High Resolution Imaging of Starch Granule Surfaces by Atomic Force Microscopy

High resolution imaging of the surfaces of starch granules from two different botanical sources has been performed using two complementary techniques: low voltage scanning electron microscopy (LVSEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). LVSEM provided superior images ofuncoatedgranules than possible by conventional scanning electron microscopy, and these images were used to validate the features revealed at higher resolution by AFM. The AFM images demonstrated that, although intra-sample variation exists, the surfaces of wheat and potato starch granules possess substantially different topographies. Potato starch had many protrusions (50–300 nm in diameter), above a flatter surface, which contained structures in the order of 10–50 nm. Wheat starch had far fewer protrusions and generally had a smoother surface made up of 10–50 nm structures. The 10 to 300 nm structures are believed to be carbohydrate in nature and correspond to ‘blocklet’ structures, comprising groups of amylopectin side-chain clusters presenting at the granule surface. We conclude therefore that near-molecular resolution topography of the starch granule surface has been revealed, which has allowed further insight into starch granule structure and molecular organisation.     

Drag force acting on biofouled net panels

Measurements were made to assess the increase in drag on aquaculture cage netting due to biofouling. Drag force was obtained by towing net panels, perpendicular to the incident flow, in experiments conducted in a tow tank and in the field. The net panels were fabricated from netting stretched within a 1 m² pipe frame. They were towed at various speeds, and drag force was measured using a bridle-pulley arrangement terminating in a load cell. The frame without netting was also drag tested so that net-only results could be obtained by subtracting out the frame contribution. Measurements of drag force and velocity were processed to yield drag coefficients.

Clean nets were drag tested in the University of New Hampshire (UNH) 36.5 m long tow tank. Nets were then exposed to biofouling during the summer of 2004 at the UNH open ocean aquaculture demonstration site 1.6 km south of the Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire, U.S.A. Nine net panels were recovered on 6 October 2004 and immediately drag tested at sea to minimize disturbing the fouling communities. The majority of the growth was skeleton shrimp (Caprella sp.) with some colonial hydroids (Tubularia sp.), blue mussels (Mytilus edulus) and rock borer clams (Hiatella actica). Since the deployment depth was 15 m (commensurate with submerged cages at the site), no algae were present. The net panels had been subject to several different antifouling treatments, so the extent of growth varied amongst the panels. Drag force measurements were made using a bridle-pulley-load cell configuration similar to that employed in the tow tank. Fixtures and instruments were mounted on an unpowered catamaran that was towed alongside a workboat. Thus, the catamaran served as the “carriage” for field measurements.

Increases in net-only drag coefficient varied from 6 to 240% of the clean net values. The maximum biofouled net drag coefficient was 0.599 based on net outline area. Biofouled drag coefficients generally increased with solidity (projected area of blockage divided by outline area) and volume of growth. There was, however, considerable scatter attributed in part to different mixes of species present.     

The genome sequence of Drosophila melanogaster

The fly Drosophila melanogaster is one of the most intensively studied organisms in biology and serves as a model system for the investigation of many developmental and cellular processes common to higher eukaryotes, including humans. We have determined the nucleotide sequence of nearly all of the approximately 120-megabase euchromatic portion of the Drosophila genome using a whole-genome shotgun sequencing strategy supported by extensive clone-based sequence and a high-quality bacterial artificial chromosome physical map. Efforts are under way to close the remaining gaps; however, the sequence is of sufficient accuracy and contiguity to be declared substantially complete and to support an initial analysis of genome structure and preliminary gene annotation and interpretation. The genome encodes approximately 13,600 genes, somewhat fewer than the smaller Caenorhabditis elegans genome, but with comparable functional diversity.     

The seroprevalence of Johne's disease in Georgia beef and dairy cull cattle.

Beef and dairy cattle serum samples, collected during 2000 at sale barns throughout Georgia, were obtained from the Georgia State Brucellosis Laboratory and were used to conduct a retrospective epidemiological study. Statistical samplings of 5,307 sera, from over 200,000 sera, were tested for antibodies to Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis, (Johne's disease) using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test kit. An overall period seroprevalence in all classes of cattle tested was 4.73%. The period seroprevalence in dairy cattle was 9.58%, in beef cattle it was 3.95%, and in cattle of unknown breed it was 4.72%. It was concluded that the seroprevalence of Johne's disease in cull beef and dairy cattle in Georgia is economically significant.     

Changes in Plasma Concentrations of LH, FSH, Estradiol 17-β and Progesterone During Oestrus in Mithun (Bos frontalis)

The objective of the present study was to establish the changes in plasma concentrations of LH, FSH, estradiol 17-beta (E2) and progesterone (P4), as well as to understand their temporal relationships during oestrus in mithun (Bos frontalis). The experiment was conducted on 11 mithuns during third or fourth postpartum oestrous cycle. Since oestrus onset the jugular vein blood samples were collected every 2 h for 72 and 96 h, respectively from the animals without and with standing heat. The LH, FSH, E2 and P4 concentrations were estimated in plasma. The P4 concentration was fluctuated throughout the oestrus period and the average P4 concentration was found significantly (p<0.05) lower on the day of oestrus onset. The multiple rises in LH and FSH concentrations above the basal level in spike like fashion were observed throughout the oestrus period irrespective of the occurrence of standing heat. A significant (p<0.01) gradual increase in the average daily E2 concentration was observed till day 2 following oestrus onset irrespective of the occurrence of standing heat. A significant (p<0.05) simultaneous increase in LH, FSH and E2 concentrations and a transient increase in P4 concentration at approximately the time of standing heat onset were observed. During investigation a definite temporal coupling between LH and FSH rises was absent throughout the oestrus period. The results suggest that (1) the multiple short-duration low-amplitude LH and FSH surges during oestrus may be crucial for the final maturation of ovulatory follicle and subsequent ovulation in mithun; (2) a differential mechanism for controlling LH and FSH secretions probably exists in mithun.     

Immunity to leptospirosis: bacterins in dogs and hamsters.

Resistance to clinical and renal leptospirosis in dogs vaccinated with a bacterin containing Leptospira interrogans serotype canicola and Leptospira interrogans serotype icterohaemorrhagiae was demonstrated. The relationship between resistance induced in vaccinated dogs and that induced in vaccinated hamsters was also demonstrated, using criteria of leptospiremia, renal infection, leptospiruria, and clinical signs of disease in dogs and death in hamsters.