Fertilization practice in Finnish forest nurseries from the standpoint of environmental impact

In 1996 a questionnaire concerning actualsystems and practices used in production ofseedlings was sent to 33 Finnish forestnurseries. A total of 28 nurseries answered thequestionnaire. These replies represented about80% of the total production of forestseedlings in Finland. The nurseries used about200 metric tons of fertilizers in 1996, whichwas about 25% of the fertilizer use in 1976.Explanations for the decrease in fertilizationare the shift from bareroot production tocontainer production and the decrease in totalproduction from 190 to 150 million seedlings.Finnish nurseries applied about 100 mg N and50 mg P per container seedling shipped, and820 mg N and 240 mg P per bareroot seedling.The mean annual applications of N and P in 1996were about 180 kg/ha and 90 kg/ha for containerstock and 130 kg N/ha and 40 kg P/ha forbareroot stock. However, the variation betweennurseries was large.     

Longitudinal on-farm study of the development of antimicrobial resistance in Campylobacter coli from pigs before and after danofloxacin and tylosin treatments

Effects of danofloxacin or consecutive fluoroquinolone and macrolide treatments on resistance development in Campylobacter have remained uncharacterised. Therefore we analysed the development of resistance in porcine Campylobacter coli before and after danofloxacin and tylosin treatments at a farrowing farm. Danofloxacin-treated (n=12, group A) and control pigs (n=15, group B) were subsequently treated with tylosin and sampled longitudinally. C. coli were isolated and susceptibilities to ciprofloxacin and erythromycin were assessed, isolates were genotyped with PFGE and resistance-related mutations were identified. Isolates from the danofloxacin-treated pigs had more frequently non-wild type MICs (above the epidemiological cut-off value (ECOFF)) for ciprofloxacin (P<0.001) and erythromycin (P<0.05) than those isolated before danofloxacin or those from the controls. Subsequent tylosin treatment increased proportion of isolates with non-wild type MICs for erythromycin in both groups A and B (P<0.01) and, interestingly, proportion of isolates with non-wild type MICs for ciprofloxacin in group B (P<0.001) with high MICs (128 μg/ml). PFGE analysis revealed treatments selecting predominant genotypes with variable resistance patterns and decreasing initial diversity of genotypes. The most common genotype had mainly high MICs for ciprofloxacin among danofloxacin-treated pigs but wild type MICs (below the ECOFF) among the controls housed in the same pens. This suggests that the non-wild type isolate was rarely transmitted or outcompeting wild type genotype in the control pigs without selection pressure. Isolates exhibiting non-wild type MICs for ciprofloxacin harboured the C257T (Thr-86-Ile) mutation in the gyrA gene. In conclusion, a high dose of danofloxacin used at the farm did not prevent emergence of isolates with high MICs for ciprofloxacin. After subsequent tylosin treatment isolates had even higher MICs for ciprofloxacin and erythromycin than before the treatment. Therefore, controlled use of antimicrobials in food animal production is essential.     

Nitrogen and phosphorus leaching and uptake by container birch seedlings (Betula pendula Roth) grown in three different fertilizations

Leaching of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) through container peatmedium and N and P uptake by seedlings were determined in commercial productionof birch grown with three different types of fertilization. Half of the amountof nutrients was premixed into the peat medium and the other half was appliedasliquid (=fertigated) in the treatment (PF) commonly used in Finland. In twoother treatments all nutrients, either totally (P-VN) or partly (P-N) inslow-release form, were premixed into the peat. Independently of the treatment,the largest proportion (60 to 80%) of total N leached during May and June.During two growing seasons, the amounts of N leached from PF treatments (9 to36kg ha^–1) were as large as the amounts of Nleachedfrom P-VN and P-N treatments (24 to 46 kg ha^–1).Due to fertigations between container trays, however, the total N load perhectare was greatest in the PF treatments. In the soil water 0.5meter beneaththe container area, the N concentration varied from 10 to 60 mgl^–1. The morphological and chemical properties of theseedlings did not differ greatly between treatments.     

Phylogenetic Variation of Chelonid Alphaherpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) in Populations of Green Turtles Chelonia mydas along the Queensland Coast,Australia

Abstract

Sea turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a disease marked by the proliferation of benign but debilitating cutaneous and occasional visceral tumors, likely to be caused by chelonid alphaherpesvirus 5 (ChHV5). This study presents a phylogeny of ChHV5 strains found on the east coast of Queensland, Australia, and a validation for previously unused primers. Two different primer sets (gB-1534 and gB-813) were designed to target a region including part of the UL27 glycoprotein B (gB) gene and part of UL28 of ChHV5. Sequences obtained from FP tumors found on juvenile green turtles Chelonia mydas (<65 cm curved carapace length) had substantial homology with published ChHV5 sequences, while a skin biopsy from a turtle without FP failed to react in the PCRs used in this study. The resulting sequences were used to generate a neighbor-joining tree from which three clusters of ChHV5 from Australian waters were identified: north Australian, north Queensland, and Queensland clusters. The clusters reflect the collection sites on the east coast of Queensland with a definitive north–south trend.

Received October 22, 2016; accepted May 7, 2017 Published online July 26, 2017     

Effects of sterol structure, temperature, and lipid medium on phytosterol oxidation

Factors contributing to the oxidative stability of phytosterols were studied. Unsaturated stigmasterol and saturated sitostanol were used as model compounds and were heated at different temperatures in different lipid matrices for various periods of time. Accumulations of the major secondary oxidation products were used as a marker of the stability of heated compounds, and the products were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that both temperature and heating time, as well as sterol structure and lipid matrix composition, affected phytosterol oxidation. In particular, the interactions between different lipid matrices and temperatures had drastic effects on the total contents of the phytosterol oxides formed and also on the reaction pathways of oxidation. During heating at high temperatures for prolonged periods, >20% of stigmasterol was oxidized. At moderate temperatures the oxidation of stigmasterol was rather slow. Sitostanol oxide contents were low under all heating conditions studied.