Cypress mortality (mal del cipres) in the Patagonian Andes: comparisons with similar forest diseases and declines in North America

Widespread mortality of Cordilleran cypress (Austrocedrus chilensis) occurs in developed and pristine forests in south-western Argentina and possibly south-eastern Chile. Affected trees may die rapidly but mortality is commonly preceded by several decades of severely restricted radial stem growth. Roots are often affected by one or more types of decay. Cypress mortality, locally termed ‘mal del cipres’, is similar to a major forest disease in North America: Port-Orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) root disease in Oregon and California and a major tree decline: Alaska yellow-cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) decline in south-east Alaska. This paper discusses several hypotheses concerning mal del cipres and compares current forest decline research in Patagonia with North America.     

Stress responses of carp pond fish stock upon hunting activities of the great cormorant(Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis L.)

In addition to direct predation, cormorants can affect carp pond fish stock through disturbance and wounding of the fish. Fish stress response was evaluated by catch per unit effort (CPUE) using lift‐net sampling. A significantly higher (P<0.001) CPUE was recorded in the littoral region of ponds affected by cormorant visits (43.6 ± 39.6) in comparison with a control pond (CP) without their occurrence (0.9 ± 1.1). Stress indices, spleen somatic index (SSI) and Fulton's condition coefficient (FCC) were evaluated for fish subject to two stress factors, hunting cormorants (HC) and pond harvesting (PH), and compared with levels in fish from the CP. Both SSI and FCC decreased significantly (P<0.05) in PH and HC fish in comparison with the control group, while non‐significant differences were observed in both SSI and FCC indices among the HC and PH groups. Plasma biochemical indices (cortisol, glucose and lactate concentrations) were significantly higher (P<0.01) in the PH group as compared with the HC and CP groups. Concentrations in the HC and CP groups did not differ significantly. Total plasma protein levels were significantly higher (P<0.01) in HC fish compared with CP fish, but did not differ significantly from PH fish.     

The potential of automatic methods of classification to identify leaf diseases from multispectral images

Three methods of automatic classification of leaf diseases are described based on high-resolution multispectral stereo images. Leaf diseases are economically important as they can cause a loss of yield. Early and reliable detection of leaf diseases has important practical relevance, especially in the context of precision agriculture for localized treatment with fungicides. We took stereo images of single sugar beet leaves with two cameras (RGB and multispectral) in a laboratory under well controlled illumination conditions. The leaves were either healthy or infected with the leaf spot pathogen Cercospora beticola or the rust fungus Uromyces betae. To fuse information from the two sensors, we generated 3-D models of the leaves. We discuss the potential of two pixelwise methods of classification: k-nearest neighbour and an adaptive Bayes classification with minimum risk assuming a Gaussian mixture model. The medians of pixelwise classification rates achieved in our experiments are 91% for Cercospora beticola and 86% for Uromyces betae. In addition, we investigated the potential of contextual classification with the so called conditional random field method, which seemed to eliminate the typical errors of pixelwise classification.     

Characterization of effects of a long-term wastewater irrigation on soil quality by microbiological and biochemical parameters

Investigations were conducted to evaluate the effects of long-term (up to 100 years) wastewater irrigation on the selected microbiological and biochemical characteristics of a Cambisol and a Haplic Luvisol. The developments of soil oligotrophic and copiotrophic bacteria (including actinomycetes), the total microbial biomass (ATP content), and acitivity of enzymes catalyzing major substrate transformations in soil (β-glucosidase, β-acetyl-glucosaminidase, proteinase, phosphatase) indicated significantly differences between wastewater treated and non-irrigated soil sites. The increases of the individual indices under the effect of wastewater irrigation show that remarkable differences in the microbiological and biochemical parameters of soil quality remained detectable also 20 years after the soil treatment was terminated.     

Innate response activator B cells protect against microbial sepsis

Recognition and clearance of a bacterial infection are a fundamental properties of innate immunity. Here, we describe an effector B cell population that protects against microbial sepsis. Innate response activator (IRA) B cells are phenotypically and functionally distinct, develop and diverge from B1a B cells, depend on pattern-recognition receptors, and produce granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Specific deletion of IRA B cell activity impairs bacterial clearance, elicits a cytokine storm, and precipitates septic shock. These observations enrich our understanding of innate immunity, position IRA B cells as gatekeepers of bacterial infection, and identify new treatment avenues for infectious diseases.     

Salmonella Typhimurium induces SPI-1 and SPI-2 regulated and strain dependent downregulation of MHC II expression on porcine alveolar macrophages

ABSTRACT: Foodborne salmonellosis is one of the most important bacterial zoonotic diseases worldwide. Salmonella Typhimurium is the serovar most frequently isolated from persistently infected slaughter pigs in Europe. Circumvention of the host's immune system by Salmonella might contribute to persistent infection of pigs. In the present study, we found that Salmonella Typhimurium strain 112910a specifically downregulated MHC II, but not MHC I, expression on porcine alveolar macrophages in a Salmonella pathogenicity island (SPI)-1 and SPI-2 dependent way. Salmonella induced downregulation of MHC II expression and intracellular proliferation of Salmonella in macrophages were significantly impaired after opsonization with Salmonella specific antibodies prior to inoculation. Furthermore, the capacity to downregulate MHC II expression on macrophages differed significantly among Salmonella strains, independently of strain specific differences in invasion capacity, Salmonella induced cytotoxicity and altered macrophage activation status. The fact that strain specific differences in MHC II downregulation did not correlate with the extent of in vitro SPI-1 or SPI-2 gene expression indicates that other factors are involved in MHC II downregulation as well. Since Salmonella strain dependent interference with the pig's immune response through downregulation of MHC II expression might indicate that certain Salmonella strains are more likely to escape serological detection, our findings are of major interest for Salmonella monitoring programs primarily based on serology.     

Indicator development in sustainability impact assessment: balancing theory and practice

In this article, the development and operationalisation of forestry-wood chain indicators within the frame of sustainability impact assessment are discussed. The analytical framework follows a distinction between indicator definition and selection in a first phase, and a second operational phase of indicator application in terms of interconnecting material flows, calculation of chain performance and utilisation within evaluation components. A clear boundary drawing effort in terms of the development of indicator definitions, related subclasses, and measurement units as well as the creation of conversion factors between indicator values and individual chain stages supports this. Economic, social and environmental indicators have to respond to data collection needs on individual process levels (that correspond to sub-divisions of the forestry-wood chain). For the usage of indicators within evaluation tools, a functional hierarchy has to be provided that supports clear preference elicitation as well as information on related externalities. In total, this paper aims at demonstrating an enhanced spectrum in the use of sustainability indicators, and the challenges that arise from a developing and applying multi-functional indicators in sustainability impact assessment.     

Tackling the issue of environmental survival of live Salmonella Typhimurium vaccines: Deletion of the lon gene

Vaccination is an important measure to control Salmonella contamination in the meat production chain. A previous study showed that both the ΔrfaJ and ΔrfaL strains are suitable markers and allow serological differentiation of infected and vaccinated animals. The aim of this study was to verify whether deletion of the lon gene in a Salmonella Typhimurium ΔrfaJ marker strain resulted in decreased environmental survival. Our results indicate that deletion of the lon gene in the ΔrfaJ strain did not affect invasiveness in IPEC-J2 cells and resulted in an increased susceptibility to UV, disinfectants (such as hydrogen peroxide and tosylchloramide sodium) and citric acid. Immunization of pigs with inactivated ΔrfaJ or ΔlonΔrfaJ vaccines allowed differentiation of infected and vaccinated pigs. Furthermore, deletion of the lon gene did not reduce the protection conferred by live wild type or ΔrfaJ vaccines against subsequent challenge with a virulent Salmonella Typhimurium strain in BALB/c mice. Based on our results in mice, we conclude that deletion of lon in ΔrfaJ contributes to environmental safety of the ΔrfaJ DIVA strain.