Biology subjects

Sturm, K.

Publications and source records attributed to Sturm, K..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Decision analysis in support of proactive planning for chronic wasting disease in Vermont, USA

Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal, transmissible disease in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and related species, is spreading across North America but has not yet been detected in Vermont, United States (U.S.). The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with partner agencies, wants to develop a proactive prevention and response plan in anticipation of the eventual detection of the disease. Between September 2023 and September 2025, staff from the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Vermont facilitated a structured decision-making (SDM) process with seven State and Federal agencies that have jurisdiction over some aspect of CWD management in Vermont. The aim of this process was to generate and evaluate alternative response plans against a range of long-term objectives important to the agencies. To aid in the evaluation of the alternatives, we developed a linked set of models for white-tailed deer population and disease dynamics, hunter participation and health, forest health, economic consequences, and agricultural opportunities related to the actions being contemplated as part of the response plan. We evaluated over 256 different permutations of management actions and used multi-criteria decision analysis, a branch of decision analysis designed to help decision makers navigate tradeoffs among competing objectives, to summarize the performance of those alternative strategies against the desired outcomes. Proactive actions, those designed to slow the arrival of CWD to Vermont, were moderately effective, but the most important proactive action was surveillance to detect the disease early after arrival, which triggered response actions after detection. With the insights generated by the SDM process and the results of the analyses, the participating agencies were able to identify a preferred strategy and outline the elements of a proactive response plan. This report describes the SDM process, the technical details of the modeling work, and the results of the analyses.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2025

An inositol pyrophosphate interaction screen provides insight into the regulation of plant casein kinase II

Inositol pyrophosphates (PP-InsPs) are key nutrient messengers in plants, but their protein receptors remain poorly defined. Using a systems-level affinity screen with biotinylated InsP, InsP, and InsP in Arabidopsis thaliana, we identify multiple conserved PP-InsP-interacting complexes involved in mRNA metabolism, translation, and cell signaling, including the nuclear -subunits of casein kinase II (CK2). The CK2 subunit AtCKA1 associates with the PP-InsP kinase AtVIH2, and its 1.9 [A] crystal structure with InsP6 reveals two conserved PP-InsP binding sites located in the N-and C-terminal lobes. AtCKA1 binds InsP6, InsP7, and InsP8 with micromolar affinity. Mutation of both binding sites in the AtCKA6xmut mutant abolishes PP-InsP binding in vitro. AtCKA6xmut partially rescues the flowering phenotype of ck2a1/2/3 mutants, and equivalent mutations inactivate the yeast orthologs ScCka1 and ScCka2. InsP6 competitively inhibits phosphorylation of canonical CK2 substrates by occupying a basic substrate-binding groove. Although incorporating {beta}-subunits strongly enhances the phosphorylation of substrates by the AtCK2 holoenzyme, ck2b1/2/3/4 mutants exhibit only mild growth defects in Arabidopsis. In Marchantia, loss of the single ck2a gene severely impairs growth, whereas deletion of the {beta} subunit has no effect. Together, our findings suggest that InsP6/PP-InsPs modulate the activity of the isolated CK2 -subunit by regulating access to its substrate-binding site.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Overactivated epithelial NF-κB disrupts lung development in human and nitrofen CDH

Background & ObjectiveAbnormal lung development is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), a common birth defect (1:2500) of largely unknown pathobiology. Recent studies discovered that inflammatory processes, and specifically NF-{kappa}B associated pathways are enriched in human and experimental CDH. However, the molecular signaling of NF-{kappa}B in abnormal CDH lung development and its potential as a therapeutic target requires further investigation. Methods & ResultsUsing sections and hypoplastic lung explant cultures from the nitrofen rat model of CDH and human fetal CDH lungs, we demonstrate that NF-{kappa}B and its downstream transcriptional targets are hyperactive during abnormal lung formation in CDH. NF-{kappa}B activity was especially elevated in the airway epithelium of nitrofen and human CDH lungs at different developmental stages. Fetal rat lung explants had impaired pseudoglandular airway branching after exposure to nitrofen, together with increased phosphorylation and transcriptional activity of NF-{kappa}B. Dexamethasone, the broad and clinically applicable anti-inflammatory NF-{kappa}B antagonist, rescued lung branching and normalized NF-{kappa}B signaling in hypoplastic lung explants. Moreover, specific NF-{kappa}B inhibition with curcumenol similarly rescued ex vivo lung hypoplasia and restored NF-{kappa}B signaling. Lastly, we showed that prenatal intraperitoneal dexamethasone administration to pregnant rat dams carrying fetuses with hypoplastic lungs, significantly improves lung branching and normalizes NF-{kappa}B in vivo. Conclusions: Our results indicate that NF-{kappa}B is aberrantly activated in human and nitrofen CDH lungs. Anti-inflammatory treatment with dexamethasone and/ or specific NF-{kappa}B inhibition should be investigated further as a therapeutic avenue to target lung hypoplasia in CDH.

developmental biology↗