Metabolisme des depsides de l'acide quinique chez lycopersicum esculentum mill

During the early stages of growth, changes in both free and esterified quinic acid pools occur in tomato plants. Quinate exogenously supplied leads to a marked rise in depsides level but subsequently a significant drop in amounts per plant occur. Chlorogenic acid participates to the biosynthesis of lignins after conversion of aromatic moiety into ferulic acid in this material. The physiological role and significance of free and bound quinic acid pools are discussed.     

Relationships between botanical composition,yield and forage quality of permanent grasslands over the first growth cycle

This study examined the relationships between botanical composition and forage parameters (yield and forage quality variables) in 153 permanent grasslands located in the Massif Central of France. Grasslands were sampled at two vegetation stages in the first growth cycle. Botanical composition, yield, ash, crude protein, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre, acid detergent lignin, organic matter digestibility (OMD) and voluntary intake (VI) were estimated for each sample. Temporal variability in species–forage parameter relationships were accounted for using innovative multivariate analyses applied mainly in ecological science. Crude protein and OMD were weakly correlated when each harvest time was analysed separately. Species–forage parameter relationships remained stable during the first growth cycle. The stability of these relationships indicates that permanent grasslands dominated by competitive species were associated with high yield and forage quality values whereas permanent grasslands composed of conservative species and/or high proportions of senescent material were associated with high structural carbohydrate values and low yield, OMD and VI values. Based on these relationships, we propose a typology of permanent grasslands along with a set of indicator species enabling non‐specialist botanists to easily classify grasslands for grassland management purposes.     

Physical and mechanical properties of washed sediment mixed with organic matter

Soil from cleaning and washing of sugar beet during processing is collected and decanted in tanks each year over a period of several months. Instead of spreading it on agricultural land, another option is to reuse the sediment for crop growth. The physical and mechanical properties of the non-structured washed soil (WS) and the efficiency of added organic matter (peat and green waste compost) were evaluated by comparison with an arable silt loam soil (AS). Water retention data were expressed in a double-exponential function which characterized soil structural and matrix pore space. The effects on saturated hydraulic conductivity and pore space morphology from applying loads of 60 and 200 kPa on two initial volumetric water contents (12 and 25%) were investigated using image analysis. WS was a silt loam with no plasticity, and its void ratio and water retention were higher than the AS before compression. However, WS had a very small amount of structural pore space and despite its higher void ratio, its hydraulic conductivity was always lower than AS after compression. Organic matter improved all the WS properties by increasing structural porosity and vertical stress resistance. Organic matter created elongated and tortuous pores and increased K _s values by changing pore size distribution. During compression large pores with a radius >1500 μm disappeared in WS mixtures but were still observed in AS and were maintained by aggregate stability.     

Enhanced arboviral transmission by mosquitoes that concurrently ingested microfilariae

Infection, dissemination, and transmission of an arbovirus in mosquitoes are enhanced by concurrent ingestion of microfilariae. Ingestion of Rift Valley fever virus alone infected only 64 percent of female Aedes taeniorhynchus. Of these, only 5 percent of refeeding mosquitoes actually transmitted virus. In contrast, ingestion of the same amount of virus from concurrently microfilaremic (Brugia malayi) gerbils resulted in 88 percent infection and 31 percent transmission. Enhanced transmission of virus may be attributed to increased transit of virus across the midgut wall. Endemic filariasis may promote arbovirus transmission in nature.