Researching race-ethnicity in race-mute Germany

In Germany and continental Europe more broadly race and ethnicity are concepts that are not widely used and increasingly erased from legislation. Nevertheless, race and ethnicity are still used as social markers and often merely replaced with other terms (e.g., cultural background). The goal of this paper is threefold. First, we point to the danger of treating race and ethnicity as essentialist categories, which is still common in developmental science research. Second, we want to outline specific problems that occur when doing research on ethnicity and race with children and adolescents in the European race-mute context. Third, we suggest that future research ought to focus more on constructions of Whiteness and reproduction of power differences among ethnic majority populations. In doing so, we draw on examples from our own research on ethnic-racial identity and ethnic-racial socialization.

A haplotype-phased genome of wheat stripe rust pathogen Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, race PST-130 from the Western USA

More virulent and aggressive races of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), the pathogen causing wheat stripe rust, have been spreading around the world since 2000 causing large grain yield losses. A better understanding of the genome and genetic diversity of these new Pst races will be useful to develop new strategies to ameliorate these losses. In this study, we generated an improved genome assembly of a post-2000 virulent race from the Western USA designated as PST-130. We implemented a haplotype phasing strategy using the diploid-aware assembler, Falcon-Unzip and new long-read technology from PacBio to phase the two genomes of this dikaryotic organism. The combination of these new technologies resulted in an improved PST-130 assembly with only 151 contigs (85.4 Mb, N50 of 1.44 Mb), and a complementary assembly (haplotigs) with 458 contigs (65.9 Mb, N50 of 0.235 Mb, PRJNA650506). This new assembly improved gene predictions resulting in 228 more predicted complete genes than in the initial Illumina assembly (29,178 contigs, N50 of 5 kb). The alignment of the non-repetitive primary and haplotig contigs revealed and average of 5.22 SNP/kb, with 39.1% showing <2 SNP/kb and 15.9% >10 SNP/kb. This large divergent regions may represent introgressions of chromosome segments from more divergent Pst races in regions where a complete sexual cycle and recombination are possible. We hypothesize that some of the divergent regions in PST-130 may be related to the European “Warrior” race PST-DK0911 because this genome is more similar to PST-130 (3.18 SNP/kb) than to the older European race PST-104E (3.75 SNP/kb). Complete phasing of additional Pst genomes or sequencing individual nuclei will facilitate the tracing of the haploid genomes introduced by the new Pst races into local populations.

A haplotype-phased genome of wheat stripe rust pathogen Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, race PST-130 from the Western USA

ABSTRACTMore virulent and aggressive races of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), the pathogen causing wheat stripe rust, have been spreading around the world since 2000 causing large grain yield losses. A better understanding of the genome and genetic diversity of these new Pst races will be useful to develop new strategies to ameliorate production losses. In this study, we generated an improved genome assembly of a very virulent race from the Western USA designated as PST-130. We implemented a haplotype phasing strategy using the diploid-aware assembler, Falcon-Unzip and new long-read technology from PacBio to phase the two genomes of this dikaryotic organism. The combination of these new technologies resulted in an improved PST-130 assembly with only 151 contigs (85.4 Mb, N50 of 1.44 Mb), and a complementary assembly (haplotigs) with 458 contigs (65.9 Mb, N50 of 0.235 Mb, PRJNA650506). This new assembly improved gene predictions resulting in 228 more predicted complete genes than in the initial Illumina assembly (29,178 contigs, N50 of 5 kb). The alignment of the non-repetitive primary and haplotig contigs revealed and average of 5.22 SNP/kb, with 39.1% showing <2 SNP/kb and 15.9% >10 SNP/kb. This large divergent regions may represent introgressions of chromosome segments from more divergent Pst races in regions where Pst can complete its sexual cycle and where recombination is possible. We hypothesize that some of the divergent regions in PST-130 may be related to the European “Warrior” race PST-DK0911 because this latter genome is more similar to PST-130 (3.18 SNP/kb) than to the older European race PST-104E (3.75 SNP/kb). Phasing of additional Pst genomes or sequencing individual nuclei will facilitate the tracing of nuclei introduced by the new Pst races into local populations.

Human Difference

Chapter 5 explains how debates about human origins and distinctiveness inform ideas about Europe. Late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century geography books often argue that the natural environment shapes human characteristics, and that Europeans are distinctive because they have been exposed to certain conditions. However, the books also propose that Europeans possess intrinsic, unchanging qualities. This tension highlights the complexities of contemporary racial thought, which combines ideas about inherent nature, inheritance, environmental influence, and aesthetics. Some geographical texts argue for a single European race, but others identify a range of European races, often premised on categorization of languages.

Description, Distribution, and Relevance of Viruses of the Forest Pathogen Gremmeniella abietina

The European race of the ascomycetous species Gremmeniella abietina (Lagerberg) Morelet includes causal agents of shoot blight and stem canker of several conifers in Europe and North America, which are known to host a diverse virome. GaRV6 is the latest and sixth mycovirus species reported within G. abietina. Before its description, one victorivirus and one gammapartitivirus species were described in biotype A, two mitoviruses in both biotypes A and B and a betaendornavirus in biotype B. Possible phenotypic changes produced by mycoviruses on G. abietina mycelial growth have been reported in Spanish mitovirus-free and GaRV6-hosting G. abietina isolates, which had higher growth rates at the optimal temperature of 15 °C, but no other major differences have been observed between partitivirus-like dsRNA and dsRNA-free isolates. In this review, we reappraise the diversity of viruses found in G. abietina so far, and their relevance in clarifying the taxonomy of G. abietina. We also provide evidence for the presence of two new viruses belonging to the families Fusariviridae and Endornaviridae in Spanish isolates.

Interlude: Neurodiversity in the Age of the Brain Atlas

In this interlude, Tougaw examines two major cultural responses to advances in neuroscience: neurodiversity politics and the U.S.-European race to “map” the brain in the hope of creating a dynamic digital “brain atlas.” While neurodiversity activists emphasize the difference from one human brain to another, the brain atlas projects aim to create a composite of the human brain. The interlude examines the inevitable contradictions that arise from both points of view, arguing that both are valuable but that neurodiversity politics and scientific efforts to map the composite brain would benefit from more mutual dialogue.

Conditions conducive to an epidemic of Gremmeniella abietina, European race, in red pine plantations

In North America, Gremmeniella abietina, European race (GaEU), was reported in 1975. Our objective was to follow the spread of GaEU on red pines growing on flat land and on slope. Annual height infection varied significantly on flat land, ranging from 60 to 110 cm in 1991 to 0 to 50 cm in 1992. On the slope, pines in the bottom were killed by the disease, but survived on the top. Favorable conditions follow a horizontal line about 10 m over the lower elevation and are probably related to fog or mist. The horizontal disease spread over a 3-year period was only 20 m and this is mainly explained by the absence of ascospores in North America.