Ethoxylated rapeseed oil derivatives as novel adjuvants for herbicides

Ethoxylates of rapeseed oil and of methylated rapeseed oil were synthesized and tested as adjuvants for 2,4-D and phenmedipham. Provided they had less than 6 units of ethylene oxide (EO), 1.0 to 10 g litre(-1) ethoxylates in water induced droplet spreading on barley leaves. In an acetone-based medium all derivatives strongly promoted the foliar uptake of 2,4-D, with no clear influence of the ethoxylation degree. In the same medium there was a negative influence of ethoxylate chain length on the foliar uptake of phenmedipham. In a water-based medium, phenmedipham applied with rapeseed oil emulsified with ethoxylated (20 EO) rapeseed oil displayed uptake rates close to a commercial preparation. The same was true for phenmedipham applied with ethoxylated (2 EO) methylated rapeseed oil. In bioassays, phenmedipham prepared with methylated rapeseed oil emulsified with ethoxylated (20 EO) rapeseed oil was as efficacious on barley as a commercial formulation. The same was true for phenmedipham prepared with ethoxylated (2 EO) methylated rapeseed oil. However, neither rapeseed oil nor methylated rapeseed oil emulsified with ethoxylated (2 EO) methylated rapeseed oil conferred good efficacy to phenmedipham. Hence, ethoxylated rapeseed oil derivatives are promising adjuvants or formulants for herbicides.     

Pharmacokinetics of ketoprofen in the green iguana (Iguana iguana) following single intravenous and intramuscular injections.

The nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug ketoprofen (KTP) is a commonly used antiinflammatory and analgesic agent in reptile medicine, but no studies documenting its pharmacokinetics in this species have been published. Ketoprofen was administered as a racemic mixture to green iguanas (Iguana iguana) intravenously (i.v.) and intramuscularly (i.m.) at 2 mg/kg. Pharmacokinetic analyses were performed and indicated that ketoprofen in iguanas administered by the intravenous route has a classical two-compartmental distribution pattern, a slow clearance (67 ml/ kg/hr) and a long terminal half-life (31 hr) compared to ketoprofen studies reported in mammals. When delivered by the intramuscular route, bioavailability was 78%. These data indicate the daily dosing that is generally recommended for reptile patients, as an extrapolation from mammalian data, may be more frequent than necessary.     

苹果叶幕大小对产量的影响

以6个苹果品种为试材,进行苹果的有效负载面积与产量相关性试验.结果表明:在一定条件下,有效负载面积(EBS)越大,产量相应越高.不同纬度对不同品种的EBS和产量的影响不同.土壤中砾石含量对EBS和产量都有影响,但品种和砧木不同,EBS的减少率不同.不同品种对砾石的耐受能力不同.     

Effect of cultural practices on the development of arabica coffee berry disease,caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Colletotrichum kahawae</Emphasis>

In the high altitude regions of Africa, coffee berry disease (CBD), caused by Colletotrichum kahawae, is the main constraint for arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) production. However, certain agricultural practices can reduce losses caused by the disease and thereby promote optimum production. On small family farms in Cameroon, mixed cropping with fruit trees, intercropping with food crops and maintenance pruning of coffee trees are very widespread agricultural practices that can affect CBD epidemics. Consequently, an epidemiological study was conducted to assess how cultural practices affected the disease in an arabica coffee smallholding in Cameroon. The disease was monitored on a weekly basis over four successive years (2002–2005) on coffee trees in diverse cultural situations. Cultural practices likely to reduce losses due to CBD were identified. The infection rate was significantly lower on coffee trees grown intensively than on coffee trees grown in the traditional manner. Coffee trees located under the shade of fruit trees were significantly less attacked than those located in full sunlight. In addition, berries on the leafless parts of branches, near the main trunk of the coffee tree, were less infected than those on leafy sections. These results show that maintenance pruning, removal of mummified berries, and mixed cropping with shade plants are cultural practices which create environmental conditions that limit CBD development.     

Efficiency of SNP and SSR-based analysis of genetic diversity,population structure,and relationships among cowpea (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Vigna unguiculata</Emphasis> (L.) Walp.) germplasm from East Africa and IITA inbred lines

The extent of genetic diversity and relatedness of cowpea germplasm from East Africa are poorly understood. A set of 13 microsatellites (SSR) and 151 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) markers were applied to assess the levels of genetic diversity in a sample of 95 accessions of local cowpea germplasm and inbred lines of Vigna unguiculata. The average genetic diversity (D), as quantified by the expected heterozygosity, was higher for SSR loci (0.52) than for SNPs (0.34). The polymorphic information content was 0.48 for SSR and 0.28 for SNP while the fixation index was 0.095 for SSR and 0.15 for SNPs showing moderate differentiation and high gene flow among cowpea accessions from East African countries. The results of data analysis of both SSR and SNP markers showed similar clustering patterns suggesting a substantial degree of association between origin and genotype. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) with SSR and SNP markers showed that accessions were grouped into two and three broad groups across the first two axes, respectively. Our study found that SNP markers were more effective than SSR in determining the genetic relationship among East African local cowpea accessions and IITA inbred lines. Based on this analysis, five local cowpea accessions Tvu-13490, Tvu-6378, Tvu-13448, Tvu-16073, and 2305675 were identified to be tightly clustered sharing several common alleles with the drought tolerant variety Danila when analyzed with SSR and SNP markers. The findings will assist and contribute to future genetic diversity studies aimed at the genetic improvement of local Eastern Africa cowpea accessions for improved overall agronomic performance in general and breeding for drought tolerant in particular.     

Nitrate leaching losses under Miscanthus grass planted on a silty clay loam soil

Abstract. Nitrate leaching under newly planted Miscanthus grass was measured for three years. The crop received either no fertilizer-N or an annual spring application of 60 kg or 120 kg N ha^-1. During three winters soil water was collected from porous cup probes installed 90 cm deep. Nitrate leaching was calculated from the mean drain flow recorded in two drain gauges multiplied by the mean nitrate-N concentration in the soil water solutions collected. In the first year soil water nitrate concentrations were high on all treatments and N losses were 154, 187 and 228 kg ha^-1 respectively on the unfertilized treatment and those that received 60 or 120 kg N ha^-1. Leaching losses in the second and third years were, in turn, 8, 24 and 87 kg ha^-1 and 3, 11 and 30 kg ha^-1 for the unfertilized treatment and for the 60 and 120 kg N ha^-1 treatments respectively. Leaching losses were closer to those recorded under extensively managed grassland than arable land. The large losses in the first year were probably due to the previous agricultural management at the site and excessive inputs of N on the fertilized plots. In the second and third year, lower drainage volumes may also have influenced losses. The results show that Miscanthus , once established, can lead to low levels of nitrate leaching and improved groundwater quality compared with growing arable crops.     

Implementation of two high through-put techniques in a novel application: detecting point mutations in large EMS mutated plant populations

Background  

The establishment of mutant populations together with the strategies for targeted mutation detection has been applied successfully to a large number of organisms including many species in the plant kingdom. Considerable efforts have been invested into research on tomato as a model for berry-fruit plants. With the progress of the tomato sequencing project, reverse genetics becomes an obvious and achievable goal.     

Determination of Young's modulus for spruce, fir and isotropic materials by the resonance flexure method with comparisons to static flexure and other dynamic methods

Summary Dynamic methods provide rapid and accurate means to determine Young's modulus, i.e. the modulus of elasticity, of wood. For dry, clear specimens of épicéa commun (Norway spruce, picea excelsa) and sapin pictiné (silver fir, abies amabilis) we present a comparison of results from tests by a resonance flexure method with results obtained from four-point static flexure tests. For a wide range of specimen size the resonance flexure method provides a simpler, more rapidly performed alternative to the classical static flexure method, giving Young's modulus values which are for the spruce and fir specimens of this study, nearly identical to those calculated from the static flexure tests. Results are also presented which show that a resonance longitudinal method yields higher values of Young's modulus and an ultrasonic method yields still higher values. We provide also a comparison of the four test methods applied to isotropic materials.The authors wish to thank Pierre Michel and André Perrin for preparing the test specimens and components of the test apparatus for this study