Prevalence of anti-Yersinia outer protein antibodies in goats in lower saxony

Little is known about the prevalence of caprine yersiniosis in Germany. Only few cases are reported every year. The intention of the survey was to provide representative data on the seroprevalence of anti-Yersinia antibodies in goats in the German state of Lower Saxony. A commercially available Western blot kit was used to identify caprine and ovine anti-Yersinia antibodies against five proteins [YopM, H, D, E and V-antigen (V-Ag)]. Of the 681 investigated goat sera, 449 (66%) had anti-Yop/V-Ag antibodies. Only two of 28 animal holdings housed sero-negative goats. Boxplot analysis showed that the number of non-reactive animals is correlated to the size of a herd and the fact of milk production, respectively. A tendency was observed that various management factors may influence the anti-Yersinia antibody status. No statement was possible on the impact of keeping additional carrier animals such as pigs, cows or sheep on a farm or the type of husbandry on the seroprevalence of anti-Yersinia antibodies. This study provides trend-setting data for yersiniosis in goat-holdings. The impact on consumer health, i.e. especially for risk groups-like people allergic to cow milk and the impact on the profit of a farm will have to be elucidated in further studies.     

Automatisierte Unterscheidung von Unkrautarten nach Formparametern mit Hilfe der quantitativen Bildanalyse

Automatic distinction of weed species using form parameters by means of digital image processing
In former investigations the possibility to distinguish weed from soil background by computerized quantitative image analysis has been reported. In the present studies image analysis technique are applied to identify different weed species. From six typical winter weed species including various growth stages, 300 color slides were taken at the research station in Bonn on the 4th of February, 1988. From each slide a number of form parameters were measured automatically out of the digitized shape of each weed plant. Form parameters including area, perimeter, minimum and maximum diameter of the plants are taken from the digitized shape of each weed as well as figures representing the relative proportions of these parameters. For automatic discrimination up to 9 of the parameters were selected to compute five so-called canonical variables. The values of these variables are typical for each weed species and can be interpreted as their "finger prints". The average rate of correct identification was 82.3 %. The scientific and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

Predictive Factors of Sensitivity to Elisidepsin,a Novel Kahalalide F-Derived Marine Compound

Elisidepsin (PM02734, Irvalec^®) is a synthetic marine-derived cyclic peptide of the Kahalalide F family currently in phase II clinical development. Elisidepsin was shown to induce rapid oncosis in ErbB3-expressing cells. Other predictive factors of elisidepsin sensitivity remained unknown. A panel of 23 cancer cell lines of different origin was assessed for elisidepsin cytotoxicity and correlated with mutational state, mRNA and protein expression of selected genes. Elisidepsin showed potent and broad cytotoxic effects in our cancer cell line panel, being active at concentrations ranging from 0.4 to 2 μM that may be relevant for clinical settings. We have shown that elisidepsin is more active in cells harboring epithelial phenotype with high E-cadherin and low vimentin expression. In addition, high ErbB3 and Muc1 expression was correlated with sensitivity to elisidepsin, whereas the presence of KRAS activating mutations was associated with resistance. In DU-PM cells with acquired resistance to elisidepsin, ErbB3 expression was decreased, while Bcl2 was increased. DU-PM cells displayed higher sensitivity to ErbB1-inhibitors suggesting possible cross-talk of ErbB1 and ErbB3 signaling pathways. Combinations of elisidepsin with lapatinib and several chemotherapies including 5-FU and oxaliplatin resulted in synergistic effects that offer the potential of clinical use of elisidepsin in combination settings.     

Cardinal temperatures variability within a tropical japonica rice diversity panel

Air temperature is one of the most critical climatic factors controlling rice growth, development, and production in current and future climatic scenarii predicting increasingly frequent situations of extreme and/or fluctuating temperatures. With its large spectrum of geographical origins and cropping areas, one can credit tropical japonica rice subspecies of a probable genetic diversity of its response to air temperature, which is of major interest for the breeding of better adapted rice varieties. A panel of 195 rice accessions (175 japonica plus 20 reference cultivars) was studied in controlled environment to estimate cardinal (base, optimum, and maximum) temperatures based on the monitoring of the elongation rate (LERmax) of the sixth leaf on the main stem in response to six fixed thermal treatments ranging from 16 to 35 °C. A dedicated statistical framework was elaborated for estimating LERmax, cardinal temperature and related uncertainties. Developed statistical framework enhanced the precision of cardinal temperatures estimated compared to previously reported methods, especially for base temperature. Maximum temperature was trickier to estimate and will require further studies. A significant genotypic variability for base and optimal temperature was pointed out, suggesting tropical japonica subspecies represents a relevant genetic pool to breed for rice genotypes adapted to various thermal situations. These results also suggested that using genotype-dependent cardinal temperature values should enhance the way crop growth models account for genotype?×?environment interactions hence their predictive value in current and future climatic conditions.     

A specialist-generalist classification of the arable flora and its response to changes in agricultural practices

Background  

Theory in ecology points out the potential link between the degree of specialisation of organisms and their responses to disturbances and suggests that this could be a key element for understanding the assembly of communities. We evaluated this question for the arable weed flora as this group has scarcely been the focus of ecological studies so far and because weeds are restricted to habitats characterised by very high degrees of disturbance. As such, weeds offer a case study to ask how specialization relates to abundance and distribution of species in relation to the varying disturbance regimes occurring in arable crops.     

Climate data challenges in the 21st century

Climate data are dramatically increasing in volume and complexity, just as the users of these data in the scientific community and the public are rapidly increasing in number. A new paradigm of more open, user-friendly data access is needed to ensure that society can reduce vulnerability to climate variability and change, while at the same time exploiting opportunities that will occur.     

Ecosystem‐based management of Amazon fisheries and wetlands

Infrastructure development and overfishing in the Amazon make it imperative to define adequate scales for the ecosystem‐based management of commercial fisheries and the wetlands on which they depend. We mapped fisheries and fish ecology data from Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Colombia to an explicit GIS framework of river basins and mainstems. Migratory species account for more than 80% of the known maximum catches of commercial fisheries across the Amazon. Of these migratory species, we nominated six long‐distance migratory fish taxa as flagship species to define the two main commercial fishery regions. The migrations of at least one goliath catfish species define a large‐scale longitudinal link joining the Andes, Amazon Lowlands and Amazon River estuary. Migratory Characiforms demonstrate interbasin wetland connectivity between nutrient‐rich and nutrient‐poor rivers over at least 2 million km², or about one‐third of the Amazon Basin. We show that flooded forest area is the most important wetland variable explaining regional variations in migratory characiforme biomass as indicated by maximum annual fishery catches. The sustainable management of Amazon fisheries will require transnational cooperation and a paradigm shift from local community management alone to a more integrated approach that considers both rural and urban consumers and challenges, and the realistic life histories of migratory species.     

GIS Coop: networks of silvicultural trials for supporting forest management under changing environment

Key message

The diversity of forest management systems and the contrasted competition level treatments applied make the experimental networks of the GIS Coop, a nationwide testing program in the field of emerging forestry topics within the framework of the ongoing global changes.

Context

To understand the dynamics of forest management systems and build adapted growth models for new forestry practices, long-term experiment networks remain more crucial than ever.

Aims

Two principles are at the basis of the experimental design of the networks of the Scientific Interest Group Cooperative for data on forest tree and stand growth (GIS Coop): contrasted and extreme silvicultural treatments in diverse pedoclimatic contexts.

Methods

Various forest management systems are under study: regular and even-aged stands of Douglas fir, sessile and pedunculate oaks, Maritime and Laricio pines, mixed stands of sessile oak, European silver fir, and Douglas fir combined with other species. Highly contrasted stand density regimes, from open growth to self-thinning, are formalized quantitatively.

Results

One hundred and eighty-five sites representing a total of 1206 plots have been set up in the last 20 years, where trees are measured regularly (every 3 to 10 years). The major outputs of these networks for research and management are the calibration/validation of growth and yield models and the drawing up of forest management guides.

Conclusion

The GIS Coop adapts its networks so that they can contribute to develop growth models that explicitly integrate pedoclimatic factors and thus also contribute to research on the sustainability of ecosystems under environmental and socio-economic changes.

     

Effects of area and isolation of woodland patches on herbaceous plant species richness across Great Britain

Richness of Ancient Woodland Indicator plant species was analysed in 308 woodland patches that were surveyed during the Countryside Survey of Great Britain carried out in 1998. The Countryside Survey recorded vegetation plots and landscape structure in 569 stratified 1 km sample squares and developed a remotely-sensed land cover map of the UK. Using these datasets, we tested the hypothesis that Ancient Woodland Indicator species richness in woodland fragments was limited by patch area, shape and spatial isolation and that woodland patches located in the lowland region of Great Britain would respond differently than those in the upland region. The variation in Ancient Woodland Indicator species richness in the British lowlands (n = 218) was mainly explained by patch area and two measures of connectivity, the length of hedgerows and lines of trees in the 1 km square and the area of woodland within 500 m of the vegetation plot. By contrast, variation in Ancient Woodland Indicator species richness in the British uplands (n = 90) was related to Ellenberg scores of the vegetation communities sampled – a surrogate for habitat quality – and no significant effect of spatial structure was detected. It therefore appears that the degree of fragmentation of woodland in the British lowlands limits the distribution of Ancient Woodland Indicator species, while in the uplands, failed colonisation is a matter of habitat quality rather than a result of landscape structure.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.