Sunday, June 30, 2013

American-US Airways merger: Feds investigate possible antitrust issues

Airlines

5 hours ago

A U.S. Airways jet departs Washington's Reagan National Airport next to American Airlines jets outside Washington, in this February 25, 2013 file phot...

LARRY DOWNING / Reuters

A U.S. Airways jet takes off from Washington's Reagan National Airport outside Washington, passing an American Airlines plane, February 25, 2013. Reuters reports the Justice department is probing the proposed American-US merger for antitrust issues.

The U.S. Justice Department is taking depositions as part of a probe into a planned merger of American Airlines and US Airways that would create the world's largest airline, three sources close to the discussions told Reuters.

The sticking point in talks between the Justice Department and the companies is whether the airlines will agree to sell slots -- take-off and landing rights -- to reduce their dominance at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., according to one source.

The three sources spoke privately to protect business relationships.

US Airways announced on February 14 that it planned to merge with American, which is emerging from bankruptcy, to create an $11 billion airline. The deal requires the approval of the Justice and Transportation Departments. The companies hope to wrap up the merger by the end of September.

American Airlines and US Airways declined comment. Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona said only that the agency's investigation was continuing.

The fact that the Justice Department is taking sworn testimony in the form of depositions indicates it has concerns that the proposed merger creates antitrust problems. Depositions will be needed if the agency approves the deal with conditions or, in rare cases, if it decides to try to stop it. The department could also decide to approve the merger without requiring asset sales.

Depositions preserve testimony if the department decides to challenge the merger, said Robert Doyle, an antitrust expert with Doyle, Barlow and Mazard PLLC.

If the deal is approved, the new airline would have 68 percent of the slots at Reagan National, far more than Delta Air Lines with 12 percent, United Airlines with 9 percent and the 11 percent held by other airlines, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The companies have pushed back hard against any suggestion that takeoff and landing slots at Reagan National be sold.

US Airways CEO Doug Parker told lawmakers in congressional testimony last week that requiring the combined company to surrender slots could mean fewer flights to small and medium-sized cities.

Antitrust experts have said the Justice Department could request divestitures of some slots at Reagan National and a small number of other airports. Outside these hubs, the carriers fly different routes for the most part.

In late May, more than 100 members of Congress asked U.S. regulators to allow the new American to keep all the slots at Reagan National. The airport is used by many members of Congress to travel to and from their home districts.

The U.S. airline industry has undergone five years of rapid consolidation. Delta acquired Northwest Airlines in 2008, United merged with Continental in 2010 and Southwest Airlines Co bought discount rival AirTran in 2011.

With fewer carriers competing, ticket prices have risen. The average fare rose about 8 percent to $375 in the third quarter of 2012, compared with $346 in 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663286/s/2def37a2/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Camerican0Eus0Eairways0Emerger0Efeds0Einvestigate0Epossible0Eantitrust0Eissues0E6C10A480A485/story01.htm

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Obama: Pay no attention to Snowden (CNN)

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Saturday, June 29, 2013

Better antibiotics: Atomic-scale structure of ribosome with molecule that controls its motion

June 28, 2013 ? This may look like a tangle of squiggly lines, but you're actually looking at a molecular machine called a ribosome. Its job is to translate DNA sequences into proteins, the workhorse compounds that sustain you and all living things.

The image is also a milestone. It's the first time the atom-by-atom structure of the ribosome has been seen as it's attached to a molecule that controls its motion. That's big news if you're a structural biologist.

But there's another way to look at this image, one that anyone who's suffered a bacterial infection can appreciate. The image is also a roadmap to better antibiotics. That's because this particular ribosome is from a bacterium. And somewhere in its twists and turns could be a weakness that a new antibiotic can target.

"We're in an arms race with the resistance mechanisms of bacteria," says Jamie Cate, a staff scientist in Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division and a professor of biochemistry, biophysics and structural biology at UC Berkeley.

"The better we understand how bacterial ribosomes work, the better we can come up with new ways to interfere with them," he adds.

Cate developed the structure with UC Berkeley's Arto Pulk. Their work is described in the June 28 issue of the journal Science.

Their image is the latest advance in the push for more effective antibiotics. The goal is new drugs that kill the bacteria that make us sick, stay one step ahead of their resistance mechanisms, and leave our beneficial bacteria alone.

One way to do this is to get to know the bacterial ribosome inside and out. Many of today's antibiotics target ribosomes. A better understanding of how ribosomes function will shed light on how these antibiotics work. This could also lead to even "smarter" molecules that quickly target and disable a pathogen's ribosomes without affecting friendly bacteria.

Cate and Pulk used protein crystallography beamlines at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source to create diffraction patterns that show how the ribosome's molecules fit together. They then used computational modeling to combine these patterns into incredibly high-resolution images that describe the locations of the individual atoms.

The result is the colorful structure at the top of this article. Those blue and purple halves are ribosomes. They're from E. coli bacteria, but they work in similar ways throughout nature. Ribosomes move along messenger RNA and interpret its genetic code into directions on how to stitch amino acids into proteins.

But sometimes ribosomes want to move backward, which isn't good when you're in the protein-making business. That's where that yellow-red-green squiggle wedged between the two ribosome halves comes in. It's elongation factor G. It acts like a ratchet and prevents the ribosome from slipping backward. It also pushes the ribosome forward when it's sluggish.

Scientists knew that elongation factor G performs these jobs, but they didn't know how. Now, with an atomic-scale structure in hand, they can study the chemical and molecular forces involved in this ratcheting process. Cate and Pulk found that the ratchet controls the ribosome's motion by stiffening and relaxing over and over. This is the kind of insight that could lead to new ways to monkey-wrench the ribosome.

"To create better antibiotics, we need to learn how bacterial ribosomes work at the smallest scales, and this is a big step in that direction," says Cate.

The National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute supported the research. The U.S. Department of Energy provides support for the Advanced Light Source, where this research was conducted.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/zlOztV3J4SM/130628103149.htm

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WSJ: Google Is Making an Android Video Game Console and Smartwatch

WSJ: Google Is Making an Android Video Game Console and Smartwatch

According to the WSJ, Google is currently developing an Android-based video game console and an Android-based 'smartwatch'. More Android in more places means more fun. Less interestingly though, Google is also supposedly developing a second version of the Nexus Q.

Supposedly, Google is making these Android-powered devices in reaction to Apple's upcoming devices. Or what many have been expecting to be Apple's upcoming devices. The WSJ reports:

The people briefed on the matter said Google is reacting in part to expectations that rival Apple will launch a videogame console as part of its next Apple TV product release.

Google has apparently been keeping a close eye on the Ouya?the $100 game console powered by Android?too, presumably using it to gauge people's interest in an Android video game box. As for the Google smartwatch, the WSJ says it'll connect to a smartphone via Bluetooth. Both of these devices are being developed right now so that Apple won't be able to build out a commanding lead like it did with the iPhone and iPad. And lastly, as for that quirky little Nexus Q, the upcoming updated version will be a lot less expensive (for reference, the Nexus Q was a ridiculous $300).

Game changing new products come out a lot less frequently than us gadget lovers would want them to, it looks like Google might be cooking up two. [WSJ]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/wsj-google-is-making-an-android-video-game-console-and-603197957

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As Egypt nears boil, leading religious institution calls for calm

? A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Egypt's leading religious institution made an urgent appeal for calm and encouraged the defiant opposition to accept President Mohamed Morsi's calls for dialogue after a member of the Muslim Brotherhood was killed today. But there is little indication that tensions will ease as the country braces for what may be the biggest protests since the revolution that ousted former dictator Hosni Mubarak ? and brought the Egyptian military onto the streets to restore order.

According to Reuters, Al Azhar University usually keeps itself separate from politics, but today it waded in. "Vigilance is required to ensure we do not slide into civil war," a statement from Al Azhar read. Al-Azhar scholar Hassan El-Shafei said the opposition, which plans to hold massive rallies across the country on June 30, should choose dialogue "for the benefit of the nation instead of the insistence on confrontation."

Al Azhar is not the only institution inserting itself into the fray in an attempt to turn down the heat.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Egypt? Take this quiz.

The powerful military, which maintains the respect of both government supporters and the opposition, has also made clear that it is willing to step in temporarily, invoking "national security," according to a separate Reuters report.

Earlier this week the head of the armed forces warned that Egypt was headed toward a "dark tunnel."

The warning at the start of the week from General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was presented as a wake-up call to the rival factions, President Mohamed Morsi and his Islamist allies on one side, a disparate coalition of liberals and a mass of Egyptians simply frustrated by economic stagnation on the other.

But the velvet glove of Sisi's language, urging politicians to find consensus and avert bloodshed, could not conceal an iron-fist of possible intervention, even if he was widely believed when he said the generals, secure and prosperous in their new role, have no wish to go back to running the country.

?

Few believe Sisi and a new generation of leaders elevated by Mursi want to grab long-term control in a full coup by a military that is held in high regard by almost all Egyptians.

But many of the Islamists' adversaries, from hardline Mubarak nostalgists to liberal idealists, seem ready to welcome a short-term shove by the army to abort the direction the revolution has taken and give a second chance to efforts to agree an institutional framework to end the polarised deadlock.

Respect for the military is one of the only things that President Morsi's supporters and the opposition have in common. Whether it makes good on its threat to intervene will depend in part on whether there is violence.

"The army has made its position clear: it will not allow violence and won't stand by if things seem to be getting out of control," one military source told Reuters yesterday, noting that it doesn't seem that leaders on either side can control their supporters.

Also at play is what the military judges as "popular will," Reuters reports. The military source said that if the size of the June 30 protests rivals that of the 2011 uprising, Morsi will be forced to relent. "No one will be able to oppose the will of the people," he said. "At least, not for long."

Egypt expert Nathan Brown writes in Foreign Policy that the potential for violence and mass protest have made military intervention an "explicit option."

The message from the military leadership in recent months has been clear in its general thrust but generally short on specifics: the military does not wish to take a political role, but it does regard itself as responsible for security of Egypt. That vagueness has likely sprouted from a desire to communicate to the presidency that it needed to improve its governance performance without offering the opposition the incentive to be so disruptive as to provoke an intervention.

?

Much still remains unclear. What would provoke an intervention? And what would the military do? Military intervention can take many forms -- suppressing demonstrations or violence, imposition of a government of national unity, deposing the president, suspending the constitution, asserting temporary authority -- and since it is not clear that any of these options would solve or even alleviate Egypt's political crisis, it can hardly be taken for granted that the military would intervene.

But all signs point to escalation, Mr. Brown writes, painting a picture of deep polarization, rhetoric on both sides running at an alarmingly high temperature, and a conflict that has become deeply personal for all involved.

And now attitudes have grown hard indeed. I asked one leading [Morsi-allied] parliamentarian ? a figure I have come to respect as level headed, calm, introspective, and patient ? whether he thought he wished his side had done anything differently? . He replied with visible anger that not only did he think they would do it all over again but that in fact they will do it all over again if necessary. And when I remarked to a friend in a responsible position that I did not think Morsi would leave office voluntarily, he replied that he thought the Egyptian people would deal with him as Libyans had dealt with Muammar al-Qaddafi.

Calmer language was used in Europe in the summer of 1914.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Egypt? Take this quiz.

Related stories

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-nears-boil-leading-religious-institution-calls-calm-132648846.html

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Texas Senate blowup threatens lt. gov.'s future

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? With the crowd in the Texas Senate gallery chanting at deafening levels, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst stood at the podium with his hands in his pockets as his fellow Republicans pleaded and shouted for order.

The protesters refused to settle down as Dewhurst scrambled to the Senate floor and desperately tried to beat a midnight deadline to save one of his top priorities: legislation limiting abortions. He failed, amid one of the wildest scenes in the Texas Legislature in recent memory.

The bill will get another chance next week now that the governor has called another special legislative session, but Dewhurst's political future may not be so easily saved.

Damage left by the raucous scene of an out-of-control Senate ? broadcast live on the Internet ? has made Dewhurst a target for blame among rivals within his own party who wonder why the presiding officer of the chamber let it happen.

Texas' lieutenant governor is one of the most powerful politicians in the state. Elected statewide and independent of the governor's office, the lieutenant governor controls the flow of legislation in the Senate. Dewhurst has held the post since 2002, when he rode a conservative wave that has allowed Republicans to dominate state politics for more than a decade. But he suffered a crushing defeat by a fellow Republican in last year's U.S. Senate race.

The protesters were in the gallery Tuesday to support Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis as she filibustered the abortion bill for nearly 12 hours ? without breaks ? during a special legislative session. Official records hold that enough the bill passed just before midnight but that Dewhurst didn't have time to sign it and send it to Gov. Rick Perry.

Still, Dewhurst faced almost immediate criticism from rivals within his own party, and the finger pointing likely won't go away as he tries for re-election to a fourth term. Along with the abortion bill ? which opponents say would essentially shut down most abortion clinics in Texas ? the chaos also blocked the passage of major transportation and juvenile justice measures.

"Clearly his opponents pounced on this. The meltdown in the Senate amplified the problems Dewhurst already had with his base among GOP primary voters," said Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

"It wasn't his best moment," added Republican political consultant Bill Miller. "It was a national show. It was being viewed by people around the country and around the world. It was bad TV. (But) I think it's survivable. He already had people wanting his job, so there's nothing to new to that."

Dewhurst, who is scheduled to speak Saturday at the National Right to Life conference in suburban Dallas, said at the time that he didn't lose control of the chamber. He later released a statement saying he was "furious" about how the session ended.

"(An) unruly, screaming mob using Occupy Wall Street tactics derailed legislation intended to protect the health of Texas women and their babies," Dewhurst said. "I pledge to Texas one thing: This fight is far from over.

The veteran politician had already been trying to patch up a political career staggered by a crushing loss in last year's U.S. Senate race to political newcomer and tea party darling Ted Cruz, who labeled Dewhurst a moderate. That loss during the GOP primary stunned the Republican establishment, and it drove Dewhurst to do whatever he could to restore his conservative credentials in 2013 on volatile issues.

After the regular legislative session ended, Dewhurst pushed Perry to call the special session and put abortion on the agenda. When that effort fizzled, his enemies pounced.

"In the end, the responsibility for the Texas Senate falls on one man," said Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, one of three Republicans challenging Dewhurst in the 2014 election. "I strongly believe he has lost his grip on the reins of the Senate and his horse has run wild."

Perry has now called a second 30-day special session to start Monday. Given a new start and large majorities in the House and Senate, Republicans are all but assured of passing the bill.

But opponents and Democrats have turned the incident into a rallying call, and Davis's filibuster turned her into galvanizing figure in the national debate over abortion rights.

The activists who crowded the Senate gallery had maintained decorum for most of the day. They didn't erupt until Democrats complained Dewhurst tried to unilaterally move to end Davis' filibuster without a full Senate vote ? a vote Republicans would have won and still given them time to pass the abortion bill.

Sen. Dan Patrick, whom Dewhurst appointed to chair the Senate's powerful education committee, announced Thursday he would run against Dewhurst in 2014. He said the chamber needs new leadership.

"We elevated a rallying point for the other party," Patrick said. "It should never have happened."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-senate-blowup-threatens-lt-gov-future-185326611.html

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How to Meet an Online Friend in Real Life Without It Being Awkward

How to Meet an Online Friend in Real Life Without It Being Awkward

You're not looking to bang every person you meet online. Sometimes, you're just looking for friends. But somehow, meeting someone you know online platonically has become a far more awkward endeavor than a random OKCupid date. You know her but you dont know her. Do you shake hands? Do you hug? Do you do that open-palmed half-wave? God forbid she goes for the hug and you go for the handshake like you're in some jerking, uncoordinated, chest-poking dance.

Read more...

    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/flVka-vzuwE/how-to-meet-an-online-friend-in-real-life-without-it-be-610568297

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Google reportedly working on Android-powered watch, game console and next-gen Nexus Q

Google Nexus Q

Self-branded hardware could showcase features of the latest version of Android made for more than just phones

Google is concurrently working on three new self-branded Android devices to expand its reach into new market segments, if current rumors are to be believed. According to sources of The Wall Street Journal, Google is currently developing an Android-powered watch, home gaming console and also a successor to the failed Nexus Q media streamer. At least one of the products, WSJ sources report, will be launched to consumers by the end of this year.

The purported Google smart watch will (as expected) pair to a user's phone over Bluetooth, much like Google Glass currently does, but details beyond this are murky. They certainly aren't the only ones looking at watches though -- Samsung has expressed interest in making a smart watch-style device previously, and Sony has even released products to consumers in the category.

As for the expected refresh to the Nexus Q, reports are that the new version will be much less expensive (remember the original Nexus Q had a sticker price of $299), and as was the case with the first iteration be a portal for Google to sell more content such as music and movies through Google Play. No surprises there, but it helps calm some worries that nearly all functionality in the current Nexus Q has been lost through app updates.

read more

    


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/3sEmXDWjKLo/story01.htm

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Friday, June 28, 2013

Tensions Swelling as Beach Erodes

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Some say a rebuilt sea wall caused the scouring of Ditch Plains, on the Montauk Peninsula, while others say Hurricane Sandy did the damage.
    

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/28/nyregion/as-a-beach-erodes-in-the-hamptons-community-tensions-swell.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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GOHMERT! Gay Marriage Means the End of Civilization (Little green footballs)

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Obama has short list to succeed Federal Reserve chairman Bernanke

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has assembled a short list of candidates to succeed Federal Reserve Bank chairman Ben Bernanke, a source familiar with the process said, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is running the search.

Bernanke is expected to leave when his second term ends on January 31, after an eventful eight years in helping the U.S. economy recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression.

President Barack Obama hinted in a television interview this month that Bernanke would step down, comparing him to longtime FBI Director Robert Mueller, who agreed to stay two years longer in the job than he had planned, and is now to leave.

Lew has assembled a short list with the help from several senior White House officials, the source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

There was no information on who is on the list, although Janet Yellen, Lawrence Summers and Timothy Geithner are considered to be likely leading choices.

"We decline to comment on speculation on any personnel matters until the President has made his decisions and is ready to announce them," said Amy Brundage, White House spokeswoman.

"The President believes that Chairman Bernanke is a vital and excellent partner in promoting our economic recovery and he continues to serve admirably and with distinction during this important time for our country," she said.

(Reporting by Steve Holland, writing by Douwe Miedema)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-short-list-succeed-federal-chairman-bernanke-234759335.html

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Resistance gene found against Ug99 wheat stem rust pathogen

Resistance gene found against Ug99 wheat stem rust pathogen [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 27-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Eduard Akhunov
eakhunov@k-state.edu
785-532-1342
Kansas State University

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- The world's food supply got a little more plentiful thanks to a scientific breakthrough.

Eduard Akhunov, associate professor of plant pathology at Kansas State University, and his colleague, Jorge Dubcovsky from the University of California-Davis, led a research project that identified a gene that gives wheat plants resistance to one of the most deadly races of the wheat stem rust pathogen -- called Ug99 -- that was first discovered in Uganda in 1999. The discovery may help scientists develop new wheat varieties and strategies that protect the world's food crops against the wheat stem rust pathogen that is spreading from Africa to the breadbaskets of Asia and can cause significant crop losses.

Other Kansas State University researchers include Harold Trick, professor of plant pathology; Andres Salcedo, doctoral candidate in genetics; and Cyrille Saintenac, a postdoctoral research associate currently working at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in France. The project was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Borlaug Global Rust Initiative.

The team's study, "Identification of Wheat Gene Sr35 that Confers Resistance to Ug99 Stem Rust Race Group," appears in the journal Science.

It identifies the stem rust resistance gene named Sr35, and appears alongside a study from an Australian group that identifies another effective resistance gene called Sr33.

"This gene, Sr35, functions as a key component of plants' immune system," Akhunov said. "It recognizes the invading pathogen and triggers a response in the plant to fight the disease."

Wheat stem rust is caused by a fungal pathogen. According to Akhunov, since the 1950s wheat breeders have been able to develop wheat varieties that are largely resistant to this pathogen. However, the emergence of strain Ug99 in Uganda in 1999 devastated crops and has spread to Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen, though has yet to reach the U.S.

"Until that point, wheat breeders had two or three genes that were so efficient against stem rust for decades that this disease wasn't the biggest concern," Akhunov said. "However, the discovery of the Ug99 race of pathogen showed that changes in the virulence of existing pathogen races can become a huge problem."

As a first line of defense, wheat breeders and researchers began looking for resistance genes among those that had already been discovered in the existing germplasm repositories, he said.

"The Sr35 gene was one of those genes that was discovered in einkorn wheat grown in Turkey," Akhunov said. "Until now, however, we did not know what kind of gene confers resistance to Ug99 in this wheat accession."

To identify the resistance gene Sr35, the team turned to einkorn wheat that is known to be resistant to the Ug99 fungal strain. Einkorn wheat has limited economic value and is cultivated in small areas of the Mediterranean region. It has been replaced by higher yielding pasta and bread wheat varieties.

Researchers spent nearly four years trying to identify the location of the Sr35 gene in the wheat genome, which contains nearly two times more genetic information than the human genome.

Once the researchers narrowed the list of candidate genes, they used two complimentary approaches to find the Sr35 gene. First, they chemically mutagenized the resistant accession of wheat to identify plants that become susceptible to the stem rust pathogen.

"It was a matter of knocking out each candidate gene until we found the one that made a plant susceptible," Akhunov said. "It was a tedious process and took a lot of time, but it was worth the effort."

Next, researchers isolated the candidate gene and used biotechnical approaches to develop transgenic plants that carried the Sr35 gene and showed resistance to the Ug99 race of stem rust.

Now that the resistance gene has been found, Akhunov and colleagues are looking at what proteins are transferred by the fungus into the wheat plants and recognized by the protein encoded by the Sr35 gene. This will help researchers to better understand the molecular mechanisms behind infection and develop new approaches for controlling this devastating pathogen.

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Resistance gene found against Ug99 wheat stem rust pathogen [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 27-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Eduard Akhunov
eakhunov@k-state.edu
785-532-1342
Kansas State University

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- The world's food supply got a little more plentiful thanks to a scientific breakthrough.

Eduard Akhunov, associate professor of plant pathology at Kansas State University, and his colleague, Jorge Dubcovsky from the University of California-Davis, led a research project that identified a gene that gives wheat plants resistance to one of the most deadly races of the wheat stem rust pathogen -- called Ug99 -- that was first discovered in Uganda in 1999. The discovery may help scientists develop new wheat varieties and strategies that protect the world's food crops against the wheat stem rust pathogen that is spreading from Africa to the breadbaskets of Asia and can cause significant crop losses.

Other Kansas State University researchers include Harold Trick, professor of plant pathology; Andres Salcedo, doctoral candidate in genetics; and Cyrille Saintenac, a postdoctoral research associate currently working at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in France. The project was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Borlaug Global Rust Initiative.

The team's study, "Identification of Wheat Gene Sr35 that Confers Resistance to Ug99 Stem Rust Race Group," appears in the journal Science.

It identifies the stem rust resistance gene named Sr35, and appears alongside a study from an Australian group that identifies another effective resistance gene called Sr33.

"This gene, Sr35, functions as a key component of plants' immune system," Akhunov said. "It recognizes the invading pathogen and triggers a response in the plant to fight the disease."

Wheat stem rust is caused by a fungal pathogen. According to Akhunov, since the 1950s wheat breeders have been able to develop wheat varieties that are largely resistant to this pathogen. However, the emergence of strain Ug99 in Uganda in 1999 devastated crops and has spread to Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen, though has yet to reach the U.S.

"Until that point, wheat breeders had two or three genes that were so efficient against stem rust for decades that this disease wasn't the biggest concern," Akhunov said. "However, the discovery of the Ug99 race of pathogen showed that changes in the virulence of existing pathogen races can become a huge problem."

As a first line of defense, wheat breeders and researchers began looking for resistance genes among those that had already been discovered in the existing germplasm repositories, he said.

"The Sr35 gene was one of those genes that was discovered in einkorn wheat grown in Turkey," Akhunov said. "Until now, however, we did not know what kind of gene confers resistance to Ug99 in this wheat accession."

To identify the resistance gene Sr35, the team turned to einkorn wheat that is known to be resistant to the Ug99 fungal strain. Einkorn wheat has limited economic value and is cultivated in small areas of the Mediterranean region. It has been replaced by higher yielding pasta and bread wheat varieties.

Researchers spent nearly four years trying to identify the location of the Sr35 gene in the wheat genome, which contains nearly two times more genetic information than the human genome.

Once the researchers narrowed the list of candidate genes, they used two complimentary approaches to find the Sr35 gene. First, they chemically mutagenized the resistant accession of wheat to identify plants that become susceptible to the stem rust pathogen.

"It was a matter of knocking out each candidate gene until we found the one that made a plant susceptible," Akhunov said. "It was a tedious process and took a lot of time, but it was worth the effort."

Next, researchers isolated the candidate gene and used biotechnical approaches to develop transgenic plants that carried the Sr35 gene and showed resistance to the Ug99 race of stem rust.

Now that the resistance gene has been found, Akhunov and colleagues are looking at what proteins are transferred by the fungus into the wheat plants and recognized by the protein encoded by the Sr35 gene. This will help researchers to better understand the molecular mechanisms behind infection and develop new approaches for controlling this devastating pathogen.

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/ksu-rgf062713.php

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