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Background: Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a prime candidate crop for biofuel feedstock production in the United States. As it is a self-incompatible polyploid perennial species, breeding elite and stable switchgrass cultivars with traditional breeding methods is very challenging. Translational genomics may contribute significantly to the genetic improvement of switchgrass, especially for the incorporation of elite traits that are absent in natural switchgrass populations. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this study, we constitutively expressed an Arabidopsis NAC transcriptional factor gene, LONG VEGETATIVE PHASE ONE (AtLOV1), in switchgrass. Overexpression of AtLOV1 in switchgrass caused the plants to have a smaller leaf angle by changing the morphology and organization of epidermal cells in the leaf collar region. Also, overexpression of AtLOV1 altered the lignin content and the monolignol composition of cell walls, and caused delayed flowering time. Global gene-expression analysis of the transgenic plants revealed an array of responding genes with predicted functions in plant development, cell wall biosynthesis, and flowering. Conclusions/Significance: To our knowledge, this is the first report of a single ectopically expressed transcription factor altering the leaf angle, cell wall composition, and flowering time of switchgrass, therefore demonstrating the potential advantage of translational genomics for the genetic improvement of this crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at debates over the advice and expertise of policy experts in modern states. Particular focus is given to the case of Professor Owen Lattimore, whose personal and political motives were questioned during U.S. congressional attempts to assign responsibility for the fall of China's Nationalist regime to the Communist Party of China. According to the authors, the resources available to critics of an expert determine the consequences of their criticism as much as the actual contents of the criticism. Details related to political and character-based attacks which the authors call smears and degradation ceremonies are presented. It is suggested that smears occur when an expert's rivals lack power, while degradation ceremonies are enabled by institutional power.