Nature is increasingly threatened by rapid infrastructure expansion. For the first time, to our knowledge, we quantify the high pervasiveness of transportation infrastructure in all European countries. Unfortunately, spatial definition of the areas ecologically affected by infrastructure at large scales is complicated. Thus, we present a method for assessing the spatial extent of the impacts on birds and mammals at regional and national scales.

The capsid proteins (CPs) of geminiviruses combine multiple functions for packaging the single-stranded viral genome, insect transmission and shuttling between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV) CP was expressed in fission yeast, and purified by SDS gel electrophoresis. After tryptic digestion of this protein, mass spectrometry covered 85% of the amino acid sequence and detected three N-terminal phosphorylation sites (threonine 12, serines 25 and 62).

Plant tissues are resistant to the potentially damaging UV-B radiation intrinsic to sunlight. UV-B photoreception by a UV RESISTANCE LOCUS 8 (UVR8) photoreceptor regulates gene expression in plants associated with UV-B acclimation and stress tolerance and with morphological changes. Mechanistically, UV-B photon reception by specific tryptophan residues of UVR8 homodimers results in monomerization and enhanced nuclear accumulation of UVR8

The triterpenes are a large and highly diverse group of plant natural products. They are synthesized by cyclization of the linear isoprenoid 2,3-oxidosqualene into different triterpene scaffolds by enzymes known as triterpene synthases. This cyclization process is one of the most complex enzymatic reactions known and is only poorly understood. Here, we identify a conserved amino acid residue that is critical for both product and substrate specificity in triterpene synthases from diverse plant species.

Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is a ruinous soilborne disease affecting more than 450 plant species. Efficient control methods for this disease remain unavailable to date. This study characterized a novel nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat resistance gene AhRRS5 from peanut, which was up-regulated in both resistant and susceptible peanut cultivars in response to R. solanacearum.

Rice blast is caused by Magnaporthe oryzae, which is the most destructive fungal pathogen affecting rice growing regions worldwide. The rice blast resistance gene Pib confers broad-spectrum resistance against Southeast Asian M. oryzae races. We investigated the allelic diversity of Pib in rice germplasm originating from 12 major rice growing countries. Twenty-five new Pib alleles were identified that have unique single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs),

Fhb1 is a prominent Fusarium head blight resistance locus of wheat, which has been successfully introgressed in adapted breeding material, where it confers a significant increase in overall resistance to the causal pathogen Fusarium graminearum and the fungal virulence factor and mycotoxin deoxynivalenol. The Fhb1 region has been resolved for the susceptible wheat reference genotype Chinese Spring,

A large number of soybean genotypes varying in seed oil composition and content have been identified. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying these variations is important for breeders to effectively utilize them as a genetic resource. Through design and application of a bioinformatics approach, we identified nine co-regulated gene clusters by comparing seed transcriptomes of nine soybean genotypes varying in oil composition and content.

Controlling gene expression in mammalian brain is of utmost importance to causally link the role of gene function to cell circuit dynamics under normal conditions and disease states. We have developed recombinant adeno-associated viruses equipped with tetracycline-controlled genetic switches for inducible and reversible control of gene expression in a cell type specific and brain subregion selective manner.

Using a newly developed technology, HaloTag nucleic acid programmable protein array (HaloTag-NAPPA), we increase the capacity of in situ protein microarray technology several-fold, such that proteome-scale screening becomes feasible. Many examples of novel protein–protein interactions (PPIs) among plant signaling pathways were observed. With few exceptions, nearly all of these connections are undocumented in the existing literature.