Biofilms inactivate the free-living stage of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the most destructive pathogen for vertebrate diversity.

Emerging infectious diseases threaten biodiversity and human health. Many emerging pathogens have aquatic life stages and all immersed substrates have biofilms on their surface, i.e.

Health Effects of Patagial Wing Tags in Red Kites (Milvus milvus) in the UK.

Patagial wing tags are commonly used for identification of Red Kites (Milvus milvus) for postrelease monitoring, as they are easy to apply, affordable, permanent, and are apparently safe. The Red Kite was successfully reintroduced in the UK in the second half of the 20th century and postrelease health surveillance has been achieved through radio and satellite tracking, monitoring nest sites, and pathologic investigation of Red Kites found dead. This study reports on pathologic findings associated with the use of patagial wing tags in three of 142 (2.

Biofilm community composition is changing in remote mountain lakes with a relative increase in potentially toxigenic algae.

Mountain lakes provide clear drinking water to humankind but are strongly impacted by global change. Benthic biofilms are crucial for maintaining water quality in these oligotrophic lakes, yet little is known about the effects of global change on mountain biofilm communities. By combining analyses of metabarcoding data on 16S and 18S rRNA genes with climatic and environmental data, we investigated global change effects on the composition of biofilm prokaryotic and micro-eukaryotic assemblages in a five-year monitoring program of 26 Pyrenean lakes (2016-2020).

Plasticity of wheat seedling responses to K deficiency highlighted by integrated phenotyping of roots and root hairs over the whole root system.

The availability in the soil of potassium (K), a poorly mobile macronutrient required in large quantities for plant growth, is generally suboptimal for crop production in the absence of fertilization, making improvement of the ability of crops to adapt to K deficiency stress a major issue. Increasing the uptake capacity of the root system is among the main strategies to achieve this goal. Here, we report an integrative approach to examine the effect of K deficiency on the development of young plant entire root system, including root hairs which are known to provide a significant contribution to the uptake of poorly mobile nutrients such as K, in two genetically distant wheat varieties.

Scientists' warning of threats to mountains.

Mountains are an essential component of the global life-support system. They are characterized by a rugged, heterogenous landscape with rapidly changing environmental conditions providing myriad ecological niches over relatively small spatial scales. Although montane species are well adapted to life at extremes, they are highly vulnerable to human derived ecosystem threats.

The outward shaker channel OsK5.2 improves plant salt tolerance by contributing to control of both leaf transpiration and K secretion into xylem sap.

Soil salinity constitutes a major environmental constraint to crop production worldwide. Leaf K /Na homoeostasis, which involves regulation of transpiration, and thus of the xylem sap flow, and control of the ionic composition of the ascending sap, is a key determinant of plant salt tolerance. Here, we show, using a reverse genetics approach, that the outwardly rectifying K -selective channel OsK5.

Non-autonomous stomatal control by pavement cell turgor via the K+ channel subunit AtKC1.

Stomata optimize land plants' photosynthetic requirements and limit water vapor loss. So far, all of the molecular and electrical components identified as regulating stomatal aperture are produced, and operate, directly within the guard cells. However, a completely autonomous function of guard cells is inconsistent with anatomical and biophysical observations hinting at mechanical contributions of epidermal origins.

Na+ Sensitivity of the KAT2-Like Channel Is a Common Feature of Cucurbits and Depends on the S5-P-S6 Segment.

Inhibition of Shaker K+ channel activity by external Na+ was previously reported in the melon (Cucumis melo L.) inwardly rectifying K+ channel MIRK and was hypothesized to contribute to salt tolerance. In this study, two inward Shaker K+ channels, CsKAT2 from cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and ClKAT2 from watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), were identified and characterized in Xenopus oocytes.

Interpopulation differences in male reproductive effort drive the population dynamics of a host exposed to an emerging fungal pathogen.

Compensatory recruitment is a key demographic mechanism that has allowed the coexistence of populations of susceptible amphibians with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a fungus causing one of the most devastating emerging infectious disease ever recorded among vertebrates. However, the underlying processes (e.g.

Fungal Shaker-like channels beyond cellular K+ homeostasis: A role in ectomycorrhizal symbiosis between Hebeloma cylindrosporum and Pinus pinaster.

Potassium (K+) acquisition, translocation and cellular homeostasis are mediated by various membrane transport systems in all organisms. We identified and described an ion channel in the ectomycorrhizal fungus Hebeloma cylindrosporum (HcSKC) that harbors features of animal voltage-dependent Shaker-like K+ channels, and investigated its role in both free-living hyphae and symbiotic conditions. RNAi lines affected in the expression of HcSKC were produced and used for in vitro mycorrhizal assays with the maritime pine as host plant, under standard or low K+ conditions.

Constitutive Contribution by the Rice OsHKT1;4 Na Transporter to Xylem Sap Desalinization and Low Na Accumulation in Young Leaves Under Low as High External Na Conditions.

HKT Na transporters correspond to major salt tolerance QTLs in different plant species and are targets of great interest for breeders. In rice, the HKT family is composed of seven or eight functional genes depending on cultivars. Three rice genes, , and , are known to contribute to salt tolerance by reducing Na accumulation in shoots upon salt stress.

Functional Characterization of the Ammonium Transporter AtAMT1;3 With the Emphasis on Structural Determinants of Substrate Binding and Permeation Properties.

AtAMT1;3 is a major contributor to high-affinity ammonium uptake in roots. Using a stable electrophysiological recording strategy, we demonstrate in oocytes that AtAMT1;3 functions as a typical high-affinity NH uniporter independent of protons and Ca. The findings that AtAMT1;3 transports methylammonium (MeA, a chemical analog of NH ) with extremely low affinity ( in the range of 2.

Functional characterization and physiological roles of the single Shaker outward K channel in Medicago truncatula.

The model legume Medicago truncatula possesses a single outward Shaker K channel, whereas Arabidopsis thaliana possesses two channels of this type, named AtSKOR and AtGORK, with AtSKOR having been shown to play a major role in K secretion into the xylem sap in the root vasculature and with AtGORK being shown to mediate the efflux of K across the guard cell membrane, leading to stomatal closure. Here we show that the expression pattern of the single M. truncatula outward Shaker channel, which has been named MtGORK, includes the root vasculature, guard cells and root hairs.

Investigation of Na+ and K+ Transport in Halophytes: Functional Analysis of the HmHKT2;1 Transporter from Hordeum maritimum and Expression under Saline Conditions.

Control of K+ and Na+ transport plays a central role in plant adaptation to salinity. In the halophyte Hordeum maritimum, we have characterized a transporter gene, named HmHKT2;1, whose homolog HvHKT2;1 in cultivated barley, Hordeum vulgare, was known to give rise to increased salt tolerance when overexpressed. The encoded protein is strictly identical in two H.

A repertoire of cationic and anionic conductances at the plasma membrane of Medicago truncatula root hairs.

Root hairs, as lateral extensions of epidermal cells, provide large absorptive surfaces to the root and are major actors in plant hydromineral nutrition. In contact with the soil they also constitute a site of interactions between the plant and rhizospheric microorganisms. In legumes, initiation of symbiotic interactions with N -fixing rhizobia is often triggered at the root hair cell membrane in response to nodulation factors secreted by rhizobia, and involves early signaling events with changes in H , Ca , K and Cl fluxes inducing transient depolarization of the cell membrane.

Uncovering pH at both sides of the root plasma membrane interface using noninvasive imaging.

Building a proton gradient across a biological membrane and between different tissues is a matter of great importance for plant development and nutrition. To gain a better understanding of proton distribution in the plant root apoplast as well as across the plasma membrane, we generated plants expressing stable membrane-anchored ratiometric fluorescent sensors based on pHluorin. These sensors enabled noninvasive pH-specific measurements in mature root cells from the medium-epidermis interface up to the inner cell layers that lie beyond the Casparian strip.

Plant potassium nutrition in ectomycorrhizal symbiosis: properties and roles of the three fungal TOK potassium channels in Hebeloma cylindrosporum.

Ectomycorrhizal fungi play an essential role in the ecology of boreal and temperate forests through the improvement of tree mineral nutrition. Potassium (K ) is an essential nutrient for plants and is needed in high amounts. We recently demonstrated that the ectomycorrhizal fungus Hebeloma cylindrosporum improves the K nutrition of Pinus pinaster under shortage conditions.

Internal Cs inhibits root elongation in rice.

The root system anchors the plant to the soil and contributes to plant autotrophy by taking up nutrients and water. In relation with this nutritional function, root development is largely impacted by availability of nutrients and water. Due to human activity, plants, in particular crops, can also be exposed to pollutants which can be absorbed and incorporated into the food chain.

Production of low-Cs rice plants by inactivation of the K transporter OsHAK1 with the CRISPR-Cas system.

The occurrence of radiocesium in food has raised sharp health concerns after nuclear accidents. Despite being present at low concentrations in contaminated soils (below μm), cesium (Cs ) can be taken up by crops and transported to their edible parts. This plant capacity to take up Cs from low concentrations has notably affected the production of rice (Oryza sativa L.

A Dual Role for the OsK5.2 Ion Channel in Stomatal Movements and K Loading into Xylem Sap.

The roles of potassium channels from the Shaker family in stomatal movements have been investigated by reverse genetics analyses in Arabidopsis (), but corresponding information is lacking outside this model species. Rice () and other cereals possess stomata that are more complex than those of Arabidopsis. We examined the role of the outward Shaker K channel gene Expression of the gene ( reporter strategy) was observed in the whole stomatal complex (guard cells and subsidiary cells), root vasculature, and root cortex.

Local signalling pathways regulate the Arabidopsis root developmental response to Mesorhizobium loti inoculation.

Numerous reports have shown that various rhizobia can interact with non-host plant species, improving mineral nutrition and promoting plant growth. To further investigate the effects of such non-host interactions on root development and functions, we inoculated Arabidopsis thaliana with the model nitrogen fixing rhizobacterium Mesorhizobium loti (strain MAFF303099). In vitro, we show that root colonization by M.