Use of a shrub (Medicago arborea) to control water erosion on steep slopes

Abstract. The effect of Medicago arborea on erosion on a burnt area was studied in experimental plots near Valencia, Spain, between 1989 and 1992. Its growth and development was studied, and its effect was compared with the natural vegetation (matorral) and bare soil. Medicago decreased soil loss by 41.7% and runoff by 25.7% compared with bare soil. However, under natural vegetation soil loss was 27.5% less than under Medicago.     

Some determinants of the spatio-temporal fire cycle in a mediterranean landscape (Corsica,France)

Based on recent needs to accurately understand fire regimes and post-fire vegetation resilience at a supra-level for carbon cycle studies, this article focusses on the coupled history of fire and vegetation pattern for 40 years on a fire-prone area in central Corsica (France). This area has been submitted since the beginning of the 20^th century to land abandonment and the remaining land management has been largely controlled by frequent fires. Our objectives were to rebuild vegetation and fire maps in order to determine the factors which have driven the spatial and temporal distribution of fires on the area, what were the feed backs on the vegetation dynamics, and the long-term consequences of this inter-relationship. The results show a stable but high frequency of small fires, coupled with forest expansion over the study period. The results particularly illustrate the spatial distribution of fires according to topography and vegetation, leading to a strong contrast between areas never burnt and areas which have been burnt up to 7 times. Fires, when occuring, affect on average 9 to 12% of the S, SE and SW facing slopes (compared to only 2 to 5% for the N facing slopes), spread recurrently over ridge tops, affect all the vegetation types but reburn preferentially shrublands and grasslands. As these fire-proning parameters have also been shown to decrease the regeneration capacity of forests, this study highlights the needs in spatial studies (both in terms of fire spread and vegetation dynamic) to accurately apprehend vegetation dynamic and functionning in fire-prone areas.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Comparison of viral RNA populations of pathogenically distinct isolates of Citrus tristeza virus : application to monitoring cross-protection

The population of sequence variants of Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) isolates of different geographic origins and pathogenicity properties was characterized by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of cDNA of the genes p18, p13, p20 and p23. The mild isolates analysed here usually yielded a SSCP profile with two DNA bands, suggestive of a predominant sequence variant, whereas the SSCP profile of the most virulent isolates contained more than two DNA bands, indicating that their viral populations are likely to be more complex. The set of SSCP profiles of the four genes allowed identification of individual isolates, but no profile characteristic of a geographic area or a biogroup was found. Sweet orange plants singly inoculated with a mild or with a severe isolate yielded the SSCP profile characteristic of each isolate, whereas the SSCP profile of plants successively inoculated with both isolates was a composite of the two individual profiles. The SSCP profile of plants singly inoculated remained constant, but the profile of doubly inoculated plants varied with time. Plants in which the SSCP profile of the severe isolate became predominant showed stem pitting, and those in which the predominant profile corresponded to the mild isolate remained symptomless. The results indicate that SSCP analysis can be used to study changes in RNA populations of doubly inoculated plants and to monitor cross-protection between mild and severe isolates.     

Induction of an antioxidant enzyme system and other oxidative stress markers associated with compatible and incompatible interactions between chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.ciceris

To ascertain if active oxygen species play a role in fusarium wilt of chickpea caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris, the degree of lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde formation) and the activity levels of diamine oxidase (DAO), an apoplastic H₂O₂-forming oxidase, and several antioxidant enzymes, namely ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), guaiacol-dependent peroxidase (GPX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), were determined spectrophotometrically in roots and stems of ‘WR315’ (resistant) and ‘JG62’ (susceptible) chickpea cultivars inoculated with the highly virulent race 5 of the pathogen. Moreover, APX, CAT, GPX and SOD were also analysed in roots and stems by gel electrophoresis and activity staining; and the protein levels of APX and SOD in roots were determined by Western blotting. In roots, infection by the pathogen increased lipid peroxidation and CAT and SOD activities, although such responses occurred earlier in the incompatible compared with the compatible interactions. APX, GPX and GR activities were also increased in infected roots, but only in the compatible interaction. In stems, infection by the pathogen increased lipid peroxidation and APX, CAT, SOD and GPX activities only in the compatible interaction, and DAO activity only in the incompatible one. In general, electrophoregrams agreed with the activity levels determined spectrophotometrically and did not reveal any differences in isoenzyme patterns between cultivars or between infected and non-infected plants. Further, Western blots revealed an increase in the root protein levels of APX in the compatible interaction and in those of SOD in both compatible and incompatible interactions. In conclusion, whereas enhanced DAO activity in stems, and earlier increases in lipid peroxidation and CAT and SOD activities in roots, can be associated with resistance to fusarium wilt in chickpea, the induction of the latter three parameters in roots and stems along with that of APX, GR (only in roots) and GPX (only in stems) activities are rather more associated with the establishment of the compatible interaction.     

A new approach to evaluate relative resistance and tolerance of tomato cultivars to begomoviruses causing the tomato yellow leaf curl disease in Spain

A simple procedure to evaluate relative resistance and tolerance of tomato cultivars to the begomoviruses causing tomato yellow leaf curl (TYLC) disease in Spain was developed. To estimate the resistance and tolerance levels of a cultivar, several formulae were developed based on the ratio of infected plants, virus titre (estimated by tissue–print hybridization) and symptom intensity. The formulae were applied to five commercial tomato cultivars (Amoretto, Birloque, Royesta, Tovigreen and Ulises) naturally infected by TYLC viruses. The analyses showed that Ulises, Birloque and Tovigreen exhibited a moderate resistance, and Ulises was also highly tolerant. There was a positive correlation between symptom intensity and virus titre in infected plants, suggesting that the hybridization technique could also be used as an early estimator of tolerance. Finally, molecular hybridization and nucleotide sequence analyses of the begomovirus intergenic region showed that the local TYLC virus population consisted of a single species, Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV, formerly TYLCV-Israel), with low genetic variation (nucleotide identity between isolates higher than 97%).     

Distribution of alpha‐neoendorphin,ACTH (18–39) and beta‐endorphin (1–27) in the alpaca brainstem

Using an immunocytochemical technique, we have studied in the alpaca brainstem the distribution of immunoreactive structures containing prodynorphin (alpha‐neoendorphin)‐ and pro‐opiomelanocortin (adrenocorticotrophin hormone (18–39) (ACTH), beta‐endorphin (1–27))‐derived peptides. No peptidergic‐immunoreactive cell body was observed. Immunoreactive fibres were widely distributed, although in most of the brainstem nuclei the density of the peptidergic fibres was low or very low. In general, the distribution of the immunoreactive fibres containing the peptides studied was very similar. A close anatomical relationship occurred among the fibres containing alpha‐neoendorphin, ACTH or beta‐endorphin (1–27), suggesting a functional interaction among the three peptides in many of the brainstem nuclei. The number of fibres belonging to the prodynorphin system was higher than that of the pro‐opiomelanocortin system. A moderate/low density of immunoreactive fibres was observed in 65.11% (for alpha‐neoendorphin (1–27)), 18.18% (for ACTH) and 13.95% (for beta‐endorphin) of the brainstem nuclei/tracts. In the alpaca brainstem, a high density of immunoreactive fibres was not observed. The neuroanatomical distribution of the immunoreactive fibres suggests that the peptides studied are involved in auditory, motor, gastric, feeding, vigilance, stress, respiratory and cardiovascular mechanisms, taste response, sleep‐waking cycle and the control of pain transmission.     

<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-Cloprostenol enhances estrus synchronization in tropical hair sheep

To compare the effects of PGF2α (dinoprost tromethamine) and d-cloprostenol in a two-dose protocol for estrus synchronization in hair sheep during breeding season in Yucatán, México, two experiments were conducted. In experiment 1, 61 cyclic hair sheep were divided into two groups: G1 (control n?=?30), two doses of 50 μg of dinoprost tromethamine IM with 12 days between applications, and G2 (n?=?31), two doses of 50 μg of d-cloprostenol IM at the same time interval. For determination of progesterone levels, 16 ewes from each group were randomly selected. In experiment 2, 70 cyclic hair sheep were assigned at the same treatments (G1 and G2, n?=?35) and 48 h after the second application, the ewes in estrus were detected by two vasectomized rams. Sheep with detected estrus were inseminated, and 45 days after, pregnant animals were identified by ultrasonography. An exact Fisher’s test was performed for the analysis of ewes in estrus (experiments 1 and 2) and number of pregnant ewes (experiment 2); for the comparison of time between end of treatment-estrus presentation, a survival analysis was used. Duration of estrus in hours was analyzed using a generalized mixed model (GLM) ANOVA whereas plasma progesterone concentrations were analyzed by non-linear regression. There were significant differences (P?<?0.05) in the proportion of ewes in estrus upon treatments (G1, 57% vs G2, 87% and G1, 37.1% vs G2, 65.7% in experiments 1 and 2, respectively), and between the end of treatment-onset estrus interval (P?<?0.01), survival curves showed the highest number of sheep in estrus between 40 and 48 h (G1, 43.7?+?8.05 h vs G2, 42.9?+?6.7 h, experiment 1). There were no significant differences (P?>?0.05) in duration of estrus (G1, 42?+?6.1 h, vs G2, 41.1?+?11.2 h, experiment 1) and pregnancy in the ewes that presented estrus, and were inseminated (G1, 38.4% vs 52.1%, experiment 2). With regard to concentrations of progesterone, significant differences (P?<?0.01) were found between treatments, and progesterone levels before the second application of d-cloprostenol were higher. In consideration of the results, it can be concluded that in a two-dose protocol of a luteolytic agent, more ewes presented estrus in response to d-cloprostenol compared to dinoprost tromethamine with similar pregnancy rates.     

Computing inbreeding coefficients and the inverse numerator relationship matrix in large populations of honey bees

The inbreeding coefficients are considered in breeding decisions, and the inverse numerator relationship matrix A ^?1 is a prerequisite for breeding value estimation. Polyandry and haploid males are among the specifics of relationships between honey bees. Brascamp and Bijma (2014) averaged out the manifold possible relationships among honey bees that appear to have the same parents in a pedigree and assigned a single entry in A to animals that behave as a unit, for example, the workers of a hive. Their methods of calculation connected full‐sibs in the variance matrix of the Mendelian sampling terms D , via nonzero off‐diagonal elements. This impedes the inversion of A and the closely connected calculation of inbreeding coefficients, because efficient algorithms for this task take D to be a diagonal matrix. Memory limitations necessitate their use for large data sets. We adapted the quickest of them to the block diagonal matrix D , that is postulated for the honey bee. To our knowledge, the presented algorithm is the first one that facilitates the method of Brascamp and Bijma (2014) on large data sets.