A trait–environment relationship approach to participatory plant breeding for organic agriculture

The extent of intraspecific variation in trait–environment relationships is an open question with limited empirical support in crops. In organic agriculture, with high environmental heterogeneity, this knowledge could guide breeding programs to optimize crop attributes. We propose a three-dimensional framework involving crop performance, crop traits, and environmental axes to uncover the multidimensionality of trait–environment relationships within a crop. We modeled instantaneous photosynthesis (Asat) and water-use efficiency (WUE) as functions of four phenotypic traits, three soil variables, five carrot (Daucus carota) varieties, and their interactions in a national participatory plant breeding program involving a suite of farms across Canada. We used these interactions to describe the resulting 12 trait–environment relationships across varieties. We found one significant trait–environment relationship for Asat (taproot tissue density–soil phosphorus), which was consistent across varieties. For WUE, we found that three relationships (petiole diameter–soil nitrogen, petiole diameter–soil phosphorus, and leaf area–soil phosphorus) varied significantly across varieties. As a result, WUE was maximized by different combinations of trait values and soil conditions depending on the variety. Our three-dimensional framework supports the identification of functional traits behind the differential responses of crop varieties to environmental variation and thus guides breeding programs to optimize crop attributes from an eco-evolutionary perspective.Fil: Rolhauser, Andrés Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Métodos Cuantitativos y Sistemas de Información; Argentina. University of Toronto; CanadáFil: Windfeld, Emma. University of Toronto; Canadá. University of Calgary; CanadáFil: Hanson, Solveig. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Wittman, Hannah. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Thoreau, Chris. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Lyon, Alexandra. Kwantlen Polytechnic University; Canadá. University of British Columbia; CanadáFil: Isaac, Marney E.. University of Toronto; Canad

Is the effect of precipitation on acute gastrointestinal illness in southwestern Uganda different between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities?

Acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) is a global public health priority that often disproportionately effects Indigenous populations. While previous research examines the association between meteorological conditions and AGI, little is known about how socio-cultural factors may modify this relationship. This present study seeks to address this research gap by comparing AGI prevalence and determinants between an Indigenous and non-Indigenous population in Uganda. We estimate the 14-day self-reported prevalence of AGI among adults in an Indigenous Batwa population and their non-Indigenous neighbours using cross-sectional panel data collected over four periods spanning typically rainy and dry seasons (January 2013 to April 2014). The independent associations between Indigenous status, precipitation, and AGI are examined with multivariable multi-level logistic regression models, controlling for relative wealth status and clustering at the community level. Estimated prevalence of AGI among the Indigenous Batwa was greater than among the non-Indigenous Bakiga. Our models indicate that both Indigenous identity and decreased levels of precipitation in the weeks preceding the survey period were significantly associated with increased AGI, after adjusting for confounders. Multivariable models stratified by Indigenous identity suggest that Indigenous identity may not modify the association between precipitation and AGI in this context. Our results suggest that short-term changes in precipitation affect both Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations similarly, though from different baseline AGI prevalences, maintaining rather than exacerbating this socially patterned health disparity. In the context of climate change, these results may challenge the assumption that changing weather patterns will necessarily exacerbate existing socially patterned health disparities

Tisotumab vedotin in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumours (InnovaTV 201): a first-in-human, multicentre, phase 1-2 trial

Background Tisotumab vedotin is a first-in-human antibody–drug conjugate directed against tissue factor, which is expressed across multiple solid tumour types and is associated with poor clinical outcomes. We aimed to establish the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic profile, and antitumour activity of tisotumab vedotin in a mixed population of patients with locally advanced or metastatic (or both) solid tumours known to express tissue factor. Methods InnovaTV 201 is a phase 1–2, open-label, dose-escalation and dose-expansion study done at 21 centres in the USA and Europe. Patients (aged ≥18 years) had relapsed, advanced, or metastatic cancer of the ovary, cervix, endometrium, bladder, prostate, oesophagus, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck or non-small-cell lung cancer; an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0–1; and had relapsed after or were not eligible to receive the available standard of care. No specific tissue factor expression level was required for inclusion. In the dose-escalation phase, patients were treated with tisotumab vedotin between 0·3 and 2·2 mg/kg intravenously once every 3 weeks in a traditional 3 + 3 design. In the dose-expansion phase, patients were treated at the recommended phase 2 dose. The primary endpoint was the incidence of adverse events, including serious adverse events, infusion-related, treatment-related and those of grade 3 or worse, and study drug-related adverse events, analysed in all patients who received at least one dose of tisotumab vedotin (full analysis population). This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02001623, and is closed to new participants with follow-up ongoing. Findings Between Dec 9, 2013, and May 18, 2015, 27 eligible patients were enrolled to the dose-escalation phase. Dose-limiting toxicities, including grade 3 type 2 diabetes mellitus, mucositis, and neutropenic fever, were seen at the 2·2 mg/kg dose; therefore, 2·0 mg/kg of tisotumab vedotin intravenously once every 3 weeks was established as the recommended phase 2 dose. Between Oct 8, 2015, and April 26, 2018, 147 eligible patients were enrolled to the dose-expansion phase. The most common (in ≥20% of patients) treatment-emergent adverse events of any grade were epistaxis (102 [69%] of 147 patients), fatigue (82 [56%]), nausea (77 [52%]), alopecia (64 [44%]), conjunctivitis (63 [43%]), decreased appetite (53 [36%]), constipation (52 [35%]), diarrhoea (44 [30%]), vomiting (42 [29%]), peripheral neuropathy (33 [22%]), dry eye (32 [22%]), and abdominal pain (30 [20%]). The most common adverse events of grade 3 or worse were fatigue (14 [10%] of 147 patients), anaemia (eight [5%]), abdominal pain (six [4%]), hypokalaemia (six [4%]), conjunctivitis (five [3%]), hyponatraemia (five [3%]), and vomiting (five [3%]). 67 (46%) of 147 patients had a treatment-emergent serious adverse event. 39 (27%) of 147 patients had a treatment-emergent serious adverse event related to the study drug. Infusion-related reactions occurred in 17 (12%) of 147 patients. Across tumour types, the confirmed proportion of patients who achieved an objective response was 15·6% (95% CI 10·2–22·5; 23 of 147 patients). There were nine deaths across all study phases (three in the dose-escalation phase and six in the dose-expansion phase); only one case of pneumonia in the dose-expansion phase was considered possibly related to study treatment. Interpretations Tisotumab vedotin has a manageable safety profile with encouraging preliminary antitumour activity across multiple tumour types in heavily pretreated patients. Continued evaluation of tisotumab vedotin is warranted in solid tumours

Beyond Yield Alone: Functional Traits of Regionally Adapted Daucus carota (carrot) Varieties on Organic Farms

While agronomic traits have been widely studied, crop functional trait expression and variation among regionally and broadly adapted seeds have not. I measured 14 above- and below-ground functional traits in six varieties of Daucus carota (carrot) grown at ten organic farms across Canada to test whether seed regionality corresponds to differential expression of functional traits. Environmental conditions at the farm level over varietal difference explained variation in trait expression. Leaf traits trade off in patterns predicted by the Leaf Economics Spectrum. Environmentally-patterned variation in trait expression differed between varieties. Regionally adapted varieties expressed higher resource acquisitive traits when grown outside their local region, and while hybrid varieties performed more consistently between sites, hybrids expressed higher resource acquisitive traits when grown in western regions. By testing trait tradeoffs between varieties, this research addresses a knowledge gap regarding the ecological consequences of crop functional trait expression, with implications for multiple end users.M.Sc

How do community-level climate change vulnerability assessments treat future vulnerability and integrate diverse datasets? A review of the literature

Community-level vulnerability assessments (VAs) are important for understanding how populations experience vulnerabilities to climate change in different ways given local socioeconomic and environmental factors. Despite recent expansion in the literature that evaluates vulnerability at the local level, approaches to understanding future scenarios and to integrating climatic and non-climatic factors are inconsistent and often lack clear methodological information. This study utilized systematic review methods to characterize and compare future scenarios and the integration of climatic and non-climatic stimuli in community-focused VAs published over the last five years. Five common methods for assessing future dimensions of vulnerability were characterized. Key challenges regarding sources and scales of information were highlighted alongside methods to integrate data spanning climatic and non-climatic information at scales ranging from local to global. The majority of VAs considered current and past vulnerability; few VAs incorporated future scenarios and these studies focused on future climatic conditions while largely overlooking changes in non-climatic drivers of vulnerability. Approaches to evaluate future dimensions of vulnerability included climate model projections, socioeconomic model projections, temporal analogue approaches, longitudinal approaches, and local perceptions. These methods often failed to capture the dynamic interactions between variables through time, as future impacts are unlikely to follow previous patterns of change. To combine datasets of different scales, VAs created vulnerability indices, overlaid spatial datasets, or used expert judgement. These approaches tended to aggregate local characteristics to the regional level at the expense of community specificity. There is a need for methodological advances to assess future scenarios and to combine datasets in the field of community-level climate change VAs in order to make these studies more responsive to local realities and relevant to the development of climate change adaptation strategies.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author