| 1. |
- Brouwer, Sophie
(författare)
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A tale of two blights
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Potato is the third most important food crop for human consumption. However, the production is plagued by several pests and pathogens causing yield reducing diseases. Estimations indicate that 17% of the global potato yield is lost due to pests and pathogens. Considering the predicted growth of the human population and the already worrying prevalence of hunger, attenuation of these yield losses attributed to pests and pathogens is required. The major causal agents of disease in potato are the oomycete Phytophthora infestans and the fungus Alternaria solani, causing late blight and early blight respectively. The effective control of these two blights is achieved predominately by synthetic chemical fungicide treatments. However, even though currently effective, this reliance on chemical control is unsustainable and new knowledge is required for the development of future-proof control that takes the impact on the environment, human health and ecosystem dynamics into account. In this thesis, I studied the interactions between A. solani, P. infestans, and Solanum tuberosum. The main aim was to gain an increased understanding of the interactions between a single host plant and multiple pathogens, either alone or together. Using infection and transcriptomic studies of plant hormone deficient lines, I found that potato defences require intact salicylic acid signalling to limit A. solani infection. Additionally, I analysed the gene expression of both potato and A. solani during infection in more detail. Moreover, I analysed the spatial distribution of chemical elements in plants that were either susceptible or resistant to P. infestans and found several resistance specific redistribution patterns after inoculation with P. infestans. Finally, studies on the interactions between all three organisms, showed that the growth of P. infestans is limited in the presence of A. solani both in vitro and in planta. This holds true both in a controlled environment and in an agriculturally relevant setting. Overall, the work in this thesis has generated a deeper understanding of the interactions between potato and the two pathogens that cause the most significant losses in this crop. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of studying plant-pathogen interaction not solely as binary interactions and indicates potential new leads for the development of more sustainable control strategies.
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| 2. |
- Brouwer, Sophie, et al.
(författare)
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Transcriptome Analysis of Potato Infected with the Necrotrophic Pathogen Alternaria solani
- 2021
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Ingår i: Plants. - : MDPI AG. - 2223-7747. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Potato early blight is caused by the necrotrophic fungus Alternaria solani and can result in yield losses of up to 50% if left uncontrolled. At present, the disease is controlled by chemical fungicides, yet rapid development of fungicide resistance renders current control strategies unsustainable. On top of that, a lack of understanding of potato defences and the quantitative nature of resistance mechanisms against early blight hinders the development of more sustainable control methods. Necrotrophic pathogens, compared to biotrophs, pose an extra challenge to the plant, since common defence strategies to biotic stresses such as the hypersensitive response and programmed cell death are often beneficial for necrotrophs. With the aim of unravelling plant responses to both the early infection stages (i.e., before necrosis), such as appressorium formation and penetration, as well as to later responses to the onset of necrosis, we present here a transcriptome analysis of potato interactions with A. solani from 1 h after inoculation when the conidia have just commenced germination, to 48 h post inoculation when multiple cell necrosis has begun. Potato transcripts with putative functions related to biotic stress tolerance and defence against pathogens were upregulated, including a putative Nudix hydrolase that may play a role in defence against oxidative stress. A. solani transcripts encoding putative pathogenicity factors, such as cell wall degrading enzymes and metabolic processes that may be important for infection. We therefore identified the differential expression of several potato and A. solani transcripts that present a group of valuable candidates for further studies into their roles in immunity or disease development.
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| 3. |
- Brouwer, Sophie, et al.
(författare)
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Visualising the ionome in resistant and susceptible plant-pathogen interactions
- 2021
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Ingår i: Plant Journal. - : Wiley. - 0960-7412 .- 1365-313X. ; 108, s. 870-885
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- At the morphological and anatomical levels, the ionome, or the elemental composition of an organism, is an understudied area of plant biology. In particular, the ionomic responses of plant-pathogen interactions are scarcely described, and there are no studies on immune reactions. In this study we explored two X-ray fluorescence (XRF)-based ionome visualisation methods (benchtop- and synchrotron-based micro-XRF [mu XRF]), as well as the quantitative inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) method, to investigate the changes that occur in the ionome of compatible and incompatible plant-pathogen interactions. We utilised the agronomically important and comprehensively studied interaction between potato (Solanum tuberosum) and the late blight oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestans as an example. We used one late blight-susceptible potato cultivar and two resistant transgenic plant lines (only differing from the susceptible cultivar in one or three resistance genes) both in control and P. infestans-inoculated conditions. In the lesions from the compatible interaction, we observed rearrangements of several elements, including a decrease of the mobile macronutrient potassium (K) and an increase in iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn), compared with the tissue outside the lesion. Interestingly, we observed distinctly different distribution patterns of accumulation at the site of inoculation in the resistant lines for calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), Mn and silicon (Si) compared to the susceptible cultivar. The results reveal different ionomes in diseased plants compared to resistant plants. Our results demonstrate a technical advance and pave the way for deeper studies of the plant-pathogen ionome in the future.
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| 4. |
- Dima, Danai, et al.
(författare)
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Subcortical volumes across the lifespan : Data from 18,605 healthy individuals aged 3-90 years.
- 2022
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Ingår i: Human Brain Mapping. - : Wiley. - 1065-9471 .- 1097-0193. ; 43:1, s. 452-469
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Age has a major effect on brain volume. However, the normative studies available are constrained by small sample sizes, restricted age coverage and significant methodological variability. These limitations introduce inconsistencies and may obscure or distort the lifespan trajectories of brain morphometry. In response, we capitalized on the resources of the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium to examine age-related trajectories inferred from cross-sectional measures of the ventricles, the basal ganglia (caudate, putamen, pallidum, and nucleus accumbens), the thalamus, hippocampus and amygdala using magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from 18,605 individuals aged 3-90 years. All subcortical structure volumes were at their maximum value early in life. The volume of the basal ganglia showed a monotonic negative association with age thereafter; there was no significant association between age and the volumes of the thalamus, amygdala and the hippocampus (with some degree of decline in thalamus) until the sixth decade of life after which they also showed a steep negative association with age. The lateral ventricles showed continuous enlargement throughout the lifespan. Age was positively associated with inter-individual variability in the hippocampus and amygdala and the lateral ventricles. These results were robust to potential confounders and could be used to examine the functional significance of deviations from typical age-related morphometric patterns.
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| 5. |
- Frangou, Sophia, et al.
(författare)
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Cortical thickness across the lifespan : Data from 17,075 healthy individuals aged 3-90 years
- 2022
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Ingår i: Human Brain Mapping. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1065-9471 .- 1097-0193. ; 43:1, s. 431-451
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Delineating the association of age and cortical thickness in healthy individuals is critical given the association of cortical thickness with cognition and behavior. Previous research has shown that robust estimates of the association between age and brain morphometry require large-scale studies. In response, we used cross-sectional data from 17,075 individuals aged 3-90 years from the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium to infer age-related changes in cortical thickness. We used fractional polynomial (FP) regression to quantify the association between age and cortical thickness, and we computed normalized growth centiles using the parametric Lambda, Mu, and Sigma method. Interindividual variability was estimated using meta-analysis and one-way analysis of variance. For most regions, their highest cortical thickness value was observed in childhood. Age and cortical thickness showed a negative association; the slope was steeper up to the third decade of life and more gradual thereafter; notable exceptions to this general pattern were entorhinal, temporopolar, and anterior cingulate cortices. Interindividual variability was largest in temporal and frontal regions across the lifespan. Age and its FP combinations explained up to 59% variance in cortical thickness. These results may form the basis of further investigation on normative deviation in cortical thickness and its significance for behavioral and cognitive outcomes.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Odilbekov, Firuz, et al.
(författare)
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Intact salicylic acid signalling is required for potato defence against the necrotrophic fungus Alternaria solani
- 2020
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Ingår i: Plant Molecular Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0167-4412 .- 1573-5028. ; 104, s. 1-19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Key Message Using disease bioassays and transcriptomic analysis we show that intact SA-signalling is required for potato defences against the necrotrophic fungal pathogenAlternaria solani. Early blight, caused by the necrotrophic fungusAlternaria solani,is an increasing problem in potato cultivation. Studies of the molecular components defining defence responses toA. solaniin potato are limited. Here, we investigate plant defence signalling with a focus on salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) pathways in response toA. solani. Our bioassays revealed that SA is necessary to restrict pathogen growth and early blight symptom development in both potato foliage and tubers. This result is in contrast to the documented minimal role of SA in resistance ofArabidopsis thalianaagainst necrotrophic pathogens. We also present transcriptomic analysis with 36 arrays ofA. solaniinoculated SA-deficient, JA-insensitive, and wild type plant lines. A greater number of genes are differentially expressed in the SA-deficient mutant plant line compared to the wild type and JA- insensitive line. In wild type plants, genes encoding metal ion transporters, such as copper, iron and zinc transporters were upregulated and transferase-encoding genes, for example UDP-glucoronosyltransferase and Serine-glyoxylate transferase, were downregulated. The SA-deficient plants show upregulation of genes enriched in GO terms related to oxidoreductase activity, respiratory chain and other mitochondrial-related processes.Pathogenesis-relatedgenes, such as genes encoding chitinases and PR1, are upregulated in both the SA-deficient and wild type plants, but not in the JA-insensitive mutants. The combination of our bioassays and the transcriptomic analysis indicate that intact SA signalling, and not JA signalling, is required for potato defences against the necrotrophic pathogenA. solani.
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| 8. |
- Visser, D., et al.
(författare)
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Tau pathology as determinant of changes in atrophy and cerebral blood flow: a multi-modal longitudinal imaging study
- 2023
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Ingår i: European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1619-7070 .- 1619-7089. ; 50:8, s. 2409-19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeTau pathology is associated with concurrent atrophy and decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but less is known about their temporal relationships. Our aim was therefore to investigate the association of concurrent and longitudinal tau PET with longitudinal changes in atrophy and relative CBF.MethodsWe included 61 individuals from the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort (mean age 65.1 +/- 7.5 years, 44% female, 57% amyloid-beta positive [A beta +], 26 cognitively impaired [CI]) who underwent dynamic [F-18]flortaucipir PET and structural MRI at baseline and 25 +/- 5 months follow-up. In addition, we included 86 individuals (68 CI) who only underwent baseline dynamic [F-18]flortaucipir PET and MRI scans to increase power in our statistical models. We obtained [F-18]flortaucipir PET binding potential (BPND) and R-1 values reflecting tau load and relative CBF, respectively, and computed cortical thickness from the structural MRI scans using FreeSurfer. We assessed the regional associations between i) baseline and ii) annual change in tau PET BPND in Braak I, III/IV, and V/VI regions and cortical thickness or R-1 in cortical gray matter regions (spanning the whole brain) over time using linear mixed models with random intercepts adjusted for age, sex, time between baseline and follow-up assessments, and baseline BPND in case of analyses with annual change as determinant. All analyses were performed in A beta- cognitively normal (CN) individuals and A beta+ (CN and CI) individuals separately.ResultsIn A beta+ individuals, greater baseline Braak III/IV and V/VI tau PET binding was associated with faster cortical thinning in primarily frontotemporal regions. Annual changes in tau PET were not associated with cortical thinning over time in either A beta+ or A beta- individuals. Baseline tau PET was not associated with longitudinal changes in relative CBF, but increases in Braak III/IV tau PET over time were associated with increases in parietal relative CBF over time in A beta + individuals.ConclusionWe showed that higher tau load was related to accelerated cortical thinning, but not to decreases in relative CBF. Moreover, tau PET load at baseline was a stronger predictor of cortical thinning than change of tau PET signal.
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| 9. |
- Wierenga, Lara M., et al.
(författare)
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Greater male than female variability in regional brain structure across the lifespan
- 2022
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Ingår i: Human Brain Mapping. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1065-9471 .- 1097-0193. ; 43:1, s. 470-499
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For many traits, males show greater variability than females, with possible implications for understanding sex differences in health and disease. Here, the ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis) Consortium presents the largest-ever mega-analysis of sex differences in variability of brain structure, based on international data spanning nine decades of life. Subcortical volumes, cortical surface area and cortical thickness were assessed in MRI data of 16,683 healthy individuals 1-90 years old (47% females). We observed significant patterns of greater male than female between-subject variance for all subcortical volumetric measures, all cortical surface area measures, and 60% of cortical thickness measures. This pattern was stable across the lifespan for 50% of the subcortical structures, 70% of the regional area measures, and nearly all regions for thickness. Our findings that these sex differences are present in childhood implicate early life genetic or gene-environment interaction mechanisms. The findings highlight the importance of individual differences within the sexes, that may underpin sex-specific vulnerability to disorders.
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