Arabidopsis thaliana PRL1 is involved in low-calcium tolerance

Calcium (Ca) deficiency symptoms in plants often occur in agriculture; however, little is known about the mechanisms for adaptation to low-Ca conditions. To understand the mechanisms, we screened for Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh mutants sensitive to low Ca. Here, we describe one of the mutants, lcs1-1, isolated from the screen. The relative shoot growth of the mutant was reduced under the low-Ca conditions compared with the wild-type plants. Genetic mapping and genome resequencing revealed that lcs1-1 has one nonsynonymous mutation in the region of the chromosome responsible for the phenotype. The mutation is in Pleiotropic Regulatory Locus 1 (PRL1). An allelism test between lcs1-1 and a T-DNA inserted allele of prl1 demonstrates that the causal gene of lcs1-1 is PRL1. It has been reported that PRL1 is involved in sugar metabolism; however, the involvement of PRL1 in low-Ca tolerance has not been reported. Our results suggest a new insight connecting sugar metabolism with a mechanism for low-Ca tolerance in plants.     

晚糯稻突变体新品种浙糯36的选育研究

采用60 Coγ射线 2 0 0Gy辐照处理 (晚粳“丙 92 1 2 4” 晚糯“绍糯选”)F2 干种子 ,经多代筛选获得晚糯稻突变体ZH2 0 6。ZH2 0 6经试种表现为产量高、籽粒大且品质优。 2年、2地区域试验比对照平均增产 9 4% ;籽粒较双亲明显增大 ,千粒重较母本丙 92 1 2 4重 4 1g ,较父本绍糯选重 3 6g ,千粒重达 30g以上。糯性优于对照祥湖 84,更优于亲本绍糯选。 2 0 0 3年通过浙江省农作物品种审定委员会审定 ,命名为“浙糯 36” ,成为近 2 0年来在浙江省 (市 )级晚粳糯稻区域试验中 ,增产幅度和籽粒均达到最大的晚糯稻审定品种。该品种的选育成功表明辐射诱变同步改良糯稻多个性状的可能性与有效性。     

Effects of deep placement of controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer on soybean growth and yield under sulfur deficiency

Sulfur (S) and Nitrogen (N) metabolisms in plants are interacted and it is known that S deficiency decrease N absorption and metabolism. In leguminous plants S deficiency also decreases N₂ fixation by rhizobia in the nodules. Deep placement of a controlled-release N fertilizer is a good method to provide nitrogen to soybean without inhibiting N₂ fixation; thus, it was hypothesized that this method is able to provide nitrogen effectively to sulfur-deficient soybean plants. In this study effects of deep placement of coated urea on S-N physicological interaction, growth and productivity in soybean plants were examined using pot experiments. Soybean plants were grown with sulfate concentrations of 30, 100, or 1000 μM, with or without deep placement of coated urea. Shoot weights at the developing stage were not affected by S deficiency. SPAD values of leaves during the flowering stage decreased with S deficiency and increased with the deep placement of coated urea. S deficiency decreased seed weight per plant at the harvesting stage, but this decrease was attenuated by the deep placement of coated urea. N and S content in shoots at the developing stage increased with the deep placement of coated urea, whereas in seeds, only the N content increased. N₂ fixation activity based on the relative ureide-N content in xylem sap indicated that the deep placement of coated urea did not inhibit N₂ fixation activity at the early flowering stage. Without deep placement of coated urea, the relative ureide-N content decreased under S deficiency at the seed filling stage. These results suggest that the deep placement of coated urea is an efficient method to supply N to support soybean yield under S deficiency.

Abbreviations: Deep+: with deep placement of coated urea; Deep–: without deep placement of coated urea     

Risk factors for nosocomial Salmonella infection among hospitalized horses.

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors for nosocomial Salmonella infections among hospitalized horses. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. ANIMALS: 1,583 horses hospitalized in an intensive care unit between January 1992 and June 1996. PROCEDURE: Survivor functions were used to estimate time to shedding salmonellae for various Salmonella serotypes. Survival analysis was then used to determine how variables associated with patient management, environmental conditions, hospital conditions, and other disease processes affected the risk of nosocomial Salmonella infection. RESULTS: 78 horses shed Salmonella organisms: 35 shed Salmonella krefeld, 26 shed S typhimurium, and 17 shed other Salmonella serotypes. Mean time from admission to shedding was significantly longer for horses shedding S krefeld or S typhimurium than for horses shedding other Salmonella serotypes. Therefore, infection with S krefeld or S typhimurium was considered nosocomial. Seven variables were found to be significantly associated with risk of nosocomial Salmonella infection: mean number of horses in the hospital shedding S krefeld during the 4 days prior to and the day of admission, mean number of horses shedding S typhimurium during this period, a diagnosis of large colon impaction, withholding feed, number of days fed bran mash, duration of treatment with potassium penicillin G, and mean daily ambient temperature. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Results suggest that risk of nosocomial Salmonella infections is greater for horses with large colon impactions. In addition to implementing hospital protocols that minimize cross contamination between patients, strategies to reduce the risk of nosocomial Salmonella infection should include minimizing use of potassium penicillin G and regulation of environmental temperature in the hospital.     

粳稻耐旱突变体的诱发与鉴定

采用60Coγ射线200Gy辐照处理晚粳稻品种“浙粳20”纯系干种子,在其后代发现2个粳稻耐旱突变体G1和G2。经(生殖生长期)海南和杭州(营养生长期)耐旱性鉴定,2个突变体耐旱性明显优于原亲本“浙粳20”,也优于巴西陆稻“IAPAR-9”。普通灌溉栽培条件下的农艺性状测试表明,2个突变体对水陆环境具有较好的双重适应性。G1综合性状优良,可直接应用于生产,G2产量偏低,可作为新的优质耐旱种质利用。     

Echinococcosis in Kenya: transmission characteristics, incidence and control measures

Kenya has the highest reported incidence of human hydatid disease in the world. Up to about 30% of cattle, 15% of goats and 13% of sheep harbour the infection. The causative agent of the disease in Kenya is Echinococcus granulosus and a complex strain picture of this parasite has been postulated to occur. The domestic dog is the main definitive host of E. granulosus in Kenya but infection in wild carnivores has also been reported. Hydatid cysts have also been found in wild herbivores. Although the domestic cycle has been shown to be the most important mode of transmission of the disease, a sylvatic cycle is also known to exist. The etiology of hydatid disease, the strain differentiation of E. granulosus found in Kenya, and the role that wildlife plays in the transmission cycle is reviewed. The current trends in the incidence of hydatid disease in man and livestock, and the efforts being made to control the disease are also discussed.     

MRI examination of trachea and bronchi in the Ganges River dolphin (Platanista gangetica)

The MRI examination was carried out in a formalin-fixed specimen of the Ganges River dolphin (Platanista gangetica), one of the evolutionary primitive species of cetaceans. We could morphologically elucidate the tracheobronchial ramification in the intact whole body. We demonstrated from the MRI sections that the characteristic tracheal bronchus branches from the trachea at the cranial portion. These findings suggest the phylogenetic relationships between cetaceans and artiodactyls. The left bronchus is obviously larger in diameter than the right one. We suggest that the right bronchus has smaller capacity of gas exchange than the left one, because the dolphin possesses the tracheal bronchus in the right lung. The MRI method will be important in the non-invasive study of the anatomy in endangered animal carcass as Ganges River dolphin.     

Genetic diversity for nitrogen use efficiency in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) cultivars using the Ingestad model on hydroponics

Spinach is a leafy vegetable that requires a high N fertilization to have a satisfactory yield and quality, in part because it has poor nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Therefore, there is a need to breed for cultivars with an excellent NUE. To this end the genetic diversity for NUE-related traits was studied in a diverse set of commercial cultivars. This set was evaluated in a hydroponic system using the Ingestad model; the system was set at a relative growth rate of 0.14 and 0.18 g g^?1 day^?1 (low and high N, respectively). Experiments were performed at low and high plant density. Traits monitored for single plants included fresh and dry weight, leaf area, specific leaf area, dry weight ratio between root and shoot, and chlorophyll content. The high density experiment showed more genotypic variation for the observed traits than the low density one. Biomass production was considerably lower at low than at high N. Path analysis revealed that leaf area had the highest direct effect on NUE, while specific leaf area was an important trait determining variation in NUE at low N. Slow and fast growing genotypes were shown to use different strategies to utilize N, and these strategies are expressed differently at high and low N availability. This indicates that improving spinach for NUE is feasible using the analysed genotypes as source material, and different strategies can be targeted for adaptation of spinach cultivars to low N conditions.