Heritility of field resistance to potato leafroU virus in cultivated potato

Potato progenies in a line x tester mating design and the clonal parents were screened for field resistance to potato leafroll virus (PLRV) to determine the heritability of this trait. Twelve advanced potato clones or varieties were crossed as pistillate parents to two pollen testers. The seedling progenies and clonal parents were exposed to aphid-transmitted potato leafroll virus for two growing seasons. Cumulative infection by potato leafroll virus was determined by post-season sero-logical indexing of foliage grown from sprouted tubers after 2 years of exposure. Narrow-sense heritability was estimated from regression of mid-parent on progeny as h = 0.72. This estimate indicates a high level of useabie genetic variance for PLRV resistance in advanced breeding materials. Although variation in resistance to PLRV appears to be a quantitative trait in susceptible and moderately resistant clones, per-formance of the most resistant parents suggests that genes with major effects may be present. These results are similar to the conclusions of other researchers who found one or two genes controlling the pheno-types of extreme resistance, resistance to infection, or suppression of virus titre.     

Bioavailability of Arsenic and Antimony in Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Review

Arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) are metalloids that belong to group 15 of the periodic table and exhibit toxic properties in the environment. They mostly occur naturally at low concentrations in soil, although these can be significantly elevated in both aquatic and terrestrial food chains as a result of dispersion from anthropogenic sources, e.g., mining activities. The bioavailability, i.e., the proportion of the contaminant in soil and dust that is available for uptake by plants and other living organisms, presents the greatest risk to terrestrial ecosystems. Various in vivo and in vitro methods have been used to measure As and Sb bioaccessibility in soil and dust. In vivo measurement of bioavailability can be time consuming, expensive, and unethical; thus, in vitro methods are commonly preferred. However, there is considerable uncertainty around the efficacy of in vitro tools used to measure the bioavailable fractions of As and Sb. The results of these methods are dependent on many variables, e.g., soil characteristics, contaminant sources, and chemical composition of in vitro methods. Therefore, substantial variations are observed between in vitro and in vivo results obtained from different test animals and endpoints. In this paper, we review the literature on As and Sb bioavailability in terrestrial ecosystems and current in vivo and in vitro techniques used for assessing bioavailability and bioaccessibility of metalloids. This would reveal research gaps and allow scientists and environmental policy makers to gain a deeper understanding of the potential risks associated with these metalloids in the environment.     

Fusion contour for intermittent photic stimuli of alternating duration

It is generally thought that fusion of intermittent photic stimuli occurs when the duration between successive pulses of light is reduced to a certain value, this value being a function of the illumination and viewing conditions. The findings described in this report show that fusion is determined not only by the duration between successive stimuli but also by the temporal pattern of successive stimuli.     

Fluoroquinolones in animal health

The fluoroquinolones are a series of synthetic antibacterial agents that are undergoing extensive investigation for both human and veterinary use in the treatment of a variety of bacterial infections. These agents work through the inhibition of DNA gyrase, interfering with the supercoiling of bacterial chromosomal material. As a result, these agents are rapidly bactericidal primarily against gram-negative bacteria, mycoplasma, and some grampositive bacteria, with most having little to no activity against group D streptococci and obligate anaerobic bacteria. Resistance develops slowly and is almost always chromosomal and not plasmid-mediated. However, development of resistance to the fluoroquinolones and transfer of that resistance among animal and human pathogens have become a hotly debated issue among microbiologists. The fluoroquinolones are a current antimicrobial class whose use in veterinary medicine is being scrutinized. From a pharmacokinetic perspective, these agents are variably but well absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and almost completely absorbed from parenteral injection sites, and they are well distributed to various tissues in the body. The fluoroquinolones are metabolized and renally excreted, with many of them having approximately equal excretion by the hepatic and the renal excretory systems. The primary toxicity observed at therapeutic doses involves the gastrointestinal system and phototoxicity, although at higher doses central nervous system toxicity and ocular cataracts are observed. Administration to immature animals may result in erosive arthropathies at weight-bearing joints, and administration of high doses to pregnant animals results in maternotoxicity and occasionally embryonic death. The fluoroquinolones are approved for indications such as urinary tract infections and soft tissue infections in dogs and cats and colibacillosis in poultry. Approval for bovine respiratory disease in the United States is being sought. Other indications for which the fluoroquinolones have been used in animal health include deep-seated infections, prostatitis, and other bacterial infections resistant to standard antimicrobial therapy.     

The association between serotypes of tobraviruses and Trichodorus and Paratrichodorus species1

New procedures developed for studying virus transmission by Trichodorus and Paratrichodorus species permit accurate characterization of the virus and identification of the nematode species. Results obtained using this virus transmission system show that serologically distinct isolates (serotypes) of tobraviruses are transmitted by different vector species. Furthermore, one species may be associated with the same virus serotype in several countries. These results suggest that a high degree of specificity occurs between tobraviruses and their vector nematodes. These new methods also permit the application of stringent criteria which are considered necessary to establish that a Trichodorus or Paratrichodorus species is a vector of a tobravirus. Only 11 of 36 published associations between Trichodorus or Paratrichodorus and tobraviruses fulfil these criteria.