Evaluation of cytokines as adjuvants of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis vaccines

In this work two cytokines were used in combination with inactivated bacteria (bacterin) to test the bovine conjuctival immune response to the pathogen Moraxella bovis, the causative agent of Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK). Treatments using the bacterin vaccine combined with interleukin-2 and interferon-α as adjuvants (Group A), the bacterin vaccine only (Group B), and controls without treatment (Group C), were applied by ocular spraying to evaluate the local immune response in the corneal structure of cattle experimentally infected with M. bovis. Six weeks after infection, 14 out of a total of 34 animals presented different corneal lesions; 9 corresponding to the control group C, 4 to the group B and only one to the group A. According to the clinical manifestations, a numeric score was calculated. Control animals presented the highest score value (12 points), followed by group B (7.5 points) and group A (1 point). These results suggest that the addition of cytokines to M. bovis treatments can reduce not only eye injuries caused by IBK but also the number of diseased animals.     

Nondestructive evaluation of heat-treated Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden wood using stress wave method

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of heat treatment of eucalypt wood (Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden) on the dynamic modulus of elasticity by using the stress wave nondestructive method and also to determine the air-dry density variation, weight loss and equilibrium moisture content following treatment. Heat treatments were performed at four different temperatures (180, 200, 215 and 230°C) and for three different durations (15?min, 2 and 4?h). The results revealed a significant reduction in air-dry density following heat treatment independent of temperature and time. A significant weight loss was observed between and within treatments. The treatment at 230°C for 2 and 4?h produced a weight loss of 20.5 and 26.5%, respectively, which was statistically different from other treatment conditions. The dynamic modulus of elasticity decreased by about 13% in the most severe treatment (230°C for 4?h). Depending on the temperature and time, the equilibrium moisture content was significantly reduced within the range of 40–74%.     

Linking like with like: optimising connectivity between environmentally-similar habitats

Habitat fragmentation is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. To minimise the effect of fragmentation on biodiversity, connectivity between otherwise isolated habitats should be promoted. However, the identification of linkages favouring connectivity is not trivial. Firstly, they compete with other land uses, so they need to be cost-efficient. Secondly, linkages for one species might be barriers for others, so they should effectively account for distinct mobility requirements. Thirdly, detailed information on the auto-ecology of most of the species is lacking, so linkages need being defined based on surrogates. In order to address these challenges we develop a framework that (a) identifies environmentally-similar habitats; (b) identifies environmental barriers (i.e., regions with a very distinct environment from the areas to be linked), and; (c) determines cost-efficient linkages between environmentally-similar habitats, free from environmental barriers. The assumption is that species with similar ecological requirements occupy the same environments, so environmental similarity provides a rationale for the identification of the areas that need to be linked. A variant of the classical minimum Steiner tree problem in graphs is used to address c). We present a heuristic for this problem that is capable of handling large datasets. To illustrate the framework we identify linkages between environmentally-similar protected areas in the Iberian Peninsula. The Natura 2000 network is used as a positive ‘attractor’ of links while the human footprint is used as ‘repellent’ of links. We compare the outcomes of our approach with cost-efficient networks linking protected areas that disregard the effect of environmental barriers. As expected, the latter achieved a smaller area covered with linkages, but with barriers that can significantly reduce the permeability of the landscape for the dispersal of some species.     

Precursor uptake assays and metabolic analyses in isolated tomato fruit chromoplasts

Background  

Carotenoids are the most widespread group of pigments found in nature. In addition to their role in the physiology of the plant, carotenoids also have nutritional relevance as their incorporation in the human diet provides health benefits. In non-photosynthetic tissues, carotenoids are synthesized and stored in specialized plastids called chromoplasts. At present very little is known about the origin of the metabolic precursors and cofactors required to sustain the high rate of carotenoid biosynthesis in these plastids. Recent proteomic data have revealed a number of biochemical and metabolic processes potentially operating in fruit chromoplasts. However, considering that chloroplast to chromoplast differentiation is a very rapid process during fruit ripening, there is the possibility that some of the proteins identified in the proteomic analysis could represent remnants no longer having a functional role in chromoplasts. Therefore, experimental validation is necessary to prove whether these predicted processes are actually operative in chromoplasts.     

Relationship of parental genetic distance with agronomic performance,specific combining ability,and predicted breeding values of raspberry families

Previous findings in some crops suggest that parental distance is correlated with heterosis and agronomic performance. However, this pattern is not always evident in the progeny. The present study aimed to assess the relationship of parental distance with the agronomic performance of raspberry families and three estimators based on non-environmental effects: specific combining ability, general combining ability, and best linear unbiased prediction. A total of 35 genotypes, including eight open-pollinated raspberry cultivars and their 28 F₁ hybrids, were scored for vegetative and fruit traits. The relationship between estimators and parental distance ranged from 0.02 to 0.66. The estimators based on purely additive effects were superior to the per se performance of raspberry crosses. Additionally, it was observed that the specific combining ability—as an estimator associated with the parental genetic relatedness—performed poorly, and low correlation coefficients were observed for most of the traits. It was found that the degree of association for the estimators increased when narrow-sense heritability was high. It is concluded that the estimators based on only additive effects show a better association with parental relatedness, and therefore parental distance was an effective parameter in identifying crosses with high yield and large fruit size.     

Genetic parameters and selection gains in early clonal evaluation trials: implications for cassava breeding

The objective of this study was to estimate and compare genetic parameters in early cassava breeding phases (clonal evaluation trials—CET and preliminary yield trials—PYT) in full-sib (F₁) and self-pollinated (S₁) families, besides estimating the genetic gains. Twenty-three F₁ and six S₁ families were evaluated using the augmented block design in CET and the randomized complete block design in PYT for fresh root yield (FRY), root dry matter content (DMC) and starch yield (STY). In CET, most of the variance was due to environmental (\(\sigma_{e}^{2}\)) followed by variance within F₁ and S₁ (\(\sigma_{Clone/Fam}^{2}\)) families, with the exception of DMC in S₁ families. PYT presented the opposite behavior. In contrast, specifically for S₁ families, the variance between families (\(\sigma_{ Fam}^{2}\)) was more important than \(\sigma_{e}^{2}\) and \(\sigma_{Clone/Fam}^{2}\) in PYT. The heritability of families (\(h_{Fam}^{2}\)) was lower than individual broad-sense heritability (\(h_{g}^{2}\)) in all trials and families. Regardless of the family type and trial, family accuracy (\(r_{ggFam}\)) was lower than the clone accuracies (\(r_{ggCl}\)). Predicted gains using the selection index (SI) applied to best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) were higher in PYT compared with CET and higher in F₁ families in comparison with S₁. There was also low coincidence in clone selection in both trials (30 and 45% for F₁ and S₁ families, respectively). For cassava breeding, it is recommended to obtain a higher number of clones per family and to use the SI with moderate intensity, particularly in CET.     

Morphological variation of starch granules in S<Subscript>1</Subscript> cassava progenies

The need to develop new cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) varieties with different starch characteristics has greatly motivated new research. The aim of this study was to evaluate morphological alterations in starch granules as well as genetic gains in segregating S₁ cassava populations. Starch from accessions (S₀): BGM0222, BGM1378 and BGM1662 and from their self-fertilized progenies (S₁): F0222, F1378 and F1662, with 78, 80 and 76 individuals, respectively, were evaluated for the following traits: area (ArStGr, µm²), perimeter (PrStGr, µm), length (LeStGr, µm) and number of starch granules (NuStGr). Moreover, some agronomic traits of the S₁ progenies were evaluated at harvest such as: plant height (PlaHei), shoot yield (ShoYi), root yield (RoYi), starch yield (StYi), and root dry matter content (DMC). With the selection of transgressive individuals in S₁ progenies, it is possible to obtain selection gains for values higher and lower than the average of the S₀ genitors, whereas selection gains can reach up to 16.58, 8.39, 7.87 and 34.18% for ArStGr, LeStGr, PrStGr, and NuStGr, respectively. Average size of the starch granule varied from 9.8 to 12.37 µm among individuals in an S₁ progeny. Positive and high correlations between the individuals were found for some morphological characteristics of the cassava starch granule but not strongly correlated with agronomic traits. Therefore, it is possible to select S₁ cassava individuals for agronomic characteristics without losing other important starch traits. Cassava-segregating populations allow the obtainment of individuals with different morphological characteristics as for starch granules, enabling obtainment of genetic gains with the selection.     

Metal uptake by wetland plants: implications for phytoremediation and restoration

Purpose

This study was undertaken to determine the feasibility of using three aquatic macrophytes, Phragmites australis, Juncus effusus and Iris pseudacorus, to phytoextract potentially toxic elements (PTEs) from a contaminated area by mining activities.

Materials and methods

An artificial pond was constructed with two topsoils (yellow and black samples) collected from Portman Bay. In order to simulate the mixing with carbonate materials, which naturally occurs in this area, a stabilisation approach was applied by mixing with 30 % of limestone filler. Three replicates of each type of soil have been prepared in pots for the selected species. The total PTEs content (arsenic, cadmium, copper, iron, lead and zinc) was determined and the bioconcentration factor (BCF) and transfer factor (TF) calculated.

Results and discussion

Soil samples showed high PTEs content as a result of mining activities. As regards the root contents, the PTEs is higher in yellow samples (YS) than in black ones, because in these samples the PTEs content that could be mobilised is higher. The BCF results were higher than unity for arsenic, copper, lead and cadmium for I. pseudacorus and P. australis growing on YS soil. Overall, copper and manganese showed a larger number of plants with BCF higher than unity. The PTEs content in leaves is low, and the TF results are lower than unity in almost all samples.

Conclusions

The results indicate that it is possible to use the selected species for phytostabilisation of soils contaminated with PTEs. J. effusus, P. australis and I. pseudacorus could be considered as tolerant, and natural or artificial wetlands containing these species could be used for remediation purposes.