Synthesis of a biotin-like phosphonate model compound for (+)-hydantocidin

Approaches to the synthesis of biotin-like phosphonate are described. It was hoped that this would be a simpler model compound for the naturally occurring spironucleoside (+)-hydantocidin, but it showed no activity as a herbicide nor as an inhibitor of AdSS.     

The future of fish passage science,engineering, and practice

Much effort has been devoted to developing, constructing and refining fish passage facilities to enable target species to pass barriers on fluvial systems, and yet, fishway science, engineering and practice remain imperfect. In this review, 17 experts from different fish passage research fields (i.e., biology, ecology, physiology, ecohydraulics, engineering) and from different continents (i.e., North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia) identified knowledge gaps and provided a roadmap for research priorities and technical developments. Once dominated by an engineering‐focused approach, fishway science today involves a wide range of disciplines from fish behaviour to socioeconomics to complex modelling of passage prioritization options in river networks. River barrier impacts on fish migration and dispersal are currently better understood than historically, but basic ecological knowledge underpinning the need for effective fish passage in many regions of the world, including in biodiversity hotspots (e.g., equatorial Africa, South‐East Asia), remains largely unknown. Designing efficient fishways, with minimal passage delay and post‐passage impacts, requires adaptive management and continued innovation. While the use of fishways in river restoration demands a transition towards fish passage at the community scale, advances in selective fishways are also needed to manage invasive fish colonization. Because of the erroneous view in some literature and communities of practice that fish passage is largely a proven technology, improved international collaboration, information sharing, method standardization and multidisciplinary training are needed. Further development of regional expertise is needed in South America, Asia and Africa where hydropower dams are currently being planned and constructed.     

Phytotoxin produced by the netted scab pathogen, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptomyces turgidiscabies</Emphasis> strain 65, isolated in Sweden

Streptomyces spp. are a highly diverse group of bacteria most of which are soil-inhabiting saprophytes. A few are plant pathogens that produce a family of phytotoxins called thaxtomins and cause significant economic losses, e.g., by reducing the marketability of potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum). In northern Europe, S. scabies, S. turgidiscabies and S. europaeiscabiei are the most common plant pathogenic species. In this study, a Streptomyces strain isolated from a netted scab lesion on a tuber of potato cv. Bintje in northern Sweden was identified as S. turgidiscabies but was found to differ in the genomic region carrying genes required for thaxtomin biosynthesis. Our results showed that the strain did not produce thaxtomin but rather phytotoxin fridamycin E, which is an anthraquinone novel to plant pathogenic Streptomyces spp. Fridamycin E was shown to reduce or inhibit sprouting of potato microtubers in vitro. While fridamycin E is known to have antibiotic activity against Gram-positive bacteria, the inhibitory activity of fridamycin E on plant growth is a novel finding.     

Effects of supplemental d-methionine in comparison to l-methionine on nitrogen retention,gut morphology,antioxidant status,and mRNA abundance of amino acid transporters in weanling pigs

An N-balance experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that d-Methionine (d-Met) has the same bioavailability and efficacy as l-Methionine (l-Met) when fed to weanling pigs. A Met-deficient basal diet containing 0.24% standardized ileal digestible (SID) Met was formulated. Six additional diets were formulated by adding 0.036%, 0.072%, or 0.108% d-Met or l-Met to the basal diet, and these diets, therefore, contained 77%, 87%, or 97% of the requirement for SID Met. Fifty-six barrows (10.53 ± 1.17 kg) were housed in metabolism crates and allotted to the seven diets with eight replicate pigs per diet. Feces and urine were collected quantitatively with 7-d adaptation and 5-d collection periods. Blood and tissue samples from pigs fed the basal diet and pigs fed diets containing 0.108% supplemental Met were collected on the last day. Results indicated that N retention (%) linearly increased (P < 0.01) as supplemental d-Met or l-Met increased in diets. Based on N retention (%) as a response, the linear slope-ratio regression estimated the bioavailability of d-Met relative to l-Met to be 101% (95% confidence interval: 57%–146%). The villus height and crypt depth in the jejunum were not affected by the Met level or Met source. Total antioxidant capacity or thiobarbituric acid reactive substance concentrations in plasma or tissue samples from pigs fed the control diet or diets containing 0.108% supplemental d-Met or l-Met were not different. Abundance of mRNA for some AA transporters analyzed in intestinal mucosa of pigs also did not differ. Therefore, it is concluded that d-Met and l-Met are equally bioavailable for weanling pigs.