Haemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies against arboviruses of the families Togaviridae and Bunyaviridae in birds caught in southern Moravia, Czechoslovakia

A total of 295 birds belonging to 19 species of 7 families of wild Passeriformes were examined by haemagglutination-inhibition test. The birds were caught for an international research program "Balt" at the time of autumn migration (August-September 1984). Their blood sera were examined for antibodies against 6 arbovirus antigens of the genera Alphavirus (Sindbis-SIN) and Flavivirus (tick-borne encephalitis-TBE, West Nile-WN) and family Bunyaviridae (Tahyna-TAH, Calovo-CVO and Bhanja-BHA). Antibodies against all studied viruses were detected at different frequencies: SIN 6.4%, TBE 7.1%, WN 9.7%, TAH 16.3%, CVO 12.1%, and BHA 1.0%.     

Dark lines formed between colonies of isolates of phoma exigua var. foveata on a semi-selective medium

Samenvatting In het Instituut voor Plantenziektenkundig Onderzoek (IPO) te Wageningen wordt gangreen bij aardappel, veroorzaakt door de schimmelPhoma exigua var.foveata, onderscheiden van ander droogrot door aangetast weefsel uit te leggen op een semiselectief medium. Op dit medium wordt de vorming van kristallen van voor de schimmel kenmerkende anthrachinonen bevorderd. De gemakkelijk waar te nemen geelgroene kristallen in het medium wijzen op de aanwezigheid van de betrokken schimmel. Bij een van deze toetsen vormden zich tussen de zich ontwikkelende kolonies van de schimmel donkere lijnen. Deze lijnen verschilden van reeds eerder beschreven violette lijnen, die zich vormen tussen kolonies van de twee variëteitenexigua enfoveata vanP. exigua. Onderzoek aan 27 isolaten vanP. exigua var.foveata toonde aan dat er met betrekking tot de vorming van donkere lijnen 11 verschillende typenP. exigua var.foveata onderscheiden konden worden. Isolaten van deze typen vormden bij gepaarde groei op het selectieve medium donkere lijnen met andere typen, maar niet met isolaten van het zelfde type. Er bleek geen verband met het groeitype van de cultures noch met de vorming van het antibioticum E te bestaan.     

Identification of blackeye cowpea mosaic virus from germplasm of yard-long bean and from soybean,and the relationships between blackeye cowpea mosaic virus and cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus

Two potyvirus isolates, one from germplasm of yard-long bean (Vigna unguiculata ssp.sesquipedalis) introduced into the Netherlands, and another one from soybean plants (Glycine max) in Indonesia, were compared with two virus isolates of blackeye cowpea mosaic virus (BICMV) from the USA and a Moroccan isolate of cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus (CAMV). It is proposed that all five isolates be now considered BICMV on the basis of host ranges, symptoms and serology. From our results, and a reassessment of the literature it is suggested to drop the name CAMV in favour of BICMV.Samenvatting Twee potyvirussen, de een in Nederland ingevoerd met genenmateriaal vanVigna unguiculata ssp.sesquipedalis en de ander uit planten van sojaboon (Glycine max) in Indonesië, werden vergeleken met twee isolaten van blackeye cowpea mosiac virus (BICMV) en een Marokkaans isolaat van cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus (CAMV). Op grond van waardplantenreeksen, symptomen en serologie stellen de auteurs voor om alle vijf isolaten te beschouwen als BICMV. Gebaseerd op de verkregen resultaten en een kritische beschouwing van de literatuur wordt de aanbeveling gedaan om de naam CAMV te laten vallen ten gunste van BICMV.     

Laser manipulation of atoms and particles

A variety of powerful techniques to control the position and velocity of neutral particles has been developed. As examples of this new ability, lasers have been used to construct a variety of traps, to cool atoms to temperatures below 3 x 10(-6) kelvin, and to create atomic fountains that may give us a hundredfold increase in the accuracy of atomic clocks. Bacteria can be held with laser traps while they are being viewed in an optical microscope, and organelles within a cell can be manipulated without puncturing the cell wall. Single molecules of DNA can now be stretched out and pinned down in a water solution with optical traps. These new capabilities may soon be applied to a wide variety of scientific questions as diverse as precision measurements of fundamental symmetries in physics and the study of biochemistry on a single molecule basis.     

Atomic and molecular manipulation with the scanning tunneling microscope

The prospect of manipulating matter on the atomic scale has fascinated scientists for decades. This fascination may be motivated by scientific and technological opportunities, or from a curiosity about the consequences of being able to place atoms in a particular location. Advances in scanning tunneling microscopy have made this prospect a reality; single atoms can be placed at selected positions and structures can be built to a particular design atom-by-atom. Atoms and molecules may be manipulated in a variety of ways by using the interactions present in the tunnel junction of a scanning tunneling microscope. Some of these recent developments and some of the possible uses of atomic and molecular manipulation as a tool for science are discussed.