North Dakota State University

This is a commentary to the case narrative, “You’re Just Not Yourself These Days” written by Nick Fuhrman.

Powdery mildews are highly destructive fungal plant pathogens that have a significant economic impact on both agricultural and ecological systems worldwide. The intricate relationship between powdery mildews and their host plants has led to co-speciation. In this study, we conducted an extensive evaluation of powdery mildew hosts to provide an updated understanding of the host ranges and distributions of these fungi. The "United States National Fungus Collections Fungus-Host Dataset" is the primary source of information for our analyses. The analysis of the dataset demonstrated the worldwide prevalence of powdery mildews; the data contained over 72,000 reports of powdery mildews, representing ~8.7% of all host-fungal records. We have updated the taxonomy and nomenclature of powdery mildews. In total, powdery mildews infect ~10,125 host taxa belonging to 205 families of flowering plants accounting for 1,970 genera in 200 countries across six continents. Furthermore, we estimate that powdery mildews infect approximately 2.9% of described angiosperm species. Our study underscores the need for regular updates on powdery mildew host information due to the continuously evolving taxonomy and the discovery of new host taxa; since 1986 we estimate an additional 1,866 host taxa, 353 genera, and 36 families have been reported. Additionally, the identification of powdery mildew hosts provides valuable insights into the co-evolutionary dynamics between the fungi and their plant hosts. Overall, this updated list provides valuable insights into the taxonomy and geographic distribution of powdery mildew species, building upon the previous work of Amano in 1986. Discerning the geographic spread and host range of economically significant plant pathogens is vital for biosecurity measures and identifying the origins and expansion of potentially harmful pathogens.

Bipolaris sorokiniana (=Cochliobolus sativus) is a fungal pathogen that causes spot blotch, common root rot, and kernel blight in barley and wheat. Four pathotypes (0, 1, 2, 7) of the fungus were previously identified based on their virulence on three barley differential lines (Bowman, ND 5883 and NDB 112). Although several genome assemblies have been reported for B. sorokiniana, a telomere-to-telomere genome assembly is still lacking for this fungus. In this study, we assembled the genome of a pathotype 0 isolate (ND93-1) of B. sorokiniana using both PacBio HiFi reads and ultralong Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) reads corrected with Illumina paired-end 100 bp short reads. The combined genome assembly of ND93-1 has an estimated size of 35.7 Mb and consists of 16 scaffolds each having two telomeres. A total of 11,564 protein-coding genes were predicted, including 1,633 genes encoding for secretory proteins and 473 genes for effectors. This telomere-to-telomere genome assembly provides an important resource for comparative genomics and understanding molecular biology of B. sorokiniana and related Bipolaris species.

Angular limb deformity (ALD) affects many species of livestock and companion animals. The mechanisms of ALD development are not well understood, but previous research suggests the involvement of genetic risk factors. A case-control genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted with 40 ALD-affected and 302 unaffected Rambouillet rams and 40,945 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Forelimbs of 6 ALD-affected rams were examined and diagnosed with osteochondrosis. Genome-wide or chromosome-wide significant SNPs were positioned exonic, intronic or within the 3′UTR of genes TSPAN18, NRG3 and NOVA2, respectively. These genes have previously described roles related to angiogenesis and osteoblast, osteoclast and chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation, which suggests the possibility for their involvement in the pathogenesis of osteochondrosis. Functional consequences of SNPs were evaluated through transcription factor binding site analysis, which predicted binding sites for transcription factors of known importance to bone growth, including SOX6, SOX9 and RUNX2. The identification of genetic risk factors for ALD may help to improve animal welfare and production in Rambouillet, a breed known to be at risk for ALD development. This study proposes genes TSPAN18, NRG3 and NOVA2 as targets for further research towards understanding the etiology of ALD in Rambouillet sheep.

The Microbiology Concept Inventory is an assessment tool derived from the fundamental statements created by the American Society for Microbiology. This two-tier, multiple-choice question inventory requires students to choose the most correct answer for each question and provide a brief justification of their reasoning. Educators can utilize this tool to identify common misconceptions held by students and adjust curriculum to address and prevent the persistence of student misconceptions. Over the course of 5 years, the Microbiology Concept Inventory was annually administered to undergraduate students enrolled in entry-level, mid-level, and senior capstone microbiology courses at a mid-western rural university. Analysis was completed to compare course, year, majors and minors, gender, ethnicity, and cumulative GPA. Results of this study showed a significant difference in Microbiology Concept Inventory scores between students with high cumulative GPAs (3.5–4.0) and students with comparatively lower cumulative GPAs (2.5–2.99, 3.0–3.49). Results between the other demographic categories revealed statistically different scores in favor of white students, but no differences in scores between genders. The results suggest evidence of ethnic bias, but no gender bias as measured by the Microbiology Concept Inventory. Additionally, significant differences in scores across cohorts are indicative of improvements in the curricula due to prior targeted changes. Analysis of concept inventory results can guide curriculum changes for course instructors. Implementation of curriculum changes can enrich students’ academic success.

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is one of the major sugar sources in the world. Rhizoctonia solani causes damping-off and crown and root rot that can result in significant yield and economic losses. R. solani AG 2-2 IIIB is the most damaging anastomosis group in sugar beet production. In this study, we evaluated three different types of inoculums, namely barley grains colonized by fungal mycelium (CBG), agar plugs containing fungal mycelia (MAP), and sclerotia (SCL) for their ease of production and efficacy in inducing disease in sugar beet. First, the fungal growth rate and sclerotia production were compared on six types of media, clarified V8 [CV8], potato dextrose agar [PDA], metalaxyl benomyl vancomycin agar [MBV], yeast malt agar [YMA], corn meal agar [CMA], and oatmeal agar [OMA]. The fungus grew faster and produced more sclerotia in CV8 medium than in other media (P < 0.05). The rate of fungal growth from CBG, MAP, and SCL was evaluated. The in vitro rate of growth of R. solani was faster when originated from MAP than from SCL (P < 0.05) but equal to that from CBG. The different inoculum forms were then used to inoculate seeds at planting and 4-leaf stage sugar beet plants to evaluate the disease incidence and severity. R. solani on CBG caused greater severity. Overall, CBG was the best form of inoculum due to its ease of inoculum production, low cost, and ability to consistently cause severe disease symptoms on sugar beet plants.

This conceptual integration addresses how positive and negative mood states influence information processing in groups. In addition to the impact of mood on attention and arousal, the review develops the notion of dominant cognitive processing strategies that mediate the influence of positive and negative moods on information processing in groups. Positive moods are proposed to reinforce dominant cognitive processing strategies while negative moods inhibit or revise such dominant cognitive processing strategies. Principles derived from several mood-cognition models are applied to group information processes related to attention, encoding, storage, retrieval, processing objectives, response, and feedback. The impacts of mood states are discussed in relation to group themes of convergence-divergence, commonality-uniqueness, and accentuation-attenuation of cognitive processes. The analysis leads to new implications for small group topics such as metacognition, group learning, motivated information processing in groups, communication, mood dynamics, and mood composition. The principles described can inspire numerous directions for future research.

A collection of isolates of the fungi Leptosphaeria maculans and L . biglobosa , which cause blackleg disease on Brassica napus (canola/oilseed rape) and other Brassicaceae species, was assembled to represent the global diversity of these pathogens and a resource for international research. The collection consists of 226 isolates (205 L . maculans and 21 L . biglobosa ) from 11 countries. The genomes of all 205 L . maculans isolates were sequenced, and the distribution and identity of avirulence gene alleles were determined based on genotypic information and phenotypic reactions on B . napus lines that hosted specific resistance genes. Whilst the frequencies of some avirulence alleles were consistent across each of the regions, others differed dramatically, potentially reflecting the canola/oilseed rape cultivars grown in those countries. Analyses of the single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) diversity within these L . maculans isolates revealed geographical separation of the populations. This "open access" resource provides a standardized set of isolates that can be used to define the basis for how these fungal pathogens cause disease, and as a tool for discovery of new resistance traits in Brassica species.

The present study investigates the tunable magnetic order as well as the electrostatic and magnetic interactions due to the adsorption of the amino acids (AA) on the insulating montmorillonite (MMT) nano-clay in vacuum and in aqueous medium using the first principle density functional theory (DFT). A single layer MMT clay of thickness 0.68 nm has been co- doped with impurity atoms, Fe(II) and Mg(II), each of concentration 12.5 %. Our calculated values of interaction energies suggest that the water molecules enhances the binding affinity of AA molecules due to the formation of a strong hydrogen bonding with substantial charge transfer between AA molecules (charge donor) and nano-clay (charge acceptor). We also predicted the possible transition in magnetic orders (ferromagnetism, antiferromagnetism, and ferrimagnetism) due to adsorption of AA molecules while going from vacuum to aqueous medium which has not been reported yet. Such kind of study possess potential applications in tissue engineering, pharmacology, magnetic resonance imaging, and chemical engineering.

People often make less risky decisions for themselves than others. We examined how people allocated risks (i.e., determining the ratio of uncertain outcomes to certain outcomes) between themselves and others. We also investigated gain (vs. loss) domain and social value orientation as predictors of risk allocations. The results of three experiments demonstrated that participants were more likely to share their risks equally between themselves and others than distribute risk unequally. In the gain (vs. loss) domain, participants allocated fewer risks to themselves and more risks to the other person for unequal risk allocations. Compared to proselfs, prosocials were more likely to allocate risks equally. We also found stronger domain effects on unequal risk allocations for proselfs than for prosocials. Therefore, our findings clarify the effects of risk distribution, domain, and social value orientation on interpersonal allocation decisions and highlight equal risk distribution between oneself and others.

The purpose of our study was to determine whether the application of quinone outside inhibitor (QoI) and pyrazole-carboxamide fungicides as a tank mix would impact the endophyte community of soybean seed. Field trials during 2018 in Iowa, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, USA, investigated the impact of a single combination fungicide spray at early pod set in soybeans. The composition of culturable endophytic fungi in mature soybean seed was assessed on three cultivars per state, with maturity groups (MG) ranging from 1.1 to 4.7. An unusually wet 2018 season delayed harvest, leading to a high level of fungal growth in grain. The survey included 1,080 asymptomatic seeds that were disinfested and individually placed on 5-cm-diameter Petri plates of acidified water agar. The survey yielded 721 fungal isolates belonging to 24 putative species in seven genera; taxa were grouped into genera based on a combination of morphological and molecular evidence. The dominant genera encountered in the survey were Alternaria, Diaporthe, and Fusarium. The study showed that the fungicide treatment reduced the incidence of Fusarium in Wisconsin seed, increased the incidence of Diaporthe in seed from all states, and had no impact on the incidence of Alternaria. This is one of the first attempts to characterize the diversity of seed endophytes in soybean, and the first to characterize the impacts of fungicide spraying on these endophyte communities across three states. Our study provides evidence that the impact of a fungicide spray on soybean seed endophyte communities may be influenced by site, weather, and cultivar maturity group.

The development of social capital of societies is affected by many factors such as the availability of water resources. The main social capital of a country is its rural communities. Thus, it is necessary to analyze and investigate the relationship between social capital and water resources. In this research, a comprehensive gene expression programming (GEP) model is developed and integrated with the social and water sciences, for the first time, to determine the social–water capital index based on native cultural studies. According to this model, selection of dimensions and reagents is the most important and influential stage. Therefore, researchers and policymakers need to study all aspects in the study area. The model for determining the social–water capital index can be developed for various spatial and temporal scales. In an application of the model, farmers from nine villages in the province of West Azerbaijan, Iran, were selected and the effects of water poverty on social capital were evaluated by examining 39 reagents. The relationship between the social–water capital index and various dimensions of societies was characterized by using soft computing, and the model was verified. To quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the social–water capital index at poor, tolerable, and rich levels with different dimensions such as economic outcome, socio-culture, behavioral norms, and awareness-tacit knowledge, multi-stage Delphi and principal component analysis (PCA) techniques were applied. The results showed that the economic outcome dimension had the most important role in the social capital associated with water, accounting for more than 61% of the variance of the social–water capital. The City of Miandoab was rich with an index value of +1.003≥+1\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$+ 1.003 \ge + 1$$\end{document}, and eight other cities were tolerable in terms of the social–water capital index. It is recommended that the government increases the budget allocated to the implementation of water pipelines and the pressurized irrigation systems in the province of West Azerbaijan.

Aerophilic surfaces immersed underwater trap films of air known as plastrons. Plastrons have typically been considered impractical for underwater engineering applications due to their metastable performance. Here, we describe aerophilic titanium alloy (Ti) surfaces with extended plastron lifetimes that are conserved for months underwater. Long-term stability is achieved by the formation of highly rough hierarchically structured surfaces via electrochemical anodization combined with a low-surface-energy coating produced by a fluorinated surfactant. Aerophilic Ti surfaces drastically reduce blood adhesion and, when submerged in water, prevent adhesion of bacteria and marine organisms such as barnacles and mussels. Overall, we demonstrate a general strategy to achieve the long-term stability of plastrons on aerophilic surfaces for previously unattainable underwater applications.

To achieve sustainable ammonia production, a bioprocessing approach that uses enzymes and hyperammonia-producing bacteria (HAB) was developed to convert soybean meal protein isolate (SMPI) to bio-ammonia—an ammonia and ammonium solution. The potential of multiple industrial proteolytic enzymes (alcalase (A), flavourzyme (B), neutrase (C), and protamex (D)) to produce SMPI-hydrolysates that aid bio-ammonia production was evaluated in separate and simultaneous hydrolysis and fermentation systems. When used singly, the bio-ammonia yield trend was B > A > D > C hydrolysates, which was in line with their degree of hydrolysis (DH). In combination, when two or more enzymes were mixed in the same reaction, AD combination yielded hydrolysates converted to the highest ammonia titer of 1304 mg/L. The enhancement of bio-ammonia production in AD hydrolysates was the combined effect of an increase in the DH and the release of soluble hydrolysates during fermentation. In a multi-enzyme process, enzyme compatibility was more important towards bio-ammonia production. Hydrolyzing SM protein isolates for 6 or 24 h followed by 120 h HAB fermentation produced up to 1.2 g/L bio-ammonia in the separate hydrolysis and fermentation system. However, a peak ammonia titer of ~1.4 g/L was obtained in the simultaneous hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF). Consequently, the use of the enzyme mixture AD in an SHF system improved bio-ammonia production. The result from this work will be valuable for industrial bioprocessing of soybean meal protein to bio-ammonia synthesis.