140913 edanz zoological_society_seminar

Jeffrey Robens, PhD Senior Research Consultant

Education Group Leader

Effectively Communicating Your Research

Zoological Society of Japan

13 September 2014

Be an effective communicator

Your goal should not only to be published, but also to be widely read/cited

Choose the best journal

Logically organize your ideas

Write effectively

Journal selection

Section 1

Reading Strategies Journal selection When should you choose your journal?

Author guidelines • Manuscript structure • Word limits • Reference style

Aims and scope • Topics • Readership • Be sure to emphasize

Relevant references Writing style

Choose your journal before you write your manuscript!

Reading Strategies Journal selection Factors to consider when choosing a journal

Aims & scope Readership

Open access

Which factor is most important to you?

Impact factor Indexing

Reading Strategies Journal selection Evaluating significance

How new are your findings? Novelty

How broadly relevant are your findings? Relevance

What are the important real-world applications?

Appeal

Reading Strategies Journal selection

Insert your proposed abstract

Journal Selector www.edanzediting.co.jp/journal_selector


Recommended journals

Filter by: • Impact factor • Publishing frequency • Open access



Journal’s IF, aims & scope, and publication frequency

Are they currently publishing similar articles? Have you cited some of these articles?

Similar published articles


Manuscript structure

Section 2

Coverage and Staffing Plan Manuscript

structure Manuscript

structure Abstracts

First impression of your paper

Importance of your results

Validity of your conclusions

Relevance of your aims

Judge your writing style

Probably only part that will be read



structure Sections of an abstract

Aims

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Why the study was done

Your hypothesis

Techniques

Most important findings

Conclusion & implications

Concise summary of your research



structure Unstructured abstract

Induced penetration resistance is triggered by failed penetration attempts of nonpathogenic fungi. The

resistance mechanism is an important nonhost reaction in plants that can block the invasion of filamentous

pathogens such as fungi and oomycetes. However, it remains unclear whether the mechanical stimuli

accompanying fungal penetration play a role in induced penetration resistance, whereas the perforation of the

cell wall may provide significant stimuli to plant cells. Here, we used microneedles or biolistic bombardment to

mimic fungal penetration pegs and a micromanipulation transfer technique of the bio-probe, a germling of

Blumeria graminis hordei, to the wounded cells to demonstrate that microwounds derived from fungal

penetration attempts may trigger induced penetration resistance in plant cells. When preinoculated with the

nonpathogenic fungi Erysiphe pisi and Colletotrichum orbiculare, which were unable to penetrate a barley cell,

the penetration of a bio-probe that was transferred by micromanipulation onto the same cell was completely

blocked. Fungal penetration was essential to the triggering of induced penetration resistance because a

penetration-peg-defective mutant of C. orbiculare completely lacked the ability to trigger resistance. The

artificial microwounds significantly, but not completely, blocked the penetration of the bio-probe. Treatment

with the actin polymerization inhibitor cytochalasin A or expression of the actin depolymerizing protein HvPro1

caused complete ablation of the induced penetration resistance triggered by either failed fungal penetration or

artificial microwounds. These results strongly suggest that microwounding may trigger actin-dependent

induced penetration resistance. Manipulation of induced penetration resistance may be a promising target to

improve basic disease resistance in plants.

Kobayashi and Kobayashi. Planta 2013; 237: 1187−1198.



structure

Here, we used microneedles or biolistic bombardment to mimic fungal penetration pegs and a micromanipulation

transfer technique of the bio-probe, a germling of Blumeria graminis hordei, to the wounded cells to demonstrate that

microwounds derived from fungal penetration attempts may trigger induced penetration resistance in plant cells.

When preinoculated with the nonpathogenic fungi Erysiphe pisi and Colletotrichum orbiculare, which were unable to

penetrate a barley cell, the penetration of a bio-probe that was transferred by micromanipulation onto the same cell

was completely blocked… …Treatment with the actin polymerization inhibitor cytochalasin A or expression of the actin

depolymerizing protein HvPro1 caused complete ablation of the induced penetration resistance triggered by either

failed fungal penetration or artificial microwounds.

These results strongly suggest that microwounding may trigger actin-dependent induced penetration resistance.

Manipulation of induced penetration resistance may be a promising target to improve basic disease resistance in

plants.


Induced penetration resistance is triggered by failed penetration attempts of nonpathogenic fungi. The resistance

mechanism is an important nonhost reaction in plants that can block the invasion of filamentous pathogens such as

fungi and oomycetes. However, it remains unclear whether the mechanical stimuli accompanying fungal penetration

play a role in induced penetration resistance, whereas the perforation of the cell wall may provide significant stimuli to

plant cells.

Implications

Writing your abstract



structure























structure





















Why this study needed to be done

What you did

What you found

How advances the field



structure

General introduction

Specific aims Aims

Current state of the field

Problem in the field

Introduction



structure

Your aims should directly address the problem

Writing the Introduction

New ways to treat or prevent lung cancer are therefore needed.

This study explored the hypothesis that inhibition of TNKS…would inhibit lung cancer growth in vitro and in vivo…

Problem

Aims

Busch et al. BMC Cancer 2012; 13: 211.



structure Methods

How it was done

General methods Specific techniques (discuss controls)

Quantification methods Statistical methods

What was used

Samples or participants Materials

How data were analyzed

Experimental Design



structure Results

1. Novel observation 2. Characterization 3. Application

Logical presentation

Example:

1. New gene expressed in the heart 2. Regulation of gene expression, when it is

expressed, function of the produced protein 3. Role of the gene in heart development



structure Results

1. Novel observation 2. Characterization 3. Application

Each subsection corresponds to

one figure

What you found, not what it means

Logical presentation

Subsections

Factual description



structure Discussion

Summary of findings

Relevance of findings

Implications for the field

Similarities/differences Unexpected results Limitations



structure

In summary, we identified a P. infestans RXLR-WY–type effector, PexRD2, which interacts with MAPKKKε and perturbs plant immunity associated signaling pathways dependent on this kinase. Either overexpression of PexRD2 or knockdown of MAPKKKε supports enhanced pathogen growth and suppression of MAPKKKε-triggered or -dependent cell death readouts in N. benthamiana. This study represents a step toward understanding how oomycete RXLR-type effectors directly interact with MAPK cascades, which are well established as key regulators of plant immunity. The next challenge is to better understand the role of PexRD2 and PexRD2-like effectors, and their targets, in the progression of disease in important host crop plants, such as tomato and potato. The ultimate aim of this would be to manipulate these interactions to tip the balance in the coevolutionary arms race between pathogen and host in favor of the plant.

Why your work is important to the field

King et al. Plant Cell. 2014; 26: 1345−1359.

Writing the Discussion



structure

In summary, we identified a P. infestans RXLR-WY–type effector, PexRD2, which interacts with MAPKKKε and perturbs plant immunity associated signaling pathways dependent on this kinase. Either overexpression of PexRD2 or knockdown of MAPKKKε supports enhanced pathogen growth and suppression of MAPKKKε-triggered or -dependent cell death readouts in N. benthamiana. This study represents a step toward understanding how oomycete RXLR-type effectors directly interact with MAPK cascades, which are well established as key regulators of plant immunity. The next challenge is to better understand the role of PexRD2 and PexRD2-like effectors, and their targets, in the progression of disease in important host crop plants, such as tomato and potato. The ultimate aim of this would be to manipulate these interactions to tip the balance in the coevolutionary arms race between pathogen and host in favor of the plant.

Why your work is important to the field

King et al. Plant Cell. 2014; 26: 1345−1359.

Implications

Conclusions

Future directions

Field advancement

Key findings

Writing the Discussion



structure Linking your ideas in

your manuscript

General background

Objectives

Methodology

Results and figures

Summary of findings

Implications for the field

Relevance of findings

Problems in the field

Logically link your ideas throughout your manuscript

Current state of the field Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion



structure Linking your ideas

New ways to treat or prevent lung cancer are therefore needed.

This study explored the hypothesis that inhibition of TNKS…would inhibit lung cancer growth…

Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of TNKS1 and TNKS2…reduces lung cancer proliferation...

Problem

Objectives

Conclusion

Discussion

Introduction

Busch et al. BMC Cancer 2012; 13: 211.



structure Writing effective

conclusions

Your conclusion is a summary of your findings

Your conclusion should be the answer to your research problem that is supported by your findings

Emphasizes how your study will help advance the field

Effective writing

Section 3

Readability Effective writing Improving readability

Use short sentences Limit your sentences to 15–20 words

One idea per sentence

Use active voice More simple, direct, and easier to read

ACS Style Guide: “Use the active voice when it is less wordy and more direct than the passive”. (3rd ed., pg. 42)

Readability Effective writing

Readers focus at the end of the sentence to determine what is important.

1. You deserve a raise, but the budget is tight.

Which sentence suggests that you

will get a raise?

2. The budget is tight, but you deserve a raise.

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/flow/

Sentence structure


The budget is tight, but you deserve a raise. Your salary

will increase at the beginning of next year. Stress position Topic position

The topic position introduces the idea of the current sentence

The stress position also introduces the topic of the next sentence

Sentence structure


Compared with is for comparing similar things

Compared to is for comparing different things

This year’s deforestation rates were compared to those from last year.

This year’s deforestation rates were compared with those from last year.

Comparisons


Use between for comparisons of two items

Use among for more than two items

‘Between’ or ‘among’?

… the only difference between the control group and the experimental group is ...

… significant differences were observed in the values among the five groups.

Readability Effective writing Data is plural

Data is the plural form of datum

The data was analyzed... This data suggests…

The data were analyzed… These data suggest…


Nature’s guide to authors:

Contributions should…be written clearly and simply so that they are accessible to readers in other disciplines and to readers for whom English is not their first language.

www.nature.com/nature/authors/gta/index.html#a4

“I should use complex words to make my writing more impressive.”

Readability Effective writing Complex words

To ascertain the efficaciousness of the program, we interrogated the participants upon completion.

To determine the success of the program, we questioned the participants upon completion.

Readability Effective writing Simple words

Preferred Enough Clear Try Very Size Asked Keep Later Enough End Use

Avoid Adequate Apparent Endeavor Exceedingly Magnitude Requested Retain Subsequently Sufficient Terminate Utilization

Be an effective communicator

Your goal should not only to be published, but also to be widely read/cited

Choose the best journal

Logically organize your ideas

Write effectively

Thank you!

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Download and further reading edanzediting.co.jp/zoological_201409

Jeffrey Robens: [email protected]

140913 edanz zoological_society_seminar

Education

fungal penetration attempts

fungal penetrationplay

wounded cells

barley cell

important nonhost reaction

colletotrichum orbiculare

fungalpenetration attempts

best journal