Total mercury levels in selected human tissues, Idaho-1973-74(1,2)

Total mercury levels were determined in human tissues taken at autopsy from six hospitals in the three basic geographical areas of Idaho. Of the 242 specimens analyzed, 76 percent contained detectable mercury. Levels were compared with respect to the age, sex, and geographic residence of autopsied individuals. Mean levels detected were 1.04 ppm in kidney tissue, 0.34 ppm in liver, and 0.08 ppm in brain. Mean mercury levels for the three geographical areas were: southeastern Idaho, 0.22 ppm; southwestern Idaho, 0.80 ppm; and northern Idaho, 0.43 ppm. The relatively high means in southwestern Idaho specimens may be related to the preponderance of natural cinnabar deposits in that portion of the State. Mercury levels were higher in women than men for all tissues in both the southwestern and northern areas, but the reverse was true in the southeast. Data were compared with findings of other investigators in an attempt to arrive at background levels of total mercury residues in human tissues.     

Inheritance and reliability of random amplified polymorphic DNA-markers in two consecutive generations of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers have been used in a variety of genetic studies in fisheries and aquaculture. Most population studies are performed without preliminary data demonstrating the Mendelian inheritance and reproducibility of RAPD markers. In this study, the inheritance and reproducibility of RAPD markers was examined in two consecutive generations of common carp, Cyprinus carpio L. Variability and segregation of RAPD markers were investigated in one F₁ progeny and three F₂ progenies. Seventy-four RAPD markers were generated by five primers using DNA extracted from the initial ornamental (koi) common carp female and wild-type colour common carp male. Fifty-five of these RAPD markers were transmitted to the F₁ progeny and the inheritance patterns were analysed. Twenty RAPD markers were fully reproducible and demonstrated dominant simple Mendelian inheritance patterns in two consecutive generations. Twenty-four RAPD markers were not reproducible in all progenies. Thirteen markers displayed inheritance ratios in the progenies that did not fit simple Mendelian inheritance patterns. Non-reproducibility of RAPD markers and distorted ratios may be caused by the absence of amplification, poor amplification or by the appearance of artefact bands. Random amplified polymorphic DNA markers with poor reproducibility and non-Mendelian inheritance can lead to misinterpretations of data in population studies, resulting in errors in the estimation of genetic diversity within and between individual populations. Therefore, it is recommended to first identify the set of reproducible RAPD markers that demonstrate Mendelian inheritance before application of the RAPD technique in population studies.     

Proteolytic activities in dormant rye (Secale cereale L.) grain.

Endoproteolytic, exoproteolytic, carboxypeptidase, aminopeptidase, and N-alpha-benzoyl-arginine-p-nitroanilide hydrolyzing activities were detected in 0.05 M sodium acetate buffer (pH 5.0) extracts of whole meal of the rye (Secale cereale L.) varieties Amando, Halo, and Humbolt. The proteolytic enzymes of Humbolt, the variety with the highest proteolytic activity, optimally hydrolyzed hemoglobin around pH 3.5 and 40-45 degrees C. In the different milling fractions of Humbolt, azocasein and hemoglobin hydrolytic activities were especially found in the bran and shorts. Proteolytic enzymes in the bran extract were concentrated in the 35-60% ammonium sulfate precipitate. Pepstatin A, an inhibitor of aspartic proteases, reduced approximately 88 and approximately 75% of the hemoglobin and azocasein hydrolyzing activities of this precipitate, respectively. Phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride, an inhibitor of serine proteases, inhibited approximately 33% of both cited activities. Both rye and wheat storage proteins were degraded by Humbolt rye whole meal enzyme extract and the above-mentioned ammonium sulfate rye bran fraction in vitro. With the latter fraction digestion was more pronounced.     

Effects of copper and cadmium on uptake and leakage of K(+) in birch (Betula pendula) roots

Uptake and leakage experiments were performed to study the effects of copper and cadmium on K(+) fluxes in birch (Betula pendula Roth) roots. Labeled rubidium ((86)Rb(+)) was used as a tracer for K(+). Plants were pretreated with Cu or Cd (0, 2, 5 or 25 microM) for 0-300 min and then transferred to radiolabeled nutrient solution (150 microM K(+)) with or without 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) to separate the effects of heavy metal on active and passive K(+) influxes. Passive K(+) influx was decreased by pretreatment with Cu but was only slightly affected by pretreatment with Cd. Pretreatment with 2 microM Cu increased active K(+) influx, whereas pretreatment with 25 microM Cu decreased active K(+) influx and intermediate Cu concentrations (5 microM) did not affect active K(+) influx. The pretreatment effects of Cu on active and passive K(+) influxes increased with increasing pretreatment time. During the first hour, pretreatment with Cd decreased active K(+) influx with increasing pretreatment time, whereafter recovery began. To measure K(+) efflux, birch plants were loaded with (86)Rb(+) for 7 days before being exposed to Cu or Cd (0, 1, 3, 5 or 10 microM) in unlabeled nutrient solutions for 24 h. Net efflux of K(+) was measured as (86)Rb(+)-activity in the nutrient solutions 24 h after a heavy metal had been introduced. Efflux of K(+) increased with increasing Cu or Cd concentration in the unlabeled nutrient solution.The data indicate that Cu and Cd affected K(+) influx differently and that recovery mechanism(s), which were induced shortly after heavy metal introduction, counteracted the heavy-metal induced inhibition of active K(+) influx. Efflux of K(+) from plant roots over a 24-h period indicated that Cu and Cd had similar effects on K(+) efflux. There was no evidence of a recovery mechanism counteracting the heavy-metal-induced inhibition of K(+) efflux.     

Identification of Mulberry Dwarf Phytoplasmas in the Genital Organs and Eggs of Leafhopper Hishimonoides sellatiformis

ABSTRACT The presence of mulberry dwarf (MD) phytoplasmas in organs of the inoculative vector insects Hishimonoides sellatiformis and Hishimonus sellatus was determined by means of electron microscopy (EM) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Many MD phytoplasmas were detected in genital organs as well as in the intestines, salivary glands, brains, fat bodies, and thoracic ganglia of Hishimonoides sellatiformis, but only in the intestine and salivary glands of Hishimonus sellatus. Many phytoplasmas with characteristic morphology were observed via EM in ovaries, seminal receptacles, and testes, and they were further identified by PCR assays with group I-specific primers. In addition, the organisms were detected by direct or nested PCR assays in eggs (head pigmentation stage of embryos) laid on mulberry shoots by inoculative leafhoppers and in the newly hatched nymphs from these eggs. These findings indicate that transovarial transmission of MD phytoplasmas occurs in Hishimonoides sellatiformis.     

A Greenhouse Test for Screening Sugar Beet (Beta Vulgaris) for Resistance to Rhizoctonia Solani

Rhizoctonia solani Kühn is a serious plant pathogenic fungus, causing various types of damage to sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.). In Europe, the disease is spreading and becoming a threat for the growing of this crop. Plant resistance seems to be the most practical and economical way to control the disease. Experiments were carried out to optimise a greenhouse procedure to screen plants of sugar beet for resistance to R. solani. In the first experiment, two susceptible accessions were evaluated for root and leaf symptoms, after being grown in seven different soil mixtures and inoculated with R. solani. The fungus infected all plants. It was concluded that leaf symptoms were not reliable for the rating of disease severity. Statistically significant differences between the soil mixtures were observed, and there were no significant differences between the two accessions. The two soil mixtures, showing the most severe disease symptoms, were selected for a second experiment, including both resistant and susceptible accessions. As in the first experiment, root symptoms were recorded using a 1–7 scale, and a significant expression of resistance was observed. The average severity of the disease in the greenhouse experiment generally was comparable with the infection in field experiments, and the ranking of the accessions was the same in the two types of experiments. It was concluded that evaluation procedures in the greenhouse could be used as a rapid assay to screen sugar beet plants for resistance to R. solani.     

Estimating nocturnal ecosystem respiration from the vertical turbulent flux and change in storage of CO2

Micrometeorological measurements of nighttime ecosystem respiration can be systematically biased when stable atmospheric conditions lead to drainage flows associated with decoupling of air flow above and within plant canopies. The associated horizontal and vertical advective fluxes cannot be measured using instrumentation on the single towers typically used at micrometeorological sites. A common approach to minimize bias is to use a threshold in friction velocity, u_*, to exclude periods when advection is assumed to be important, but this is problematic in situations when in-canopy flows are decoupled from the flow above. Using data from 25 flux stations in a wide variety of forest ecosystems globally, we examine the generality of a novel approach to estimating nocturnal respiration developed by van Gorsel et al. (van Gorsel, E., Leuning, R., Cleugh, H.A., Keith, H., Suni, T., 2007. Nocturnal carbon efflux: reconciliation of eddy covariance and chamber measurements using an alternative to the u_*-threshold filtering technique. Tellus 59B, 397–403, Tellus, 59B, 307-403). The approach is based on the assumption that advection is small relative to the vertical turbulent flux (F_C) and change in storage (F_S) of CO₂ in the few hours after sundown. The sum of F_C and F_S reach a maximum during this period which is used to derive a temperature response function for ecosystem respiration. Measured hourly soil temperatures are then used with this function to estimate respiration R_Rmax. The new approach yielded excellent agreement with (1) independent measurements using respiration chambers, (2) with estimates using ecosystem light-response curves of F_c + F_s extrapolated to zero light, R_LRC, and (3) with a detailed process-based forest ecosystem model, R_cast. At most sites respiration rates estimated using the u_*-filter, R_ust, were smaller than R_Rmax and R_LRC. Agreement of our approach with independent measurements indicates that R_Rmax provides an excellent estimate of nighttime ecosystem respiration.     

Prevalence of mycoplasmas in the respiratory tracts of pneumonic calves.

The prevalence of mycoplasmas in the respiratory tracts of 148 pneumonic calves originating from 25 herds in the Netherlands is reported. Four types of culture media were used to isolate mycoplasmas: solid modified Edward medium, 2 types of Friis media, and A7B differential agar medium. Mycoplasmas were isolated both from nasal swab specimens and lung lavage fluids collected from live calves and from nasal mucosa and lung tissue specimens collected post mortem. All of the mycoplasma strains isolated could be identified as either Ureaplasma diversum (isolated from 80% of 25 herds), Mycoplasma dispar (92%), M. bovirhinis (88%), M. bovis (20%), M. bovigenitalium (4%), M. arginini (16%), or M. canis (12%). Isolation rates of M. dispar and U. diversum were considerably higher from lung lavage fluids than from nasal swab specimens. M. bovis was detected only in fattening herds and not in dairy herds. The respiratory tracts of 75% of the calves examined contained at least 2 mycoplasma species. In total, 25 different combinations of mycoplasma species were detected in specimens collected from noses and lungs. The pathogenic species U. diversum and M. dispar had not been isolated before in the Netherlands.     

Influence of the three RN genotypes on chemical composition, enzyme activities, and myofiber characteristics of porcine skeletal muscle.

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of the RN genotype on skeletal muscle characteristics in pigs sharing otherwise the same polygenic background. Animals were genotyped for RN on the basis of RTN (Rendement Technologique Napole) records using segregation analysis methods. Samples of longissimus (L) and semispinalis capitis (S) muscles were taken from 39 rn+/rn+, 38 RN-/rn+ and 37 RN-/RN- pigs slaughtered at 108 +/- 8.6 kg live weight. Activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), citrate synthase (CS), and beta-hydroxy-acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase (HAD) were measured on both muscles to assess glycolytic, oxidative, and lipid beta-oxidation capacities, respectively. Histological examinations and chemical analyses were performed on L muscle. The energetic metabolism of the white L muscle was more oxidative in RN-/RN- than in rn+/rn+ pigs, as shown by increased CS and HAD activities (P < .001), decreased LDH activity (P < .001), larger cross-sectional area of IIA (P < .05) and IIB-red (P < .05) fibers, higher relative area of IIA fibers ( P < .05), and lower relative area of IIB-white fibers (P < .001). No significant difference was found between heterozygous and homozygous carriers of the RN- allele, except for CS activity, which was lower in RN-/rn+ than in RN-/RN- pigs. In L muscle, the RN- allele led to a large increase in glycolytic potential (+3.5 phenotypic SD between homozygotes) and lightness (+.7 SD), and a decrease in ultimate pH, dry matter, and protein contents (-1.7 to -2 phenotypic SD for these three traits), with an almost completely dominant effect. No differences were found between genotypes for intramuscular fat and hydroxyproline contents. In the red S muscle, the presence of RN- had no influence on enzyme activities. These results indicate that the RN genotype greatly influences compositional and histochemical traits and metabolic enzyme activities in a muscle type-dependent manner, with a completely or incompletely dominant effect of the RN- allele.