Henderson News 4.4

In this issue: Welcome New Associate Dean Clement Lau First Edition of The Awakening Donated by Dr. & Mrs. Keith Johnson Seed Library Update New Faculty: Jessica Garner Sustainability Showcase 2016 Money Smart Week 201

Shine

Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Henderson News 4.1

In This Issue: Welcome From the Dean New Faculty: Meet Jeff Mortimore Banned Books Week Activities Zach\u27s Sustainable Seeds Retirement: Ann Hamilton Farm to Table 201

Writing in Britain and Ireland, c. 400 to c. 800

No abstract available

An adaptable integrated modelling platform to support rapidly evolving agricultural and environmental policy

The utility of integrated models for informing policy has been criticised due to limited stakeholder engagement, model opaqueness, inadequate transparency in assumptions, lack of model flexibility and lack of communication of uncertainty that, together, lead to a lack of trust in model outputs. We address these criticisms by presenting the ERAMMP Integrated Modelling Platform (IMP), developed to support the design of new “business-critical” policies focused on agriculture, land-use and natural resource management. We demonstrate how the long-term (>5 years), iterative, two-way and continuously evolving participatory process led to the co-creation of the IMP with government, building trust and understanding in a complex integrated model. This is supported by a customisable modelling framework that is sufficiently flexible to adapt to changing policy needs in near real-time. We discuss how these attributes have facilitated cultural change within the Welsh Government where the IMP is being actively used to explore, test and iterate policy ideas prior to final policy design and implementation

Potent cross-reactive antibodies following Omicron breakthrough in vaccinees

Highly transmissible Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2 currently dominate globally. Here, we compare neutralization of Omicron BA.1, BA.1.1 and BA.2. BA.2 RBD has slightly higher ACE2 affinity than BA.1 and slightly reduced neutralization by vaccine serum, possibly associated with its increased transmissibility. Neutralization differences between sub-lineages for mAbs (including therapeutics) mostly arise from variation in residues bordering the ACE2 binding site, however, more distant mutations S371F (BA.2) and R346K (BA.1.1) markedly reduce neutralization by therapeutic antibody Vir-S309. In-depth structure-and-function analyses of 27 potent RBD-binding mAbs isolated from vaccinated volunteers following breakthrough Omicron-BA.1 infection reveals that they are focussed in two main clusters within the RBD, with potent right-shoulder antibodies showing increased prevalence. Selection and somatic maturation have optimized antibody potency in less-mutated epitopes and recovered potency in highly mutated epitopes. All 27 mAbs potently neutralize early pandemic strains and many show broad reactivity with variants of concern

Antibody escape of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 from vaccine and BA.1 serum

The Omicron lineage of SARS-CoV-2, first described in November 2021, spread rapidly to become globally dominant and has split into a number of sub-lineages. BA.1 dominated the initial wave but has been replaced by BA.2 in many countries. Recent sequencing from South Africa’s Gauteng region uncovered two new sub-lineages, BA.4 and BA.5 which are taking over locally, driving a new wave. BA.4 and BA.5 contain identical spike sequences and, although closely related to BA.2, contain further mutations in the receptor binding domain of spike. Here, we study the neutralization of BA.4/5 using a range of vaccine and naturally immune serum and panels of monoclonal antibodies. BA.4/5 shows reduced neutralization by serum from triple AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccinated individuals compared to BA.1 and BA.2. Furthermore, using serum from BA.1 vaccine breakthrough infections there are likewise, significant reductions in the neutralization of BA.4/5, raising the possibility of repeat Omicron infections

Plant-arthropod interactions: who is the winner?

Herbivorous arthropods have interacted with plants for millions of years. During feeding they release chemical cues that allow plants to detect the attack and mount an efficient defense response. A signaling cascade triggers the expression of hundreds of genes, which encode defensive proteins and enzymes for synthesis of toxic metabolites. This direct defense is often complemented by emission of volatiles that attract beneficial parasitoids. In return, arthropods have evolved strategies to interfere with plant defenses, either by producing effectors to inhibit detection and downstream signaling steps, or by adapting to their detrimental effect. In this review, we address the current knowledge on the molecular and chemical dialog between plants and herbivores, with an emphasis on co-evolutionary aspects