Examination Innovation: Transforming the National Board of Examiners in Optometry's Clinical Skills Examination.

The National Board of Examiners in Optometry recognizes the need for innovation and is creating a multidimensional clinical examination to parallel advancements within optometry. As optometry evolves, so must the assessments which form the path to optometric licensure. The current performance-based Part III, Clinical Skills Examination, is undergoing a transformation to best assess the diversity of knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to practice contemporary optometry.

An Arabidopsis basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper protein modulates metal homeostasis and auxin conjugate responsiveness.

The plant hormone auxin can be regulated by formation and hydrolysis of amide-linked indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) conjugates. Here, we report the characterization of the dominant Arabidopsis iaa-leucine resistant3 (ilr3-1) mutant, which has reduced sensitivity to IAA-Leu and IAA-Phe, while retaining wild-type responses to free IAA. The gene defective in ilr3-1 encodes a basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper protein, bHLH105, and the ilr3-1 lesion results in a truncated product.