Benoxacor induction of terbuthylazine detoxification in Zea mays and Festuca arundinacea

The action of safener benoxacor on the detoxification of terbuthylazine (TBA) in Zea mays and Festuca arundinacea was ascertained by the investigation of the effects of benoxacor on the activity of glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs) in the shoots of the two plant species. TBA treatment generally reduced GST activity toward 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) in corn and did not affect the enzyme activity in festuca. When applied alone, benoxacor stimulated GST activity in both plants; however, when it was applied in mixture with TBA, generally, an enhancement of the enzyme activity was found in corn but not in festuca in comparison with the respective TBA-treated samples. The enhancement of GST activity in response to the benoxacor treatment in both corn and festuca resulted to be concomitant with decreases in apparent K(M) in both the plant species, with V(max) unaffected, and with an increased expression of proteins having molecular masses in the characteristic range of plant GSTs. After the benoxacor treatment, increased GST activity toward TBA as a substrate was observed in both corn and festuca. As a consequence, lesser amounts and persistence of TBA residues were found in shoots of corn and festuca treated with the TBA and benoxacor mixture compared to TBA-only-treated samples. Therefore, benoxacor enhances TBA detoxification in both corn and festuca; the induction of detoxifying activity in a nondomesticated grass is discussed in view of its use in vegetating buffer strips around crops to prevent TBA pollution.     

Light and scanning electron microscopy of sporocysts of Eurytrema coelomaticum (Giard et Billet, 1892) Looss, 1907

CD154 is a cell surface molecule expressed by activated T cells. CD40 and CD154 interaction is critically important in regulating humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. In this study we have investigated whether a DNA vaccine encoding rhoptry protein 1 (ROP1) of Toxoplasma gondii, and encoding ovine CD154 induces an enhanced ROP1-specific immune response in sheep. Two groups of twelve animals received two intramuscular injections, of a DNA plasmid encoding T. gondii ROP1 antigen (group 1) or an ROP1 antigen fused to ovine CD154 (group 2). There were two control groups of sheep. One was injected with an empty vector (group 3) and the other received no injections at all (group 4). The injection of the plasmid containing ROP1 (group 1) at weeks 0 and 4 induced a significant IgG2 response at week 2 which was amplified at week 4 after the booster injection and persisted to week 8 compared to the control animals in groups 3 and 4. For IgG1, significant differences from the control animals were only observed from week 5 onwards. The fusion of CD154 and ROP1 elicited significant IgG1 and IgG2 responses from week 1 which were amplified from weeks 5 to 8 compared to the control animals in groups 3 and 4. The IgG1 response was significantly higher in group 2 animals receiving pROP1-CD154 compared to group 1 receiving pROP1 only. There was no significant difference in IgG2 responses between groups 1 and 2. Significant differences in IFN-γ levels were only observed in treatment group 1 at week 2 and treatment group 2 at weeks 1 and 2 compared to the control animals. The results demonstrated that an intramuscular injection of pROP1-CD154 gene to sheep significantly enhanced their immune response and induced a mixed Th1/Th2 response while the intramuscular injection of pROP1 only induced a Th1-specific immune response.     

Novel H1N2 swine influenza reassortant strain in pigs derived from the pandemic H1N1/2009 virus

Swine influenza monitoring programs have been in place in Italy since the 1990 s and from 2009 testing for the pandemic H1N1/2009 virus (H1N1pdm) was also performed on all the swine samples positive for type A influenza. This paper reports the isolation and genomic characterization of a novel H1N2 swine influenza reassortant strain from pigs in Italy that was derived from the H1N1pdm virus. In May 2010, mild respiratory symptoms were observed in around 10% of the pigs raised on a fattening farm in Italy. Lung homogenate taken from one pig showing respiratory distress was tested for influenza type A and H1N1pdm by two real time RT-PCR assays. Virus isolation was achieved by inoculation of lung homogenate into specific pathogen free chicken embryonated eggs (SPF CEE) and applied onto Caco-2 cells and then the complete genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis was performed from the CEE isolate. The lung homogenate proved to be positive for both influenza type A (gene M) and H1N1pdm real time RT-PCRs. Virus isolation (A/Sw/It/116114/2010) was obtained from both SPF CEE and Caco-2 cells. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all of the genes of A/Sw/It/116114/2010, with the exception of neuraminidase (NA), belonged to the H1N1pdm cluster. The NA was closely related to two H1N2 double reassortant swine influenza viruses (SIVs), previously isolated in Sweden and Italy. NA sequences for these three strains were clustering with H3N2 SIVs. The emergence of a novel reassortant H1N2 strain derived from H1N1pdm in swine in Italy raises further concerns about whether these viruses will become established in pigs. The new reassortant not only represents a pandemic (zoonotic) threat but also has unknown livestock implications for the European swine industry.     

New dates of a Northern Italian loess deposit (Monte Orfano,Southern pre-Alps,Brescia)

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Loess in Northern Italy has been usually considered deposited during the MIS 4-2 period, which corresponds to the last Pleistocene glacial cycle. In particular, no...     

Fluorometric sucrose evaluation for sugar beet

Sucrose is the economic product from sugar beet. Disease resistance is often available in low-sucrose genotypes and, prior to the deployment of such novel genes as available into the cultivated spectrum, selection for increased sucrose content is required during introgression. The objective of this work was to evaluate a relatively rapid and inexpensive enzymatic-fluorometric microtiter plate assay for sucrose quantification in sugar beet root dry matter, both for progeny testing in the greenhouse and for evaluation of field-grown mother roots. As determined using HPLC, sucrose content in diverse populations of sugar and table beet assayed over various developmental stages ranged from 0.213 to 2.416 mmol g(-1) of dry matter, and these values were used as references for both refractometry and enzymatic-fluorometric assay. As expected, refractometric analysis generally overestimated sucrose content. Enzymatic-fluorometric analyses were reasonably well correlated with HPLC results for young greenhouse-grown root tissues (R2 = 0.976), and less so with older field-grown roots (R2 = 0.605), for unknown reasons. Enzymatic-fluorometric assays may be best deployed for progeny testing of young seedlings.     

Distribution of Mercury and Other Heavy Metals in Core Sediments of the Northern Adriatic Sea

Seven sediment cores were collected along a transect about20 km off from the mouth of the Po River, in the northernAdriatic Sea (Italy). Cores were characterised by differentdepositional sequences associated with late Pleistocene-Holocene lowstand (LST), transgressive (TST) and highstand (HST) system tracts. Sediment samples were analysed for mercury, copper, nickel, chromium, manganese and iron, aswell as for total organic matter. Metal distributiongenerally showed vertical and spatial variability ascribed tograin size effects with no significant anthropogenicperturbation. Conversely, mercury showed vertical profilescharacterised by surface enrichment, with concentrations inthe upper layer (50–230 ng g^-1) exceeding 3–11 times the background value of 20 ng g^-1 determined in bottomcores. Surface maxima were attributed to anthropogenic mercurydelivered mainly by the Po River.     

Reemergence of Dourine in Italy: Clinical Cases in Some Positive Horses

In 2011, Trypanosoma equiperdum reemerged in Italy, almost 10 years after its last appearance. A total of eight infected horses have been observed to date. Six horses were affected by natural outbreaks of the disease, whereas two were infected experimentally. The aim of this study was to offer a recent perspective on clinical cases of dourine in Europe. Investigation of the clinical aspects confirmed the three stages reported in the literature: stage 1 (genital lesions), stage 2 (cutaneous signs), and stage 3 (nervous signs). The most common signs in the horses under study were notable weight loss, edematous skin eruptions and oedemas of the abdomen, mammary glands and hind legs. Three animals presented neurological signs (lip ptosis of lower lip and ataxia). Infections were paucisymptomatic or asymptomatic in some animals. Hyperthermia was not reported in infected animals and considerable anemia was observed. High antibody titers did not always correspond to clinical signs. Positive polymerase chain reaction test results of blood or tissue (skin, eye swab) often correspond to an advanced stage of the disease. Dourine is a variable disease; owing to its low prevalence and chronic manifestation, it can be difficult to make a quick diagnosis when facing a Dourine-positive horse.     

Impacts of changing climate and land use on vegetation dynamics in a Mediterranean ecosystem: insights from paleoecology and dynamic modeling

Forests near the Mediterranean coast have been shaped by millennia of human disturbance. Consequently, ecological studies relying on modern observations or historical records may have difficulty assessing natural vegetation dynamics under current and future climate. We combined a sedimentary pollen record from Lago di Massacciucoli, Tuscany, Italy with simulations from the LandClim dynamic vegetation model to determine what vegetation preceded intense human disturbance, how past changes in vegetation relate to fire and browsing, and the potential of an extinct vegetation type under present climate. We simulated vegetation dynamics near Lago di Massaciucoli for the last 7,000 years using a local chironomid-inferred temperature reconstruction with combinations of three fire regimes (small infrequent, large infrequent, small frequent) and three browsing intensities (no browsing, light browsing, and moderate browsing), and compared model output to pollen data. Simulations with low disturbance support pollen-inferred evidence for a mixed forest dominated by Quercus ilex (a Mediterranean species) and Abies alba (a montane species). Whereas pollen data record the collapse of A. alba after 6000 cal yr bp, simulated populations expanded with declining summer temperatures during the late Holocene. Simulations with increased fire and browsing are consistent with evidence for expansion by deciduous species after A. alba collapsed. According to our combined paleo-environmental and modeling evidence, mixed Q. ilex and A. alba forests remain possible with current climate and limited disturbance, and provide a viable management objective for ecosystems near the Mediterranean coast and in regions that are expected to experience a mediterranean-type climate in the future.     

Antiproliferative terpenoids from almond hulls (Prunus dulcis): identification and structure-activity relationships

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the EtOAc crude extract from Sicilian almond hulls, a waste material from Prunus dulcis crop, allowed identification of 10 constituents, isolated as pure compounds (1-5, 7, and 10) or unseparable mixtures (5 + 6 and 8 + 9). All compounds were subjected to spectroscopic analysis and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide bioassay on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. In addition to the main components oleanolic (1), ursolic (2), and betulinic (3) acids, the 2-hydroxy analogues alphitolic (4), corosolic (5), and maslinic (6) acids, as well as the related aldehydes, namely, betulinic (7), oleanolic (8), and ursolic (9), were identified. From a more polar fraction, the beta-sitosterol 3-O-glucoside (10) was also identified. A sample of commercially available betulin (11) was also included in bioassays as further support to a structure-activity relationship study. Betulinic acid showed antiproliferative activity toward MCF-7 cells (GI50 = 0.27 microM), higher than the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil.