Risks to the aquatic ecosystem from the application of Metarhizium anisopliae for locust control in Australia

Laboratory tests of Metarhizium anisopliae var acridum Driver & Milner, at a dose of 1.3 x 10(6) conidia ml-1, had no adverse effects on nymphs of mayfly, Ulmerophlebia sp or 8-week-old fry of the rainbow fish, Melanotaenia duboulayi Castelnau. This dose was toxic to the cladoceran, Ceriodaphnia dubia Richard, causing 100% mortality in 48 h. When this test was repeated at doses of up to 6.7 x 10(3) conidia ml-1, there was only 5% mortality after 192 h. Spraying of artificial water sources with a very high dose of the fungus as an aqueous spray resulted in 80-130 conidia ml-1 at 15 cm depth in the first 24 h after spraying. The conidia rapidly settled out and were absent from the top 15 cm layer of water after about 50 h. A similar experiment using the oil formulation as used in field control resulted in a 2- to 20-fold lower level of conidia in the water. Finally, sampling actual water sources in spray areas revealed a very low level of contamination of the water, with a maximum mean level of 29 conidia ml-1 in the first 24 h after treatment. Thus the level of conidia likely to enter water during control campaigns is a small fraction of that required to kill cladocerans, the only sensitive non-target organism tested. It is concluded that the biopesticide is very unlikely to pose any hazard to aquatic organisms.     

Brain stem auditory-evoked responses in the dog

Brain stem auditory-evoked responses (BAER) were recorded from 58 dogs that did not have a known history of hearing problems. The BAER wave forms had an overall mean amplitude approximately 3.0 microV and typically consisted of a series of 4 to 5 vertex-positive peaks (peaks I through V). When acoustic clicks having intensities of 60-dB hearing level (decibels relative to the subjective hearing threshold) were used as stimuli, peak I had a latency of 1.49 +/- 0.13 ms; peak II, 2.32 +/- 0.14 ms; peak III, 3.01 +/- 0.25 ms; peak IV, 4.22 +/- 0.27 ms; and peak V, 5.55 +/- 0.37 ms. Latency values were influenced by a number of nonpathologic factors, including stimulus intensity and the body temperature of the dog. As stimulus intensity was decreased, there was a lengthening of the latency of each peak coupled with a decrease in the overall amplitude of BAER. Decreases in rectal temperature caused a similar lengthening of peak latencies. Age may have an influence on BAER, but under the conditions of the present study, the effect was not significant.     

Irrigation of lucerne with saline groundwater on a slowly permeable,duplex soil

Summary Lucerne was irrigated for three years on a slowly permeable, duplex soil, with saline water up to 2.4 dS m^–1 without significant yield decline. Irrigation water of 4.5 dS m^–1 significantly reduced yield. Lucerne yield was most closely related to the soil ECe of the 0–15 cm depth, rather than the total rootzone, and was described by; Relative yield=100–6.5 (ECe-2.1). While lucerne roots reached depths of at least 150 cm, approximately 80% of total root length was located in the 0–60 cm depth.Increasing salinity increased the plant concentrations of sodium and chloride, however, these changes were not closely related to changes in yield.Soil salinity increased with increasing salinity of the applied water. However, during the irrigation season water penetration and the accumulation of salt within the profile was predominantly restricted to the 0–60 cm depth. No portion of the applied irrigation water was available as a leaching fraction. Any leaching of salts to the watertable, particularly below 120 cm, was due to winter rainfall rather than the application of summer irrigation water.Ripping the soil to a depth of 75 cm increased water infiltration and resulted in increased crop yields, but did not significantly affect the crop relative yield-soil ECe relationship.From the results it is proposed that on the slowly permeable duplex soils, when watertable depth is controlled, management strategies for lucerne irrigated with saline water should be based on controlling the salinity of the shallow soil depths, to 60 cm.     

Comparison of acid phosphatases in two genotypes of white clover with different responses to applied phosphate

Two white clover (Trifolium repens L.) genotypes, identified by their differing ability to increase in biomass in response to added phosphorus (P) (high P responder, low P responder) were subjected to P deprivation and examined for differences in root growth, root surface acid phosphatase activity, and soluble and ionically‐bound root cell wall isoform profile. As leaf P levels declined, the high P responder showed a greater increase in biomass allocated to the roots, and highest root surface acid phosphatase activity. However, these differences were not statistically significant. The onset of P deprivation enhanced the intensity of several acid phosphatase isoforms in the P deprived root extracts from both genotypes. After 11 days, one basic isoform (resolved atpH4.5) was enhanced in the cell wall extract, an enhancement that was also observed after 26 days. However, for the soluble isoforms, a temporal separation of response was observed in both genotypes. After 11 days, there was no discernable enhancement of the major staining basic isoform or in the major staining acidic isoform (resolved at pH 8.8) in extracts from P‐deprived roots. After 26 days, these isoforms were enhanced in extracts from P‐derived root tissues. Further, a second acidic isoform could now be discerned as a major staining enzyme in P‐derived root extracts from both genotypes.     

Biofortification of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit with the anticancer compound methylselenocysteine using a selenocysteine methyltransferase from a selenium hyperaccumulator

Methylselenocysteine (MeSeCys) is an amino acid derivative that possesses potent anticancer activity in animals. Plants that can tolerate growth on soils with high Se content, known as Se hyperaccumulators, do so by converting inorganic Se to MeSeCys by the enzyme selenocysteine methyltransferase (SMT). A cDNA encoding the SMT from a Se hyperaccumulator was overexpressed in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Transgenic plants were provided with selenite or selenate to the roots during fruit development, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to show that MeSeCys accumulated in the fruit but not in the leaves. Depending on the transgenic line and Se treatment, up to 16% of the total Se in the fruit was present as MeSeCys. MeSeCys was produced more effectively from selenite on a percentage conversion basis, but greater accumulation of MeSeCys could be achieved from selenate due to its better translocation from the roots. MeSeCys was heat stable and survived processing of the fruit to tomato juice.