Week 11 Flashcards
What are the big three plant sources of food?
Wheat, maize and rice
What are some of the many uses of maize (corn)?
1/3 of all corn grown in the US is used to feed farm animals
Corn starch is used as a bonding agent is aspirin tablets
Corn starch helps lubricate plastic molds so individual parts can be easily removed
Where does cereal crops in the EU go?
62% used in animal feeds
23% feeds people
12% used in industry and biofuels
What are the percentages of crop food waste?
35% - Pre-harvest
16% - Post-harvest
23% - Animals
26% - Remaining
What are examples of pre-harvest challenges?
“Imperfect” or surplus
Abiotic stress
Biotic stress
What are examples of post-harvest challenges?
Transport
Storage
Processing and packaging
Food thrown
Expired before sale
What caused the great famine in 1840s Ireland?
An outbreak in potato late blight, caused by Phytophtora infestans (Oomycete)
What is the historical context for the discovery of the potato late blight?
Potatoes were bought to Europe to South America starting in the 16th century, but the pathogen Phytophthora infestans was not observed in Europe until the 19th century
How much loss of Rice yield is caused by RIce blast disease?
Rice blast caused upto 30% yield loss of rice every year
Where did wheat blast start?
1985 in South America
Where did wheat blast travel to after starting in South America?
Bangladesh 2016
Zambia 2018
How does Fusarium graminearum (not wheat blast) threaten plants?
It is a nectroph pathogen which uses mycotoxins
What is important to know about the mycotoxins used by Fusarium graminearum?
It can spread to people though consumption or comsumption of meat which allows the toxin to build up
What are the pre-harvest strategies for reducing mycotoxins?
Plant protection during vegetation: agronomic, chemical and biological methods
What are the post-harvest strategies for reducing mycotoxins?
Physical, chemical and biological methods
What are the 4 classifications of plant pathogens?
Necrotroph, biotroph, symbiont and hemi-biotroph
What are necrotroph?
Pathogens that kill plant cells, causing plant tissues to rot
This is seen in Botrytis cinerea (fungus)
What is a biotroph?
Pathogens that absorb nutrients from the plant but dont kill any cells.
This is seen in Ustilago maydis and Cladosporium fulvum
What is a symbiont?
A pathogen that has formed a symbiotic relationship
This is seen in Rhizophagus irregularis and Laccaria bicolor
What is a hemi-biotroph?
A pathogen that initially just steals from plant and keeps cells alive in the biotrophic phase but will kill the cell in the future in the necrotropic phase
This is seen in Magnaporthe oryzae
What is the lifecycle of the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae?
A conidium (spore tip) attatches itself to a plant
It then sprouts a germ tube
This then forms a melanin-lines appressorium cell wall
The appressorium then penetrates the cell wall of the plant
This develops into a primary invasive hyphae, which steals resources from the cell
Then tissue colinisation will occur as the fungus infects other cells
Then a conidophore sprouts from the plant releasing more conidium
What is appressoria?
A specialised cell generating enourmous turgor pressure aroun 8 Mpa
How do oomycetes invade host cells?
They invade host cells at an oblique angle without forming a melanised appressoria
How does the hyphae reduce chances of the immune system finding it?
It is surrounded by a plant plasma membrane
What is a haustoria?
A protrusion of invasive hyphae as an interface between the pathogen and plant
What are effectors in plant biology?
Effectors are proteins expressed by plant pathogens to aid infection of specific plant species
Where does effectors impact?
Effectors are secreted proteins which can be translocated into plant cell cytoplasmic, or into apoplatic space
Where do effectors impact?
Effectors are secreted proteins which can be translocated into plant cell cytoplasmic, or into apoplatic space
What is the function of effectors on the plant cell cytoplasm or apoplatic space?
They can manipulate plant physiology and hijack the plant immunity response
What are the two types of effectors?
Cytoplasmic effectors and Apoplastic effectors
What is one of the typical features of a oomycete effector?
RXLR motif
What secretes apopletic effectors of filamentous pathogens?
This is done via the conventional ER-to-Golgi
When does necrotrophic growth occur?
When the plant cell loses viability
Why is wheat important?
2nd biggest supplier of calories for human consumption
Grown in biggest range of Agro-ecological environments 67 N (Norway) to 45 S (Argentina)
What are the two types of wheat?
Triticum durum (pasta wheat)- Tetraploid AABB
Triticum aestivum (bread wheat)- Hexaploid AABBDD
How did wheat evolve?
Wild Einkorn and a goat grass with a doubling of chromosomes forming Emmer Wheat. An another grass (Aegoliops squarrosa) was added giving genes that make glutenins, bread that rise
When did wheat reach the British isles?
Iron age (pre-Roman)
What are landraces?
The breeding of crop varieties adapted to local conditions, through years of natural and human selection
Who invented the seed drill?
Jethro Tull
Who pioneered selective crossing?
Bateson and Biffin
What are the advantages of selective crossing?
Improved disease resistance
Better yield
Better bread-making quality
Bought in genetics (Ghirka- yellow rust resistance from Russia and White fife- bread making from Canada)