Occurrence of pepper yellow vein in the Netherlands

Samenvatting Het verschijnsel van geelnervigheid bij paprika (Capsicum annuum) kon door verenting en met de schimmelOlpidium brassicae worden overgebracht. Hierdoor bleek de ziekte identiek te zijn met een eerder in Engeland gemelde ziekte. Door inoculatie met zoösporen of rustsporen vanO. brassicae werden ook symptomen verkregen inC. baccatum, C. chacoense enC. frutescens. S. villosum bleek een waardplant te zijn voor het geelnervigheidsagens, waarbij zwakke nerfchlorosen werden waargenomen.Seconded to the Glasshouse Crops Research Station, P.O. Box 8, 2670 AA Naaldwijk, the Netherlands.     

中国东南地区两土链土壤中土壤性质和水稻产量的空间变异研究

In the light of an increasing demand for staple food, especially rice, in southeast China, investigations on the specific site potential expressed as the relationship between soil and crop yield parameters gain increasing importance. Soil texture and several soil chemical parameters as well as plant properties such as crop height, biomass and grain yield were investigated along two terraced catenas with contrasting soil textures cropped with wet rice. We were aiming at identifying correlative relationships between soil and crop properties. Data were analyzed both statistically and geostatistically on the basis of semivariograms. Statistical analysis indicated a significant influence of the relief position on the spatial distribution of soil texture, total carbon and total nitrogen contents. Significant correlations were found for the catena located in a sandstone area （Catena A） between rice yield and silt as well as total nitrogen content. Corresponding relationships were not detectable for paddy fields that developed from Quaternary clays （Catena B）. As suggested by the nugget to sill ratio, spatial variability of soil texture, total carbon and nitrogen was mainly controlled by intrinsic factors, which might be attributed to the erosional transport of fine soil constituents, indicating the importance of the relief position and slope in soil development even in landscapes that are terraced. The crop parameters exhibited short ranges of influence and about one third of their variability was unexplained. Comparable ranges Of selected crop and soil parameters, found only for Catena A, are indicative of close spatial interactions between rice yield and soil features. Our findings show that especially in sandstone-dominated areas, a site-specific management can contribute to an environmentally safe rice production increase.     

Semi-lethality in hybrid offspring of wheat

Summary Seven of the wheat crosses which were performed in 1954 and 1955 produced a uniform semi-lethal F₁. Among these were four combinations with the spring wheat Koga and two with the Turkish winter wheat Eskischir. The degree of withering in the F₁ appeared to be dependent on the variety with which Koga or Eskischir were combined. In the F₂ of the Koga crosses carried out in 1954 a 9 : 7 ratio of semi-lethals and normal plants was found. The almost continuous gradation in semi-lethality within the group of semi-lethal plants of every F₂ was conspicuous.The facts are explained as follows: Two complementary genes determine the semi-lethality as such, while modifying genes are responsible for the different degrees of semi-lethality of the different F₁'s and for the variation in degree of semi-lethality within every F₂. In the discussion this explanation is given in detail.It is pointed out that it is perhaps possible, with the aid of the phenomenon of semi-lethality, to discover or confirm relationships between species and/or varieties.Finally it is suggested that the rejection of F₁'s with withering symptoms is premature.     

Genetic variances due to imprinted genes in cattle

The effect of paternally expressed, i.e. maternally imprinted, genes on slaughter records from 2744 German Gelbvieh finishing bulls were estimated. Significant effects of paternal gametes were found for two fatness traits and an estimate of meat content. Paternally expressed genes explained 14 and 16% of the phenotypic variances for pelvic fat and kidney fat, respectively. Ignoring paternal gametic effects resulted in inflated estimates of the additive genetic variances. The heritabilities of pelvic and kidney fat dropped from 0.31 to 0.16 and from 0.59 to 0.28, respectively, when paternal gametes were fitted. A 15% influence of paternally expressed genes and a reduction in heritability of 20% were also found for estimated meat content. Simulation studies demonstrated that the uncorrelated random effect of the sire is a useful indicator for the presence of paternal gametic effects in variance component estimations. The presented results correspond well with findings in swine, where a paternally expressed QTL at the Igf2 gene influences similar trait complexes. A viable speculation could therefore be that an imprinted bovine Igf2 gene caused the effects described here.     

Management of the yellow beet cyst nematode with crop rotation,soil fumigation and granular nematicides

A trail field was managed for six years to test effects of short crop rotations, soil fumigation and granular nematicides on the population dynamics of the yellow beet cyst nematode (Heterodera trifolii f. sp.beta) and sugar-beet yields.In the two-year rotation, the cyst nematode population before planting varied from about the tolerance level (5 eggs per millilitre of soil) to 25 eggs per millitlitre of soil, leading to losses of sugar yield. Soil fumigation with metam-sodium effectively reduced the nematode density before planting, resulting in a 15 and 25% increase in sugar yield in the first two crops, respectively, but was insufficient to protect the third sugar-beet crop from yield-reducing nematode attack. This was attributed to the wet soil at the time of application and accelerated disappearence of the chemical in the soil through biological adaptation to repeated fumigation. Oxamyl or aldicarb granular nematicides applied as a side-dressing to the rows had insufficient effect to protect the sugar-beet from yield-reducing nematode attack. An overall treatment with aldicarb rotavated into the soil, alone and in addition to soil fumigation, increased sugar yield significantly. However in the two-year rotation, yield of the third sugar-beet crop treated with soil fumigation and granular nematicide was still lower than that of the untreated second crop in the three-year rotation.In the three-year rotation, thecyst nematode population before sugar-beet varied from hardly detectable to about the tolerance level. Here sugar-beet could be protected from yield-reducing nematode attack by soil fumigation or an overall treatment with granular nematicide. In the threeyear rotation with soil fumigation an increase ofRhizoctonia crown rot was observed in the second sugar-beet crop.Samenvatting Om de effecten na te gaan van korte rotaties, grondontsmetting en nematicide granulaten op het populatieverloop van de gele bietcystenematode (Heterodera trifolii f.sp.beta) en de opbrengsten van suikerbieten werd gedurende zes jaren een proef uitgevoerd op een natuurlijk besmet perceel van de proefboerderij Vredepeel.In de tweejarige rotatie variëerde de cystenematodepopulatie vóór het bietegewas boven de schadedrempel, wat resulteerde in verlaging van de suikeropbrengst. Grondontsmetting met metam-natrium veroorzaakte een effective vermindering van de dichtheid van de nematoden vóór de bieten en een verhoging van de suikeropbrengst van respectievelijk 15 en 25% bij de eerste twee gewassen, maar was onvoldeende om het derde bietegewas te beschermen tegen een opbrengst verminderende aantasting door nematoden. Dit was een gevolg van natte bodemomstandigheden bij het injecteren en het versneld verdwijenen van het middel door biologische adaptatie van de grond na herhaalde ontsmetting. Nematicide granulaten (oxamyl of aldicarb) naast de rij toegepast hadden onvoldoende effect om de bieten te beschermen tegen een opbrengstverminderende aantasting door nematoden. Een volvelds toepassing van in de grond gefreesde aldicarb alleen en toegevoegd na grondontsmetting verhoodge de suikeropbrengst beduidend. De opbrengst van het derde suikerbietegewas in de tweejarige rotatie was echter na toepassing van grondontsmetting en nematicide granulaten nog beduidend lager dan die van het onbehandelde tweede suikerbietegewas in de driejarige rotatie.In de driejarige rotatie variëerde de cystenematodepopulatie vóór het bietegewas van nauwelijks aantoonbaar tot nabij de tolerantiegrens. Hier kon het suikerbietegewas worden beschermd tegen een eventueel opbrengst verminderende nematodenaantasting door grondontsmetting of volveldstoepassing van nematicide granulaten.     

Apparatus for hourly aphid assessments with yellow water traps

Samenvatting Er wordt een apparaat beschreven om automatisch per uur bladluisvangsten te verrichten. De apparatuur bestaat uit 24 gele vangbakken, die ieder één uur per etmaal open staan. Onder de vangbak bevindt zich een Servo-motor, die op het gewenste tijdstip een deksel over de bak schuift of wegschuift (Fig. 1). De Servo-motor krijgt het commando daartoe van een programma-schakelaar (Fig. 2).