Central nervous system signs in chickens caused by a new avian reovirus strain: a pathogenesis study

The present study describes the pathogenesis of infection of chicks with a new avian reovirus strain, belonging to the so-called enteric reovirus strains (ERS) that is capable of causing central nervous system signs in SPF white leghorns. After intramuscular (IM) or oral inoculation birds were either observed for clinical signs or sacrificed for macroscopic, histological and virological examination for 21 days. Virus isolation was performed on the brain, leg muscle, hock joint, liver and spleen. For the detection of viral antigen the immunohistochemistry (IHC) technique was performed on the caudal part of the cerebrum, spinal cord including spinal ganglia and right N. Ischiadicus. High mortality (79% in 7 days) was seen in birds that were inoculated IM. Survivors were depressed and stayed small until the end of the experiment. One bird had tremor and showed torticollis at 9 days after IM inoculation. Birds that were inoculated orally were depressed from day 4 and stayed small until the end of the experiment. One bird showed a torticollis at 10 days after inoculation. After both IM and oral inoculation ERS was isolated from the brain between 3 and 10 days after inoculation. Other examined organs were positive for virus isolation from day 1 or 5 until day 21. IHC revealed viral antigen positive cells in the Plexus chorioideus (plexus epithelial cells or cells within the underlying connective tissue) and in a spinal ganglion. The results indicate that the pathogenesis of ERS infection in chickens bears some resemblance with that of the mammalian reoviruses serotype 1 in mice.     

First report of Seville root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne hispanica) infecting tobacco in the Brazil

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is one of the major nonfood crops in the Southern of Brazil. During 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 crop seasons, Root Knot...     

The effect of over-irrigation on the growth and production of Gossypium hirsutum

Summary A field experiment was conducted to determine the effect of overirrigation on the growth characteristics and production of cotton. Over-irrigation, resulting in saturated soil conditions, was achieved by flood irrigation at different levels of soil water depletion on a soil with a low percolation rate. The highest seedcotton and lint yields were obtained from plants that did not experience over-irrigation at any time during the growing season; similar yields were obtained from plants that only experienced moderate over-irrigation after the onset of flowering (Table 9). The yield response could be related to branch growth, flowering rate and length of growing season (Tables 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8).     

Finding niches for whole-farm design models – contradictio in terminis?

Whole-farm design models quantitatively analyze the effects of a variety of potential changes at the farm system level. Science-driven technical information is confronted with value-driven objectives of farmers or other social groupings under explicit assumptions with respect to exogenous variables that are important drivers of agricultural systems (e.g., market conditions). Hence, farm design is an outcome of objective specification and the potential of a system. In recent publications, whole-farm design modelling has been proposed to enhance (farm) innovation processes. A number of operational modelling tools now offers the opportunity to assess the true potential of whole-farm design modelling to enhance innovation. In this paper, we demonstrate that it is not trivial to find niches for the application of goal-based farm models. Model outcomes appeared not to match questions of farm managers monitoring and learning from their own and other farmers’ practices. However, our research indicates that whole-farm design modelling possesses the capabilities to make a valuable contribution to reframing. Reframing is the phenomenon that people feel an urge to discuss and reconsider current objectives and perspectives on a problem. Reframing might take place in a situation (i) of mutually felt dependency between stakeholders, (ii) in which there is sufficient pressure and urgency for stakeholders to explore new problem definitions and make progress. Furthermore, our research suggests that the way the researcher enters a likely niche to introduce a model and/or his or her position in this niche may have significant implications for the potential of models to enhance an innovation process. Therefore, we hypothesize that the chances of capitalizing on modelling expertise are likely to be higher when researchers with such expertise are a logical and more or less permanent component of ongoing trajectories than when these researchers come from outside to purposefully search for a niche.     

Relative abundance and activity of melanized hyphae in different soil ecosystems

Here we report on the frequency of melanized fungal hyphae in 323 soils, covering different land use types. The proportion of total hyphae that was melanized averaged 61%. Arable fields with loamy sand, heathlands and city parks on sandy soils had the highest percentage of melanized hyphae. In addition to the frequency determinations, a microcosm study was performed on the role of melanized hyphae in two different ecosystems: an ex-arable field and a forest. Melanized hyphae appeared to be part of the active hyphae in the forest soil but not in the ex-arable soil. In conclusion, our results indicate that (1) melanized hyphae represent a large proportion of the total fungal biomass in soils and that (2) their function might differ between ecosystems.     

The inheritance of chemical phenotype in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cannabis sativa</Emphasis> L. (III): variation in cannabichromene proportion

The mechanism that controls the proportion of cannabichromene (CBC), a potential pharmaceutical, in the cannabinoid fraction of Cannabis sativa L. is explored. As with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), CBC is an enzymatic conversion product of the precursor cannabigerol (CBG). CBC is reported to dominate the cannabinoid fraction of juveniles and to decline with maturation. This ontogeny was confirmed in inbred lines with different mature chemotypes. A consistent CBC presence was found in early leaves from a diverse clone collection, suggesting that CBC synthase is encoded by a fixed locus. Morphological variants possessing a ‘prolonged juvenile chemotype’ (PJC), a substantial proportion of CBC persisting up to maturity, are presented. PJC is associated with a reduced presence of floral bracts, bracteoles, and capitate-stalked trichomes. Genetic factors causing these features were independent of the allelic chemotype locus B that was previously postulated and regulates THC and CBD synthesis and CBG accumulation. In contrast to previously described Cannabis chemotypes, the cannabinoid composition of PJCs showed plasticity in that reduced light levels increased the CBC proportion. The ability of PJC plants to enable the production of pharmaceutical raw material with high CBC purity is demonstrated.     

Two reported cytotypes of the emergent orchid model species <Emphasis Type="Italic">Erycina pusilla</Emphasis> are two different species

Each species is characterized by a specific set of chromosomes, which is described as the chromosome portrait or karyotype. In general, such a karyotype is the same for all individuals in the population. An exception to that rule has recently been found in the orchid Erycina pusilla, which has been reported to have two cytotypes with chromosome numbers of 2n = 10 and 2n = 12. Here, we examined the karyotypes of the two cytotypes and found differences in arm ratios and heterochromatin patterns as well as in the presence of satellite chromosomes and in the number and location of rDNA and telomeric repeat sites. These differences are extensive and would have required multiple chromosome rearrangements to generate the differences between the two karyotypes. We also found that F1 hybrids between the parents with the two different chromosome numbers resulted in sterile offspring, in accordance with our previous findings. The combination of hybrid sterility and extensively rearranged chromosomes supports the hypothesis that these two reported cytotypes are, in fact, two different species.     

Meta-analysis of fungicide efficacy on soybean target spot and cost–benefit assessment

Target spot of soybean has spread in Brazil, the southeastern United States and Argentina in the last decade. A collaborative network of field Uniform Fungicide Trials (UFT) in Brazil was created in 2011 to study the target spot control efficacy of fungicides, including azoxystrobin + benzovindiflupyr (AZ_BF), carbendazim (CZM), fluxapyroxad + pyraclostrobin (FLUX_PYRA), epoxiconazole + FLUX_PYRA (EPO_FLUX_PYRA), mancozeb (MZB) and prothioconazole + trifloxystrobin (PROT_TRIF). Network meta-analysis was used to conduct a quantitative synthesis of UFT data collected from 2012 to 2016 and to evaluate the effects of disease pressure (DP, low ≤ 35% target spot severity in the nontreated control < high) and year of experiment on the overall mean efficacy and yield response to each of the tested fungicides. Based on mean percentage control of target spot severity, the tested fungicides fall into three efficacy groups (EG): high EG, FLUX_PYRA (76.2% control relative to the nontreated control) and EPO_FLUX_PYRA (75.7% control); intermediate EG, PROT_TRIF (66.5% control) and low EG, MZB (49.6% control), AZ_BF (46.7% control) and CZM (32.4% control). DP had a significant effect on yield response. At DP_Low, the highest response was due to PROT_TRIF (+342 kg ha⁻¹, +12.8%) and EPO_FLUX_PYRA (+295.5 kg ha⁻¹, +11.2%), whereas at DP_High, EPO_FLUX_PYRA and FLUX_PYRA outperformed the other treatments, with yield responses of 503 kg ha⁻¹ (+20.2%) and 469 kg ha⁻¹ (+19.1%), respectively. The probability of a positive return on fungicide investment ranged from 0.26 to 0.56 at DP_Low and from 0.34 to 0.66 at DP_High.