Using Dashboards to Support Continuous Quality Improvement in Undergraduate and Graduate Medical Education.

Like other complex systems, medical education programs require a systematic continuous quality improvement (CQI) approach to drive effective improvement. Accreditation bodies in both undergraduate medical education (UME) and graduate medical education (GME) require programs to have effective CQI processes. Dashboards facilitate visualization and tracking of key metrics that impact medical education programming, thus driving excellence.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis Case Study: A Process for Understanding and Addressing Bias in Clerkship Grading.

In 2018, in response to a news story featuring the Icahn School of Medicine's decision to eliminate its chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) due to perceived racial inequities, students at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WUSM) brought similar concerns to leadership. WUSM leadership evaluated whether students' race, ethnicity, and gender were associated with their receipt of honors in the 6 core clerkships, key determinants of AOA selection.

Two Medicago truncatula half-ABC transporters are essential for arbuscule development in arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.

In the symbiotic association of plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, the fungal symbiont resides in the root cortical cells where it delivers mineral nutrients to its plant host through branched hyphae called arbuscules. Here, we report a Medicago truncatula mutant, stunted arbuscule (str), in which arbuscule development is impaired and AM symbiosis fails. In contrast with legume symbiosis mutants reported previously, str shows a wild-type nodulation phenotype.

Closely related members of the Medicago truncatula PHT1 phosphate transporter gene family encode phosphate transporters with distinct biochemical activities.

Phosphorus is one of the essential mineral nutrients required by all living cells. Plants assimilate phosphate (Pi) from the soil, and their root systems encounter tremendous variation in Pi concentration, both temporally and spatially. Genome sequence data indicate that plant genomes contain large numbers of genes predicted to encode Pi transporters, the functions of which are largely unexplored.

Defensin gene family in Medicago truncatula: structure, expression and induction by signal molecules.

A large gene family encoding the putative cysteine-rich defensins was discovered in Medicago truncatula. Sixteen members of the family were identified by screening a cloned seed defensin from M. sativa (Gao et al.

Expression of a xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase gene, Mt-XTH1, from Medicago truncatula is induced systemically in mycorrhizal roots.

Xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolases (XTH) are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis and transglycosylation of xyloglucan polymers in plant cell walls. Previously, we isolated a cDNA from mycorrhizal roots of Medicago truncatula that is predicted to encode an XTH [van Buuren, M.L.

Transcript profiling coupled with spatial expression analyses reveals genes involved in distinct developmental stages of an arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.

The formation of symbiotic associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is a phenomenon common to the majority of vascular flowering plants. Here, we used cDNA arrays to examine transcript profiles in Medicago truncatula roots during the development of an AM symbiosis with Glomus versiforme and during growth under differing phosphorus nutrient regimes. Three percent of the genes examined showed significant changes in transcript levels during the development of the symbiosis.

Transformation of Medicago truncatula via infiltration of seedlings or flowering plants with Agrobacterium.

Two rapid and simple in planta transformation methods have been developed for the model legume Medicago truncatula. The first approach is based on a method developed for transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana and involves infiltration of flowering plants with a suspension of Agrobacterium. The second method involves infiltration of young seedlings with Agrobacterium.

Novel genes induced during an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis formed between Medicago truncatula and Glomus versiforme.

Many terrestrial plant species are able to form symbiotic associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Here we have identified three cDNA clones representing genes whose expression is induced during the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis formed between Medicago truncatula and an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, Glomus versiforme. The three clones represent M.

Cloning and characterization of two phosphate transporters from Medicago truncatula roots: regulation in response to phosphate and to colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi.

Most vascular plants can acquire phosphate from the environment either directly, via the roots, or indirectly, via a fungal symbiont that invades the cortical cells of the root. Here we have identified two cDNA clones (MtPT1 and MtPT2) encoding phosphate transporters from a mycorrhizal root cDNA library (Medicago truncatula/Glomus versiforme). The cDNAs represent M.