Regeneration of Fertile Plants from Callus in Phaseolus polyanthus Greenman (Year Bean)

For the first time, plant regeneration of several domesticatedgenotypes of Phaseolus polyanthus Greenman (year bean) has beenachieved. Thidiazuron in combination with indole-3-acetic acidwas used to induce morphogenic, green nodular callus from explantsthat had been obtained either from greenhouse-grown plants orfrom in vitro -germinated seeds. Of the six genotypes of P.polyanthus tested, five produced shoots in vitro. Regeneratedshoots that formed roots in vitro were established in the greenhouse,whereas non-rooted shoots could be established in vitro by grafting.Morphologically normal progeny plants were obtained from thegreenhouse-established regenerants. However, by using the sameprocedure, no regeneration response was observed in two domesticatedand two wild genotypes of P. coccineus L. (runner bean). Thisprotocol should help achieve Agrobacterium - or particle bombardment-mediatedgenetic transformation to improve this important food legume.Copyright 2001 Annals of Botany Company Callus, genetic transformation, grafting, legumes, organogenesis, Phaseolus coccineus L., Phaseolus polyanthus Greenman, Phaseolus vulgaris L     

The feasibility of age-specific travel restrictions during influenza pandemics

Background

Epidemiological studies have shown that imposing travel restrictions to prevent or delay an influenza pandemic may not be feasible. To delay an epidemic substantially, an extremely high proportion of trips (~99%) would have to be restricted in a homogeneously mixing population. Influenza is, however, strongly influenced by age-dependent transmission dynamics, and the effectiveness of age-specific travel restrictions, such as the selective restriction of travel by children, has yet to be examined.

Methods

A simple stochastic model was developed to describe the importation of infectious cases into a population and to model local chains of transmission seeded by imported cases. The probability of a local epidemic, and the time period until a major epidemic takes off, were used as outcome measures, and travel restriction policies in which children or adults were preferentially restricted were compared to age-blind restriction policies using an age-dependent next generation matrix parameterized for influenza H1N1-2009.

Results

Restricting children from travelling would yield greater reductions to the short-term risk of the epidemic being established locally than other policy options considered, and potentially could delay an epidemic for a few weeks. However, given a scenario with a total of 500 imported cases over a period of a few months, a substantial reduction in the probability of an epidemic in this time period is possible only if the transmission potential were low and assortativity (i.e. the proportion of contacts within-group) were unrealistically high. In all other scenarios considered, age-structured travel restrictions would not prevent an epidemic and would not delay the epidemic for longer than a few weeks.

Conclusions

Selectively restricting children from traveling overseas during a pandemic may potentially delay its arrival for a few weeks, depending on the characteristics of the pandemic strain, but could have less of an impact on the economy compared to restricting adult travelers. However, as long as adults have at least a moderate potential to trigger an epidemic, selectively restricting the higher risk group (children) may not be a practical option to delay the arrival of an epidemic substantially.     

QTL for yield in bioenergy Populus: identifying G×E interactions from growth at three contrasting sites

Populus is a genus of fast growing trees that may be suitable as a bioenergy crop grown in short rotation, but understanding the genetic nature of yield and genotype interactions with the environment is critical in developing new high-yield genotypes for wide-scale planting. In the present study, 210 genotypes from an F₂ population (Family 331; POP1) derived from a cross between Populus trichocarpa 93-968 and P. deltoides ILL-129 were grown in southern UK, central France and northern Italy. The performance of POP1, based upon first- and second-year main stem traits and biomass production, improved from northern to southern Europe. Trees at the Italian site produced the highest mean biomass ranging from 0.77 to 18.06 oven-dried tonnes (ODT) ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, and the UK site produced the lowest mean biomass ranging from 0.18 to 10.31 ODT ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. Significant genotype × environment interactions were seen despite heritability values across sites being moderate to high. Using a pseudo-testcross analysis, 37 quantitative trait loci (QTL) were identified for the maternal parent and 45 for the paternal parent for eight stem and biomass traits across the three sites. High genetic correlations between traits suggested that collocating QTL could be inferred as a single pleiotropic QTL, reducing the number of unique QTL to 23 and 24 for the maternal and paternal parent, respectively. Additive genetic effects were seen to differ significantly for eight QTL on the maternal map and 20 on the paternal map across sites. An additive main effects and multiplicative interaction analysis was carried out to obtain stability parameters for each trait. These parameters were mapped as QTL, and collocation to trait QTL was accessed. Two of the eight stability QTL collocate to trait QTL on the maternal map, and 8 of the 20 stability QTL collocate to trait QTL on the paternal map, suggesting that a regulatory gene model is prevalent over an allele sensitivity model for stem trait stability across these environments.     

Patterns of diversification in two African forest shrews: Sylvisorex johnstoni and Sylvisorex ollula (Soricidae,Insectivora) in relation to paleo-environmental changes

We analysed the phylogeographic patterns of two congeneric and syntopic species of forest shrews and compared them with biogeographical scenarios proposed for the Central African tropical forest. Our results, based on 82 partial 16s rRNA mitochondrial sequences, suggest that both species must have originated in the Plio-Pleistocene and that their haplotype distributions could reflect the effect of forest fragmentation and expansion associated with paleoclimatic fluctuations during the Pleistocene. However, it seems that the two species responded very differently to environmental changes. While Sylvisorex johnstoni populations exhibit ancient haplotype segregation that may even represent currently unrecognised allopatric species, Sylvisorex ollula haplotypes are much less differentiated and suggest that this taxon has undergone a recent range expansion. The observed differences between these taxa may be explained by their presumably different ecological requirements and colonisation abilities, which in turn may be the result of a significant difference in body size between the two species. In conclusion, our results suggest that it is necessary to incorporate several ecologically well-documented species in studies that attempt to infer evolutionary processes from phylogeographic patterns     

Identification of a new human coronavirus

Three human coronaviruses are known to exist: human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E), HCoV-OC43 and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Here we report the identification of a fourth human coronavirus, HCoV-NL63, using a new method of virus discovery. The virus was isolated from a 7-month-old child suffering from bronchiolitis and conjunctivitis. The complete genome sequence indicates that this virus is not a recombinant, but rather a new group 1 coronavirus. The in vitro host cell range of HCoV-NL63 is notable because it replicates on tertiary monkey kidney cells and the monkey kidney LLC-MK2 cell line. The viral genome contains distinctive features, including a unique N-terminal fragment within the spike protein. Screening of clinical specimens from individuals suffering from respiratory illness identified seven additional HCoV-NL63-infected individuals, indicating that the virus was widely spread within the human population.     

The role of a freshwater tidal area with controlled reduced tide as feeding habitat for European eel (Anguilla anguilla,L.)

Implementation of the Controlled Reduced Tide (CRT) technique could increase the total surface of tidal freshwater marshes in Europe and ease implementation of restoration projects in coastal defense and riverine ecosystems. The goal was to determine whether a regularly flooded area connected to a freshwater tidal river could act as an important foraging area for European eel, and if so, to what extent the diet of eels in this flooding area differed from that of eels foraging in the river itself. The stomach contents of eels from the River Schelde were compared with eels from the Lippenbroek, an adjacent CRT area. Prey diversity (H′) of individual eels was about four times higher in the Lippenbroek than in the River Schelde. Moreover, 12 prey categories in eel stomachs from the Lippenbroek were found whereas only three categories were retrieved from eels in the River Schelde. In the Lippenbroek, eels fed on terrestrial organisms (lumbricids, caterpillars and other insects), but also on fish and fish eggs and to a lesser extent on other aquatic prey (Lumbricullidae, chironomids and Hirudinea). In contrast, eels from the main river fed mainly on tubificids, fish, and some gammarids. Consequently, eels in the Schelde estuary are opportunistic feeders, but with a preference for large benthic prey. The number and weight of aquatic organisms ingested by eels in the Lippenbroek is not significantly different from the River Schelde. However, eels foraging in the Lippenbroek area had consumed significantly more terrestrial prey. Furthermore the total caloric value estimated for the ingested prey of eels from the Lippenbroek (derived from the literature) was about twice as high as that for eels from the River Schelde. While the condition index remained inconclusive, an Ancova revealed that eels captured in the Lippenbroek were significantly heavier for a given length than eels captured in the Schelde. The study showed that with a controlled reduced tide to restore lateral connectivity of large tidal rivers with their adjacent floodplains, high quality habitats for the European eel are created. These measures could significantly contribute to the production of eels in better condition, which have better chances to reproduce successfully. Hence, wetland restoration could enhance the recovery of the European eel stocks.     

Levels of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies and IgM rheumatoid factor are not associated with outcome in early arthritis patients: a cohort study

Introduction  

To investigate whether baseline levels of anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) or IgM rheumatoid factor (IgM-RF) and changes in the year thereafter are associated with disease activity, functional and radiographic outcome in early arthritis patients, and provide additional information over baseline autoantibody status.     

The focal adhesion targeting sequence is the major inhibitory moiety of Fak-related non-kinase

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) plays an important role in integrin-mediated signal transduction pathways and its C-terminal noncatalytic domain Fak-related non-kinase (FRNK), which is autonomously expressed, acts as an inhibitor of FAK. A model has been proposed where FAK and FRNK compete for an essential common binding protein. A FRNK variant in which the direct interaction with v-Crk-associated tyrosine kinase substrate (CAS) was disturbed by point mutations still functioned as an inhibitor of FAK, suggesting that FRNK is unlikely to inhibit FAK by sequestering CAS. Deletion variants of FRNK within the region N-terminal to the focal adhesion targeting (FAT) sequence were still able to inhibit FAK function, indicating that this region is dispensable for the inhibitory effect of FRNK. Overexpression of a green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion protein containing the FAT sequence delayed cell spreading and reduced FAK tyrosine phosphorylation. This indicates that the FAT sequence is the major inhibitory moiety within FRNK.