Effect of canopy cover,seeding depth,and soil moisture on emergence of Centaurea maculosa and C. diffusa*

The effects of canopy cover, seeding depth, and soil moisture on emergence of Centaurea maculosa Lam. and C. diffusa Lam. were studied. Canopy cover had no effect on ermergence rate (seedlings/day/100 seeds) of either species. Seeds of both species emerged faster when placed on the soil surface. Emergence rate decreased as seeding depth increased. Both species required more than 55% initial soil moisture to initiate emergence, with 65–70% being optimum. Percentage emergence followed exactly the same trend as emergence rate. C. maculosa had better emergence characteristics over a wider range of conditions than C. diffusa, possibly being some of the reasons for the former having a wider geographical distribution in the United States and Canada.     

Development of a powder formulation of Pseudomonas fluorescens for control of rice blast

Pseudomonas fluorescens strain Pf1, inhibitory to the growth of the rice blast pathogen Pyricularia oryzae in vitro , was developed as a talc-based powder formulation. When rice seeds were treated with this formulation, the bacteria spread to roots, stems and leaves of the plants and protected against leaf infection by P. oryzae . When applied as a foliar spray, the bacteria survived on the leaves. The powder formulation controlled leaf blast under greenhouse conditions. In tests as a seed treatment and foliar spray in four field trials it effectively controlled the disease and increased grain yield.     

No major effect of the leptin gene polymorphism on porcine production traits

Porcine leptin gene (LEP) and its association with production traits was analysed in the Polish Large White (PLW, n = 135), Polish Landrace (PL, n = 120) and synthetic line 990 (L990, n = 184). Two fragments of exon 3 of LEP were studied with the use of RFLP and SSCP techniques. The frequencies of C allele for the T3469C polymorphic site were 0.11, 0.10 and 0.11 in PLW, PL and L990, respectively. Phenotypic data were collected for the average daily weight gain, the feed conversion ratio, the weight of abdominal fat, backfat thickness (five measurements), intramuscular fat, meat content, loin weight, loin muscle area, ham weight and ham cut weight. The contrasts between TT and TC genotypes at the T3469C polymorphic site were estimated in the unitrait Animal Model with genotype at the RYR1 locus included. The lowest p values occurred for association test between T3469C polymorphism and intramuscular fat content in PLW (0.26 ± 0.14%, p = 0.05) and loin weight in L990 (?0.32 ± 0.13 kg, p = 0.01). We conclude that the detected associations are population‐specific and the analysed polymorphism of the LEP gene does not contribute directly to genetic variability of growth and carcass traits in pigs.     

Fireblight in Békés County (Hungary) in 1996/20021

Fireblight (Erwinia amylovora) appeared in Hungary in 1996. Most damage occurred on apple, pear, quince and medlar, and also on the ornamentals Pyracantha, Sorbus, Cotoneaster and Crataegus. In 1996–2006, an official programme for elimination of infected parts of plants started in Békés county. This mainly concerned trees in towns and villages, since there are few pome‐fruit orchards in the county. Work teams under official direction pruned back or cut down trees. In total, some 13 000 trees were pruned back and nearly 11 000 were cut down. In addition, 21 villages were subjected to special phytosanitary measures. Infection decreased considerably between 1996 and 2002, but over 90% of the inhabited areas in the county remained subject to special measures, because of the very dispersed occurrence of fireblight.