Evolutionary History Of The Angiosperm Npf1 Gene Subfamily: Duplications, Retention And Functional Implications For Root Symbioses And Development

ABSTRACT The success of land plants can be attributed to the evolution of beneficial associations between plant roots and soil microbes. Root-microbe mutualisms extend the range of plant nutrient acquisition delivered through the hyphal network of mycorrhiza, an ancient and widespread plant symbiosis, or by the more recent adaptive innovation of nitrogen-fixing nodule symbioses. A plant’s genetic toolkit governs its selection of beneficial symbionts and the developmental extent of these intimate interactions. However, the evolutionary origins and function for only a few symbiotic signaling components have been explored. The central aim of this dissertation is to resolve the evolutionary events that contributed two, novel genetic components for establishing root symbioses, NPF1B and NPF1C. The Medicago truncatula (Mt) LATD/NIP/NPF1.7C transporter functions in root and nodule meristems and is a member of the large NPF1 gene subfamily. Here, I propose that LATD/NIP’s role in establishing nitrogen-fixing symbioses is derived from the ancient mycorrhizal signaling pathway. I used a comparative phylogenomic approach to investigate the evolutionary origins of the NPF1 gene across flowering plants and then asked whether diversifying or purifying selection forces influenced NPF1 gene retention. I postulated that such gene retention correlates with the adaptive traits of mycorrhizal or nitrogen-fixing root nodule symbiosis; to test this I measured trait correlation within my dataset. I found that the NPF1 phylogeny is comprised of five well-supported angiosperm clades, A, B, C, D1 and D2, that arose by successive duplications and have unequal gene retention. NPF1B is present as a single copy gene or lost entirely, while the other major NPF1 clades expanded to multiple genes within angiosperms. The NPF1A, B and C genes are under strong purifying selection while the NPF1D genes display positive, diversifying selection. My data revealed a statistically significant correlation of NPF1A, B, C, and D2, but not NPF1D1, gene retention with the ability of a species to form mycorrhizal associations. Additionally, the retention of the NPF1B, C, D1, D2, but not NPF1A, genes within a species is statistically correlated with its ability to form nitrogen-fixing symbiosis. Supporting this correlation, NPF1B genes are expressed in plant root tissues with and without mycorrhizal fungi yet available datasets failed to detect NPF1B expression in nodule tissues whereas the NPF1C genes are expressed in both symbiotic and non-symbiotic plant root tissues. In support of functional conservation, expression of legume LATD/NIP cDNAs from Cicer arietinum (Ca) and Lotus japonicus (Lj) restored, in part, the root and nodule defects of the Mtlatd mutant and resulted in the formation of peculiar hybrid lateral root-nodule structures while, in wild-type M. truncatula, significantly augmented root development. In L. japonicus, the disruption of LATD/NIP alters the number of lateral roots and nodules My thesis data support the hypothesis for an ancestral NPF1 gene function in establishing mycorrhizal associations in angiosperms and, consequent to the monocot-eudicot divergence, co-opted this function for accommodating nitrogen-fixing symbioses in eudicots. Successive duplications then yielded the NPF1B and NPF1C genes that, by neofunctionalization and natural selection, further refined their roles in root organogenesis and symbiosis; a prerequisite for the evolution of nodule organs

Developing Metrics for Novel Value-Added Products: The Case of Hemp in Vermont

Vermont Farm to Plate 2020 identifies hemp as one of ten emergent agricultural products critical for Vermont’s future and has made recommendations for investments in hemp research, education, feasibility, and innovation programs. These investments are essential to develop niche food, feed, fiber, and industrial products, professionals, and markets that go “beyond CBD” (VFP, 2020). This project develops indicators for an important, value added budding crop in Vermont: hemp. For the purposes of this white paper, indicators are “a way to measure, indicate or point to with more or less exactness,” or “something used to show the condition of a system” (Feenstra et al., 2005). We focus on the example of hemp to illustrate how emerging value-added crops contribute to sustainable food systems. We use a set of design principles to ensure the applicability of developed indicators for decision making. This framework, its processes, and measures, are transferable to any nascent crop for evaluating economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Our objectives are to: Develop a set of indicators to measure the economic, social, and environmental inputs of hemp in Vermont. Identify techniques and data sources for mining hemp metrics. Evaluate the hierarchical levels of mined data and transecting indicators to inform growing discussions of metric integration and forecasting agricultural food sustainability. Our approach is grounded in the FAO food systems model, Doughnut Economics, which uses the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a foundation to describe “social floors” and planetary boundaries, and the concepts of seven community capitals: political, cultural, human, social, financial, built, and environmental. Our work plan included a two-day virtual workshop with required reading prior to the event, and involved both University researchers and stakeholders representing production, industry, finance, government, and NGOs. We describe 35 metrics to assess the sustainability of hemp in the Vermont economy, environment and community going forward (Figure 2 and Table 1). We also make several recommendations to move the collection of food system metrics forward. General recommendations include: Farmer surveys to specifically address challenges facing farmers growing a novel crop. In hemp this is particularly important, as the crop attracts many who are new to farming, and no one has been able to legally grow it at field scale in the US for the past several generations. Community/consumer surveys to collect data on community needs and impacts of novel value added crops (hemp) Collection and curation of spatial data tied to appropriate metrics Allocation of ARS funds for at least one data professional with skills across data types and methods, including individual, spatial, community level, etc. Funds to build out nutrient mass balance and soil carbon stock models for different soil types and production approaches The use of a grower-friendly tracking App with incentives (GoCrop) Development of a dashboard to easily visualize direction and degree of movement toward a desired state We make more specific recommendations in the Appendix where each metric is described in detail

Newborn and child growth and development – a systematic review: Crescimento e desenvolvimento do recém-nascido e da criança – uma revisão sistemática

Throughout human history, the morphological aspects of the child have been viewed in different ways by different cultures, and many researchers did not believe in their uniqueness and saw them as "mini adults". As a consequence, there was a neglect of the morphological peculiarities of the child. All this contributed to the fact that the number of studies on morphofunctional growth and development was scarce, so that professionals such as physiotherapists, speech therapists, pediatricians, nurses, among other professionals had insufficient material for consultation. In this sense, an analysis of the factors responsible for the growth and development of the newborn and the child was developed. For this, a systematic review was developed from the survey of morphological and functional data of the newborn and the child

Relative quantification of host gene expression and protein accumulation upon turnip mosaic potyvirus infection in tobacco

Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) infects a variety of crops, worldwide, including the economically relevant Brassicacea family. It was previously demonstrated that TuMV infection in tobacco protoplasts leads to an overall decrease of host protein. However, it remains unclear whether this phenomenon is due to the repression of plant gene transcription during the infection period or due to viral inhibition of host translation. In this study, quantification of various transcripts and protein products from infected tobacco was performed via real-time RT-PCR and ELISA. In comparison to the gamma-tubulin endogenous control, gene expression for the tobacco H3, HSP70 and granule-bound starch synthase was affected by TuMV infection with time.Tobacco protein accumulation in whole leaf tissues was also significantly affected by increase of virus particles

Caribbean-Scottish Relations: Colonial and Contemporary Inscriptions in History, Language and Literature

In this book, Joan Anim Addo, Giovanna Covi, Velma Pollard, and Carla Sassi present the results of collaborative research on colonial and postcolonial relationships between the Caribbean and Scotland, promoted by the University of Trento, Italy, and coordinated by Giovanna Covi. The four essays focus on the historical, cultural and literary representations of various aspects of this complicated interconnection: Joan Anim Addo’s on family history, Giovanna Covi’s on identities in African-Caribbean literature, Velma Pollard’s on Jamaican history and language, and Carla Sassi on Scottish literature. They discuss pivotal figures such as Mary Seacole, Charles and Hugh Mulzac, and texts by Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, James Robertson, by the anonymous Author of Marly, and by Una Marson, Claude McKay, Olive Senior, Jamaica Kincaid, and Nourbese Philip among others; they give voice to Juliana Mulzac through (auto)biography and to numerous other people through interviews and acts of re-memorying. This book inaugurates the project to remap colonial history by accounting for the often paradoxical complexity of relations determined by imperial power; not only does it consider that which separates Scotland from the Caribbean, that which sets “Blackness” apart from “Scottishness”, but it also accepts an investigation of that which brings these two geopolitical areas and ethnic groups together. The inquiry results in a multi-vocal discourse that deconstructs national narratives, unveils colonial inscriptions, and releases the creolised images and words that demand full citizenship in the representation of the Circum-Atlanti

Canopy shade causes a rapid and transient arrest in leaf development through auxin-induced cytokinin oxidase activity

A plant grown under canopies perceives the reduction in the ratio of red (R) to far-red (FR) light as a warning of competition, and enhances elongation growth in an attempt to overgrow its neighbors. Here, we report that the same low R/FR signal that induces hypocotyl elongation also triggers a rapid arrest of leaf primordium growth, ensuring that plant resources are redirected into extension growth. The growth arrest induced by low R/FR depends on auxin-induced cytokinin breakdown in incipient vein cells of developing primordia, thus demonstrating the existence of a previously unrecognized regulatory circuit underlying plant response to canopy shade