Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg

About: Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg is a education organization based out in Halle, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Liquid crystal. The organization has 20232 authors who have published 38773 publications receiving 965004 citations. The organization is also known as: MLU & University of Wittenberg.

Promoter elements of rice susceptibility genes are bound and activated by specific TAL effectors from the bacterial blight pathogen, Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae.

Abstract: Summary •Plant pathogenic bacteria of the genus Xanthomonas inject transcription activator-like effector (TALe) proteins that bind to and activate host promoters, thereby promoting disease or inducing plant defense. TALes bind to corresponding UPT (up-regulated by TALe) promoter boxes via tandemly arranged 34/35-amino acid repeats. Recent studies uncovered the TALe code in which two amino acid residues of each repeat define specific pairing to UPT boxes. •Here we employed the TALe code to predict potential UPT boxes in TALe-induced host promoters and analyzed these via β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter and electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA). •We demonstrate that the Xa13, OsTFX1 and Os11N3 promoters from rice are induced directly by the Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae TALes PthXo1, PthXo6 and AvrXa7, respectively. We identified and functionally validated a UPT box in the corresponding rice target promoter for each TALe and show that box mutations suppress TALe-mediated promoter activation. Finally, EMSA demonstrate that code-predicted UPT boxes interact specifically with corresponding TALes. •Our findings show that variations in the UPT boxes of different rice accessions correlate with susceptibility or resistance of these accessions to the bacterial blight pathogen.

Integrating ecosystem services and disservices: insights from plant invasions

Abstract: There is growing interest in ecosystem disservices, i.e. the negative effects of ecosystems on humans. The focus on disservices has been controversial because of the lack of clarity on how to disentangle ecosystem services and disservices related to human wellbeing. A perspective that considers both services and disservices is needed to inform objective decision-making. We propose a comprehensive typology of ecosystem disservices, and present a framework for integrating ecosystem services and disservices for human wellbeing linked to ecosystem functioning. Our treatment is underpinned by three key assumptions: (1) ecosystem attributes and functions are value-free; (2) the perception of benefits or nuisances are however dependent on societal context, and preferences and actions by societal actors may trigger, enhance or alleviate benefits or nuisances derived from ecosystems; and (3) the notion of disservices must account for the role of human management in assessments of ecosystem values, i.e. the social and technological measures that identify, protect, promote or restore desirable levels of services, and concurrently minimise, mitigate or adapt to disservices. We illustrate our ideas with examples from plant invasions as a complex social-ecological phenomenon.

New Method for Determining the Degree of Cellulose I Crystallinity by Means of FT Raman Spectroscopy

Abstract: A Raman crystallinity index – XcRaman – characterizing the degree of crystallinity of partially crystalline cellulose I samples was created, utilizing the crystallinity dependence of CH2 bending modes. For calibration, physical mixtures containing different mass fractions of crystalline cellulose I and its amorphous form were prepared. Crystallinities from 0 to 60% were generated. Relative intensity ratios of the Raman lines I\(_{1481 {cm^-1}}\) and I\(_{1462 {cm^-1}}\) characterizing crystalline and amorphous parts of cellulose I correlated linearly with the mass fraction of crystalline cellulose I of the mixtures. XcRaman values of microcrystalline celluloses of different origins and varying degree of crystallinity correlated reasonably with results obtained from NMR spectroscopy (XcNMR values).