Ammonia volatilization from Vietnamese acid sulfate paddy soil following application of digested slurry from biogas digester

Paddy and Water Environment - In some areas of Vietnam, digested slurry from biogas digesters is discharged into canals without wastewater treatment. In order to reduce environmental pollution,...     

Phakopsora montana, another grapevine leaf rust pathogen in Japan

A new grapevine leaf rust (GLR) was found to be caused by Phakopsora montana. This new fungus naturally infects Crimson Glory vine (Vitis coignetiae), forming uredinia and telia on the leaves. Under experimental conditions, the fungus was pathogenic to table grape cultivars Delaware and Kyoho (V.?×?labruscana), Amur River grape (V. amurensis), and V. ficifolia, on which it produced urediniospores. Inoculation experiments proved that the pathogen alternates hosts, forming spermogonia and aecia on Meliosma tenuis. The new pathogen resembles P. meliosmae-myrianthae (=P. euvitis), a common GLR fungus; however, its spermogonial/aecial stage is restricted to M. tenuis, contrary to P. meliosmae-myrianthae with its spermogonial/aecial stage restricted to M. myriantha. Aeciospores of the new pathogen are evenly thin-walled, whereas the aeciospore wall is conspicuously thickened apically in P. meliosmae-myrianthae. Phakopsora montana is known to occur only on V. coignetiae in nature; however, table grape cultivars Delaware and Kyoho were not resistant to P. montana under experimental conditions. These results indicate that P. montana has caused a certain proportion of the GLR disease recorded in Japan with a possible mixed infection with P. meliosmae-myrianthae.     

Comparisons of Ophiostomatoid fungi associated withTomicus piniperda andT. minor in Japanese red pine

Five species ofOphiostoma, twoLeptographium species and aGraphium species were isolated from two morphologically and ecologically similar bark beetle species,Tomicus piniperda andT. minor, and their infested Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora) in Yamanashi Prefecture, central Honshu, Japan. An underscribedOphiostoma species andO. minus were isolated mainly fromT. piniperda and its galleries.Ophiostoma canum which was found for the first time in Japan was mainly fromT. minor and its galleries. Specific relationships between the beetles and fungal species are suggested. Contribution No.140, Laboratory of Plant Pathology and Mycology, Institute of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Tsukuba. Part of this study was presented at 108th Annual meeting of Japanese Forestry Society, April 2, 1997, Fukuoka, Japan.     

Annual and seasonal changes in the assemblage of planktonic copepods and appendicularians in Funka Bay before and after intrusion of Coastal Oyashio Water

Fisheries Science - Annual and seasonal changes in the abundance and the assemblage of planktonic copepods and appendicularians were clarified in Funka Bay. Zooplankton samples were obtained by...     

Virulence of ophiostomatoid fungi associated with the spruce bark beetleIps typographus f.japonicus in Yezo spruce

Yezo spruce trees (Picea jezoensis), approximately 40-year-old were inoculated with eight ophiostomatoid fungi associated withIps typographus f.japonicus to compare relative virulence of the fungi. Among them,Ophistoma penicillatum formed the longest necrotic lesion on inner bark around inoculation points, followed byO. aenigmaticum, Ceratocystis polonica, andO. bicolor, whileC. polonica formed a larger dry zone in sapwood than the other fungi. Yezo spruce trees were also mass inoculated withC. polonica, O. penicillatum, O. piceae singly or mixed to demonstrate the ability of the fungi to kill Yezo spruce trees. The trees inoculated withC. polonica, O. penicillatum or the mixed inoculum showed discoloration of needles in the early summer of the next year and died by autumn. However, the trees inoculated withO. piceae or the control inocula did not die, except for one tree. These results indicated thatC. polonica andO. penicillatum were more virulent thanO. piceae and suggested that they might be at least partially responsible for the mortality of the beetle-infested Yezo spruce trees. Part of this study was supported by the Sumitomo Foundation, Japan to Y. Yamaoka and I. Takahashi. Part of this study was presented at the 107th meeting of the Japanese Forestry Society, April 1–4, 1996, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, at the 42nd annual meeting of the Mycological Society of Japan, May 16–17, 1998, Kyoto, and at the 110th meeting of the Japanese Forestry Society, April 2–5, 1999, Matsuyama, Ehime. Contribution No. 143, Laboratories of Plant Pathology and Mycology, Institute of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Tsukuba.     

High-temperature cubic boron nitride p-N junction diode made at high pressure

A p-n junction diode of cubic boron nitride was made by growing an n-type crystal epitaxially on a p-type seed crystal at a pressure of 55 kilobars and a temperature of about 1700 degrees C. A temperature-difference solvent method was used for the crystal growth, and beryllium and silicon were doped as acceptors and donors, respectively. Formation of the p-n junction was clearly confirmed at 1 bar by rectification characteristics and by existence of a space charge layer of the junction as observed by electron beam induced current measurement. This diode operated at 530 degrees C.     

Liquid chromatographic determination of sulfamoyldapsone in swine tissues

A liquid chromatographic (LC) method is described for the quantitative determination of sulfamoyldapsone (2-sulfamoyl-4,4'-diaminodiphenyl sulfone) in swine muscle, liver, kidney, and fat. Sulfamoyldapsone was extracted from tissues with acetonitrile saturated with n-hexane. The extract was washed with n-hexane saturated with acetonitrile, concentrated, and cleaned up by alumina column chromatography. Sulfamoyldapsone was separated on an ODS column by using acetonitrile-methanol-water (6 + 18 + 76) and was detected at 292 nm. Overall average recovery of sulfamoyldapsone added to tissues at levels of 0.1 and 0.5 microgram/g was 93.3% +/- 6.0. Detection limit was 0.02 microgram/g in these tissues.     

Gentian Kobu-sho-associated virus: a tentative, novel double-stranded RNA virus that is relevant to gentian Kobu-sho syndrome

A virus-like dsRNA of about 23 kbp was detected in gentian plants showing Kobu-sho syndrome including stunting, shortened internodes, and tumors on stems, nodes and roots. Nucleotide sequence analysis has suggested that this dsRNA is related to Pestivirus species but not to any other plant viruses. It was protected from externally added RNase, suggesting that the dsRNA is encapsidated. The dsRNA was co-extracted in a crude homogenate of glutaraldehyde-fixed tissue with the virus-like particles that have been associated previously with Kobu-sho syndrome in gentian (Usugi et al. Jpn J Phytopathol 76:21–24, 2010). The RNA sequence was detected in more than 99 % of Kobu-sho gentian individuals but in less than 20 % of apparently healthy gentian individuals from fields affected with Kobu-sho. Thus, we propose naming the virus Gentian Kobu-sho-associated virus.     

Pathogenic races of soybean rust Phakopsora pachyrhizi collected in Tsukuba and vicinity in Ibaraki,Japan

Six races were identified among 26 single-lesion isolates of Phakopsora pachyrhizi from rust-infected leaves of nine samples of cultivated soybean and one sample of the wild host plant kudzu (Pueraria lobata) collected in Tsukuba and vicinity in Ibaraki, Central Honshu, Japan. Six races were detected on soybean cultivars and four races on kudzu. When two or more isolates obtained from the same samples were examined, the isolates were different races except from two samples. These results indicate that two or more races may be distributed on the same soybean cultivar and that the same races share soybean and kudzu hosts.