Interactions of Pratylenchus thornei and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris on Chickpea

ABSTRACT Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris and the root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus thornei coinfect chickpeas in southern Spain. The influence of root infection by P. thornei on the reaction of Fusarium wilt-susceptible (CPS 1 and PV 61) and wilt-resistant (UC 27) chickpea cultivars to F. oxysporum f. sp. ciceris race 5 was investigated under controlled and field conditions. Severity of Fusarium wilt was not modified by coinfection of chickpeas by P. thornei and F. oxysporum f. sp. ciceris, in simultaneous or sequential inoculations with the pathogens. Root infection with five nematodes per cm(3) of soil and 5,000 chlamydospores per g of soil of the fungus resulted in significantly higher numbers of propagules of F. oxysporum f. sp. ciceris with the wilt-susceptible cultivar CPS 1, but not with the wilt-resistant one. However, infection with 10 nematodes per cm(3) of soil significantly increased root infection by F. oxysporum f. sp. ciceris in both cultivars, irrespective of fungal inoculum densities (250 to 2,000 chlamydospores per g of soil). Plant growth was significantly reduced by P. thornei infection on wilt-susceptible and wilt-resistant chickpeas in controlled and field conditions, except when shorter periods of incubation (45 days after inoculation) were used under controlled conditions. Severity of root necrosis was greater in wilt-susceptible and wilt-resistant cultivars when nematodes were present in the root, irrespective of length of incubation time (45 to 90 days), densities of nematodes (5 and 10 nematodes per cm(3) of soil), fungal inocula, and experimental conditions. Nematode reproduction on the wilt-susceptible cultivars, but not on the wilt-resistant one, was significantly increased by F. oxysporum f. sp. ciceris infections under controlled and field conditions.     

Autophagy genes are essential for dauer development and life-span extension in C. elegans

Both dauer formation (a stage of developmental arrest) and adult life-span in Caenorhabditis elegans are negatively regulated by insulin-like signaling, but little is known about cellular pathways that mediate these processes. Autophagy, through the sequestration and delivery of cargo to the lysosomes, is the major route for degrading long-lived proteins and cytoplasmic organelles in eukaryotic cells. Using nematodes with a loss-of-function mutation in the insulin-like signaling pathway, we show that bec-1, the C. elegans ortholog of the yeast and mammalian autophagy gene APG6/VPS30/beclin1, is essential for normal dauer morphogenesis and life-span extension. Dauer formation is associated with increased autophagy and also requires C. elegans orthologs of the yeast autophagy genes APG1, APG7, APG8, and AUT10. Thus, autophagy is a cellular pathway essential for dauer development and life-span extension in C. elegans.     

Relationships of spectral traits with yield and nutritional quality of snap beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in dry seasons

Four snap bean varieties (green and yellow-podded) were grown in three water supplies (regularly irrigated, deficit-irrigated and non-irrigated) in order to examine the spectral reflectance at leaf and canopy levels, leaf area index (LAI) and their relationships with the yield and nutritional quality at the University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary from 2011 to 2013. Under non-irrigated condition, the plant height decreased, SPAD values were high but LAI and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were low. The difference in SPAD values was higher between the varieties during flowering under non-irrigated condition and it was more pronounced during pod development using deficit irrigation. In dry years, non-irrigated condition SPAD did not correlate with the yield but during pod development it was correlated with the dry matter content of the pods. The relationship of SPAD with protein and crude fiber content of pods was strongly dependent on the cropping years. Under deficit-irrigated condition, NDVI measured during flowering and pod development correlated closely with the yield where a higher NDVI (0.85) predicted either 6 or 9.5 t ha^?1 of yield depending on the variety. Under this condition Serengeti variety with green pods was prominent based on the studied traits among the varieties.     

Atmospheric Mercury Fluxes in a Southern Boreal Forest and Wetland

Total gaseous mercury (TGM) fluxes from the forest floor and a boreal wetland were measured by a flux chamber technique coupled with an automatic mercury vapour analyser. The fluxes were measured at three sampling sites in southern Finland, 61°14′ N, 25°04′ E in summer 2007, with additionally in situ TGM concentrations in the air at one of the sites and mercury bulk deposition at another. Most of the flux data were collected during the daytime. At one of the sites, diurnal flux behaviour was studied, and a clear cycle with an afternoon maximum and a night minimum was observed. The highest emissions (up to 3.5 ng m⁻² h⁻¹) were observed at the forest floor site having a moss and grass cover. At the wetland and litter-rich forest floor sites, the emissions were below 1 ng m⁻² h⁻¹ and sometimes negative (down to −1.0 ng m⁻² h⁻¹), indicating mercury uptake. The measured average fluxes in August were 0.9 ± 1.1 and 0.2 ± 0.3 ng m⁻² h⁻¹ for the forest floor sites and wetland sites, respectively. The flux data were compared with the mercury bulk deposition, which proved to be of the same magnitude, but opposite in sign. At the mossy forest floor site, the extrapolated TGM emissions were 130% of the Hg deposition in August 2007. Comparison with other studies showed that the fluxes in background areas are relatively uniform, regardless of measurement site location and method used. Airborne TGM remained at the background level during the study, with an average value of 1.3 ± 0.2 ng m⁻³; it frequently showed a diurnal cycle pattern.     

Lack of haplotype structuring for two candidate genes for trypanotolerance in cattle

Bovine trypanotolerance is a heritable trait associated to the ability of the individuals to control parasitaemia and anaemia. The INHBA (BTA4) and TICAM1 (BTA7) genes are strong candidates for trypanotolerance‐related traits. The coding sequence of both genes (3951 bp in total) were analysed in a panel including 79 Asian, African and European cattle (Bos taurus and B. indicus) to identify naturally occurring polymorphisms on both genes. In general, the genetic diversity was low. Nineteen of the 33 mutations identified were found just one time. Seventeen different haplotypes were defined for the TICAM1 gene, and 9 and 12 were defined for the exon 1 and the exon 2 of the INHBA gene, respectively. There was no clear separation between cattle groups. The most frequent haplotypes identified in West African taurine samples were also identified in other cattle groups including Asian zebu and European cattle. Phylogenetic trees and principal component analysis confirmed that divergence among the cattle groups analysed was poor, particularly for the INHBA sequences. The European cattle subset had the lowest values of haplotype diversity for both the exon1 (monomorphic) and the exon2 (0.077 ± 0.066) of the INHBA gene. Neutrality tests, in general, did not suggest that the analysed genes were under positive selection. The assessed scenario would be consistent with the identification of recent mutations in evolutionary terms.     

Morphological development and allometric growth of yellowtail kingfish Seriola lalandi V. larvae under culture conditions

Morphological development and allometric growth patterns of Seriola lalandi larvae were assessed to characterize normal growth patterns under culture conditions. Early ontogenetic stages of yellowtail kingfish exhibited an exponential growth in terms of standard length as a function of age. Five development stages were characterized from hatching to the juvenile stage: larval stage I (0–2 days post hatch, dph) with endogenous feeding, characterized by a small yolk sac, unpigmented eyes, primordial finfold surrounding the body and a closed mouth; larval stage II (2–15 dph) characterized by mouth opening, complete pigmentation of eyes and the beginning of the exogenous feeding; subsequently, in the larval stage III (15–25 dph) the posterior tip of notochord of the larvae bended upward and the first rays appeared in fins, concomitant with a change in swimming behaviour; thereafter, larval stage IV (post‐flexion stage; 25–30 dph) began when larvae resembled in morphology to a juvenile organism; however, caudal and dorsal fins were not completely development. Lastly, the juvenile stage was reached 30 dph characterized by a morphology and fin structures similar to those of the adults. Growth and development of structures and organs associated with vital functions such as feeding, sensorial and breathing systems seemed to be more critical previous to 23 dph, which was reflected with a positive allometric growth of head and eyes during this period. The results from this study can be used as a tool‐guide to assess normal development in larval research with S. lalandi to improve existing rearing protocols in hatchery production.     

Pharmacokinetic Behaviour of Albendazole Sulphoxide Enantiomers in Male and Female Sheep

Benzimidazole anthelmintic drugs are widely used in veterinary practice. Albendazole sulphoxide (ABZSO) is a benzimidazole drug with two enantiomers, as a consequence of a chiral centre in the sulphoxide group. The kinetics of these enantiomers were studied in male and female sheep. Plasma samples were obtained from the animals between 0.5 and 72 h after oral administration of 7.5 mg/kg of a racemic formulation of ABZSO (total-ABZSO). After a liquid–liquid extraction, the samples were analysed by HPLC to determine the concentrations of total-ABZSO and of the sulphone metabolite (ABZSO₂). During the chromatographic analysis, the ABZSO peak was collected and reanalysed by an HPLC technique using a Chiral AGP column to quantify the enantiomeric proportion therein. After kinetic analysis, the AUCs obtained for the (+)-ABZSO were 5.8 and 4.0 times higher than those for the (–)-ABZSO in male and female animals, respectively. The mean residence times were 23.4 and 16.1 h for (+)-ABZSO and 22.2 and 17.4 h for (–)-ABZSO for male and female animals, respectively. The only significant difference between the sexes (p<0.05) was in the T _max of the (–)-ABZSO. Comparing both enantiomers within each sex, significant differences were found in all the kinetic parameters. Finally, no kinetic differences were found between sex for total-ABZSO or ABZSO₂.     

Infrared study of structural characteristics of Frankfurters formulated with olive oil-in-water emulsions stabilized with casein as pork backfat replacer

This article reports an infrared spectroscopic (FT-IR) study on lipids and protein structural characteristics in frankfurters as affected by an emulsified olive oil stabilizing system used as a pork backfat replacer. The oil-in-water emulsions were stabilized with sodium caseinate, without (F/SC) and with microbial transglutaminase (F/SC+MTG). Proximate composition and textural characteristics were also evaluated. Frankfurters F/SC+MTG showed the highest (P < 0.05) hardness and lowest (P < 0.05) adhesiveness. These products also showed the lowest (P < 0.05) half-bandwidth of the 2922 cm(-1) band, which could be related to the fact that the lipid chain was more orderly than that in the frankfurters formulated with animal fat and F/SC. The spectral results revealed modifications in the amide I band profile when the olive oil-in-water emulsion replaced animal fat. This fact is indicative of a greater content of aggregated intermolecular β-sheets. Structural characteristics in both proteins and lipids could be associated with the specific textural properties of frankfurters.     

Evidence of the glycation and denaturation of LTP1 during the malting and brewing process

The influence of malting and brewing processes on the chemical and structural modifications occurring on LTP1 was investigated by mass spectrometry and circular dichroism. Proteins were first purified from malt, and samples were collected at various steps of beer processing performed on two barley cultivars. The levels of LTP1 found in malt were not significantly different from the amounts in barley seed. However, in malt, both LTP1b, a post-translational form of LTP1, and a third isoform named LTP1c were isolated. Moreover, both of these proteins were found to be heterogeneously glycated but still exhibited an alpha-helix structure. Both glycated LTP1 and LTP1b were recovered during mashing. It was also shown that glycated LTP1 was unfolded during heat treatment of wort boiling, which is in agreement with the denatured form previously isolated from beer.     

Characterization of the LH peak after short and long fixed‐time artificial insemination protocols in sheep raised in the tropics

The aim of this study was to evaluate the peak in luteinizing hormone (LH) and the pregnancy rate of sheep (Texel × Santa Inês) in the tropics using short‐ (6 days) and long‐term (12 days) progesterone protocols followed by artificial insemination (AI) both in and out of the breeding season. Experiment 1 was conducted within (IN) the breeding season (autumn, n = 36), and experiment 2 was conducted outside (OUT) of the breeding season (spring, n = 43). In each experiment, the sheep were divided into two groups (6 or 12 days) according to the duration of treatment with a single‐use progesterone release vaginal device (CIDR^®, Pfizer, São Paulo, SP, Brazil), and blood samples were collected from 10 animals per group every 4 hr to measure the LH and progesterone concentrations. In the spring, the characteristics of the LH peak did not differ between groups; but in the autumn, there were differences between groups at the beginning (G‐6 IN: 36.44 ± 5.46 hr; G‐12 IN: 26.57 ± 4.99 hr) and end of the LH peak (G‐6 IN: 46.22 ± 7.51 hr; G‐12 IN: 34.86 ± 8.86 hr). The results showed alterations in the LH peak during the breeding season only in the sheep undergoing the short‐term protocol.