The Genome sequence of the SARS-associated coronavirus

We sequenced the 29,751-base genome of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated coronavirus known as the Tor2 isolate. The genome sequence reveals that this coronavirus is only moderately related to other known coronaviruses, including two human coronaviruses, HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-229E. Phylogenetic analysis of the predicted viral proteins indicates that the virus does not closely resemble any of the three previously known groups of coronaviruses. The genome sequence will aid in the diagnosis of SARS virus infection in humans and potential animal hosts (using polymerase chain reaction and immunological tests), in the development of antivirals (including neutralizing antibodies), and in the identification of putative epitopes for vaccine development.     

Genetic diversity,phylogenetic position and morphometric analysis of Astacus colchicus (Decapoda,Astacidae): a new insight into Eastern European crayfish fauna

The phylogeny of European crayfish fauna, especially with respect to Eastern European species, is still far from being completely resolved. To fill this gap, we analyzed most of the European crayfish species focusing on the phylogenetic position of the endemic crayfish Astacus colchicus, inhabiting Georgia. Three mitochondrial and one nuclear marker were used to study evolutionary relationships among European crayfish species, resulting in the unique phylogenetic position of A. colchicus indicating independent species status to A. astacus. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a deep molecular divergence of A. colchicus in comparison to A. astacus (6.5–10.9% in mtDNA and 1.1% in nDNA) as well as to Pontastacus leptodactylus and P. pachypus (5.5–10.0% in mtDNA and 1.4–2.4% in nDNA). Absent ventral process on second male pleopod and abdominal somites II and III with pleura rounded lacking prominent spines clearly indicate taxonomic assignment to the genus Astacus; however, the species is distributed almost in the middle of Ponto-Caspian area typical by occurrence of the genus Pontastacus. Several morphological indices linked to head length, carapace, and total body length and width were found to demonstrate apparent differences between A. colchicus and A. astacus. Although this study provides a novel insight into European crayfish phylogeography, we also point out the gaps in comprehensive study of the P. leptodactylus species complex, which could reveal details about the potential species status of particular species and subspecies within this genus.     

Einfluß langjähriger Düngung mit verschiedenen N-Formen auf pH-Wert,Humusfraktionen, biologische Aktivität und Stickstoffdynamik einer Acker-Braunerde

Influence of long-term fertilizing with different forms of nitrogen fertilizer on pH, humic fractions, biological activity and dynamics of nitrogen of an arable brown earth The evaluation of soil characteristics in a 53 years field trial (arable brown earth, sandy silty loam, eff. field cap. 160mm, pH 5,9, total C 0,9 %, total N 0,1 %, CEC 15 meq/100 g soil) gave the following results: Fertilizing with ammonium sulfate decreased pH in topsoil down to 4.9. The acidification reached a depth of 50cm. Liming in addition to ammonium sulfate could not keep pH on the same level as calcium cyanamide did. The other treatments showed pH-values between 5.8 and 6.0. Total carbon and nitrogen in treatments with farm manure, calcium cyanamide and ammonium sulfate were 0.91 to 0.98 % C, in the treatments without N and with nitrate 0.81 resp. 0.87 % C. Farm manure and calcium cyanamide produced a higher content of humic acids in organic matter than ammonium and nitrate fertilization did. Ammonium fertilization increased the content of fulvic acids. Biological activity of soils, measured as activity of 5 enzymes and 02-consumption depends mainly on pH. Highest activity is found in the soil of treatment calcium cyanamide (except catalase). The proportion of hydrolysable and non-hydrolysable nitrogen (12 % non-hydrolysable N) was not changed by fertilizing (except in the plot with farm manure which increased non-hydrolysable N to 14%). Nitrogen mineralisation in laboratory incubation trials were closely correlated with total N (r = 0.94). Lower correlation was found in plant experiments (r = 0.72 to 0.79). Other factors influencing nitrogen mineralisation are discussed.     

Umsatz von 15N-Harnstoff und 15N-Ammonsulfatsalpeter mit Zusatz von Dicyandiamid unter aeroben Bedingungen im Boden

Turnover of ¹⁵N-urea and ¹⁵N-ammonium sulfa-nitrate with addition of dicyandiamide under aerobic conditions in the soil In aerobic incubation trials, the turnover of ¹⁵N-labelled urea (UR) and ammonium sulfa-nitrate (ASN) was investigated in the soil (silty loam, pH 6.5) under addition of the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD).

• 1 Nitrification of urea at 7°C was markedly inhibited by addition of 10 ppm DCD-N (in relation to soil); at 14°C, a concentration of 20 ppm DCD-N was required for a sufficient inhibition; nitrification of ASN was more inhibited by DCD than nitrification of UR.
• 2 By use of dicyandiamide, up to 14% (as compared with 10% without DCD) of the supplied N was transformed into a non-extractable N-Form from which only a slight release of nitrogen could be observed after 147 days. Also, the proportion of fixed ammoniuum was higher in the treatments with DCD as compared without DCD.
• 3 In all experiments, the recovery was 100% ± max. 2.6%, that means that no essential (gaseous) losses of N occurred under the aerobic conditions of these trials.

     

Low molecular weight compounds responsible for savory taste of Indonesian soy sauce

Indonesian soy sauce is made using only soybeans as the nitrogenous source. Moromi obtained from fermentation of yellow soybeans using Aspergillus sojae as the starter was investigated. The fraction with molecular weights of less than 500 Da obtained by stepwise ultrafiltration was then fractionated by several chromatographic procedures, including gel filtration chromatography and RP-HPLC. Several chemical analyses, CE profiles, and taste profiles were performed to obtain the most intense umami fraction. The main components eliciting or enhancing the umami taste present in the fraction were purified and identified by protein sequencing, ESI-MS, and (1)H NMR at 400 MHz. Besides free l-glutamic acid and aspartic acid, free aromatic amino acids such as l-phenylalanine and l-tyrosine may also play an important role in impressing savory or umami taste of Indonesian soy sauce at their subthreshold concentrations and in the presence of salt and free acidic amino acids. This is reported as a new phenomenon of the so-called bitter amino acids.     

Nitrifikation von Gülle-N in Abhängigkeit von Ausbringungstermin,pH-Wert des Bodens und Dicyandiamidzusatz

Nitrification of slurry N as dependent on application time, soil pH and addition of dicyandiamide Formation of nitrate after slurry application was investigated in relation to soil pH and dicyandiamide application in model trials at simulated outdoor temperatures of October or November till July. In the soil of pH 5.7, a supplement of 20 mg/kg DCD to slurry applied in October was sufficient to remarkably reduce nitrification which started not before March. In the soil of pH 7.2, formation of nitrate without DCD mainly occurred before winter, but was retarded by 20 mg/kg DCD till April/May. Higher amounts of DCD further delayed nitrification for about another month. After slurry application end of November (soil temperature 0°C), nitrification was retarded by dicyandiamide for up to 3 month.     

Zur nitrifikationshemmenden Wirkung von Dicyandiamid zu Gülle in der Zeit zwischen Spätherbst und Frühjahr

Effect of dicyandiamide on the nitrification of liquid manure between late autumn and spring The influence of soil temperature on the nitrification of slurry manure with and without addition of the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide and the decomposition of dicyandiamide was tested in model experiments. 1. NH₄-N of cattle slurry was completely nitrified within 10 or 30 weeks at 4°C or 0°C respectively in a growth chamber. The addition of dicyandiamide retarded the formation of NO₃ in the first case for about 15 weeks (dicyandiamide was completely decomposed after 25 weeks), in the latter case for more than 30 weeks. 2. A simulation of field soil temperatures from October till May in an incubation trial resulted in full nitrification within four weeks, with dicyandiamide within 30 weeks. 3. Slurry mixed with soil, burried in polyethylene-bottles into the top soil of the open field, was nitrified until February when applied at the beginning of November, or until April when applied at the beginning of March. With DCD-addition, however, only one fourth of March-Slurry or hardly half of November-Slurry was nitrified. At the same time, in each case about 30% of the applied amount of DCD was still detectable.     

Three-dimensional visualization of preferential flow patterns in two soils

Visualization techniques are helpful in finding spatial relationships of parameters which are otherwise difficult to detect. In this study, visualization techniques were used to examine the basis of moisture distribution patterns in a clay soil and a water repellent sandy soil. In the clay soil, spatial distributions of moisture contents and macropore networks were investigated with computed tomography (CT) images. The macropore networks were determined from CT images from a dry soil core, and the moisture content patterns from CT images after which KI enriched water was applied. Soil moisture and bulk density were investigated and measured in a water repellent sandy soil by intensive sampling of an area 1.2 m long and 0.6 m wide. The measured parameters were visualized in three dimensions using IRIS Explorer on a SGI-Indigo and a SGI-Onyx computer. The 3D computer representations showed that there exists a strong correlation between the moisture content distribution and the geometrical structure of the macropore network for a clay soil. Moisture contents higher than 30% were mostly found inside the upper part of the macropore network and lateral branches of the macropore network were significant drier than the downwards directed branches. The visualizations of the water repellent sandy soil revealed several 10 to 20 cm wide “fingers” starting around 10 cm depth at locations with the highest bulk densities.     

Korrelationen von Enzymaktivitäten im Boden

Correlations of Enzyme-Activities in Soil Enzyme-activities often have been used as indicators of the biological state of soil. In this connection some questions may be posed: Which enzyme is the best indicator of biological activities in soil, what is the relationship of enzyme-activities to other ecological parameters and what is the interdependency between different enzymes? To answer these questions we measured activities of amylase, catalase, invertase, pectinase, urease, xylanase and cellulase at nine alpine and subalpine sites. Furthermore the CO₂-evolution, contens of nitrogen, carbon, organic matter, the soil density, total bacterial number and water capacity were determined. With these data correlation coefficients were calculated. The best relationships were found between cellulase-xylanase and amylase-invertase activities (Table 1). While catalase and pectinase are in the middle range, urease shows relatively low values. There are highly significant correlations between enzyme-activities and the content of nitrogen, carbon, organic matter, soil density or the CO₂-evolution (number of samples used for calculations was 68). Almost no correlations were found with total bacterial count (Table 2). For these calculations 34 samples of each parameter were used. To prove that the lower number of samples is not the reason for low correlation coefficients we computed data of 17 samples (Table 3). The water capacity is depending on soil density and content of organic matter and the correlations are in the same range (Comparison Table 1 and 3). This means that 17 samples of each parameter are enough for these calculations. Enzyme-activities proof therefore to be good indicators of the biological state of soil. It is inappropriate to characterise biological activities of soil by total bacterial counts only.     

Identification of Resistance Genes Against Powdery Mildew in Four Accessions of Hordeum Vulgare SSP. Spontaneum

Summary Four newly detected accessions of wild barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum) resistant to powdery mildew caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei were studied with the aim of finding the number of genes/loci conferring the resistance of individual accessions, the type of inheritance of the genes and their relationships to the Mla locus. F₂ populations after crosses between the winter variety ‘Tiffany’ and four wild barley accessions and use of microsatellite DNA markers were focused on the identification of individual resistance genes/loci by means of their chromosomal locations. In PI466495, one locus conferring powdery mildew resistance was identified in highly significant linkage with the marker Bmac0213. This location is consistent with the known locus Mla on chromosome 1HS. In the other three accessions the resistance was determined by two independent loci. In PI466197, PI466297 and PI466461, one locus was identified on chromosome 1HS and three new loci were revealed on chromosomes 2HS (highly significant linkage with Bmac0134), 7HS (highly significant linkage with Bmag0021) and 7HL (significant linkage with EBmac0755). Our prospective aim is identification of further linked DNA markers and the exact location of the resistance genes on the barley chromosomes.