Phytotoxin produced by the netted scab pathogen, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptomyces turgidiscabies</Emphasis> strain 65, isolated in Sweden

Streptomyces spp. are a highly diverse group of bacteria most of which are soil-inhabiting saprophytes. A few are plant pathogens that produce a family of phytotoxins called thaxtomins and cause significant economic losses, e.g., by reducing the marketability of potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum). In northern Europe, S. scabies, S. turgidiscabies and S. europaeiscabiei are the most common plant pathogenic species. In this study, a Streptomyces strain isolated from a netted scab lesion on a tuber of potato cv. Bintje in northern Sweden was identified as S. turgidiscabies but was found to differ in the genomic region carrying genes required for thaxtomin biosynthesis. Our results showed that the strain did not produce thaxtomin but rather phytotoxin fridamycin E, which is an anthraquinone novel to plant pathogenic Streptomyces spp. Fridamycin E was shown to reduce or inhibit sprouting of potato microtubers in vitro. While fridamycin E is known to have antibiotic activity against Gram-positive bacteria, the inhibitory activity of fridamycin E on plant growth is a novel finding.     

Beta-thujaplicin: new quantitative CZE method and adsorption to goethite

Beta-thujaplicin (beta-TH) is a toxic tropolone derivative present in the heartwood of western red cedar (Thuja plicata) and is used as a preservative and antimicrobial additive in a number of commercial goods. beta-TH released from western red cedar timber used outdoor and from other products containing beta-TH may transfer to soil and leach to groundwater and surface waters. The objective of this study was to quantify the adsorption of beta-TH to goethite as a typical model for geosorbents. Adsorption was studied using pH-adjusted goethite suspensions with solid:solution ratios of 1:500, 0.01 M NaNO(3) electrolyte, and 20 degrees C. beta-TH was determined using a new capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method providing a detection limit of 0.21 microM. Near-sorption equilibrium was attained within 48 h. beta-TH showed maximum adsorption at low pH (3.8) and a 70% drop in adsorption from pH 6.2 to 8.8. The Langmuir type adsorption isotherm at pH 5.5 approached a maximum adsorption of 220 micromol/g (= 6.2 micromol/m(2)), which is more than twice the amount of phosphate adsorbed under similar conditions. The affinity of beta-TH for goethite is low as compared with organic ligands such as citrate, oxalate, and 2,4-dihydroxybenzoate. The adsorption data and FTIR analyses indicate that beta-TH is most likely adsorbed as monodentate mononuclear surface complexes at the surface of goethite. Hydrophobic adsorption is thought to contribute to the adsorption, in particular at low pH. The strong adsorption of beta-TH to goethite suggests low mobility in most soil environments, the risk of contamination increasing in soils with high pH (calcareous material), low contents of iron and aluminum oxides, phyllosilicates, and organic matter.     

Destratification in deep fish culture reservoirs in Israel: Practice and modelling

Thermal stratification negatively affects water quality, and thus is a threatto fish culture in deep water ponds and reservoirs. To prevent and controlit, a device based on an underwater propeller that vertically transportsoxygen rich warm water from the epilimnion down to the anoxic and colderhypolimnion was assembled. The empirical results so far obtained in Israelidual purpose reservoirs for field crop irrigation and fish culture aresummarized herein, and a mathematical model of the device's effect onreservoir thermal structure is presented.     

Heritability estimates and response to selection for growth of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in low-input earthen ponds

This study presents results of two generations of selection (G₁ and G₂) for growth of Nile tilapia. The selection environment consisted of earthen ponds which were fertilized daily with 50 kg dry matter (dm)/ha chicken manure. No supplementary feeds were provided. In total, 6429 fully pedigreed experimental fish were included in the analysis. Survival till harvest was highly variable ranging from 35% to 77% and was affected by initial weight, pond, and age effects. Body weight at harvest (BW) increased from a mean of 67.4 g in the grandparental (unselected) population (G₀) to 129.5 g in G₂ was affected by initial weight, pond, sex and age effects. Generations were discrete and therefore genetic parameters were estimated separately for each year. Heritability estimates for BW ranged from 0.38 to 0.60, and the heritability for survival ranged from 0.03 to 0.14. The estimated selection response was 23.4 g (34.7%) between G₀ and G₁ and 13.0 g (14.9%) between G₁ and G₂. These results demonstrate the feasibility of selection for growth of Nile tilapia in low-input environments.     

Acute tolerance and histopathological effects of ammonia on juvenile maroon clownfish Premnas biaculeatus (Block 1790)

This study evaluated the median lethal concentration values (LC₅₀) and the histopathological effects of un‐ionized ammonia (NH₃^‐‐N) on juvenile maroon clownfish Premnas biaculeatus. After 96 h of exposure to different concentrations of ammonia, juveniles were sampled for histopathological evaluation. The 24 and 96 h LC50 values of NH₃^?‐N determined were 1.68 and 0.89 mg L^?1 respectively. Maroon clownfish exposed to different ammonia concentrations displayed histopathological alterations in the gills, kidney, liver and brain. Gill tissue damage included lamellar hyperplasia, lamellar shorting and hyperplasia and hypertrophy of mucous cells. The kidney showed hyperanaemia, enlarged sinusoids within an apparently decreased amount of haematopoietic tissue, oedema on tubular cells and tubular necrosis, and an enlarged Bowman's capsule. The liver presented dilatation of hepatic sinusoids, fatty deposition in hepatocytes and Mallory bodies. Examination of the brain revealed a proliferation of glial cells, and the Virchow‐Robin space indicated a severe perivascular oedema and signs of neuronal suffering with satellitosis. The results of this study indicate that juvenile maroon clownfish are relatively sensitive to ammonia and particular attention must be given to this toxic compound in culture systems.     

体重决定猪回肠内的蛋白吸收率

<正>近期伊利诺伊大学的J.A.Almeida博士、 Hans H.Stein博士以及Carsten Pedersen博士联手展开体重对于标准化回肠蛋白质和氨基酸吸收率的影响试验,结论证明,20 kg以下的仔猪回肠对于粗蛋白和氨基酸的吸收率比20~50 kg的育成猪和50~110 kg的育肥猪低。而且同一猪群的不同猪只也表现出吸收率的差异性。例如,在测定的300只仔猪中粗蛋白和氨基酸的吸收率