Civilsamhället som aktör i fredsbyggande processer - en komparativ fåfallstudie mellan Moçambique och Rwanda

Genom en komparativ fåfallstudie mellan Rwanda och Moçambique undersöks hur den fredsbyggande processen i ett postkonfliktuellt samhälle påverkas av civilsamhället som aktör beroende på dess förutsättningar för politiskt utrymme. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt är Anna K. Jarstads teori om de fyra fredsbyggande dilemman som bygger på tesen om att fredsbyggande och demokratisering kan verka som motverkande processer. Slutsatsen som dras är att civilsamhällets möjlighet att verka som en positiv förändrandringsaktör är beroende av hur staten och det internationella samfundet hanterar dess politiska utrymme i samhället. Till detta hör att skapa förutsättningar för att säkra och legitimera civilsamhällets plats i fredsbyggande processer

Improved Vascular Engraftment and Graft Function After Inhibition of the Angiostatic Factor Thrombospondin-1 in Mouse Pancreatic Islets

OBJECTIVE—Insufficient development of a new intra-islet capillary network after transplantation may be one contributing factor to the failure of islet grafts in clinical transplantation. The present study tested the hypothesis that the angiostatic factor thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), which is normally present in islets, restricts intra-islet vascular expansion posttransplantation

From salmon to salmonberry: The effects of salmon-derived nutrients on the stomatal density of leaves of the nitriphilic shrub Rubus spectabilis

Nutrients derived from the carcasses of Pacific salmon have been shown to have wide-ranging effects on riparian systems. These include changes in community species composition and an increase in leaf nitrogen concentration, with the latter effect pronounced in the nitriphilic shrub Rubus spectabilis (salmonberry). Experimental work with other species has shown that leaf stomatal density increases in response to nitrogen fertilization. We predicted that the stomatal density of salmonberry leaves would vary directly with the density of spawning salmon in salmonberry leaves collected from 16 streams in the vicinity of Bella Bella, on British Columbia’s central coast. We estimated the stomatal density along each stream, and quantified stream characteristics, including the number of spawning salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), canopy cover, stem density and soil moisture. We found that salmon have both direct and indirect effects on stomatal density, the latter mediated by canopy cover and stem density. Salmonberry stomatal density increased by 1.12 stomata per mm2 (~0.5%) for every kg of salmon per metre of stream. Over the range of salmon densities observed (1.8–49.0 kg per metre of stream), stomatal density increased by almost 45 mm− 2, or more than 20%. These data confirm that the stomatal density in salmonberry responds positively to the opportunity for greater productivity provided by salmon carcasses. The data provide insight into the physiological and morphological processes supporting nitrogen uptake, which in turn influences plant community composition. A plain language summary is available for this article.</p

Development of Micropropagation in Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)

Natural populations of bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum Pursh) trees contain, at low frequency, individuals with stems that have attractive and valuable wavy grain in the wood. To maintain the genotype of these individuals, vegetative propagation is desired. To enable propagation from the limited amount of plant tissue that is often available, an in vitro micropropagation procedure was developed. A mix of wild trees was used as source material to generate a procedure that is genotype unspecific. Among tested basal media, DKW medium resulted in the highest frequency of growing shoots. For multiplication of shoots, removal of the apex of shoot explants was instrumental, presumably because this treatment broke a strong apical dominance in this species. Of tested hormone and hormone combinations, 0.1 μM thidiazuron produced the best results with an average of 3.2 axillary shoots per explant with an average of 3.7 nodes per axillary shoot after 1 month. Although rooting did not require hormone treatment, a 68% frequency of rooting was obtained on ½ MS supplemented with 1 μM IBA, 27% higher than hormone-free media. Taken together, we have developed a procedure for propagation of bigleaf maple from a limited amount of tissues that can be used to multiply various genotypes of interest

Identification of Auxin Response Factor-Encoding Genes Expressed in Distinct Phases of Leaf Vein Development and with Overlapping Functions in Leaf Formation

Based on mutant phenotypes the MONOPTEROS (MP)/Auxin Response Factor 5 (ARF5) gene acts in several developmental processes including leaf vein development. Since overlapping functions among ARF genes are common, we assessed the related ARF 3-8 and 19 genes for potential overlap in expression during vein development using in-situ hybridization. Like MP/ARF5, ARF3 was expressed in preprocambial and procambial cells. ARF7 was also expressed in procambial cells, close to and during vein differentiation. ARF19 was expressed in differentiating vessel elements. To assess if genes with vein expression have overlapping functions, double mutants were generated. While arf3, 5 and 7 mutants formed leaves normally, double mutant combinations of mp/arf5 with arf3 or arf7 resulted in a breakdown of leaf formation. Instead, novel structures not present in any of the single mutants formed. The results implicate ARF3 and ARF7 in rosette leaf formation and suggest that their functions overlap and act in parallel with MP/ARF5 in this process. The observed vascular expression patterns suggest unique functions (ARF7 and 19) and potentially overlapping functions (ARF3 and 5) in vein development. Since arf3 arf5 double mutants do not form leaves, assessment of their potential combined action in vein development will require the use of conditional mutants

The expression of a Western redcedar (Thuja plicata) sabinene synthase is localized to the epithelium of foliar resin glands and correlates with natural genetic variation in thujone content

Abstract Western redcedar (Thuja plicata), endemic to the North West American coast, grows into giant trees with prized wood. Reforestation with T. plicata is severely hampered by extensive ungulate browsing of plantlets. High foliar monoterpenoid content, primarily thujone, correlates with reduced browsing, providing a potential avenue for resistance breeding. To date, however, the genetic basis of monoterpenoid biosynthesis is unknown in this species. We have cloned a T. plicata putative monoterpene synthase gene and found that it is expressed at high levels in the epithelium of foliar resin canals and induced by wounding and jasmonic acid treatment. In addition, purified recombinant protein converts geranyl pyrophosphate into sabinene, a suspected precursor in thujone synthesis. We therefore named this gene T. plicata . TpSS-1 expression correlates with natural genetic variation in foliar thujone content in available breeding populations, providing prospects for marker-assisted-selection based on TpSS-1.