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Microorganisms (microbes) play essential roles in our lives, although the general media usually focuses on their negative or pathological aspects. Here we describe a collaborative approach between teachers and academics to teach primary school students about microbes in an engaging and diverse way. We introduced microbes, such as bacteria and fungi commonly used to prepare food, to Grade 1-2 students (ages 6-8 years old) in a daylong microbiology immersive activity in a rural Victorian school. The day was based on the sound pedagogical principles of collaboration and hands-on interactive activities. We worked closely with Grade 1-2 and Grade 5-6 students to help link the science of microbiology to key learning objectives. The partnership with teachers ensured the learning objectives were presented and supported in an age-appropriate manner. What followed was a day of enjoyable, engaging activities that helped build students science literacy. 'The Day' included hands-on activities, demonstrations and experiments showcasing various microbes. Student feedback was in the form of an end-of-day survey that revealed a solid understanding of key concepts.

Supermarket Botany is a frequently-used teaching resource or strategy. It draws on a student's existing familiarity with plant-based foods to explore plant structure and life cycles. One of its strongest points is that it is adaptable to many age levels--from lower primary school to university and general interest groups. We have designed a unique web-based resource that features accurate botanical information in an engaging format, combining a tutorial with an interactive test. High-quality photographic images of key morphological features allow students to interpret the structures they are observing. Teachers can use the website as a stand-alone application or as a resource for previewing/reviewing this material before/after a hands-on laboratory class. Evaluations have shown that this web-based application can result in similar learning outcomes to a traditional laboratory-based session. (Contains 2 tables, 8 figures and 5 online resources.)

The literature tells us that art can enhance the teaching of science. We have used some of these documented strategies in our teaching of microbiology in primary - and high school outreach and in our microbiology classes at university. We have blended art and science in a variety of ways (e.g. dancing and telling stories) to provide our students with richer, more memorable learning experiences. Primary school students were treated to a day of immersion in microbiology where songs, animations, peer learning, art and baking became integral to their learning. For high school outreach, we imagined time travel and invited university acting students to play scientists telling their stories from history to bring to life 'moments' in microbiology. At university, first-year students danced like bacteria to reinforce the types of movement and appendages that some bacteria have. Humour, poetry, songs and mnemonics were also used to not only enhance learning but to remind students that learning is fun and encompasses all aspects of life. We continue to explore a transdiciplinarity approach were the boundaries between disciplines are blurred and the artist becomes a scientist and vice versa on a creative holistic learning journey of discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detached Vitis vinifera (cv Chardonnay) inflorescences were inoculated with spore suspensions of either Colletotrichum acutatum or Greeneria uvicola at 25°C, and a combination of light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and plating out of inoculated flowers on to dichloran rose bengal chloramphenicol agar was used to investigate the time frame for infection. Colletotrichum acutatum infection commenced within 2 h of inoculation, while infection by G. uvicola commenced between 12 and 18 h postinoculation. All parts of the flowers were infected by both fungi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supermarket Botany is a frequently-used teaching resource or strategy. It draws on a student's existing familiarity with plant-based foods to explore plant structure and life cycles. One of its strongest points is that it is adaptable to many age levels - from lower primary school to university and general interest groups. We have designed a unique web-based resource that features accurate botanical information in an engaging format, combining a tutorial with an interactive test. High-quality photographic images of key morphological features allow students to interpret the structures they are observing. Teachers can use the website as a stand-alone application or as a resource for previewing/reviewing this material before/after a hands-on laboratory class. Evaluations have shown that this web-based application can result in similar learning outcomes to a traditional laboratory-based session. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the development of a Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) marker panel and its utilisation in the development of an integrated genetic linkage map of white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) using an Fg recombinant inbred line population derived from Kiev Mutant/P27174. One hundred and thirty-six DArT markers were merged into the first genetic linkage map composed of 220 amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) and 105 genie markers. The integrated map consists of 38 linkage groups of 441 markers and spans a total length of 2,169 cM, with an average interval size of 4.6 cM. The DArT markers exhibited good ge-nome coverage and were associated with previously identified genie and AFLP markers linked with quanti-tative trait loci for anthracnose resistance, flowering time and alkaloid content. The improved genetic linkage map of white lupin will aid in the identification of markers for traits of interest and future syntenic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microorganisms (microbes) play essential roles in our lives, although the general media usually focuses on their negative or pathological aspects. Here we describe a collaborative approach between teachers and academics to teach primary school students about microbes in an engaging and diverse way. We introduced microbes, such as bacteria and fungi commonly used to prepare food, to Grade 1-2 students (ages 6-8 years old) in a daylong microbiology immersive activity in a rural Victorian school. The day was based on the sound pedagogical principles of collaboration and hands-on interactive activities. We worked closely with Grade 1-2 and Grade 5-6 students to help link the science of microbiology to key learning objectives. The partnership with teachers ensured the learning objectives were presented and supported in an ageappropriate manner. What followed was a day of enjoyable, engaging activities that helped build students science literacy. 'The Day' included hands-on activities, demonstrations and experiments showcasing various microbes. Student feedback was in the form of an end-of-day survey that revealed a solid understanding of key concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phomopsis blight in Lupinus albus is caused by a fungal pathogen, Diaporthe toxica. It can invade all plant parts, leading to plant material becoming toxic to grazing animals, and potentially resulting in lupinosis. Identifying sources of resistance and breeding for resistance remains the best strategy for controlling Phomopsis and reducing lupinosis risks. However, loci associated with resistance to Phomopsis blight have not yet been identified. In this study, quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis identified genomic regions associated with resistance to Phomopsis pod blight (PPB) using a linkage map of L. albus constructed previously from an F8 recombinant inbred line population derived from a cross between Kiev-Mutant (susceptible to PPB) and P27174 (resistant to PPB). Phenotyping was undertaken using a detached pod assay. In total, we identified eight QTLs for resistance to PPB on linkage group (LG) 3, LG6, LG10, LG12, LG17 and LG27 from different phenotyping environments. However, at least one QTL, QTL-5 on LG10 was consistently detected in both phenotyping environments and accounted for up to 28.2% of the total phenotypic variance. The results of this study showed that the QTL-2 on LG3 interacts epistatically with QTL-5 and QTL-6, which map on LG10 and LG12, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transversely oriented cortical microtubules in elongating cells typically reorient themselves towards longitudinal directions at the end of cell elongation. We have investigated the reorientation mechanism along the outer epidermal wall in maturing leek (Allium porrum L.) leaves using a GFP-MBD microtubule reporter gene and fluorescence microscopy. Incubating leaf segments for 14-18 h with the anti-actin or anti-actomyosin agents, 20 microm cytochalasin D or 20 mM 2,3-butanedione monoxime, inhibited the normal developmental reorientation of microtubules to the longitudinal direction. Observation of living cells revealed a small subpopulation of microtubules with their free ends swinging into oblique or longitudinal directions, before continuing to assemble in the new direction. Electron microscopy confirmed that longitudinal microtubules are partly detached from the plasma membrane. Incubating leaf segments with 0.2% 1 degree-butanol, an activator of phospholipase D, which has been implicated in plasma membrane-microtubule anchoring, promoted the reorientation, presumably by promoting microtubule detachment from the membrane. Stabilizing microtubules with 10 microm taxol also promoted longitudinal orientation, even in the absence of cytoplasmic streaming. These results were consistent with confocal microscopy of live cells before and after drug treatments, which also revealed that the slow (days) global microtubule reorientation is superimposed over short-term (hours) regional cycling in a clockwise and an anti-clockwise direction. We propose that partial detachment of transverse microtubules from the plasma membrane in maturing cells exposes them to hydrodynamic forces of actomyosin-driven cytoplasmic streaming, which bends or shifts pivoting microtubules into longitudinal directions, and thus provides an impetus to push microtubule dynamics in the new direction.