First description of a natural infection with spleen and kidney necrosis virus in zebrafish

Zebrafish has become a popular research model in the last years, and several diseases affecting zebrafish research facilities have been reported. However, only one case of naturally occurring viral infections was described for this species. In 2015, infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus (ISKNV) was detected in zebrafish from a research facility in Spain. Affected fish showed lethargy, loss of appetite, abnormal swimming, distention of the coelomic cavity and, in the most severe cases, respiratory distress, pale gills and petechial haemorrhages at the base of fins. Cytomegaly was the most relevant histopathological finding in organs and tissues, sometimes associated to degenerative and necrotic changes. ISKNV belongs to the relatively newly defined genus Megalocytivirus, family Iridoviridae, comprising large, icosahedral cytoplasmic DNA viruses. This is the first case of naturally occurring Megalocytivirus infection in zebrafish research facilities, associated with morbidity. The virus has been identified based on both pathologic and genetic evidence, to better understand the pathogenesis of the infection in zebrafish and the phylogenetic relationship with other iridoviruses. Given the ability of megalocytiviruses to cross‐species boundaries, it seems necessary to implement stringent biosecurity practices as these infections may invalidate experimental data and have major impact on laboratory and cultured fish.     

Simple estimation of available water capacity in soils of semiarid and subhumid environments

Soil available water capacity (AWC) is an important factor affecting soil productivity in semiarid and subhumid environments and is mainly determined by the soil textural composition. As the soils of these environments usually present fairly uniform textures across depth, we hypothesized that it would be possible to accurately estimate the whole-profile AWC using surface information. Our objective was to test this hypothesis in the Argentine Semiarid Pampas. Information was collected from 152 sites where AWC was measured in 20?cm layers up to a depth of 140?cm or up to the upper limit of the petrocalcic horizon, when present. In each case, whole profile AWC was estimated using a one-step and a two-step approach, comparing multiple regression and artificial neural networks as modeling techniques. Both modeling methods were effective (R²?>?0.76, P?相似文献   

Devices to detect red palm weevil infestation on palm species

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) and other palm species have recently been threatened by the red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier, which is very difficult to be detected at early stage. This research tested non invasive approaches to detecting RPW including: a TreeRadarUnit? (TRU); a densitometer, a penetrometer used for evaluation of the standing trees stability; a thermal camera and a digital camera. The technologies were applied in Italy on 715 palms (173 P. dactylifera, 453 Phoenix canariensis Chabaud and 311 of other palm species), and on 86 adult date palms in Saudi Arabia. In Italy, the thermal camera showed a high accuracy (96.29%) compared to close visual observation over the following nine months. The digital camera did almost as well (92.57%). Tree Radar Unit and densitometer also showed good accuracy (83.33 and 88.89% respectively). In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the thermal camera showed a good accuracy (77.73%) when compared to invasive diagnosis (i.e. cutting down and opening up palm trunks). The digital camera showed a lower accuracy of 66.67% due to the fact that the red weevil mainly attacks the base of the stem and therefore there are no visible symptoms on the crown shape that would be picked up in image analysis. TRU gave good results (74.73% compared to invasive diagnosis), with the best accuracy at ground level (80.65%). The densitometer results were similar to the TRU case, with higher accuracy (82.26% compared to invasive diagnosis) and the highest at ground level (87.10%).     

Performance of wick irrigation system using self-compensating troughs with substrates for lettuce production

Subirrigation systems in which water and nutrients are supplied to the substrate through wick strips for upward nutrient solution (NS) movement can be a feasible alternative to improve lettuce quality with low environmental pollution, enabling production with reduced labor and electricity or in regions with high air temperature. The objective of this study was to compare the performance of two wick irrigation systems using self-compensating troughs filled with either pine bark (WPB) or coconut coir (WCC) with nutrient film technique (NFT) hydroponic system for greenhouse lettuce production. The daily monitoring of electrical conductivity (EC) and pH allowed the experiment management according to the recommended values for optimal lettuce growth. The EC showed variation among troughs and salt accumulation in substrates, with WPB exhibiting two times greater EC than WCC (ranging from 0.95 to 7.57 and from 0.68 to 3.67 dS·m^?1, respectively), while the pH values were stable over time. The WCC promoted greater root length and shoot diameter, while WPB produced shorter plants compared to the other two treatments. NFT resulted in an 83% lower leaf area and 44% lower root volume than WPB and WCC. The fresh and dry shoot masses with NFT were 58% and 24% lower than with WPB and WCC, respectively. The fresh root mass was also reduced in NFT plants, which was 67% smaller than WCC and 59% smaller than WPB. Root dry mass of NFT was 35% lower than the average of WPB and WCC. Nitrate (NO₃)-nitrogen (N), ammonium (NH₄)-N, phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), boron (B), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) concentrations in plant shoot and root at the end of the experiment as well as the same nutrients, chloride, sodium, and bicarbonate concentrations in substrate and NS determined weekly differed among the treatments (P < 0.01). The EC and nutrient concentration in the substrates increased over time. The wick irrigation system with both substrates resulted in higher productivity than NFT, with higher yield and plant quality in WCC, indicating its feasibility as an alternative system for lettuce production in greenhouses. However, due to the salinity buildup, water and nutrition management needs to be optimized for self-compensating troughs to avoid an increase in substrate EC over time.     

Are active organic matter fractions suitable indices of management effects on soil carbon? A meta-analysis of data from the Pampas

Active fractions of organic matter have been proposed as early indices of changes in soil organic carbon (organic-C) induced by management. We performed a meta-analysis of published results from 31 field experiments conducted in the Pampas in which tillage and rotation effects on organic-C, microbial biomass carbon (microbial-C), light fraction carbon (light-C), particulate carbon (particulate-C) and basal respiration (mineralized-C) were assessed. We compared the changes of organic-C and the four active fractions between management treatments sampled at the same date and depth within each experiment. Pooling all the experiments, active fractions-C varied on average 1.2- to 3.0-fold more than organic-C, depending on the fraction considered, but these average changes were significantly greater than organic-C changes only for particulate-C. This later fraction showed to be more sensitive to agricultural practices than organic-C. In experiments in which organic-C changes were lower than 15–25%, the four labile fractions may show opposite trends than organic-C. Above this threshold, changes of active fractions generally copied organic-C changes and were greater. Consequently, the active fractions may be used as indicators of changes in organic-C only when this latter variable has already suffered a huge change. In these cases, it will be easier to simply measure organic-C.     

The effects of starving and feeding on Dover sole (Solea solea,Soleidae, Linnaeus, 1758) stress response and early larval development

In the view of an urgent necessity to improve the quantity and the quality of farmed fish species, there is a strong need to improve our basic knowledge on the effects of first feeding during the developmental stages of fish larvae. High mortality, mainly due to food deprivation or inappropriate food quality, has been observed in many larval fish species, but knowledge about the morphological, biochemical and molecular processes related to this topic is still poorly understood. The understanding of the early larval ontogeny as well as the larval nutritional requirements and the molecular and cellular mechanisms elicited by fish larvae during food deprivation and starvation are thus of primary importance. At this regard, this study investigates, in Dover sole larvae, the effects of starvation and starving/re‐feeding procedures at a morphological, histological, biochemical and molecular level. The results evidenced that starved larvae progressively decrease in growth, lipid content, affected their gastrointestinal tract and muscle development and increased cortisol and heat shock protein 70 levels. On the contrary, starved and re‐fed larvae showed, after the restoration of a favourable feeding condition, a compensatory growth. In conclusion, this is the first study analysing through a multidisciplinary approach the effects of food deprivation on the development of an important economic species, the Dover sole.     

Induction of resistance to Sclerotium rolfsii in different varieties of onion by inoculation with Trichoderma asperellum

We evaluated the ability of Trichoderma asperellum Samuels, Lieckfeldt & Nirenberg to induce resistance to the fungal plant pathogen, Sclerotium rolfsii Saccardo, in three onion (Allium cepa L.) varieties. Both the severity of disease and the activities of glucanase, chitinase and peroxidase (enzymes involved in plant resistance) were evaluated in onions inoculated with T. asperellum alone, S. rolfsii alone, or both T. asperellum and S. rolfsii (dual-inoculation) and compared to uninoculated (control) plants. In dual inoculations, the presence of T. asperellum reduced the severity of disease symptoms caused by S. rolfsii. Inoculation with T. asperellum alone increased glucanase, chitinase and peroxidase activity in bulbs, roots and leaves of all three onion varieties compared to uninoculated controls; bulbs of the variety Red Satan (RS) had the highest enzyme activity. In plants inoculated with S. rolfsii alone, enzyme activity was only increased in bulbs and roots compared to uninoculated controls. The highest levels of enzyme activity also occurred only in bulbs and roots of plants that had been dual-inoculated with T. asperellum and S. rolfsii. Plants of the RS variety showed the highest enzyme activities (both constitutive and induced) and showed the lowest severity of disease. Therefore, application of T. asperellum has potential as a biological control alternative to synthetic fungicides for protection of onion crops against infection by S. rolfsii. This protection depends on both constitutive and induced defence responses and varies amongst onion varieties.     

Molecular characterization of Diplodia seriata,a new pathogen of Prunus laurocerasus in Italy

Twig cankers and diebacks were observed on cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus L.) hedges located in a private garden of Perugia (Central Italy). Four fungal isolates, forming gray colonies and aerial mycelium, were obtained from cankers. For each isolate, Koch’s postulates were fulfilled by inoculating cherry laurel plants. Based on cultural characteristics, rep-PCR and phylogenetic analyses on ITS and EF1-α nucleotides sequences, the isolates were identified as Diplodia seriata De Not. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of D. seriata as a new pathogen of P. laurocerasus. The severe symptoms and the wide distribution of the host plant make the pathogen potentially dangerous for this ornamental species.