Ecosystem properties and principles of living systems as foundation for sustainable agriculture – Critical reviews of environmental assessment tools, key findings and questions from a course process

With increasing demands on limited resources worldwide, there is a growing interest in sustainable patterns of utilisation and production. Ecological agriculture is a response to these concerns. To assess progress and compliance, standard and comprehensive measures of resource requirements, impacts and agro-ecological health are needed. Assessment tools should also be rapid, standardized, userfriendly, meaningful to public policy and applicable to management. Fully considering these requirements confounds the development of integrated methods. Currently, there are many methodologies for monitoring performance, each with its own foundations, assumptions, goals, and outcomes, dependent upon agency agenda or academic orientation. Clearly, a concept of sustainability must address biophysical, ecological, economic, and sociocultural foundations. Assessment indicators and criteria, however, are generally limited, lacking integration, and at times in conflict with one another. A result is that certification criteria, indicators, and assessment methods are not based on a consistent, underlying conceptual framework and often lack a management focus. Ecosystem properties and principles of living systems, including self-organisation, renewal, embeddedness, emergence and commensurate response provide foundation for sustainability assessments and may be appropriate focal points for critical thinking in an evaluation of current methods and standards. A systems framework may also help facilitate a comprehensive approach and promote a context for meaningful discourse. Without holistic accounts, sustainable progress remains an illdefined concept and an elusive goal. Our intent, in the work with this report, was to use systems ecology as a pedagogic basis for learning and discussion to: - Articulate general and common characteristics of living systems. - Identify principles, properties and patterns inherent in natural ecosystems. - Use these findings as foci in a dialogue about attributes of sustainability to: a. develop a model for communicating scientific rationale. b. critically evaluate environmental assessment tools for application in land-use. c. propose appropriate criteria for a comprehensive assessment and expanded definition of ecological land use

Difference in the action spectra for UVR8 monomerisation and HY5 transcript accumulation in Arabidopsis

The photoreceptor UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 (UVR8) activates photomorphogenic responses when plants are exposed to ultraviolet-B (UV-B) light. However, whereas the absorption spectrum of UVR8 peaks at 280 nm, action spectra for several photomorphogenic UV-B responses show maximal photon effectiveness at 290–300 nm. To investigate this apparent discrepancy we measured the effectiveness of UV wavelengths in initiating two responses in Arabidopsis: photoconversion of homodimeric UVR8 into the monomeric form, which is active in signaling, and accumulation of transcripts of the ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5) transcription factor, which has a key role in UVR8-mediated responses. When purified UVR8 or Arabidopsis leaf extracts were exposed to UV light monomerisation was maximal at approximately 280 nm, which correlates with the UVR8 absorption spectrum. When intact plants were exposed to UV, monomerisation was most strongly initiated at approximately 290 nm, and this shift in maximal effectiveness could be explained by strong absorption or reflectance at 280 nm by leaf tissue. Notably, the action spectrum for accumulation of HY5 transcripts in the same leaf tissue samples used to assay UVR8 dimer/monomer status peaked at approximately 300 nm. Possible reasons for the difference in maximal photon effectiveness of UVR8 monomerisation and HY5 transcript accumulation in leaf tissue are discussed

Regulation of Arabidopsis gene expression by low fluence rate UV-B independently of UVR8 and stress signaling

UV-B exposure of plants regulates expression of numerous genes concerned with various responses. Sudden exposure of non-acclimated plants to high fluence rate, short wavelength UV-B induces expression via stress-related signaling pathways that are not specific to the UV-B stimulus, whereas low fluence rates of UV-B can regulate expression via the UV-B photoreceptor UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 (UVR8). However, there is little information about whether non-stressful, low fluence rate UV-B treatments can activate gene expression independently of UVR8. Here, transcriptomic analysis of wild-type and uvr8 mutant Arabidopsis exposed to low fluence rate UV-B showed that numerous genes were regulated independently of UVR8. Moreover, nearly all of these genes were distinct to those induced by stress treatments. A small number of genes were expressed at all UV-B fluence rates employed and may be concerned with activation of eustress responses that facilitate acclimation to changing conditions. Expression of the gene encoding the transcription factor ARABIDOPSIS NAC DOMAIN CONTAINING PROTEIN 13 (ANAC13) was studied to characterise a low fluence rate, UVR8-independent response. ANAC13 is induced by as little as 0.1 μmol m−2 s−1 UV-B and its regulation is independent of components of the canonical UVR8 signaling pathway COP1 and HY5/HYH. Furthermore, UV-B induced expression of ANAC13 is independent of the photoreceptors CRY1, CRY2, PHOT1 and PHOT2 and phytochromes A, B, D and E. ANAC13 expression is induced over a range of UV-B wavelengths at low doses, with maximum response at 310 nm. This study provides a basis for further investigation of UVR8 and stress independent, low fluence rate UV-B signaling pathway(s)

RUNX1 regulates a transcription program that affects the dynamics of cell cycle entry of naive resting B cells

RUNX1 is a transcription factor that plays key roles in hematopoietic development and in hematopoiesis and lymphopoiesis. In this article, we report that RUNX1 regulates a gene expression program in naive mouse B cells that affects the dynamics of cell cycle entry in response to stimulation of the BCR. Conditional knockout of Runx1 in mouse resting B cells resulted in accelerated entry into S-phase after BCR engagement. Our results indicate that Runx1 regulates the cyclin D2 (Ccnd2) gene, the immediate early genes Fosl2, Atf3, and Egr2, and the Notch pathway gene Rbpj in mouse B cells, reducing the rate at which transcription of these genes increases after BCR stimulation. RUNX1 interacts with the chromatin remodeler SNF-2-related CREB-binding protein activator protein (SRCAP), recruiting it to promoter and enhancer regions of the Ccnd2 gene. BCR-mediated activation triggers switching between binding of RUNX1 and its paralog RUNX3 and between SRCAP and the switch/SNF remodeling complex member BRG1. Binding of BRG1 is increased at the Ccnd2 and Rbpj promoters in the Runx1 knockout cells after BCR stimulation. We also find that RUNX1 exerts positive or negative effects on a number of genes that affect the activation response of mouse resting B cells. These include Cd22 and Bank1, which act as negative regulators of the BCR, and the IFN receptor subunit gene Ifnar1 The hyperresponsiveness of the Runx1 knockout B cells to BCR stimulation and its role in regulating genes that are associated with immune regulation suggest that RUNX1 could be involved in regulating B cell tolerance

The photoreceptor UVR8 mediates the perception of both UV-B and UV-A wavelengths up to 350 nm of sunlight with responsivity moderated by cryptochromes

ABSTRACT The photoreceptors UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 (UVR8) and CRYPTOCHROMES 1 and 2 (CRYs) play major roles in the perception of UV-B (280?315?nm) and UV-A/blue radiation (315?500?nm), respectively. However, it is poorly understood how they function in sunlight. The roles of UVR8 and CRYs were assessed in a factorial experiment with Arabidopsis thaliana wild-type and photoreceptor mutants exposed to sunlight for 6?h or 12?h under five types of filters with cut-offs in UV and blue-light regions. Transcriptome-wide responses triggered by UV-B and UV-A wavelengths shorter than 350?nm (UV-Asw) required UVR8 whereas those induced by blue and UV-A wavelengths longer than 350?nm (UV-Alw) required CRYs. UVR8 modulated gene expression in response to blue light while lack of CRYs drastically enhanced gene expression in response to UV-B and UV-Asw. These results agree with our estimates of photons absorbed by these photoreceptors in sunlight and with in vitro monomerization of UVR8 by wavelengths up to 335?nm. Motif enrichment analysis predicted complex signaling downstream of UVR8 and CRYs. Our results highlight that it is important to use UV waveband definitions specific to plants' photomorphogenesis as is routinely done in the visible region. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Time sequence of the damage to the acceptor and donor sides of photosystem II by UV-B radiation as evaluated by chlorophyll a fluorescence

The effects of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation on photosystem II (PS II) were studied in leaves of Chenopodium album. After the treatment with UV-B the damage was estimated using chlorophyll a fluorescence techniques. Measurements of modulated fluorescence using a pulse amplitude modulated fluorometer revealed that the efficiency of photosystem II decreased both with increasing time of UV-B radiation and with increasing intensity of the UV-B. Fluorescence induction rise curves were analyzed using a mechanistic model of energy trapping. It appears that the damage by UV-B radiation occurs first at the acceptor side of photosystem II, and only later at the donor side