HARNESSING ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES AND PHYSIOLOGIC MECHANISMS IN DIVERSIFYING AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS FOR SUSTAINABILITY: EXPERIENCE FROM STUDIES DEPLOYING NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS IN SCOTLAND

To achieve the triple challenge of food security, reversing biodiversity declines plus mitigating and adapting to climate change, there is a drive to embed ecological principles into agricultural, value-chain practices and decisionmaking. By diversifying cropping systems at several scales there is potential to decrease reliance on inputs, provide resilience to abiotic and biotic stress,enhance plant, microbe and animal biodiversity, and mitigate against climate change. In this review we highligh...     

Effect of different formulations on tebuconazole residues in stone fruits

BACKGROUND: The correlation between pesticide residue levels and formulation of an active substance is often not considered, even if it is reasonable to expect some differences arising from behaviour during dilution and spraying, from adhesion to plant and from degradation. An experimental study to investigate the magnitude of tebuconazole residues as a function of different tebuconazole formulated products was carried out in Italy. The fungicide was applied as wettable powder (WP) and water‐dispersible granule (WG) formulations to peach, plum, apricot and nectarine orchards, on four different sites. The fruit samples gained from the field trials were quantitatively analysed by gas chromatography with a nitrogen phosphorus detector (GC/NPD) for tebuconazole residues. RESULTS: Tebuconazole residues in the fruits gained from the plot treated with the WP formulation, 14 days after application, were in the range 0.01–0.07 mg kg^?1, while corresponding residues in the plot treated with the WG formulation were in the range 0.01–0.06 mg kg^?1. CONCLUSION: No significant differences in the residue levels of tebuconazole could be observed between the trials conducted with the WP and the WG formulation. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Circulating β-Endorphin,Adrenocorticotropin, and Cortisol Concentrations of Horses Before and After Competitive Show Jumping with Different Fence Heights

Circulating β-endorphin, adrenocorticotropin, and cortisol concentrations were studied before and after competitive show jumping in 18 trained jumper horses aged between 11 and 13 years and having the same level of show experience. Horses were subjected to the same type of management and daily training exercise. Each horse had been ridden by the same rider during both the daily training exercise and show jumping event. All horses, randomly divided into three groups paired by gender, performed in three competition levels with the same circuit design over 10 fences, with 5 upright and 5 cross-pole fences, differing for the fence height: group I (n = 6), 1.10 m; group II (n = 6), 1.20 m; and group III (n = 6), 1.30 m. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed a statistically significant effect of competitive exercise on β-endorphin and cortisol changes in all groups, whereas the effect of exercise on adrenocorticotropin changes was exclusively seen in groups II and III. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the effect of fence height was significant (P = .03), and time (P = .0001) also affected cortisol changes. These results suggest that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response is different with respect to the different fence heights of jumping course and the different time points of the recovery period.     

Biochemical and cytological analyses in natural populations ofVicia benghalensis L.

Summary 27 accessions ofVicia benghalensis from different geographical origins constitute the pool on which the present study was performed. Genetic variation among the samples was biochemically and cytologically evaluated: seed storage protein profiles and C-banded karyotypes were analysed from single individuals of each accession. SDS-PAGE has shown the possibility to divide the samples into two groups, each characterized by specific protein profiles. The two patterns were indicated as A and B. From individual seed electrophoresis it was ascertained that samples possessing the pattern A showed a low level of individual variation, while those possessing the pattern B were highly polymorphic, thus suggesting differences in the allogamic rate. The cytological analysis demonstrated the presence of two groups of accessions, one being much richer in heterochromatin as evidenced by C-banding (H⁺) than the other (H^-). The analysis of biochemical and karyological data showed a constant association between pattern A and karyotype H⁻ and between pattern B and karyotype H⁺. On the basis of these results it is proposed to considerV. benghalensis as a highly heteromorphic species, in which two groups may be identified.     

Growth,diet, and reproduction of Eurasian perch <Emphasis Type="Italic">Perca fluviatilis</Emphasis> L. in Lake Varese,northwestern Italy

No data have previously been reported on Eurasian perch Perca fluviatilis L. in Lake Varese. In this study, the growth, diet, and reproductive biology of the Eurasian perch population were investigated with the aim of providing information that may serve as a basis for efficient resource management. A total of 240 specimens were caught during the monthly sampling campaign from November 2006 through October 2008. The length-to-weight relationships were W _t = 8.4 × 10⁻³ L _t^3.10 (males) and W _t = 4.1 × 10⁻³ L _t^3.36 (females). The parameters for the von Bertalanffy growth function for pooled sexes were L _∞  = 33.17 cm, k = 0.20 year⁻¹, and t ₀ = −1.34 year. Perch in Lake Varese spawn from April through May. Sexual maturity is reached when males are 2 years old, in females mostly when they are 3 years old. Relative fecundity (F _rel) and absolute fecundity (F _abs) were assessed for females. Fecundity values were similar to data reported for other European populations: females of age 2+ F _rel = 102,457 ± 12,275, age 3+ F _rel = 131,767 ± 5,891, and age 4+ F _rel = 131,252 ± 15,555. Perch diet spectrum was wide and somewhat characterized by season. Perch in Lake Varese feed on macroinvertebrates, mainly Chironomidae and Chaoborus, zooplankton, and juvenile rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus.     

Collection of plant genetic resources in Italy 1989

Summary Exploration and collection of plant genetic resources were continued in central Italy 1989—regions Abruzzo, Umbria, Marche, Toscana.Triticum dicoccon was used as an indicator for traditional agriculture. 169 accessions were collected, mainly of cereals, vegetables and grain legumes. Worth mentioning are land-races ofTriticum aestivum, T. durum, Secale cereale, Pisum sativum, Lactuca sativa andCucurbita maxima. Brassica oleracea var.palmifolia, the palm-leaved kale, is an important vegetable in the Toscana. Several other rare crops could be also collected.

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Sammlung pflanzlicher genetischer Ressourcen in Italien 1989

Zusammenfassung Die Exploration und Sammlung pflanzlicher genetischer Ressourcen wurden 1989 in Mittelitalien fortgesetzt — Regionen Abruzzo, Umbria, Marche, Toscana.Triticum dicoccon wurde als Indikator für traditionelle Landwirtschaft verwendet. 169 Proben wurden gesammelt, hauptsächlich von Getreiden, Gemüsen und Körnerleguminosen. Erwähnenswert sind Landsorten vonTriticum aestivum, T. durum, Secale cereale, Pisum sativum undCucurbita maxima. Brassica oleracea var.palmifolia, der Palmkohl, ist ein wichtiges Gemüse in der Toscana. Verschiedene andere seltene Fruchtarten konnten ebenfalls gesammelt werden.

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1989

1989 , , , .Triticum dicoccon . 169 , , . Triticum aestivum, T. durum, Secale cereale, Pisum sativum Cucurbita maxima. Brassica oleracea var.palmifolia, , . .

     

Age-Dependent Bioaccumulation of Organochlorine Compounds in Fish and their Selective Biotransformation in Top Predators from Lake Maggiore (Italy)

Fish and piscivorous bird eggs collected in 2003 from Lake Maggiore (Italy), were analysed for PCB and DDT contamination. Lake Maggiore has been severely polluted by DDT through production of the pesticide within its catchment. Although agricultural application of DDT was banned in Italy in the 1978, industrial production continued until 1996, with enough contamination of water and soil for serious bioaccumulation in the lake biota. PCB and DDT concentrations in a whitefish (Coregonus macrophthalmus Nusslin 1882) were seen to be dependent on season and fish age, but not on sex. The average increase of the lipid-normalised concentration of DDTs and PCBs was two-fold across season and also across age, resulting in an overall increase of four fold. The seasonal variation was related to the eco-physiological cycle of the fish and to the contamination dynamic of the lake, while the effect of the fish age was explained on the base of biomagnification-related mechanisms. A fugacity model was applied to predict the age-dependent bioaccumulation potential of PCBs, whose concentrations were rather stable in recent years in the lake. Predicted values for compounds with negligible biotransformation were in good agreement with experimental data (calculated vs. experimental mean difference of 14%), and a relationship between the increase of experimental age-dependent concentration and K _ow was observed. The good correspondence between the predicted and the measured values for most PCB congeners confirmed the general inability of fishes to biotransform these compounds. On the contrary, the importance of biotransformation processes was recognised in birds; eggs of a fish eating bird (Podiceps cristatus) from the same area selectively bioaccumulated p,p′-DDE. For PCBs, congener 149 appears to be completely metabolized by the bird species, and congeners 95, 101, 132, 151 and 174 were reduced as well. The role of the meta–para free position on at least one phenyl ring of PCB congeners in biotransformation processes was confirmed.     

Deep-Sea Coral Garden Invertebrates and Their Associated Fungi Are Genetic Resources for Chronic Disease Drug Discovery

Chronic diseases characterized by bone and cartilage loss are associated with a reduced ability of progenitor cells to regenerate new tissues in an inflammatory environment. A promising strategy to treat such diseases is based on tissue repair mediated by human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), but therapeutic outcomes are hindered by the absence of small molecules to efficiently modulate cell behaviour. Here, we applied a high-throughput drug screening technology to bioprospect a large library of extracts from Irish deep-sea organisms to induce hMSC differentiation toward musculoskeletal lineages and reduce inflammation of activated macrophages. The library included extracts from deep-sea corals, sponges and filamentous fungi representing a novel source of compounds for the targeted bioactivity. A validated hit rate of 3.4% was recorded from the invertebrate library, with cold water sea pens (octocoral order Pennatulacea), such as Kophobelemnon sp. and Anthoptilum sp., showing the most promising results in influencing stem cell differentiation toward osteogenic and chondrogenic lineages. Extracts obtained from deep-sea fungi showed no effects on stem cell differentiation, but a 6.8% hit rate in reducing the inflammation of activated macrophages. Our results demonstrate the potential of deep-sea organisms to synthetize pro-differentiation and immunomodulatory compounds that may represent potential drug development candidates to treat chronic musculoskeletal diseases.