be under strong selection, influenced by the rhythmicity of the environment. Such behavioural rhythms are well studied in isolated individuals under laboratory conditions, but free-living individuals have to temporally synchronize their activities with those of others, including potential mates, competitors, prey and predators. Individuals can temporally segregate their daily activities (for example, prey avoiding predators, subordinates avoiding dominants) or synchronize their activities (for example, group foraging, communal defence, pairs reproducing or caring for offspring). The behavioural rhythms that emerge from such social synchronization and the underlying evolutionary and ecological drivers that shape them remain poorly understood. Here we investigate these rhythms in the context of biparental care, a particularly sensitive phase of social synchronization where pair members potentially compromise their individual rhythms. Using data from 729 nests of 91 populations of 32 biparentally incubating shorebird species, where parents synchronize to achieve continuous coverage of developing eggs, we report remarkable within-and between-species diversity in incubation rhythms. Between species, the median length of one parent's incubation bout varied from 1-19 h, whereas period length-the time in which a parent's probability to incubate cycles once between its highest and lowest value-varied from 6-43 h. The length of incubation bouts was unrelated to variables reflecting energetic demands, but species relying on crypsis (the ability to avoid detection by other animals) had longer incubation bouts than those that are readily visible or who actively protect their nest against predators. Rhythms entrainable to the 24-h light-dark cycle were less prevalent at high latitudes and absent in 18 species. Our results indicate that even under similar environmental conditions and despite 24-h environmental cues, social synchronization can generate far more diverse behavioural rhythms than expected from studies of individuals in captivity. The risk of predation, not the risk of starvation, may be a key factor underlying the diversity in these rhythms.</p