Identification of Rhizoctonia solani AG 1-IB in Lettuce, AG 4 HG-I in Tomato and Melon, and AG 4 HG-III in Broccoli and Spinach, in Brazil

Fungi isolated in Brazil, from lettuce, broccoli, spinach, melon and tomato, were identified as Rhizoctonia solani. All lettuce isolates anastomosed with both AG 1-IA and IB subgroups and all isolates from broccoli, spinach, melon and tomato anastomosed with AG 4 subgroup HG-I, as well as with subgroups HG-II and HG-III. DNA sequence analyses of ribosomal internal transcribed spacers showed that isolates from lettuce were AG 1-IB, isolates from tomato and melon were AG 4 HG-I, and isolates from broccoli and spinach were AG 4 HG-III. The tomato isolates caused stem rot symptoms, the spinach, broccoli and melon isolates caused hypocotyl and root rot symptoms on the respective host plants and the lettuce isolates caused bottom rot. This is the first report on the occurrence in Brazil of R. solani AG 4 HG-I in tomato and melon, of AG 4 HG-III in broccoli and spinach and of AG 1-IB in lettuce.     

Anthropogenic influences on potential fire spread in a pyrogenic ecosystem of Florida, USA

Fire has historically been an important ecological factor maintaining southeastern U.S. vegetation. Humans have altered natural fire regimes by fragmenting fuels, introducing exotic species, and suppressing fires. Little is known about how these alterations specifically affect spatial fire extent and pattern. We applied historic (1920 and 1943) and current (1990) GIS fuels maps and the FARSITE fire spread model to quantify the differences between historic and current fire spread distributions. We held all fire modeling variables (wind speed and direction, cloud cover, precipitation, humidity, air temperature, fuel moistures, ignition source and location) constant with exception of the fuel models representing different time periods. Model simulations suggest that fires during the early 1900's burned freely across the landscape, while current fires are much smaller, restricted by anthropogenic influences. Fire extent declined linearly with patch density, and there was a quadratic relationship between fire extent and percent landscape covered by anthropogenic features. We found that as little as 10 percent anthropogenic landcover caused a 50 percent decline in fire extent. Most landscapes (conservation or non-conservation areas) are now influenced by anthropogenic features which disrupt spatial fire behavior disproportionately to their actual size. These results suggest that land managers using fire to restore or maintain natural ecosystem function in pyrogenic systems will have to compensate for anthropogenic influences in their burn planning. This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Pocono mesic till barrens in retreat: topography,fire and forest contagion effects

The Pocono mesic till barrens (PMTB) are a unique assemblage of fire-maintained shrub communities that support numerous rare species. Historically these barrens covered a large area in the vicinity of Long Pond, Pennsylvania, USA. However, due largely to regional fire suppression instituted in the early 1960s, over 70% of the area covered by barrens succeeded to fire-intolerant forest that does not support the rare species. We investigated the influence of forest proximity on barrens succession across three geomorphic types during periods of high fire frequency and fire suppression, testing the hypothesis that forest processes such as seed rain, shading, and detrital enrichment of soils enhances barrens succession through a contagion effect. Evidence of a forest contagion effect should be shown by increased rates of barrens succession with increasing proximity to the nearest forest edge. In order to detect a forest contagion effect, barrens persistence and barrens succession were modeled in proximity zones of 0-50 m, 50-100 m, 100-200 m, and greater than 200 m from the nearest forest edge. We used existing GIS data layers for fire, geomorphology, and vegetation distribution in 1938, 1963, and 1992. The layers were modified and overlain using ArcView software to determine persistence and succession rates for each unique combination of layers in each proximity zone from 1938 to 1963 (pre-fire suppression) and 1963 to 1992 (post-fire suppression). ANCOVA results indicate that proximity to the nearest forest edge significantly affected barrens persistence rates in both time periods, but succession rates were significantly affected in 1938 to 1963 only. Twenty-eight percent of the 1938 barrens succeeded to forest by 1963; 56% of the 1963 barrens became forest by 1992. Results support previous findings that barrens persistence is enhanced by increased fire frequency, and that barrens persist longer where they overlie flat glacial till than on other geomorphology types.     

Effects of 11, 12-EET and ischemic preconditioning on phosphorylated ERK and p38 MAPK during ischemia and reperfusion in rat myocardium

AIM: In order to study the relationship between the ERK and p38 MAPK activation and the protection of 11, 12-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid (11, 12-EET) and ischemia preconditioning (IP), the effects of 11, 12-EET and ischemic preconditioning on phosphorylated ERK and p38 MAPK during ischemia and reperfusion in rat myocardium were examined. METHODS: The rat heart was subjected to ischemia for 5 min by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery followed by reperfusion for 5 min (two times) to undergo ischemia preconditioning. The rats were divided into 5 groups: (1) control; (2) sham group; (3) ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) group, in which the rat heart suffered from 60 min ischemia followed by 30 min reperfusion; (4) IP plus I/R group; (5) EET plus I/R group, in which 6.28×10^-8 mol/L 11, 12-EET was injected intravenously 20 min before I/R. The heart function was examined, and phosphorylated ERK and p38 MAPK were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: At 30 min reperfusion, +dp/dt_max, -dp/dt_max and LVDP decreased significantly in I/R group compared with sham group, IP plus I/R group and EET plus I/R group; Phosphorylated ERK1/2 level was higher in I/R group than sham group, but was lower in I/R group than IP plus I/R group and EET plus I/R group; Phosphorylated p38 MAPK level was lower in control, sham, IP plus I/R and EET plus I/R group than I/R group. CONCLUSION: 11,12-EET protects rat heart against ischemia/reperfusion injury, the mechanism may be related to activation of ERK1/2 and inhibition of p38 MAPK.     

捕食线虫性真菌18S rDNA基因序列与种系发生关系研究

对捕食线虫性真菌——少孢节丛孢菌A1分离株(Arthrobotrys oligospora A1)的18S rDNA基因序列进行了研究。结果表明：其18S rDNA全基因序列为1769bp，在进化树上与同种国外分离株A．oligospora var oligospora 1最为接近，同源性为94．7％。这与二者都具有捕食性结构—菌网的特点相一致。证实捕食线虫性真菌的捕食性结构与捕食线虫性真菌种系发生有关。从少孢节丛孢菌3个分离菌株(Arthrobotrys oligospora A1、A．oligospora 1、A．oligospora2)的进化树及同源性来看。不同国家地区的丛孢菌属(Arthrobotrys)分离株确实存在差异。     

Molecular Identification of a New Member of the Clover Proliferation Phytoplasma Group (16SrVI) Associated with Centaurea Solstitialis Virescence in Italy

In the United States, yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) is an annual invasive weed with Mediterranean origins. Malformed plants displaying witches' broom, fasciations, abortion of buds and flower virescence symptoms were observed in central Italy. Attempts to transmit the causal agent from the natural yellow starthistle host to periwinkle by grafting, resulted in typical symptoms of a phytoplasma, i.e. yellowing and shortening of internodes. The detection of phytoplasmas was obtained from both symptomatic yellow starthistle and periwinkle by the specific amplification of their 16S-23S rRNA genes. PCR amplification of extracted DNA from symptomatic plant samples gave a product of expected size. Asymptomatic plants did not give positive results. An amplicon obtained by direct PCR with universal primers P1/P7 was cloned and sequenced. The homology search using CLUSTALW program showed more than 99% similarity with Illinois elm yellows (ILEY) phytoplasma from Illinois (United States) and 97% with Brinjal little leaf (BLL) phytoplasma from India. Digestion of the nested-PCR products with restriction enzymes led to restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns referable to those described for phytoplasmas belonging to the clover proliferation (16S-VI) group. Since this is a previously undescribed disease, the name Centaurea solstitialis virescence has been tentatively assigned to it. This is a new phytoplasma with closest relationships to ILEY and BLL, but distinguishable from them on the basis of 16S rDNA homology, the different associated plant hosts and their geographical origin.     

复方中草药"毒菌杀"对禽大肠杆菌及鸡白痢沙门氏菌的体外抑菌试验

观察了复方中草药“毒菌杀”的安全性及其对禽大肠杆菌及鸡白痢沙门氏菌的体外抑菌情况。结果发现“毒菌杀”安全性高，组成“毒菌杀”的各单味中药及其合剂对大肠杆菌的最低抑菌浓度MIC(g/mL)分别为板蓝根0．05、穿心莲0．05、黄芪0．025、黄柏0．05、柴胡0．05、生地0．05、甘草0．05、当归0．025，“毒菌杀”方剂为0．05；对沙门氏菌的MIC分别为板蓝根0．05、穿心莲0．025、黄芪0．025、黄柏0．05、柴胡0．025、生地0．05、甘草0．025、当归0．05，“毒菌杀”方剂为0．025；而牛胆汁对这两种致病菌的最低抑菌浓度分别为2％和1％。说明“毒菌杀”方剂对大肠杆菌、沙门氏菌具有明显的抑制作用。     

添加不同酵母培养物对瘤胃纤维分解菌群和纤维素酶活的影响

用3种酵母培养物(YC- 1、YC 2和YC- 3)分别饲喂4头带有永久性瘤胃瘘管的肉牛,研究培养物对瘤胃发酵、纤维分解酶活性和3种纤维分解菌数量的影响,结果表明:YC 2处理的乙酸、丙酸、丁酸和总 VFA浓度显著高于对照组(P<0 .05),YC 1和YC 3处理的乙酸/丙酸比例显著降低(P<0 .01);各处理均能显著提高瘤胃内羧甲基纤维素酶、水杨苷酶和木聚糖酶的活性(P<0 .01);各处理都显著提高黄化瘤胃球菌的相对比例(P<0 .01),16SrRNA特异性寡聚核苷酸探针杂交法分析测定结果表明 3 种纤维分解菌在瘤胃细菌中所占比例为 3. 80%±0 .2%。     

PF455S插秧机及其侧离合器手柄的探讨和改善

PF455S插秧机的行走底盘与国产独轮驱动插秧机相比,水田机动性能和通过性较好,但也存在手柄安装夹紧不当等问题。介绍PF455S动力插秧机的系统组成、设计原理与主要参数,对发现的侧离器手柄问题进行改进,达到了设计目的。