Sepallata genes and their role during floral organ formation

Charles Darwin called the ability and success of angiosperms to colonise various parts of the earth even under unfavorable conditions an abominable mystery. This mystery is still not solved but one idea to explain the success of angiosperms is the development of the flower. SEPALLATA genes are common across angiosperms and play a major role in the development of all four floral organs and meristem determinacy. SEP genes occurred via Whole Genome Duplication (WGD) and are described as redundantly acting genes in the model organism A. thaliana. However, this study shows non-redundant functions affecting all floral organs for all four genes, especially under elevated growth conditions affecting the robustness and reproductive fitness of the plant, suggesting a diversification. SEPALLATA4 in particularly has a specific role within this gene family based on its early expression pattern compared to the other SEPs and its effect on flowering time, floral meristem maintenance, floral organ identity and organ number. The identification of genome wide targets of SEP4 and expression analysis revealed a bi-functional role for this transcription factor during flower development. Comparison between SEP3 and SEP4 targets revealed a large number of common but also independent targets, indicating that flower development is regulated to a large degree redundantly but also has independent ways of regulation. This suggests that maintenance of multiple genes after a WGD event in angiosperms causes diversification in-between these genes and contributes to the robustness of the plant to environmental perturbations and has influenced their ability to radiate and occupy different ecological niches. This might be one explanation to explain the tremendous success of flowering plants

Building Strategic Cooperation: The Implementation of Cross-Sectoral Youth Policy in Luxembourg - Findings from an Evaluation Study

This report summarises the main findings of the evaluation of the Luxemburgish Youth Pact for an international audience and focuses on the implementation of a cross‐sectoral youth policy and cross-sectoral collaboration

Validität in multi-methodischen Forschungsdesigns: Reflexion von Herausforderungen in der Erforschung komplexer Fragestellungen

peer reviewedBildungsprozesse in der Jugendarbeit können aufgrund ihrer Vielschichtigkeit und Dynamik als komplexe Phänomene bezeichnet werden, deren empirische Erforschung den Blick auf ein Geflecht von Beziehungen und Strukturen erfordert. Um der Komplexität dieses Forschungsgegenstandes angemessen zu begegnen, haben BIEWERS GRIMM, LATZ, WEIS und SAMUEL (2022) in einer Studie am Zentrum für Kindheits- und Jugendforschung der Universität Luxemburg verschiedene qualitative und quantitative Verfahren in einem Mixed-Methods-Design kombiniert. Dieses Vorgehen bei der Datenerhebung und -auswertung ermöglichte es, die Bedingungen und Erfahrungen sowie die expliziten und impliziten Aspekte von Bildung im Alltag der offenen Jugendarbeit aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven zu beleuchten. In der methodischen Reflexion der Studie zeigte sich, dass diese Ergebnisse aber nicht für eine gegenseitige Validierung genutzt werden konnten, da sie nicht konvergent zueinander waren. Die Qualität der Forschung stellte dies jedoch nicht infrage, denn auch die Komplementarität der Ergebnisse kann dazu beitragen, komplexe Forschungsgegenstände differenziert zu analysieren und tiefere, ganzheitlichere Einsichten zu generieren

Examining Neolithic Building and Activity Areas through Historic Cultural Heritage in Jordan: A Combined Ethnographic, Phytolith and Geochemical Investigation

The INEA project (Identifying activity areas in Neolithic sites through Ethnographic Analysis of phytoliths and geochemical residues, https://research.bournemouth. ac.uk/2014/07/inea-project-2/) develops and applies a method that combines the analysis of plant remains (silica phytoliths) and geochemical residues to inform on construction methods and the use of space in recently abandoned historical villages and Neolithic settlements. It is a collaborative project based at Bournemouth University, in partnership with the Council for British Research in the Levant

Multi-annual comparisons demonstrate differences in the bunch rot susceptibility of nine Vitis vinifera L. 'Riesling' clones

Botrytis bunch rot is a major fungal disease of grapevines, and causes severe economic damage worldwide. Under humid climatic conditions, the development of bunch rot on grapes cannot be suppressed completely. Selection of planting material with lower bunch rot susceptibility represents one of the most efficient long-term tools in the complex bunch rot minimisation strategy. The present investigation conducted over four consecutive years (2013-2016) under the environmental conditions of the Moselle valley aimed at (i) detecting consistent differences in the bunch rot susceptibility within a group of nine commercially available Vitis vinifera L. 'White Riesling' clones, (ii) investigating potential underlying causes and (iii) deriving recommendations for 'Riesling' clone selection in practical viticulture. Disease severity and grape maturity (total soluble solids) progress could be well simulated by sigmoidal curves (R2 > 0.89; P < 0.038). On average of all four years, the dates when 5 % bunch rot disease severity were reached differed significantly by 9 days between the clone with the earliest epidemic (Trier 34) and the clone with the latest epidemic (Heinz 65). Multi-annual results enabled a classification of the nine clones according to (i) their relative bunch rot susceptibility as well as (ii) their relative precocity. Based on this, practical recommendations concerning a targeted clone selection as an integral long-term tool (i) in Integrated Pest Management contributing to pesticide reduction in viticulture as well as (ii) in the viticultural climate change adaptation strategy were derived