How to Control Potato Scab

Potato growers in Iowa who have seen scab cut the quality and marketable yields of their potato crop year after year, can prevent serious scab infection by treating potato soil with sulfur. This especially applies to commercial potato production in northern Iowa. Home growers may find the sulfur treatment useful, too

The 1953 Crown and Stem Rust Epidemic of Oats in Iowa

Rather than to rely on the efforts of historians of the future, this paper will record the devastating oat rust epidemic that occurred in Iowa in 1953. Pertinent facts regarding the initiation, development, geographic distribution, and final loss estimates due to oat crown rust and stem rust will be presented. Attempts will be made to correlate rust spread and development with available meteorological data. · Rusts have attacked cereals for all of recorded history. Some of the oldest rust records are to be found in the Bible where Hebrew writers frequently mention rusts, smuts, and blights on their grain crops. Of course, the true cause of rusts was unknown but the ancients regarded these diseases as acts of God and punishment for misdeeds. Aristotle and later Theophrastus (370-286 B.C.) wrote of the rusts of cereals as well as of diseases of other crops. The· Romans for many years paid sacrificial tribute on April 25 each year to a rust god, Rubigus, for protection against rust damage in their fields. Persoon in 1797 was the first to incriminate a fungus organism as the causal agent of rust but it was left to Anton deBary (2) in 1853 to describe the true nature and the various spore forms of the cereal rusts

High-quality gene assembly directly from unpurified mixtures of microarray-synthesized oligonucleotides

To meet the growing demand for synthetic genes more robust, scalable and inexpensive gene assembly technologies must be developed. Here, we present a protocol for high-quality gene assembly directly from low-cost marginal-quality microarray-synthesized oligonucleotides. Significantly, we eliminated the time- and money-consuming oligonucleotide purification steps through the use of hybridization-based selection embedded in the assembly process. The protocol was tested on mixtures of up to 2000 oligonucleotides eluted directly from microarrays obtained from three different chip manufacturers. These mixtures containing <5% perfect oligos, and were used directly for assembly of 27 test genes of different sizes. Gene quality was assessed by sequencing, and their activity was tested in coupled in vitro transcription/translation reactions. Genes assembled from the microarray-eluted material using the new protocol matched the quality of the genes assembled from >95% pure column-synthesized oligonucleotides by the standard protocol. Both averaged only 2.7 errors/kb, and genes assembled from microarray-eluted material without clonal selection produced only 30% less protein than sequence-confirmed clones. This report represents the first demonstration of cost-efficient gene assembly from microarray-synthesized oligonucleotides. The overall cost of assembly by this method approaches 5¢ per base, making gene synthesis more affordable than traditional cloning

Regulation of Human Formyl Peptide Receptor 1 Synthesis: Role of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, Transcription Factors, and Inflammatory Mediators

The gene encoding the human formyl peptide receptor 1 (FPR1) is heterogeneous, containing numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Here, we examine the effect of these SNPs on gene transcription and protein translation. We also identify gene promoter sequences and putative FPR1 transcription factors. To test the effect of codon bias and codon pair bias on FPR1 expression, four FPR1 genetic variants were expressed in human myeloid U937 cells fused to a reporter gene encoding firefly luciferase. No significant differences in luciferase activity were detected, suggesting that the translational regulation and protein stability of FPR1 are modulated by factors other than the SNP codon bias and the variant amino acid properties. Deletion and mutagenesis analysis of the FPR1 promoter showed that a CCAAT box is not required for gene transcription. A −88/41 promoter construct resulted in the strongest transcriptional activity, whereas a −72/41 construct showed large reduction in activity. The region between −88 and −72 contains a consensus binding site for the transcription factor PU.1. Mutagenesis of this site caused significant reduction in reporter gene expression. The PU.1 binding was confirmed in vivo by chromatin immunoprecipitation, and the binding to nucleotides −84 to −76 (TTCCTATTT) was confirmed in vitro by an electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Thus, similar to many other myeloid genes, FPR1 promoter activity requires PU.1. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms at −56 and −54 did not significantly affect FPR1 gene expression, despite differences in binding of transcription factor IRF1 in vitro. Inflammatory mediators such as interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, and lipopolysaccharide did not increase FPR1 promoter activity in myeloid cells, whereas differentiation induced by DMSO and retinoic acid enhanced the activity. This implies that the expression of FPR1 in myeloid cells is developmentally regulated, and that the differentiated cells are equipped for immediate response to microbial infections

Velocity-resolved reverberation mapping of five bright Seyfert 1 galaxies

We present the first results from a reverberation-mapping campaign undertaken during the first half of 2012, with additional data on one AGN (NGC 3227) from a 2014 campaign. Our main goals are (1) to determine the black hole masses from continuum-Hβ reverberation signatures, and (2) to look for velocity-dependent time delays that might be indicators of the gross kinematics of the broad-line region. We successfully measure Hbeta time delays and black hole masses for five AGNs, four of which have previous reverberation mass measurements. The values measured here are in agreement with earlier estimates, though there is some intrinsic scatter beyond the formal measurement errors. We observe velocity dependent Hβ lags in each case, and find that the patterns have changed in the intervening five years for three AGNs that were also observed in 2007.PostprintPeer reviewe

EC1810 Spraying Schedules for Nebraska Tree Fruits

Extension Circular 1810. This circular is about spraying schedule for Nebraska fruit trees. It details weather factors, and links it to fungicides/insecticides

EC1809 The Whys and Hows of Cereal Seed Treatment

Extension Circular 1809 is called The Whys and Hows of Cereal Seed Treatment and it is about why cleaning and treating wheat, barley, and oats pays dividends each year in the form of better stands, reduction of weeds, and most important, in disease control. It also talks about why seed treatment is the best solution and it is because it is the easiest and most economically done by killing the spores on the seed with chemicals. At the very end, it describes the chemicals used for seed treatment, how and when to apply the chemicals, and the precautions necessary

CC98 Spray Schedule for Stone Fruits

Extension Circular CC98 This circular is a spray schedule for stone fruits such as cherries, plums, and peaches