Thrips (Thysanoptera) associated with two genetically modified types of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.)

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - The aim of this study was to determine thrips abundance, species composition and seasonal dynamics on two genetically modified types of linseed, i.e.,...     

Foliar diseases of willows (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Salix</Emphasis> spp.) in selected locations of the Karkonosze Mts. (the Giant Mts)

The species of Salix herbacea L. and Salix lapponum L. are the rare relicts within the genus of Salix. With respect to their phylogeography, they are classified into the taxa of the Arctic-Alpine distribution. They can be found in the Arctic zone (Greenland, Scandinavia, Spitsbergen) as well as in such geographically separated areas as the mountains of lower latitudes like the Alps, the Sudetes or the Carpathians. Another species of willow occurring in the mountains of Europe, and more specifically on montane positions of the Balkan-Carpathian distribution is S. silesiaca. The aim of the study was to determine the severity of the diseases of the willows growing in selected locations in the Karkonosze Mountains. The research was conducted in the years 2014 and 2015 in the Kocio? ?omniczki [the ?omniczka Cirque] and the Wielki and Ma?y ?nie?ny Kocio?, [the Great and Small Snowy Cirques] at intervals of 4 weeks, from April to October. Field observations included the species of the genera Salix: S. herbacea, S. silesiaca and S. lapponum. Disease symptoms were identified with the percentage of infected plants at selected locations, as well as the percentage of infected leaves, recorded. In the course of the research, symptoms of rust caused by Melampsora epitea and M. alpina (S. herbacea and S. silesiaca), black spot blight caused by Rhytisma salicinum (S. silesiaca) and leaf spot, probably caused by a complex of fungal taxa (S. herbacea), were detected on the leaves of Salix spp. growing in post glacial cirques. During the study period, there were no disease symptoms on S. lapponum. A total of 13 species of fungi were isolated from the infected leaves of S. herbacea. In the first year, the highest share in the fungal assembly was taken by Penicillium notatum, followed by Alternaria alternata and an unidentified species of the genus Ceuthospora. In the second year of the research, Ceuthospora spp. and A. alternata predominated in the species assembly of fungi in the infected leaves of the herb willow.     

Effect of Replacing Cocoa Powder by Carob Powder in the Muffins on Sensory and Physicochemical Properties

The increasing demand for cocoa and search for ingredients rich in bioactive compounds encouraged us to investigate the possibility of replacing it by carob powder in the muffins containing soy beans, sesame oil and flaxseeds. There was 5% addition of carob or cocoa powder to the individual doughs. The muffins with the addition of carob were characterized by improved antiradical activity (by 36% - 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) method, by 83% - 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method), higher content of genistein (18%) and total phytosterols (17%) in the dry mass. The color differences in the carob muffins crusts were not perceptible by consumers (ΔE?=?0.70 for crust, ΔE?=?5.6 for crumb) and their taste was found to be less bitter and sweeter than the taste of cocoa muffins. Moreover, the addition of carob powder as well as cocoa powder resulted in good sensory quality. The high content of phytosterols, genistein and improved antiradical properties proved carob to be a source of bioactive compounds. The results show that carob powder may be used as valuable alternative muffin ingredient to cocoa.     

Pre-bloom leaves of blackcurrant can be used to predict boron and manganese nutrition

The aim of the study was to examine the utilization of mineral analyses of pre-bloom leaves and inflorescences to forecast the nutrition of blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.). The study was carried out in Poland in 2 consecutive years on 8 mature ‘Tisel’ blackcurrant plantations planted in coarse- and medium-textured soils that were poor in organic matter. Within each plantation, plants were supplied with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) at low, moderate or high doses for each nutrient. Every year, from the same bushes, the pre-bloom leaves, the inflorescences and the mid-summer leaves (as a standard diagnostic tool) were collected 3–6 days before flowering, when ca. 50% of flowers were open, and at harvest, respectively. No relationships between calcium (Ca) and zinc (Zn) in the studied tissues were significant. The pre-bloom leaf concentrations of N, P, magnesium (Mg), boron (B,) iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu) were correlated with those in the mid-summer leaves. The relationships between the inflorescence concentrations of P, K, Mg, B, and Mn and those in the mid-summer leaves were also significant. However, only linear correlations between B and Mn in the pre-bloom leaves and the mid-summer leaves were sufficiently strong because the determination coefficients for those relationships were 81% for B and 62% for Mn. The calculated optimal concentrations of B and Mn in the pre-bloom leaves varied from 23 to 37 mg/kg and from 46 to 93 mg/kg, respectively.     

Neutral model analysis of landscape patterns from mathematical morphology

Mathematical morphology encompasses methods for characterizing land-cover patterns in ecological research and biodiversity assessments. This paper reports a neutral model analysis of patterns in the absence of a structuring ecological process, to help set standards for comparing and interpreting patterns identified by mathematical morphology on real land-cover maps. We considered six structural classes (core, perforated, edge, connector, branch, and patch) on randomly generated binary (forest, non-forest) maps in which the percent occupancy (P) of forest varied from 1% to 99%. The maps were dominated by the patch class for low P, by the branch and connector classes for intermediate P, and by the edge, perforated, and core classes for high P. Two types of pattern phase changes were signaled by abrupt transitions among the six structural classes, at critical P thresholds that were indicated by increased variance among maps for the same P. A phase change from maps dominated by the patch class to maps dominated by the branch and connector classes was related to the existence of a percolating cluster of forest, and the P threshold varied depending on the co-existence of the core class. A second phase change from the edge class to the perforated class was related to the existence of a percolating cluster of non-core (including non-forest) and represents a change of context from exterior to interior. Our results appear to be the first demonstration of multiple phase changes controlling different aspects of landscape pattern on random neutral maps. Potential applications of the results are illustrated by an analysis of ten real forest maps. The U.S. Government's right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged.     

Long-term radiographic comparison of tibial plateau leveling osteotomy versus extracapsular stabilization for cranial cruciate ligament rupture in the dog

OBJECTIVE: Comparison of 2 methods of surgical management of cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) injury in large-breed dogs using a radiographic osteoarthrosis (OA) scoring system. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. ANIMALS: Client-owned dogs (n=66). METHODS: Radiographs were evaluated from dogs weighing >/=22.7 kg, with surgical management of CCL rupture using extracapsular repair (ECR) or tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO). Radiographs were taken immediately before surgery and >/=12 months later. An OA score was assigned to each set of radiographs taken at the preoperative and final examinations by evaluating 32 specific features of stifle OA. The difference between preoperative and final OA scores were subtracted and 2 final score categories of a change 5 were created. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate the effect of right versus left pelvic limb, age, preoperative weight, postoperative weight, days from surgery until final radiographic recheck, cranial cruciate status at surgery, medial meniscus status at surgery, and ECR versus TPLO. RESULTS: The ECR group had 27 stifles (22 dogs) and the TPLO group had 52 stifles (44 dogs). ECR dogs had a preoperative weight of 33.4+/-9.3 kg (range 22.7-54.1 kg) and a preoperative OA score of 13.0+/-8.4 (range 1-34) compared with TPLO dogs that had a preoperative weight of 38.9+/-9.1 kg (range 25-63.9 kg) and preoperative OA score of 15.9+/-8.4 (range 4-44). Postoperative weights for ECR and TPLO dogs were 33.6+/-9 kg (range 21.8-54.6 kg) and 39.4+/-10.1 kg (range 24-72 kg), respectively. Final OA scores were: ECR dogs, 26.3+/-10.8 (range, 10-54); TPLO dogs, 23.3+/-9.5 (range, 12-50). Dogs with a final change in OA score of >/=6 were 5.78 times more likely to have had ECR compared with those that had TPLO as stabilization procedure (odds ratio=5.78; Log-likelihood test P-value=.025). Other dependent variables were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Based on logistic regression analysis, dogs with larger OA score differences were 5.78 times more likely to have had ECR than TPLO. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Prospective, randomized surgical trials with pre-defined objective measures would be required to further evaluate the clinical importance of these preliminary findings which suggest that TPLO may help stabilize the cranial tibial thrust as originally proposed.     

An evaluation of two potential risk factors, MHC diversity and host density, for infection by an invasive nematode Ashworthius sidemi in endangered European bison (Bison bonasus)

Parasites are thought to increase the risk of host extinction, but their dynamics in endangered species have not been well investigated. The free-living European bison population in Bia?owie?a Forest has recently been massively invaded by a blood-sucking nematode, Ashworthius sidemi. This nematode originated in Asia and was probably transmitted to Europe with the introduction of the sika deer. Here, we investigate the impacts of genetic factors (the Major Histocompatibility Complex class II genes responsible for extracellular parasite recognition) and management practices (supplementary feeding affecting winter population density) on the intensity of A. sidemi infections in bison. All but two out of 110 animals investigated between 2005 and 2009 were infected with A. sidemi, and the intensity of infection increased significantly with time. Due to a severe population bottleneck experienced by the bison, only four class II DRB alleles are retained in the Bia?owie?a population. We found that despite high sequence divergence, neither any of the alleles nor DRB heterozygosity was significantly associated with infection intensity. We did find, however, that winter density of bison herds was positively associated with infection intensity. Winter bison population densities were in turn predicted by the intensity of supplementary feeding.     

Gelation of protein recovered from whole Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) by isoelectric solubilization/precipitation as affected by functional additives

This study demonstrated that the novel isoelectric solubilization/precipitation can be applied to recover functional muscle protein in a continuous mode from whole Antarctic krill. Protein recovered from whole krill had a much lower ash content than whole krill, suggesting good removal of inedible impurities (shell, appendages, etc.). Lipids were retained to a higher degree with krill protein solubilized at acidic rather than basic pH. The viscoelastic modulus (G') showed that recovered krill protein failed to form heat-induced gel unless beef plasma protein (BPP) was added. Therefore, protease inhibitors are suggested for development of krill-derived products. Even with BPP, the G' decreased between 45 and 55 degrees C. However, krill protein solubilized at acidic pH had a higher decrease of the G' than the protein solubilized at basic pH, likely due to krill endogenous cathepsin L. Krill protein-based gels developed from protein solubilized at basic pH, especially pH 12.0, had better texture (torsion and Kramer tests and texture profile analysis) than acidic counterparts, possibly due to higher proteolysis and denaturation at acidic pH. Gels made from protein solubilized at acidic pH were brighter and whiter likely due to a higher lipid content.     

Field-scale variability of topsoil dehydrogenase and cellulase activities as affected by variability of some physico-chemical properties

We have studied spatial field-scale variability of soil dehydrogenase (DH) and cellulase activities (CEL) and their relationship with variability of some physico-chemical properties at the surface horizon of the agricultural field. Soil samples were collected at 50 points from the upper 20 cm of soil. The activity of DH ranged between 0.77 and 1.5 μM TPP·g⁻¹·h⁻¹ while CEL activity ranged from 0.8 to 1.94 μM glucose·g⁻¹·24 h⁻¹. Concentrations of C_ORG and TN varied from 8.5 to 31.7 g·kg⁻¹ and from 0.94 to 3.56 g·kg⁻¹, respectively. The soil data showed that spatial variability and semivariograms describe spherical and linear models with the nugget effect (DH, CEL, C_ORG and TN). Dehydrogenase activity was in the strong variability class, while cellulase activity was situated in the week variability class. Both C_ORG and TN concentrations and pH_KCl values were strongly spatially dependent with the percentage of total variance (sill) presents as nugget variance ranging from 8.9% to 16.1%. Kriged maps displayed the lowest values of CEL activities in the north-east of the area, while the south area showed the highest CEL activity. The DH activity values were irregularly distributed in the surface horizon of the studied soil and this behaviour did not correspond with the spatial distribution of other properties.     

The First Attempt to Artificially Reproduce the Endangered Cyprinid Lake Minnow Eupallasella Perenurus (Pallas)

The standard artificial reproduction technique with the use of Ovopel (GnRH analogue) was evaluated for the critically endangered cyprinid species in Poland, the lake minnow Eupallasella perenurus. Wild spawners were angled at the beginning of the spawning season. Only females with a condition coefficient value higher than the mean were included in the experiment and then stimulated with Ovopel. Group A (n = 20) was given standard treatment (0.2 pellet kg^–1 and 1.0 pellet kg^–1 after 12 h), whereas group B (n = 8) was treated with a single dose of 2.0 pellets kg^–1. After fertilisation with the dry method, the glutinous eggs attached to the bottom of flow-through aquaria were incubated at 17.1–18.4°C. Throughout incubation (85D°), dead eggs were removed and counted. The same was done with dead larvae, those with deformed bodies or those with empty alimentary tracts after 2 days of external feeding. Two injections of Ovopel resulted in a significantly (P 0.05) higher ovulation rate in comparison with the single dose (70 and 25% in groups A and B, respectively). The individual hatching rates were very high (98.4–100%), as was the share of good quality larvae (91.1 and 96.5% of stripped eggs in groups A and B, respectively). These results indicate that the standard propagation method used with commercially important cyprinid species can also be used to successfully breed E. perenurus.