Sunday Evening News January – Januar 2018 Selected and edited by BGF Jany ______Woche 01 – Week 01 (01.01. – 07.01.2018) Press releases - Media Gibney E. - Nature What to expect in 2018: science in the new year Moon missions, ancient genomes and a publishing showdown are set to shape research. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-00009-5

Evolution News Peer-Reviewed Science: A “Mathematical Proof of Darwinian Evolution” Is Falsified https://evolutionnews.org/2018/01/peer-reviewed-science-a-mathematical-proof-of-darwinian-evolution-is- falsified/

Tarek Abd El-Galil | Al-Fanar Media Egypt develops high-yield arid-resistant GMO wheat but activist opposition blocks biotechnology advances https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/01/04/egypt-develops-high-yield-arid-resistant-gmo-wheat-activist- opposition-blocks-biotechnology-advances/

In Egypt, Genetic Crop Modification Is On Hold https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2017/12/egypt-genetic-crop-modification-hold/#.Wjqm-5GWCvw.twitter

Letters to the Editor: Opinion – Washington Post Is GMO opposition immoral? https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/is-gmo-opposition-immoral/2018/01/01/2c9e6a54-ecc3-11e7- 956e-baea358f9725_story.html

Letters in respect to: Daniels M: Avoiding GMOs isn’t just anti-science. It’s immoral. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/avoiding-gmos-isnt-just-anti-science-its- immoral/2017/12/27/fc773022-ea83-11e7-b698-91d4e35920a3_story.html?utm_term=.f141cd16a9d7 ______Genome Editing – New Techniques KWS: Genome Editing Die neuen Züchtungsmethoden ergänzen den Werkzeugkasten der Pflanzenzüchter und bieten zusätzliche Möglichkeiten, Pflanzen züchterisch gezielt zu verbessern. Die Folgen des Klimawandels, neue Schadpilze, der Wunsch nach weniger Dünger auf dem Acker und einer hohen Qualität landwirtschaftlicher Produkte: Auf alle diese Herausforderungen an eine nachhaltige Landwirtschaft reagieren Pflanzenzüchter mit neuen Sorten und nutzen dafür die jeweils am besten geeigneten Züchtungsmethoden. Wir sehen deshalb in den neuen Züchtungsmethoden mit ihrer Einfachheit in der Anwendung großes Potenzial. https://www.kws.de/innovation/zuechtungsmethoden/genome-editing/

Albrecht S., Diekämper J., Marx-Stölting L. und Sauter A. (2017): Grüne Gentechnik und Genome Editing Erfordernisse einer Neuausrichtung der Wissenschaftskommunikation. ATuP – Zeitschrift für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Theorie und Praxis https://doi.org/10.14512/tatup.26.3.64 Genome Editing gilt als Technologiesprung in der Gentechnologie. Die potenzielle Reichweite der Verfahren und die damit verbundenen Chancen und Risiken geben Impulse für eine neue Runde in der Debatte über Gentechnologien, die vor allem im Bereich der Grünen Gentechnik bislang durch Lagerdenken und einen Mangel an Zwischenpositionen gekennzeichnet ist. Um in Zukunft sachgerechter und unter Einbeziehung unterschiedlicher gesellschaftlicher Interessen über Optionen der weiteren Entwicklung der neuen Technologien diskutieren zu können, werden in diesem Beitrag Anforderungen an eine Neuausrichtung der Wissenschaftskommunikation umrissen. http://www.tatup.de/?journal=tatup&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=71

Carroll D. (2017): Genome Editing: Past, Present, and Future. YALE JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 90 (2017), pp.653-659. The CRISPR-Cas genome editing tools have been adopted rapidly in the research community, and they are quickly finding applications in the commercial sector as well. Lest we lose track of the broader context, this Perspective presents a brief review of the history of the genome editing platforms and considers a few current technological issues. It then takes a very limited view into the future of this technology and highlights some of the societal issues that require examination and discussion. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5733845/

Harrison P.T. and Hart. S. (2017): A beginner's guide to gene editing. Experimental Physiology, DOI: 10.1113/EP086047 Genome editing enables precise changes to be made in the genome of living cells. The technique was originally developed in the 1980's but largely limited to use in mice. The discovery that a targeted double stranded break (DSB) at a unique site in the genome, close to the site to be changed, could substantially increase the efficiency of editing raised the possibility of using the technique in a broader range of animal models and potentially human cells. But the challenge was to identify reagents that could create targeted breaks at a unique genomic location with minimal off-target effects. In 2005, the demonstration that programmable zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) could perform this task, led to a number of proof-of-concept studies, but a limitation was the ease with which effective ZFNs could be produced. In 2009, the development of TAL-effector nucleases (TALENs) increased the specificity of gene editing and the ease of design and production. However, it wasn't until 2013 and the development of the CRISPR Cas9/guideRNA that gene editing became a research tool that any lab could use. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/EP086047/abstract;jsessionid=57503DCBB92C14259BBF43C8ACF9 3EF1.f01t03

Sunkar R., Maheswari M. and Supriyo Chakraborty S. (2017): Small RNAs: regulators of plant development and climate resilience. Ind J Plant Physiol. (October–December 2017) 22(4):369–370¸ https://doi.org/10.1007/s40502-017-0349-1 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs40502-017-0349-1.pdf

Shah et al. (2018): Tyrosine-1 of RNA polymerase II CTD controls global termination of gene transcription in mammals. Molecular Cell doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2017.12.009 http://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/supplemental/S1097-2765(17)30937-1

Amy Watson A. et al. (2018): Speed breeding is a powerful tool to accelerate crop research and breeding. Nature Plants, 2018; DOI: 10.1038/s41477-017-0083-8 The growing human population and a changing environment have raised significant concern for global food security, with the current improvement rate of several important crops inadequate to meet future demand1. This slow improvement rate is attributed partly to the long generation times of crop plants. Here, we present a method called ‘speed breeding’, which greatly shortens generation time and accelerates breeding and research programmes. Speed breeding can be used to achieve up to 6 generations per year for spring wheat (Triticum aestivum), durum wheat (T. durum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and pea (Pisum sativum), and 4 generations for canola (Brassica napus), instead of 2–3 under normal glasshouse conditions. We demonstrate that speed breeding in fully enclosed, controlled-environment growth chambers can accelerate plant development for research purposes, including phenotyping of adult plant traits, mutant studies and transformation. The use of supplemental lighting in a glasshouse environment allows rapid generation cycling through single seed descent (SSD) and potential for adaptation to larger-scale crop improvement programs. Cost saving through light-emitting diode (LED) supplemental lighting is also outlined. We envisage great potential for integrating speed breeding with other modern crop breeding technologies, including high-throughput genotyping, genome editing and genomic selection, accelerating the rate of crop improvement. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-017-0083-8

Dale J. et al. (2017): Transgenic Cavendish bananas with resistance to Fusarium wilt tropical race 4. Nature Communications 8, Article number:1496 (2017); doi:10.1038/s41467-017- 01670-6 Banana (Musa spp.) is a staple food for more than 400 million people. Over 40% of world production and virtually all the export trade is based on Cavendish banana. However, Cavendish banana is under threat from a virulent fungus, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4 (TR4) for which no acceptable resistant replacement has been identified. Here we report the identification of transgenic Cavendish with resistance to TR4. In our 3-year field trial, two lines of transgenic Cavendish, one transformed with RGA2, a gene isolated from a TR4-resistant diploid banana, and the other with a nematode-derived gene, Ced9, remain disease free. Transgene expression in the RGA2 lines is strongly correlated with resistance. Endogenous RGA2 homologs are also present in Cavendish but are expressed tenfold lower than that in our most resistant transgenic line. The expression of these homologs can potentially be elevated through gene editing, to provide non-transgenic resistance. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01670-6 pdf-file: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01670-6.pdf

Peanut Genome Initiative: 2012-2017 Research Accomplishment Report to the U.S. Peanut Industry http://peanutfoundation.org/images/Peanut_Genome_Initiative_2017_Final_Report.pdf

Agricultural parasite takes control of host plant's genes https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180103132751.htm Shahid S. et al. (2018): MicroRNAs from the parasitic plant Cuscuta campestris target host messenger RNAs. Nature, 2018; 553 (7686): 82 DOI: 10.1038/nature25027 Dodders (Cuscuta spp.) are obligate parasitic plants that obtain water and nutrients from the stems of host plants via specialized feeding structures called haustoria. Dodder haustoria facilitate bidirectional movement of viruses, proteins and mRNAs between host and parasite1, but the functional effects of these movements are not known. Here we show that Cuscuta campestris haustoria accumulate high levels of many novel microRNAs (miRNAs) while parasitizing Arabidopsis thaliana. Many of these miRNAs are 22 nucleotides in length. Plant miRNAs of this length are uncommon, and are associated with amplification of target silencing through secondary short interfering RNA (siRNA) production2. Several A. thaliana mRNAs are targeted by 22-nucleotide C. campestris miRNAs during parasitism, resulting in mRNA cleavage, secondary siRNA production, and decreased mRNA accumulation. Hosts with mutations in two of the loci that encode target mRNAs supported significantly higher growth of C. campestris. The same miRNAs that are expressed and active when C. campestris parasitizes A. thaliana are also expressed and active when it infects Nicotiana benthamiana. Homologues of target mRNAs from many other plant species also contain the predicted target sites for the induced C. campestris miRNAs. These data show that C. campestris miRNAs act as trans-species regulators of host-gene expression, and suggest that they may act as virulence factors during parasitism. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25027

Yang J., Thames S. W., Best N.B., Jiang H., Huang P., Dilkes B.P. and Andrea L Eveland A.L. (2017): Brassinosteroids Modulate Meristem Fate and Differentiation of Unique Inflorescence Morphology in Setaria viridis. The Plant Cell, 2017; tpc.00816.2017 DOI: 10.1105/tpc.17.00816 Inflorescence architecture is a key determinant of yield potential in many crops and is patterned by the organization and developmental fate of axillary meristems. In cereals, flowers and grain are borne from spikelets, which differentiate in the final iteration of axillary meristem branching. In Setaria spp., inflorescence branches terminate in either a spikelet or a sterile bristle, and these structures appear to be paired. In this work, we leverage Setaria viridis to investigate a role for the phytohormones brassinosteroids (BRs) in specifying bristle identity and maintaining spikelet meristem determinacy. We report the molecular identification and characterization of the Bristleless 1 (Bsl1) locus in S. viridis, which encodes a rate-limiting enzyme in BR biosynthesis. Loss-of-function bsl1 mutants fail to initiate a bristle identity program, resulting in homeotic conversion of bristles to spikelets. In addition, spikelet meristem determinacy is altered in the mutants, which produce two florets per spikelet instead of one. Both of these phenotypes provide avenues for enhanced grain production in cereal crops. Our results indicate that the spatiotemporal restriction of BR biosynthesis at boundary domains influences meristem fate decisions during inflorescence development. The bsl1mutants provide insight into the molecular basis underlying morphological variation in inflorescence architecture. http://www.plantcell.org/content/plantcell/early/2017/12/20/tpc.17.00816.full.pdf

Team publishes research on unusual gene evolution in bacteria https://phys.org/news/2018-01-team-publishes-unusual-gene-evolution.html Łukasik P. et al. (2017): Multiple origins of interdependent endosymbiotic complexes in a genus of cicadas, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1712321115 Bacterial endosymbionts that provide nutrients to hosts often have genomes that are extremely stable in structure and gene content. In contrast, the genome of the endosymbiont Hodgkinia cicadicola has fractured into multiple distinct lineages in some species of the cicada genus Tettigades. To better understand the frequency, timing, and outcomes of Hodgkinia lineage splitting throughout this cicada genus, we sampled cicadas over three field seasons in Chile and performed genomics and microscopy on representative samples. We found that a single ancestral Hodgkinia lineage has split at least six independent times in Tettigades over the last 4 million years, resulting in complexes of between two and six distinct Hodgkinia lineages per host. Individual genomes in these symbiotic complexes differ dramatically in relative abundance, genome size, organization, and gene content. Each Hodgkinia lineage retains a small set of core genes involved in genetic information processing, but the high level of gene loss experienced by all genomes suggests that extensive sharing of gene products among symbiont cells must occur. In total, Hodgkinia complexes that consist of multiple lineages encode nearly complete sets of genes present on the ancestral single lineage and presumably perform the same functions as symbionts that have not undergone splitting. However, differences in the timing of the splits, along with dissimilar gene loss patterns on the resulting genomes, have led to very different outcomes of lineage splitting in extant cicadas. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/12/21/1712321115

Campbell M. A, Lukasik P., Simon C., and McCutcheon J.P. (2017): Idiosyncratic Genome Degradation in a Bacterial Endosymbiont of Periodical Cicadas, Current Biology : 27 (22), 3568–3575.e3, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.10.008 When a free-living bacterium transitions to a host-beneficial endosymbiotic lifestyle, it almost invariably loses a large fraction of its genome [ 1, 2 ]. The resulting small genomes often become stable in size, structure, and coding capacity [ 3–5 ], as exemplified by Sulcia muelleri, a nutritional endosymbiont of cicadas. Sulcia’s partner endosymbiont, Hodgkinia cicadicola, similarly remains co-linear in some cicadas diverged by millions of years [ 6, 7 ]. But in the long-lived periodical cicada Magicicada tredecim, the Hodgkinia genome has split into dozens of tiny, gene-sparse circles that sometimes reside in distinct Hodgkinia cells [ 8 ]. Previous data suggested that all other Magicicada species harbor complex Hodgkinia populations, but the timing, number of origins, and outcomes of the splitting process were unknown. Here, by sequencing Hodgkinia metagenomes from the remaining six Magicicada and two sister species, we show that each Magicicada species harbors Hodgkinia populations of at least 20 genomic circles. We find little synteny among the 256 Hodgkinia circles analyzed except between the most closely related cicada species. Gene phylogenies show multiple Hodgkinia lineages in the common ancestor of Magicicada and its closest known relatives but that most splitting has occurred within Magicicada and has given rise to highly variable Hodgkinia gene dosages among species. These data show that Hodgkinia genome degradation has proceeded down different paths in different Magicicada species and support a model of genomic degradation that is stochastic in outcome and nonadaptive for the host. These patterns mirror the genomic instability seen in some mitochondria. http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(17)31311- 8?_returnURL=http%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982217313118%3Fshowall %3Dtrue

Bay R.A., Ryan J. Harrigan R. J., Le Underwood V., Gibbs H.L., Smith T.B. and Ruegg K. (2018): Genomic signals of selection predict climate-driven population declines in a migratory bird. Science, 5 Jan 2018: 359 (6371), 83-86 DOI: 10.1126/science.aan4380 The ongoing loss of biodiversity caused by rapid climatic shifts requires accurate models for predicting species’ responses. Despite evidence that evolutionary adaptation could mitigate climate change impacts, evolution is rarely integrated into predictive models. Integrating population genomics and environmental data, we identified genomic variation associated with climate across the breeding range of the migratory songbird, yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia). Populations requiring the greatest shifts in allele frequencies to keep pace with future climate change have experienced the largest population declines, suggesting that failure to adapt may have already negatively affected populations. Broadly, our study suggests that the integration of genomic adaptation can increase the accuracy of future species distribution models and ultimately guide more effective mitigation efforts. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6371/83 and https://phys.org/news/2018-01-bird-genetics-climate.html#jCp

Ricroch A., Akkoyunlu S. Martin-Laffon and Kuntz M. (2017): Assessing the Environmental Safety of Transgenic Plants: Honey Bees as a Case Study. Advances in Botanical Research: https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.abr.2017.11.004 Bees play an important role in the pollination of a wide range of plants and are likely to encounter genetically engineered crops (often termed “genetically modified” or “GM”) during their foraging period, especially insect- resistant crops since these crops have been cultivated worldwide. Thus, it is important to assess potential impacts of these crops on the nontarget organism honey bee (Apis mellifera L.), the most important pollinator species worldwide. In the present study, we gathered all scientific data related to the effects of insect-resistant GM crops (mostly corn and cotton, and also oilseed rape, rice, soybean, and wheat) on honey bees. Assessments included feeding honey bees with purified insecticidal toxins or transgenic pollen collected from GM crops producing such toxins, namely protease inhibitors (PIs), Cry or VIP toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis. RNAi-producing and herbicide-tolerant crops were also included. A total of 64 peer-reviewed studies have been published between 1994 and 2017. We also compiled 18 studies submitted to and examined by the US EPA between 1993 and 2002. Our analyses converge to the conclusion that the studied Cry proteins, RNAi or herbicide-tolerance proteins do not negatively affect the survival of honey bees and have no potential sublethal effect in controlled laboratory conditions or in field/semifield trials. The risk of PI will mainly depend on their concentration in pollen and need to be assessed case by case. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065229617300769

Nutrition Bessa L.W., Pieterse E., Sigge G. and Hoffman L.C. (2017): Insects as Human Food; From Farm to Fork. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, DOI:10.1002/jsfa.8860 Over the course of the last few years the consumption of insects, known as entomophagy, has sparked increasing interest amongst scientists and environmentalists alike, as a potential solution to the inevitable global food security and sustainability issues humans will be facing in the coming years. Despite the fact that insects have been an integral part of over 2 billion people's diet worldwide, the concept of eating insects is still a new concept to the Western culture. As a result, there are many unknowns regarding insects as a food source, and this has led to a number of studies and investigations being done in recent years to create more knowledge and awareness around this new concept in the food industry. This review discusses some of the key topics and new developments published over the recent years, such as the nutritional benefits, food safety concerns, functional properties, potential product concepts and the current ideas and attitudes towards insects as food source in the Western culture. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/jsfa.8860/abstract

Collins J. et al. (2018): Dietary trehalose enhances virulence of epidemic Clostridium difficile. Nature doi:10.1038/nature25178 Clostridium difficile disease has recently increased to become a dominant nosocomial pathogen in North America and Europe, although little is known about what has driven this emergence. Here we show that two epidemic ribotypes (RT027 and RT078) have acquired unique mechanisms to metabolize low concentrations of the disaccharide trehalose. RT027 strains contain a single point mutation in the trehalose repressor that increases the sensitivity of this ribotype to trehalose by more than 500-fold. Furthermore, dietary trehalose increases the virulence of a RT027 strain in a mouse model of infection. RT078 strains acquired a cluster of four genes involved in trehalose metabolism, including a PTS permease that is both necessary and sufficient for growth on low concentrations of trehalose. We propose that the implementation of trehalose as a food additive into the human diet, shortly before the emergence of these two epidemic lineages, helped select for their emergence and contributed to hypervirulence. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25178 ______Pietruszka K., Piątkowska M., Piotr Jedziniak P. (2017): Occurrence of ochratoxin A in animal tissues and feeds in Poland in 2014–2016. J Vet Res 61, 483-487, 2017; DOI:10.1515/jvetres- 2017-0071 Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a toxic metabolite mainly produced by Aspergillus spp. and Penicillum spp. fungi. Research on the contamination of cereals, complete feeds, and tissues with this mycotoxin has indicated that it can be a toxicological problem impacting animal health and food safety in temperate climes. OTA contamination mainly besets the global pig industry, necessitating the monitoring of feeds and animal tissues. The aim of the study was to present the results of the official monitoring of OTA in animal tissues and feeds in Poland in 2014–2016 and determine the possible correlation between the presence of OTA in different types of samples. Material and Methods: The presence of ochratoxin A was determined using accepted procedures based on liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection after immunoaffinity column clean-up. Determination of OTA was afforded in the range of 0.3 μg/kg to 300 μg/kg in complete feeds and from 0.2 μg/kg to 150 μg/kg in the kidneys, liver, and muscles. Results: Over the three year span, about 23.5% of the animal tissues samples were contaminated by ochratoxin A. In the 2014 survey, 10% of the sample tissues contained 5–10 μg/kg (only one sample above 10 μg/kg), and in 2015 and 2016, 24% of samples showed levels above the limit of quantification 0.2 μg/kg, while none of the samples exceeded the established provisional action level of 5 μg/kg for animal tissues. The animal feed analysis showed that 9% was contaminated with Ochratoxin. An above the limit of quantification of 0.3μg/kg. In 2% of feed samples the OTA concentration was greater than 50 μg/kg. Conclusion: The results confirm the appropriacy of OTA contamination monitoring and help to increase food safety. https://www.degruyter.com/downloadpdf/j/jvetres.2017.61.issue-4/jvetres-2017-0071/jvetres-2017-0071.pdf

In respect to the discussion about Glyphosate Larsson M.O., Nielsen V.S., Bjerre N. Laporte F. and Cedergreen (2018) Refined assessment and perspectives on the cumulative risk resulting from the dietary exposure to pesticide residues in the Danish population. Food and Chemical Toxicology 111, 207-267: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2017.11.020 Relatively few studies are available on realistic cumulative risk assessments for dietary pesticide exposure. Despite available studies showing low risk, public concern remains. A method to estimate realistic residue levels based on information from spraying journals and supervised residue trials was described in a previous publication. The present article proposes a new method to estimate average residue levels in imported foods based on residue monitoring data and knowledge about agronomic practices. The two methods were used in combination to estimate average pesticide residue levels in 47 commodities on the Danish market. The chronic consumer exposure was estimated in six Danish diets. The Hazard Index (HI) method was used to assess consumer risk. Despite the conservative (cautious) risk assessment approach, low HI values where obtained. The HI was 16% for adults and 44% for children, combining the risk of all pesticides in the diet. Conclusion: the present study adds support to the evidence showing that adverse health effects of chronic pesticide residue exposure in the Danish population are very unlikely. The HI for pesticides for a Danish adult was on level with that of alcohol for a person consuming the equivalent of 1 glass of wine every seventh year. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691517306877?via%3Dihub pfd-file: https://ac.els-cdn.com/S0278691517306877/1-s2.0-S0278691517306877-main.pdf?_tid=f8a05b5c- f1ec-11e7-a509-00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1515138754_3a125e637b80d72e1ad80f2f59af028a

Van Bruggen, A.H.C.,He, M.M., Shin, K., Mai, V., Jeong, K.C., Finckh, M.R., Morris, J.G. Jr. (2018): Environmental and health effects of the herbicide glyphosate. Science of the Total Environment 616–617 (2018) 255–268 The herbicide glyphosate, N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine, has been used extensively in the past 40 years, under the assumption that side effects were minimal. However, in recent years, concerns have increased worldwide about the potential wide ranging direct and indirect health effects of the large scale use of glyphosate. In 2015, the World Health Organization reclassified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans. A detailed overview is given of the scientific literature on the movement and residues of glyphosate and its breakdown product aminomethyl phosphonic acid (AMPA) in soil and water, their toxicity to macro- and microorganisms, their effects on microbial compositions and potential indirect effects on plant, animal and human health. Although the acute toxic effects of glyphosate and AMPA on mammals are low, there are animal data raising the possibility of health effects associated with chronic, ultra-low doses related to accumulation of these compounds in the environment. Intensive glyphosate use has led to the selection of glyphosate-resistant weeds and microorganisms. Shifts in microbial compositions due to selective pressure by glyphosate may have contributed to the proliferation of plant and animal pathogens. Research on a link between glyphosate and antibiotic resistance is still scarce but we hypothesize that the selection pressure for glyphosate-resistance in bacteria could lead to shifts in microbiome composition and increases in antibiotic resistance to clinically important antimicrobial agents. We recommend interdisciplinary research on the associations between low level chronic glyphosate exposure, distortions in microbial communities, expansion of antibiotic resistance and the emergence of animal, human and plant diseases. Independent research is needed to revisit the tolerance thresholds for glyphosate residues in water, food and animal feed taking all possible health risks into account. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717330279 pdf-file available

Tagungen – Meetings 2018 GPBC: German Plant Breeding Conference 28.02. – 02.03.2018, HKK Hotel-Wenigerrode http://meetings.ipk-gatersleben.de/gpbc2018/

G-TwYST Stakeholder consultation 28-29 March 2018, Antwerp, Belgium https://www.g- twyst.eu/index.php?option=com_acymailing&ctrl=archive&task=view&mailid=61&key=fGxpsorT&subid=741- lej1U3Qu2uUnc1&tmpl=component

EFSA Conference 2018: Science, Food, Society http://conference.efsa.europa.eu/?utm_source=EFSA+Newsletters&utm_campaign=bacaf6f57d- HL_171222&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7ea646dd1d-bacaf6f57d-59436449

Woche 2 - Week 02 (2018-01-08 / 01-14) Pressemeldungen und Medienberichte – Press releases and reports Agrarheute: Ergebnisse der Sondierungsgespräche https://www.agrarheute.com/wochenblatt/politik/ergebnisse-sondierungsgespraeche-541759

Trerbar C.- ´Der Tagesspeigel: Wiederauflage der großen Koalition rückt näher Gut 24 Stunden haben CDU, CSU und SPD final sondiert. Es gibt konkrete Ergebnisse, aber noch ist nichts beschlossene Sache. (Gentechnik- und Glyphosat-Verbot) Finale Fassung: Ergebnisse der Sondierungsgespräche von CDU, CSU und SPD 12.01.2018 http://www.tagesspiegel.de/downloads/20841192/5/ergebnis_sondierung_cdu_csu_spd_120118.pdf

Reuters Factbox: Key Policies Agreed in German Exploratory Coalition Talks FARMING * Agree ban on cultivating genetically modified plants nationwide. * Systematically and significantly limit use of weed killer glyphosate with the aim of entirely ending use of plant protection agents that contain this as quickly as possible. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-01-12/factbox-key-policies-agreed-in-german- exploratory-coalition-talks

Ntirenganya E. - The New Times Rwanda takes early steps towards legalising GMOs http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/227457/

Folta K. – Genetic Literacy Project: Viewpoint: African farmers blocked from using life- saving GMO bananas by European activists https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/01/11/viewpoint-african-farmers-blocked-using-life-saving-gmo- bananas-european-activists/

Maixner E. Sex on the farm: How gene editing can revolutionize feeding the world https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/10427-a-new-leap-along-the-age-old-crop-and- livestock-breeding-path

USA: Landwirtschaft -Gesetze https://www.usda.gov/our-agency/about-usda/laws-and-regulations ______Scientific references CRISPR and Co Waltz E. (2018): With a free pass, CRISPR-edited plants reach market in record time. Nature Biotechnology 36 (1) 6-7 https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt0118-6b pdf-file available

Erikson D. et al. (2018): Why the European Union needs a national GMO opt-in mechanism. Nature Biotechnology 36, 18–19 (2018); doi:10.1038/nbt.4051 https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.4051 http://www.grace-fp7.eu/de/content/should-gm-crops-be-grown-eu-let-countries-decide-themselves-press- release

Boëte C. (2018): Public engagement and communication: who is in charge? EMBO reports (2018) 19, 1-2; DOI 10.15252/embr.201745379 http://embor.embopress.org/content/19/1/1

Ricroch A., Clairand P., and Wendy Harwood W. (2017): Use of CRISPR systems in plant genome editing: toward new opportunities in agriculture. In: Emerging Topics in Life Sciences Nov 10, 2017, 1 (2) 169-182; DOI: 10.1042/ETLS20170085 Initially discovered in bacteria and archaea, CRISPR–Cas9 is an adaptive immune system found in prokaryotes. In 2012, scientists found a way to use it as a genome editing tool. In 2013, its application in plants was successfully achieved. This breakthrough has opened up many new opportunities for researchers, including the opportunity to gain a better understanding of plant biological systems more quickly. The present study reviews agricultural applications related to the use of CRISPR systems in plants from 52 peer-reviewed articles published since 2014. Based on this literature review, the main use of CRISPR systems is to achieve improved yield performance, biofortification, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, with rice (Oryza sativa) being the most studied crop. http://www.emergtoplifesci.org/content/1/2/169 http://www.emergtoplifesci.org/content/1/2/169.full-text.pdf

Sherkow J.S.: Patent protection for CRISPR: An ELSI review. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 1–12; doi:10.1093/jlb/lsx036 https://academic.oup.com/jlb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jlb/lsx036/4706243 pdf-file: https://watermark.silverchair.com/lsx036.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAd0wggHZBgkqhkiG 9w0BBwagggHKMIIBxgIBADCCAb8GCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMT3eKJKIMU-m1o6V-AgEQgIIBkFj1lC-- goqx6IbkbfyYCaUgIaB3EdJjWvxc9q9cwAi1LmHNVVlZkC750NQMrvO9gDxDvjtnUALBT5dpQH1oPXcypaG2_QlnS1qYVgIhHl3pkOFuJNgRyKpP WM75SL_SnE1sJCpFezK5Nvr23pn_FYKjqWpwfp-pkOehoZLVggXTsrJVWpZwaX0qNDBLKnDmWj8nDJ6dwF8OPBL7wGsNZnR- 81Y71wFa7j2rmsGejwh6OsPQzMGT9oWogNcfW2llyzrivDPFCO2TULeT8SqNsm6Ge2_mE7IKZKgX_1Wod_hRZVvGovogR- u6FVMwcZ7rqP3fa8PsOdJWYu55IUVsz2Nqtrpv3n- UakpRgGnkMR0DqFFn3Y2aDG92thsSTuTWixpfxG_SEhKKVYrqlmLm3Zv4AvzALfOXhHvuEr3lmppksxMC- oAz5cZV0TALLwF6Ao7wxtYYTHfJPDK0ocSCAtTOsIFZhBgjhqxaZwr5KRsYXyYtRrstqMM3Q0YWzSzQfzXdDJJEEl8CSIhQ2Nm0um0

Rosenblum A. (2018): Meet the Woman Using CRISPR to Breed All-Male “Terminator Cattle” Gene editing can change an animal’s sex. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609699/meet-the-woman-using-crispr-to-breed-all-male-terminator- cattle/#comments

Greiter A., Dolezel M., Eckerstorfer M. Ribarits A., Stepanek W., Wögerbauer M. and Gaugitsch H. (2017): Special event on the risk assessment of new plant breeding techniques http://www.umweltbundesamt.at/fileadmin/site/en/pdf/Summary_report_era.pdf

Critical Paper Charlesworth C.T., Deshpande P.S., Dever D.P., Dejene B., Gomez-Ospina N., Mantri S., Pavel-Dinu M., Camarena J., Weinberg K.I., and Porteus M.H. Identification of Pre-Existing Adaptive Immunity to Cas9 Proteins in Humans doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/243345 The CRISPR-Cas9 system has proven to be a powerful tool for genome editing allowing for the precise modification of specific DNA sequences within a cell. Many efforts are currently underway to use the CRISPR- Cas9 system for the therapeutic correction of human genetic diseases. The most widely used homologs of the Cas9 protein are derived from the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes). Based on the fact that these two bacterial species cause infections in the human population at high frequencies, we looked for the presence of pre-existing adaptive immune responses to their respective Cas9 homologs, SaCas9 (S. aureus homolog of Cas9) and SpCas9 (S. pyogenes homolog of Cas9). To determine the presence of anti-Cas9 antibodies, we probed for the two homologs using human serum and were able to detect antibodies against both, with 79% of donors staining against SaCas9 and 65% of donors staining against SpCas9. Upon investigating the presence of antigen-specific T-cells against the two homologs in human peripheral blood, we found anti-SaCas9 T-cells in 46% of donors. Upon isolating, expanding, and conducting antigen re- stimulation experiments on several of these donors anti-SaCas9 T-cells, we observed a SaCas9-specific response confirming that these T-cells were antigen-specific. We were unable to detect antigen-specific T-cells against SpCas9, although the sensitivity of the assay precludes us from concluding that such T-cells do not exist. Together, this data demonstrates that there are pre-existing humoral and cell-mediated adaptive immune responses to Cas9 in humans, a factor which must be taken into account as the CRISPR-Cas9 system moves forward into clinical trials. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/01/05/243345

Safety aspects Delaney B., Goodman R.E. and Gregory S. Ladics G.S. (2017): Food and Feed Safety of Genetically Engineered Food Crops. TOXICOLOGICAL SCIENCES , 2017, 1–11 The first genetically engineered (GE) food crop (tomato) was introduced in 1995, followed by the successful development and commercial release of maize, soybeans, cotton, canola, potatoes, papaya, alfalfa, squash, and sugar beets with specific new genetic traits. Even though the safety of every new GE crop has been evaluated by various regulatory authorities throughout the world prior to its commercial release, the ongoing public debate about the safety of food and feed derived from GE plants has not abated. Such debates often overshadow an important fact that all crops used as human food or animal feed include varieties that have been developed through conventional breeding and selection over hundreds or thousands of years, or through intentional but random mutagenesis. Developing food crops through such breeding practices result in large- scale genomic changes in the resulting crops, and these genomic changes do not undergo molecular characterization. In contrast, new GE crops are developed using well-characterized DNA fragments and the resulting crops are tested and evaluated with much greater scrutiny. This document reviews the safety data and information of GE crops and foods obtained from them Pdf-file: https://watermark.silverchair.com/kfx249.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAcEwggG9BgkqhkiG 9w0BBwagggGuMIIBqgIBADCCAaMGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMjJnZIrluhX37djLuAgEQgIIBdMF1EjhXfMrWWFRy9THVy rt3fsPRkDhKZ8gm2oiiJqMV5xnkggTleDYGj-fK9KvKgjqTClgEwGHT_NvwGoCcEwq97iot8e32gTaz- BFS_h8yeLdR9j8dfUayovHsuBQh4ym8wPP50DeV0J5SuP_z99IXFqriRA3evnne45dT4JW89i- VCP2pxmK5GgVPlovdEGjWuBPaBrbK0tCxEv_AZt4e8XhE626whtc8A3CiIPOLtxHcDxpn0xdm3zOGQY4k6HR9jjgjC7mHh8SeMfHzr72njq0DQyF gqwLFNUUlu6omMBBb-k- zvMbt4u1OABNhomxAoBZgFyaLicq70Y7JVz8P596MC2BSmaDW9v7TLWJhKymkx0kLVyYmaMQvfaKLQcLzPSMcte8sbSDUe_7- PnLI3uuu_dqu_RuZNoWMFd_zk0ducDuwvOukxJS26dHymM3iHs84Gq9dssLG5ZeyxxQC7kt_cisnIc1ZceA130OYihC9hw

Bøhn T.(2018): Criticism of EFSA's scientific opinion on combinatorial effects of ‘stacked’ GM plants. Food and Chemical Toxicology 111 (2018) 268–274; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2017.11.023 Recent genetically modified plants tend to include both insect resistance and herbicide tolerance traits. Some of these ’stacked’ GM plants have multiple Cry-toxins expressed as well as tolerance to several herbicides. This means that non-target organisms in the environment (biodiversity) will be co-exposed to multiple stressors simultaneously. A similar co-exposure may happen to consumers through chemical residues in the food chain. EFSA, the responsible unit for minimizing risk of harm in European food chains, has expressed its scientific interest in combinatorial effects. However, when new data showed how two Cry-toxins acted in combination (added toxicity), and that the same Cry-toxins showed combinatorial effects when co-exposed with Roundup (Bøhn et al., 2016), EFSA dismissed these new peer-reviewed results. In effect, EFSA claimed that combinatorial effects are not relevant for itself. EFSA was justifying this by referring to a policy question, and by making invalid assumptions, which could have been checked directly with the lead-author. With such approach, EFSA may miss the opportunity to improve its environmental and health risk assessment of toxins and pesticides in the food chain. Failure to follow its own published requests for combinatorial effects research, may also risk jeopardizingEFSA's scientific and public reputation. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691517306907?via%3Dihub pdf-file: https://ac.els-cdn.com/S0278691517306907/1-s2.0-S0278691517306907-main.pdf?_tid=36bc6ac8-f447-11e7-9965- 00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1515397416_ad4d6e5d4d068a617b439e0726bc0353

Jiang K., Brittany N. Anderton B.N., Ronald P.C., and George A. Barnett G.A. (2017): Semantic Network Analysis Reveals Opposing Online Representations of the Search Term “GMO”. Global Challenges, 170008 Making sound food and agriculture decisions is important for global society and the environment. Experts tend to view crop genetic engineering, a technology that can improve yields and minimize impacts on the environment, more favorably than the public. Because there is a causal relationship between public opinion and public policy, it is important to understand how opinions about genetically engineered (GE) crops are influenced. The public increasingly seeks science information on the Internet. Here, semantic network analysis is performed to characterize the presentation of the term “GMO (genetically modified organism),” a proxy for food developed from GE crops, on the web. Texts from three sources are analyzed: U.S. federal websites, top pages from a Google search, and online news titles. We found that the framing and sentiment (positive, neutral, or negative attitudes) of “GMO” varies across these sources. It is described how differences in the portrayal of GE food by each source might affect public opinion. A current understanding of the types of information individuals may encounter online can provide insight into public opinion toward GE food. In turn, this knowledge can guide teaching and communication efforts by the scientific community to promote informed decision-making about agricultural biotechnologies. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gch2.201700082/epdf ______Kniss A. R. (2017): Genetically Engineered Herbicide-Resistant Crops and Herbicide- Resistant Weed Evolution in the United States, Weed Science 2017; https://doi.org/10.1017/wsc.2017.70 Genetically engineered (GE) herbicide-resistant crops have been widely adopted by farmers in the United States and other countries around the world, and these crops have caused significant changes in herbicide use patterns. GE crops have been blamed for increased problems with herbicide-resistant weeds (colloquially called by the misnomer “superweeds”); however, there has been no rigorous analysis of herbicide use or herbicide- resistant weed evolution to quantify the impact of GE crops on herbicide resistance. Here, I analyze data from the International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds and the USDA and demonstrate that adoption of GE corn varieties did not reduce herbicide diversity, and therefore likely did not increase selection pressure for herbicide resistant weeds in that crop. Adoption of GE herbicide-resistant varieties substantially reduced herbicide diversity in cotton and soybean. Increased glyphosate use in cotton and soybean largely displaced herbicides that are more likely to select for herbicide-resistant weeds, which at least partially mitigated the impact of reduced herbicide diversity. The overall rate of newly confirmed herbicide resistant weed species to all herbicide sites of action (SOAs) has slowed in the United States since 2005. Although the number of glyphosate-resistant weeds has increased since 1998, the evolution of new glyphosate-resistant weed species as a function of area sprayed has remained relatively low compared with several other commonly used herbicide SOAs. https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge- core/content/view/22B3B07F8EB980D2CFEEE3AA36B7B2C1/S0043174517000704a.pdf/genetically_engineered_herbicider esistant_crops_and_herbicideresistant_weed_evolution_in_the_united_states.pdf

Arts, G., Boesten J., Brock T., and Roessink I., (2017): Arable weeds and non-target plants in prospective risk assessment for plant protection products; Specific protection goal and exposure assessment goal options. Wageningen, Wageningen Environmental Research, Report 2836. 32 pp.; 7 fig.; 2 tab.;23 ref. In 2014 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a scientific opinion on the state of the science on risk assessment of plant protection products for non-target terrestrial pants (EFSA PPR, 2014). Before starting the development of EFSA guidance for this group of organisms, options for specific protection goals (SPGs) and related exposure assessment goals (EAGs) have to be defined. In this document, three options for in -field specific protection goals (SPGs) for arable weeds are proposed, comprising the options for Maximal weed reduction, Moderate weed reduction and Beneficial weed protection. Also for the off-field area, three SPG options are described, i.e. the ‘Population recovery option ’ for non-target terrestrial plants, the ‘Threshold option for vegetative growth of non-target terrestrial plants’ (this option is similar to the current procedure in the EU risk assessment) and the ‘Threshold option for vegetative growth and generative reproduction of non- target terrestrial plants’. The described options serve to facilitate discussions on SPG and EAG at the EU level. This document explores and presents all options from a Dutch perspective. The agronomic consequences of the in-field and off-field options for specific protection goals have not been studied so far and need further elaboration and research. http://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/wurpubs/fulltext/424504

Ezekiel C.N. et al.: Traditionally Processed Beverages in Africa: A Review of the Mycotoxin Occurrence Patterns and Exposure Assessment. Vol.00,2017, Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 10.1111/1541-4337.12329 African traditional beverages are widely consumed food-grade liquids processed from single or mixed grains (mostly cereals) by simple food processing techniques, of which fermentation tops the list. These beverages are very diverse in composition and nutritional value and are specific to different cultures and countries. The grains from which home-processed traditional beverages are made across Africa are often heavily contaminated with multiple mycotoxins due to poor agricultural, handling, and storage practices that characterize the region. In the literature, there are many reports on the spectrum and quantities of mycotoxins in crops utilized in traditional beverage processing, however, few studies have analyzed mycotoxins in the beverages themselves. The available reports on mycotoxins in African traditional beverages are mainly centered on the finished products with little information on the process chain (raw material to final product), fate of the different mycotoxins during processing, and exposure estimates for consumers. Regulations targeting these local beverages are not in place despite the heavy occurrence of mycotoxins in their raw materials and the high consumption levels of the products in many homes. This paper therefore comprehensively discusses for the 1st time the available data on the wide variety of African traditional beverages, the mycotoxins that contaminate the beverages and their raw materials, exposure estimates, and possible consequent effects. Mycotoxin control options and future directions for mycotoxin research in beverage production are also highlighted. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1541-4337.12329/full http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1541-4337.12329/epdf

Lozano V.L., Defarge N., Rocque, L.-M., Mesnage R., Hennequin D., Cassier R., de Vendomois J.S., Panoff J-M., Seralini G.-E., Amiel C,: Sex-dependent impact of Roundup on the rat gut microbiome. Toxicology Reports https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxrep.2017.12.005 A growing body of research suggests that dysbiosis of the gut microbiota induced by environmental pollutants, such as pesticides, could have a role in the development of metabolic disorders. We have examined the long - term effects of 3 doses of the Roundup(R) herbicide (made of glyphosate and formulants) on the gut microbiota in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. A total of 141 bacteria families were identified by a 16S sequencing analysis approach. An OPLS-DA analysis revealed an increased Bacteroidetes family S24-7 and a decreased Lactobacillaceae in 8 out of the 9 females treated with 3 different doses of R (n=3, for each dose). These effects were confirmed by repetitive sequence-based PCR fingerprinting showing a clustering of treated females. A culture -based method showed that R had a direct effect on rat gut microbiota. Cultivable species showed different sensitivities to R, including the presence of a high tolerant or resistant strain identified as Escherichia coli by 16S rRNA sequencing. The high tolerance of this E. Coli strain was explained by the absence of the EPSPS gene (coding glyphosate target enzyme) as shown by DNA amplification. Overall, these gut microbiome disturbances showed a substantial overlap with those associated with liver dysfunction in other studies. In conclusion, we revealed that an environmental concentration of R (0.1 ppb) and other two concentrations (400 ppm and 5,000 ppm) have a sex-dependent impact on rat gut microbiome composition and thus warrants further investigation. https://www.gmoseralini.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Lozano-et-al.-Tox.Rep_.2017.pdf

Salmon: Johnson BM, Kemp BM and Thorgaard GH: (2018): Increased mitochondrial DNA diversity in ancient Columbia River basin Chinook salmon Oncorhyn chus tshawytscha . PLoS ONE 13(1): e0190059. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190059 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0190059&type=printable

Koshimizu S- et al. (2018): Physcomitrella MADS-box genes regulate water supply and sperm movement for fertilization. Nature Plants 4,36–45, doi:10.1038/s41477-017-0082-9 MIKC classic (MIKCC)-type MADS-box genes encode transcription factors that function in various developmental processes, including angiosperm floral organ identity. Phylogenetic analyses of the MIKCC-type MADS-box family, including genes from non-flowering plants, suggest that the increased numbers of these genes in flowering plants is related to their functional divergence; however, their precise functions in non-flowering plants and their evolution throughout land plant diversification are unknown. Here, we show that MIKCC-type MADS-box genes in the moss Physcomitrella patens function in two ways to enable fertilization. Analyses of protein localization, deletion mutants and overexpression lines of all six genes indicate that three MIKCC-type MADS-box genes redundantly regulate cell division and growth in the stems for appropriate external water conduction, as well as the formation of sperm with motile flagella. The former function appears to be maintained in the flowering plant lineage, while the latter was lost in accordance with the loss of sperm. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-017-0082-9

Weiqiang, L. et al. (2017): The karrikin receptor KAI2 promotes drought resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS Genet., 13(11): e1007076, doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007076. Drought causes substantial reductions in crop yields worldwide. Therefore, we set out to identify new chemical and genetic factors that regulate drought resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana. Karrikins (KARs) are a class of butenolide compounds found in smoke that promote seed germination, and have been reported to improve seedling vigor under stressful growth conditions. Here, we discovered that mutations in KARRIKIN INSENSITIVE2 (KAI2), encoding the proposed karrikin receptor, result in hypersensitivity to water deprivation. We performed transcriptomic, physiological and biochemical analyses of kai2 plants to understand the basis for KAI2- regulated drought resistance. We found that kai2 mutants have increased rates of water loss and drought- induced cell membrane damage, enlarged stomatal apertures, and higher cuticular permeability. In addition, kai2 plants have reduced anthocyanin biosynthesis during drought, and are hyposensitive to abscisic acid (ABA) in stomatal closure and cotyledon opening assays. We identified genes that are likely associated with the observed physiological and biochemical changes through a genome-wide transcriptome analysis of kai2 under both well-watered and dehydration conditions. These data provide evidence for crosstalk between ABA- and KAI2-dependent signaling pathways in regulating plant responses to drought. A comparison of the strigolactone receptor mutant d14 (DWARF14) to kai2 indicated that strigolactones also contributes to plant drought adaptation, although not by affecting cuticle development. Our findings suggest that chemical or genetic manipulation of KAI2 and D14 signaling may provide novel ways to improve drought resistance. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5703579/ pdf-file: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5703579/pdf/pgen.1007076.pdf

Yang, X. et al. (2017): The Kalanchoë genome provides insights into convergent evolution and building blocks of crassulacean acid metabolism. Nat Commun, 8(1):1899, doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01491-7. Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a water-use efficient adaptation of photosynthesis that has evolved independently many times in diverse lineages of flowering plants. We hypothesize that convergent evolution of protein sequence and temporal gene expression underpins the independent emergences of CAM from C3 photosynthesis. To test this hypothesis, we generate a de novo genome assembly and genome-wide transcript expression data for Kalanchoë fedtschenkoi, an obligate CAM species within the core eudicots with a relatively small genome (~260 Mb). Our comparative analyses identify signatures of convergence in protein sequence and re-scheduling of diel transcript expression of genes involved in nocturnal CO2 fixation, stomatal movement, heat tolerance, circadian clock, and carbohydrate metabolism in K. fedtschenkoi and other CAM species in comparison with non-CAM species. These findings provide new insights into molecular convergence and building blocks of CAM and will facilitate CAM-into-C3 photosynthesis engineering to enhance water-use efficiency in crops. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5711932/ pdf-file: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5711932/pdf/41467_2017_Article_1491.pdf

Cindy Harper C. et al. (2018): Robust forensic matching of confiscated horns to individual poached African rhinoceros. Current Biology, 2018; 28 (1): R13 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.11.005 Black and white rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis and Ceratotherium simum) are iconic African species that are classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Critically Endangered and Near Threatened (http://www.iucnredlist.org/), respectively [1]. At the end of the 19th century, Southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) numbers had declined to fewer than 50 animals in the Hluhluwe- iMfolozi region of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province of South Africa, mainly due to uncontrolled hunting 2 ; 3. Efforts by the Natal Parks Board facilitated an increase in population to over 20,000 in 2015 through aggressive conservation management [2]. Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) populations declined from several hundred thousand in the early 19th century to ∼65,000 in 1970 and to ∼2,400 by 1995 [1] with subsequent genetic reduction, also due to hunting, land clearances and later poaching [4]. In South Africa, rhinoceros poaching incidents have increased from 13 in 2007 to 1,215 in 2014 [1]. This has occurred despite strict trade bans on rhinoceros products and strict enforcement in recent years. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982217314501

Díaz M.G. et al. (2018): Redox regulation of PEP activity during seedling establishment in Arabidopsis thaliana, Nature Communications 9, Article number:50 (2018), doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02468-2 Activation of the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase is tightly controlled and involves a network of phosphorylation and, as yet unidentified, thiol-mediated events. Here, we characterize PLASTID REDOX INSENSITIVE2, a redox-regulated protein required for full PEP-driven transcription. PRIN2 dimers can be reduced into the active monomeric form by thioredoxins through reduction of a disulfide bond. Exposure to light increases the ratio between the monomeric and dimeric forms of PRIN2. Complementation of prin2-2 with different PRIN2 protein variants demonstrates that the monomer is required for light-activated PEP-dependent transcription and that expression of the nuclear-encoded photosynthesis genes is linked to the activity of PEP. Activation of PEP during chloroplast development likely is the source of a retrograde signal that promotes nuclear LHCB expression. Thus, regulation of PRIN2 is the thiol-mediated mechanism required for full PEP activity, with PRIN2 monomerization via reduction by TRXs providing a mechanistic link between photosynthetic electron transport and activation of photosynthetic gene expression https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02468-2

Zhao M., Zhang B., Lisch D., and Ma J, (2017): Patterns and Consequences of Subgenome Differentiation Provide Insights into the Nature of Paleopolyploidy in Plants, The Plant Cell (2017). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00595 Polyploidy is an important feature of plant genomes, but the nature of many polyploidization events remains to be elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that the evolutionary fates of the subgenomes in maize (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max) have followed different trajectories. One subgenome has been subject to relaxed selection, lower levels of gene expression, higher rates of transposable element accumulation, more small interfering RNAs and DNA methylation around genes, and higher rates of gene loss in maize, whereas none of these features were observed in soybean. Nevertheless, individual gene pairs exhibit differentiation with respect to these features in both species. In addition, we observed a higher number of chromosomal rearrangements and higher frequency of retention of duplicated genes in soybean than in maize. Furthermore, soybean “singletons” were found to be more frequently tandemly duplicated than “duplicates” in soybean, which may, to some extent, counteract the genome imbalance caused by gene loss. We propose that unlike in maize, in which two subgenomes were distinct prior to the allotetraploidization event and thus experienced global differences in selective constraints, in soybean, the two subgenomes were far less distinct prior to polyploidization, such that individual gene pairs, rather than subgenomes, experienced stochastic differences over longer periods of time, resulting in retention of the majority of duplicates. http://www.plantcell.org/content/29/12/2974 Mideros, S.X., Chung C.L., Wiesner-Hanks T., Poland J.A., Wu D., Ariel A. Fialko A.A., Turgeon B.G., and Rebecca J. Nelson R.J. (2017): Determinants of Virulence and In Vitro Development Colocalize on a Genetic Map of Setosphaeria turcica. Phytopathology (2017). DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-01-17-0021-R Generating effective and stable strategies for resistance breeding requires an understanding of the genetics of host–pathogen interactions and the implications for pathogen dynamics and evolution. Setosphaeria turcica causes northern leaf blight (NLB), an important disease of maize for which major resistance genes have been deployed. Little is known about the evolutionary dynamics of avirulence (AVR) genes in S. turcica. To test the hypothesis that there is a genetic association between avirulence and in vitro development traits, we (i) created a genetic map of S. turcica, (ii) located candidate AVRHt1 and AVRHt2 regions, and (iii) identified genetic regions associated with several in vitro development traits. A cross was generated between a race 1 and a race 23N strain, and 221 progeny were isolated. Genotyping by sequencing was used to score 2,078 single-nucleotide polymorphism markers. A genetic map spanning 1,981 centimorgans was constructed, consisting of 21 linkage groups. Genetic mapping extended prior evidence for the location and identity of the AVRHt1 gene and identified a region of interest for AVRHt2. The genetic location of AVRHt2 colocalized with loci influencing radial growth and mycelial abundance. Our data suggest a trade-off between virulence on Ht1 and Ht2 and the pathogen’s vegetative growth rate. In addition, in-depth analysis of the genotypic data suggests the presence of significant duplication in the genome of S. turcica. https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/PHYTO-01-17-0021-R

______Gut microbiome – more and more important Gopalakrishnan, V., et al. (2018): Gut microbiome modulates response to anti–PD-1 immunotherapy in melanoma patients. Science 359, (6371) 97-103 http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/359/6371/97.full.pdf and http://www.ask-force.org/web/Genomics/Gopalakrishnan-Gut-microbiome-modulates-response-to-anti- PD-1-immunotherapy-melanoma-patients-2018.pdf

Matson, V., Fessler, J., Bao, R., Chongsuwat, T., Zha, Y., Alegre, M.-L., Luke, J. J. and Gajewski, T. F. (2018): The commensal microbiome is associated with anti–PD-1 efficacy in metastatic melanoma patients. Science 359 (6371), 104-108 http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/359/6371/104.full.pdf and http://www.ask-force.org/web/Genomics/Matson-The-commensal-microbiome-associated-anti-PD-1- efficacy-metastatic-melanoma-patients-2018.pdf

Routy, B. et al. (2018): Gut microbiome influences efficacy of PD-1–based immunotherapy against epithelial tumors. Science 359 (6371) 91-97 http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/359/6371/91.full.pdf and http://www.ask-force.org/web/Genomics/Routy-Gut-microbiome-influences-efficacy-PD-1-based- immunotherapy-2018.pdf

Bienen - Bees Ziegelmann, B., Abele E., Hannus S., Beitzinger M., Berg S., and Rosenkranz P. (2018): Lithium chloride effectively kills the honey bee parasite Varroa destructor by a systemic mode of action. Scientific Reports 8, Article number:683 doi:10.1038/s41598-017-19137-5 Honey bees are increasingly important in the pollination of crops and wild plants. Recent reports of the weakening and periodical high losses of managed honey bee colonies have alarmed beekeeper, farmers and scientists. Infestations with the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor in combination with its associated viruses have been identified as a crucial driver of these health problems. Although yearly treatments are required to prevent collapses of honey bee colonies, the number of effective acaricides is small and no new active compounds have been registered in the past 25 years. RNAi-based methods were proposed recently as a promising new tool. However, the application of these methods according to published protocols has led to a surprising discovery. Here, we show that the lithium chloride that was used to precipitate RNA and other lithium compounds is highly effective at killing Varroa mites when fed to host bees at low millimolar concentrations. Experiments with caged bees and brood-free artificial swarms consisting of a queen and several thousand bees clearly demonstrate the potential of lithium as miticidal agent with good tolerability in worker bees providing a promising basis for the development of an effective and easy-to-apply control method for mite treatment. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-19137-5

EFSA: Public consultation on the draft EFSA guidance on the risk assessment of the application of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain: Part 1, human and animal health Deadline: 4 March 2018 http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/consultations/call/180112

Tagungen – Meetings 2018 GPBC: German Plant Breeding Conference 28.02. – 02.03.2018, HKK Hotel-Wenigerrode http://meetings.ipk-gatersleben.de/gpbc2018/

G-TwYST Stakeholder consultation 28-29 March 2018, Antwerp, Belgium https://www.g- twyst.eu/index.php?option=com_acymailing&ctrl=archive&task=view&mailid=61&key=fGxpsorT&subid=741- lej1U3Qu2uUnc1&tmpl=component

EFSA Conference 2018: Science, Food, Society http://conference.efsa.europa.eu/?utm_source=EFSA+Newsletters&utm_campaign=bacaf6f57d- HL_171222&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7ea646dd1d-bacaf6f57d-59436449

Woche 03 -Week 03 (2018-01-15 / 01-21)

BobeK – EuGH: Schlussanträge von Generalanwalt Bobek zur Mutagenese und Gentechnik: Pressemeldung: German: http://bit.ly/2Dlgsav English:https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2018-01/cp180004en.pdf Vollständiger Text: deutsch: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=198532&pageIndex=0&d oclang=DE&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=779174#Footref12 English: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=198532&pageIndex=0&d oclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=779292

Beiträge zu den Schlussanträgen / Press releases to the opinion Juris (2018): Schlussanträge zur Fortgeltung der "Mutagenese-Ausnahme" in GVO- Richtlinie https://www.juris.de/jportal/portal/page/homerl.psml?nid=jnachr- JUNA180100146&cmsuri=%2Fjuris%2Fde%2Fnachrichten%2Fzeigenachricht.jsp

Abbott A. (2018): Europe court suggests relaxed gene-editing rules Judicial opinion says restrictive regulations may not apply to plants and animals bred using CRISPR technique. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-01013-5?WT.feed_name=subjects_climate-sciences

EuropaBio (2018): One step closer to legal clarity in plant breeding / Our take on the CJEU Advocate General opinion http://www.europabio.org/agricultural-biotech/publications/one-step-closer-legal-clarity-plant- breeding?mc_cid=1000d8c51d&mc_eid=b89825d9e5 Press release: http://www.europabio.org/sites/default/files/One%20step%20closer%20to%20legal%20clarity%20in%20plant %20breeding.pdf epso First reaction (2018): On the Advocate General’s Opinion regarding mutagenesis and the Genetically Modified Organisms Directive http://www.epsoweb.org/webfm_send/2362

GAIN Report Number: E 18003 (2018): Advisory Legal Opinion Expected for New Plant Breeding Techniques https://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Advisory%20Legal%20Opinion%20Expected%20for %20New%20Plant%20Breeding%20Techniques%20_Brussels%20USEU_EU-28_1-16-2018.pdf

GM-Watch (2018): Modern mutagenesis techniques are genetic engineering and give rise to GMOs http://gmwatch.org/en/news/archive/2018/18077

Demeter-Statement (2018) Demeter-Statement zur Position des Generalanwalts beim Europäischen Gerichtshof Gentechnik muss als solche erkenntlich sein und reguliert werden! https://www.demeter.de/aktuell/gentechnik-kennzeichnen-und-regulieren

BioAustria: (2018): BIO AUSTRIA zu neuen Gentechnik-Verfahren: Gentechnikfreiheit Österreichs sichern Wahlfreiheit für Bäuerinnen und Bauern sowie Konsument/innen nur mit verpflichtender Kennzeichnung neuer Gentechnik gesichert https://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20180118_OTS0198/bio-austria-zu-neuen-gentechnik-verfahren- gentechnikfreiheit-oesterreichs-sichern

Informationsdienst Gentechnik: Europäischer Generalanwalt: Wann ist Mutagenese Gentechnik? https://www.keine-gentechnik.de/nachricht/32948/

EuropaBio (2018) Achieving the potential of genome editing - The perspective of the European Biotech Industry http://www.europabio.org/cross-sector/publications/achieving-potential-genome- editing?mc_cid=1000d8c51d&mc_eid=b89825d9e5

In den deutschen Medien fand die Pressemeldung des EuGH zu den Schlussanträgen von Generalanwalt Bobek kaum Beachtung. Karberg S. – Der Tagesspiegel: Crispr ist nicht immer Gentechnik Mit Genome Editing gezüchtete Organismen fallen nicht unbedingt unter die strenge Regulierung der EU. http://www.tagesspiegel.de/wissen/europaeischer-gerichtshof-vor-der-entscheidung-crispr-ist-nicht-immer- gentechnik/20864058.html and two english press releases The Guardian Gene edited crops should be exempted from GM food laws, says EU lawyer Technology can help foster specific positive traits in plants but can also have potentially dangerous ‘off-target’ effects, say critics https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jan/18/gene-edited-crops-should-be-exempted-from-gm-food- laws-says-eu-lawyer

AG Bobek: Organisms obtained by mutagenesis exempt from GMO Directive Organisms obtained by mutagenesis are, in principle, exempted from the obligations in the Genetically Modified Organisms Directive, according to Advocate General Bobek. http://www.scottishlegal.com/2018/01/18/ag-bobek-organisms-obtained-mutagenesis-exempt-gmo-directive/ and the next top theme Free-from food in focus The free-from sector is growing ahead of the market thanks to consumer perceptions of health and wellness. But which categories offer the most growth potential? And how can food manufacturers and marketers ensure that free-from food's 'health halo' does not slip? ______

Scientific References Dossier: Public Participation, Legitimate Political Decisions, and Controversial Technologies Christiansen A., Jonch-Clausen K., and Kappel K. (2018): Does Controversial Science Call For Public Participation? The Case Of Gmo Skepticism. Les ateliers de l'éthique, 12 (1), 26–50. doi:10.7202/1042277ar Many instances of new and emerging science and technology are controversial. Although a number of people, including scientific experts, welcome these developments, a considerable skepticism exists among members of the public. The use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is a case in point. In science policy and in science communication, it is widely assumed that such controversial science and technology require public participation in the policy-making process. We examine this view, which we call the Public Participation Paradigm, using the case of GMOs as an example. We suggest that a prominent reason behind the call for public participation is the belief that such participation is required for democratic legitimacy. We then show that the most prominent accounts of democratic legitimacy do not, in fact, entail that public participation is required in cases of controversial science in general, or in the case of GMOs in particular. https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/ateliers/2017-v12-n1-ateliers03284/1042277ar/ pdf-file: https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/ateliers/2017-v12-n1-ateliers03284/1042277ar.pdf

Fernández Albújar, Gema and van der Meulen, Bernd, The Legal GMO Concept Reassessment of the GMO Definition in the Light of New Breeding Techniques (NBTs) (December 29, 2017). European Institute for Food Law Working Paper Series 2017/03 . Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3094321 What are GMOs in a legal sense? According to the EU definition a GMO is an organism ‘in which the genetic material has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating and/or natural recombination’. Does this definition refer to the organism, to the method by which it has been obtained or to both? This question has become acute with the emergence of New Breeding Techniques (NBTs) in particular when non- traditional methods have been used to achieve results that also could occur naturally. Are such products that could have been obtained by traditional breeding techniques GMOs? The French Conseil d’état has asked a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Unfortunately, the Conseil d’état failed to clearly phrase the question that needs to be answered. The authors express the hope that the CJEU nevertheless will be able to provide a meaningful answer. They provide an introduction to NBTs and argue in favour of a product based interpretation. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3094321 here also pdf-file available reminder! Braun M. & Dabrock P. (2017): Mind the gaps! Towards an ethical framework for genome editing. EMBO reports e45542, 2017 http://embor.embopress.org/content/early/2017/12/27/embr.201745542 pdf-file: http://embor.embopress.org/content/embor/early/2017/12/27/embr.201745542.full.pdf

Breeding and New Technologies Baldauf J.A., Marcon C., Lithio A., Vedder L., Altrogge L., Piepho H.-P., Schoof H., Nettleton D.,and Hochholdinger F.(2018): Single parent expression is a general mechanism that drives extensive complementation of non-syntenic genes in maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids. Current Biology, Band 28, 2018; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.12.027 Maize (Zea mays L.) displays an exceptional degree of structural genomic diversity [ 1, 2 ]. In addition, variation in gene expression further contributes to the extraordinary phenotypic diversity and plasticity of maize. This study provides a systematic investigation on how distantly related homozygous maize inbred lines affect the transcriptomic plasticity of their highly heterozygous F1 hybrids. The classical dominance model of heterosis explains the superiority of hybrid plants by the complementation of deleterious parental alleles by superior alleles of the second parent at many loci [ 3 ]. Genes active in one inbred line but inactive in another represent an extreme instance of allelic diversity defined as single-parent expression [ 4 ]. We observed on average ∼1,000 such genes in all inbred line combinations during primary root development. These genes consistently displayed expression complementation (i.e., activity) in their hybrid progeny. Consequently, extreme expression complementation is a general mechanism that results on average in ∼600 additionally active genes and their encoded biological functions in hybrids. The modern maize genome is complemented by a set of non- syntenic genes, which emerged after the separation of the maize and sorghum lineages and lack syntenic orthologs in any other grass species [ 5 ]. We demonstrated that non-syntenic genes are the driving force of gene expression complementation in hybrids. Among those, the highly diversified families of bZIP and bHLH transcription factors [ 6 ] are systematically overrepresented. In summary, extreme gene expression complementation extensively shapes the transcriptomic plasticity of maize hybrids and might therefore be one factor controlling the developmental plasticity of hybrids. http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(17)31660-3 pdf-file: http://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(17)31660-3.pdf

Tong Zhang T. et al. (2018): Establishing RNA virus resistance in plants by harnessing CRISPR immune system. doi: 10.1111/pbi.12881 Recently, CRISPR-Cas(clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-CRISPR associated proteins) system has been used to produceplants resistant to DNA virus infections. However, there is no RNA virus control method in plants that uses CRISPR-Cas system to target the viral genome directly. Here we reprogrammed the CRISPR-Cas9 system from Francisella novicidato confer molecular immunity against RNA viruses in Nicotiana benthamiana and Arabidopsis plants. Plants expressing Fn Cas9 and sgRNA specific for the cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) or tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) exhibited significantly attenuated virus infection symptoms and reduced viral RNA accumulation. Furthermore, in the transgenic virus-targeting plants, the resistance was inheritable and the progenies showed significantly less virus accumulation. These data reveals that the CRISPR/Cas9 system can be used to produce plant that stable resistant to RNA viruses, thereby broadening the use of such technology for virus control in agricultural field. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pbi.12881/pdf

Medina-Aparicio L, Dávila, S., Rebollar-Flores J.E., Calva E., and Hernández-Lucas I. (20018): The CRISPR-Cas system in Enterobacteriaceae . Pathogens and Disease, fty002, https://doi.org/10.1093/femspd/fty002 In nature, microorganisms are constantly exposed to multiple viral infections and thus have developed many strategies to survive phage attack and invasion by foreign DNA. One of such strategies is the CRISPR-Cas bacterial immunological system. This defense mechanism is widespread in prokaryotes including several families such as Enterobacteriaceae. Much knowledge about the CRISPR-Cas system has been generated, including its biological functions, transcriptional regulation, distribution, utility as a molecular marker, and as a tool for specific genome editing. This review focuses on these aspects and describes the state of the art of the CRISPR-Cas system in the Enterobacteriaceae bacterial family. https://academic.oup.com/femspd/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/femspd/fty002/4794941

Maselko M., Heinsch S.C., Chacón J.M., Harcombe W.R. & Smanski M.J. (2017): Engineering species-like barriers to sexual reproduction NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | 8: 883 | DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01007-3 | www.nature.com/naturecommunications Controlling the exchange of genetic information between sexually reproducing populations has applications in agriculture, eradication of disease vectors, control of invasive species, and the safe study of emerging biotechnology applications. Here we introduce an approach to engineer a genetic barrier to sexual reproduction between otherwise compatible populations. Programmable transcription factors drive lethal gene expression in hybrid offspring following undesired mating events. As a proof of concept, we target the ACT1 promoter of the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae using a dCas9-based transcriptional activator. Lethal overexpression of actin results from mating this engineered strain with a strain containing the wild-type ACT1 promoter. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01007-3 pdf-file: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01007-3.pdf

Jacob P. Avni A. and Bendahmane A. (2017): Translational Research: Exploring and Creating Genetic Diversity. Trends in Plant Science, 23 (1), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2017.10.002 The crop selection process has created a genetic bottleneck ultimately restricting breeding output. Wild relatives of major crops as well as the so-called ‘neglected plant’ species represent a reservoir of genetic diversity that remains underutilized. These species could be used as a tool to discover new alleles of agronomic interest or could be the target of breeding programs. Targeted induced local lesions in the genome (TILLING) can be used to translate in neglected crops what has been discovered in major crops and reciprocally. However, random mutagenesis, used in TILLING approaches, provides only a limited density of mutational events at a defined target locus. Alternatively, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) associated 9 (Cas9) fused to a cytidine deaminase could serve as a localized mutagenic agent to produce high-density mutant populations. Artificial evolution is at hand. http://www.cell.com/trends/plant-science/pdf/S1360-1385(17)30232-7.pdf

Filipe Borges F. et al. (2018): Transposon-derived small RNAs triggered by miR845 mediate genome dosage response in Arabidopsis. Nature Genetics (2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41588-017- 0032-5 Chromosome dosage has substantial effects on reproductive isolation and speciation in both plants and animals, but the underlying mechanisms are largely obscure1. Transposable elements in animals can regulate hybridity through maternal small RNA2, whereas small RNAs in plants have been postulated to regulate dosage response via neighboring imprinted genes3,4. Here we show that a highly conserved microRNA in plants, miR845, targets the tRNAMet primer-binding site (PBS) of long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons in Arabidopsis pollen, and triggers the accumulation of 21–22-nucleotide (nt) small RNAs in a dose-dependent fashion via RNA polymerase IV. We show that these epigenetically activated small interfering RNAs (easiRNAs) mediate hybridization barriers between diploid seed parents and tetraploid pollen parents (the ‘triploid block’), and that natural variation for miR845 may account for ‘endosperm balance’ allowing the formation of triploid seeds. Targeting of the PBS with small RNA is a common mechanism for transposon control in mammals and plants, and provides a uniquely sensitive means to monitor chromosome dosage and imprinting in the developing seed. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-017-0032-5 and https://phys.org/news/2018-01-chromosomes-scientists-century-old-mystery-reproduction.html#jCp

Jagadeesan, A. et al. (2018): Reconstructing an African haploid genome from the 18th century. Nature Genetics (2018); doi:10.1038/s41588-017-0031-6 A genome is a mosaic of chromosome fragments from ancestors who existed some arbitrary number of generations earlier. Here, we reconstruct the genome of Hans Jonatan (HJ), born in the Caribbean in 1784 to an enslaved African mother and European father. HJ migrated to Iceland in 1802, married and had two children. We genotyped 182 of his 788 descendants using single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chips and whole- genome sequenced (WGS) 20 of them. Using these data, we reconstructed 38% of HJ’s maternal genome and inferred that his mother was from the region spanned by Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-017-0031-6

Wagner R. de Souza et al. (2017): Suppression of a single BAHD gene in Setaria viridis causes large, stable decreases in cell wall feruloylation and increases biomass digestibility. New Phytologist (2017); doi: 10.1111/nph.14970 Feruloylation of arabinoxylan (AX) in grass cell walls is a key determinant of recalcitrance to enzyme attack, making it a target for improvement of grass crops, and of interest in grass evolution. Definitive evidence on the genes responsible is lacking so we studied a candidate gene that we identified within the BAHD acyl-CoA transferase family. We used RNA interference (RNAi) silencing of orthologs in the model grasses Setaria viridis (SvBAHD01) and Brachypodium distachyon (BdBAHD01) and determined effects on AX feruloylation. Silencing of SvBAHD01in Setaria resulted in a c. 60% decrease in AX feruloylation in stems consistently across four generations. Silencing of BdBAHD01. In Brachypodium stems decreased feruloylation much less, possibly due to higher expression of functionally redundant genes. Setaria SvBAHD01 RNAi plants showed: no decrease in total lignin, approximately doubled arabinose acylated by p-coumarate, changes in two-dimensional NMR spectra of unfractionated cell walls consistent with biochemical estimates, no effect on total biomass production and an increase in biomass saccharification efficiency of 40 – 60%.We provide the first strong evidence for a key role of the BAHD01 gene in AX feruloylation and demonstrate that it is a promising target for improvement of grass crops for biofuel, biorefining and animal nutrition applications. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.14970/epdf

Muller A. et al. (2017): Strategies for feeding the world more sustainably with organic agriculture Nature Communications 8, Articlenumber:1290 (2017); doi:10.1038/s41467- 017-01410-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01410-w.pdf pdf-file available

Safety do Amaral M.N. and Souza G.M. (2017): The Challenge to Translate OMICS Data to Whole Plant Physiology: The Context Matters Front. Plant Sci. 8:2146.doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.02146 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2017.02146/full

Ackah, V.B.,Andoh-Odoom A.H, and Akonor P.T. (2017): The status of food safety management systems in Ghana. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),Food Research Institute, Ghana; http://212.47.242.17:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/477 In Ghana, there is not enough scientific information about the implementation of food safety management systems (FSMS). This study therefore aimed at getting insight into the current status of FSMS in Ghanaian food processing companies. This was a descriptive case study conducted in Tema. A questionnaire was administered to 70 companies which were randomly selected for the survey with a response rate of 65.7%. SPSS 17.1 was used to analyze the results obtained and STATA 12 used to determine the linkages between having a food safety management system in place and variables including market focus. The results indicated that more than 54% of the companies did not adhere to any quality assurance guideline. (56.5%) of the companies were not certified to any standards and 85% of the respondents cited cost as the main challenge in implementing a food safety management system. More than 40% of the companies had not been inspected by food regulation authorities since they were established. It has been recommended that Management of food processing companies must play an active role in adopting and implementing some form of food safety management system to guarantee a consistent production of safe products for consumers http://212.47.242.17:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/477

Waiblinger, HU., Busch, U., Brünen-Nieweler, C. et al. (2018): Official food control laboratories in Germany: results of GMO analyses from 2012 to 2016. J Consum Prot Food Saf (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00003-017-1146-5 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00003-017-1146-5

Kirschner A.K.T. et al. (2017): Multiparametric monitoring of microbial faecal pollution reveals the dominance of human contamination along the whole Danube River, Water Research 124, 543-555; DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.07.052 pdf-file: https://ac.els-cdn.com/S0043135417306255/1-s2.0-S0043135417306255- main.pdf?_tid=46251b1a-fe0e-11e7-8059- 00000aacb361&acdnat=1516472472_e33eee138a749b5ebb193430c742e77e

Leclerc M., Emily Walker E., Antoine Messéan A , and Soubeyrand S. (2017): Spatial exposure-hazard and landscape models for assessing the impact of GM crops on non- target organisms. Science of the Total Environment 624, 470–479 The cultivation of Genetically Modified (GM) crops may have substantial impacts on populations of nontarget than the cultivated field, and, as landscape-scale experiments are difficult, if not impossible, modelling approaches are needed to address landscape risk management. We present an original stochastic and spatially explicit modelling framework for assessing the risk at the landscape level. We use techniques from spatial statistics for simulating simplified landscapes made up of (aggregated or non-aggregated) GM fields, neutral fields and NTO’s habitat areas. The dispersal of toxic pollen grains is obtained by convolving the emission of GM plants and validated dispersal kernel functions while the locations of exposed individuals are drawn from a point process. By taking into account the adherence of the ambient pollen on plants, the loss of pollen due to climatic events, and, an experimentally validated mortality-dose function we predict risk maps and provide a distribution giving how the risk varies within exposed individuals in the landscape. Then, we consider the impact of the Bt maize on Inachis io in worst-case scenarii where exposed individuals are located in the vicinity of GM fields and pollen shedding overlaps with larval emergence. We perform a Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) to explore numerically how our input parameters influence the risk. Our results confirm the important effects of pollen emission and loss. Most interestingly they highlight that the optimal spatial distribution of GM fields that mitigates the risk depends on our knowledge of the habitats of NTOs, and finally, moderate the influence of the dispersal kernel function. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717333879

McArt SH, Urbanowicz C, McCoshum S, Irwin RE, Adler LS. (2017): Landscape predictors of pathogen prevalence and range contractions in US bumblebees. Proc. R. Soc. B 284: 20172181. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.2181 Several species of bumblebees have recently experienced range contractions and possible extinctions. While threats to bees are numerous, few analyses have attempted to understand the relative importance of multiple stressors. Such analyses are critical for prioritizing conservation strategies. Here, we describe a landscape analysis of factors predicted to cause bumblebee declines in the USA. We quantified 24 habitat, land-use and pesticide usage variables across 284 sampling locations, assessing which variables predicted pathogen prevalence and range contractions via machine learning model selection techniques. We found that greater usage of the fungicide chlorothalonil was the best predictor of pathogen (Nosema bombi) prevalence in four declining species of bumblebees. Nosema bombi has previously been found in greater prevalence in some declining US bumblebee species compared to stable species. Greater usage of total fungicides was the strongest predictor of range contractions in declining species, with bumblebees in the northern USA experiencing greater likelihood of loss from previously occupied areas. These results extend several recent laboratory and semi-field studies that have found surprising links between fungicide exposure and bee health. Specifically, our data suggest landscape-scale connections between fungicide usage, pathogen prevalence and declines of threatened and endangered bumblebees. http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royprsb/284/1867/20172181.full.pdf

Spektrum: Insektensterben: Pestizide begünstigen Hummel-Parasiten Weniger harmlos als bisher gedacht: Das Fungizid Chlorthalonil erweist sich als überraschend schädlich für Hummeln- durch eine Wirkung über Bande. http://www.spektrum.de/news/pestizide-beguenstigen-hummel- parasiten/1532281?utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=sdw-nl&utm_campaign=sdw-nl- daily&utm_content=heute

EFSA Guidance document: EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), 2018 Administrative guidance for the processing of applications for regulated products. EFSA supporting publication 2018: EN-1362. 13 pp. doi:10.2903/sp.efsa.2018. EN-1362 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2018.EN-1362/epdf

Woche 04 - Week 04 (22.01. -28.01.2018) Media reports – press releases Max Rauner Genfood – besser als sein Ruf? Auf der Suche nach ein paar Körnchen Wahrheit im absurden Kampf um den Golden Reis Reader´s Digest Februar-Heft 2, 66-74 (2018) lesenswert! Im Wortlaut sehr ähnlicher Artikel Max Rauner- zeit-online Sind Sie auch … gegen Genfood? Und wissen Sie eigentlich noch genau, warum? Folgen Sie unserem Autor Max Rauner auf der Suche nach ein paar Körnchen Wahrheit im absurden Kampf um den Goldenen Reis. http://www.zeit.de/zeit-wissen/2017/04/gentechnik-genfood-pflanzen-ernaehrung-gesundheit siehe hier auch: Gensoja und Greenpeace https://www.biotech-gm-food.com/kommentare/gensoja-greenpeace

EU Reporter Correspondent: EFSA: Risk assessments in EU food sector – Commission launches public consultation on transparency https://www.eureporter.co/health/2018/01/23/risk-assessments-in-eufoodsector-commission-launches- public-consultation-on-transparency/

Commission: Public Consultation on the transparency and sustainability of the EU risk assessment in the food chain https://ec.europa.eu/info/consultations/public-consultation-transparency-and-sustainability-eu-risk- assessment-food-chain_en

Vogel G. – Science: A new Merkel-led government could be good news for German science http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/new-merkel-led-government-could-be-good-news-german-science

Spiegel-online: Glyphosat-Streit "Es hat keine Verschwörung gegeben" Proteste, eine Klage, jetzt auch noch ein Sonderausschuss im EU-Parlament: Glyphosat ist ein Reizthema. Bernhard Url, Chef der EU-Lebensmittelbehörde Efsa, rechtfertigt die Nutzung des Unkrautvernichters. http://www.spiegel.de/gesundheit/ernaehrung/glyphosat-streit-efsa-chef-bernhard-url-es-gab-keine- verschwoerung-a-1189134.html

Url B. (2018): Don’t attack science agencies for political gain Eroding trust in regulatory agencies will not improve democratic accountability, warns Bernhard Url Nature 553, 381 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-01071-9

Porterfield A. – Genetic Literacy Project: IARC cancer agency mounts PR effort as probe of possible corruption grows https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/01/17/iarc-cancer-agency-pr-effort-probe-possible- corruption/?mc_cid=9d958e1c10&mc_eid=fcbe812b3b

In connecetion withECJ AG Bobek: ml – transcript : CRISPR-Organismen: Mal GVO, mal nicht Mit neuartigen molekularen Werkzeugen entwickelte Organismen fallen nicht unbedingt unter die strenge EU- Regulierung von gentechnisch veränderten Organismen (GVO), so ein offizielles Vorabentscheidungsersuchen des Europäischen Gerichtshofes. https://transkript.de/news/crispr-organismen-mal-gvo-mal-nicht.html

BÖLW: BÖLW fordert klare europäische Regelungen und warnt vor nationalen Alleingängen https://www.fruchtportal.de/artikel/bolw-fordert-klare-europaische-regelungen-und-warnt-vor-nationalen- alleingangen/031978

Jaffe G.: European Union Opinion on Gene Editing: Insightful or Missed Opportunity? Conclusion: Overall, the Advocate General’s opinion clarifies the scope of the EU’s GMO directive and how to interpret the exemption for mutagenesis techniques. However, the key question of how that directive applies to new molecular gene-edited products, if at all, remains unanswered, at least until the ECJ weighs in. https://cspinet.org/news/european-union-opinion-gene-editing-insightful-or-missed-opportunity-20180125

Publications: Mutagenesis and gene engineering Robienski J. und Wasmer M. (2018): Produkte gezielter Mutagenese sind keine GVOs gemäß Art. 3 i.V.m. Anhang I B der Richtlinie 2001/18/EG. Journal of Consumer Protection and Food Safety. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00003-017-1147-4. Die Europäische Richtlinie 2001/18/EG regelt die Freisetzung gentechnisch veränderter Organismen (GVO). Züchtungen mittels Mutagenese sind gemäß Art. 3 i.V.m. Anhang I B von der Richtlinie ausgenommen. Gilt diese Ausnahme nur für Produkte chemischer und strahleninduzierter Mutagenese oder auch für neue biotechnologische Verfahren gezielter Mutagenese? Unserer Analyse gemäß sind durch Mutagenese gewonnene Organismen von allen Regelungen der Richtlinie ausgenommen und fallen auch nicht in den Anwendungsbereich der Legaldefinition des Begriffs des genetisch veränderten Organismus im Sinne der Richtlinie. Der Begriff Mutagenese ist zudem dynamisch auszulegen, nach dessen naturwissenschaftlicher Bedeutung, welche auch gezielte Mutagenese umfasst. Dies bedeutet, dass Produkte gezielter Mutagenese keine GVOs im Sinne der Richtlinie sind. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00003-017-1147-4 pdf-file available

Kathleen L. Hefferon K. L. and Herring R.J (20018): The End of the GMO? Genome Editing, Gene Drives and New Frontiers of Plant Technology. Review of Agrarian Studies Improvements to agriculture will constitute one of the world’s greatest challenges in the coming century. Political and social controversies, as well as complications of plant breeding, intellectual property, and regulation, have compromised the promised impact of genetically engineered – typically transgenic – crops designated as “GMOs.” Genome editing is a new suite of molecular tools for assisting biologists identify genes that control agronomic traits such as drought tolerance and pest resistance, as well as to elucidate how expression of these genes is inter twined within the functional frame work of the cell. This technology has recently gained momentum for its ability to accelerate the crop breeding process in an unprecedented fashion and expand the range of crop varieties with improved precision and lower costs. This review explains the basic concepts and provides examples of how genome editing could help address the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals with respect to food, agriculture, and medicine. It concludes with a discussion of the potential social impact of genome editing and gene drive. These effects are contingent on the resolution of novel ethical and regulatory challenges that add new layers of complexity to societal questions of appropriate technology, in agriculture and beyond. We expect these questions to re place the irresolvable GMO de bate. http://www.ras.org.in/the_end_of_the_gmo_genome_editing_gene_drives_and_new_frontiers_of_plant_tech nology#A-title1

CIMMYT (2017): Position Statement on Novel Genome Editing Technologies in Crops http://www.cimmyt.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/CIMMYT-Position-Statement-on-Novel-Genome- Editing-Technologies-17Dec2017.pdf

Spök A. et al (2018): Inclusive development and prioritizationof review questions in a highly controversial field of regulatory science. Environ Evid (2018) 7:1; https://doi.org/10.1186/s13750-017-0113-z How to best assess potential health, environmental and other impacts of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and how to interpret the resulting evidence base have been long-standing controversial issues in the EU. As a response, transparency and inclusiveness became a major focus of regulatory science activities in the GMO impact area. Nevertheless, nearly three decades of controversies resulted in a heavily polarized policy environment, calling for further efforts. Against this backdrop the EU funded project GRACE explored the value of evidence synthesis approaches for GMO impact assessment and developed an evidence synthesis framework with a strong emphasis on openness, stakeholder engagement, transparency, and responsiveness to tackle regulatory science challenges. This framework was tested and implemented in the course of 14 systematic reviews or maps conducted on selected review questions spanning potential health, environmental, and socioeconomic impacts of GMOs. An inclusive development and prioritisation of review questions is of key importance in evidence synthesis as it helps to provide a better link between stakeholder demands and concerns and policy relevant outcomes. This paper, therefore, places a particular focus on the stakeholder involvement strategy developed and experiences gathered during this particular step in the course of the GRACE project. Based on this experience, possible lessons for future engagement exercises in highly controversial fields of regulatory science are discussed. https://environmentalevidencejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13750-017-0113-z please pay attention to: New Research Topic in Frontiers Plant Science Plant Genome Editing – Policies and Governance The homepage of the Research Topic can be found by following this link: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/7596/plant-genome-editing---policies-and-governance ______

Niu L. et al. (2018): Transgenic Bt cotton expressing Cry1Ac/Cry2Ab or Cry1Ac/EPSPS does not affect the plant bug Adelphocoris suturalis or the pollinating beetle Haptoncus luteolus. Environmental Pollution 234 (2018) 788e793, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.11.047 The widespread cultivation of transgenic Bt cotton makes assessing the potential effects of this recombinant crop on non-target organisms a priority. However, the effect of Bt cotton on many insects is currently virtually unknown. The plant bug Adelphocoris suturalis is now a major pest of cotton in southern China and the beetle Haptoncus luteolus is one of the most ancient cotton pollinators. We conducted laboratory experiments to evaluate the toxicity of the Bt cotton varieties ZMSJ, which expresses the toxins Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab, and ZMKCKC, which expresses Cry1Ac and EPSPS, on adult A. suturalis and H. luteolus. No significant increase in the mortality of either species was detected after feeding on Bt cotton leaves or pollen for 7 days. Trace amounts of Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab proteins could be detected in both species but in vitro binding experiments found no evidence of Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab binding proteins. These results demonstrate that feeding on the leaves or pollen of these two Bt cotton varieties has no toxic effects on adult A. suturalis or H. luteolus. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117329275?via%3Dihub

Keng-Lou James Hung, Jennifer M. Kingston, Matthias Albrecht, David A. Holway, Joshua R. Kohn. "The worldwide importance of honey bees as pollinators in natural habitats." Proc Royal Soc B 285: 20172140. Published: 10-January-2018. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2140 The western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the most frequent floral visitor of crops worldwide, but quantitative knowledge of its role as a pollinator outside of managed habitats is largely lacking. Here we use a global dataset of 80 published plant–pollinator interaction networks as well as pollinator effectiveness measures from 34 plant species to assess the importance of A. mellifera in natural habitats. Apis mellifera is the most frequent floral visitor in natural habitats worldwide, averaging 13% of floral visits across all networks (range 0–85%), with 5% of plant species recorded as being exclusively visited by A. mellifera. For 33% of the networks and 49% of plant species, however, A. mellifera visitation was never observed, illustrating that many flowering plant taxa and assemblages remain dependent on non-A. mellifera visitors for pollination. Apis mellifera visitation was higher in warmer, less variable climates and on mainland rather than island sites, but did not differ between its native and introduced ranges. With respect to single-visit pollination effectiveness, A. mellifera did not differ from the average non-A. mellifera floral visitor, though it was generally less effective than the most effective non-A. mellifera visitor. Our results argue for a deeper understanding of how A. mellifera, and potential future changes in its range and abundance, shape the ecology, evolution, and conservation of plants, pollinators, and their interactions in natural habitats. http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/285/1870/20172140

Koller T., Brunner S., Herren G., Hurni S. and Keller B. (2018): Pyramiding of transgenic Pm3 alleles in wheat results in improved powdery mildew resistance in the field. Theoretical and Applied Genetics (2018). DOI: 10.1007/s00122-017-3043-9 Allelic Pm3 resistance genes of wheat confer race-specific resistance to powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici, Bgt ) and encode nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors. Transgenic wheat lines overexpressing alleles Pm3a, b, c, d, f, and g have previously been generated by transformation of cultivar Bobwhite and tested in field trials, revealing varying degrees of powdery mildew resistance conferred by the transgenes. Here, we tested four transgenic lines each carrying two pyramided Pm3 alleles, which were generated by crossbreeding of lines transformed with single Pm3 alleles. All four allele-pyramided lines showed strongly improved powdery mildew resistance in the field compared to their parental lines. The improved resistance results from the two effects of enhanced total transgene expression levels and allele-specificity combinations. In contrast to leaf segment tests on greenhouse-grown seedlings, no allelic suppression was observed in the field. Plant development and yield scores of the pyramided lines were similar to the mean scores of the corresponding parental lines, and thus, the allele pyramiding did not cause any negative effects. On the contrary, in pyramided line, Pm3b × Pm3f normal plant development was restored compared to the delayed development and reduced seed set of parental line Pm3f. Allele-specific RT qPCR revealed additive transgene expression levels of the two Pm3 alleles in the pyramided lines. A positive correlation between total transgene expression level and powdery mildew field resistance was observed. In summary, allele pyramiding of Pm3 transgenes proved to be successful in enhancing powdery mildew field resistance. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs00122-017-3043-9.pdf and PLOS: Combination of resistance genes offers better protection for wheat against powdery mildew https://phys.org/news/2018-01-combination-resistance-genes-wheat-powdery.html#jCp

Barbado C., Córdoba-Cañero D, Ariza R.R., and Teresa Roldán-Arjona T. (2018): Non- enzymatic release of N7-methylguanine channels repair of abasic sites into an AP- endonuclease independent pathway in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci,115: 201719497. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1719497115. Abasic (apurinic/apyrimidinic, AP) sites in DNA arise from spontaneous base loss or by enzymatic removal during base excision repair. It is commonly accepted that both classes of AP site have analogous biochemical properties and are equivalent substrates for AP endonucleases and AP lyases, although the relative roles of these two types of enzymes are not well understood. We provide here genetic and biochemical evidence that, in Arabidopsis, AP sites generated by spontaneous loss of N7-methylguanine (N7-meG) are exclusively repaired through an AP endonuclease-independent pathway initiated by FPG, a bifunctional DNA glycosylase with AP lyase activity. Abasic site incision catalyzed by FPG generates a single-nucleotide gap with a 3'-phosphate terminus that is processed by the DNA 3'-phosphatase ZDP before repair is completed. We further show that the major AP endonuclease in Arabidopsis (ARP) incises AP sites generated by enzymatic N7-meG excision but, unexpectedly, not those resulting from spontaneous N7-meG loss. These findings, which reveal previously undetected differences between products of enzymatic and nonenzymatic base release, may shed light on the evolution and biological roles of AP endonucleases and AP lyases. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29339505 and Researchers disprove one of the most widespread assumptions among geneticists regarding DNA https://phys.org/news/2018-01-widespread-assumptions-geneticists-dna.html#jCp

Peng Wang P.et al. (2017): Thermo-triggered Release of CRISPR-Cas9 System by Lipid- Encapsulated Gold Nanoparticles for Tumor Therapy, Angewandte Chemie International Edition . DOI: 10.1002/anie.201708689 CRISPR/Cas9 system is a powerful toolbox for gene editing. However, the low delivery efficiency is still a big hurdle impeding its applications. Herein, we report a strategy to deliver Cas9-sgPlk-1 plasmids (CP) by a multifunctional vehicle for tumor therapy. We condensed CPs on TAT peptide-modified Au nanoparticles (AuNPs/CP, ACP) via electrostatic interactions, and coated lipids (DOTAP, DOPE, cholesterol, PEG2000-DSPE) on the ACP to form lipid-encapsulated, AuNPs-condensed CP (LACP). LACP can enter tumor cells and release CP into the cytosol by laser-triggered thermo-effects of the AuNPs; the CP can enter nuclei by TAT guidance, enabling effective knock-outs of target gene (Plk-1) of tumor (melanoma) and inhibition of the tumor both in vitro and in vivo. This AuNPs-condensed, lipid-encapsulated, and laser-controlled delivery system provides a versatile method for high efficiency CRISPR/Cas9 delivery and targeted gene editing for treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201708689/abstract;jsessionid=286053F8F5D9F09DB884EBCD0F83D194.f04t01?systemM essage=Please+be+advised+that+we+experienced+an+unexpected+issue+that+occurred+on+Saturday+and+Sunday+January+20th+and+21 st+that+caused+the+site+to+be+down+for+an+extended+period+of+time+and+affected+the+ability+of+users+to+access+content+on+Wil ey+Online+Library.+This+issue+has+now+been+fully+resolved.++We+apologize+for+any+inconvenience+this+may+have+caused+and+are+ working+to+ensure+that+we+can+alert+you+immediately+of+any+unplanned+periods+of+downtime+or+disruption+in+the+future. and Thermo-triggered release of a genome-editing machinery by modified gold nanoparticles for tumor therapy https://phys.org/news/2018-01-thermo-triggered-genome-editing-machinery-gold-nanoparticles.html#jCp

Sociale M., Wulf A.-L., Breiden B., Klee, K., Thielisch M., Eckardt F., Sellin J., Bülow M.-H., Löbbert S., Weinstock N., Voelzmann A., Schultze J., Sandhoff K. und Bauer R. (2018): Ceramide Synthase Schlank Is a Transcriptional Regulator Adapting Gene Expression to Energy Requirements; Cell Reports 22, S. 1–12, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.12.090 Maintenance of metabolic homeostasis requires adaption of gene regulation to the cellular energy state via transcriptional regulators. Here, we identify a role of ceramide synthase (CerS) Schlank, a multiple transmembrane protein containing a catalytic lag1p motif and a homeodomain, which is poorly studied in CerSs, as a transcriptional regulator. ChIP experiments show that it binds promoter regions of lipases lipase3 and magro via its homeodomain. Mutation of nuclear localization site 2 (NLS2) within the homeodomain leads to loss of DNA binding and deregulated gene expression, and NLS2 mutants can no longer adjust the transcriptional response to changing lipid levels. This mechanism is conserved in mammalian CerS2 and emphasizes the importance of the CerS protein rather than ceramide synthesis. This study demonstrates a double role of CerS Schlank as an enzyme and a transcriptional regulator, sensing lipid levels and transducing the information to the level of gene expression. http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/abstract/S2211-1247(17)31927-7 pdf-file: http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/pdf/S2211-1247(17)31927-7.pdf

Nowoshilow S. et al. (2018): The axolotl genome and the evolution of key tissue formation regulators. Nature, doi: 10.1038/nature25458. Salamanders serve as important tetrapod models for developmental, regeneration and evolutionary studies. An extensive molecular toolkit makes the Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) a key representative salamander for molecular investigations. Here we report the sequencing and assembly of the 32-gigabase-pair axolotl genome using an approach that combined long-read sequencing, optical mapping and development of a new genome assembler (MARVEL). We observed a size expansion of introns and intergenic regions, largely attributable to multiplication of long terminal repeat retroelements. We provide evidence that intron size in developmental genes is under constraint and that species-restricted genes may contribute to limb regeneration. The axolotl genome assembly does not contain the essential developmental gene Pax3. However, mutation of the axolotl Pax3 paralogue Pax7 resulted in an axolotl phenotype that was similar to those seen in Pax3−/− and Pax7−/− mutant mice. The axolotl genome provides a rich biological resource for developmental and evolutionary studies. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25458 pdf-file: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25458.pdf

Markus Alexander Grohme M. A. et al. (2018): Schmidtea mediterranea and the evolution of core cellular mechanisms. Nature; 24 January, 2018 (DOI: 10.1038/nature25473) The planarian Schmidtea mediterranea is an important model for stem cell research and regeneration, but adequate genome resources for this species have been lacking. Here we report a highly contiguous genome assembly of S. mediterranea, using long-read sequencing and a de novo assembler (MARVEL) enhanced for low- complexity reads. The S. mediterranea genome is highly polymorphic and repetitive, and harbours a novel class of giant retroelements. Furthermore, the genome assembly lacks a number of highly conserved genes, including critical components of the mitotic spindle assembly checkpoint, but planarians maintain checkpoint function. Our genome assembly provides a key model system resource that will be useful for studying regeneration and the evolutionary plasticity of core cell biological mechanisms. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25473 pdf-file: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25473.pdf

Byrne RP, Martiniano R, Cassidy LM, Carrigan M, Hellenthal G, Hardiman O, et al. (2018) Insular Celtic population structure and genomic footprints of migration. PLoS Genet 14(1): e1007152. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007152 Previous studies of the genetic landscape of Ireland have suggested homogeneity, with population substructure undetectable using single-marker methods. Here we have harnessed the haplotype-based method fineSTRUCTURE in an Irish genome-wide SNP dataset, identifying 23 discrete genetic clusters which segregate with geographical provenance. Cluster diversity is pronounced in the west of Ireland but reduced in the east where older structure has been eroded by historical migrations. Accordingly, when populations from the neighbouring island of Britain are included, a west-east cline of Celtic-British ancestry is revealed along with a particularly striking correlation between haplotypes and geography across both islands. A strong relationship is revealed between subsets of Northern Irish and Scottish populations, where discordant genetic and geographic affinities reflect major migrations in recent centuries. Additionally, Irish genetic proximity of all Scottish samples likely reflects older strata of communication across the narrowest inter-island crossing. Using GLOBETROTTER we detected Irish admixture signals from Britain and Europe and estimated dates for events consistent with the historical migrations of the Norse-Vikings, the Anglo-Normans and the British Plantations. The influence of the former is greater than previously estimated from Y chromosome haplotypes. In all, we paint a new picture of the genetic landscape of Ireland, revealing structure which should be considered in the design of studies examining rare genetic variation and its association with traits. http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1007152&type=printable and https://phys.org/news/2018-01-historical-migrations-left-genetic-footprints.html#jCp

Ledford H. (2018) The lost art of looking at plants - Advances in genomics and imaging are reviving a fading discipline. Nature 553, 396-398 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-01075-5

Janiak M.C., Chaney M.E, and Tosi A.J. (2017): Evolution of Acidic Mammalian Chitinase Genes (CHIA) Is Related to Body Mass and Insectivory in Primates. Molecular Biology and Evolution. msx312, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msx312 Insects are an important food resource for many primates, but the chitinous exoskeletons of arthropods have long been considered to be indigestible by the digestive enzymes of most mammals. However, recently mice and insectivorous bats were found to produce the enzyme acidic mammalian chitinase (AMCase) to digest insect exoskeletons. Here, we report on the gene CHIA and its paralogs, which encode AMCase, in a comparative sample of nonhuman primates. Our results show that early primates likely had three CHIA genes, suggesting that insects were an important component of the ancestral primate diet. With some exceptions, most extant primate species retain only one functional CHIA paralog. The exceptions include two colobine species, in which all CHIA genes have premature stop codons, and several New World monkey species that retain two functional genes. The most insectivorous species in our sample also have the largest number of functional CHIA genes. Tupaia chinensis and Otolemur garnettii retain three functional CHIA paralogs, whereas Tarsius syrichta has a total of five, two of which may be duplications specific to the tarsier lineage. Selection analyses indicate that CHIA genes are under more intense selection in species with higher insect consumption, as well as in smaller-bodied species (<500 g), providing molecular support for Kay’s Threshold, a well- established component of primatological theory which proposes that only small primates can be primarily insectivorous. These findings suggest that primates, like mice and insectivorous bats, may use the enzyme AMCase to digest the chitin in insect exoskeletons, providing potentially significant nutritional benefits. https://academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-article/doi/10.1093/molbev/msx312/4693806 and Study says humans can digest bugs, assuming they want to https://phys.org/news/2018-01-humans-digest-bugs-assuming.html#jCp

Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo M. et al. (2018): A global atlas of the dominant bacteria found in soil. Science 359, Issue 6373, 320-325 DOI: 10.1126/science.aap9516 The immense diversity of soil bacterial communities has stymied efforts to characterize individual taxa and document their global distributions. We analyzed soils from 237 locations across six continents and found that only 2% of bacterial phylotypes (~500 phylotypes) consistently accounted for almost half of the soil bacterial communities worldwide. Despite the overwhelming diversity of bacterial communities, relatively few bacterial taxa are abundant in soils globally. We clustered these dominant taxa into ecological groups to build the first global atlas of soil bacterial taxa. Our study narrows down the immense number of bacterial taxa to a “most wanted” list that will be fruitful targets for genomic and cultivation-based efforts aimed at improving our understanding of soil microbes and their contributions to ecosystem functioning. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6373/320

Doron S. et al., "Systematic discovery of antiphage defense systems in the microbial pangenome," Science (2018). Science eaar4120; science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.aar4120 The arms race between bacteria and phages led to the development of sophisticated antiphage defense systems, including CRISPR-Cas and restriction-modification systems. Evidence suggests that unknown defense systems are located in “defense islands” in microbial genomes. We comprehensively characterized the bacterial defensive arsenal by examining gene families that are clustered next to known defense genes in prokaryotic genomes. Candidate defense systems were systematically engineered and validated in model bacteria for their antiphage activities. We report nine previously unknown antiphage systems and one antiplasmid system that are widespread in microbes and strongly protect against foreign invaders. These include systems that adopted components of the bacterial flagella and condensin complexes. Our data also suggest a common, ancient ancestry of innate immunity components shared between animals, plants, and bacteria. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2018/01/25/science.aar4120

De Santis E. et al. Antimicrobial peptide capsids of de novo design, Nature Communications (2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02475-3 The spread of bacterial resistance to antibiotics poses the need for antimicrobial discovery. With traditional search paradigms being exhausted, approaches that are altogether different from antibiotics may offer promising and creative solutions. Here, we introduce a de novo peptide topology that—by emulating the virus architecture—assembles into discrete antimicrobial capsids. Using the combination of high-resolution and real- time imaging, we demonstrate that these artificial capsids assemble as 20-nm hollow shells that attack bacterial membranes and upon landing on phospholipid bilayers instantaneously (seconds) convert into rapidly expanding pores causing membrane lysis (minutes). The designed capsids show broad antimicrobial activities, thus executing one primary function—they destroy bacteria on contact https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02475-3 pdf-file: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02475-3.pdf and Synthetic virus to tackle antimicrobial resistance https://phys.org/news/2018-01-synthetic-virus-tackle-antimicrobial-resistance.html

EFSA: New uncertainty approach to make advice ‘more transparent and robust’ http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/180124-0

Ankündigung: Ministerium für Ländlichen Raum und Verbraucherschutz Baden-Württemberg Informations- und Diskussionsveranstaltung mit Minister Hauck zu“ Neuen Züchtungsmethoden – Grundsätzliches, Nutzpflanzen, Nutztiere“ Stuttgart Innenministerium Raum E001 Willy-Brandt-Straße 41 9. April 2018, 14:00 – 18:00 Auskünfte: [email protected]