Pollen and pollination experiments. VI. Heat resistance of pollen

Summary Pollen of dry apple, pear, lily and rose pollen was heated up to 48 h at a range of temperatures. About half or more than half of the pollen grains survived 48 h at 40 C, 24 h at 50 C, 8 16 h at 60 C. 4 8 h at 70 C, more than one hour at 80 C. and between 10 and 20 min at 90 C. Presumably, pollen able to withstand low humidity is also heat resistant, a property which may be usable to make pollen virus free through heat treatment and perhaps to overcome incompatibility.     

The performance of double or mixed pollinations with compatible and self-incompatible or incongruous pollen of pear and apple

Summary Six pear and five apple trials were carried out to ascertain the outcome of combinations of compatible pollen (C) with self (S) or incongruous pollen (I) as to the pollination index (PI=seeds/pollinated flower). The PI of the mixture C+I (1:5) was consistently depressed as compared to that of the control C. The results of the double pollinations S/C and I/C were affected by the temperature at pollination; their PI's at <15°C were twice as high as those at >15°C, being well above and below the PI of C in the former and latter case respectively. The opposite was true for the C/S combination, the PI of which increased with the pollination temperature; the PI of C/I did not differ much from the PI of C, irrespective of temperature. The conclusion was reached that the interaction previously and presently found between compatible and self-incompatible pollen also exists to a fair extent between compatible and incongruous pollen. However, in pear neither the mentor nor the pioneer pollen technique proved to aid its hybridization with apple, the formation of self seed was not observed either. In apple the production of apple × pear hybrids was likewise doubtful, but the double pollinations S/C and C/S formed 4–10% self seed.     

Family effects in heartwood content of Eucalyptus globulus L.

Thirty families of Eucalyptus globulus L., established in a first-generation open-pollinated progeny test, were evaluated for the production of heartwood. Five trees of each family were harvested at 9 years of age, total tree height was measured and a cross-sectional disc was removed at 25 % stem height to estimate the amount of heartwood. The heartwood proportion of the stemwood cross-sectional area averaged 41 % with significant between-family variation (P = 0.016) ranging from 27 to 53 %. There were also important within-family differences with coefficients of variation of the mean between 4 and 48 %. Moderate heritability values were obtained for heartwood diameter and proportion (h ² = 0.31 and 0.23, respectively) but low estimates were found for sapwood width (h ² = 0.17). Strong positive genetic and phenotypic correlations of heartwood diameter were found with stem DBH and with heartwood proportion. Both correlation estimates indicated that larger trees tended to have more heartwood. The results indicate that there is an opportunity to reduce heartwood content in E. globulus through selection and breeding.     

Toxicity of soybean-registered agrochemicals to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Telenomus podisi</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Trissolcus basalis</Emphasis> immature stages

Biological control of phytophagous bugs in soybean crops is efficiently performed by egg parasitoids, such as Telenomus podisi and Trissolcus basalis. Based on this, the use of agrochemicals in these crops must be managed consciously, making use of pesticides that are selective to the egg of these parasitoids, in order to ensure a balanced ecosystem. The aim of this study was to assess the selectivity of 15 registered pesticides to the immature stages (pre and post-parasitism) of T. podisi and T. basalis, following the method proposed by the “International Organization for Biological and Integrated Control” (IOBC). Pesticides were classified as class 1 – harmless (RP?<?30%); class 2 – slightly harmful (30%?≤?RP?≤?79%); class 3 – moderately harmful (80%?≤?RP?≤?99%); and class 4 – harmful (RP?>?99%). During pre-parasitism, the insecticides imidacloprid+beta-cyfluthrin, deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin+thiamethoxam, acephate, and fenitrothion reduced parasitism of both parasitoids. The others: flubendiamide, diflubenzuron, Bacillus thuringiensis, lufenuron, and the herbicide isopropylamine were selective, i.e. harmless (class 1), to both parasitoids, except for pyraclostrobin+metconazole, which significantly reduced T. basalis parasitism, being considered slightly harmful (class 2). In post parasitism, all the aforementioned pesticides were harmless to T. podisi and T. basalis. Moreover, in pre-parasitism, T. basalis was found to be more sensitive to the tested pesticides when compared to T. podisi. Still, more studies must be conducted to provide a better understanding of the impact of agrochemicals on these parasitoid species in semi-field conditions.     

Plant exposure to herbivore-induced plant volatiles: a sustainable approach through eliciting plant defenses

Journal of Pest Science - Modern agricultural policies across the globe are committed to a significant reduction in chemical pesticide dependency; however, pest management strategies are still...     

Evidence for protein degradation by Botrytis cinerea and relationships with alteration of synthetic wine foaming properties

Botrytis cinerea is an important fungal pathogen particularly dreaded in the cool climate vineyard. It is responsible for important damage, especially the decrease in foamability of sparkling wines, such as Champagne. Different studies have shown that proteins are largely involved in the stabilization of Champagne foam despite their low concentration. Other works demonstrated changes in the electrophoretic characteristics of must proteins originating from botrytized grapes, although the cause of such alterations was never explained. In the first part of this study, results showed the release by B. cinerea of 3.5 mg/L total proteins in a synthetic liquid medium. Among these proteins, the presence of a protease activity on bovine serum albumin (BSA) and must proteins was demonstrated by using a colorimetric method and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In the model wine, the Bradford method showed a BSA loss of 66% after 24 h and a loss of 96% after 120 h. In the same model wine, the soluble must protein concentration decreased by 35% after 1 week and by 53% after 2 weeks while the control showed no protein loss. B. cinerea proteases were then able to degrade BSA and must proteins and were above all active at must and wine pH and in the presence of ethanol and SO(2). The second part of this work was dedicated to the relationship between the presence of B. cinerea proteases and its effects on the synthetic wine foaming properties. The addition of a B. cinerea culture medium (1/33 v/v) to the synthetic wine containing 21 mg/L soluble grape proteins induced a decrease in foamability by 60% after 1 week. For BSA in the model wine, the foamability decreased by 32% after 24 h and by 95% after 120 h, as shown by the colorimetric method. These experiments demonstrate for the first time the relationship between B. cinerea protease activity and the decrease in wine foaming properties.     

Thromboelastography results on citrated whole blood from clinically healthy cats depend on modes of activation

Background

During the last decade, thromboelastography (TEG) has gained increasing acceptance as a diagnostic test in veterinary medicine for evaluation of haemostasis in dogs, however the use of TEG in cats has to date only been described in one previous study and a few abstracts. The objective of the present study was to evaluate and compare three different TEG assays in healthy cats, in order to establish which assay may be best suited for TEG analyses in cats.

Methods

90 TEG analyses were performed on citrated whole blood samples from 15 clinically healthy cats using assays without activator (native) or with human recombinant tissue factor (TF) or kaolin as activators. Results for reaction time (R), clotting time (K), angle (α), maximum amplitude (MA) and clot lysis (LY30; LY60) were recorded.

Results

Coefficients of variation (CVs) were highest in the native assay and comparable in TF and kaolin activated assays. Significant differences were observed between native and kaolin assays for all measured parameters, between kaolin and TF for all measured parameters except LY60 and between native and TF assays for R and K.

Conclusion

The results indicate that TEG is a reproducible method for evaluation of haemostasis in clinically healthy cats. However, the three assays cannot be used interchangeably and the kaolin- and TF activated assays have the lowest analytical variation indicating that using an activator may be superior for performing TEG in cats.