The impact of interventions in the global land and agri‐food sectors on Nature’s Contributions to People and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Interlocked challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation require transformative interventions in the land management and food production sectors to reduce carbon emissions, strengthen adaptive capacity, and increase food security. However, deciding which interventions to pursue and understanding their relative co‐benefits with and trade‐offs against different social and environmental goals have been difficult without comparisons across a range of possible actions. This study examined 40 different options, implemented through land management, value chains, or risk management, for their relative impacts across 18 Nature's Contributions to People (NCPs) and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We find that a relatively small number of interventions show positive synergies with both SDGs and NCPs with no significant adverse trade‐offs; these include improved cropland management, improved grazing land management, improved livestock management, agroforestry, integrated water management, increased soil organic carbon content, reduced soil erosion, salinization, and compaction, fire management, reduced landslides and hazards, reduced pollution, reduced post‐harvest losses, improved energy use in food systems, and disaster risk management. Several interventions show potentially significant negative impacts on both SDGs and NCPs; these include bioenergy and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, afforestation, and some risk sharing measures, like commercial crop insurance. Our results demonstrate that a better understanding of co‐benefits and trade‐offs of different policy approaches can help decision‐makers choose the more effective, or at the very minimum, more benign interventions for implementation.     

A core of rhizosphere bacterial taxa associates with two of the world’s most isolated plant congeners

Plant and Soil - The hydrolysis of organic P in soils is a relevant aspect contributing to the supply P to plants, which is affected by adsorbent capacity and biological properties of soils. This...     

LCA and nutritional assessment of southern Benin market vegetable gardening across the production continuum

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment - The goal of this work is to analyse the environmental impacts across the productive continuum of market gardening in southern Benin, to...     

Almost half of the RTX domain is dispensable for complement receptor 3 binding and cell-invasive activity of the Bordetella adenylate cyclase toxin

The whooping cough agent Bordetella pertussis secretes an adenylate cyclase toxin (CyaA) that through its large carboxy-proximal Repeat-in-ToXin (RTX) domain binds the complement receptor 3 (CR3). The RTX domain consists of five blocks (I–V) of characteristic glycine and aspartate-rich nonapeptides that fold into five Ca²⁺-loaded parallel β-rolls. Previous work indicated that the CR3-binding structure comprises the interface of β-rolls II and III. To test if further portions of the RTX domain contribute to CR3 binding, we generated a construct with the RTX block II/III interface (CyaA residues 1132–1294) linked directly to the C-terminal block V fragment bearing the folding scaffold (CyaA residues 1562–1681). Despite deletion of 267 internal residues of the RTX domain, the Ca²⁺-driven folding of the hybrid block III/V β-roll still supported formation of the CR3-binding structure at the interface of β-rolls II and III. Moreover, upon stabilization by N- and C-terminal flanking segments, the block III/V hybrid-comprising constructs competed with CyaA for CR3 binding and induced formation of CyaA toxin-neutralizing antibodies in mice. Finally, a truncated CyaAΔ_1295-1561 toxin bound and penetrated erythrocytes and CR3-expressing cells, showing that the deleted portions of RTX blocks III, IV, and V (residues 1295–1561) were dispensable for CR3 binding and for toxin translocation across the target cell membrane. This suggests that almost a half of the RTX domain of CyaA is not involved in target cell interaction and rather serves the purpose of toxin secretion.     

A trait-based approach predicting community assembly and dominance of microbial invasive species

Understanding the mechanisms underlying community assembly helps to define success and susceptibility to biological invasions. Here, we explored phytoplankton community assembly following niche and neutral paradigms and using a trait-based approach. Under the hypothesis that the morphology-based functional groups (MBFG) clusters species with similar niche, we analysed how trait-related differences in fitness influence dominance of an invasive species. This was based on literature review, field data and model simulations. We predict that invading species can be dominant if: 1) do not belong to the local MBFG but use unexploited areas of the niche, or 2) belong to the resident MBFG but exhibit a higher fitness due to a particular combination of traits. The invasive dinoflagellate Ceratium furcoides was used as the model species to evaluate these hypotheses, its morphological (e.g. volume) and physiological (e.g. growth rates) traits were compared with species from the same (V: photosynthetic flagellates) and different (VII: colonial cyanobacteria) MBFG. Fitness was estimated using models parametrized with MBFG rates (R*, ability to draw down phosphate) under different environmental conditions (i.e. flushing). Results contributed to support both hypotheses. First, the alternation of C. furcoides and cyanobacteria dominance was explained by the use of different niches. Secondly, species from MBFG V were dominant under similar environments. Within this group V C. furcoides showed higher fitness under low flushing and high predation, advantage provided by a distinctive combination of traits. The application of trait-based approaches to represent the niche and estimate fitness along environmental gradients was useful to evaluate community assembly and can be used to predict the dominance of microbial species invasions.     

Dynamics of solute/matric stress interactions with climate change abiotic factors on growth,gene expression and ochratoxin A production by Penicillium verrucosum on a wheat-based matrix

Penicillium verrucosum contaminates temperate cereals with ochratoxin A (OTA) during harvesting and storage. We examined the effect of temperature (25 vs 30 ^oC), CO₂ (400 vs 1000 ppm) and matric/solute stress (-2.8 vs -7.0 MPa) on (i) growth, (ii) key OTA biosynthetic genes and (iii) OTA production on a milled wheat substrate. Growth was generally faster under matric than solute stress at 25 ^oC, regardless of CO₂ concentrations. At 30 ^oC, growth of P. verrucosum was significantly reduced under solute stress in both CO₂ treatments, with no growth observed at -2.8 MPa (=0.98 water activity, a_w) and 1000 ppm CO₂. Overall, growth patterns under solute stress was slower in elevated CO₂ than under matric stress when compared with existing conditions. The otapksPV gene expression was increased under elevated CO₂ levels in matric stress treatments. There was fewer effects on the otanrpsPV biosynthetic gene. This pattern was paralleled with the production of OTA under these conditions. This suggest that P. verrucosum is able to actively grow and survive in both soil and on crop debris under three way interacting climate-related abiotic factors. This resilience suggests that they would still be able to pose an OTA contamination risk in temperate cereals post-harvest.     

Molecular underpinnings of the early brain developmental response to differential feeding in the honey bee Apis mellifera

Brain differential morphogenesis in females is one of the major phenotypic manifestations of caste development in honey bees. Brain diphenism appears at the fourth larval phase as a result of the differential feeding regime developing females are submitted during early phases of larval development. Here, we used a forward genetics approach to test the early brain molecular response to differential feeding leading to the brain diphenism observed at later developmental phases. Using RNA sequencing analysis, we identified 53 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the brains of queens and workers at the third larval phase. Since miRNAs have been suggested to play a role in caste differentiation after horizontal and vertical transmission, we tested their potential participation in regulating the DEGs. The miRNA-mRNA interaction network, including the DEGs and the royal- and worker-jelly enriched miRNA populations, revealed a subset of miRNAs potentially involved in regulating the expression of DEGs. The interaction of miR-34, miR-210, and miR-317 with Takeout, Neurotrophin-1, Forked, and Masquerade genes was experimentally confirmed using a luciferase reporter system. Taken together, our results reconstruct the regulatory network that governs the development of the early brain diphenism in honey bees.     

Increased dosage of Ink4/Arf protects against glucose intolerance and insulin resistance associated with aging

Recent genome‐wide association studies have linked type‐2 diabetes mellitus to a genomic region in chromosome 9p21 near the Ink4/Arf locus, which encodes tumor suppressors that are up‐regulated in a variety of mammalian organs during aging. However, it is unclear whether the susceptibility to type‐2 diabetes is associated with altered expression of the Ink4/Arf locus. In the present study, we investigated the role of Ink4/Arf in age‐dependent alterations of insulin and glucose homeostasis using Super‐Ink4/Arf mice which bear an extra copy of the entire Ink4/Arf locus. We find that, in contrast to age‐matched wild‐type controls, Super‐Ink4/Arf mice do not develop glucose intolerance with aging. Insulin tolerance tests demonstrated increased insulin sensitivity in Super‐Ink4/Arf compared with wild‐type mice, which was accompanied by higher activation of the insulin receptor substrate (IRS)‐PI3K‐AKT pathway in liver, skeletal muscle and heart. Glucose uptake studies in Super‐Ink4/Arf mice showed a tendency toward increased ¹⁸F‐fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in skeletal muscle compared with wild‐type mice (P = 0.079). Furthermore, a positive correlation between glucose uptake and baseline glucose levels was observed in Super‐Ink4/Arf mice (P < 0.008) but not in wild‐type mice. Our studies reveal a protective role of the Ink4/Arf locus against the development of age‐dependent insulin resistance and glucose intolerance.     

Collagenase-3 (MMP-13) deficiency protects C57BL/6 mice from antibody-induced arthritis

Introduction

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are important in tissue remodelling. Here we investigate the role of collagenase-3 (MMP-13) in antibody-induced arthritis.

Methods

For this study we employed the K/BxN serum-induced arthritis model. Arthritis was induced in C57BL/6 wild type (WT) and MMP-13-deficient (MMP-13^–/–) mice by intraperitoneal injection of 200 μl of K/BxN serum. Arthritis was assessed by measuring the ankle swelling. During the course of the experiments, mice were sacrificed every second day for histological examination of the ankle joints. Ankle sections were evaluated histologically for infiltration of inflammatory cells, pannus tissue formation and bone/cartilage destruction. Semi-quantitative PCR was used to determine MMP-13 expression levels in ankle joints of untreated and K/BxN serum-injected mice.

Results

This study shows that MMP-13 is a regulator of inflammation. We observed increased expression of MMP-13 in ankle joints of WT mice during K/BxN serum-induced arthritis and both K/BxN serum-treated WT and MMP-13^–/– mice developed progressive arthritis with a similar onset. However, MMP-13^–/– mice showed significantly reduced disease over the whole arthritic period. Ankle joints of WT mice showed severe joint destruction with extensive inflammation and erosion of cartilage and bone. In contrast, MMP-13^–/– mice displayed significantly decreased severity of arthritis (50% to 60%) as analyzed by clinical and histological scoring methods.

Conclusions

MMP-13 deficiency acts to suppress the local inflammatory responses. Therefore, MMP-13 has a role in the pathogenesis of arthritis, suggesting MMP-13 is a potential therapeutic target.