M.Comm. / The use of employee share schemes as a talent management strategy and as part of companies’ reward systems has gained impetus. Most employers make use of the share option schemes because they are believed to align the interests of employees with those of the company, offer succession planning opportunities, attract , retain best talent, and motivate employees. What needs to be established is whether employee share schemes do in fact effectively contribute towards talent management strategies and organisational performance. The current prevailing global economic landscape and the effect of globalisation combined with the global framebreaking talent war requires South African companies to attract and keep the best technical, managerial and supervisor skills to remain competitive. Talent management includes components such as skills retention and attract ion, employee motivation, reward systems, employment branding, employee value proposition and other relevant initiatives that instil employee sense of belonging.

<p>Zebrafish regenerate amputated caudal fins, restoring the size and shape of the original appendage. Regeneration requires generation of diverse cell types comprising the adult fin tissue. Knowledge of the cellular source of new cells and the molecules involved is fundamental to our understanding of regenerative responses. In this dissertation, the contribution made by the bone cells towards fin regeneration is investigated. Fate mapping of osteoblasts revealed that spared osteoblasts contribute only to regenerating osteoblasts and not to other cell types, thereby suggesting lineage restriction during fin regeneration. The functional significance of osteoblast contribution to fin regeneration is tested by developing an osteoblast ablation tool capable of drug induced loss of bone cells. Normal fin regeneration in the absence of resident osteoblast population suggests that the osteoblast contribution is dispensable and provides evidence for cellular plasticity during fin regeneration. To uncover the genes involved in proliferation of osteoblasts within the fin regenerate, a candidate in-situ screen was carried out and revealed bone specific expression of fgfr4 and twist3. Transgenic tools for visualization of gene expression confirmed the screen results. Knockdown of twist3 by morpholino antisense technology impedes fin regeneration. Mutant heterozygotes for twist3 were generated using genome editing reagents, which will enable loss-of-function study in future.</p> / Dissertation

Inaug.-diss.--Leipzig. / Cover title. Lebenslauf.

Inaug.-Diss.--Kiel, 1908.

Inaug.--diss.--Kiel. / Lebenslauf.

Programmable site-specific endonucleases are useful tools for genome editing and may lead to novel therapeutics to treat genetic diseases. TALENs can be designed to cleave chosen DNA sequences. To better understand TALEN specificity and engineer TALENs with improved specificity, we profiled 30 unique TALENs with varying target sites, array length, and domain sequences for their ability to cleave any of 1012 potential off-target DNA sequences using in vitro selection and high-throughput sequencing. Computational analysis of the selection results predicted 76 off-target substrates in the human genome, 16 of which were accessible and modified by TALENs in human cells. The results collectively suggest that (i) TALE repeats bind DNA relatively independently; (ii) longer TALENs are more tolerant of mismatches, yet are more specific in a genomic context; and (iii) excessive DNA-binding energy can lead to reduced TALEN specificity in cells. We engineered a TALEN variant, Q3, that exhibits equal on-target cleavage activity but 10-fold lower average off-target activity in human cells. Our results demonstrate that identifying and mutating residues that contribute to non-specific DNA-binding can yield genome engineering agents with improved DNA specificities.

Habilitationsschrift--Heidelberg, 1966. / Bibliography: p. 131-138.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Eberhard-Karls-Universität zu Tübingen, 1939. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. xii-xviii).

Inaug.--diss.--Kiel. / Lebenslauf.

Proefschrift - Leiden. / "Stellingen": [2] p. inserted. Bibliographical references included in "Noten" (p. 267-329).