Leptosphaeria maculans-Brassica napus Battle: A Comparison of Incompatible vs. Compatible Interactions Using Dual RNASeq

Leptosphaeria maculans causes blackleg disease, which is one of the most destructive diseases of canola (Brassica napus L.). Due to the erosion of the current resistance in B. napus, it is pivotal to introduce new resistant genotypes to the growers. This study evaluated the potential of Rlm7 gene as resistance to its corresponding avirulence AvrLm7 gene is abundant. The Rlm7 line was inoculated with L. maculans isolate with AvrLm7; UMAvr7; and the CRISPR/Cas9 knockout AvrLm7 mutant, umavr7, of the same isolate to cause incompatible and compatible interactions, respectively. Dual RNA-seq showed differential gene expressions in both interactions. High expressions of virulence-related pathogen genes-CAZymes, merops, and effector proteins after 7-dpi in compatible interactions but not in incompatible interaction—confirmed that the pathogen was actively virulent only in compatible interactions. Salicyclic and jasmonic acid biosynthesis and signaling-related genes, defense-related PR1 gene (GSBRNA2T00150001001), and GSBRNA2T00068522001 in the NLR gene family were upregulated starting as early as 1- and 3-dpi in the incompatible interaction and the high upregulation of those genes after 7-dpi in compatible interactions confirmed the early recognition of the pathogen by the host and control it by early activation of host defense mechanisms in the incompatible interaction.     

Land use regression model for ultrafine particles in Amsterdam

There are currently no epidemiological studies on health effects of long-term exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP), largely because data on spatial exposure contrasts for UFP is lacking. The objective of this study was to develop a land use regression (LUR) model for UFP in the city of Amsterdam. Total particle number concentrations (PNC), PM10, PM2.5, and its soot content were measured directly outside 50 homes spread over the city of Amsterdam. Each home was measured during one week. Continuous measurements at a central urban background site were used to adjust the average concentration for temporal variation. Predictor variables (traffic, address density, land use) were obtained using geographic information systems. A model including the product of traffic intensity and the inverse distance to the nearest road squared, address density, and location near the port explained 67% of the variability in measured PNC. LUR models for PM2.5, soot, and coarse particles (PM10, PM2.5) explained 57%, 76%, and 37% of the variability in measured concentrations. Predictions from the PNC model correlated highly with predictions from LUR models for PM2.5, soot, and coarse particles. A LUR model for PNC has been developed, with similar validity as previous models for more commonly measured pollutants.     

Organic solvent pretreatment to enhance enzymic saccharification of straw

Enzymic saccharification of wheat straw in the absence of any pretreatment was only about 20 %. Acid hydrolysis did not improve the overall cellulose enzymic breakdown, nor did pretreatment by flash autohydrolysis under pressure or sodium chlorite delignification. When wheat straw was treated with N-methyl-morpholine-N-oxide (MMNO) at J20°C for 20–30 min, this treatment and subsequent enzymic hydrolysis produced carbohydrate conversion of 73%. Similar results could be obtained by treating straw with 0·1 M sodium hydroxide. When MMNO treatment was combined with any other pretreatment, the saccharification yield was greatly enhanced. Nearly quantitative conversion was obtained by swelling straw in 0·1 M sodium hydroxide followed by MMNO treatment. The results show that lignin content of plant material does not represent the limiting factor to enzymic saccharification.     

Evolution of the localisation and composition of phenolics in grape skin between veraison and maturity in relation to water availability and some climatic conditions

BACKGROUND: Several studies have investigated the composition of phenolics in grape skin during grape maturation under various conditions of light exposure, water stress, nitrogen supply and mineral nutrition, but their localisation during berry development is not well known. In this study the composition and localisation of proanthocyanidins were monitored for three years on four plots known to induce a distinctive behaviour of the vine (Cabernet Franc). The composition of phenolics was determined by spectrophotometry; also, in one year, proanthocyanidins were determined by high‐performance liquid chromatography. Further information was obtained histochemically by means of toluidine blue O staining and image analysis. RESULTS: The results indicated that clear differences in phenolic quantification existed between the biochemical and histochemical approaches; the proportion of cells without phenolics was not linked with the quantity determined by the analytical methods used. The histochemical method showed the evolution of the localisation and typology of cells with and without phenolics during ripening. The number of cells without any phenolic compounds appeared to be very dependent on the mesoclimatic conditions and only slightly dependent on the site water status. CONCLUSION: Clear differences in phenolic quantification existed between the biochemical and histochemical approaches; the proportion of cells with phenolics was not linked with the quantity determined by biochemistry. The histochemical method showed an evolution of the localisation and typology of cells with and without phenolics in which mesoclimatic conditions were the most influential factor. Finally, the study showed some advantages of the histochemical approach: it gives information about the anatomy of the tissue as well as the nature and distribution of some of the large macromolecules and allows reconstruction of the three‐dimensional plant structure. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Application of bacteria involved in the biological sulfur cycle for paper mill effluent purification

In anaerobic wastewater treatment, the occurrence of biological sulfate reduction results in the formation of unwanted hydrogen sulfide, which is odorous, corrosive and toxic. In this paper, the role and application of bacteria in anaerobic and aerobic sulfur transformations are described and exemplified for the treatment of a paper mill wastewater. The sulfate containing wastewater first passes an anaerobic UASB reactor for bulk COD removal which is accompanied by the formation of biogas and hydrogen sulfide. In an aeration pond, the residual COD_organic and the formed dissolved hydrogen sulfide are removed. The biogas, consisting of CH₄ (80-90 vol.%), CO₂ (10-20 vol.%) and H₂S (0.8-1.2 vol.%), is desulfurised prior to its combustion in a power generator thereby using a new biological process for H₂S removal. This process will be described in more detail in this paper. Biomass from the anaerobic bioreactor has a compact granular structure and contains a diverse microbial community. Therefore, other anaerobic bioreactors throughout the world are inoculated with biomass from this UASB reactor. The sludge was also successfully used in investigation on sulfate reduction with carbon monoxide as the electron donor and the conversion of methanethiol. This shows the biotechnological potential of this complex reactor biomass.     

Mapping of background air pollution at a fine spatial scale across the European Union

Background

There is a need to understand much more about the geographic variation of air pollutants. This requires the ability to extrapolate from monitoring stations to unsampled locations. The aim was to assess methods to develop accurate and high resolution maps of background air pollution across the EU.

Methods

We compared the validity of ordinary kriging, universal kriging and regression mapping in developing EU-wide maps of air pollution on a 1 × 1 km resolution. Predictions were made for the year 2001 for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), fine particles < 10 µm (PM₁₀), ozone (O₃), sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and carbon monoxide (CO) using routine monitoring data in Airbase. Predictor variables from EU-wide databases were land use, road traffic, population density, meteorology, altitude, topography and distance to sea. Models were developed for the global, rural and urban scale separately. The best method to model concentrations was selected on the basis of predefined performance measures (R², Root Mean Square Error (RMSE)).

Results

For NO₂, PM₁₀ and O₃ universal kriging performed better than regression mapping and ordinary kriging. Validation of the final universal kriging estimates with results from all validation sites gave R²-values and RMSE-values of 0.61 and 6.73 µg/m³ for NO₂; 0.45 and 5.19 µg/m³ for PM₁₀; and 0.70 and 7.69 µg/m³ for O₃. For SO₂ and CO none of the three methods was able to provide a satisfactory prediction.

Conclusion

Reasonable prediction models were developed for NO₂, PM₁₀ and O₃ on an EU-wide scale. Our study illustrates that it is possible to develop detailed maps of background air pollution using EU-wide databases.     

电力市场环境下互联电网恢复控制的评述

阐述现代互联电网对恢复控制的要求;比较不同的恢复控制策略,包括自下至上(bottomup)、自上至下(top-down)及混合策略;讨论其优化与协调.根据各种恢复策略涉及的技术与经济因素,讨论决策支持系统应具备的功能.提出基于风险的自适应决策优化,分析市场环境对启动电源(包括黑启动)服务和恢复控制的影响,提出经济层面的优化及其与技术层面的协调.强调以量化指标反映启动电源服务的技术性能及停电风险,兼顾启动电源的经济性与可靠性.     

互联电网恢复控制的自适应优化

建立统一考虑负荷恢复的收益、控制代价及恢复过程中系统风险的恢复控制优化模型.提出2层优化框架,按"分区独立优化、协调动态分区"方式自适应优化,克服离线预案依据的场景及措施优先顺序不变的缺点.同时将研究从自下而上(bottom-up)策略拓展到自上而下(top-down)策略和混合策略,包括各类策略内部的优化和不同策略之间的协调.基于自适应优化和风险决策的观点,设计模块算法.按大停电防御体系的信息、分析、控制3个要素,设计在线决策支持系统的框架模型,阐明各功能模块间的逻辑关系,并用仿真验证了其有效性和自适应性.     

Dietary supplement for energy and reduced appetite containing the β-agonist isopropyloctopamine leads to heart problems and hospitalisations

In 2013 the Dutch authorities issued a warning against a dietary supplement that was linked to 11 reported adverse reactions, including heart problems and in one case even a cardiac arrest. In the UK a 20-year-old woman, said to have overdosed on this supplement, died. Since according to the label the product was a herbal mixture, initial LC-MS/MS analysis focused on the detection of plant toxins. Yohimbe alkaloids, which are not allowed to be present in herbal preparations according to Dutch legislation, were found at relatively high levels (400–900 mg kg^–1). However, their presence did not explain the adverse health effects reported. Based on these effects the supplement was screened for the presence of a β-agonist, using three different biosensor assays, i.e. the validated competitive radioligand β2-adrenergic receptor binding assay, a validated β-agonists ELISA and a newly developed multiplex microsphere (bead)-based β-agonist assay with imaging detection (MAGPIX^®). The high responses obtained in these three biosensors suggested strongly the presence of a β-agonist. Inspection of the label indicated the presence of N-isopropyloctopamine. A pure standard of this compound was bought and shown to have a strong activity in the three biosensor assays. Analysis by LC-full-scan high-resolution MS confirmed the presence of this ‘unknown known’ β3-agonist N-isopropyloctopamine, reported to lead to heart problems at high doses. A confirmatory quantitative analysis revealed that one dose of the preparation resulted in an intake of 40–60 mg, which is within the therapeutic range of this compound. The case shows the strength of combining bioassays with chemical analytical techniques for identification of illegal pharmacologically active substances in food supplements.     

Predicting post-treatment-initiation alcohol use among patients with severe mental illness and alcohol use disorders.

Few investigators studying alcohol abuse among individuals with a severe mental illness (SMI) have examined predictors of posttreatment alcohol outcomes. In the present study, a multivariate approach based on a theoretical model was used to study the relationship between psychosocial factors and post-treatment-initiation alcohol use. Predictors of alcohol use outcomes were examined in 278 individuals diagnosed with a current schizophrenia-spectrum or bipolar disorder and an alcohol use disorder (AUD). At 6-months follow-up, 144 of 228 available participants (63%) had good clinical outcomes. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that type of pretreatment residential setting was directly related to treatment, with participants who lived in supervised settings (41%) reporting significantly more days of treatment (β = .34, p