No. 4 - Agriculture and the WTO: Subsidies in the Cross Hairs

September 2003 saw trade talks pursuing the Doha Development Agenda at the Cancún WTO Ministerial Meeting collapse, primarily over the disagreements between rich and developing countries regarding agriculture. Despite the great pessimism that ensued, on August 1, 2004, WTO negotiators from 147 countries announced a breakthrough in negotiations to liberalize trade in agricultural products. The most striking aspect of this new framework agreement is the proposed elimination of agricultural subsidies by rich countries in return for developing countries opening up their markets to more imports. At the same time, WTO dispute resolution panels have delivered stunning decisions against the U.S. cotton subsidy program and the European Union\u27s sugar subsidies. Clearly agriculture trade policy will be a pivotal issue determining the failure or success of the Doha round. This conference featured noted experts from senior levels of government, the private sector, and the legal profession addressing current developments in multilateral negotiations and the WTO cases on agriculture and analyzing their impact on the future of the world agricultural market. It was presented on November 16, 2004, at the University of Georgia School of Law by the Dean Rusk Center–International, Comparative, and Graduate Legal Studies and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Independent repeated mutations within the alphaviruses Ross River virus and Barmah Forest virus indicates convergent evolution and past positive selection in ancestral populations despite ongoing purifying selection

Ross River virus (RRV) and Barmah Forest virus (BFV) are arthritogenic arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) that exhibit generalist host associations and share distributions in Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG). Using stochastic mapping and discrete-trait phylogenetic analyses, we profiled the independent evolution of RRV and BFV signature mutations. Analysis of 186 RRV and 88 BFV genomes demonstrated their viral evolution trajectories have involved repeated selection of mutations, particularly in the nonstructural protein 1 (nsP1) and envelope 3 (E3) genes suggesting convergent evolution. Convergent mutations in the nsP1 genes of RRV (residues 248 and 441) and BFV (residues 297 and 447) may be involved with catalytic enzyme mechanisms and host membrane interactions during viral RNA replication and capping. Convergent E3 mutations (RRV site 59 and BFV site 57) may be associated with enzymatic furin activity and cleavage of E3 from protein precursors assisting viral maturation and infectivity. Given their requirement to replicate in disparate insect and vertebrate hosts, convergent evolution in RRV and BFV may represent a dynamic link between their requirement to selectively ‘fine-tune’ intracellular host interactions and viral replicative enzymatic processes. Despite evidence of evolutionary convergence, selection pressure analyses did not reveal any RRV or BFV amino acid sites under strong positive selection and only weak positive selection for nonstructural protein sites. These findings may indicate that their alphavirus ancestors were subject to positive selection events which predisposed ongoing pervasive convergent evolution, and this largely supports continued purifying selection in RRV and BFV populations during their replication in mosquito and vertebrate hosts

Seasonal activity, vector relationships and genetic analysis of mosquito-borne Stratford virus - Fig 2

<p>Phylogenetic association of deduced amino acids of the partial sequence of the NS5 gene region of STRV isolates (n = 43), STRV C338 ●, TS5273, KOKV AusMRM32 ▲, Bainyik MK7979 and New Mapoon CY1014 virus strain. The percentage association is shown above the branches with branch lengths measured in the number of substitutions per site indicated by the scale bar.</p

Coordinates of mosquito collection sites on the NSW coast where Stratford virus was isolated, 1995–2013.

<p>Locations are listed in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0173105#pone.0173105.t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a>.</p

Phylogenetic association of STRV isolates (n = 43) and STRV C388 GenBank prototypes (A) and the association between STRV isolates, TS5273, KOKV AusMRM32, Banyik MK7979 and the New Mapoon CY1014 virus strain (B).

<p>The trees are based on the nucleic acid partial sequence of the NS5 gene region (556 bp). The posterior probability values are shown at the nodes with the branch lengths measured in the number of substitutions per site indicated by the scale bar. Abbreviations used: BN = Blacktown; CC = Central Coast; LM = Lake Macquarie; ByB = Byron Bay; PE = Penrith; PTS = Port Stephens; GR = Georges River; BB = Batemans Bay; SOP = Sydney Olympic Park; HW = Hawkesbury; PA = Parramatta; WPH = West Pennant Hills.</p

The total number (n = 43) of Stratford virus isolates recorded by location and mosquito species from 1995 through 2013.

<p>The total number (n = 43) of Stratford virus isolates recorded by location and mosquito species from 1995 through 2013.</p