#Plant immunity

[katiajewelbox]

Throwback Thursday to my Masters of Research at Imperial College London! I am holding my first research report as a printed copy. 

Here is the abstract:

Katia Hougaard, Project 1 The Role of Lipoxygenases in the Chloroplast Degradation Response to Phytophthora infestans

Plants rely on the innate immunity of each cell to defend against disease-causing organisms. Although chloroplasts are best known for photosynthesis, recent research has revealed their importance in plant immunity. In plant defense responses, chloroplasts play a central role in cell signaling and gene expression. Studies show a decrease in photosynthetic activity during pathogen attack, indicating chloroplast functions may be impaired by pathogen activity. Furthermore, according to unpublished data from the Bozkurt lab, chloroplasts lose their stromal contents and degrade during pathogen attack. Currently, the molecular mechanisms of this pathway and its impact on the host or the pathogen remain unclear. Lipoxygenases, a family of enzymes involved in diverse plant processes such as germination, growth, and storage, are potentially significant to the chloroplast degradation response. In several plant species, pathogen attack and wounding lead to the induction of lipoxygenase genes, hinting at their importance in defense responses. Recent research on the 13-LOX pathway in leaf senescence, which selectively degrades chloroplasts to recycle their nutrients by disrupting the chloroplast envelope to release the stromal contents, shows similarities with the chloroplast degradation observed in Phytophthora infestans infection in Nicotiana benthamiana. In addition, new studies show the involvement of autophagy related genes in the degradation of whole chloroplasts compromised by abiotic stress, suggesting a similar process may occur in response to biotic stress.

Our study addressed the hypothesis that one or more of four selected lipoxygenases are essential to the controlled chloroplast degradation response. Using confocal microscopy, we determined that all four lipoxygenases localize to chloroplasts in vivo. By quantifying degraded chloroplasts in infected cells, we found that chloroplast degradation during pathogen attack may depend on at least two of the lipoxygenases. Through studying necrotic leaf lesion development caused by P. infestans infection, we concluded that at least two of the lipoxygenases might influence the defense response. Finally, we conducted a preliminary study focusing on the role of autophagy related genes in the pathogen mediated chloroplast degradation response.

[new-health-products-in]

TonicGreens Supplements

A Daily Dose of Green Goodness: My Tonic Greens Experience

I've been using Tonic Greens for a couple of months now, and I'm really impressed with the results. It's a powdered dietary supplement that blends together a variety of nutrient-rich green vegetables, herbs, and other plant-based ingredients.

Packing a Punch with Powerful Plants

One of the things I love most about Tonic Greens is the sheer volume of good stuff crammed into each scoop. We're talking spinach, kale, spirulina, chlorella, and wheatgrass, just for starters. These super greens are well-known for being packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients – all essential for maintaining good health.

Effortless Addition to My Routine

Tonic Greens is incredibly easy to incorporate into my daily routine. Each morning, I simply mix a scoop into my smoothie or a glass of water. It blends well and doesn't have an unpleasant taste, which is a bonus for someone who isn't a huge fan of vegetables!

Feeling the Positive Effects

Since incorporating Tonic Greens, I've noticed a positive difference in my energy levels. I feel more focused throughout the day and less likely to experience that afternoon slump. I also believe it's contributed to a stronger immune system, as I haven't caught any of those pesky bugs that seem to be going around lately.

Overall, I'm a big fan of Tonic Greens. It's a convenient and effective way to boost my daily intake of essential nutrients and support my overall health and wellbeing.

[zarnzarn]

The doors to Olympus are sturdy and strong, given everyone's preferences for drama and slamming said doors open and sending them cracking into the wall whenever the opportunity arises. Which is why it's a surprise when they creak open during the once-a-decade pantheon meeting; less so because no entity worth their salt would take so long to open the doors, and more so because everyone who is anyone is already there.

But if everyone is being honest with themselves- which no one is, usually- these gatherings are boring enough that the bland conversation is dropped immediately in favour of craning their necks to catch a glimpse of whatever is coming to relieve them of their boredom.

When the doors finally open however, several of the pantheon murmur in surprise.

"Odysseus," Athena whispers, wide-eyed as she pushes herself off her throne to her feet. It is him- in the king's garb he was buried in but the face he has when he reached home, hair till the shoulders and speckled with grey, face oddly blank. His feet are transparent.

"What are you doing here, sceptre?" Poseidon booms, hair the color of a stormy sea. Zeus, beside him, looks reserved, observing the ghost with something approaching curiosity- eyes flicking to the lightning scars on his daughter's face and back. "Your time has long passed, and Hades-"

"It is a temporary agreement," Odysseus says curtly, barely sparing him a glance as he approaches his patron. "Athena."

Her armour clinks as she steps forward and the gods all twitch, trading glances. Owls are silent creatures- to have her aspect so affected to make noise was... uneasy to say the least. She even holds herself different than usual, something like confused delight shining in her eyes. "How did you-"

"Did you sleep with my wife?"

The throne room is silent. Several jaws drop.

Athena straightens back up, blinking in surprise. She looks a bit shifty, some of the nymphs closest whisper to each other, which- well, almost every single god present owed some part of their existence to the mere story of Odysseus loving his wife.

Would he fight his own patron goddess over it in front of Mount Olympus, though? He certainly was unbalanced enough; Athena herself looked rather uncertain of her odds, even though-

"Are you addled in death, King of Ithaka?" Artemis drawls, looking amused. "Did you forget that your own patron is celibate? Whatever rumor you-"

"No, I-" Athena says suddenly, shifting her spear to her other hand. "I did."

Artemis chokes on her breath and several assorted divine beings gasp in shock and the rest shouting for explanations, although everyone is nearly drowned out by Aphrodite's loud, "WHAT?"

Odysseus inhales sharply and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I cannot believe you."

"She asked-" Athena starts, only to be drowned out by the din of various beings screeching and shouting about the scandal.

"ATHENA!" Hera hisses, peacock tail fanning behind her sharply as she pushes herself up. "Explain yourself!"

Athena half-turns to face her, face creased in a frown. "Mother, I-"

"LET ME REPHRASE!" Odysseus cuts in loudly, and the shouting settles down into silence. He walks to his patron, eyes blazing. "I cannot believe," he throws his clenched fists wide as he growls the last word, "-you took Penelope to bed-" Athena surprisingly stays still as he reaches her, mouth falling open as he grabs her by the chiton to yank her down, uncaring of the gasps of horror from all around as he snarls, "-before you ever kissed me."

And then Odysseus grabs Athena by the face roughly and kisses her.

This time Aphrodite's shriek cannot be escaped by anyone.

"Aphrodite, please," Zeus says a few moments later, wincing as his throne reforms around him, stained oddly pink. Quite a few minor entities have discorporated, and the ones nearest to her are still trying to regenerate their hearing. "Control yourself."

Their eyes land back on where Athena has dropped her spear- dropped her spear, Ares in the corner seems to be having some minor hysteria over this, well warranted- and is also on the floor, still being thoroughly kissed by that insufferable, mannerless hero of hers, perched on her stomach to reach. Zeus inhales in fury, Poseidon close behind him as the shock wears off, lightning crackling around his fingers as he opens his mouth to shout- of all the indignities-

"If you two ruin this for me," Aphrodite thunders, warping in front of them and glaring. "I will make you both regret it."

Both gods visibly blanch at the threat, taken aback for one brief moment. Threats from Aphrodite are far worse than any of her more violent siblings, at the end of the day.

Zeus visibly gathers himself just as Athena's helmet clatters to the floor, and he gains a second wind immediately, eye twitching as he spreads a hand to the spectacle in the middle of the hall. "WHAT MANNER OF DISRESPECT IS THIS? TO BARGE INTO OUR MEETING AND THROW ONE OF THE OLDEST GODDESSES TO THE FLOOR LIKE A COMMON WENCH-"

"Zeus," Hera says quietly. Everyone falls silent, although it's not quite enough to stop the two tangled together on the ground. She clears her throat, which finally seems to get through to Athena, who had finally seemed to have gotten over her shock enough to reach out, hands hovering over Odysseus hesitantly. Still, at the noise she seems to remember herself, pushing herself up on an elbow and dislodging him enough to break their necking. He pouts at her, but Athena's eyes are too glazed over to notice, heaving for breath.

Hera opens her mouth to speak, crown manifesting on her brow as she steps in front of the throne, but closes it as the door rattles again.

This time, the spectre shimmers with a faint hint of scales that comes with a freshwater nymph's heritage and excited whispers starved for drama explode across the room as the Queen of Ithaka steps into the room, skirts hitched in her hand and panting as if she'd been running.

"Your Graces," She bows respectfully before entering, Spartan princess through and through, until she catches sight of her husband and Athena, the former of whom seems to have taken the opportunity to start kissing the wisdom goddess again, fingers in her curls.

"What are you doing?" She snaps, rushing over. The entire courtroom holds its breath. She slaps her husband upside the head, making him yelp and move back to shoot her a betrayed look. Athena looks even further dazed than before, cheeks red. "Argos has more manners than you! No wonder Lady Athena wanted nothing to do with you- ah, hello, darling, by the way."

"Penelope," Athena murmurs hoarsely, and the Queen of Ithaka leans down to kiss her as well.

Odysseus chuckles, then jumps with everyone else as Hera slams a hand down on the throne elegantly, cracking it to the base.

"Ah, goddess-" He says, clambering off Athena to bow.

"Silence," Hera interrupts, holding up a hand, eyes cold. "You will not say anything to me apart from an explanation. My agreement for your release from Ogygia was due to the assurance that your marriage was one of the truest I have ever witnessed, conveyed by Athena herself when bartered with all of us to let you go. Tell me, was it a ploy? Because from the disgraceful looks of it, this seems to not be the case in the slightest."

Odysseus frowns, face twisting in confusion. "Athena bartered with...?" He turns to look at his patron, who stares back, unspeaking. His eyes flicker to the lightning scar over her right eye as Penelope traces it with horrified eyes and a gentle thumb, and understanding seems to dawn.

For a moment, rage seems to fill him, glaring with a hatred towards Zeus that everyone whispered later wasn't met by the god king with anger, but a flicker of remorse- before he visibly throws it away behind Athena's old smile and bows.

"God-queen," He says formally, gracefully. Hera twitches a bit, and they'll all talk later about how odd it was to so clearly see Athena's younger mannerisms in the man, down to the curl of the letters. "My marriage to Penelope has never been false, never been broken, this I promise you." He takes Penelope's hand and squeezes it for emphasis, and she raises them as acknowledgement. "But... can you not argue that Athena has been part of our marriage all this time? From its start, where she advised me on courting and her on what to look for, to the twenty years she spent with both of us- me on the battlefield and Penelope in the court; to say nothing of how she helped raise our son and lived in our palace in the days after. And is she not so unbearably beautiful that even my Penelope couldn't wait-" He shoots a glare at her, which Penelope returns with a smile. "-when the chance was presented? How can you fault us for disgrace, after being so long apart from our wife?"

Hera raises both eyebrows at the impudence, the kind of disbelieving expression that hides a warning to tread carefully. "So you claim to be both married to Pallas Athena?"

"In every way that matters except legality," Odysseus says, fearlessly. He is dead, after all, what much can you do to a shade that they didn't already put him through when alive. He is sort of worried about Athena, though, as they both help her back to her feet, Penelope busy whispering compliments and updates and endearments in turn- she's not usually one to be quiet in face of a problem.

Hera tilts her head. "Ah, but you see. I need the legality, if I am to finally-" A helpless, excited smile pulls at her lips once, twice, before unfolding into a bright grin, peacock tails unfolding to their full wingspan. "-finally arrange for a marriage for my eldest daughter who has not once- oh finally, I can hardly believe this day has come-"

"I do not like the way you grabbed her, Sacker of Troy," Ares steps forward as Hera starts ranting half to herself, half to an equally loud assemblage of joyful entities about wedding arrangements, eyes narrowed.

Odysseus barks an incredulous, loud laugh, gesturing to Athena with a slightly crazed look in his eyes. "This lady has broken- and I do not exaggerate- every single bone in my body before I saw my sixteenth year. I have punched her a hundred times in the face when she taught me how to fight. We'll survive, thanks."

"That is fair," Ares steps back, hands raised.

"What duties will you provide as spouses, Ithakan Queen?" Hestia questions, stepping forward.

"Oh, the same we did when we were living," Penelope huffs a laugh. "Keep her busy, make her laugh, be of mild frustration to her, love her well, worship her-"

"I do not. Need to know," Hestia closes her eyes and raises a hand to cut her off, stepping back. Around them, the din catches speed and volume as no further objections arise, excitement spilling into the air.

"What is happening?" Athena says faintly, looking around as if she was just waking up.

"-oh, and we can get out the decor once more! Hebe, Aphrodite, loves, do you remember where we kept the fountains-"

"-finally, a reason to celebrate! Call them all out of hiding-"

"-can't believe this is finally happening, oh sister, what songs should we-

"Why am I getting married," Athena says with much more alarm and horror. She turns to Odysseus and shakes him by the shoulder, eyes wild. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!"

"How is this nothing? Do you have any idea the headache-"

"Athena, sweetheart, will you consider changing into that beautiful piece you made for the ceremony?"

Creakily, she turns her head to Hera, disbelief pasted across her face. "Mother," She says slowly. "They are both dead."

"Oh, I'll make a deal with Hades or something, you hush!" Aphrodite leans forward and snaps, before her irritation melts back into a manic joy. "Oh, what paint shall we do?"

Paint, Athena mouths, looking afraid for possibly the first time since her conception.

Penelope laughs and tugs on Athena's hand to make her turn, tucking dishevelled curls behind her ear. She wonders if the goddess knows how beautiful she is when she's flustered. "Take us away," She whispers. On Athena's other side, Odysseus leans against their patron with a besotted, helpless smile as he stares up at her, her helmet and spear in hand. She'd missed Athena like a limb, missed her deep laugh at night when they'd discussed the day's court, the dry jokes, the hands over hers as she weaved- but Odysseus wasn't himself without her, happy though they were in Hades' lands together, all of them.

"I'm-" Athena wavers, then looks around once more at all the excited screaming, something unreadable flashing in her eyes. Almost against her will, her eyes fall to Zeus, who is sitting silently and staring back at her. Poseidon looks like he still wants to start a fight, but clearly by his wary looks below can tell he will be heavily outnumbered by the overexcited crowd to not try, but Zeus just stares back at her, face blank of any emotion.

"We ask you formally this time," King Odysseus says, walking in front of her to take her attention away, holding onto her hand. His voice has strength in it, drawing the eyes of the murmuring crowd, but he's deaf to it as he stares up at her.

"Will you be our wife?" Queen Penelope asks, joining him, watching their beautiful patron shudder for breath she does not need as her eyes flick to one of them and then the other.

"Yes," She whispers and cheers erupt all across Mount Olympus.

"Finally!" Odysseus complains, and then pulls her down once more to kiss her, all three of them fading at the edges as one of the generous gods present there- who seems to realize that they're not very inclined to stop anytime soon- thankfully teleports them away into a nice room with a large bed.

"Finally," He whispers as he breaks apart to lay her down, cupping her face, voice heavy with the longing of a full lifetime and more. Penelope circles to the head of the bed and starts undoing Athena's braid, staring at them both lovingly.

Later the ones closest will murmur, as the silhouettes faded away, that tears had slipped from proud Pallas Athena's eyes as she placed one hand against Odysseus' cheek, trembling.

"I missed you," She will whisper back, and all three of them fade away to their own story, yet to be made.

[lazybakerart]

reuploading some of my old-old yyh art <3

[voelene]

So, we have confirmation that Bellara and Lucanis take over cooking because they fear the others would either starve or poison themselves otherwise. Now they must come to that conclusion from experience, and I can't wait to discover why everyone else is banned from the kitchen.

How many people put the kitchen on fire?

Who can cook only the most basic bland food, offending Lucanis's delicate sensibility ?

Who accidentally poisoned the food ?

[fistfuloflightning]

Be honest, Merry… where exactly did you get those? …And you didn’t think to check if they were poisonous?

Tolkientober Day 7: (courting) Customs

[puppynametaken]

Babe wake up new chapter of Human Domestication Guide just dropped. Go fucking read it on AO3!

[indigos-stardust]

Work in progress

@shadylink come and get ur food

[mindblowingscience]

The human immune system is based on cells that communicate with each other via signaling molecules known as cytokines and chemokines. One of these signaling molecules is the protein MIF (macrophage migration inhibitory factor). It plays an important role in the regulation of various immune reactions by binding to suitable receptors of various cell types in a ternary complex, thereby activating certain signaling pathways in these cells. Surprisingly, there are plant proteins that are very similar to the human MIF protein in the sequence of their individual building blocks (amino acids) and these are referred to as MDL proteins. A team led by Jürgen Bernhagen from the Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD) at University of Munich Hospital and Professor Ralph Panstruga from the Unit of Plant Molecular Cell Biology at RWTH Aachen University in collaboration with a research group led by Professor Elias Lolis from Yale University in the U.S., has now shown that MIF and MDL proteins are also astonishingly similar in their spatial structure. Lead author Lukas Spiller and the team also found that the plant MDL proteins bind to the receptors of the MIF protein, alone or in complexes with the human MIF protein, and are thus able to activate immune-relevant signaling pathways—in some cases more efficiently than the human MIF protein alone.

Continue Reading.

[worstloki]

how funny would it be if Loki didn't even know Baldur would not be immune to mistletoe. clearly everything in the world was promised to not hurt Baldur, so why would one specific plant do the trick?

[katiajewelbox]

Plant Immune System Part 3

The plant immune system is the topic of my PhD thesis, which I'm currently writing following several years of lab-based research as a PhD student at Imperial College London under the supervision of Professor Colin Turnbull.

Here's an introduction to my research, which focused on how certain plants defend themselves against aphids.

Aphids are an important insect pest that threaten agriculture worldwide. As we learned in the previous post, plant resistance (R) genes control resistance to specific pests and pathogens through interaction with effectors from the invaders. Since examples of R gene-dependent aphid resistance have been documented in different plant species, aphid-specific R genes may enable the development of resistant crops.

In the model plant Medicago truncatula, there are some varieties that are resistant to aphids and other varieties that are susceptible to Pea Aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum). Whether the plant is resistant also depends on the variety of aphid. In my project, the A17 plant is resistant to PS01 aphids but not to N116 aphids, while the DZA plant is susceptible to both aphid varieties.

What is the key difference in the resistant versus susceptible plants? Resistant A17 plants have a portion of their genome “Resistance to Acyrthosiphon pisum 1” (RAP1) which determines resistance to PS01 aphids, but the genes controlling the defence response and physiological defence mechanisms remain unknown. Two candidate R genes located in RAP1, designated “RAP1A” and “RAP1B”, may control resistance.

My main objective in my PhD project has been to determine whether RAP1A and RAP1B control aphid resistance, and to investigate the RAP1-mediated defence response. I look forward to sharing the findings in publications and in talks next year!

Image credit: Original diagram by Katia Hougaard with images from the Turnbull Lab.

#katia_plantscientist#science#biology#research#plants#botany#plantbiology#phdproject#plantbiology#plantscience#sciencecommunication#diagrams#phd#imperialcollegelondon#phdthesis#medicago#aphid#plantimmunesystem#pestsandpathogens#plantpathology#womeninscience#plantbiologist

[queers4years]

Indigenous Hawaiians really had a good system going: wake up reaaally early and do most of the days work while it's cool and by the time the sun was up and it got hot the work was done and you're free to surf and socialize. I wish the white people realized they themselves could work smarter and not harder and get time to relax. Instead of calling Hawaiians lazy (and being genocidal about it)

[ruvviks]

coming up with zombie apocalypse stories is always fun because you can just say whatever and people will just have to take your word for it

[ourhouseishaunted]

my brain for the past like 2 weeks

[chromatasia]

magical clover intro fic will be posted tomorrow!! i will proofread it in the morning and post it whenever i can!!

[xf3s]

just found out the recommended protein intake. it's all over