Clostridium bifermentans and C. subterminale are associated with kiwifruit vine decline,known as moria,in Italy

Since 2012, a new pathogenic syndrome has frequently been observed in many areas of kiwifruit cultivation in Italy. The main symptoms include an initial withering of the leaves followed by a total and sudden collapse of plants, mainly occurring during summer. The withered leaves fall and the main and secondary feeder roots appear rotten, sometimes showing a reddish-brown discoloration. The disease, that affects both the green and yellow-fleshed cultivars, has been called kiwifruit vine decline and is locally known as moria. The syndrome has been found consistently associated with soil waterlogging, which frequently occurs either after the traditional agronomical practice of irrigating orchards through surface irrigation or after very heavy rainfall. So far, the role played by bacteria in this syndrome has not been investigated. In the present study, Clostridium spp. were isolated from both rotten roots and soils obtained from Italian kiwifruit orchards affected by the syndrome, indicating for the first time that anaerobic bacteria are able to cause damage to woody crops. C. bifermentans and C. subterminale incited symptoms in kiwifruit in both in vivo and in vitro pathogenicity tests. Soil waterlogging seems to potentially favour colonization of kiwifruit roots by anaerobic bacteria, probably because saturation of the soil can facilitate proliferation and persistence of these bacteria during long periods of the vegetative growth of the crop. The occurrence of anaerobic bacteria does not exclude the possibility that other microorganisms can play additional/synergic role(s) in causing the kiwifruit vine decline.     

Domestication of Alpine blue-sow-thistle (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cicerbita alpina</Emphasis> (L.) Wallr.): six year trial results

Alpine blue-sow-thistle (Cicerbita alpina (L.) Wallr.) is a perennial herb distributed all along the entire Alpine Arc, the shoots of which are still collected in the wild in several areas of Northern-Eastern Italy for food purposes. Our paper deals with experiments of domestication of this species carried out in the surroundings of Trento and lasted from 2004 to 2010. The cultivation was carried out transplanting seedlings, obtained by wild seed of a unique accession. One experimental trial (2004/2008) was carried in the location Frisanchi, located at 1,078 m a.s.l. In this trial the theses compared 4 harvests, 1 week spaced, carried out respectively in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year after the transplant. Of the total quantity harvested after 4 years, the most shoots (60) and the highest dried weight per m² (14 g) were obtained from shoots collected 2 or 3 years after being transplanted. However, comparing the shoots yielded in the last year of the trial only (2008), the best results were obtained from 3 or 4-year-old transplants (42 shoots/m²; 8.2 g dry weight). Nevertheless there four times harvesting of shoots weakened the plants’ development and a high failure rates was recorded. In addition to the real experimental trial another small cultivation was carried out in an higher location, Monte Bondone at 1,500 m a.s.l., in which 5 years after the transplant (2010) only 2 harvests were carried out. In this experiment the yield recorded was very encouraging (10.5 g m²) and also the quality of the shoots collected was good.     

Feedbacks between vegetation pattern and resource loss dramatically decrease ecosystem resilience and restoration potential in a simple dryland model

Conceptual frameworks of dryland degradation commonly include ecohydrological feedbacks between landscape spatial organization and resource loss, so that decreasing cover and size of vegetation patches result in higher water and soil losses, which lead to further vegetation loss. However, the impacts of these feedbacks on dryland dynamics in response to external stress have barely been tested. Using a spatially-explicit model, we represented feedbacks between vegetation pattern and landscape resource loss by establishing a negative dependence of plant establishment on the connectivity of runoff-source areas (e.g., bare soils). We assessed the impact of various feedback strengths on the response of dryland ecosystems to changing external conditions. In general, for a given external pressure, these connectivity-mediated feedbacks decrease vegetation cover at equilibrium, which indicates a decrease in ecosystem resistance. Along a gradient of gradual increase of environmental pressure (e.g., aridity), the connectivity-mediated feedbacks decrease the amount of pressure required to cause a critical shift to a degraded state (ecosystem resilience). If environmental conditions improve, these feedbacks increase the pressure release needed to achieve the ecosystem recovery (restoration potential). The impact of these feedbacks on dryland response to external stress is markedly non-linear, which relies on the non-linear negative relationship between bare-soil connectivity and vegetation cover. Modelling studies on dryland vegetation dynamics not accounting for the connectivity-mediated feedbacks studied here may overestimate the resistance, resilience and restoration potential of drylands in response to environmental and human pressures. Our results also suggest that changes in vegetation pattern and associated hydrological connectivity may be more informative early-warning indicators of dryland degradation than changes in vegetation cover.     

Defining output-based standards to achieve and maintain tuberculosis freedom in farmed deer, with reference to member states of the European Union

Within the European Union (EU), detailed legislation has been developed for cattle, but not deer, to minimise disease risks associated with trade in animals and animal products. This legislation is expressed as input-based standards, providing a detailed outline of the activity required (for example, testing of animals and application of defined control measures), on the expectation that an adequate output (for example, confidence in freedom) will be achieved. Input-based standards are at odds with the increasing shift towards output-based standards, particularly in OIE rules governing international trade. In this paper, we define output-based standards to achieve and maintain freedom from tuberculosis (TB) in farmed deer, with reference to EU member states. After considering the probability of freedom achieved for cattle under existing EU legislation, we defined a ‘free farmed deer holding’ as one with a probability of freedom from infection of at least 99%. We then developed an epidemiological model of TB surveillance systems for deer holdings, incorporating different surveillance strategies, including combinations of diagnostic tests, and a variety of different scenarios relating to the potential for introduction of infection. A range of surveillance strategies were identified to achieve and maintain a free farmed deer holding, and worked examples are presented. The surveillance system sensitivity for varying combinations of screening and confirmatory tests in live animals, animals at slaughter and on-farm deaths is also presented. Using a single test at a single point in time, none of the TB tests routinely used in farmed deer is able to achieve an acceptable probability of TB freedom. If repeat testing were undertaken, an acceptable probability of TB freedom could be achieved, with differing combinations of the surveillance system sensitivity, frequency of testing and risk of introduction. The probability of introduction of infection through the importation of infected deer was influenced by the use of a pre-movement test (assumed 90% test sensitivity and negative test results), the TB prevalence in the source herd and the number of animals imported. A surveillance system sensitivity of at least 81% was achieved with different combinations of annual live animal surveillance and surveillance of animals at slaughter or on-farm deaths. This methodology has broad applicability and could also be extended to other diseases in both deer and other species with relevance to trade in animals and animal products.     

Anaplasma phagocytophilum in horses and ticks: a preliminary survey of Central Italy

Anaplasma phagocytophilum, the causative agent of granulocytic ehrlichiosis, affects several species of wild and domesticated mammals, including horses. In this work we compared direct and indirect methods to evaluate A. phagocytophilum presence in Central Italy: 135 sera were screened by IFA for A. phagocytophilum and other haemopathogens (Theileria equi and Babesia caballi). Each horse was also tested for A. phagocytophilum 16S rRNA with a nested-PCR technique. In order to examine the risk of A. phagocytophilum transmission, 114 ticks were examined for the presence of A. phagocytophilum by PCR targeting the 16S rRNA. The seroprevalence against A. phagocytophilum was 17.03% and 11 horses (8.14%) showed positive PCR results. The concordance rate of A. phagocytophilum detection between IFAT and PCR had a K value of 0.34.     

Grafts of porcine small intestinal submucosa seeded with cultured homologous smooth muscle cells for bladder repair in dogs

Background

Due to numerous complications associated to gastrointestinal augmented cystoplasty, this study aimed to analyze the anatomic repair of the bladder of 10 female dogs using grafts of porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS) seeded with cultured homologous smooth muscle cells, and compare them with the acellular SIS grafts.

Results

We assessed the possible side effects and complications of each type of graft by clinical examination, abdominal ultrasound and laboratory findings. Anatomic repair of neoformed bladder was assessed by histological staining for H/E and Masson''s Trichrome, analyzed with a Nikon Photomicroscope connected to the system of image analysis Image J.

Conclusions

We propose that SIS associated to homologous smooth cells can improve the quality of tissue repair, and consequently decrease the potential complications inherent to acellular SIS.     

Use of Anguilla anguilla for Biomonitoring Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Brackish and Riverine Waters in Central and Southern Italy

One of the aims of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/CE is to assess the ecological status of water bodies in Europe in relation to priority contaminants, including some persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Recognizing the benefits of measuring hydrophobic compounds in biota tissues rather than in water, we used the European eel Anguilla anguilla in the present study as a bioindicator species for monitoring POPs in freshwater/brackish environments. We present the results of a contamination analysis of eels carried out in three Italian sites representative of different pollution levels: the last part of Tevere River, which flows through a very urbanized and industrialized area, Caprolace Lake and Lesina Lagoon, inside two different protected national parks. A very high pollution variability was recorded within each group of eels, in particular for those caught at Caprolace Lake. Due to this high variability, inter-population comparisons were carried out only between eels collected in Tevere River and Lesina Lagoon. PCBs values in Lesina Lagoon were two orders of magnitude lower than those measured in Tevere River, while no significant differences were found for levels of DDT compounds. Our results confirm the suitability of the eel as an indicator of persistent bioaccumulative pollutants in brackish environments and rivers where it can be easily caught, but we are sceptical of its use in deep lakes where its capture might be problematic considering standard operation procedures for fish sampling.