The influence of metabolically engineered glucosinolates profiles in Arabidopsis thaliana on Plutella xylostella preference and performance

The oviposition preference and larval performance of the diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella, was studied using Arabidopsis thaliana plants with modified glucosinolate (GS) profiles containing novel GSs as a result of the introduction of individual CYP79 genes. The insect parameters were determined in a series of bioassays. The GS content of the plants as well as the number of trichomes were measured. Multivariate analysis was used to determine the possible relationships among insect and plant variables. The novel GSs in the tested lines did not appear to have any unequivocal effect on the DBM. Instead, the plant characteristics that affected larval performance and larval preference did not influence oviposition preference. Trichomes did not affect oviposition, but influenced larval parameters negatively. Although the tested A. thaliana lines had earlier been shown to influence disease resistance, in this study no clear results were found for P. xylostella

Joint projcet "Quiet traffic-reduced tyre-road-way noise"

Unter der Schirmherrschaft des Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung mit Unterstützung des Bundesministeriums für Verkehr, Bau- und Wohnungswesen wurde der Forschungsverbund "Leiser Verkehr" ins Leben gerufen. Darin bildet das Forschungsprogramm "Leiser Straßenverkehr" einen herausragenden Bereich. Um Lärmminderungspotentiale konsequent auszuschöpfen und damit den Bau von lokal begrenzten, kostspieligen Infrastruktureinrichtungen (wie zum Beispiel Schallschutzwänden) zu vermeiden, müssen Maßnahmen an der Quelle " in der Kontaktfläche Reifen/Fahrbahn " ansetzen, wobei das Gesamtsystem Reifen, Fahrzeug, Fahrbahn zu optimieren ist. 15 Partner aus Reifen-, Fahrzeug- und Straßenbauindustrie sowie der Forschung waren unter Leitung der Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen von Mitte 2001 bis Ende 2003 an dem Projekt "Leiser Straßenverkehr" beteiligt. Ausgehend von Untersuchungen auf fünf verschiedenen Fahrbahnoberflächen an 40 Reifensätzen, die sich durch Profil, Gummimischung und Unterbau unterschieden, zeigte einer der Reifen mit selbsttragender Seitenwand auf allen Belägen die größten Geräuschminderungen. Der Schalldruckpegel bei 80 km/h reduzierte sich um 1,3 dB(A) auf Splittmastixasphalt und um 1,7 dB(A) auf Betondecke mit Jutetuchlängsstrich gegenüber einem handelsüblichen Reifen. An der Komponente Fahrzeug erfolgten Modifikationen am PKW-Radhaus, die das Gesamtpotential ausloteten. Die Geräuschreduzierung bei 80 km/h durch die Auskleidung mit schallabsorbierendem Schaumstoff sowie die zusätzliche Abdeckung der hinteren Radausschnitte und vorderen Radscheiben im Vergleich zum Serienradhaus betrug 0,5 dB(A) bis 2 dB(A) in Abhängigkeit des Belages. Die optimierten Fahrbahnoberflächen zeigten im Vergleich zur Referenzoberfläche "nicht geriffelter Gussasphalt" zum Teil deutliche Geräuschminderungen. Der Schalldruckpegel von LKW bei 80 km/h reduzierte sich auf einem verbesserten offenporigen Asphalt, gemessen auf der Bundesautobahn A1, um rund 4 dB(A). Auf der Bundesstraße B56 wiesen Fahrbahnoberflächen aus offenporigem Beton, Waschbeton und lärmreduziertem Gussasphalt bei 100 km/h einen bis zu 6 dB(A) geringeren PKW-Vorbeifahrtpegel auf. Die Gesamtbewertung aller optimierten Komponenten des Systems Reifen-Fahrzeug-Fahrbahn erfolgte in Form eines Experimentes auf der B56. Als Referenz fungierte ein mit handelsüblichen Reifen und Serienradhaus ausgestattetes Fahrzeug auf einer Fahrbahnoberfläche aus Splittmastixsasphalt beziehungsweise Betondecke mit Jutetuchlängsstrich. Die Schallmessungen bei 80 km/h erzielten einen um 3 dB(A) verminderten Vorbeifahrtpegel auf einer Oberfläche aus lärmgemindertem Gussasphalt sowie einen um 7 dB(A) reduzierten Pegel auf einer Fahrbahn aus offenporigem Beton. Die Weiterentwicklung von Fahrbahnübergängen an Brücken zielte auf die Annäherung der Schallemissionen bei der Reifenüberrollung an die der angrenzenden Fahrbahnoberfläche ab. Es wurden vier Varianten untersucht. Die Übergänge mit aufgeschraubten, wellenförmigen Blechen brachten eine Lärmminderung bis zu 3 dB(A) gegenüber einem repräsentativen regelgeprüften Fahrbahnübergang in Lamellenbauweise. Der neuentwickelte Lamellenübergang mit fugenfüllendem Elastomerprofil zeigte bei den Messungen noch nicht die erwartete Lärmminderungswirkung. Über diese Forschungsaktivitäten hinaus wurden in situ-Messsysteme für zwei akustische Eigenschaften entwickelt, deren Erfassung bisher nur im Labor möglich war. Diese Parameter dienten unter anderem der Erweiterung eines statistischen Modells ("SPERoN") zur Analyse des akustischen Verhaltens von dichten und offenporigen Fahrbahnoberflächen. Ein physikalisches Finite-Elemente-Modell zur Simulation von Reifen-Fahrbahn-Geräuschen befindet sich derzeit in der Entwicklung und soll bis Ende 2004 fertig gestellt sein. Das diesem Bericht zugrunde liegende Vorhaben wurde aus Mitteln des Bundeministeriums für Bildung und Forschung unter dem Förderkreiskennzeichen 19 U 1055 gefördert. Die Verantwortung für den Inhalt dieser gemeinsamen Veröffentlichung liegt bei den AutorenThe research network "Quiet Transport" was formed under the aegis of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research and the support of the Federal Ministry for Transport, Building and Housing. The "Quiet Road Traffic" research program has a primary place in this association. In order to make full use of noise reduction potentials and thus to prevent the construction of locally limited and expensive infrastructure installations (such as, for instance, acoustic protection walls), it is necessary to take measures at the source " at the contact surface of tyre and road, whereby the whole system of tyre and road surface must be optimised. 15 Partners from the tyre, vehicle and road construction industries as well as from research headed by the Federak Highway Research Institute were involved in the "Quiet Road Traffic" project from the middle of 2001 to the end of 2003. Starting with investigations on five different road surfaces and 40 tyre sets that differed in profile, structure and foundation, one of the tyre sets with self-supporting sidewalls showed the greatest amount of noise reduction on all surfaces. The coast-by level at 80 km/h was reduced by 1.3 dB(A) on stone mastic asphalt and by 1.7 dB(A) on a concrete surface with burlap as compared to a commercially available tyre. On the side of the vehicle, there were modifications to the wheel housing which added to the overall potential. The noise reduction at 80 km/h by lining it with absorbent foam material as well as the additional covering of the rear wheel arches and the front wheel discs, amounted to 0,5 dB(A) to 2 dB(A) depending on the road surface. In comparison to the reference surface"non-corrugated gussasphalt", the optimised road surfaces showed partly clear noise reductions. The sound level of trucks at 80 km/h was reduced by approximately 4 dB(A) on an improved porous asphalt, measured on the Federal motorway A1. On the B56, a federal road with road surfaces of porous concrete, concrete with exposed aggregates and noise-reduced gussasphalt, the statistical pass-by level at 100 km/h was reduced by up to 6 dB(A). The overall evaluation of the optimised components of the system tyres-vehicle-road surface was carried out in the form of an experiment on the B 56. A vehicle equipped with commercially available tyres and series wheel housings travelling on a road surface of stone mastic asphalt or concrete surface with burlap was used as a reference. The noise measurement at 80 km/h achieved a reduction of 3 dB(A) statistical pass-by level on a surface of noise-reduced gussasphalt as well as an approximately reduced noise level of 7 dB(A) on a road surface with porous concrete. The further development of expansion joints was targeted to the approximation of the noise emissions with the tyre roll on the abutting road surface. Four variants were investigated. The expansion joints with bolted-on corrugated metal sheets brought a reduction of up to 3 dB(A) compared to a representative normally tested joint of the lamella construction. The newly developed lamella joint with an elastomeric gap filling did not show the expected reduction in noise level during measurements. In addition to these research activities, in-situ measurement systems were developed for two acoustic properties whose acquisition had previously only been possible in the laboratory. These parameters serve, among others, for the extension of a statistical mode ("SPERoN") for analysis of the behaviour of dense and porous road surfaces. A physical finite-element model for simulation of tyre-road surface-noise is presently being developed and should be completed by the end of 2004. The project which is the subject of this report was subsidised with funds from the Federal Ministry for Education an Resarch under subsidy no. 19 U 1055. The authors are resonsible for the content of this joint publication

Glucosinolate structural diversity shapes recruitment of a metabolic network of leaf-associated bacteria

International audienceHost defenses can have broader ecological roles, but how they shape natural microbiome recruitment is poorly understood. Aliphatic glucosinolates (GLSs) are secondary defense metabolites in Brassicaceae plant leaves. Their genetically defined structure shapes interactions with pests in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves, and here we find that it also shapes bacterial recruitment. In model genotype Col-0, GLSs (mostly 4-methylsulfinylbutyl-GLS) have no clear effect on natural leaf bacterial recruitment. In a genotype from a wild population, however, GLSs (mostly allyl-GLS) enrich specific taxa, mostly Comamonadaceae and Oxalobacteraceae. Consistently, Comamonadaceae are also enriched in wild A. thaliana, and Oxalobacteraceae are enriched from wild plants on allyl-GLS as carbon source, but not on 4-methylsulfinylbutyl-GLS. Recruitment differences between GLS structures most likely arise from bacterial myrosinase specificity. Community recruitment is then defined by metabolic cross-feeding among bacteria. The link of genetically defined metabolites to recruitment could lead to new strategies to shape plant microbiome balance

Dimerization of the plant molybdenum insertase Cnx1E is required for synthesis of the molybdenum cofactor

The molybdenum cofactor (Moco) is a redox active prosthetic group, essentially required for numerous enzyme-catalyzed two electron transfer reactions. Moco is synthesized by an evolutionarily old and highly conserved multistep pathway. In the last step of Moco biosynthesis, the molybdenum center is inserted into the final Moco precursor adenylated molybdopterin (MPT-AMP). This unique and yet poorly characterized maturation reaction finally yields physiologically active Moco. In the model plant Arabidopsis, the two domain enzyme, Cnx1, is required for Moco formation. Recently, a genetic screen identified novel Arabidopsis cnx1 mutant plant lines each harboring a single amino acid exchange in the N-terminal Cnx1E domain. Biochemical characterization of the respective recombinant Cnx1E variants revealed two different amino acid exchanges (S197F and G175D) that impair Cnx1E dimerization, thus linking Cnx1E oligomerization to Cnx1 functionality. Analysis of the Cnx1E structure identified Cnx1E active site-bound molybdate and magnesium ions, which allowed to fine-map the Cnx1E MPT-AMP-binding site.</jats:p