Ready for regrowth : A physiological and metabolic characterization of young sugar beets under temporary drought

Although the sugar beet belongs to the rather drought relevant species, water availability plays a crucial role in terms of plant development and yield formation, hence water deficits can lead to adverse consequences. Aim of this work was the physiological and metabolic characterization of young temporarily drought-stressed sugar beets with special emphasis of the recovery process of shoots and roots under rewatering and possible differences thereby. In this work the analysis of the chronological order of physiological and metabolic alterations under drought and rewatering was studied and further how these changes were related to a phenotypic approach, namely infrared thermography (IRT). Besides this, an untargeted 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR) and targeted enzyme based metabolite assays were used for the identification and characterization of major metabolites of the primary metabolism aiming at the identification of the metabolic strategy of temporarily drought-stressed sugar beets. While the experimental setup allowed reproducible greenhouse experiments, the analytic approach has been optimized for both, small scale and high throughput analysis. Within the phenotypic approach using IRT the initial impairment of transpiration as first reaction to drought. However, stress-induced metabolic adaptations with subsequent membrane-destabilization and cellular damage were only detectable by the combined application of invasive and non-invasive methods. Only the combination of both techniques allowed the holistic analysis of drought-induced alterations with close attention to plant water status and osmotic adjustment. The untargeted 1H-NMR-analysis revealed clear stress-induced changes of the primary metabolism and its reprogramming under rewatering. While drought lead rather to a downregulation of glycolysis and TCA-cycle in shoots and roots, amino acids generally increased. The observed distinct dynamics of shoots and roots under rewatering might be ascribed to the different functions of both organs. It can be concluded that the reactions to drought and rewatering are distinct and organ-specific processes that are actively driven by the plant. Moreover, the recovery process does not seem to be only the de-acclimation of the stress and is thus not the simple return to initial control conditions. The presented results contribute to a better understanding of the physiological and metabolic alterations under temporary drought-stress and rewatering in sugar beet and they provide valuable information for the breeding of drought-tolerant species while the applied analytical methods enables a quick and reliable high-throughput metabolite analysis.Obwohl die Zuckerrübe zu den eher trockentoleranten Spezies zählt, spielt Wasser bezüglich Entwicklung und Ertragsbildung dennoch eine entscheidende Rolle und eine Limitierung kann zu erheblichen negativen Folgen führen. Ziel dieser Arbeit war die physiologische und metabolische Charakterisierung von jungen Zuckerrüben unter temporärem Trockenstress mit besonderem Fokus auf den Recovery-Prozess von Spross und Wurzel unter Wiederbewässerung und mögliche Unterschiede dabei. Es erfolgte eine Analyse der chronologischen Abläufe von physiologischen und metabolischen Veränderungen unter Trockenstress und Wiederbewässerung, und wie diese im Zusammenhang mit einem phänotypischen Ansatz, der Infrarot-thermographie (IRT), stehen. Darüber hinaus wurde eine Identifizierung und Charakterisierung von Hauptmetaboliten des Primärstoffwechsels zur Untersuchung der metabolischen Strategie von temporär gestressten Zuckerüben mittels Kernspinresonanzspektroskopie (1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, 1H-NMR) und enzymbasierten Metabolitanalysen durchgeführt. Der experimentelle Ansatz ermöglichte robuste und reproduzierbare Versuche unter Gewächshausbedingen und die Analytik wurde so optimiert, dass sie sowohl für den Einsatz von kleineren Probenmengen als auch für die Hochdurchsatzanalytik geeignet war. In dem phänotypischen Ansatz, konnte mittels IRT die initiale Beeinträchtigung der Transpiration als erste Reaktion auf Trockenstress festgehalten werden. Die metabolischen Anpassungen auf den Stress mit anschließender Membran-Destabilisierung und Zellschädigung konnten jedoch nur durch die Kombination aus invasiven und nicht-invasiven Verfahren aufgedeckt werden. Nur die Kombination beider Techniken ermöglichte eine ganzheitliche Beurteilung trockenstress-induzierter Veränderungen mit Fokus auf den Wasserhaushalt und die osmotische Anpassung. Die 1H-NMR Analyse legte eindeutige stress-induzierte Veränderungen des Primärstoffwechsels und dessen Umprogrammierung unter Wiederbewässerung offen. Während Trockenheit eher zu einer Herabregulation von Glykolyse und Citratzyklus in Spross und Wurzel führte, reagierten die Aminosäuren mit einem generellen Anstieg. Unter Wiederbewässerung zeigten beide Organe jedoch eine unterschiedliche Dynamik in der Erholungsreaktion, die vermutlich auf die unterschiedlichen Funktionen von Spross und Wurzel zurückzuführen sind. Es handelt sich bei den Reaktionen auf Trockenheit und Wiederbewässerung offenbar um unterschiedliche und organ-spezifische Prozesse. Darüber hinaus scheint der Erholungsprozess keine simple De-Akklimatisierung des Stresses zu sein und ist damit nicht nur die Rückkehr zu Kontrollbedingungen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit tragen zu einem verbesserten Verständnis der physiologischen und metabolischen Veränderungen unter temporärem Trockenstress und Wiederbewässerung bei und liefern wertvolle Informationen für die Züchtung trockentoleranter Sorten. Die angewendeten Methoden bieten die Möglichkeit auch im Hochdurchsatzverfahren eine schnelle und zuverlässige Analyse durchzuführen

Is Judicial Expertise Dynamic? Judicial Expertise, Complex Networks, and Legal Policy

Article published in the Michigan State Law Review

Using Text as Data to Measure Latent Legal Constructs: A Dictionary-Based Approach

Article published in the Michigan State Law Review

The Sources and Consequences of Political Rhetoric: Issue Importance, Collegial Bargaining, and Disagreeable Rhetoric in Supreme Court Opinions

How do political actors use rhetoric after an initial policy battle? We explore factors that lead Supreme Court justices to integrate disagreeable rhetoric into opinions. Although disagreeable language has negative consequences, we posit that justices pay this cost for issues with high personal significance. At the same time, we argue that integrating disagreeable rhetoric has a deleterious effect on the institution by reducing majority coalition size. Examining opinions from 1946 to 2011 using text-based measures of disagreeable rhetoric, we model the language of opinion writing as well as explore the consequences for coalition size. Our findings suggest serious implications for democratic institutions and political rhetoric

An Interprofessional Approach to Plagiarism Prevention

The Graduate Nursing program employs a comprehensive, interprofessional approach to facilitate academic integrity for Master’s of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice students. This panel presentation will address the various facets of this approach, focusing specifically on plagiarism prevention. An Academic Integrity Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) addresses expectations for students in regard to all aspects of academic integrity, including plagiarism. In addition, this SOP establishes a mechanism for dealing with instances of plagiarism when they occur. As a condition of the SOP, students sign the plagiarism policy at program orientation and annually thereafter. During their “Academic Success and Readiness” orientation the Retention Coordinator presents a writing workshop that includes strategies for plagiarism prevention. A required one-credit hour Seminar course taken during the first semester of attendance in the program focuses on graduate-level writing and communication skills. Students complete a “Primer on Plagiarism,” which includes the online Student Lingo Plagiarism Workshop and a Turnitin tutorial that involves practice submitting a paper to Turnitin and reviewing and interpreting originality reports. Each student’s originality report for the course’s academic writing assignment is closely scrutinized, and if plagiarism is detected, students receive individual written and verbal counseling about avoiding plagiarism. At the end of the course, students formally acknowledge their understanding of assignment feedback and the expectation that they paraphrase sufficiently and quote accurately and correctly in future academic writing assignments. The Graduate Nursing Curriculum Committee has also addressed the issue of academic integrity. The Committee established an expectation that all graduate-level academic papers will be submitted through Turnitin as part of the plagiarism screening process. To facilitate student pre-screening of papers, a Blackboard course has been established with a Turnitin link where students submit papers for originality review prior to submission to course faculty for formal evaluation. The Blackboard course also includes additional student resources for plagiarism prevention. This process is managed by the College’s Instructional Designer. Finally, when students do have an occurrence of plagiarism, the approach to dealing with the issue is student-centered and focused on education and prevention of further violations of the Academic Integrity SOP. While the consequences of the violation are spelled out in the Academic Integrity SOP, there is a range of options available so that it is possible to individualize the response for each individual situation. Counseling occurs with a third party present, usually the retention coordinator, as a means to facilitate education and referral for additional writing assistance. The Retention Office provides writing resources for students in face-to-face, telephone, or online formats to further reinforce writing development and prevention of plagiarism. Overall, this Graduate Nursing program is similar to other programs in that first offense academic integrity plagiarism violations occur. The current interprofessional process in place, however, facilitates education for prevention of plagiarism, early detection of such plagiarism, and counseling for prevention of subsequent violations after an initial violation occurs