Ecological and Pharmacological Activities of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) from the Indonesian Marine Sponge Lamellodysidea herbacea

Two known Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), 3,4,5-tribromo-2-(2′,4′-dibromophenoxy)phenol (1d) and 3,4,5,6-tetrabromo-2-(2′,4′-dibromophenoxy)phenol (2b), were isolated from the Indonesian marine sponge Lamellodysidea herbacea. The structure was confirmed using ¹³C chemical shift average deviation and was compared to the predicted structures and recorded chemical shifts in previous studies. We found a wide range of bioactivities from the organic crude extract, such as (1) a strong deterrence against the generalist pufferfish Canthigaster solandri, (2) potent inhibition against environmental and human pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains, and (3) the inhibition of the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). The addition of a bromine atom into the A-ring of compound 2b resulted in higher fish feeding deterrence compared to compound 1d. On the contrary, compound 2b showed only more potent inhibition against the Gram-negative bacteria Rhodotorula glutinis (MIC 2.1 μg/mL), while compound 1d showed more powerful inhibition against the other human pathogenic bacteria and fungi. The first report of a chemical defense by compounds 1d and 2b against fish feeding and environmental relevant bacteria, especially pathogenic bacteria, might be one reason for the widespread occurrence of the shallow water sponge Lamellodysidea herbacea in Indonesia and the Indo-Pacific.     

Assessing expected utility and profitability to support decision-making for disease control strategies in ornamental heather production

Precision Agriculture - Many farmers hesitate to adopt new management strategies with actual or perceived risks and uncertainties. Especially in ornamental plant production, farmers often stick to...     

Brominated Skeletal Components of the Marine Demosponges,Aplysina cavernicola and Ianthella basta: Analytical and Biochemical Investigations

Demosponges possess a skeleton made of a composite material with various organic constituents and/or siliceous spicules. Chitin is an integral part of the skeleton of different sponges of the order Verongida. Moreover, sponges of the order Verongida, such as Aplysina cavernicola or Ianthella basta, are well-known for the biosynthesis of brominated tyrosine derivates, characteristic bioactive natural products. It has been unknown so far whether these compounds are exclusively present in the cellular matrix or whether they may also be incorporated into the chitin-based skeletons. In the present study, we therefore examined the skeletons of A. cavernicola and I. basta with respect to the presence of bromotyrosine metabolites. The chitin-based-skeletons isolated from these sponges indeed contain significant amounts of brominated compounds, which are not easily extractable from the skeletons by common solvents, such as MeOH, as shown by HPLC analyses in combination with NMR and IR spectroscopic measurements. Quantitative potentiometric analyses confirm that the skeleton-associated bromine mainly withstands the MeOH-based extraction. This observation suggests that the respective, but yet unidentified, brominated compounds are strongly bound to the sponge skeletons, possibly by covalent bonding. Moreover, gene fragments of halogenases suggested to be responsible for the incorporation of bromine into organic molecules could be amplified from DNA isolated from sponge samples enriched for sponge-associated bacteria.     

Classifying development stages of primeval European beech forests: is clustering a useful tool?

Background

Old-growth and primeval forests are passing through a natural development cycle with recurring stages of forest development. Several methods for assigning patches of different structure and size to forest development stages or phases do exist. All currently existing classification methods have in common that a priori assumptions about the characteristics of certain stand structural attributes such as deadwood amount are made. We tested the hypothesis that multivariate datasets of primeval beech forest stand structure possess an inherent, aggregated configuration of data points with individual clusters representing forest development stages. From two completely mapped primeval beech forests in Albania, seven ecologically important stand structural attributes characterizing stand density, regeneration, stem diameter variation and amount of deadwood are derived at 8216 and 9666 virtual sampling points (moving window, focal filtering). K-means clustering is used to detect clusters in the datasets (number of clusters (k) between 2 and 5). The quality of the single clustering solutions is analyzed with average silhouette width as a measure for clustering quality. In a sensitivity analysis, clustering is done with datasets of four different spatial scales of observation (200, 500, 1000 and 1500 m², circular virtual plot area around sampling points) and with two different kernels (equal weighting of all objects within a plot vs. weighting by distance to the virtual plot center).

Results

The clustering solutions succeeded in detecting and mapping areas with homogeneous stand structure. The areas had extensions of more than 200 m², but differences between clusters were very small with average silhouette widths of less than 0.28. The obtained datasets had a homogeneous configuration with only very weak trends for clustering.

Conclusions

Our results imply that forest development takes place on a continuous scale and that discrimination between development stages in primeval beech forests is splitting continuous datasets at selected thresholds. For the analysis of the forest development cycle, direct quantification of relevant structural features or processes might be more appropriate than classification. If, however, the study design demands classification, our results can justify the application of conventional forest development stage classification schemes rather than clustering.

     

Assessment of soil texture class on agricultural fields using ECa,Amber NDVI,and topographic properties

Soil texture (ST) is relatively stable over time, although it may change due to erosion, clay eluviation, and other processes. Soil texture affects soil quality, productivity and management. Therefore, indirect, accurate methods for assessing of soil texture classes (STCs) are needed in agricultural practice. A study was performed on four production fields in northern and central Poland to compare the fitting performance of STC models based on apparent electrical conductivity (ECa), topographic properties (elevation, slope gradient and wetness index) and Amber NDVI measurements. One common and accurate indicator of STCs was not found for all study fields. On average, ECa was most accurate in indicating areas of different STCs within the fields, but it tended to overestimate the size of sandy areas on loamy fields and vice versa. The accuracy of STC assessment using ECa measurements may be biased due to imperfect soil drainage, high elevations, which increase evaporation and STC variation with depth. STC assessment using Amber NDVI measurements may be useful, particularly on flat and sandy fields, but the results are affected by the same factors as ECa, and additionally by crop growth stages and by the weather conditions in the period preceding the measurements. Despite the good quantitative results of the STC assessment by elevation (one field) and by the topographic wetness index (another field), both terrain attributes failed to accurately indicate the distribution of some STC areas within each field. Therefore, in landscapes developed from deposits of the last glaciation relevant ST differences might not sufficiently be detected by the analysis of terrain attributes alone. The selection of STC predictors and evaluation of the assessment quality must consider both the quantitative indicators such as correlation and determination coefficients describing relationships between ST and ECa, NDVI and topography and percentage of a field area with accurately indicated STC and the distribution of areas with different STCs within a field. The use of ECa, NDVI values, and topographic properties for STC assessment may be useful in reducing costs of soil sampling and analysis, but cannot replace it.     

Profitability of farm-scale management strategies against the boll weevil in the tropics: case study from the Colombian Caribbean

Journal of Pest Science - Decision making in pest management is a challenging task. While pest dynamics are often quite uncertain, such decisions are often based on tenuous assumptions of certainty...     

Mehr Chilling f��r Obstb?ume in w?rmeren Wintern?

The objective of this study was the calculation of winter chill for fruit trees in the Meckenheim fruit growing region for all winters since 1958 and the evaluation of long-term trends in response to global warming. A further objective was the comparison of three winter chill models, the Chilling Hours Model (Chilling Hours??CH), the Utah Model (Chill Units??CU) and the Dynamic Model (Chill Portions??CP) with respect to temporal trends and seasonal variation in chilling intensity. To meet these objectives, about 120,000 hourly temperature measurements from Klein-Altendorf were correlated with daily temperature extremes. From this relationship, a long-term record of 466,000 hourly temperature data was constructed and used to calculate winter chill between 1st October of each year and three dates of the following year for all winters since 1958/1959. On average over all years, 955 CH, 1160 CU and 58.0 CP had accumulated in the Meckenheim fruit growing region by 1st January, 1356 CH, 1527 CU and 77.3 CP by 1st February, and 1727 CH, 1883 CU and 96.1 CP by 1st March. Coefficients of variation varied between 14 and 16% for the Chilling Hours Model, between 18 and 19% for the Utah Model and between 9 and 10% for the Dynamic Model. In spite of significant warming of the site, no clear long-term trends were detected. Due to the structure of the winter chill models, which do not consider freezing temperatures as chilling-effective, the highest chilling was not registered in the coldest winters, but rather when average temperatures between early December and late February were between 2 and 6°C. The coldest winter on record (1963/1964; mean winter temperature of ??4°C) had by far the lowest winter chill total, and chilling during the more recent cold winters 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 was also below average. Only very pronounced warming reduced winter chill, with the warmest winter on record (2006/2007; mean winter temperature of 7.1°C) accumulating less winter chill than slightly cooler winters. As long as such extreme temperatures remain exceptional, fulfilment of chilling requirements of local apple and cherry cultivars should not become critical. It is important to note, however, that substantial knowledge gaps exist in the field of fruit tree dormancy, which will have to be closed, before more reliable projections of future fulfilment of chilling requirements can be made.