Toxicosis in sheep following ingestion of natural gas condensate.

Thirty of 200 ewes died or were euthanatized during a 21-day period following a 1-day accidental exposure to natural gas condensate, a complex mixture of hydrocarbons obtained during collection of natural gas from wells. Despite access to potable well water, the poisoned ewes willingly consumed toxic doses of condensate that contaminated surface water. Eight animals died without premonitory signs; the remainder became ill over the course of a few days to 3 weeks. The principal cause of mortality was aspiration pneumonia, but myocardial degeneration and necrosis, renal tubular damage, gastritis, enteritis, and meningeal edema and hyperemia were also observed. Gas chromatographic analysis identified chemical traces of the hydrocarbons in the tissues, and "fingerprinting," the process of matching chromatographic tracings, provided forensic proof of the contamination source. Atomic absorption spectroscopy and cholinesterase analyses were performed to eliminate the possibility of toxicosis by heavy metal contaminants or other constituents. This appears to be the first reported incidence of natural gas condensate toxicity involving sheep or other ruminants. Although the available literature presents a suggestive pattern of clinical signs and pathologic lesions of petroleum product poisoning, diagnostic investigations should employ detailed analytic examination because each source of petroleum hydrocarbons contains unique sets of components that may produce different toxic effects.     

Effects of changing spatial scale on acoustic observations of patchiness in the Gulf Stream

We examine the influence of spatial scale on studies of nektonic patchiness at the north edge of the Gulf Stream by altering the grain size of acoustic cross sections and applying a patch-finding algorithm. From original pictures of 180 pixels deep by 540–1260 pixels long, we averaged depth and length, to give 9 scales ranging from fine grain (1 m vertical × 25 m horizontal sized pixels) to coarse grain (12 m × 300 m sized pixels). Measures of overall echo intensity within patches were the most predictable and showed little change with scale. Measures of variability of the echo within patches showed simple negative trends with scale and were best measured at fine spatial scales. Patch size and shape related variables have a more complex relationship with scale with differences between day and night transects more pronounced at intermediate scales. This suggests behavioral patch forming mechanisms within the nekton occur at a specific grain size (4 m vertical × 100 m horizontal) within the Gulf Stream front.     

An evaluation of two cypermethrin-based pour-on formulations on sheep infested with the biting louse, Bovicola ovis

Two synthetic pyrethroid (cypermethrin) based pour-on insecticide formulations, with high cis/trans isomer ratios (80:20) but differing in their respective active ingredient concentrations and solvent component(s), were applied to sheep infested with the biting-louse, Bovicola ovis. All treated sheep were penned with louse-infested sheep 9,12 and 15 weeks after the insecticide was applied. The 2% cypermethrin formulation achieved a higher level of control than the 1.25% cypermethrin formulation at each challenge interval when applied 12 weeks after shearing. The 2% cypermethrin formulation provided 97-100% control of lice from 4 to 16 weeks after application on sheep shorn 6 or 12 weeks prior to treatment. The 1.25% cypermethrin formulation provided 85% control of lice 4 weeks after application on sheep shorn 12 weeks prior to treatment, the level of control increasing to a maximum of 100% by week 9, and declining thereafter. The 2% cypermethrin formulation may provide a better level of control in long-woolled sheep than 1.25% cypermethrin, by compensating for the diluent effect of lipid.     

The biochemical basis of resistance of potato to soft rot bacteria

Evidence is presented that a number of mechanisms are involved in the resistance of commercial cultivars of potato to soft rottingErwinia spp. These include phytoalexins, phenolics, cell wall modification, and possibly proteins. The role of elicitor-active oligogalacturonides, which are released from plant cell walls by pectic enzymes, is discussed.     

Virus transmission by aphids in potato crops

This paper reviews the contribution of vector activity and plant age to virus spread in potato crops. Determining which aphid species are vectors is particularly important for timing haulm destruction to minimize tuber infection by potato virus Y (PVY). Alate aphids of more than 30 species transmit PVY, and aphids such asRhopalosiphum padi, that migrate in large numbers before flights of the more efficient vector,Myzus persicae, appear to be important vectors. Differences in methodology, aphid biotypes and virus strains prevent direct comparisons between estimates of vector efficiencies obtained for aphids in different countries in north western Europe. M. persicae is also the most efficient vector of potato leafroll virus (PLRV), but some clones ofMacrosiphum euphorbiae transmit PLRV efficiently toNicotiana clevelandii and potato test plants. The removal of infected plants early in the season prevents the spread of PLRV in cool regions with limited vector activity. The proportion of aphids acquiring PLRV from infected potato plants decreases with plant age, and healthy potato plants are more resistant to infection later in the season. Severe symptoms of secondary leafroll developed on progeny plants of cv. Maris Piper derived from mother plants inoculated with PLRV in June or July of the previous year. Progeny plants derived from mother plants inoculated in August showed only mild symptoms, but the concentration of PLRV in these plants was as high as that in the plants with severe symptoms.     

New genes for disease resistances through somatic hybridization

Somatic hybridization, a process of combining protoplasts from different plants, can provide new sources of disease resistances for plants. In the case of wild and cultivatedSolanum species, the hybrids express resistances from each partner in the fusion and can often be crossed with cultivars to improve agronomic characteristics of the tubers. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses can provide a means for determining that the plants being investigated are actually hybrids as well as a means for following the introgression of DNA into progeny lines. These points are addressed in this paper with specific reference to somatic hybrids betweenSolanum brevidens and potato.     

新型杀蜂螨烟剂蜂乐1号的研究

蜂乐1号烟剂是一种最近研制成功的新型杀蜂螨药剂,其有效成分为溴螨酯.经室内外试验结果,对蜂螨有较强杀伤力,对蜜蜂十分安全.烟剂中的溴螨醋对雅氏大蜂螨的LC_(50)为0.26克/米~3,LC_(95)为2.92克/米~3 对蜜蜂则分别为71.45克/米~3和218.70克/米~3,二者分别相差274.8倍和74.9倍.一平箱蜂群一次用含0.45克有效成分的药,对蜂体上大蜂螨的防除效果平均93%以上.对蜂群每隔5天施药一次,经3次施药后蜂群状况正常.在施药3次后对所取蜜样进行检测,其中溴螨酯的残留量远远低于联合国粮农组织所规定的参考限量.该烟剂适于在蜂箱外施药,比目前国内一般的开箱施药方法提高工效15倍以上,更适用于许多过去不便用药的场合.     

Nutritional stress in ficea sitchensis plantations in coastal British columbia: The effects of gaultheria shallon and declining site fertility

Examples of nutritional stress in conifer seedlings caused by competing ericaceous species (e.g. Calluna and Kalmia), have been reported in several parts of the world. Nutritional stress (primarily N deficiency) has been reported in Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) plantations growing in association with an ericaceous species, salal (Gaultheria shallon), in coastal British Columbia. Nutritional interference by salal was investigated on a chronosequence of sites up to 10 yr after clearcutting and slashburning. No direct evidence for an allelopathic contribution to the N stress was obtained. However, the rapid accumulation of salal fine roots and rhizomes, and the nutrients contained therein, provides a partial explanation for the observed stress symptoms. Soil analyses and seedling bioassays demonstrated a reduction in fertility in the period 8 to 10 yr after clearcutting and slashburning in comparison to the period 2 to 4 yr, which is believed to impose further nutritional stress on Sitka spruce. It is concluded that the nutritional stress in these Sitka spruce plantations is caused by a combination of (1) salal competition for nutrients and their subsequent immobilization in salal biomass, and (2) declining site fertility caused by the termination of the flush of nutrients (the assert period) that occurs in the immediate post-clearcutting and slashburning period. Sustaining good growth of plantations under such circumstances will require site nutrient management as well as vegetation management.