Review of methodologies and a protocol for the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Agrobacterium</Emphasis>-mediated transformation of wheat

Since the first report of wheat transformation by Agrobacterium tumefaciens in 1997, various factors that influence T-DNA delivery and regeneration in tissue culture have been further investigated and modified. This paper reviews the current methodology literature describing Agrobacterium transformation of wheat and provides a complete protocol that we have developed and used to produce over one hundred transgenic lines in both spring and winter wheat varieties.     

Do meadow birds profit from agri-environment schemes in Dutch agricultural landscapes?

Since 1992 the European Union helps member states to reverse the loss of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes by the financial support of agri-environment schemes. Long-term studies investigating the effects of these schemes are an essential prerequisite for the development of an effective policy to restore biodiversity on farmland. In Dutch meadow landscapes almost all agri-environment schemes focus on the restoration of meadow bird populations by postponement of the mowing date. Between 1990 and 2002 we measured long-term changes in meadow bird densities in areas with and without agri-environment schemes in the Netherlands, both before and after the start of the contract. During these years bird territories were surveyed during five field visits between 15 March and 15 June. Densities of black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa), and redshank (Tringa totanus) were higher in the areas with management agreements, but these differences were already present before the start of the contracts. After the start of the management contracts densities of black-tailed godwit and oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) did not increase, while those of lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) and redshank even declined relative to the control areas. It is concluded that the current agri-environment schemes are not sufficient to restore meadow bird populations in Dutch agricultural landscapes. In addition to the prescribed postponement of the mowing date, it is probably necessary to raise groundwater levels and to reduce fertilization to allow for the development of an open vegetation structure that will increase chick survival to sufficiently high levels.     

Wasserhaushalt und Dickenwachstum von Kiefern in Abhängigkeit des Grundwasserflurabstandes

Water budget and annual ring growth of pines for different groundwater depth conditions Relation between annual ring width and water supply was examined for different groundwater depth in an old pine stand on a sandy soil. The quotient Ereal/Epot is a suitable parameter to quantify water stress. Multiple regression analyses were used to describe the dependence between annual ring width and water stress. Mean growth of basal area can be expressed by Ereal/Epot of the actual and previous year. This site specific function was used to quantify growth reduction affected by ground-water lowering for various soil conditions.     

Foci of cartilage in the lung of broiler chickens

Many small masses of cartilage, degenerating cartilage, and mineralized material were found on histologic examination of the lung of a broiler chicken that had severe tibiotarsal and tarsometatarsal dyschondroplasia. A small survey revealed that occasional masses of similar material could be found in the lungs of many normal broiler chickens.     

Elective inversion of the distal ileal stump into the caecum of the horse

The distal 30 to 40 cm of the ileum cannot be exteriorized through a midline laparotomy incision because of its close anatomical association with the base of the caecum. A method was developed to deal with those cases where this segment of small intestine was involved in an avascular, necrotic process and therefore required resection. The technique involves inverting the distal stump of ileum into the lumen of the caecum and then performing a routine ileocaecal or jejunocaecal anastomosis. This avoids the risk of peritonitis if a Parker-Kerr oversew of the necrotic ileal stump should dehisce. The technique was performed on five clinically normal horses and on four horses in which the terminal 30 to 40 cm of the ileum was necrotic. The postoperative clinical findings and autopsy results of these horses are discussed.     

Characterization of the sorption of an anthranilate fungicide in soil using thermal analytical and mineralogical techniques

The sorption of pesticides to soil particles has implications for their distribution and fate in the soil environment. A batch equilibrium technique was used to investigate sorption of the fungicide AEC623892 to intact and hydrogen-peroxide-treated whole soils and several particle-size fractions isolated from them. Sorption of AEC623892 to the soil as a whole was low. K(f oc) values measured in the whole soils were 169.2 and 41.9 ml g(-1) for Soil A and Soil B respectively. The highest values of K(f oc) were measured in soil particle-size fractions <53 microm (266.5 ml g(-1) in the 2-20 microm fraction of Soil A; 471.9 ml g(-1) in the 20-53 microm fraction of Soil B). Sorption was most irreversible in the 2-20 microm fractions. Overall, treatment of soil particle-size fractions with hydrogen peroxide resulted in lower values of K(f oc) (112.3 ml g(-1) in Soil A whole soil and 30.9 ml g(-1) in Soil B whole soil). In both soils, the maximum sorption among hydrogen-peroxide-treated samples was observed in the <2 microm fraction (166.6 and 311.0 ml g(-1) for Soil A and Soil B, respectively). Investigation of the mineralogical composition of the soils suggested that the clay mineralogy (dominated by kaolinite and illite) is less likely to account for the differences in sorption observed than differences in the characteristics of the soil organic matter. Thermal analysis of the different soil fractions indicated that hydrogen peroxide treatment preferentially removed aliphatic fractions of organic matter, but had less effect on lignin-like, aromatic fractions.