Variance in leaf spot susceptibility in chestnut trees of different species and hybrids

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Prior to the first occurrence of chestnut blight in 1976, leaf spot caused by Cylindrosporium castaneae was one of the most important diseases of European...     

Occupancy pattern of a long-horned beetle in a variegated forest landscape: linkages between tree quality and forest cover across spatial scales

Context

Interactions between landscape-scale processes and fine-grained habitat heterogeneity are usually invoked to explain species occupancy in fragmented landscapes. In variegated landscapes, however, organisms face continuous variation in micro-habitat features, which makes necessary to consider ecologically meaningful estimates of habitat quality at different spatial scales.

Objectives

We evaluated the spatial scales at which forest cover and tree quality make the greatest contribution to the occupancy of the long-horned beetle Microplophorus magellanicus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in a variegated forest landscape.

Methods

We used averaged data of tree quality (as derived from remote sensing estimates of the decay stage of single trees) and spatially independent pheromone-baited traps to model the occurrence probability as a function of multiple cross-scale combinations between forest cover and tree quality (with scales ranging between 50 and 400 m).

Results

Model support and performance increased monotonically with the increasing scale at which tree quality was measured. Forest cover was not significant, and did not exhibit scale-specific effects on the occurrence probability of M. magellanicus. The interactive effect between tree quality and forest cover was stronger than the independent (additive) effects of tree quality and particularly forest cover. Significant interactions included tree quality measured at spatial scales ≥200 m, but cross-scale interactions occurred only in four of the seven best-supported models.

Conclusions

M. magellanicus respond to the high-quality trees available in the landscape rather than to the amount of forest per se. Conservation of viable metapopulations of M. magellanicus should consider the quality of trees at spatial scales >200 m.

     

Organic phosphorus mineralization characteristics in sediments from the coastal salt marshes of a Chinese delta under simulated tidal cycles

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Sediment organic phosphorus (OP) mineralization plays an important role in phosphorus cycling in coastal salt marshes. However, information on OP mineralization...     

MODIS热红外数据在乌鲁木齐市热岛研究中的应用

利用MODIS热红外数据,在完成几何校正、辐射定标、大气校正、云检测等数据预处理后,利用分裂窗算法反演得到乌鲁木齐2000-2005年1,4,7,10月的地表温度空间数据.在分析典型热温场的基础上,进行了热岛的季节和昼夜变化特征研究.结果表明:时间上,乌鲁木齐在夏季的白天和全年四季的夜晚均存在明显的城市热岛现象;空间上,乌鲁木齐城市和附近的戈壁、荒漠温度较高,近处的中山区和远郊的高山区温度较低,区域内温差较大、热岛强度高.乌鲁木齐城市热岛虽与其他大城市热岛特征在时空分布规律上有较多相似之处,但也有其自身的特性:干旱区城市郊区下垫面较多为戈壁荒漠,因此城市热岛效应在日间并不明显,相反有时会出现"城市冷岛"现象.     

家蚕幼虫氟中毒和质型多角体病毒感染后血淋巴中几种维生素含量的变化

运用高效液相色谱(HPLC)技术测定了家蚕五龄幼虫氟中毒和质型多角体病毒(CPV)感染后血淋巴中几种水溶性维生素含量的变化.为研究家蚕氟中毒和CPV感染的机理提供了依据.     

Serogroups of Campylobacter fetus and Campylobacter jejuni isolated in cases of ovine abortion

Of 38 aborted ovine fetuses from 23 sheep flocks 29 C. fetus subsp. fetus and 22 C. jejuni were isolated and examined biochemically and serologically for heat-stable antigens. Serologic examinations were carried out by passive haemagglutination test. In case of C. fetus subsp. fetus strains alkaline antigen extraction was used. Antisera to two serogroups of C. fetus and to Penner serotype reference strains 1 to 60 were produced in rabbits. Abortion was caused in 18 (78.3%) flocks by C. fetus subsp. fetus and in 5 (21.7%) flocks by C. jejuni. Six C. fetus subsp. fetus strains grew well at both 43 and 25 degrees C. With one exception all C. fetus subsp. fetus were resistant, whereas all 29 C. fetus subsp. venerealis strains were sensitive to 30 micrograms/ml cefoxitin and cefamandole. These two cephalosporins can be used to differentiate the two subspecies of C. fetus. Passive haemagglutination test using alkaline antigen extraction is a proper method for the examination of heat-stable antigens of both C. fetus subspecies. Out of 24 C. fetus subsp. fetus strains 13 belonged to serogroup A(01), and 11 to serogroup B(02). C. jejuni strains examined belonged to Penner serogroup 1 (6 strains), to serogroup 5 (4 strains) and to serogroup 8 (4 strains).     

Major outer membrane proteins of Brucella spp.: past,present and future

The major outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of Brucella spp. were initially identified in the early 1980s and characterised as potential immunogenic and protective antigens. They were classified according to their apparent molecular mass as 36–38 kDa OMPs or group 2 porin proteins and 31–34 and 25–27 kDa OMPs which belong to the group 3 proteins. The genes encoding the group 2 porin proteins were identified in the late 1980s and consist of two genes, omp2a and omp2b, which are closely linked in the Brucella genome, and which share a great degree of identity (>85%). In the 1990s, two genes were identified coding for the group 3 proteins and were named omp25 and omp31. The predicted amino acid sequences of omp25 and omp31 share 34% identity. The recent release of the genome sequence of B. melitensis 16 M has revealed the presence of five additional gene products homologous to Omp25 and Omp31. The use of recombinant protein technology and monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) has shown that the major OMPs appear to be of little relevance as antigens in smooth (S) B. abortus or B. melitensis infections i.e. low or no protective activity in the mouse model of infection and low or no immunogenicity during host infection. However, group 3 proteins, in particular Omp31, appear as immunodominant antigen in the course of rough (R) B. ovis infection in rams and as important protective antigen in the B. ovis mouse model of infection. The major OMP genes display diversity and specific markers have been identified for Brucella species, biovars, and strains, including the recent marine mammal Brucella isolates for which new species names have been proposed. Recently, Omp25 has been shown to be involved in virulence of B. melitensis, B. abortus and B. ovis. Mutants lacking Omp25 are indeed attenuated in animal models of infection, and moreover provide levels of protection similar or better than currently used attenuated vaccine strain B. melitensis Rev.1. Therefore, these mutant strains appear interesting vaccine candidates for the future. The other group 3 proteins identified in the genome merit also further investigation related to the development of new vaccines.     

日粮中添加NCG对妊娠前期鄂尔多斯细毛羊血液、尿囊液和羊水中氨基酸浓度的影响

为了研究日粮中添加NCG(N-氨甲酰谷氨酸)对妊娠前期鄂尔多斯细毛羊血液、尿囊液和羊水中氨基酸浓度的影响,试验选择年龄、胎次和体况相近、平均体重为50.62±0.52 kg的受孕鄂尔多斯细毛羊母羊40只,随机分为3组(NCG1组饲喂基础日粮+0.30 g NCG/d(n=13),NCG2组饲喂基础日粮+0.40 g N...