In respose to an invitation, Prof. Borut Bohanec lectured on »GMO controversies - science vs. public fear« at the TEDx conference entitled »Power of responsible ideas«, which was later released on YouTube. Within his presentation, meant for the general public, the author elaborated his opinion of modern methods of plant biotechnology. In general, the members of the programme group have participated in numerous radio and television broadcasts (22 times), have had interviews (20 times), published critical thinking (58 times) and have given lectures at public meetings (53 times). These popular contributions, in addition to presentation of the group's research work, were mainly discussing issues of agriculture and food production. http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=mz4_TwdaYeI&index=3&list=PLsRNoUx8w3rN60qyDHuokGx5oO0WclVHk, http://www.tedxljubljana.com/
B.06 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 7902585Members of the programme group are actively included in the process of developing new varieties of agricultural plants. In the last years, 5 new varieties have been registered, 2 hop and 3 wheat varieties. The registration of a new variety and its production is a very good example of transfer of knowledge to practice. The members of the group have directly applied scientific knowledge about a plant and its genetics in practical application. In the case of hop, two varieties (noble aroma and bitter types) have been registered, with improved high disease resistance, especially to the lethal form of verticillium wilt, which is enabling sustainable Slovenian hop production. All 3 new wheat varieties have been bred for better quality parameters, as well as higher adaptibilty to climate change conditions. All 5 varieties are already in production. The new hop varieties are concluding the procedure of patent protection at the Community Plant Variety Office, Angers, France.
F.33 Slovenian patent
COBISS.SI-ID: 6250617The research group works successfully in the field of determination and identification of novel disease agents in plants, particularly in hops. In addition, the researchers have been working on the development and implementation of new molecular methods for their identification, which are now in routine use. The group recently identified and confirmed the existence of a novel hop viroid. The research group has published several scientific papers related to his field, which are listed at the end of the text. Members of the research group also attended several scientific conferences and presented 10 contributions related to these achievements. Scientific papers: 1) RADIŠEK S. et al. 2012. First report of Hop stunt viroid infecting hop in Slovenia. Plant disease, 96, 4: 592. http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-08-11- 0640-PDN. IF=2.455, plant sciences ; 53/197 2) RADIŠEK S. e tal. 2012. First report of powdery mildew caused by Golovinomyces biocellatus on common sage (Salvia officinalis) in Slovenia. Plant disease, 96, 7: 1065. http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-12-0010- PDN. IF=2.455, plant sciences ; 53/197 3) RADIŠEK S. et al. 2009. Identification of a phytoplasma from the aster yellows group infecting purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) in Slovenia. Plant Pathology, 58: 392. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365- 3059.2008.02005.x. IF=2.729, agronomy ; 8/78 4) RADIŠEK S. 2009. Occurrence of Cercospora cantuariensis on hop in Austria and Slovenia. Plant Pathology, 58: 400. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3059.2008.019; IF=2.729, agronomy 8/78
F.17 Transfer of existing technologies, know-how, methods and procedures into practice
COBISS.SI-ID: 7028857In 2009-2010 and 2010-2012, Branka Javornik was a member of the »Ad hoc technical expert group on risk assessment and risk management under the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety«, which was established by decision of the 4th meeting of COP MOP, CBD Secretariat, Montreal, Canada with the task of preparing updated biosafety guidelines. B. Javornik was also a member of the “Working Group of Biotechnology” within the framework of the accession negotiations for Slovene membership of OECD in 2009. B. Bohanec was a member of a working group “New techniques in plant breeding” within Directive 2001/18/EC at the European Commission. The Commission has produced a final document, which will serve as the basis for further decisions on this politically highly sensitive issue, which is at the same time also crucial for the development of plant biotechnology in Europe.
D.03 Membership in foreign/international boards/committees
COBISS.SI-ID: 7424121At the 11th International Verticillium Symposium (Göttingen, Germany, 5-8 May 2013), our group presented current research on genomes and secretomes of V. albo-atrum, hop-V.albo-atrum interactions and the genetic basis of hop resistance to Verticillium wilt (3 lectures and 8 posters). The presentations were well received by the Verticillium scientific community and the »steering committee« chose us out of four candidates as the organiser of the 12th International Verticillium Symposium. We were honoured with the nomination, which we accepted. Below are listed our contributions: JAVORNIK et al. Studies of Verticillium-hop pathosystem. JAKŠE et al. Comparative genomics of Verticillium albo-atrum strains reveals strain specific regions. MANDELC et al. Comparative analysis of Verticillium albo-atrum secretome. FLAJŠMAN et al. Targeted knock-out transformants of Verticillium alboatrum. TURK et al. Colonization of susceptible and resistant hop cultivars following infection by Verticillium albo-atrum. JAVORNIK CREGEEN et al. Differential gene expression during interaction of resistant and susceptible hop cultivars (Humulus lupulus L.) with Verticillium albo-atrum. MAJER et al. HLVe1, a hop (Humulus lupulus L.) homolog of the tomato Ve1 gene, recognizes the fungal effector Av1. MANDELC et al. Comparative proteomics in interaction of hop and Verticillium albo-atrum. JAKŠE et al. Identification of QTL associated with hop resistance to Verticillium albo-atrum. KAURIN et al. Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for analysis of genetic diversity in Verticillium species. RADIŠEK et al. The suppression of Verticillium wilt of hop by biofumigation.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
COBISS.SI-ID: 7593593