Influence of invasive palms on terrestrial arthropod assemblages in desert spring habitat

Invasive plants can eliminate native flora and ultimately have negative indirect effects on fauna and the functional ecology of ecosystems, but understanding of these cascading effects on arthropod assemblages is poor. Desert spring habitats are small, isolated landscape elements that are literal oases for flora and fauna and support high diversity assemblages; invasive palms can colonize desert springs and form monocultures. In an effort to understand effects of these invasive trees on higher terrestrial trophic levels at springs, we contrasted assemblage structure of terrestrial arthropods in native vegetation versus invasive palm habitat. We sampled arthropods in paired palm and native habitat at 10 springs in Death Valley National Park, California, USA, during both spring and fall growing seasons using suction sampling. The invading palms Phoenix dactylifera L. and Washingtonia filifera (Linden ex André) supported a mean of only one-sixth of the arthropod abundance, one-third of the species richness, and half the family richness of native habitat. Almost all orders were less abundant in palms, and most families and species were either absent or virtually absent in palm habitat. Both live and dead palm leaves were depauperate, and season and block effects were minimal. Impacts of these visually striking invasives clearly go beyond monopolization of ground cover, and invading palms appear capable of reshaping the functional ecology of desert springs. If control efforts are undertaken, we recommend complete removal of palms, because killed but standing “ghost palms” and associated thatch persist for many years and will continue to provide poor arthropod habitat and prevent native plant establishment.     

Feline intestinal parasites in Finland: prevalence, risk factors and anthelmintic treatment practices

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of feline intestinal parasites in Finland and to determine the possible risk factors for infection. Altogether 411 feline fecal samples were analyzed with a flotation method to reveal helminth eggs and protozoan oocysts. Of the samples, 402 were also screened for Giardia species antigens with a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. The cat owners completed a questionnaire. Toxocara cati prevalence was 5.4% and Toxascaris leonina 0.2%. Taenia species eggs were found in 1.5% of the samples and Isospora felis in 0.7%, whilst 3.2% of the samples tested positive for Giardia species antigen. Risk factors for Toxocara/Toxascaris species infection included being a non-pedigree cat, having access to the outdoors, living outside of the cities and receiving home-made food. Pedigree cats were at greater risk of contracting Giardia duodenalis. The majority of the cat owners (62.4%) treated their cat with anthelmintics 2-4 times per year.     

The behavior of growth-influencing and steroid hormones in the blood plasma during pregnancy of Awassi sheep in Syria

In 11 Awassi ewes of a flock of 30 animals continuous investigations were carried out on the changes of somatogenic (growth hormone-GH, prolactin-PRL, insulin-like growth factor I-IGF-I) and steroid hormones (progesterone--PG, estradiol-17 beta-E2) in blood plasma during a gestation period. Eight animals were pregnant (3 with twins), 3 non-pregnant ewes served as control animals. Pregnancy is associated with an increase in the concentrations of the steroid hormones in blood plasma, they decrease markedly already prepartal (PG) or directly at term (E2), reflecting the placental origin of both hormones. Ewes with twins have higher concentrations of both steroid hormones in their blood plasma than animals with a single fetus. During pregnancy the concentrations of IGF-I in blood plasma increase continuously and normalize rapidly after birth. The relationship between the duration of the pregnancy and the concentration of IGF-I can be described by a quadratic regression, further positive correlations exist between the concentrations of IGF-I and PG or E2 in blood plasma, but a negative correlation between IGF-I and PRL. The concentration of PRL diminishes during the gestation, which reflects increasing seasonal influences (decreasing day length and environmental temperature). The concentration of GH shows a steady level throughout the gestation period. Both hormones increase markedly at term, which represents an attendant circumstance of the birth. From all hormones investigated in blood plasma of the ewes only the concentration of IGF-I exhibits a strong positive correlation with the birth weight of their lambs. This can be taken as a first hint to the ability of IGF-I to promote directly the fetal growth.     

Isolation and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against structural proteins of infectious laryngotracheitis virus

Thirteen infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV)-specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were isolated after immunization of mice with purified infectious laryngotracheitis virions. On the basis of their reactions in western blot analyses of ILTV-infected cells, the MAbs were assigned to five different virus proteins or protein groups. Two of the viral target proteins could be identified after transient expression of cloned ILTV genes in eucaryotic cells. The MAbs of group II detected a 60-kD protein that was shown to be the ILTV homologue of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) glycoprotein (g)C. The MAbs of group I reacted with the positional homologue of HSV-1 gJ, which is encoded by the open reading frame (ORF) 5 gene within the unique short genome region of ILTV. The ORF 5 gene product of ILTV was previously described as a 60-kD glycoprotein (gp60), whereas multiple protein bands with apparent molecular masses of 85, 115, 160, and 200 kD were identified in the present study. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed that both gC and gJ of ILTV are localized in the envelope of virus particles, whereas the 15-kD protein detected by the MAbs of group III presumably represents a tegument component. Immunofluorescence analyses of infected cells demonstrated that the epitopes of the gC- and gJ-specific MAbs are conserved in all tested ILTV isolates originating from different parts of the world and that these MAbs are also suitable for in situ antigen detection in tissues of ILTV-infected chickens. The remaining ILTV-specific MAbs recognized viral proteins of 22 kD (group IV) and 38 kD (group V) that were not further characterized up to now.     

Large-scale biotechnological production of the antileukemic marine natural product sorbicillactone A

In the search for novel bioactive compounds from sponge-derived microorganisms, we have recently identified two structurally and biosynthetically unprecedented fungal metabolites, the novel-type alkaloids sorbicillactone A and sorbicillactone B. Sorbicillactone A is active against leukemia cells without showing notable cytotoxicity. Therefore, we have developed an efficient process for its biotechnological production and isolation on a large scale supplying sufficient material for the ongoing preclinical investigations and structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies.     

Levantilides A and B, 20-membered macrolides from a Micromonospora strain isolated from the Mediterranean deep sea sediment

Two new 20-membered macrolides, levantilide A and B, were isolated from the Micromonospora strain M71-A77. Strain M71-A77 was recovered from an Eastern Mediterranean deep-sea sediment sample and revealed to produce the levantilides under in situ salinity of 38.6 ‰. The chemical structures of the levantilides were elucidated on the basis of different one- and two- dimensional NMR experiments. Levantilide A exhibits a moderate antiproliferative activity against several tumor cell lines.     

Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) enables the fast and accurate prediction of essential amino acid contents. 2. Results for wheat,barley, corn,triticale, wheat bran/middlings,rice bran,and sorghum

Further NIRS calibrations were developed for the accurate and fast prediction of the total contents of methionine, cystine, lysine, threonine, tryptophan, and other essential amino acids, protein, and moisture in the most important cereals and brans or middlings for animal feed production. More than 1100 samples of global origin collected over five years were analyzed for amino acids following the Official Methods of the United States and European Union. Detailed data and graphics are given to characterize the obtained calibration equations. NIRS was validated with 98 independent samples for wheat and 78 samples for corn and compared to amino acid predictions using linear crude protein regression equations. With a few exceptions, validation showed that 70-98% of the amino acid variance in the samples could be explained using NIRS. Especially for lysine and methionine, the most limiting amino acids for farm animals, NIRS can predict contents in cereals much better than crude protein regressions. Through low cost and high speed of analysis NIRS enables the amino acid analysis of many samples in order to improve the accuracy of feed formulation and obtain better quality and lower production costs.     

Two New Antibiotic Pyridones Produced by a Marine Fungus,Trichoderma sp. Strain MF106

Two unusual pyridones, trichodin A (1) and trichodin B (2), together with the known compound, pyridoxatin (3), were extracted from mycelia and culture broth of the marine fungus, Trichoderma sp. strain MF106 isolated from the Greenland Seas. The structures of the new compounds were characterized as an intramolecular cyclization of a pyridine basic backbone with a phenyl group. The structure and relative configuration of the new compounds were established by spectroscopic means. The new compound 1 and the known compound 3 showed antibiotic activities against the clinically relevant microorganism, Staphylococcus epidermidis, with IC₅₀ values of 24 μM and 4 μM, respectively.