Biologische Bodenentseuchung für eine umweltgerechte und intensive Gehölzproduktion

Der wiederholte Nachbau von Gehölzen der Familie der Rosaceae führt zu einer Nachbaukrankheit, die als Bodenmüdigkeit beschrieben wird. Eine wirksame Bekämpfung der Bodenmüdigkeit war die chemische Desinfektion mit Basamid® Granulat, basierend auf der Freisetzung eines Isothiocyanates (ITC). Die Zulassung von Basamid® Granulat ist in Deutschland abgelaufen. Eine Alternative könnte die Biofumigation darstellen. Bei der Biofumigation werden Glucosinolat(GS)-haltige Pflanzenteile von Vertretern der Brassicaceae in den Boden eingearbeitet. Die toxischen GS-Abbauprodukte, vor allem ITC, führen zu einer biologischen Bodendesinfektion. In dem berichteten Projekt wurde die Wirkung der ein- und zweijährigen Biofumigation von Brassica juncea und Raphanus sativus mit dem Anbau von Tagetes patula NEMAMIX, der Anwendung von Basamid® Granulat und des fortgesetzten Nachbaus der Indikatorpflanzen Malus sylvestris ‘Bittenfelder, Malus M4 bzw. M106 und Rosa corymbifera ‘Laxa’ verglichen. Das beste Wachstum der Indikatorpflanzen erbrachte ein vorausgegangener, zweijähriger Anbau von Tagetes patula NEMAMIX. Die praxisübliche Anwendung von Basamid® Granulat zeigte wenig Wirkung. Vermutlich war der Boden zum Anwendungstermin zu trocken. Eine geringe Wirkung erbrachte auch die ein- oder auch zweijährige Biofumigation mit Brassica juncea und Raphanus sativus. Auch die im Rahmen der Projektverlängerung zusätzlich geprüfte Einarbeitung von Brassica juncea-Samenmehl, die Verwendung der speziellen Saatgutmischung viterra®BIOFUMIGATION zur klassischen Biofumigation sowie die Dämpfung des Bodens mit Hilfe des CombiMIXERs an zwei nachbaukranken Baumschulstandorten brachten nicht die erhofften positive Effekte auf das Pflanzenwachstum der Indikatorpflanzen. Wieder war die einjährige Kultur von Tagetes die erfolgreichste Var. im Vergleich zum unbehandelten nachbaukranken Boden. Es konnten nur wenig positive Effekte auf das Wachstum der Indikatorpflanzen statistisch gesichert werden. Selbst in den Fällen, in denen signifikante Unterschiede auftraten, reichten diese Effekte aus Sicht der Praxis bei weitem nicht aus, um die durch Minderwuchs entstehenden Ertragsverluste auszugleichen. Mögliche Gründe für die schlechte Wirkung der geprüften Varianten werden diskutiert

Algorithms for the diagnosis and treatment of restless legs syndrome in primary care

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 3-10%. in European studies. However, the diagnosis of RLS in primary care remains low and mistreatment is common.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The current article reports on the considerations of RLS diagnosis and management that were made during a European Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (EURLSSG)-sponsored task force consisting of experts and primary care practioners. The task force sought to develop a better understanding of barriers to diagnosis in primary care practice and overcome these barriers with diagnostic and treatment algorithms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The barriers to diagnosis identified by the task force include the presentation of symptoms, the language used to describe them, the actual term "restless legs syndrome" and difficulties in the differential diagnosis of RLS.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The EURLSSG task force reached a consensus and agreed on the diagnostic and treatment algorithms published here.</p

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation

Characterization of the flower morphology of three Duboisia species

The tropane alkaloid scopolamine, an important precursor of active pharmaceutical ingredients due to its anticholinergic properties, can be extracted from leaf material of Duboisia R. Br., a member of the Solanaceae family. Robust and high-yielding Duboisia plants are a major requirement in cultivation because of challenges such as climatic changes and the rising demand of the active pharmaceutical ingredient. Therefore, breeding activities are carried out to improve Duboisia plants with regard to leaf and scopolamine yield maximization as well as a higher tolerance to environmental conditions. Molecular genetic analysis of highly conserved plastid sequences was used to prove the identity of the species Duboisia hopwoodii, D. myoporoides and D. leichhardtii. To evaluate different breeding options various flower characteristics have been analyzed by means of stereo microscopy for the three species. For D. hopwoodii and D. leichhardtii, all characteristics occur stably with nearly no variation. In contrast, the number of flower organs such as petals and anthers varied for D. myoporoides

Effects of soil pre-treatment with Basamid® granules, Brassica juncea, Raphanus sativus, and tagetes patula on bacterial and fungal communities at two apple replant disease sites

Nurseries producing apple and rose rootstock plants, apple orchards as well as rose production often experience replanting problems after several cultivations at the same site when a chemical soil disinfectant is not applied. The etiology of apple and rose replanting problems is most likely caused by soil-borne pathogen complex, defined as “replant disease (RD)”. Symptoms typical of RD are reduced shoot and root growth, a smaller leaf area, a significant decrease in plant biomass, yield and fruit quality and a shorter life span. In our previous study, we showed that RD symptoms were reduced when apple rootstock M106 were grown in RD soils treated either with the soil fumigant Basamid or after biofumigation by incorporating Brassica juncea or Raphanus sativus or by growing Tagetes under field conditions compared to untreated control soil. The present study aimed at identifying potential bacterial and fungal taxa that were affected by different soil treatments and linking bacterial and fungal responders to plant performance. Miseq® Illumina® sequencing of 16S rRNA gene fragments (bacteria) and ITS regions (fungi) amplified from total community DNA extracted from soil samples taken 4 weeks after treatments were performed. Soil properties and culture history of the two RD sites greatly influenced soil microbiomes. Several bacterial genera were identified that significantly increased in treated soils such as Arthrobacter (R. sativus, both sites), Curtobacterium (Basamid, both sites), Terrimonas (Basamid and R. sativus, site A) and Ferruginibacter (B. juncea, site K and R. sativus, site A) that were also significantly and positively correlated with growth of apple M106 plants. Only few fungal genera, such as Podospora, Monographella and Mucor, were significantly promoted in soils treated with B. juncea and R. sativus (both sites). The least pronounced changes were recorded for bacterial as well as fungal communities in the RD soils planted with Tagetes. The detection of bacterial and fungal genera that were significantly increased in relative abundance in response to the treatments and that were positively correlated with plant growth suggests that management of the soil microbial community could contribute to overcome the apple RD encountered at affected sites