Pithomycotoxicosis (facial eczema) in ruminants in the Azores, Portugal

Outbreaks of pithomycotoxicosis (facial eczema), a hepatogenous photosensitisation caused by the mycotoxin sporidesmin, have affected ruminants in the Azores Islands of Portugal after warm, humid periods during late summer and autumn. Twenty-two outbreaks were recorded in cattle between 1999 and 2001, affecting 11.4 per cent of the animals in the affected herds, and in 2000 there was an outbreak in one sheep flock in which more than 20 per cent of the sheep died. The clinical signs included decreases in milk production, weight loss, photosensitisation and its sequelae, including death. The animals had high activities of gamma glutamyltransferase in their serum, and icterus and severe liver disease, including biliary hyperplasia and fibrosis, were found postmortem. The characteristic spores of the toxigenic saprophytic fungus Pithomyces chartarum were found on grass; all 381 isolates of the fungus were toxigenic for sporidesmin by elisa, and the results were confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. Cattle from farms at greatest risk of pithomycotoxicosis were protected by supplementing their concentrate feed with zinc oxide, or using a slow-release intraruminal zinc bolus.     

Detection of resistance-associated point mutations of organophosphate-insensitive acetylcholinesterase in the olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin)

We have recently identified two resistance-associated point mutations of organophosphate (OP)-insensitive acetylcholinesterase in the olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae, the most important olive orchard pest world-wide. We have developed simple PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism assays for each mutation, utilising an AccI restriction site created by Ile214Val, and a BssHII restriction site destroyed by a neutral change always accompanying the second mutation Gly488Ser. Samples from Greece homozygous for both mutations proved the most insensitive to dimethoate. The frequencies of these mutations in field-collected samples from several countries were investigated. Ninety-three percent of samples from Greece and Albania, where OPs have been extensively used in B. oleae control, were homozygous for both mutations. Resistance-associated alleles were detected at lower frequencies, but still with both mutations in conjunction in the majority of cases, in western Mediterranean countries with limited use of OPs. Samples from South Africa, however, did not have either of the resistance-associated mutations. The double mutation haplotype clearly confers a strong selective advantage in field populations of B. oleae exposed to OPs.     

Resistance to glyphosate in Lolium rigidum

Annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) is a widespread and important weed of Australia and populations of this weed have developed resistance to most major herbicides, including glyphosate. The possible mechanisms of resistance have been examined in one glyphosate-resistant Lolium population. No major differences were observed between resistant and susceptible biotypes in respect of (i) the target enzyme (EPSP synthase), (ii) DAHP synthase, the first enzyme of the target (shikimate) pathway, (iii) absorption of glyphosate, or (iv) translocation. Following treatment with glyphosate, there was greater accumulation of shikimate (derived from shikimate-3-Pi) in susceptible than in resistant plants. In addition, the resistant population exhibited cross-resistance to 2-hydroxy-3-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)propyl phosphonate, a herbicide which, although structurally similar to glyphosate, acts at an unrelated target site. On the basis of these observations we speculate that movement of glyphosate to its site of action in the plastid is involved in the resistance mechanism. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

The evidence for the extent of N.I. Vavilov's new world Andean centres of cultivated plant origins

Vavilov's ideas on New World centres of crop plant diversity are reviewed and the development of his ideas from 1926 to 1940 are described. More recent collecting work and taxonomic studies by the author confirm largely the delimitation of the American gene centres suggested by Vavilov, even in regard to details, e.g. within Bolivia.