Clinical features of ceroid lipofuscinosis in border collie dogs

Ceroid lipofuscinosis was diagnosed by histopathological and histochemical findings in 17 related border collie dogs and by clinical signs in 6 of their litter mates. Behavioural changes, first hyperactivity and later aggression, commenced at 16 to 23 (mean 19.5) months of age. Motor abnormalities and blindness were observed at the mean ages of 20.8 and 21.2 months, respectively. All dogs were euthanased 1 to 6 months after the onset of clinical signs, mean age 23.1 months. Pedigree data supported an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance.     

The effect of temperature on the activity and metabolism of glyphosate applied to rhizome fragments of elymus repens (=Agropyron repens)

The effect of temperature on the activity and metabolism of glyphosate, as its mono(isopropylammonium) salt, in single-node rhizome fragments of Elymus repens was investigated in controlled environment cabinets. Post-treatment temperatures of 26/16° (day/night) reduced the activity of the herbicide compared with that at 10/6°, respectively. Under both temperature regimes and using [¹⁴C]glyphosatemono(isopropylammonium), more [¹⁴C]glyphosate accumulated in the node tissues and buds than in the internodes, but at teh higher temperature the rate of glyphosate metabolism was greater, and more ¹⁴C was lost as [¹⁴C]carbon dioxide. Evidence is presented to indicate that plant extracts contained at least two components which yielded glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid after both acid or base treatment, but not on incubation with β-glucosidase. It is therefore tentatively suggested that these metabolites are not β-glycosides but perhaps are conjugates with other natural plant constituents involving the phosphonyl and/or amino groups of the herbicide.     

Spatial Response of Mammals to Late Quaternary Environmental Fluctuations

Analyses of fossil mammal faunas from 2945 localities in the United States demonstrate that the geographic ranges of individual species shifted at different times, in different directions, and at different rates in response to late Quaternary environmental fluctuations. The geographic pattern of faunal provinces was similar for the late Pleistocene and late Holocene, but differing environmental gradients resulted in dissimilar species composition for these biogeographic regions. Modern community patterns emerged only in the last few thousand years, and many late Pleistocene communities do not have modern analogs. Faunal heterogeneity was greater in the late Pleistocene.