Epichloë fungal endophyte interactions in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) modified to accumulate foliar lipids for increased energy density.

Background: Commercial cultivars of perennial ryegrass infected with selected Epichloë fungal endophytes are highly desirable in certain pastures as the resulting mutualistic association has the capacity to confer agronomic benefits (such as invertebrate pest deterrence) largely due to fungal produced secondary metabolites (e.g., alkaloids).

Insight into the regulatory networks underlying the high lipid perennial ryegrass growth under different irradiances.

Under favourable conditions, perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) engineered to accumulated high lipid (HL) carbon sink in their leaves was previously shown to also enhance photosynthesis and growth. The greater aboveground biomass was found to be diminished in a dense canopy compared to spaced pots. Besides, the underlying genetic regulatory network linking between leaf lipid sinks and these physiological changes remains unknown.

Virtual Engagement of Families in the Intensive Care Unit During COVID-19: A Descriptive Survey of Family Members of Patients and Health Care Workers.

Traditional face-to-face family member visits in the intensive care unit (ICU) are challenged during the coronavirus disease pandemic with time-critical visiting of the ICU patient being impossible. This study aimed to explore reported experiences and satisfaction surrounding the use of technology for virtual visits and virtual family meetings in the ICU setting. Two groups were surveyed: (1) family members of critically ill patients in the ICU and (2) health care workers caring for these patients.

Staff perceptions of military chemical-biological-radiological-nuclear (CBRN) air-purifying masks during a simulated clinical task in the context of SARS-CoV-2.

Air-purifying full-face masks, such as military chemical-biological-radiological-nuclear masks, might offer superior protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 compared to disposable polypropylene P2 or N95 masks. In addition, disposable masks are in short supply, while military chemical-biological-radiological-nuclear masks can be disinfected then reused. It is unknown whether such masks might be appropriate for civilians with minimal training in their use.

Changes in Leaf-Level Nitrogen Partitioning and Mesophyll Conductance Deliver Increased Photosynthesis for Leaves Engineered to Accumulate Lipid Carbon Sinks.

Diacylglycerol acyl-transferase (DGAT) and cysteine oleosin (CO) expression confers a novel carbon sink (of encapsulated lipid droplets) in leaves of and has been shown to increase photosynthesis and biomass. However, the physiological mechanism by which DGAT + CO increases photosynthesis remains unresolved. To evaluate the relationship between sink strength and photosynthesis, we examined fatty acids (FA), water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC), gas exchange parameters and leaf nitrogen for multiple DGAT + CO lines varying in transgene accumulation.

Association of Chronic Condition Special Needs Plan With Hospitalization and Mortality Among Patients With End-Stage Kidney Disease.

Importance: While several studies have demonstrated the benefit of enrollment in chronic condition special needs plans (C-SNPs) for other chronic diseases (eg, diabetes), there is no evaluation of the association of C-SNPs with outcomes among patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD).

Objective: To examine whether and to what degree C-SNP enrollment was associated with improved clinical outcomes and quality of life in patients with ESKD.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This multicenter cohort study included 2718 patients who were newly enrolled in an ESKD C-SNP between January 1, 2013, and September 30, 2017, and receiving dialysis from DaVita Kidney Care.

Fluorescence chromosome banding and FISH mapping in perennial ryegrass, Lolium perenne L.

Background: The unambiguous identification of individual chromosomes is a key part of the genomic characterization of any species. In this respect, the development and application of chromosome banding techniques has revolutionised mammalian and especially, human genomics. However, partly because of the traditional use of chromosome squash preparations, consistent fluorescence banding has rarely been achieved in plants.

cAMP Signaling Regulates Synchronised Growth of Symbiotic Fungi with the Host Grass .

The seed-transmitted fungal symbiont, , colonizes grasses by infecting host tissues as they form on the shoot apical meristem (SAM) of the seedling. How this fungus accommodates the complexities of plant development to successfully colonize the leaves and inflorescences is unclear. Since adenosine 3', 5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent signaling is often essential for host colonization by fungal pathogens, we disrupted the cAMP cascade by insertional mutagenesis of the adenylate cyclase gene ().

Identification of a gene involved in the regulation of hyphal growth of Epichloë festucae during symbiosis.

Secreted proteins, those involved in cell wall biogenesis, are likely to play a role in communication in the symbiotic interaction between the fungal endophyte Epichloë festucae with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), particularly given the close association between fungal hyphae and the plant cell wall. Our hypothesis was that secreted proteins are likely to be responsible for establishing and maintaining a normal symbiotic relationship. We analyzed an endophyte EST database for genes with predicted signal peptide sequences.

A novel family of cyclic oligopeptides derived from ribosomal peptide synthesis of an in planta-induced gene, gigA, in Epichloë endophytes of grasses.

Fungal endophytes belonging to the genus Epichloë form associations with temperate grasses belonging to the sub-family Poöideae that range from mutualistic through to pathogenic. We previously identified a novel endophyte gene (designated gigA for grass induced gene) that is one of the most abundantly expressed fungal transcripts in endophyte-infected grasses and which is distributed and highly expressed in a wide range of Epichloë grass associations. Molecular and biochemical analyses indicate that gigA encodes a small secreted protein containing an imperfect 27 amino acid repeat that includes a kexin protease cleavage site.

An extracellular siderophore is required to maintain the mutualistic interaction of Epichloë festucae with Lolium perenne.

We have identified from the mutualistic grass endophyte Epichloë festucae a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase gene (sidN) encoding a siderophore synthetase. The enzymatic product of SidN is shown to be a novel extracellular siderophore designated as epichloënin A, related to ferrirubin from the ferrichrome family. Targeted gene disruption of sidN eliminated biosynthesis of epichloënin A in vitro and in planta.

Genetic loci that regulate healing and regeneration in LG/J and SM/J mice.

MRL mice display unusual healing properties. When MRL ear pinnae are hole punched, the holes close completely without scarring, with regrowth of cartilage and reappearance of both hair follicles and sebaceous glands. Studies using (MRL/lpr x C57BL/6)F(2) and backcross mice first showed that this phenomenon was genetically determined and that multiple loci contributed to this quantitative trait.

Proteomic analysis of a filamentous fungal endophyte using EST datasets.

Proteomic analysis of many species of fungi, particularly filamentous fungi, is difficult due to the lack of publicly available genome sequence data and the problems associated with cross-species comparisons. Furthermore, the detection of fungal proteins in biological systems where there are a greater number of proteins present from other eukaryote species provides additional challenges. We present an EST-based approach for identifying proteins from a fungal endophyte of temperate grasses and demonstrate that this method is well suited for fungi with minimal sequence data.

Natural Variation at the Pi-ta Rice Blast Resistance Locus.

ABSTRACT The resistance gene Pi-ta protects rice crops against the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe grisea expressing the avirulence gene AVR-Pita in a gene-for-gene manner. Pi-ta, originally introgressed into japonica rice from indica origin, was previously isolated by positional cloning. In this study, we report the nucleotide sequence of a 5,113-base pair region containing a japonica susceptibility pi-ta allele, which has overall 99.

Epichloë endophytes grow by intercalary hyphal extension in elongating grass leaves.

A fundamental hallmark of fungal growth is that vegetative hyphae grow exclusively by extension at the hyphal tip. However, this model of apical growth is incompatible with endophyte colonization of grasses by the symbiotic Neotyphodium and Epichloë species. These fungi are transmitted through host seed, and colonize aerial tissues that develop from infected shoot apical meristems of the seedling and tillers.

Distribution of NRPS gene families within the Neotyphodium/Epichloë complex.

Neotyphodium and Epichloë spp are closely related asexual and sexual endophytic fungi, respectively, that form mutualistic associations with cool season grasses of the subfamily Pooideae. The endophytes confer a number of advantages to their hosts, but also can cause animal toxicoses and these effects are, in many cases, due to the production of fungal secondary metabolites. In filamentous fungi, secondary metabolite genes are commonly clustered and, for those pathways involved in non-ribosomal peptide synthesis, a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) gene is always found as a key component of the cluster.

Functional analysis of a beta-1,6-glucanase gene from the grass endophytic fungus Epichloë festucae.

beta-1,6-glucanases degrade the polysaccharide beta-1,6-glucan, a cell wall component in some filamentous fungi. A single copy of a beta-1,6-glucanase gene, designated gcnA, was identified in each of the grass endophytic fungi Neotyphodium lolii and Epichloë festucae. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the GcnA protein is a member of glycosyl hydrolase family 5, and is closely related to fungal beta-1,6-glucanases implicated in mycoparasitism.

A complex gene cluster for indole-diterpene biosynthesis in the grass endophyte Neotyphodium lolii.

Lolitrems are a structurally diverse group of indole-diterpene mycotoxins synthesized by Epichloë/Neotyphodium endophytes in association with Pooid grasses. Using suppression subtractive hybridization combined with chromosome walking, two clusters of genes for lolitrem biosynthesis were isolated from Neotyphodium lolii, a mutualistic endophyte of perennial ryegrass. The first cluster contains five genes, ltmP, ltmQ, ltmF, ltmC, and ltmB, four of which appear to be orthologues of functionally characterized genes from Penicillium paxilli.