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result(s) for
"Growth and Development"
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Organicity : entropy or evolution
\"In this visionary book, David Dobereiner lucidly delves into the present urban and ecological impasse and examines the prospects for our future.\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Fungal networks shape dynamics of bacterial dispersal and community assembly in cheese rind microbiomes
Most studies of bacterial motility have examined small-scale (micrometer–centimeter) cell dispersal in monocultures. However, bacteria live in multispecies communities, where interactions with other microbes may inhibit or facilitate dispersal. Here, we demonstrate that motile bacteria in cheese rind microbiomes use physical networks created by filamentous fungi for dispersal, and that these interactions can shape microbial community structure.
Serratia proteamaculans
and other motile cheese rind bacteria disperse on fungal networks by swimming in the liquid layers formed on fungal hyphae. RNA-sequencing, transposon mutagenesis, and comparative genomics identify potential genetic mechanisms, including flagella-mediated motility, that control bacterial dispersal on hyphae. By manipulating fungal networks in experimental communities, we demonstrate that fungal-mediated bacterial dispersal can shift cheese rind microbiome composition by promoting the growth of motile over non-motile community members. Our single-cell to whole-community systems approach highlights the interactive dynamics of bacterial motility in multispecies microbiomes.
Interactions with other microbes may inhibit or facilitate the dispersal of bacteria. Here, Zhang et al. use cheese rind microbiomes as a model to show that physical networks created by filamentous fungi can affect the dispersal of motile bacteria and thus shape the diversity of microbial communities.
Journal Article
Speed breeding in growth chambers and glasshouses for crop breeding and model plant research
‘Speed breeding’ (SB) shortens the breeding cycle and accelerates crop research through rapid generation advancement. SB can be carried out in numerous ways, one of which involves extending the duration of plants’ daily exposure to light, combined with early seed harvest, to cycle quickly from seed to seed, thereby reducing the generation times for some long-day (LD) or day-neutral crops. In this protocol, we present glasshouse and growth chamber–based SB approaches with supporting data from experimentation with several crops. We describe the conditions that promote the rapid growth of bread wheat, durum wheat, barley, oat, various Brassica species, chickpea, pea, grass pea, quinoa and Brachypodium distachyon. Points of flexibility within the protocols are highlighted, including how plant density can be increased to efficiently scale up plant numbers for single-seed descent (SSD). In addition, instructions are provided on how to perform SB on a small scale in a benchtop growth cabinet, enabling optimization of parameters at a low cost.
Journal Article
Growth : a reckoning
At this time of uncertainty about growth and its value, award-winning economist Daniel Susskind has written an essential reckoning. In a sweeping analysis full of historical insight, he argues that we cannot abandon growth but shows instead how we must redirect it, making it better reflect what we truly value. He explores what really drives growth, and offers original ideas for combatting our economic slowdown. Lucid, thought-provoking and brilliantly researched, 'Growth' is a vital guide to one of our greatest preoccupations.
BOOK
Microbiota Transfer Therapy alters gut ecosystem and improves gastrointestinal and autism symptoms: an open-label study
Background
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are complex neurobiological disorders that impair social interactions and communication and lead to restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. The causes of these disorders remain poorly understood, but gut microbiota, the 10
13
bacteria in the human intestines, have been implicated because children with ASD often suffer gastrointestinal (GI) problems that correlate with ASD severity. Several previous studies have reported abnormal gut bacteria in children with ASD. The gut microbiome-ASD connection has been tested in a mouse model of ASD, where the microbiome was mechanistically linked to abnormal metabolites and behavior. Similarly, a study of children with ASD found that oral non-absorbable antibiotic treatment improved GI and ASD symptoms, albeit temporarily. Here, a small open-label clinical trial evaluated the impact of Microbiota Transfer Therapy (MTT) on gut microbiota composition and GI and ASD symptoms of 18 ASD-diagnosed children.
Results
MTT involved a 2-week antibiotic treatment, a bowel cleanse, and then an extended fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) using a high initial dose followed by daily and lower maintenance doses for 7–8 weeks. The Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale revealed an approximately 80% reduction of GI symptoms at the end of treatment, including significant improvements in symptoms of constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, and abdominal pain. Improvements persisted 8 weeks after treatment. Similarly, clinical assessments showed that behavioral ASD symptoms improved significantly and remained improved 8 weeks after treatment ended. Bacterial and phagedeep sequencing analyses revealed successful partial engraftment of donor microbiota and beneficial changes in the gut environment. Specifically, overall bacterial diversity and the abundance of
Bifidobacterium
,
Prevotella
, and
Desulfovibrio
among other taxa increased following MTT, and these changes persisted after treatment stopped (followed for 8 weeks).
Conclusions
This exploratory, extended-duration treatment protocol thus appears to be a promising approach to alter the gut microbiome and virome and improve GI and behavioral symptoms of ASD. Improvements in GI symptoms, ASD symptoms, and the microbiome all persisted for at least 8 weeks after treatment ended, suggesting a long-term impact.
Trial registration
This trial was registered on the ClinicalTrials.gov, with the registration number
NCT02504554
Journal Article
Urban future 21 : a global agenda for twenty-first century cities
'Urban Future 21' is an entirely new and comprehensive review of the state of world urban development at the millennium and a forecast of the main issues that will dominate urban debates in the next 25 years.
Book
Production, extraction and characterization of Chlorella vulgaris soluble polysaccharides and their applications in AgNPs biosynthesis and biostimulation of plant growth
Chlorella vulgaris
, like a wide range of other microalgae, are able to grow mixotrophically. This maximizes its growth and production of polysaccharides (PS). The extracted polysaccharides have a complex monosaccharide composition (fructose, maltose, lactose and glucose), sulphate (210.65 ± 10.5 mg g
−1
PS), uronic acids (171.97 ± 5.7 mg g
−1
PS), total protein content (32.99 ± 2.1 mg g
−1
PS), and total carbohydrate (495.44 ± 8.4 mg g
−1
PS). Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis of the extracted polysaccharides showed the presence of N–H, O–H, C–H, –CH
3
, >CH
2
, COO
−1
, S=O and the C=O functional groups. UV–Visible spectral analysis shows the presence of proteins, nucleic acids and chemical groups (ester, carbonyl, carboxyl and amine). Purified polysaccharides were light green in color and in a form of odorless powder. It was soluble in water but insoluble in other organic solvents. Thermogravimetric analysis demonstrates that
Chlorella vulgaris
soluble polysaccharide is thermostable until 240°C and degradation occurs in three distinct phases. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis showed the characteristic exothermic transition of
Chlorella vulgaris
soluble polysaccharides with crystallization temperature peaks at 144.1°C, 162.3°C and 227.7°C. The X–ray diffractogram illustrated the semicrystalline nature of these polysaccharides. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) had been biosynthesized using a solution of
Chlorella vulgaris
soluble polysaccharides. The pale green color solution of soluble polysaccharides was turned brown when it was incubated for 24 hours with 100 mM silver nitrate in the dark, it showed peak maximum located at 430 nm. FT-IR analysis for the biosynthesized AgNPs reported the presence of carbonyl, –CH
3
, >CH
2
, C–H,–OH and –NH functional groups. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy show that AgNPs have spherical shape with an average particle size of 5.76. Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis showed the dominance of silver. The biosynthesized silver nanoparticles were tested for its antimicrobial activity and have positive effects against
Bacillus
sp.,
Erwinia
sp.,
Candida
sp. Priming seeds of
Triticum vulgare
and
Phaseolus vulgaris
with polysaccharides solutions (3 and 5 mg mL
−1
) resulted in significant enhancement of seedling growth. Increased root length, leaf area, shoot length, photosynthetic pigments, protein content, carbohydrate content, fresh and dry biomass were observed, in addition these growth increments may be attributed to the increase of antioxidant activities.
Journal Article
Managing nitrogen through cover crop species selection in the U.S. mid-Atlantic
Cover crops have the potential to be agricultural nitrogen (N) regulators that reduce leaching through soils and then deliver N to subsequent cash crops. Yet, regulating N in this way has proven difficult because the few cover crop species that are well-studied excel at either reducing N leaching or increasing N supply to cash crops, but they fail to excel at both simultaneously. We hypothesized that mixed species cover crop stands might balance the N fixing and N scavenging capabilities of individual species. We tested six cover crop monocultures and four mixtures for their effects on N cycling in an organically managed maize-soybean-wheat feed grain rotation in Pennsylvania, USA. For three years, we used a suite of integrated approaches to quantify N dynamics, including extractable soil inorganic N, buried anion exchange resins, bucket lysimeters, and plant N uptake. All cover crop species, including legume monocultures, reduced N leaching compared to fallow plots. Cereal rye monocultures reduced N leaching to buried resins by 90% relative to fallow; notably, mixtures with just a low seeding rate of rye did almost as well. Austrian winter pea monocultures increased N uptake in maize silage by 40 kg N ha-1 relative to fallow, and conversely rye monocultures decreased N uptake into maize silage by 40 kg N ha-1 relative to fallow. Importantly, cover crop mixtures had larger impacts on leaching reduction than on maize N uptake, when compared to fallow plots. For example, a three-species mixture of pea, red clover, and rye had similar maize N uptake to fallow plots, but leaching rates were 80% lower in this mixture than fallow plots. Our results show clearly that cover crop species selection and mixture design can substantially mitigate tradeoffs between N retention and N supply to cash crops, providing a powerful tool for managing N in temperate cropping systems.
Journal Article