Allelopathy and the active metabolites of the endophytic fungus,Alternaria J46, from Platycladus orientalis

The endophytic fungus, Alternaria J46, was isolated from the stem of the medicinal plant, Platycladus orientalis. A suspension of Alternaria J46 mycelial segments and the culture filtrates of the fungi exhibited marked seed germination inhibition against the monocot wheat, large crabgrass, bromegrass, rice and barnyardgrass and weak inhibition against the dicot redroot pigweed and morning glory, but it was safe for use on soybean, rape, cucumber, tomato, lettuce and radish crops. It is possible to use J46 culture filtrates in order to prevent monocot weeds in dicot cropland. Three active metabolites were isolated from an extract of the fungus cultures and elucidated as 3‐acetyl‐5‐sec‐butyltetramic acid (1, tenuazonic acid), 3‐acetyl‐5‐iso‐butyltetramic acid (2, vivotoxin II) and cyclo‐(L‐leucyl‐L‐proline) (3). Among these three compounds, compounds 1 and 2 showed significant phytotoxic effects on the seed germination of large crabgrass, while compound 3 exhibited weak activity, and all were safe for lettuce at 100 μg mL^?1. Accordingly, compounds 1 and 2 were the main active metabolites that were responsible for endophytic fungus Alternaria J46's strong seed germination inhibition against monocotyledons.     

Combined Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli Rapid Testing and Molecular Epidemiology in Conventional Broiler Flocks

Campylobacter spp. are important causes of bacterial zoonosis, most often transmitted by contaminated poultry meat. From an epidemiological and risk assessment perspective, further knowledge should be obtained on Campylobacter prevalence and genotype distribution in primary production. Consequently, 15 Austrian broiler flocks were surveyed in summer for their thermophilic Campylobacter spp. contamination status. Chicken droppings, dust and drinking water samples were collected from each flock at three separate sampling periods. Isolates were confirmed by PCR and subtyped. We also compared three alternative methods (culture‐based enrichment in Bolton broth, culture‐independent real‐time PCR and a lateral‐flow test) for their applicability in chicken droppings. Twelve flocks were found to be positive for thermophilic Campylobacter spp. during the entire sampling period. Seven flocks (46.6%) were contaminated with both, C. jejuni and C. coli, five flocks harboured solely one species. We observed to a majority flock‐specific C. jejuni and C. coli genotypes, which dominated the respective flock. Flocks within a distance <2 km shared the same C. jejuni genotypes indicating a cross‐contamination event via the environment or personnel vectors. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of C. jejuni revealed that the majority of isolates were assigned to globally distributed clonal complexes or had a strong link to the human interface (CC ST‐446 and ST4373). The combination of techniques poses an advantage over risk assessment studies based on cultures alone, as, in the case of Campylobacter, occurrence of a high variety of genotypes might be present among a broiler flock. We suggest applying the lateral‐flow test under field conditions to identify ‘high‐shedding’ broiler flocks at the farm level. Consequently, poultry farmers and veterinarians could improve hygiene measurements and direct sanitation activities, especially during the thinning period. Ultimately, real‐time PCR could be applied to quantify Campylobacter spp. directly from chicken droppings and avoid non‐interpretable results achieved by culture‐dependent methods.