Projecting future habitat quality of three midwestern reservoir fishes under warming conditions

Rising temperatures caused by climate change are likely to affect cool‐water and warm‐water fishes differently. Yet, forecasts of anticipated temperature effects on fishes of different thermal guilds are lacking, especially in freshwater ecosystems. Towards this end, we used spatially explicit, growth rate potential (GRP) models to project changes in seasonal habitat quality for a warm‐water piscivore (largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides), a cool‐water piscivore (walleye Sander vitreus) and a hybrid piscivore (saugeye S. vitreus × S. canadensis) in two Midwestern reservoirs. We assessed habitat quality for two periods (early and middle 21st century) under two realistic greenhouse gas emission scenarios (a mid‐century emissions peak and a rapid continuous increase in emissions). Largemouth bass were projected to experience enhanced or slightly reduced habitat during all seasons, and throughout the mid‐21st century. By contrast, walleye habitat was projected to decline with anticipated warming, except during the spring in the smaller of our two study reservoirs and during the fall in the larger of our two study reservoirs. Saugeye habitat was projected to either increase modestly or decline slightly during the spring and fall and declines in habitat quality and quantity that were smaller than those for walleye were identified during summer. Collectively, our findings indicate that climate warming will differentially alter habitat suitability for reservoir piscivores, favouring warm‐water species over cool‐water species. We expect these changes in habitat quality to impact the dynamics of reservoir fish populations to varying degrees necessitating the consideration of climate when making future management decisions.     

Effect of bacteria isolates in powdery mildew control in flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida L.)

Five bacterial isolates collected from dogwood leaves were evaluated for powdery mildew control in shadehouse and greenhouse environments by using foliar sprays and/or root drenching. Two isolates displayed superior bioactivity and suppressed powdery mildew similar to conventional fungicide thiophanate methyl (Cleary’s 3336F^®). The two bacteria disrupted powdery mildew spore germination and ruptured spore membranes causing spore lyses. Bacterial filtrates without bacterial cells were also effective in suppressing powdery mildew and disrupting spore germination and suggested the involvement of secondary metabolites. The two biocontrol agents (BCAs) colonized roots endophytically and promoted plant growth.     

柳蛎盾蚧危害与丁香防御蛋白活力的关系

在柳蛎盾蚧的未危害期(5月末)、危害盛期(6月末)、危害弱期(7月末)、危害末期(8月末),测定高抗类[什锦丁香等7种(品种)]、中抗类[西南丁香等3种(品种)]、易感类[紫丁香等2种]、高感类(红丁香)13种(品种)丁香叶中的POD,SOD,CAT,PPO,PAL,TI和CI 7种防御蛋白的活性.结果表明:危害时期,丁香种(品种)对丁香防御蛋白活力有极显著影响(P＜0.01).POD活性,在危害盛期,在高抗、中抗类丁香中均显著升高(P＜0.05),而在易感、高感类中应激滞后,即分别在危害弱期和危害末期升高.CAT在易感类和高感类丁香防御上起主导作用,其活性在危害盛期显著升高,而中抗和高抗类未见明显变化.SOD活性,在危害盛期高抗类丁香中无显著变化,而其余3类则显著降低.PPO活性在未危害期的高低与抗性相关,在虫害盛期诱导表达的强弱也与抗性相关;PAL活性未能反映抗性品种间的差异.TI和CI活性,在未危害期的高低与其抗虫性无明显相关性,在危害盛期的升高幅度与抗虫性呈正相关.综上所述,PPO在未危害期的活力可作为筛选丁香抗虫种(品种)的指标,危害盛期POD,PPO,TI和CI活性升高的幅度与丁香抗虫性呈正相关.     

A filter-assisted culture method for isolation of Treponema spp. from bovine digital dermatitis and their identification by MALDI-TOF MS

Digital dermatitis (DD) is a major infectious foot disease of cattle worldwide. Some DD stages are associated with lameness, and the disease has significant economic and animal welfare consequences. The pathogenesis of the disease is not yet fully understood, but Treponema spp. have been associated consistently with clinical cases. Isolation of these fastidious bacteria is difficult and cumbersome. We describe an improved method enabling the culturing of the 3 Treponema spp. (T. pedis, T. phagedenis, and T. medium) from bovine foot specimens derived from DD lesions, using a combination of membrane filtering and subsequent growth on selective agar media. The entire procedure from sampling to verification of individual Treponema spp. takes up to 24 d. In addition, we established a MALDI-TOF MS–based identification method to be applied for confirmation of the different Treponema spp. This scheme provides an unambiguous, simple, and straightforward identification procedure for DD-associated Treponema spp.     

Validation of a multiplex PCR assay to detect Babesia spp. and Anaplasma marginale in cattle in Uruguay in the absence of a gold standard test

Detection of bovine Babesia spp. and Anaplasma marginale is based on the reading of Giemsa-stained blood or organ smears, which can have low sensitivity. Our aim was to improve the detection of bovine Babesia spp. and A. marginale by validating a multiplex PCR (mPCR). We used 466 samples of blood and/or organs of animals with signs and presumptive autopsy findings of babesiosis or anaplasmosis. The primers in our mPCR amplified the rap-1a gene region of Babesia bovis and B. bigemina, and the msp-5 region of A. marginale. We used a Bayesian model with a non-informative priori distribution for the prevalence estimate and informative priori distribution for estimation of sensitivity and specificity. The sensitivity and specificity for smear detection of Babesia spp. were 68.6% and 99.1%, and for A. marginale 85.6% and 98.8%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity for mPCR detection for Babesia spp. were 94.2% and 97.1%, and for A. marginale 95.2% and 92.7%, respectively. Our mPCR had good accuracy in detecting Babesia spp. and A. marginale, and would be a reliable test for veterinarians to choose the correct treatment for each agent.     

Detection of bacterial contamination and DNA quantification in stored blood units in 2 veterinary hospital blood banks

Blood transfusions in veterinary medicine have become increasingly more common and are now an integral part of lifesaving and advanced treatment in small and large animals. Important risks associated with transfusion of blood products include the transmission of various infectious diseases. Several guidelines suggest what infectious agents to screen for in canine and feline transfusion medicine. However, while the risk of bacterial contamination of blood products during storage and administration has not been documented in veterinary medicine, it has emerged as a cause of morbidity and mortality in human transfusion medicine. Clinical experience shows that the majority of blood component bacterial contaminations are caused by only a few species. Unlike other types of bacteria, psychrotolerant species like Pseudomonas spp. and Serratia spp. can proliferate during the storage of blood units at 4°C from a very low titer at the time of blood collection to a clinically significant level (> 10⁵ CFU/mL) causing clinical sepsis resulting from red blood cell concentrate transfusions in human medicine. The purpose of this report was to describe the detection and quantification procedures applied in 4 cases of bacterial contamination of canine and feline blood units, which suggest the need for further investigations to optimize patients’ safety in veterinary transfusion medicine.     

苜蓿原生质培养及体细胞杂交技术的应用

阐述了植物原生质体培养和体细胞杂交技术以及苜蓿Medicago spp.体细胞胚胎发生特性,综述了该技术在苜蓿育种研究中的应用状况,同时介绍了我国苜蓿研究领域原生质体培养和体细胞杂交技术的研究进展.     

Natural hybridization between wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and its wild relatives Aegilops geniculata Roth and Aegilops triuncialis L.

BACKGROUND

Cultivated bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) spontaneously hybridizes with wild/weedy related Aegilops populations, but little is known about the actual rates at which this hybridization occurs under field conditions. It is very important to provide reliable empirical data on this phenomenon in order to assess the potential crop–wild introgression, especially in the context of conducting risk assessments for the commercialization of genetically modified (GM) wheat, as gene flow from wheat to Aegilops species could transfer into the wild species genes coding for traits such as resistance to herbicides, insects, diseases or environmental stresses.

RESULTS

The spontaneous hybridization rates between wheat and A. geniculata and A. triuncialis, which are very abundant in the Mediterranean area, have been estimated for the first time in the northern part of the Meseta Central, the great central plateau which includes the largest area of wheat cultivation in Spain. Hybridization rates averaged 0.12% and 0.008% for A. geniculata and A. triuncialis, respectively. Hybrids were found in 26% of A. geniculata and 5% of A. triuncialis populations, at rates that can be ≤3.6% for A. geniculata and 0.24% for A. triuncialis.

CONCLUSION

The detection of Aegilops spp.–wheat hybrids in Aegilops populations indicates that gene flow can occur, although wheat is considered a crop with a low-to-medium risk for transgene escape. These data on field hybridization rates are essential for GM wheat risk assessment purposes. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.