Epidemiology of brucellosis among cattle in Korea from 2001 to 2011

In the present study, the outbreak patterns of bovine brucellosis in Korea from 2000 to 2011 were analyzed to understand the epidemiological evolution of this disease in the country. A total of 85,521 brucella reactor animals were identified during 14,215 outbreaks over the 12-year study period. The number of bovine brucellosis cases increased after 2003 and peaked in 2006 before decreasing thereafter. The majority of the bovine brucellosis cases were Korean native cattle, Han Woo. The numbers of human brucellosis cases and cattle outbreaks increased and decreased in the same pattern. The correlation coefficient for human and bovine cases per year was 0.96 (95% confidence interval = 0.86~0.99; p < 10^-3). The epidemiological characteristics of bovine brucellosis appeared to be affected by the intensity of eradication programs that mainly involved a test-and-slaughter policy. Findings from the present study were based on freely available statistics from web pages maintained by government agencies. This unlimited access to information demonstrates the usefulness of government statistics for continually monitoring the health of animal populations.     

禽白血病和鸡白痢净化与非净化鸡群生产性能差异性研究

为了解禽白血病和鸡白痢净化与非净化鸡群在生产性能上的差异,在对安徽省某地方品种鸡开展禽白血病和鸡白痢检测净化研究中,对获得的净化鸡群和非净化鸡群在死淘、产蛋、种蛋孵化以及后代生长性能等方面进行了观察比较。结果表明,净化鸡群及其后代的死淘率较非净化组有较大程度降低;6~11月龄间月均产蛋率较非净化组提高5.91个百分点;蛋重显著高于非净化组(P0.05),且料蛋比较非净化组低0.46个点;净化组鸡群种蛋在合格率、受精率、出雏率和键雏率指标上均高于非净化组;净化组后代3月龄内体重除1月龄母鸡体重外,其他均高于非净化组,其中2月龄母鸡体重差异显著(P0.05);与非净化组相比,净化组后代的平均日增重有所提高,3月龄总增重较非净化组增加24.80 g,料重比降低0.05。综上结果可见,鸡群经过禽白血病和鸡白痢净化后在生产性能上明显优于非净化鸡群,可显著提高养殖效益,开展种鸡群禽白血病和鸡白痢净化对提高养鸡经济效益意义重大。     

Avoiding aliens: Behavioural plasticity in habitat use enables large, nocturnal geckos to survive Pacific rat invasions

Rodents are efficient invaders on a global scale and pose a significant threat to native biotas, particularly in systems such as oceanic islands which support a reduced suite of mammals. Pacific rats (Rattus exulans) are implicated in extinctions, range restrictions and declines of vulnerable endemic faunas throughout the Pacific. However, research into the behavioural and ecological modifications that enable native species to persist in the presence of Pacific rats is scant. We examined the population structure, behaviour and microhabitat use of Duvaucel’s geckos (Hoplodactylus duvaucelii; radio-telemetry), and Pacific rats (spool-and-line tracking) on three New Zealand offshore islands with different histories of rat incursions and eradication: (1) Green Island, historically rat-free, (2) Korapuki, from which rats were eradicated 20 years ago, and (3) ōh?¯nau, before and 6 months after rat eradication. Although Pacific rats and Duvaucel’s geckos shared habitat at a broad spatial scale, little overlap in micro-habitat use existed where they were sympatric. In the presence of rats, Duvaucel’s gecko capture rates and recruitment were reduced. However, 6 months after rat eradication, and prior to any recruitment, capture rates of adult geckos increased fourfold and geckos were using a greater proportion of habitat preferred by rats. Thus, we provide strong empirical evidence that Pacific rats ecologically displace Duvaucel’s geckos. Highly plastic spatial avoidance behaviour by native prey species in response to the presence of introduced rodents may enable geckos to persist in sympatry with rodents at least in the short-term.     

稳定性粉状二氧化氯对鱼类受精卵上附着菌的清除作用

采用浓度为1.0、2.0、3.0、4.0、5.0、6.0、7.0、8.0、9.0和10.0g/ml的稳定性粉状二氧化氯（ClO2）溶液分别浸泡草鱼、鲢和鳙等3种鱼类的受精卵20min后，用平皿法测定附着在受精卵上的细菌数量，结果表明用ClO2溶液浸泡鱼类受精卵，对附着在受精卵上的细菌有明显地清除作用，并且随着ClO2溶液浓度的升高对受精卵上附着菌的清除作用越强，当ClO2溶液的浓度为2.0μg/ml以上时，对受精卵上附着菌的除除作用优于浓度为1.0μg/ml的孔雀石绿溶液。     

Double-edged effects of the cryogenic technique for virus eradication and preservation in shallot shoot tips

Plant virus eradication is a prerequisite for the use of virus-free propagules for sustainable crop production. In contrast, virus preservation is required for all types of applied and basic research of viruses. Shoot tip cryopreservation can act as a double-edged strategy, facilitating either virus eradication or virus preservation in cryoderived plants. Here, we tested the efficacies of shoot tip cryopreservation for virus eradication and preservation in shallot (Allium cepa var. aggregatum). In vitro stock shallot shoots infected with onion yellow dwarf virus (OYDV) and shallot latent virus were thermotreated for 0, 2, and 4 weeks at a constant temperature of 36℃ before shoot tip cryopreservation. Results showed that viruses were preserved in recovered shoots when thermotherapy was not applied. Although thermotherapy lowered the regrowth levels of cryotreated shoot tips, the efficiency of virus eradication increased from 5% to 54%. Immunolocalization of OYDV and histological observation of cryotreated shoot tips showed the high frequency of virus preservation was due to the viral invasion of cells close to the apical meristem and the high proportion of cells surviving. Four weeks of thermotherapy drastically decreased the distribution of OYDV, as well as the percentage of surviving cells within the shoot tips, thereby promoting virus eradication. Virus-free plants obtained from combining thermotherapy with cryotherapy showed significantly improved vegetative growth and bulb production. The present study reports how thermotherapy can act as a trigger to facilitate either the safe preservation of Allium viruses or the production of virus-free shallot plants.     

Witches'' broom disease of cocoa in Bahia: attempts at eradication and containment

Attempts during 1989 to eradicate the first recorded outbreak in Bahia of witches' broom of cocoa caused by Crinipellis perniciosa and the subsequent efforts to contain the spread of the pathogen are described. Factors that militated against successful eradication are evaluated in the light of subsequent experience of the disease in the region.     

Biocontrol of potato early blight and suppression of Alternaria grandis sporulation by Clonostachys spp.

Early blight, caused by Alternaria solani and A. grandis, severely affects potato crops around the world, and few management options apart from intensive fungicide use are available. In this work, we tested whether biocontrol treatments with different species of the mycoparasitic fungus Clonostachys could reduce early blight severity on the foliage of pot-grown potatoes of cultivar Ágata, and affect the survival and sporulation of the causal pathogen A. grandis. Twenty isolates from five Clonostachys species were screened in a preliminary biocontrol trial, and nine of them were selected and tested further in two confirmation trials. Treatments with three isolates from three species (C. chloroleuca, C. pseudochroleuca, C. rhizophaga) resulted in a significant reduction in disease severity in both confirmation trials, with control efficacy ranging from 88.7% to 92.9% in the first trial, and from 83.1% to 84.7% in the second trial. All Clonostachys isolates used in the confirmation trials survived on potato leaf tissues for at least 15 days, and resumed growth when subjected to high humidity, resulting in mycoparasitic overgrowth and significant reduction of the pathogen sporulation. Our results provide evidence that different species of Clonostachys, not only the ubiquitous C. rosea, are sources of useful candidates for the biocontrol of potato early blight and possibly other plant diseases caused by fungal pathogens.     

Delivery

Enthusiasm greeted the development of synthetic organic insecticides in the mid‐twentieth century, only to see this give way to dismay and eventually scepticism and outright opposition by some. Regardless of how anyone feels about this issue, insecticides and other pesticides have become indispensable, which creates something of a dilemma. Possibly as a result of the shift in public attitude towards insecticides, genetic engineering of microbes was first met with scepticism and caution among scientists. Later, the development of genetically modified crop plants was met with an attitude that hardened into both acceptance and hard‐core resistance. Transgenic insects, which came along at the dawn of the twenty‐first century, encountered an entrenched opposition. Those of us responsible for studying the protection of crops have been affected more or less by these protagonist and antagonistic positions, and the experiences have often left one thoughtfully mystified as decisions are made by non‐participants. Most of the issues boil down to concerns over delivery mechanisms. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry