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The role of EU agencies in fighting transnational environmental crime : new challenges for Eurojust and Europol
\"The last decades have witnessed a growing emphasis on the relationship between environmental law and criminal law. Legislation aimed at tackling environmental crime has been adopted at national, EU, and international level and has been gradually evolving over time. These developments notwithstanding, the current legal framework faces a number of challenges in tackling the largely inter-related phenomena of transnational, organised and economic environmental crime. This study by Valsamis Mitsilegas and Fabio Giuffrida addresses these challenges by focusing on the role of the European Union- and more specifically its criminal justice agencies (Europol and Eurojust)- in tackling transnational environmental crime. The study analyses the role of Eurojust and Europol in supporting and coordinating the competent national authorities dealing with investigations and/or prosecutions on transnational environmental crime, and it shows that, for the time being, the full potential of these agencies is not adequately exploited with regard to fighting this phenomenon effectively\"--Back cover.
Book
Current understanding of biological identity at the nanoscale and future prospects
Nanoscale objects are processed by living organisms using highly evolved and sophisticated endogenous cellular networks, specifically designed to manage objects of this size. While these processes potentially allow nanostructures unique access to and control over key biological machineries, they are also highly protected by cell or host defence mechanisms at all levels. A thorough understanding of bionanoscale recognition events, including the molecules involved in the cell recognition machinery, the nature of information transferred during recognition processes and the coupled downstream cellular processing, would allow us to achieve a qualitatively novel form of biological control and advanced therapeutics. Here we discuss evolving fundamental microscopic and mechanistic understanding of biological nanoscale recognition. We consider the interface between a nanostructure and a target cell membrane, outlining the categories of nanostructure properties that are recognized, and the associated nanoscale signal transduction and cellular programming mechanisms that constitute biological recognition.
This Perspective reflects current understanding and future prospects of nanoscale biological recognition at the bio–nano interface and the opportunity that such insights provide for advancing nanoscale therapies. The authors describe the key mechanisms and propose a framework of principles that could guide future research efforts in the area.
Journal Article
Combating corruption : legal approaches to supporting good governance and integrity in Africa
\"This is a truly excellent book: wide-ranging, meticulous scholarship, very well written and easy to read. It should be on the desks of every senior civil servant, government lawyer and politician in every African country. After this book, there is no excuse for not having in place the necessary legal framework and equally important, for not using that legal framework to combat corruption.\"--Patrick McAuslan, Birkbeck University of London, UK. Drawing on numerous recent examples of good and bad practice from around the continent, this insightful volume explores the legal issues involved in developing and enhancing good governance and accountability within African states, as well as addressing the need for other states worldwide to demonstrate the 'transnational political will' to support these efforts. John Hatchard considers the need for good governance, accountability and integrity in both the public and private sector. He studies how these issues are reflected in both the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. The book demonstrates that despite the vast majority of African states being party to these conventions, in practice, many of them continue to experience problems of bad governance, corporate bribery and the looting of state assets. It explores how the 'art of persuasion' can help develop the necessary political will through which to address these challenges at both the national and transnational levels. This unique and influential book will be of worldwide interest to those studying law, politics or business, as well as legal practitioners, policymakers, senior public officials, parliamentarians, law reformers, civil society organisations and the corporate sector.
Book
Biocontrol yeasts: mechanisms and applications
Yeasts occur in all environments and have been described as potent antagonists of various plant pathogens. Due to their antagonistic ability, undemanding cultivation requirements, and limited biosafety concerns, many of these unicellular fungi have been considered for biocontrol applications. Here, we review the fundamental research on the mechanisms (e.g., competition, enzyme secretion, toxin production, volatiles, mycoparasitism, induction of resistance) by which biocontrol yeasts exert their activity as plant protection agents. In a second part, we focus on five yeast species (Candida oleophila, Aureobasidium pullulans, Metschnikowia fructicola, Cryptococcus albidus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae) that are or have been registered for the application as biocontrol products. These examples demonstrate the potential of yeasts for commercial biocontrol usage, but this review also highlights the scarcity of fundamental studies on yeast biocontrol mechanisms and of registered yeast-based biocontrol products. Yeast biocontrol mechanisms thus represent a largely unexplored field of research and plentiful opportunities for the development of commercial, yeast-based applications for plant protection exist.
Journal Article
What do we know about soil carbon destabilization?
Most empirical and modeling research on soil carbon (C) dynamics has focused on those processes that control and promote C stabilization. However, we lack a strong, generalizable understanding of the mechanisms through which soil organic carbon (SOC) is destabilized in soils. Yet a clear understanding of C destabilization processes in soil is needed to quantify the feedbacks of the soil C cycle to the Earth system. Destabilization includes processes that occur along a spectrum through which SOC shifts from a 'protected' state to an 'available' state to microbial cells where it can be mineralized to gaseous forms or to soluble forms that are then lost from the soil system. These processes fall into three general categories: (1) release from physical occlusion through processes such as tillage, bioturbation, or freeze-thaw and wetting-drying cycles; (2) C desorption from soil solids and colloids; and (3) increased C metabolism. Many processes that stabilize soil C can also destabilize C, and C gain or loss depends on the balance between competing reactions. For example, earthworms may both destabilize C through aggregate destruction, but may also create new aggregates and redistribute C into mineral horizon. Similarly, mycorrhizae and roots form new soil C but may also destabilize old soil C through priming and promoting microbial mining; labile C inputs cause C stabilization through increased carbon use efficiency or may fuel priming. Changes to the soil environment that affect the solubility of minerals or change the relative surfaces charges of minerals can destabilize SOC, including increased pH or in the reductive dissolution of Fe-bearing minerals. By considering these different physical, chemical, and biological controls as processes that contribute to soil C destabilization, we can develop thoughtful new hypotheses about the persistence and vulnerability of C in soils and make more accurate and robust predictions of soil C cycling in a changing environment.
Journal Article
Chemical gradients in human enamel crystallites
Dental enamel is a principal component of teeth
1
, and has evolved to bear large chewing forces, resist mechanical fatigue and withstand wear over decades
2
. Functional impairment and loss of dental enamel, caused by developmental defects or tooth decay (caries), affect health and quality of life, with associated costs to society
3
. Although the past decade has seen progress in our understanding of enamel formation (amelogenesis) and the functional properties of mature enamel, attempts to repair lesions in this material or to synthesize it in vitro have had limited success
4
–
6
. This is partly due to the highly hierarchical structure of enamel and additional complexities arising from chemical gradients
7
–
9
. Here we show, using atomic-scale quantitative imaging and correlative spectroscopies, that the nanoscale crystallites of hydroxylapatite (Ca
5
(PO
4
)
3
(OH)), which are the fundamental building blocks of enamel, comprise two nanometric layers enriched in magnesium flanking a core rich in sodium, fluoride and carbonate ions; this sandwich core is surrounded by a shell with lower concentration of substitutional defects. A mechanical model based on density functional theory calculations and X-ray diffraction data predicts that residual stresses arise because of the chemical gradients, in agreement with preferential dissolution of the crystallite core in acidic media. Furthermore, stresses may affect the mechanical resilience of enamel. The two additional layers of hierarchy suggest a possible new model for biological control over crystal growth during amelogenesis, and hint at implications for the preservation of biomarkers during tooth development.
Hydroxylapatite crystallites in human dental enamel show gradients in chemical composition, with a layer of magnesium enrichment on each side of a core rich in sodium, fluoride and carbonate ions.
Journal Article
The parasitoid complex of D. suzukii and other fruit feeding Drosophila species in Asia
Drosophila suzukii is an invasive fly of East Asian origin that has become a serious fruit pest worldwide. Classical biological control through the introduction of parasitoids from Asia could help reduce populations of D. suzukii in invaded regions. Little is known about the native parasitoids of the fly in Asia. Therefore, surveys for larval parasitoids of D. suzukii were carried out in China and Japan between 2015 and 2017. Parasitoids of D. suzukii and other fruit-inhabiting drosophilids (D. pulchrella and D. subpulchrella) that are probably attacked by the same parasitoid complex were found in four Chinese provinces and four Japanese prefectures. Larval parasitoids were obtained at most sites where D. suzukii was found, with parasitism varying from 0.0 to 75.6%. At least eight parasitoid species were reared. The most abundant and frequent parasitoids were the Figitidae Ganaspis cf. brasiliensis and Leptopilina japonica, but another Leptopilina species and at least five Braconidae species belonging to the genera Areotetes, Asobara and Tanycarpa were obtained in low numbers. Due to its likely restricted host range, the most promising parasitoid for biological control is Ganaspis cf. brasiliensis. However, its exact specificity and taxonomic status require future research.
Journal Article
New species and records of Trichoderma isolated as mycoparasites and endophytes from cultivated and wild coffee in Africa
A survey for species of the genus
Trichoderma
occurring as endophytes of
Coffea,
and as mycoparasites of coffee rusts (
Hemileia
), was undertaken in Africa; concentrating on Cameroon and Ethiopia. Ninety-four isolates of
Trichoderma
were obtained during this study: 76 as endophytes of healthy leaves, stems and berries and, 18 directly from colonized rust pustules. A phylogenetic analysis of all isolates used a combination of three genes: translation elongation factor-1α (
tef1
),
rpb2
and
cal
for selected isolates. GCPSR criteria were used for the recognition of species; supported by morphological and cultural characters. The results reveal a previously unrecorded diversity of
Trichoderma
species endophytic in both wild and cultivated
Coffea
, and mycoparasitic on
Hemileia
rusts. Sixteen species were delimited, including four novel taxa which are described herein:
T. botryosum
,
T. caeruloviride
,
T. lentissimum
and
T. pseudopyramidale
. Two of these new species,
T
.
botryosum
and
T
.
pseudopyramidale
, constituted over 60% of the total isolations, predominantly from wild
C
.
arabica
in Ethiopian cloud forest. In sharp contrast, not a single isolate of
Trichoderma
was obtained using the same isolation protocol during a survey of coffee in four Brazilian states, suggesting the existence of a ‘
Trichoderma
void’ in the endophyte mycobiota of coffee outside of Africa. The potential use of these African
Trichoderma
isolates in classical biological control, either as endophytic bodyguards—to protect coffee plants from
Hemileia vastatrix
, the fungus causing coffee leaf rust (CLR)—or to reduce its impact through mycoparasitism, is discussed, with reference to the on-going CLR crisis in Central America.
Journal Article
Modular and tunable biological feedback control using a de novo protein switch
De novo-designed proteins
1
–
3
hold great promise as building blocks for synthetic circuits, and can complement the use of engineered variants of natural proteins
4
–
7
. One such designer protein—degronLOCKR, which is based on ‘latching orthogonal cage–key proteins’ (LOCKR) technology
8
—is a switch that degrades a protein of interest in vivo upon induction by a genetically encoded small peptide. Here we leverage the plug-and-play nature of degronLOCKR to implement feedback control of endogenous signalling pathways and synthetic gene circuits. We first generate synthetic negative and positive feedback in the yeast mating pathway by fusing degronLOCKR to endogenous signalling molecules, illustrating the ease with which this strategy can be used to rewire complex endogenous pathways. We next evaluate feedback control mediated by degronLOCKR on a synthetic gene circuit
9
, to quantify the feedback capabilities and operational range of the feedback control circuit. The designed nature of degronLOCKR proteins enables simple and rational modifications to tune feedback behaviour in both the synthetic circuit and the mating pathway. The ability to engineer feedback control into living cells represents an important milestone in achieving the full potential of synthetic biology
10
,
11
,
12
. More broadly, this work demonstrates the large and untapped potential of de novo design of proteins for generating tools that implement complex synthetic functionalities in cells for biotechnological and therapeutic applications.
DegronLOCKR designer-protein technology is used to implement synthetic positive- and negative-feedback systems in the yeast mating pathway as well as feedback control of a synthetic gene circuit.
Journal Article
Mosquito control with green nanopesticides: towards the One Health approach? A review of non-target effects
The rapid spread of highly aggressive arboviruses, parasites, and bacteria along with the development of resistance in the pathogens and parasites, as well as in their arthropod vectors, represents a huge challenge in modern parasitology and tropical medicine. Eco-friendly vector control programs are crucial to fight, besides malaria, the spread of dengue, West Nile, chikungunya, and Zika virus, as well as other arboviruses such as St. Louis encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis. However, research efforts on the control of mosquito vectors are experiencing a serious lack of eco-friendly and highly effective pesticides, as well as the limited success of most biocontrol tools currently applied. Most importantly, a cooperative interface between the two disciplines is still lacking. To face this challenge, we have reviewed a wide number of promising results in the field of green-fabricated pesticides tested against mosquito vectors, outlining several examples of synergy with classic biological control tools. The non-target effects of green-fabricated nanopesticides, including acute toxicity, genotoxicity, and impact on behavioral traits of mosquito predators, have been critically discussed. In the final section, we have identified several key challenges at the interface between \"green\" nanotechnology and classic biological control, which deserve further research attention.
Journal Article