Growth,flowering and fruiting of stecklings,grafts and seedlings of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Allanblackia floribunda</Emphasis> Oliver (Clusiaceae)

A study was carried out to assess the growth, flowering and fruiting of stecklings (rooted cuttings), grafts and seedlings of Allanblackia floribunda in Cameroun. Thirty-one individuals of each plantlet type were planted in May 2006. Height, collar and crown diameters were recorded in September and October, while flowering and fruiting were recorded each month from January to December. In 2014, the trees with the greatest height were those from seeds (6.98 ± 0.25 m), followed by those from grafts (1.65 ± 0.23 m) and cuttings (1.09 ± 0.21 m). Grafts started flowering and fruiting 3 years after planting, while seedlings started flowering and fruiting after four and 6 years, respectively. Stecklings still had not flowered 8 years after planting. Fruit weight and length from seed-origin trees are about seven times higher than grafts. Correlations between height and crown diameter were significant and positive irrespective of the nature of the planting material. In conclusion, grafts fruited earlier, while seedlings grew faster and had greater yields than grafts and stecklings of A. floribunda.     

Differences in transpiration between a forest and an agroforestry tree species in the Sudanian belt

Average population growth in the African Sudanian belt is 3 % per year. This leads to a significant increase in cultivated areas at the expense of fallows and forests. For centuries, rural populations have been practicing agroforestry dominated by Vitellaria paradoxa parklands. We wanted to know whether agroforestry can improve local rainfall recycling as well as forest. We compared transpiration and its seasonal variations between Vitellaria paradoxa, the dominant species in fallows, and Isoberlinia doka, the dominant species in dry forests in the Sudanian belt. The fallow and dry forest we studied are located in northwestern Benin, where average annual rainfall is 1200 mm. Sap flow density (SFD) was measured by transient thermal dissipation, from which tree transpiration was deduced. Transpiration of five trees per species was estimated by taking into account the radial profile of SFD. The effect of the species and of the season on transpiration was tested with a generalized linear mixed model. Over the three-year study period, daily transpiration of the agroforestry trees, V. paradoxa (diameters 8–38 cm) ranged between 4.4 and 26.8 L day^?1 while that of the forest trees, I. doka, (diameters 20–38 cm) ranged from 9.8 to 92.6 L day^?1. Daily transpiration of V. paradoxa was significantly lower (15 %) in the dry season than in the rainy season, whereas daily transpiration by I. doka was significantly higher (13 %) in the dry season than in the rainy season. Our results indicate that the woody cover of agroforestry systems is less efficient in recycling local rainfall than forest cover, not only due to lower tree density but also to species composition.     

Composition and antimicrobial activity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cistus munbyi</Emphasis> essential oil: an endemic plant from Algeria

The chemical composition and antimicrobial potential of Cistus munbyi essential oil were studied for the first time. GC and GC–MS analysis revealed 48 compounds representing 96.98% of the oil. Terpinen-4-ol (23.75%), meta-Cymene (17.30%), and Sabinene (12.38%) were the major constituents. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated against nine pathogens using the disc diffusion and broth micro-dilution methods. Results show that C. munbyi essential oil possesses strong antimicrobial activity against all strains, regardless if Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria, or yeast, with MICs values not exceeding 10 (mg/ml). In addition to its efficacy, C. munbyi essential oil has an unusual antimicrobial potency which is attributed to its specific chemical composition. Thus, findings presented here suggest that endemic C. munbyi contains a very interesting essential oil that may be valuable in several areas.     

Conventional fractionated radiotherapy outcomes for young dogs with nephroblastoma of the spinal cord: 5 cases

Published radiotherapy results for spinal nephroblastomas in dogs are limited. In this retrospective longitudinal study (1/2007–1/2022), five dogs with a median age of 2.8 years received post-operative 3D conformal, conventional fractionated radiotherapy (CFRT) with 2–4 fields (parallel-opposed with or without two hinge-angle fields), for an incompletely resected nephroblastoma. Clinical findings prior to surgery included one or more of the following: pelvic limb paresis (5), faecal incontinence (2), flaccid tail (1), non-ambulatory (2) and deep pain loss (1). All masses were located between T11 and L3 and surgically removed via hemilaminectomy. Dogs received 45–50 Gray (Gy) in 18–20 fractions, and no dogs received chemotherapy post-radiation. At analysis, all dogs were deceased, with none lost to follow-up. The median overall survival (OS) from first treatment to death of any cause was 3.4 years (1234 days; 95% CI 68 days-upper limit not reached; range: 68–3607 days). The median planning target volume was 51.3 cc, with a median PTV dose of 51.4 Gy and median D98 = 48.3 Gy. Late complications or recurrence was difficult to fully determine in this small dataset; however, some degree of ataxia persisted throughout life in all dogs. This study provides preliminary evidence that post-operative radiotherapy may result in prolonged survival times dogs with spinal nephroblastomas.