Landscape ecology of the lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica

The Lesser Grain Borer is a major pest of stored grain with a global distribution. This project has, for the first time recorded this pest throughout broad spatial areas, tens of kilometres from grain production or storage. Statistical analysis revealed that different factors such as ambient temperature and the availability of food resources affect R. dominica differently between different habitats. This suggests that, contrary to the prevailing view, this pest is not solely dependent on stored wheat and can continue to persist throughout a range of habitats. These findings have important management implications for Australia's wheat industry.

Using communicative ecology theory to scope the emerging role of social media in the evolution of urban food systems

Urban agriculture plays an increasingly vital role in supplying food to urban populations. Changes in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) are already driving widespread change in diverse food-related industries such as retail, hospitality and marketing. It is reasonable to suspect that the fields of ubiquitous technology, urban informatics and social media equally have a lot to offer the evolution of core urban food systems. We use communicative ecology theory to describe emerging innovations in urban food systems according to their technical, discursive and social components. We conclude that social media in particular accentuate fundamental social interconnections normally effaced by conventional industrialised approaches to food production and consumption.

Freedom to choose? Embryo selection, reproductive decision-making and the role of the state

Involving the biopsy of an eight-cell embryo, PGD has been hailed as a means of making reproductive decisions without having to face the heart-wrenching decision to abort an affected foetus. However, controversy around the kinds of traits for which testing can be done, and who has access to the technology, has led to questions about the way in which the technology is developing. Women who are allowed to access in vitro fertilisation (IVF) services can currently also access PGD in limited circumstances.

Reproductive technology, public policy and single motherhood

In mid 2000, the Australian community engaged in a national debate over access to infertility treatment services. The debate was sparked by a Federal Court decision in late July. That decision, by Justice Sundberg in the case of McBain v State of Victoria 1 held that the provisions of the Infertility Treatment Act 1995 (Vic) which limited eligibility for infertility treatment to women who were married or in heterosexual de facto relationships, were inconsistent with section 22 of the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) which prohibits discrimination on the basis of marital status. Justice Sundberg held that, by virtue of section 109 of the Constitution, 2 the provisions of the Victorian Act were inoperative to the extent of the inconsistency between the State and Commonwealth legislation.

Genetic technologies and the regulation of reproductive decision-making in Australia

This article provides a critical analysis of the current Australian regulatory landscape at the interface between genetics and reproductive decision- making. The authors argue that a comparative analysis with other countries and international law and a contextual examination of the way law regulates concepts such as disease and health, abnormality and normality is necessary before we can develop appropriate policy and legislative responses in this area. Specific genetic testing technologies are considered including prenatal genetic testing, preimplantation genetic diagnosis and inheritable genetic modification. An increasing number of members of the Australian community are using genetic testing technologies when they decide to have a baby. The authors argue that as concepts of disease and health vary among members of the community and the potential to test for traits other than illness increases, a new tension arises between an ethic of individual choice and a role for government in regulating reproductive decision-making.

Globalising the body : globalisation and reproductive rights

Globalisation is a phenomenon of the contemporary world. Everywhere around us there seem to be signs of the power of the forces of globalisation: in our media and popular culture; in our international linkages across continents through international travel and telecommunications; in our globalised trade; and with the global movement of people, a process which itself ranges from the movement of international tourists to the international movement of refugees and other displaced persons. The processes of globalisation seem to simultaneously unify and divide us. There is no doubt that we live in a globalised world and that we are connected to others in previously unimaginable ways by transportation, telecommunications and economics. Yet, while this global context increasingly links us to others, there is also a very real sense in which separation, difference and the local have also gained a new significance; we are locked in a tension between the universal and the particular that has come to typify contemporary society. This article explores the meanings of globalisation and this dynamic – or tension – between the universal and the particular in terms of its implications for the body and, in particular, its significance for women and their reproductive rights.

Prenatal diagnosis, genetics and reproductive decision-making

Recent developments in genetic science will potentially have a significant impact on reproductive decision-making by adding to the list of conditions which can be diagnosed through prenatal diagnosis. This article analyses the jurisdictional variations that exist in Australian abortion laws and examines the extent to which Australian abortion laws specifically provide for termination of pregnancy on the grounds of fetal disability. The article also examines the potential impact of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis on reproductive decision-making and considers the meaning of reproductive autonomy in the context of the new genetics.

Reproductive Health as a Human Right: A Matter of Access or Provision?

This article seeks to understand why, despite over three decades of claiming women's reproductive health as a human right, we have seen little progress in reducing their health inequalities and poor health outcomes. I argue that one reason for this lack of progress may be due to a failure to clearly articulate the responsibilities of key actors, crucially states, in ensuring that women have access to, and provision of, services required to realize their reproductive rights. What is needed, this article suggests, is a framework that can translate decades of rights language into action and specifically identify the provisions required to address women's health.

Overexpression of the kiwifruit SVP3 gene affects reproductive development and suppresses anthocyanin biosynthesis in petals, but has no effect on vegetative growth, dormancy, or flowering time

SVP-like MADS domain transcription factors have been shown to regulate flowering time and both inflorescence and flower development in annual plants, while having effects on growth cessation and terminal bud formation in perennial species. Previously, four SVP genes were described in woody perennial vine kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.), with possible distinct roles in bud dormancy and flowering. Kiwifruit SVP3 transcript was confined to vegetative tissues and acted as a repressor of flowering as it was able to rescue the Arabidopsis svp41 mutant. To characterize kiwifruit SVP3 further, ectopic expression in kiwifruit species was performed. Ectopic expression of SVP3 in A. deliciosa did not affect general plant growth or the duration of endodormancy. Ectopic expression of SVP3 in A. eriantha also resulted in plants with normal vegetative growth, bud break, and flowering time. However, significantly prolonged and abnormal flower, fruit, and seed development were observed, arising from SVP3 interactions with kiwifruit floral homeotic MADS-domain proteins. Petal pigmentation was reduced as a result of SVP3-mediated interference with transcription of the kiwifruit flower tissue-specific R2R3 MYB regulator, MYB110a, and the gene encoding the key anthocyanin biosynthetic step, F3GT1. Constitutive expression of SVP3 had a similar impact on reproductive development in transgenic tobacco. The flowering time was not affected in day-neutral and photoperiod-responsive Nicotiana tabacum cultivars, but anthesis and seed germination were significantly delayed. The accumulation of anthocyanin in petals was reduced and the same underlying mechanism of R2R3 MYB NtAN2 transcript reduction was demonstrated.