Quarantine requirements for the importation of black rhinoceros from Zimbabwe into Australia

SUMMARY The proposal by the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales to import 10 southern black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) from Zimbabwe as part of an international project for conservation of the species presented the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) with a unique challenge. This importation is, at least in the modern era, the first importation of live herbivores from the African continent. Many of the serious animal diseases in the world are endemic in parts of Africa. Knowledge of which of these diseases infect wild species and may be transmitted from the wild species to domesticated species, is limited. This paper describes the strategies adopted by AQIS to facilitate the importation of rhinoceros while maintaining protection of Australian consumers, rural industries, domestic livestock and fauna against the entry and spread of unwanted pests and diseases.     

Review: The strobilurin fungicides

The original article to which this Correction refers was published in Pest Management Science 58 (7): 649–662 (2002).Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Impact of novel endophytes in perennial ryegrass on herbage production and insect pests from pastures under dairy cow grazing in northern New Zealand

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) infected with a novel endophyte (AR37 or AR1), Wild‐type endophyte or no endophyte (Nil) was sown with white clover (Trifolium repens L.) in autumn 2005. The pastures were rotationally grazed by dairy cows from 2005–2009. Annual dry matter (DM) yield did not differ but AR37 pastures had a higher ryegrass tiller density, especially after the 2008 summer drought (+130%), and less white clover than did AR1 pastures. Concentrations of alkaloids produced by the Wild‐type association (lolitrem B, ergovaline) followed the same seasonal trends as did the AR37 alkaloids (epoxy‐janthitrems) but summer drought reduced concentrations of lolitrem B and epoxy‐janthitrems to less than half the mid‐summer (February) peak concentrations in the other years. Insect pests were monitored annually between 2006 and 2009. Tiller damage by Argentine stem weevil (Listronotus bonariensis (Kuschel)) was significantly reduced by all endophyte treatments. African black beetle (Heteronychus arator (F.)) populations in soil samples increased during the experiment with Nil > AR1 > Wild‐type = AR37. Root aphid (Aploneura lentisci (Pass.)) infestations followed the pattern AR1 > Nil > Wild‐type = AR37. A lower pest pressure from all insect pests in AR37 pastures is likely to have contributed to this treatment having the highest ryegrass tiller densities.     

Monitoring distances travelled by horses using GPS tracking collars

Objective The aims of this work were to (1) develop a low-cost equine movement tracking collar based on readily available components, (2) conduct preliminary studies assessing the effects of both paddock size and internal fence design on the movements of domestic horses, with and without foals at foot, and (3) describe distances moved by mares and their foals. Additional monitoring of free-ranging feral horses was conducted to allow preliminary comparisons with the movement of confined domestic horses. Procedures A lightweight global positioning system (GPS) data logger modified from a personal/vehicle tracker and mounted on a collar was used to monitor the movement of domestic horses in a range of paddock sizes and internal fence designs for 6.5-day periods. Results In the paddocks used (0.8–16 ha), groups of domestic horses exhibited a logarithmic response in mean daily distance travelled as a function of increasing paddock size, tending asymptotically towards approximately 7.5 km/day. The distance moved by newborn foals was similar to their dams, with total distance travelled also dependent on paddock size. Without altering available paddock area, paddock design, with the exception of a spiral design, did not significantly affect mean daily distance travelled. Feral horses (17.9 km/day) travelled substantially greater mean daily distances than domestic horses (7.2 km/day in 16-ha paddock), even when allowing for larger paddock size. Conclusions Horses kept in stables or small yards and paddocks are quite sedentary in comparison with their feral relatives. For a given paddock area, most designs did not significantly affect mean daily distance travelled.     

The design and catalytic properties of a simplified ribonuclease P RNA

Ribonuclease P (RNase P) RNA is the catalytic moiety of the ribonucleoprotein enzyme that removes precursor sequences from the 5' ends of pre-transfer RNAs in eubacteria. Phylogenetic variation according to recently proposed secondary structure models was used to identify structural elements of the RNase P RNA that are dispensable for catalysis. A simplified RNase P RNA that consists only of evolutionarily conserved features was designed, synthesized, and characterized. Although the simplified RNA (Min 1 RNA) is only 263 nucleotides in length, in contrast to the 354 to 417 nucleotides of naturally occurring RNase P RNAs, its specificity of pre-tRNA cleavage is identical to that of the native enzymes. Moreover, the catalytic efficiencies of the Min 1 RNA and the native RNA enzymes are similar. These results focus the search for the catalytic elements of RNase P RNAs to their conserved structure.