Molecular tracing confirms that infection with infectious pancreatic necrosis virus follows the smolt from hatchery to grow‐out farm

Infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN) is an important restraint to production of salmonids in aquaculture globally. In order to implement efficacious mitigation strategies for control of this disease, it is important to understand infection routes under current production systems. IPN virus has been shown to be transmitted vertically in Rainbow trout, from broodstock to fingerlings in hatcheries, and there is circumstantial evidence suggesting that vertical transmission can also occur in Atlantic salmon, in addition to horizontal transmission between grow‐out fish in farms. In this study, we show that the smolt carries infection with IPN from hatchery to the marine farm. We do this by comparing sequences from fish groups taken both in hatcheries and on corresponding marine grow‐out farms. We use statistical analysis to prove that sequences obtained from the same fish group in both hatchery and marine farm are more similar than sequences obtained from random fish groups on hatcheries and marine farms.     

Palms in Indigenous and Settler Communities in Southeastern Ecuador: Farmers’ Perceptions and Cultivation Practices

Most palms used in agroforestry systems are exploited from wild stands or are only occasionally cultivated, while only a few palms have been domesticated. In this study we investigated how socio-economic factors and people's perceptions of changes in palm use and availability, influenced palm cultivation among indigenous Shuar and mestizo settlers in south-eastern Ecuador. We also looked at how different uses of palms influenced which species they cultivated. Our results showed that perceptions of declining palm availability in combination with heavy reliance on palm products was positively related to palm cultivation. Hence, cultivation was more common in more remote villages where alternative products were hard to get. In addition, palm cultivation was more common among wealthier people and among indigenous people than among recent settlers. This points to a limiting role of assets such as land and to the importance of history and culture with regard to cultivation. It was not possible to identify any single palm use as the primary reason for cultivating a species, but the more uses a species had, the more likely it was to be cultivated. These findings have important implications for development projects that promote cultivation of palms and other long-lived tree crops. They illustrate how market access and lack of necessary assets may undermine cultivation of native species even though these are regarded as important resources.     

Analysis of Mycosporine-Like Amino Acids in Selected Algae and Cyanobacteria by Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography and a Novel MAA from the Red Alga Catenella repens

Mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), a group of small secondary metabolites found in algae, cyanobacteria, lichens and fungi, have become ecologically and pharmacologically relevant because of their pronounced UV-absorbing and photo-protective potential. Their analytical characterization is generally achieved by reversed phase HPLC and the compounds are often quantified based on molar extinction coefficients. As an alternative approach, in our study a fully validated hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) method is presented. It enables the precise quantification of several analytes with adequate retention times in a single run, and can be coupled directly to MS. Excellent linear correlation coefficients (R² > 0.9991) were obtained, with limit of detection (LOD) values ranging from 0.16 to 0.43 µg/mL. Furthermore, the assay was found to be accurate (recovery rates from 89.8% to 104.1%) and precise (intra-day precision: 5.6%, inter-day precision ≤6.6%). Several algae were assayed for their content of known MAAs like porphyra-334, shinorine, and palythine. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) data indicated a novel compound in some of them, which could be isolated from the marine species Catenella repens and structurally elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) as (E)-3-hydroxy-2-((5-hydroxy-5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methoxy-3-((2-sulfoethyl)amino)cyclohex-2-en-1-ylidene)amino) propanoic acid, a novel MAA called catenelline.     

Distribution and Origin of Hybrid Necrosis Genes in German Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Cultivars

Hybrid necrosis in Triticum is known to be caused by the interaction of two complementary dominant genes. In the present paper, the genotypes for hybrid necrosis of 64 winter wheat cultivars are presented. 41 cultivars were found to possess the Ne₂ necrosis gene, whereas 23 cultivars were non-carriers. The Ne₁ gene was not found in any of the cultivars analyzed.