Diurnal migration and responses to simulated rainfall in desert soil microarthropods and nematodes

Diurnal patterns of microarthropod abundance in surface leaf litter were related to its moisture content. Leaf litter moisture was nearly 7% by weight at 0800h but fell to less than 1% by mid-day. Oribatid and tydeid mites moved into litter in the early morning and back into the soil before mid-day. There were no significant differences in numbers of nematodes in litter or soil and 78–98% of the nematodes were anhydrobiotic (coiled) in soil and litter at all times sampled.Following simulated rainfall there were fewer microarthropods in litter at mid-day in the absence of marked decreases in soil and litter moisture content. During drying, there were gradual reductions in numbers and species diversity of litter microarthropods. Nematode numbers did not change as litter dried. Anhydrobiotic nematodes in the soil increased from 14% on day 1 to 85% on day 4. Between 24 and 36 h after simulated rainfall, the proportion of anhydrobiotic litter nematodes increased from 35 to 80%,.Within 1 h after simulated rainfall, there were marked increases in numbers and diversity of microarthropods in surface litter. No collembolans were extracted from dry litter controls but the wet litter was dominated by isotomid, sminthurid and onychiurid collembolans. There were increases in numbers and diversity of oribatid, tydeid and gamasid mites in the wet surface litter within l h after wetting compared to controls.     

Innovative technology for ecological restoration of degraded rangeland ecosystems based on new varieties of fodder halophytes in arid regions of Russia

This paper presents the results of breeding drought- and salt-tolerant varieties of fodder halophytes and the innovative technologies of ecological restoration of degraded rangeland ecosystems developed on their basis. The latter have been shown to restore the lost typical zonal biodiversity and fodder productivity of rangelands in arid regions of the south of Russia.     

Effect of the duration of inoculum exposure on development of citrus canker symptoms on seedlings of Swingle citrumelo

Citrus canker (Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri, Xcc) is one of the most serious diseases citrus in Florida, and elsewhere in the world. The disease causes yield loss and some fresh fruit trade restrictions may apply. Cultural management techniques such as windbreaks may work by not only reducing wind speed, but also reducing the period of exposure of susceptible foliage or fruit to those wind speeds that support infection from incoming inoculum. To investigate the effect of exposure period to inoculum of Xcc, seedlings of canker-susceptible Swingle citrumelo were exposed to sprayed inoculum for increasing periods at different wind speeds. The incidence and severity of citrus canker was assessed. In three experiments the incidence and severity of citrus canker most often increased with longer periods of exposure to inoculum, especially so at wind speeds of ≥16 m/s compared to wind speeds of ≤5 m/s (wind speed also increased disease incidence and severity). Regression analysis demonstrated relationships between period of exposure to inoculum and the percent infected leaves per plant, the number of lesions per plant, the number of lesions per infected leaf, and for the percent of infected leaves with lesions on the petioles at wind speeds of ≥16 m/s (R²?=?0.16–0.72). Due to the effect of inoculum exposure period and wind speed, attempts should be made to minimize exposure of canker-susceptible citrus when wind speed is highest and inoculum is available. Windbreaks should help minimize periods of exposure to splashed inoculum in high winds.     

Nimbus-7 coastal zone color scanner: system description and initial imagery

The Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) on Nimbus-7, launched in October 1978, is the only sensor in orbit that is specifically designed to study living marine resources. The initial imagery confirms that CZCS data can be processed to a level that reveals subtle variations in the concentration of phytoplankton pigments. This development has potential applications for the study of large-scale patchiness in phytoplankton distributions, the evolution of spring blooms, water mass boundaries, and mesoscale circulation patterns.     

Detection of uranium from cosmos-1402 in the stratosphere

The nuclear reactor from the Soviet radar reconnaissance satellite, Cosmos-1402, reentered the earth's atmosphere on 7 February 1983 and disintegrated over the South Atlantic Ocean. The reactor was powered by approximately 50 kilograms of uranium-235 ((235)U). In an effort to determine the fate of the reactor core, a series of aerosol samples were collected at altitudes between 27 and 36 kilometers in the Northern Hemisphere approximately 1.1 years later by high-altitude balloons. At an altitude of 36 kilometers a 53 +/- 20 percent excess in the (235)U concentration was measured. The total excess of (235)U in the stratosphere was calculated to be 44 +/- 15 kilograms.     

In search of the first flower: A jurassic angiosperm, archaefructus, from northeast china

Angiosperm fruiting axes were discovered from the Upper Jurassic of China. Angiosperms are defined by carpels enclosing ovules, a character demonstrated in this fossil. This feature is lacking in other fossils reported to be earliest angiosperms. The fruits are small follicles formed from conduplicate carpels helically arranged. Adaxial elongate stigmatic crests are conspicuous on each carpel. The basal one-third of the axes bore deciduous organs of uncertain affinities. No scars of subtending floral organs are present to define the individual fertile parts as floral units, but the leaf-like structures subtending each axis define them as flowers. These fruiting axes have primitive characters and characters not considered primitive.     

Focused microwave assistance for extracting some pesticide residues from strawberries into water before their determination by SPME/HPLC/DAD.

A novel and simple method for the determination of some pesticide residues in strawberries using both focused microwave-assisted extraction (FMAE) and solid-phase micro extraction (SPME), coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), has been developed. The pesticides were first extracted from strawberries with water and the assistance of focused microwaves at 30 W for 7 min. Then, an aliquot of the resulting aqueous extract was subjected to SPME with a 60-microm thick poly(dimethylsiloxane)/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) fiber for 45 min at room temperature, with the solution being stirred at 1000 rpm. The extracted pesticides on the SPME fiber were desorbed into the SPME/HPLC interface for quantitative analysis with a diode array detector (DAD). The whole sample pretreatment procedure before chromatographic analysis did not use any organic solvents or involve any blending or centrifugation steps. The five compounds (carbendazim, diethofencarb, azoxystrobine, napropamide, and bupirimate) were chosen because they cannot be analyzed easily by GC. The efficiency of this relatively fast procedure was comparable to that of previously reported methods, with detection limits at low microg/kg levels and linear responses in the range from 0.05 to 1 mg/kg of pesticide in strawberries, with RSDs between 3 and 7.3%, depending on the analyte. In all but one case results obtained by this method for field-incurred samples were comparable to those obtained with traditional methods.     

In Vitro Culture and Differentiation of Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Spermatogonia

The objective of this study was to develop a culture system which could support buffalo spermatogonia differentiation into spermatids in vitro. Testes from 3‐ to 5‐month‐old buffaloes were decapsulated and seminiferous tubules were enzymatically dissociated to recover spermatogonia and sertoli cells. The cells were cultured in modified Dulbecco modified Eagle medium supplemented with different concentrations of foetal bovine serum, retinol, testosterone for 2 months at 37°C. Spermatogonia and sertoli cells were identified with an antibody against c‐kit or GATA4, respectively. The viability of spermatogonia in the media supplemented with different concentrations of serum was all significantly higher (p < 0.05) compared with that in the medium without serum. A‐paired or A‐aligned spermatogonia and spermatogonial colonies (AP‐positive) were observed after 7–10 days of culture and spermatid‐like cells with a flagellum (6–8 μm) appeared after 30 days of culture. For cultured conditions, retinol could not significantly promote the formation of spermatid‐like cells (p > 0.05), whereas supplementation of testosterone could significantly promote (p < 0.05) the formation of spermatid‐like cells after 41 days of culture. The expression of the spermatid‐specific marker gene (PRM2) was identified after 30 days of culture by RT‐PCR. Yet, the transition protein 1 (TP1, a haploid makers) was not detected. Meanwhile, spermatids developed in vitro were also confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. These results suggest that buffalo spermatogonia could differentiate into spermatids in vitro based on the analysis of their morphology, PRM2 expression and Raman spectroscopy. Yet, the normality of the spermatid‐like cells was not supported by TP1 expression.