Evaluating the relative influences of positive and negative interactions in shaping communities is a major topic in modern ecology. Facilitative interactions between basal species are important in habitats with intense predation pressure or severe abiotic stresses. However, few studies address the potential for positive interactions between trophic levels to influence...
Grapevine leafroll disease (GLD) is one of the most important grapevine viral diseases affecting grapevines worldwide. The impact on vine health, crop yield, and quality is difficult to assess due to a high number of variables, but significant economic losses are consistently reported over the lifespan of a vineyard if...
Two studies used DNA markers to assess their usefulness in germplasm identification and evaluation of genetic stability in four cryopreserved Rubus accessions that were stored for over 10 years in liquid nitrogen. In the first study, 12 robust Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers were developed from two microsatellite-enriched libraries of...
A field study was established to determine the impact of interfering vegetation on survival and growth of Engelmann spruce (Piceaeigelmannii Parry) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var contorta Dougi.) at a site in the high elevation Engelmann spruce-Subalpine fir (ESSF) zone, of south-central British Columbia. The study examined (1) the...
One of the important ‘hallmarks’ of cancer is angiogenesis, which is the process of formation of new blood vessels that are necessary for tumor expansion, invasion and metastasis. Under normal physiological conditions, angiogenesis is well balanced and controlled by endogenous proangiogenic factors and antiangiogenic factors. However, factors produced by cancer...
Lifestyle factors are responsible for a considerable portion of cancer incidence worldwide, but credible estimates from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) suggest that the fraction of cancers attributable to toxic environmental exposures is between 7% and 19%. To explore the hypothesis that...
Intercellular transport of viruses through cytoplasmic connections, termed plasmodesmata (PD), is essential for systemic infection in plants by viruses. Previous genetic and ultrastructural data revealed that the potyvirus cyclindrical inclusion (CI) protein is directly involved in cell-to-cell movement, likely through the formation of conical structures anchored to and extended through...
A genetic complementation system was developed
in which tobacco etch virus (TEV) polymerase (NIb)-
expressing transgenic plants or protoplasts were inoculated
with NIb-defective TEV mutants. A β-glucuronidase (GUS)
reporter gene integrated into the genomes of parental and four
mutant viruses was used to assay RNA amplification. Two
mutants (termed VNN...
The tobacco etch potyvirus (TEV) polyprotein is proteolytically processed by three viral proteinases (NIa,
HC-Pro, and P1). While the NIa and HC-Pro proteinases each provide multiple functions essential for viral
infectivity, the role of the P1 proteinase beyond its autoproteolytic activity is understood poorly. To determine
if P1 is necessary...