The relative resistance to gastrointestinal nematode infection of three British sheep breeds

The relative resistance of Manx Loaghtan, Shetland and Southdown sheep to naturally acquired gastrointestinal nematode infection was assessed over a ten week period. Thirty shearling ewes, ten from each of the three breeds, were co-grazed on an infective pasture. The animals were initially treated with an anthelmintic to minimise previous nematode infection, and faecal samples were collected from individual animals every two weeks. Southdown sheep had significantly higher faecal egg counts (FEC) than Shetland by week 6, and than Manx Loaghtan by week 10. After ten weeks there was an 86-fold difference in FEC between Shetland and Southdown sheep, and a 14-fold difference between Manx Loaghtan and Southdown sheep. These preliminary results suggest that primitive Shetland and Manx Loaghtan sheep may have greater resistance to gastrointestinal parasites, a trait that could be of value to the UK livestock industry.     

Caste-Specific Demography and Phenology in Bumblebees: Modelling <Emphasis Type="Italic">BeeWalk</Emphasis> Data

We present novel dynamic mixture models for the monitoring of bumblebee populations on an unprecedented geographical scale, motivated by the UK citizen science scheme BeeWalk. The models allow us for the first time to estimate bumblebee phenology and within-season productivity, defined as the number of individuals in each caste per colony in the population in that year, from citizen science data. All of these parameters are estimated separately for each caste, giving a means of considerable ecological detail in examining temporal changes in the complex life cycle of a social insect in the wild. Due to the dynamic nature of the models, we are able to produce population trends for a number of UK bumblebee species using the available time-series. Via an additional simulation exercise, we show the extent to which useful information will increase if the survey continues, and expands in scale, as expected. Bumblebees are extraordinarily important components of the ecosystem, providing pollination services of vast economic impact and functioning as indicator species for changes in climate or land use. Our results demonstrate the changes in both phenology and productivity between years and provide an invaluable tool for monitoring bumblebee populations, many of which are in decline, in the UK and around the world. Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear online.     

The spore coat of the bean anthracnose fungus Colletotrichum lindemuthianum is required for adhesion, appressorium development and pathogenicity

The spores (conidia) of the bean anthracnose fungal pathogen, Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, adhere to the aerial parts of plants to initiate the infection process. In previous studies we have shown that the Colletotrichum spores are surrounded by a fibrillar spore coat, comprising several major glycoproteins. Previous evidence showed that a monoclonal antibody (UB20) that recognised these glycoproteins was able to inhibit adhesion of spores to a hydrophobic surface. In this paper we have further studied the role of the spore coat in adhesion, germination and fungal development by studying the effects of UB20 and protease treatment of spores. The latter treatment has previously been shown to remove the spore coat. Spores germinate on glass, polystyrene and water agar, however, appressoria only develop on glass or polystyrene, showing a requirement for a hard surface. Removal of the spore coat with protease inhibits adhesion at 30 min, before the secretion of ECM glycoproteins. Protease treatment also inhibits the development of appressoria and reduces pathogenicity on leaves. Incubation of spores with the MAb UB20 inhibits adhesion at 30 min, but does not affect appressorium formation or pathogenicity. The results suggest that an intact spore coat has two functions; it is required for adhesion to a hydrophobic surface and for the detection of a hard surface necessary for appressorium formation. We suggest that contact with a hard surface, rather than adhesion, is the key event leading to appressorium formation.     

Compositional changes of Australia-grown Western Schley pecans [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch] during maturation

Changes in composition during the maturation of Western Schley pecans [Carya illinoinensis(Wangenh.) K. Koch] grown in Australia were investigated. Pecans of different maturity levels were collected at monthly intervals between March and June in 1999 and 2000 and analyzed for the concentrations of moisture, total lipid, sucrose, raffinose, protein, and the minerals aluminum, boron, calcium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, phosphorus, sulfur, and zinc. Moisture, total lipid, and calcium contents changed significantly (p < 0.05) with harvest time and maturity, whereas the other components did not. Western Schley pecans grown in Australia should be harvested after the shuck has opened and it is either green or brown in color to maximize total lipid content and quality. This occurred after May 11 in 1999 and after May 17 in 2000.     

Electron microprobe and neutron activation analysis for the determination of elemental distribution in hollow heart potato tubers

Electron microprobe and neutron activation analysis were used to evaluate the distribution of elements within potato tubers having the physiological disorder hollow heart. Both methods of analysis correlated well for all elements tested. In hollow heart tubers, there were significantly higher Ca⁺⁺ levels in the stem end than in the bud end; however, a Ca⁺⁺ gradient in the control was not evident. The stem to bud end ratios for Ca⁺⁺ were highest in the hollow heart tubers. A Cl^? gradient from stem to bud end was obvious in both the hollow heart and control tubers. In the control tubers, K⁺ was highest in the bud end and lowest in the stem end. There was no K⁺ gradient in hollow heart tubers, but in the area adjacent to the hollow it was higher than at both ends.     

Isolation and characterization of pediatric canine bone marrow CD34+ cells

Historically, the dog has been a valuable model for bone marrow transplantation studies, with many of the advances achieved in the dog being directly transferable to human clinical bone marrow transplantation protocols. In addition, dogs are also a source of many well-characterized homologues of human genetic diseases, making them an ideal large animal model in which to evaluate gene therapy protocols. It is generally accepted that progenitor cells for many human hematopoietic cell lineages reside in the CD34+ fraction of cells from bone marrow, cord blood, or peripheral blood. In addition, CD34+ cells are the current targets for human gene therapy of diseases involving the hematopoietic system. In this study, we have isolated and characterized highly enriched populations of canine CD34+ cells isolated from dogs 1 week to 3 months of age. Bone marrow isolated from 2- to 3-week-old dogs contained up to 18% CD34+ cells and this high percentage dropped sharply with age. In in vitro 6-day liquid suspension cultures, CD34+ cells harvested from 3-week-old dogs expanded almost two times more than those from 3-month-old dogs and the cells from younger dogs were also more responsive to human Flt-3 ligand (Flt3L). In culture, the percent and number of CD34+ cells from both ages of dogs dropped sharply between 2 and 4 days, although the number of CD34+ cells at day 6 of culture was higher for cells harvested from the younger dogs. CD34+ cells harvested from both ages of dogs had similar enrichment and depletion values in CFU-GM methylcellulose assays. Canine CD34+/Rho123lo cells expressed c-kit mRNA while the CD34+/Rhohi cells did not. When transplanted to a sub-lethally irradiated recipient, CD34+ cells from 1- to 3-week-old dogs gave rise to both myeloid and lymphoid lineages in the periphery. This study demonstrates that canine CD34+ bone marrow cells have similar in vitro and in vivo characteristics as human CD34+ cells. In addition, ontogeny-related functional differences reported for human CD34+ cells appear to exist in the dog as well, suggesting pediatric CD34+ cells may be better targets for gene transfer than adult bone marrow. The demonstration of similarities between canine and human CD34+ cells enhances the dog as a large, preclinical model to evaluate strategies for improving bone marrow transplantation protocols, for gene therapy protocols that target CD34+ cells, and to study the engraftment potential of various cell populations that may contain hematopoietic progenitor cell activity.     

利用ECMWF再分析数据验证PRECIS对中国区域气候的模拟能力

本文利用1979～1983年的ECMWF再分析数据作为准观测侧边界条件驱动Hadley气候预测和研究中心的区域气候模式系统PRECIS，验证PRECIS对中国区域的气候模拟能力。选择典型的观测站点北京模拟的日最高，最低气温、太阳短波总辐射和月均降水量与观测结果进行直接比较，显示：PRECIS具有很强的模拟地面气候季节变化的能力。全国740个台站的观测与模拟值的统计分析表明：尽管模拟的最高，最低气温在0℃附近有一‘锯齿’状的偏差，PRECIS能够很好地模拟全国范围最高，最低气温的型态分布特征；从全国范围看，模拟的降水值偏高，但显示出很强的模拟极端降水事件的能力；模拟的地面太阳短波总辐射与全国122个台站的观测结果的比较显示：PRECIS模拟的辐射值偏高，全国范围内约高22％。因此，当应用PRECIS输出结果进行气候变化的影响评价时，需要对模式的输出结果进行订正。