Mātauranga Māori and anti-microbials: Searching for new tools to control the spread of Kauri Dieback

<p>Phytophthora are plant pathogens, well known for devastating thousands of ecologically, culturally and economically significant plant crops worldwide. In greek Phytophthora translates directly to ‘plant destroyer’. Though it is ‘fungus-like’, Phytophthora are eukaryotic oomycetes, more closely related to brown algae and diatoms. Phytophthora have three key lifecycle stages: oospores, zoospores, and mycelia. Kauri are ancient conifer species dating back to the Cretaceous period (145 mya) and are now rapidly declining due to Kauri dieback caused by Phytophthora agathidicida. P.agathadicida causes root rot in Kauri trees and was first misidentified as P. hevave on Great Barrier Island in the early 1970s. Its origin is unknown however research argues it may have evolved from P. infestans, the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in 1845. For Te Āo Māori, Kauri are highly regarded tīpuna (ancestors) and Kauri Dieback is alarming to many Northern Iwi. Kauri wood and resin are highly sought and economically valuable resources. The Waipoua forest is the largest Kauri forest and the most impacted by Kauri Dieback. Over 25% of Kauri in the Waitākere ranges are either infected with P. agathadicida or are symptomatic, a percentage that is steadily increasing. A rāhui (temporary ban) was placed on the Waitākere ranges by local iwi Te Kawerau a Maki in 2018 as a preventative measure to reduce movement of P. agathadicida in soil. Apart from track closures, scrubbing and spraying equipment - before and after entering the forest - is the only tool of management. Sterigene disinfectant is the only treatment to reduce the spread of Kauri Dieback. Sterigene kills zoospores, mycelia and sporangium but is ineffective against P. agathidicida oospoores. Sexually produced oospores are responsible for the long-term survival of Phytophthora as they have a thick cell wall. The first part of this thesis examines a range of commercially available disinfectants and their efficacy against P. agathidicida oospores. These results confirm that Sterigene and/or Trigene are not effective against P. agathidicida oospores. My results also show that 2% bleach, 1% Virkon, and 70% ethanol all reduce oospore viability. Napisan also reduced oospore viability, but also interacted with the viability stains, therefore further investigations are needed. Napisan is an oxygen bleach, commercially affordable and easily accessible in supermarkets. Unlike sterigene and bleach, Napisan is safe to use on clothes, wool and soft textiles. If effective against oospores and the other lifecycle stages, Napisan could be a promising solution to help reduce the spread of Kauri Dieback.</p>

Mātauranga Māori and anti-microbials: Searching for new tools to control the spread of Kauri Dieback

<p>Phytophthora are plant pathogens, well known for devastating thousands of ecologically, culturally and economically significant plant crops worldwide. In greek Phytophthora translates directly to ‘plant destroyer’. Though it is ‘fungus-like’, Phytophthora are eukaryotic oomycetes, more closely related to brown algae and diatoms. Phytophthora have three key lifecycle stages: oospores, zoospores, and mycelia. Kauri are ancient conifer species dating back to the Cretaceous period (145 mya) and are now rapidly declining due to Kauri dieback caused by Phytophthora agathidicida. P.agathadicida causes root rot in Kauri trees and was first misidentified as P. hevave on Great Barrier Island in the early 1970s. Its origin is unknown however research argues it may have evolved from P. infestans, the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in 1845. For Te Āo Māori, Kauri are highly regarded tīpuna (ancestors) and Kauri Dieback is alarming to many Northern Iwi. Kauri wood and resin are highly sought and economically valuable resources. The Waipoua forest is the largest Kauri forest and the most impacted by Kauri Dieback. Over 25% of Kauri in the Waitākere ranges are either infected with P. agathadicida or are symptomatic, a percentage that is steadily increasing. A rāhui (temporary ban) was placed on the Waitākere ranges by local iwi Te Kawerau a Maki in 2018 as a preventative measure to reduce movement of P. agathadicida in soil. Apart from track closures, scrubbing and spraying equipment - before and after entering the forest - is the only tool of management. Sterigene disinfectant is the only treatment to reduce the spread of Kauri Dieback. Sterigene kills zoospores, mycelia and sporangium but is ineffective against P. agathidicida oospoores. Sexually produced oospores are responsible for the long-term survival of Phytophthora as they have a thick cell wall. The first part of this thesis examines a range of commercially available disinfectants and their efficacy against P. agathidicida oospores. These results confirm that Sterigene and/or Trigene are not effective against P. agathidicida oospores. My results also show that 2% bleach, 1% Virkon, and 70% ethanol all reduce oospore viability. Napisan also reduced oospore viability, but also interacted with the viability stains, therefore further investigations are needed. Napisan is an oxygen bleach, commercially affordable and easily accessible in supermarkets. Unlike sterigene and bleach, Napisan is safe to use on clothes, wool and soft textiles. If effective against oospores and the other lifecycle stages, Napisan could be a promising solution to help reduce the spread of Kauri Dieback.</p>

PROGRESSES ON THE NATURE AND BIOTIC STRESS OF POTATO (SOLANUM TUBEROSUM L.)

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the third largest crop in terms of consumption by human, most important tuber crop in the world and a vital plant for global food security. Instead, potato breeding is slow compared to other crops. Transforming potato into a diploid F1 hybrid crop is a hopeful method to increase potato genetic gain. Studies on breeding and genetics of potato has big potential to solve many problems exist in potato. Another potential area for these studies are diseases which are seriously targeting this crop worlwide started from Irish potato famine which effected whole Europe continent. Here in this review, some of latest significant problems and approaches related to potato production are given below.

Types of biologically active substances, methods of their application as factors of increasing resistance of varieties of various potatoes in an effort to realize greater productivity when exposed to pathogenic organisms

All countries in the world strive not to repeat the potato famine of Ireland. Potatoes infect more than 100 pathogens, one of the most serious is late blight. In the world, the average loss of potato yield from late blight is 10-15% per year. This article briefly discusses various safe, effective and environmentally friendly methods of preventing and controlling late blight of potatoes.

Regressive evolution of an effector following a host jump in the Irish Potato Famine Pathogen Lineage

In order to infect a new host species, the pathogen must evolve to enhance infection and transmission in the novel environment. Although we often think of evolution as a process of accumulation, it is also a process of loss. Here, we document an example of regressive evolution in the Irish potato famine pathogen (Phytophthora infestans) lineage, providing evidence that a key sequence motif in the effector PexRD54 has degenerated following a host jump. We began by looking at PexRD54 and PexRD54-like sequences from across Phytophthora species. We found that PexRD54 emerged in the common ancestor of Phytophthora clade 1b and 1c species, and further sequence analysis showed that a key functional motif, the C-terminal ATG8-interacting motif (AIM), was also acquired at this point in the lineage. A closer analysis showed that the P. mirabilis PexRD54 (PmPexRD54) AIM appeared unusual, the otherwise-conserved central residue mutated from a glutamate to a lysine. We aimed to determine whether this PmPexRD54 AIM polymorphism represented an adaptation to the Mirabilis jalapa host environment. We began by characterizing the M. jalapa ATG8 family, finding that they have a unique evolutionary history compared to previously characterized ATG8s. Then, using co-immunoprecipitation and isothermal titration calorimetry assays, we showed that both full-length PmPexRD54 and the PmPexRD54 AIM peptide bind very weakly to the M. jalapa ATG8s. Through a combination of binding assays and structural modelling, we showed that the identity of the residue at the position of the PmPexRD54 AIM polymorphism can underpin high-affinity binding to plant ATG8s. Finally, we conclude that the functionality of the PexRD54 AIM was lost in the P. mirabilis lineage, perhaps owing to as-yet-unknown pressure on this effector in the new host environment.Author SummaryPathogens evolve in concert with their hosts. When a pathogen begins to infect a new host species, known as a “host jump,” the pathogen must evolve to enhance infection and transmission. These evolutionary processes can involve both the gain and loss of genes, as well as dynamic changes in protein function. Here, we describe an example of a pathogen protein that lost a key functional domain following a host jump, a salient example of “regressive evolution.” Specifically, we show that an effector protein from the plant pathogen Phytopthora mirabilis, a host-specific lineage closely related to the Irish potato famine pathogen Phytopthora infestans, has a derived amino acid polymorphism that results in a loss of interaction with certain host machinery.

The Silken Thread

Insects are seldom mentioned in history texts, yet they significantly shaped human history. The Silken Thread: Five Insects and Their Impacts on Human History tells the stories of just five insects, tied together by a thread originating in the Silk Roads of Asia, and how they have impacted our world. Silkworms have been farmed to produce silk for millennia, creating a history of empires and cultural exchanges; Silk Roads connected East to West, generating trade centers and transferring ideas, philosophies, and religions. The western honey bee feeds countless people, and their crop pollination is worth billions of dollars. Fleas and lice carried bacteria that caused three major plague pandemics, moved along the Silk Roads from Central Asia. Bacteria carried by insects left their ancient clues as DNA embedded in victims’ teeth. Lice caused outbreaks of typhus, especially in crowded conditions such as prisons and concentration camps. Typhus aggravated the effects of the Irish potato famine, and Irish refugees took typhus to North America. Yellow fever was transported to the Americas via the trans-Atlantic slave trade, taking and devaluing the lives of millions of Africans. Slaves were brought to the Americas to reduce labor costs in the cultivation of sugarcane, which was itself transported from south Asia along the Silk Roads. Yellow fever caused panic in the United States in the 1700s and 1800s as the virus and its mosquito vector was moved from the Caribbean. Constructing the Panama Canal required defeating mosquitoes that transmitted yellow fever. The silken thread runs through and ties together these five insects and their impacts on human history.

Revivals

This chapter explores the revival in 1859 of religious enthusiasm in the north-east counties of Ireland. The effect of the 1859 revival was that the communities of Irish protestants became both more denominationally diverse and more politically united. Protestants who have not been brought together by the economic compulsion of the penal laws were instead combined by the powerful effects of evangelical faith and by fears about the possibility of home rule. In the same period, Catholic religion was similarly transformed. While never promoting the emotionalism that characterized the revivalist piety of the evangelicals, the Catholic ‘devotional revolution’ drew upon several generations of changes in popular belief and behaviour to promote, in the aftermath of the potato famine, catechism, regular confession, and weekly mass attendance. The power of these religious communities became increasingly important at home. In the early nineteenth century, the complexities of the ancien régime were radically simplified, as the multiple identities of the eighteenth century gave way to the differentiation of Catholics and nationalists versus Protestants and unionists.

Dynamic localization of a helper NLR at the plant–pathogen interface underpins pathogen recognition

Plants employ sensor–helper pairs of NLR immune receptors to recognize pathogen effectors and activate immune responses. Yet, the subcellular localization of NLRs pre- and postactivation during pathogen infection remains poorly understood. Here, we show that NRC4, from the “NRC” solanaceous helper NLR family, undergoes dynamic changes in subcellular localization by shuttling to and from the plant–pathogen haustorium interface established during infection by the Irish potato famine pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Specifically, prior to activation, NRC4 accumulates at the extrahaustorial membrane (EHM), presumably to mediate response to perihaustorial effectors that are recognized by NRC4-dependent sensor NLRs. However, not all NLRs accumulate at the EHM, as the closely related helper NRC2 and the distantly related ZAR1 did not accumulate at the EHM. NRC4 required an intact N-terminal coiled-coil domain to accumulate at the EHM, whereas the functionally conserved MADA motif implicated in cell death activation and membrane insertion was dispensable for this process. Strikingly, a constitutively autoactive NRC4 mutant did not accumulate at the EHM and showed punctate distribution that mainly associated with the plasma membrane, suggesting that postactivation, NRC4 may undergo a conformation switch to form clusters that do not preferentially associate with the EHM. When NRC4 is activated by a sensor NLR during infection, however, NRC4 forms puncta mainly at the EHM and, to a lesser extent, at the plasma membrane. We conclude that following activation at the EHM, NRC4 may spread to other cellular membranes from its primary site of activation to trigger immune responses.

Dynamic accumulation of a helper NLR at the plant-pathogen interface underpins pathogen recognition

Plants employ sensor-helper pairs of NLR immune receptors to recognize pathogen effectors and activate immune responses. Yet the subcellular localization of NLRs pre- and post- activation during pathogen infection remains poorly known. Here we show that NRC4, from the 'NRC' solanaceous helper NLR family, undergoes dynamic changes in subcellular localization by shuttling to and from the plant-pathogen haustorium interface established during infection by the Irish potato famine pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Specifically, prior to activation, NRC4 accumulates at the extra-haustorial membrane (EHM), presumably to mediate response to perihaustorial effectors, that are recognized by NRC4-dependent sensor NLRs. However not all NLRs accumulate at the EHM, as the closely related helper NRC2, and the distantly related ZAR1, did not accumulate at the EHM. NRC4 required an intact N- terminal coiled coil domain to accumulate at the EHM, whereas the functionally conserved MADA motif implicated in cell death activation and membrane insertion was dispensable for this process. Strikingly, a constitutively autoactive NRC4 mutant did not accumulate at the EHM and showed punctate distribution that mainly associated with the plasma membrane, suggesting that post-activation, NRC4 probably undergoes a conformation switch to form clusters that do not preferentially associate with the EHM. When NRC4 is activated by a sensor NLR during infection however, NRC4 formed puncta mainly at the EHM and to a lesser extent at the plasma membrane. We conclude that following activation at the EHM, NRC4 may spread to other cellular membranes from its primary site of activation to trigger immune responses.