Lmst

News from the battle between plants and viruses – our expert Samar Sheat summarises the success of fighting cassava diseases.
book your session: https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/ueber-uns/neues/veranstaltungen/book-a-scientist

#cassava #plantvirus #pathogens #food

The cover of the May issue features a phoenix nanocarrier transporting RNAi "soldiers" who use their sharp spears to target and control #plant #pathogens, highlighting work on the potential of engineered nanotransporters for #RNAi delivery. https://www.jipb.net/EN/1672-9072/current.shtml
#PlantScience #Phytopathology #botany

The cover of the May issue of the Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, featuring a phoenix, representing a “nanocarrier,” transporting RNAi "soldiers" who use their sharp spears to target and control plant pathogens, represented by a gray sphere with sharp spikes and a menacing face.

🌱 International Day of Plant Health🌱

Today, we highlight an often-overlooked topic: plant health – vital for food security, biodiversity, and sustainable agriculture.

In our current research at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg and Julius Kühn-Institute, we’re tackling a key question:
How can we detect plant diseases and pests before visible symptoms appear?

🔬 The answer: With the nose of chemistry!
We analyze volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that plants emit when under stress or attacked by
🦠 bacteria,
🍄 fungi, and
🪲 insect pests.

Using advanced GC-MS technology (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry), we aim to identify these unique molecular “scent signatures” and use them as an early-warning system to detect harmful organisms before they cause damage.

🧪 Our goal: to “sniff out” plant diseases and pests.

#PlantHealth #InternationalPlantHealthDay #VOCs #GCMS #EarlyDetection #Pathogens #InvasiveSpecies #AnalyticalChemistry #ScienceForSustainability #PlantPathogens #PlantProtection #VOCAnalysis

A collage of images related to plant pathology research using VOC analysis. It includes laboratory equipment such as a GC-MS system, air sampling pumps, a beetle on a leaf, decayed potatoes, and fungal-infected samples. In the center, a speech bubble over the GC-MS instrument reads: “Pflanzenkrankheiten und Schädlinge 'erriechen'” (which translates to “Smelling out plant diseases and pests”).

Today, the Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences celebrated their 30th #anniversary.
Exactly half of that time I'm also a member of the University: first as a student (BSc, MSc), then as a PhD student and teaching staff member and now as a PostDoc.

During today's #science fair, I also presented our current #reasearch in #VOC #odor #detection for various #pathogens and #InvasiveSpecies

#h-brs #h_brs #bonn #rheinsieg #StAugustin #Rheinbach #forschung #planthealth #safetyresearch

View of a modern university building under a clear blue sky, with people walking toward the entrance. A large banner above the entrance reads "Herzlich willkommen zur Festveranstaltung der H-BRS," indicating a festive event at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg.

A scientific poster displayed on a blue board, titled "Wie riecht eigentlich...? Mit Hightech auf Spurensuche: VOC-Analytik im Arten- und Pflanzenschutz." This translates to: "What's the smell of...? Using hightech for detection: VOC analysis for species and plant protection"

The poster includes colorful diagrams linking ecosystems, biodiversity, and invasive species, with illustrations of insects, bacteria, and sampling equipment, and describes the process of VOC analysis for species protection.

SciTech Chronicles . . . .May 8th, 2025

https://bit.ly/stc050825

#SIK3 #NSS #profile #kinase #pathogens #intercontinental #balloons #"35 kilometers" #"jurema preta" #dimethyltryptamine #"no ban" #"Mimosa tenuiflora" #TYK2 #psoriasis #inhibitor #signaling #Friendship #"Lamprotornis superbus" #reciprocal #DNA

Mass spectrometry method identifies pathogens within minutes instead of days

https://phys.org/news/2025-05-mass-spectrometry-method-pathogens-minutes.html

#HackerNews #massspectrometry #pathogens #rapiddiagnosis #healthcare #innovation

#PopulationGenetics of microbial #pathogens can inform decisions that impact society; @smlatorreo explores a @PLOSBiology study on wheat powdery mildew #fungus which uses genomic data to predict continental-scale dispersion routes. Paper: https://plos.io/43qfH9F Primer: https://plos.io/44YjHQN

Spatial population structure of wheat powdery mildew in Europe. Isolation-by-distance in the Europe+_2022_2023 samples belonging to the N_EUR population (top left), S_EUR2 population (top right), and the complete Europe+_2022_2023 dataset (bottom left). Genetic distance is the number SNPs between a pair of individuals, scaled by the total number of loci compared. Geographic distance is measured between sampling locations of pairs of individuals, in kilometers. The colors represent the density of the data points, with warmer colors corresponding to higher density. 1,000 randomly sampled data points for each dataset are plotted in black. Bottom right: Effective migration surfaces estimated using FEEMS for the Europe+_2022_2023 dataset. The colors indicate the inferred relative intensity of gene flow along each edge of the spatial graph. Orange corresponds to lower-than-average effective migration and blue, higher-than-average. The grey circles show the nodes of the spatial grid the samples were assigned to, based on their sampling locations. The size of the node is proportional to the number of samples assigned.

How a Changing Climate Is Reshaping the Spread of Infectious Diseases

"...Then you have this convergence of crises—the #ClimateCrisis overlapping with the #PollutionCrisis. So you get this intersection between air pollution and respiratory #diseases, and then infectious diseases more broadly, all layered on top of a changing #climate.

When it comes to waterborne and foodborne diseases, the link to #ClimateChange is even more direct. As temperatures rise, you create more favorable conditions for #bacteria and other #pathogens to multiply. They thrive in warm environments—soil, water, contaminated areas—so warming can increase their abundance.

#ExtremeWeather events are also a big factor here. Aedes #mosquitoes need water to complete their life cycle—from egg to larva to pupa, it all happens in #water. When #floods occur, all the discarded #plastic and #trash lying around fill with water and becomes the ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes.

What’s interesting is that these diseases aren’t just associated with floods—they’re also linked to #droughts. That might seem counterintuitive at first, but in many parts of the world, people don’t have safe, reliable access to clean water, especially during drought conditions. So they store water in containers that aren’t properly sealed or protected, which too can become the perfect breeding sites for mosquitoes.

Infections—particularly vector-borne diseases—are increasingly reemerging and emerging in new areas around the world for a lot of different reasons. Climate change is definitely part of that, with rising temperatures and more extreme weather events like floods and droughts. But the way we live our lives and interact with the environment also plays a huge role. I mean, first and foremost, most of us now live in urban areas rather than rural ones..."

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26042025/climate-change-shifting-spread-of-infectious-disease/

#Health
#ClimateChange

Swarms of mosquitoes near Wainwright, Alaska in 2011. Credit: Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Mosquitoes, for example, rely heavily on ambient temperature. They’re ectotherms, meaning they depend on room temperature to function. Every vector species has multiple traits that are influenced by temperature. If you map all those temperature-dependent traits, you can build a curve that shows the optimal temperature range for that vector.

Depending on where you fall on that curve, if you’re already past the peak and temperatures keep rising, there’s actually the potential for a decrease in transmission risk.

But these systems are highly nuanced. It’s not just about temperature—it’s also about human behavior and how we alter natural habitats. And vectors can evolve, too. So it’s almost like we’re in a race with other organisms to adapt more quickly.

Pathogens and treatment of a local infection

In case of local infection with such diseases such as: prostate abscess, lymphangitis, dental abscess, the causative agents of which are Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus, Enterococcus, gonococcus, Escherichia coli, beta-hemolytic
streptococcus, streptococcus viridans, anaerobic staphylococci, penicillin is used, oxacillin, ampicillin, erythromycin, cephaloridine.

#infection #pathogens #Localinfection

"Alfred says salmon populations have rebounded since most of the open-net salmon farms around the Broughton archipelago were closed two years ago."
#pathogens #salmon #BC
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/open-net-slamon-farm-pathogens-1.7512376

The #WHO #Bacterial Priority #Pathogens #List 2024: a prioritisation study to guide research, development, and public health strategies against antimicrobial resistance, https://etidiohnew.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-who-bacterial-priority-pathogens.html

#RNA interference is an important tool to protect #plants from #pathogens and pests, but delivery can be problematic. In this #JIPB review, Xing et al. explore the potential of engineered #nanotransporters for RNAi delivery.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jipb.13887
@wileyplantsci
#PlantSci #RNAi #Nanotech #botany

Diagram summarizing the application of nanomaterial-mediated delivery of RNAs for RNA interference against plant pathogens and pests, illustrating how different nanomaterials break through the cell barriers of plants, pathogens, and pests according to their size, morphology, and charge characteristics.

All #active #tick #stages (including #Larvae !) feed on #deer , thus enabling #cofeeding #transmission of tick-borne #Diseases

#FREE #Full #text #PDF available at https://goo.gl/gEAbfN

#Ixodes #ricinus #Capreolus #capreolus

#EU #FP6 #EDEN #Project #Emerging #Diseases in a changing #European #eNvironment #Epidemiology #Ticks #Parasites #Pathogens #Science #Scientific #Research #Data #OpenAccess #DOI #Germany #Deutschland #Europe #Europa #TBD #Zoonoses #ZoonoticDiseases #TickBorneDiseases

Infestation of larval ticks (Ixodes ricinus) on roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in Germany. Data from the EU FP6 EDEN Project.

Rates of #infection with other #pathogens after a positive #COVID19 test versus a negative test in #US #veterans (November, 2021, to December, 2023): a retrospective cohort study, https://etidiohnew.blogspot.com/2025/04/rates-of-infection-with-other-pathogens.html

Transcription factor bHLH25 plays a dual role in #plant defense.
🛡️Oxidized, it boosts #lignin production to strengthen #cell walls against #pathogens.
⚔️Non-oxidized, it activates #phytoalexins to inhibit pathogen growth.
🤝Together, these functions may help us create disease-resistant #crops without yield loss.
🔓👇
https://doi.org/10.1111/jipb.13878
@wileyplantsci
#PlantSci #JIPB #botany

Diagram illustrating the dual roles of TF bHLH25. Oxidized, it boosts lignin production to strengthen cell walls against pathogens. Non-oxidized, it activates phytoalexins to inhibit pathogen growth.

New #antibiotic that kills #drugresistant #bacteria discovered in technician’s #garden
It targets bacteria’s protein-making factory, the #ribosome, in a way that other antibiotic drugs don’t. Ribosome is an attractive antibiotic target because bacteria don’t easily develop resistance to #drugs targeting the structure. In studies, #lariocidin slowed the growth of a range of common bacterial #pathogens, including many multidrug-resistant strains.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00945-z
https://archive.ph/NHtJh

H.H.S. Scraps Studies of #Vaccines and Treatments for Future #Pandemics

Federal officials cited the end of the Covid-19 #pandemic in halting the research. But much of the work was focused on preventing outbreaks of other #pathogens.
#COVID19 #medicine #hhs #rfkjr

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/health/future-pandemics-vaccines-funding.html

The #epidemiology of #pathogens with #pandemic potential: A review of key parameters and clustering analysis, https://etidiohnew.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-epidemiology-of-pathogens-with.html