Examination and presentation of element distribution in soil

Goal, Scope and Background  

The distribution of elements cannot only scatter widely in investigation areas, but also to a small scale in investigation fields. Chemometric methods are useful tools to describe the spatial distribution of the elements and are suitable to characterize the inhomogeneity in the soil. This knowledge can also be beneficial, among other things, for the creation of problem-adapted sampling strategies. The element distribution at one sampling point, the so-called microinhomogeneity considerably affects the representativeness of pollution assessment for a whole investigation area.     

Inheritance and linkage of a gene for resistance to race 4 of fusarium wilt and RAPD markers in chickpea

Several races of Fusarium oxysporum Schlechtend.:Fr f. sp. ciceris (Padwick) Matuo and K. Sato cause economic losses from wilting disease of chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.). While the genetics of resistance to race 1 have been reported, little is known of the genetics of resistance to race 4. We undertook a study to determine the inheritance of resistance and identified random amplified polymorphic DNA markers (RAPDs) linked to the gene for resistance. For the investigation, we used 100 F₅ derived F₇ recombinant inbred lines (RILs) that had been developed from the cross of breeding lines C-104 x WR-315. Results indicated that resistance is controlled by a single recessive gene. The RAPD markers previously shown to amplify fragments linked to race 1 resistance also amplified fragments associated with race 4 resistance. The RAPD loci, CS-27₇₀₀, UBC-170₅₅₀ and the gene for resistance to race 4 segregated in 1:1 ratios expected for single genes. Both RAPD markers were located 9 map units from the race 4 resistance locus and were on the same side of the resistance gene. Our results indicated that the genes for resistance to race 1 and 4 are 5 map units apart. The need to determine the genomic locations of race specific resistance genes and the possibility that these genes are clustered to the same genomic region should be investigated. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Stimulation of growth hormone release in anesthetized and conscious pigs by synthetic human pancreatic growth hormone-releasing factor [hpGRF(1-29)-NH2]

Synthetic human pancreatic growth hormone (GH)-releasing factor containing 29 amino acids, hpGRF(1-29)-NH₂, was administered intravenously to halothane-anesthetized growing pigs at 0.19 and 0.93 μg/kg and to conscious growing pigs at 1, 4 and 8 μg/kg. In the anesthetized pigs, a dose-dependent elevation of plasma GH levels was observed within five minutes of injection. Growth hormone levels returned to baseline within 60 minutes at the low dose, but had not yet decreased to pretreatment values by 120 minutes at the high dose level. In contrast, although all doses increased GH levels in the conscious pigs, the large variability in response to the peptide resulted in only the high dose level causing a significantly increased GH release (P<0.05) during the 3-hour post-treatment period.     

The leukocyte status of surviving dogs as compared to dogs dying from parvovirus infections

The white blood picture was examined in 135 dogs with parvovirus disease during the course of the illness. 91 dogs survived, 44 died. The surviving dogs showed higher mean total leucocyte, neutrophil, and eosinophil counts whereas the mean lymphocyte, neutrophil, and monocyte counts on the first day of the disease were lower in those dogs which survived than in those ones which died later. Increasing lymphocyte and monocyte counts appear to be a favourable prognostic sign. The older the dogs, which fell ill, were, the more favourable the prognosis turned out.