Observations on the potential of microwaves for weed control

Field tests of a prototype microwave‐based weed killer machine were conducted on Abutilon theophrasti, Panicum miliaceum, lucerne and oilseed rape pure stands. The approach can be considered a thermal weed control method, the microwave radiation causing dielectric heating of plant tissue water that eventually kills the plant. The method could overcome the limitations of other thermal methods, such as fire risk with flaming or the heavy loads required for hot water treatments. Species were effectively controlled by microwave irradiation, but their sensitivity and the evolution of damage symptoms over time differed. Lucerne showed no sigmoidal response and was the least affected by the treatment, while a log‐logistic curve expressed the dose–response relationships of the other species quite well. The estimated microwave dose for a 90% dry weight reduction ranged from 1015 kJ m^?2 in A. theophrasti to 3433 kJ m^?2 in P. miliaceum. Energy cost evaluation indicated that increased efficiency is required for this technique to compete with other thermal methods. Microwave efficiency could be increased by a flux configuration that minimizes soil penetration and maximizes absorption by plants, which, in turn, depends on plant growth form.     

Plant yield response to artificial infestation of the false chinch bug,Nysius raphanus, confined on spring canola

A 2-year study was conducted to evaluate the relationship of plant yield responses to artificial infestations of the false chinch bug (FCB)Nysius raphanus (Howard) on spring canola in Colorado, USA. Yield losses were greater when infestation occurred at the early flowering stage (EFS) than at the early pod stage (EPS), in both 2001 and 2002. In the first trial in 2001, with infestations of 10, 20 and 40 FCB/head, the respective average yield losses over all cultivars were 43%, 68% and 69%, respectively, compared with the non-infested control at the EFS, but 11%, 26% and 23% at the EPS. In the second trial in 2001, with infestations of 10, 20 and 40 FCB/head, the respective average yield losses over all cultivars were 26%, 58% and 55% at the early EFS, but 35%, 20% and 35% at the EPS. Yield reductions from FCB infestation were lower in 2002 than in 2001. In the first trial in 2002, with infestations of 10, 20 and 40 FCB/head, the respective average yield losses of all cultivars combined were 31%, 51% and 68% at the EFS, and 13%, 32% and 18% at the EPS. However, in the second trial in 2002, with the same numbers of FCB per head, no yield reductions were observed at either EFS or EPS. The number of FCB causing 10% yield loss in the four trials ranged from 6.1 to 39.4 FCB/head (avg. 14.8) following infestation at the EFS and 15.4–109.8 (avg. 41.8) following infestation at the EPS. Cultivar responses to FCB may also influence FCB yield reductions. However, in these studies all eight tested cultivars sustained yield loss in at least one trial at some FCB infestation level. Variation between trials was substantial but a significant level of resistance to FCB injury did not occur among the tested cultivars. http://www.phytoparasitica.org posting Sept. 18, 2006.     

美国白蛾生物学上的几个重要特性

本文对青岛市美国白蛾Hyphandria cunez种群的几个重要生物学特性进行了调查，获得了如下有意义的结果。（1）在生态光周期范围内，该虫显示了一个典型的长日照型昆虫，临界日长为14h 30min。然而在全光条件下，有41.2％的个体滞育；在全暗条件下则有83．7％的个体发育。（2）第1代蛹在自然条件下羽化的结果表明，部分个体的蛹期显著延长，呈现了夏季滞育。（3）滞育蛹置于25℃，LD16：8下滞育能够解除，但死亡率极高。（4）雄虫前翅黑斑的出现是由光周期控制的，只有在短日照下诱导的滞育蛹，滞育解除后羽化出来的雄虫才会出现黑斑。     

氨基酸代谢与免疫反应

炎症反应和感染性疾病均可改变机体的蛋白质和氨基酸需要,导致动物采食量下降、生长受阻和肌肉消耗,这主要是因细胞因子(如IL-1、IL-6、TNF-α)的增加而改变了蛋白质代谢。在免疫反应中,氨基酸将发生重分配并主要用于合成参与炎症和免疫反应的蛋白质以及参与免疫细胞增殖和其他免疫反应的重要化合物。免疫系统的活化可干扰机体正常的生理反应并导致对某些特殊氨基酸的需要量增加。本文主要综述了某些特殊氨基酸(通常是必需氨基酸)在免疫反应中的重要作用。     

Screening Capsicum species of different origins for high temperature tolerance by in vitro pollen germination and pollen tube length

Successful fruit set depends on several reproductive processes including pollen germination and tube growth processes. An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of temperature on pollen germination characteristics and to identify species/genotypic differences in Capsicum using the cumulative temperature response index (CTRI) concept. Pollen was collected from plants of seven genotypes from five Capsicum species, adapted to various parts of the world and grown outdoors in large pots. The pollen was subjected to in vitro temperatures ranging from 15 to 50 °C at 5 °C intervals. Pollen germination and tube lengths were recorded for all species after 24 h of incubation at the respective treatments. Species/genotypes differed significantly for in vitro pollen germination percentage and pollen tube length with mean values of 78% and 734 μm, respectively. The mean cardinal temperatures (T_min, T_opt, and T_max) averaged over genotypes, were 15.2, 30.7, and 41.8 °C for pollen germination and 12.2, 31.2, and 40.4 °C for pollen tube growth. The CTRI of each species/genotype calculated as the sum of eight relative individual stress response values, such as maximum pollen germination, maximum pollen tube length; T_min, T_opt, and T_max temperatures of pollen germination, and pollen tube lengths, identified species tolerance to high temperatures. Capsicum annum cv. Mex Serrano from Mexico was identified as tolerant, C. chacoense cv. 1312 and C. spp. cv. Cobanero from Argentina and Guatemala, respectively as intermediate and C. frutescens cv. Early Spring Giant from China, C. annum cv. Long Green from South Korea, C. spp. cv. NM89C130 and C. pubescens cv. 90002 from Guatemala as sensitive to high temperatures. The tolerant species/genotypes can be used in breeding programs to develop new genotypes that can withstand high temperature conditions both in the present climate and particularly in a future warmer climate.     

Is dose‐splitting of graminicides as effective as a single application?

Dose‐splitting or reduced dose repeat application, i.e. the application of a herbicide twice to the same plant, is likely to become a more common scenario in future, if farmers adopt the use of novel techniques for prediction of herbicide efficacy shortly after application. Fourteen pot experiments were conducted to study whether graminicides applied to annual grass weeds as dose‐splitting treatments were as effective as single applications. The influence of time interval between applications and the ratio of the doses of the two applications were studied. Two statistical approaches were applied: comparison of the ED₉₀ of the single treatments and a joint action model. The study revealed that flupyrsulfuron, iodosulfuron, sulfosulfuron, clodinafop and glyphosate could be applied as repeat treatments with up to 14 days’ interval between the two applications without loss of activity. In some experiments, particularly with iodosulfuron, dose‐splitting enhanced herbicide performance. By contrast, prosulfocarb responded adversely, most likely due to the pronounced impact of weed growth stage on the activity of this herbicide. The ratio of the doses and the timing between the two applications had no significant influence on herbicide responses. The results of the present studies showed that even if a reduced dose of a graminicide results in an unsatisfactory control and it is necessary to re‐spray, the overall use of herbicide will not increase, if methods are available that can predict the efficacy of a herbicide application within the first 1–2 weeks after application.     

Effect of indole-acetic acid (IAA) on the development of symptoms caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pythium ultimum</Emphasis> on tomato plants

The effect of indole-acetic acid (IAA) on the development of symptoms caused by Pythium ultimum on tomato plants was investigated using different bioassays. Application of IAA (5 μg ml⁻¹) on tomato seedlings inoculated with P. ultimum did not affect their emergence suggesting that IAA did not affect the severity of Pythium damping-off. However, IAA was shown to influence the development of P. ultimum symptoms on tomato plantlets. Low concentrations of IAA (0–0.1 μg ml⁻¹) within the rhizosphere of plantlets increased the severity of the symptoms caused by P. ultimum, while higher concentrations (10 μg ml⁻¹), applied either by drenching to the growing medium or by spraying on the shoot, reduced the symptoms caused by this pathogen. In addition, the study demonstrated that P. ultimum produces IAA in liquid culture amended with L-tryptophan, tryptamine or tryptophol (200 μg ml⁻¹) and in unamended culture.     

A lesion-mimic mutant of wheat with enhanced resistance to leaf rust

A lesion-mimic mutant was obtained from a mutagenic treatment performed with ethyl methanesulfonate on the Argentine bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) cultivar Sinvalocho M.A. The HLP (hypersensitive-like phenotype) mutant exhibited tiny, discrete, white lesions in the absence of any pathogen, resembling the typical hypersensitive response (HR). The lesions only became evident once the fifth or sixth leaf emerged, and spread at random along the leaf blades and leaf sheaths of the developing plant, including tissues of the spike. Because the lesion-mimic mutant showed no lesions at the seedling stage, the phenotypes of both the mutant and its mother line were identical at this point. Histochemical studies showed that spontaneous hypersensitive-like lesions in the HLP mutant corresponded to cell death. In leaf-rust ( Puccinia triticina ) infection experiments performed at seedling and adult-plant stages, adult HLP plants showed enhanced resistance to leaf-rust attack compared with plants of Sinvalocho M.A. of comparable developmental stage, suggesting that the HLP mutation may confer increased resistance to the fungus. Because enhanced resistance coincided with the presence of spontaneous HR lesions, activation of HLP plant defence responses appeared to be tightly linked to this phenomenon. Final plant height and yield components in the lesion-mimic mutant did not differ from those of the mother line, indicating that the HLP mutation caused no detrimental pleiotropic effects that significantly affected agronomic performance. These data support the direct use of mutations in disease-resistance breeding.     

龙眼光合作用对环境温度的响应和适应

在年生长期中测定了龙眼叶片光合作用对测度的影响,结果发现,龙眼光合作用最适温与最适温下的光饱和光合速率都有一定的季节变化,但季节变幅不大,不同季节的光合最适温在２２～２８℃之间,光合最适温与植株前５－１０天所处的环境平均气温密切相关,春秋季光合最适明显高于环境气温,夏季光合最适明显低于环境气温,光合最适温随光照强度的变化而变化,这些结果显示了龙眼光合作用对环境温度的特殊要求。     

Plasma cortisol responses to three cortico-trophic preparations in normal dogs

Objective To compare cortisol responses to three corticotrophic preparations in normal dogs.
Animals Eight clinically normal dogs (four intact males, four intact females) of medium size.
Procedures Each dog received four treatments on four separate occasions in a duplicated Latin square pattern. Treatments were two adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) preparations given intramuscularly at 2.2 U/kg, one of the ACTH preparations given intramuscularly at 1 U/kg and a synthetic polypeptide with ACTH-like activity (tetracosactrin, cosyntropin) given intravenously at 5 μg/kg. Plasma samples were taken for cortisol assay before and at 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 h after treatment.
Results Plasma cortisol concentrations were similar with the two ACTH preparations and at both dose rates. Tetracosactrin produced smaller mean peak cortisol concentrations, which tended to occur earlier than with ACTH, and smaller values for the area under the curve of plasma cortisol concentration from zero time to 4 h.
Conclusion The findings suggest that canine adrenal function can be tested adequately by giving ACTH intramuscularly at 1 U/kg and measuring plasma cortisol in samples taken at 0 and 2 h, or by giving tetracosactrin intravenously at 5 μg/kg and determining cortisol concentration at 0 and 1 h.