TTIP and Climate Change – How real are Race to the Bottom Concerns?

This paper examines concerns about the impact that TTIP could have on existing and future climate policies and laws from the inclusion of provisions on investment protection including investor-to-State dispute settlement (ISDS), the reduction of non-tariff barriers and the introduction of rules for trade in energy and raw materials. It argues that from an environmental perspective, ISDS should not necessarily be seen as a regime that goes against the defence of the environment or prevention of climate change. Although it might be used to challenge policies of an EU home State that increase levels of environmental protection, it can also be used to contest changes in an EU home State’s environmental policies that would reduce the protection of the environment, if foreign investment is affected. To a large extent, this also holds true for other areas of TTIP negotiations. While the achievement of a balance between rules that promote trade and those that maintain policy space for governments to respond to environmental concerns has to be closely monitored, benefits for climate could be seized from harmonisation of carbon laws at the level of the strictest regulations of two parties, provisions that promote trade in low carbon technologies and renewable energy and bilateral cooperation on climate change.

Tough as a rock-boring urchin: adult Echinometra sp. EE from the Red Sea show high resistance to ocean acidification over long-term exposures

Ocean acidification, a process caused by the continuous rise of atmospheric CO2 levels, is expected to have a profound impact on marine invertebrates. Findings of the numerous studies conducted in this field indicate high variability in species responses to future ocean conditions. This study aimed at understanding the effects of long-term exposure to elevated pCO2 conditions on the performance of adult Echinometra sp. EE from the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea). During an 11-month incubation under high pCO2 (1,433 µatm, pHNBS 7.7) and control (435 µatm, pHNBS 8.1) conditions, we examined the urchins' somatic and gonadal growth, gametogenesis and skeletal microstructure. Somatic and gonadal growths were exhibited with no significant differences between the treatments. In addition, all urchins in the experiment completed a full reproductive cycle, typical of natural populations, with no detectable impact of increased pCO2 on the timing, duration or progression of the cycle. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy imaging of urchin tests and spines revealed no signs of the usual observed effects of acidosis, such as skeletal dissolution, widened stereom pores or non-smoothed structures. Our results, which yielded no significant impact of the high pCO2 treatment on any of the examined processes in the urchins studied, suggest high resistance of adult Echinometra sp. EE to near future ocean acidification conditions. With respect to other findings in this area, the outcome of this study provides an example of the complicated and diverse responses of echinoids to the predicted environmental changes.

Development of mathematical models to elaborate strategies, to select alternatives and the development of plans for the adaptation of communities to climate change in different geographical areas including costs to implement it

Climate change is on the policy agenda at the global level, with the aim of understanding and reducing its causes and to mitigate its consequences. In most of the countries and international organisms UNO, OECD, EC, etc … the efforts and debates have been directed to know the possible causes, to predict the future evolution of some variable conditioners, and trying to make studies to fight against the effects or to delay the negative evolution of such. Nevertheless, the elaboration of a global model was not boarded that can help to choose the best alternative between the feasible ones, to elaborate the strategies and to evaluate the costs. As in all natural, technological and social changes, the best-prepared countries will have the best bear and the more rapid recover. In all the geographic areas the alternative will not be the same one, but the model should help us to make the appropriated decision. It is essential to know those areas that are more sensitive to the negative effects of climate change, the parameters to take into account for its evaluation, and comprehensive plans to deal with it. The objective of this paper is to elaborate a mathematical model support of decisions, that will allow to develop and to evaluate alternatives of adaptation to the climatic change of different communities in Europe and Latin-America, mainly, in vulnerable areas to the climatic change, considering in them all the intervening factors. The models will take into consideration criteria of physical type (meteorological, edaphic, water resources), of use of the ground (agriculturist, forest, mining, industrial, urban, tourist, cattle dealer), economic (income, costs, benefits, infrastructures), social (population), politician (implementation, legislation), educative (Educational programs, diffusion), sanitary and environmental, at the present moment and the future.

Analyzing adaptation to climate change in the water and the agricultural sectors in the Spanish Guadiana basin.

1. Introduction: setting and problem definition 2. The Adaptation Pathway –2.1 Stage 1: appraising risks and opportunities •Step 1: Impact analysis •Step 2: Policy analysis •Step 3: Socio-institutional analysis –2.2 Stage 2: appraising and choosing adaptation opt ions •Step 4: identifying and prioritizing adaptation o ptions 3. Conclusions

Unlocking the resistance to wheat lipid transfer protein

Unlocking the resistance to wheat lipid transfer protein

How can irrigated agriculture adapt to climate change? Insights from the Guadiana Basin in Spain

Climate change is already affecting many natural systems and human environments worldwide, like the semiarid Guadiana Basin in Spain. This paper illustrates a systematic analysis of climate change adaptation in the Guadiana irrigation farming region. The study applies a solution-oriented diagnostic framework structured along a series of sequential analytical steps. An initial stage integrates economic and hydrologic modeling to evaluate the effects of climate change on the agriculture and water sectors. Next, adaptation measures are identified and prioritized through a stakeholder-based multi-criteria analysis. Finally, a social network analysis identifies key actors and their relationships in climate change adaptation. The study shows that under a severe climate change scenario, water availability could be substantially decreased and drought occurrence will augment. In consequence, farmers will adapt their crops to a lesser amount of water and income gains will diminish, particularly for smallholder farms. Among the various adaptation measures considered, those related to private farming (new crop varieties and modern irrigation technologies) are ranked highest, whereas public-funded hard measures (reservoirs) are lowest and public soft measures (insurance) are ranked middle. In addition, stakeholders highlighted that the most relevant criteria for selecting adaptation plans are environmental protection, financial feasibility and employment creation. Nonetheless, the social network analysis evidenced the need to strengthen the links among the different stakeholder groups to facilitate the implementation of adaptation processes. In sum, the diagnostic framework applied in this research can be considered a valuable tool for guiding and supporting decision making in climate change adaptation and communicating scientific results.

The role of the secondary cell wall in plant resistance to pathogens

Plant resistance to pathogens relies on a complex network of constitutive and inducible defensive barriers. The plant cell wall is one of the barriers that pathogens need to overcome to successfully colonize plant tissues. The traditional view of the plant cell wall as a passive barrier has evolved to a concept that considers the wall as a dynamic structure that regulates both constitutive and inducible defense mechanisms, and as a source of signaling molecules that trigger immune responses. The secondary cell walls of plants also represent a carbon-neutral feedstock (lignocellulosic biomass) for the production of biofuels and biomaterials. Therefore, engineering plants with improved secondary cell wall characteristics is an interesting strategy to ease the processing of lignocellulosic biomass in the biorefinery. However, modification of the integrity of the cell wall by impairment of proteins required for its biosynthesis or remodeling may impact the plants resistance to pathogens. This review summarizes our understanding of the role of the plant cell wall in pathogen resistance with a focus on the contribution of lignin to this biological process.

Choroid plexus epithelial expression of MDR1 P glycoprotein and multidrug resistance-associated protein contribute to the blood–cerebrospinal-fluid drug-permeability barrier

The blood–brain barrier and a blood–cerebrospinal-fluid (CSF) barrier function together to isolate the brain from circulating drugs, toxins, and xenobiotics. The blood–CSF drug-permeability barrier is localized to the epithelium of the choroid plexus (CP). However, the molecular mechanisms regulating drug permeability across the CP epithelium are defined poorly. Herein, we describe a drug-permeability barrier in human and rodent CP mediated by epithelial-specific expression of the MDR1 (multidrug resistance) P glycoprotein (Pgp) and the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP). Noninvasive single-photon-emission computed tomography with 99mTc-sestamibi, a membrane-permeant radiopharmaceutical whose transport is mediated by both Pgp and MRP, shows a large blood-to-CSF concentration gradient across intact CP epithelium in humans in vivo. In rats, pharmacokinetic analysis with 99mTc-sestamibi determined the concentration gradient to be greater than 100-fold. In membrane fractions of isolated native CP from rat, mouse, and human, the 170-kDa Pgp and 190-kDa MRP are identified readily. Furthermore, the murine proteins are absent in CP isolated from their respective mdr1a/1b(−/−) and mrp(−/−) gene knockout littermates. As determined by immunohistochemical and drug-transport analysis of native CP and polarized epithelial cell cultures derived from neonatal rat CP, Pgp localizes subapically, conferring an apical-to-basal transepithelial permeation barrier to radiolabeled drugs. Conversely, MRP localizes basolaterally, conferring an opposing basal-to-apical drug-permeation barrier. Together, these transporters may coordinate secretion and reabsorption of natural product substrates and therapeutic drugs, including chemotherapeutic agents, antipsychotics, and HIV protease inhibitors, into and out of the central nervous system.

The crucial role of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in resistance to Salmonella dublin infections in genetically susceptible and resistant mice

Macrophages are considered to be the mediators of resistance to extra-intestinal Salmonella infections. Nevertheless, the initial cellular response to Salmonella infections consists primarily of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). To determine whether PMN serve an important function for the infected host, we made mice neutropenic with the rat mAb to RB6–8C5 and infected them i.v. with ≈103 Salmonella dublin or an isogenic derivative that lacks the virulence plasmid (LD842). We infected BALB/c mice, which have a point mutation in the macrophage-expressed gene Nramp1 that makes them susceptible to Salmonella, and BALB/c.D2 congenic mice, which have the wild-type Nramp1 gene that makes them resistant to Salmonella. Both mouse strains were resistant to LD842, and neutropenia made only the BALB/c strain susceptible to this infection. Neutropenic congenic mice, however, were susceptible only to wild-type S. dublin (plasmid+). These results show a complex interplay between plasmid-virulence genes in Salmonella, host macrophages, and PMN. Mice with normal macrophages need PMN to defend against nontyphoid Salmonella that carry a virulence plasmid but not against Salmonella without virulence plasmids. Mice with a mutant Nramp1 gene need PMN to defend against all Salmonella, even those that lack virulence plasmids. These results, plus the evidence that PMN kill Salmonella efficiently in vitro, suggest that Salmonella have adapted to grow inside macrophages where they are relatively sheltered from PMN. The adaptations that allow Salmonella to survive in macrophages do not protect them from PMN.

Resistance to DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation in mice lacking the DNA fragmentation factor 45

The DNA fragmentation factor 45 (DFF45) is a subunit of a heterodimeric nuclease complex critical for the induction of DNA fragmentation in vitro. To understand the in vivo role of DFF45 in programmed cell death, we generated DFF45 mutant mice. DNA fragmentation activity is completely abolished in cell extracts from DFF45 mutant tissues. In response to apoptotic stimuli, splenocytes, thymocytes, and granulocytes from DFF45 mutant mice are resistant to DNA fragmentation, and splenocytes and thymocytes are also resistant to chromatin condensation. Nevertheless, development of the immune system in the DFF45 mutant mice is normal. These results demonstrate that DFF45 is critical for the induction of DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation in vivo, but is not required for normal immune system development.

Apoptosis resistance of nonobese diabetic peripheral lymphocytes linked to the Idd5 diabetes susceptibility region

Defects in lymphocyte apoptosis may lead to autoimmune disorders and contribute to the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. Lymphocytes of nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice, an animal model of autoimmune diabetes, have been found resistant to various apoptosis signals, including the alkylating drug cyclophosphamide. Using an F2 intercross between the apoptosis-resistant NOD mouse and the apoptosis-susceptible C57BL/6 mouse, we define a major locus controlling the apoptosis-resistance phenotype and demonstrate its linkage (logarithm of odds score = 3.9) to a group of medial markers on chromosome 1. The newly defined gene cannot be dissociated from Ctla4 and Cd28 and in fact marks a 20-centimorgan region encompassing Idd5, a previously postulated diabetes susceptibility locus. Interestingly, we find that the CTLA-4 (cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4) and the CD28 costimulatory molecules are defectively expressed in NOD mice, suggesting that one or both of these molecules may be involved in the control of apoptosis resistance and, in turn, in diabetes susceptibility.

CytA enables CryIV endotoxins of Bacillus thuringiensis to overcome high levels of CryIV resistance in the mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus

Cry proteins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis are selective biodegradable insecticides used increasingly in bacterial insecticides and transgenic plants as alternatives to synthetic chemical insecticides. However, the potential for development of resistance and cross-resistance in target insect populations to Cry proteins used alone or in combination threatens the more widespread use of this novel pest control technology. Here we show that high levels of resistance to CryIV proteins in larvae of the mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, can be suppressed or reduced markedly by combining these proteins with sublethal quantities of CytA, a cytolytic endotoxin of B. thuringiensis. Resistance at the LC95 level of 127-fold for a combination of three CryIV toxins (CryIVA, B, and D), resulting from 60 generations of continuous selection, was completely suppressed by combining sporulated powders of CytA in a 1:3 ratio with sporulated powders of a CryIVA, CryIVB, and CryIVD strain. Combining the CytA strain with a CryIVA and CryIVB strain also completely suppressed mosquito resistance of 217-fold to the latter toxins at the LC95 level, whereas combination of CytA with CryIVD reduced resistance in a CryIVD-selected mosquito strain from greater than 1,000-fold to less than 8-fold. The CytA/CryIV model provides a potential molecular genetic strategy for engineering resistance management for Cry proteins directly into bacterial insecticides and transgenic plants.

Expression of the Bs2 pepper gene confers resistance to bacterial spot disease in tomato

The Bs2 resistance gene of pepper specifically recognizes and confers resistance to strains of Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria that contain the corresponding bacterial avirulence gene, avrBs2. The involvement of avrBs2 in pathogen fitness and its prevalence in many X. campestris pathovars suggests that the Bs2 gene may be durable in the field and provide resistance when introduced into other plant species. Employing a positional cloning strategy, the Bs2 locus was isolated and the gene was identified by coexpression with avrBs2 in an Agrobacterium-mediated transient assay. A single candidate gene, predicted to encode motifs characteristic of the nucleotide binding site–leucine-rich repeat class of resistance genes, was identified. This gene specifically controlled the hypersensitive response when transiently expressed in susceptible pepper and tomato lines and in a nonhost species, Nicotiana benthamiana, and was designated as Bs2. Functional expression of Bs2 in stable transgenic tomatoes supports its use as a source of resistance in other Solanaceous plant species.