Confirmation of the Carolina slate belt as an exotic terrane

An assemblage of Middle Cambrian Atlantic faunal province trilobites has been found in the rocks of the Carolina slate belt near Batesburg, South Carolina. Geologic and paleomagnetic data suggest that the Carolina slate belt and the adjacent Charlotte belt constitute an exotic terrane that was accreted to North America in early to middle Paleozoic time.     

Squamous cell carcinoma in a tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)

CASE HISTORY: A mature male tuatara was presented with a history of recurrent cloacal prolapse.

CLINICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS: The prolapsed tissue included a 12 mm diameter mass, which histologically showed cords and nodules of neoplastic epithelial cells.

DIAGNOSIS: The mass was diagnosed as a squamous cell carcinoma with ulceration of the overlying stratified squamous epithelium and diffuse inflammation of the surrounding dermis.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This case presented a rare opportunity to investigate squamous cell carcinoma in a long-lived lower vertebrate species. Future recurrence or metastasis of the mass may add useful information to the current base of knowledge of the behaviour of malignant neoplasms in reptiles.     

Antimicrobial stewardship in the dairy industry: responding to the threat of antimicrobial resistance

Dairy Australia is the national service body for the Australian dairy industry. Its role is to help farmers adapt to a changing operating environment and achieve a profitable, sustainable dairy industry. Although the use of antibiotics in Australian agriculture is relatively low in global terms, Dairy Australia recognises important drivers for continuous improvement in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS). Dairy Australia’s first strategic priority is to support profitable farms. This priority has driven the development of a range of on‐farm change management programs in the animal health and welfare fields to optimise the unit cost of production and dairy cattle welfare. Dairy Australia’s third strategic priority is to further develop a ‘trusted dairy industry’. Previous and current work under these two strategies position the dairy industry favourably with respect to confronting the challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and supporting sound AMS with the guiding principle of ‘as little as possible, as much as necessary’. However, given an incomplete but ongoing threat of AMR, more work is needed. Supported by Dairy Australia, the dairy industry has developed an antimicrobial use strategy aligning with the Australian Animal Sector National AMR Plan 2018.     

Phenotypic stability of resistance to late blight in potato clones evaluated at eight sites in the United States

Changes in the fungal pathogenPhytophthora infestans in the United States pose a significant threat to potato production. Sources of resistance to these new genotypes of P.infestans need to be identified for potato breeders to have parental materials for crossing, and the phenotypic stability of late blight resistance in these potato clones needs to be determined. Sixteen potato clones which reportedly have some resistance to late blight were evaluated at eight locations: Florida (FL), Maine (ME), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), North Dakota (ND), New York (NY), Pennsylvania (PA) and Wisconsin (WI) in 1996. Percent infected foliage was recorded at approximately weekly intervals following the onset of the disease at each location. Area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) was calculated. Clones were ranked for mean AUDPC within location and the nonparametric stability statistics, mean absolute rank differences and variance of the ranks, were analyzed for phenotypic stability. Neither of these statistics was significant, indicating a lack of genotype x environment interaction on the rankings of these clones across locations in 1996. The four clones with lowest AUDPC scores were U.S. clones AWN86514-2, B0692-4, B0718-3 and B0767-2. These clones should be useful parental materials for breeders seeking to incorporate genes for late blight resistance into potatoes.     

Evaluation of limb autotomy as a promising strategy to improve production performances of mud crab (Scylla olivacea) in the soft‐shell farming system

Soft‐shell crab, a newly moulted crab having non‐calcified and hydrated soft exoskeleton, farming has been increasing tremendously in recent years throughout the world due to its high market price and consumer preferences. However, high aggressiveness and cannibalistic behaviour of mud crab limit its culture to an individual chamber system which ultimately makes the soft‐shell mud crab farming space and labour‐intensive. Therefore, the aim of this study was to improve the efficiency of soft‐shell crab production by autotomy of the claw and/or walking legs to reduce the moulting duration and intensify the culture system through double stocking in the existing individual chamber culture system. To achieve our objectives, a series of experiment were conducted at both indoor and on‐farm levels by removing the claw and/or walking legs of Scylla olivacea for two consecutive moulting cycles. Results showed that both claw ablation significantly (p < .01) shortened the moulting duration and increased the carapace width, weight gain, specific growth rate, feeding efficiency and yield parameter compared to the non‐ablated crabs more prominently at 1st moulting than the 2nd moulting in both indoor and on‐farm trials. Ablation of all walking legs while keeping the claw intact did not significantly influence (p > .05) the moulting duration and carapace width, but significantly (p < .01) improved the specific growth rate, weight gain, feeding efficiency and yield parameters at 1st moulting compared to the non‐ablation and unilateral three walking leg ablation groups. However, ablation of all appendages (both claw and walking legs) showed significant (p < .01) improvements of carapace width, weight gain, specific growth rate, feeding efficiency and yield parameters, and shortened the moulting duration up to 23 days from 34 days during 1st moulting and up to 27 days from 40 days at 2nd moulting. The survivals of different autotomized mud crabs were statistically non‐significant (p > .05) to the non‐autotomized crabs in various indoor and on‐farm trials. Besides improving the production performances, ablation of bilateral claw and all appendages allowed to double the stocking density in the existing individual chamber‐based soft‐shell crab farming that enhanced the production about threefold higher than the existing individual chamber‐based culture system. Finally, our results suggest that autotomy could be a promising technology for the commercial farming of soft‐shell mud crab in near future.     

A comparative molecular field analysis study of obtusifoliol 14α-methyl demethylase inhibitors

This report describes the development of a Comparative Molecular Field Analysis (CoMFA) model from a set of obtusifoliol 14α-methyl demethylase (DM) inhibitors to aid in the design of herbicides targeting sterol biosynthesis. CoMFA is a three-dimensional (3-D) quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) method that is useful in the probing of receptor binding sites when experimental structure data are unavailable. Conformational analysis and SAR of some rigid and active analogs were used to build the initial model using the active analog hypothesis. The model was subsequently used to design compounds that retain the active site shape requirements, but incorporate physical properties that favor soil-applied herbicidal action. In addition, a second-generation CoMFA model incorporating the newly designed inhibitors was developed and represents the current understanding of the DM binding site. This model was derived from a pharmacophore developed from two methods, the active analog approach as well as from the Catalyst program. The fact that two independent methods produced a similar pharmacophore strengthens the validity of the model. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry