Variation in parasitoid attraction to herbivore-infested plants and alternative host plant cover mediate tritrophic interactions at the landscape scale

Landscape Ecology - Tritrophic interactions may be affected by local factors and the broader landscape context. At small spatial scales, carnivorous enemies of herbivorous insects use...     

Ciclosporin A therapy is associated with disturbances in glucose metabolism in dogs with atopic dermatitis

The effect of ciclosporin A (CsA) on glucose homeostasis was investigated in 16 dogs with atopic dermatitis by determining plasma glucose, serum fructosamine and insulin concentrations, and serial insulin and glucose concentrations following a glucagon stimulation test, before and 6 weeks after CsA therapy at 5 mg/kg once daily. All dogs completed the study. Following CsA treatment, the median serum fructosamine concentrations were significantly higher (pretreatment 227.5 μmol/L; post-treatment 246.5 μmol/L; P = 0.001; reference range 162-310 μmol/L). Based on analyses of the areas under concentration-time curves (AUC) pre- and post-CsA treatment, plasma glucose concentrations were significantly higher (AUC without baseline correction 31.0 mmol/L/min greater; P = 0.021) and serum insulin concentrations were significantly lower (AUC without baseline correction 217.1 μIU/mL/min lower; P = 0.044) following CsA treatment. Peak glucose concentrations after glucagon stimulation test were significantly higher following CsA treatment (10.75 versus 12.05 mmol/L; P = 0.021), but there was no significant difference in peak serum insulin (52.0 versus 35.0 μIU/mL; P = 0.052). There was a negative correlation between baseline uncorrected insulin AUC and trough serum log CsA concentrations (r = -0.70, P = 0.005). The administration of CsA to dogs with atopic dermatitis leads to disturbances in glucose homeostasis. The clinical significance of this is unclear, but it should be taken into account when considering CsA treatment in dogs that already have such impairments.     

Trichoderma Biocontrol of Colletotrichum acutatum and Botrytis cinerea and Survival in Strawberry

Trichoderma isolates are known for their ability to control plant pathogens. It has been shown that various isolates of Trichoderma, including T. harzianum isolate T-39 from the commercial biological control product TRICHODEX, were effective in controlling anthracnose (Colletotrichum acutatum) and grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) in strawberry, under controlled and greenhouse conditions. Three selected Trichoderma strains, namely T-39, T-161 and T-166, were evaluated in large-scale experiments using different timing application and dosage rates for reduction of strawberry anthracnose and grey mould. All possible combinations of single, double or triple mixtures of Trichoderma strains, applied at 0.4% and 0.8% concentrations, and at 7 or 10 day intervals, resulted in reduction of anthracnose severity; the higher concentration (0.8%) was superior in control whether used with single isolates or as a result of combined application of two isolates, each at 0.4%. Only a few treatments resulted in significant control of grey mould. Isolates T-39 applied at 0.4% at 2 day intervals, T-166 at 0.4%, or T-161 combined with T-39 at 0.4% were as effective as the chemical fungicide fenhexamide. The survival dynamics of populations of the Trichoderma isolates (T-39, T-105, T-161 and T-166) applied separately was determined by dilution plating and isolates in the mixtures calculated according to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using repeat motif primers. The biocontrol isolates were identified to the respective species T. harzianum (T-39), T. hamatum (T-105), T. atroviride (T-161) and T. longibrachiatum (T-166), according to internal transcribed spacer sequence analysis.     

Establishment of diagnostic criteria for feline nonflea-induced hypersensitivity dermatitis

Hypersensitivity dermatitides (HD) are commonly seen in cats, and they are usually caused by environmental, food and/or flea allergens. Affected cats normally present with one of the following clinical reaction patterns: head and neck excoriations, usually symmetrical self-induced alopecia, eosinophilic skin lesions or miliary dermatitis. Importantly, none of these clinical presentations is considered to be pathognomonic for HD skin diseases, and the diagnosis of HD is usually based on the exclusion of other pruritic diseases and on a positive response to therapy. The objectives of this study were to propose sets of criteria for the diagnosis of nonflea-induced HD (NFHD). We recruited 501 cats with pruritus and skin lesions and compared clinical parameters between cats with NFHD (encompassing those with nonflea, nonfood HD and those with food HD), flea HD and other pruritic conditions. Using simulated annealing techniques, we established two sets of proposed criteria for the following two different clinical situations: (i) the diagnosis of NFHD in a population of pruritic cats; and (ii) the diagnosis of NFHD after exclusion of cats with flea HD. These criteria sets were associated with good sensitivity and specificity and may be useful for homogeneity of enrolment in clinical trials and to evaluate the probability of diagnosis of NFHD in clinical practice. Finally, these criteria were not useful to differentiate cats with NFHD from those with food HD.     

Stimulation of spermiation and induction of ovulation in pike (Esox lucius)

Mature northern pike were given various hormonal treatments in March or April in order to stimulate spermiation or to induce ovulation. In males the total amount of sperm collected after treatment increased, in comparison with saline-injected males, by 3–11 times with partially purified salmon gonadotropin (PPSG-activity: half of the highly purified s-GTH; injected at doses of between 5 and 100 μg/kg body weight); 3–6 times with crude carp pituitary extract (0.5–3 mg/kg body weight); and 3–7 times with fresh pike pituitaries (14 and 1.2 mg wet weight/kg body weight). The sperm obtained after hormonal treatment was of good quality. Intracardiac injection of superactive LRH analogue had no effect. In females, PPSG induced 90 and 100% ovulation at the doses of 50 and 25 μg/kg body weight. Dried salmon pituitaries (2.5 mg/kg, equivalent to 50 μg of PPSG) gave 25% ovulation; at 10 mg/kg, 25% complete ovulation was again recorded, but in addition 70% of the females showed oocyte maturation and partial ovulation. Similarly, dried carp pituitary (3 mg/kg) induced only oocyte maturation but no ovulation. The oocytes obtained after hormonal treatment were in general fertile. Intraperitoneal injection of LRH in an emulsified form induced neither oocyte maturation nor ovulation. The lack of effect of LRH analogue is discussed and shows that the use of this compound as a substitute for pituitary preparation is not very promising.     

Demand for forest ecosystem services: a comparison study in selected areas in the Czech Republic and China

European Journal of Forest Research - Ecosystem services are investigated from many perspectives, but there are very few studies comparing the perception of forest and demand for forest ecosystem...     

Recovery of native plant communities after the control of a dominant invasive plant species, Foeniculum vulgare: Implications for management

The control and/or removal of a dominant invasive species is expected to lead to increases in native species richness and diversity. Small pilot studies were performed on Santa Cruz Island (SCI), California, in the early 1990s to test the efficacy of different methods on the control of Foeniculum vulgare (fennel) and management’s effects on native species recovery. We chose a treatment that showed significant native species recovery, applied it at the landscape scale, and followed its effects on fennel infested plant communities. We tested the hypothesis that results from small-scale studies translate to the landscape level. We found that although the control of fennel translated from the small to landscape scale, decreasing from an average of 60% to less than 3% cover, native species recovery did not occur in the landscape study as it did in the pilot studies. Invasive fennel cover was replaced by non-native grass cover over time. Unexpectedly, fennel cover in untreated fennel plots decreased significantly (though not as drastically) from over 60% cover to just under 40% cover while native species richness in untreated areas increased significantly. The correlation between precipitation and changes in native and non-native species richness and abundance in this study imply that changes in species abundances were highly correlated with environmental fluctuations. The lack of a native seedbank and the accumulation of non-native grass litter likely prevented the recovery of native species in treated areas. Greater vertical complexity found in fennel communities, which increased visitation by frugivorous birds and likely increased native seed dispersal, may have been responsible for the increase in native species richness in the untreated areas. These results suggest that successful invasive species control and native species recovery experiments conducted at small scales may not translate to the landscape level, and active restoration should be an organic component of such large-scale projects.     

Differences in nitrogen‐assimilating enzyme activity in halophyte species are habitat‐related

The chemical form and content of available nitrogen (N) in salt marsh substrates varies considerably. On the western coast of Ireland, habitats designated as Ombrogenic Atlantic salt marshes were formed on ombrogenic peat substrate. The peat substrate in these systems has three times more ammonium than substrate from adjacent salt marsh habitats on sand and mud substrate. This study examined the extent to which the high concentration of ammonium in peat salt marsh substrate influences the N‐ assimilating enzyme activity of halophytes and the extent to which N metabolism differs between species. Specifically, this work investigated whether plants from peat salt marshes are more likely to assimilate ammonium than plants from non‐peat substrates. Four halophyte plant species—Armeria maritima, Aster tripolium, Plantago maritime, and Triglochin maritime—were sampled from various saltmarsh habitats including three sites on peat substrate and three on non‐peat substrate, comprising sand, mud and sand/mud. The activities of N‐metabolising enzymes—glutamine synthetase (GS), glutamate synthase, glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), and nitrate reductase (NR)—were quantified in shoot and root parts. Root GS activity in Armeria maritima and shoot GS activity in Triglochin maritima were positively correlated with increasing soil ammonium levels. Root NR activity in Aster tripolium and shoot NR activity in Plantago maritima were significantly higher in plants grown on non‐peat substrates than peat substrates. The shoot : root GS activity ratio in Triglochin maritima on peat substrate was more than double the ratio on non‐peat substrates. It is concluded that all species tested displayed differences in N‐metabolising activities depending on the chemical form and/or concentration of N in the substrate, while three out of the four species were capable of taking advantage of the high levels of ammonium in peat substrates.     

Genetic diversity and pathogenic variability among isolates of colletotrichum species from strawberry

ABSTRACT Ninety-five isolates of Colletotrichum including 81 isolates of C. acutatum (62 from strawberry) and 14 isolates of C. gloeosporioides (13 from strawberry) were characterized by various molecular methods and pathogenicity tests. Results based on random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) polymorphism and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 2 sequence data provided clear genetic evidence of two subgroups in C. acutatum. The first subgroup, characterized as CA-clonal, included only isolates from strawberry and exhibited identical RAPD patterns and nearly identical ITS2 sequence analysis. A larger genetic group, CA-variable, included isolates from various hosts and exhibited variable RAPD patterns and divergent ITS2 sequence analysis. Within the C. acutatum population isolated from strawberry, the CA-clonal group is prevalent in Europe (54 isolates of 62). A subset of European C. acutatum isolates isolated from strawberry and representing the CA-clonal and CA-variable groups was assigned to two pathogenicity groups. No correlation could be drawn between genetic and pathogenicity groups. On the basis of molecular data, it is proposed that the CA-clonal subgroup contains closely related, highly virulent C. acutatum isolates that may have developed host specialization to strawberry. C. gloeosporioides isolates from Europe, which were rarely observed were either slightly or nonpathogenic on strawberry. The absence of correlation between genetic polymorphism and geographical origin in Colletotrichum spp. suggests a worldwide dissemination of isolates, probably through international plant exchanges.