Concepts and Direction of Induced Systemic Resistance in Plants and its Application

Resistance to plant disease is often specific and metabolites and receptors contributing to this specificity may have specific structures. However, simple, structurally-unrelated compounds induce systemic resistance in unrelated plants to diverse pathogens including fungi, bacteria and viruses. Both resistance and induced systemic resistance (ISR) are associated with the rapid accumulation of the same structurally unrelated putative defense compounds that have diverse functions. It has been suggested that cultivar (race)-specific resistance is initiated by the specific interaction of a pathogen product (or pathogen induced product) and a plant receptor. However, restricted infection by pathogens can result in ISR and many different compounds can cause ISR. It is thus evident that there are both specific and non-specific routes to the master switch for ISR and there may be more than one master switch. Are reactive oxygen species and free radicals regulating the master switch(es) via both routes? It is also evident there are many switches, other than the master switch. Adding to the complexity of resistance and ISR are the observations that different compounds and pathways may mediate different biochemical resistances. Activation of one of the pathways may antagonize or enhance the activation or effectiveness of another. The review will address these complexities and questions and propose directions of research which require high priority. Factors which encourage and suppress the application of ISR in agriculture will also be addressed.     

Gill Reaction to Pollutants from the Tamiš River in Three Freshwater Fish Species,Esox lucius L. 1758, Sander lucioperca (L. 1758) and Silurus glanis L. 1758: A Comparative Study

The study evaluated the effects of waterborne pollutants from the Tami? River on gill histology and possible differences in gill reaction patterns between three freshwater fish species, pike Esox lucius L. 1758, pike‐perch Sander lucioperca (L. 1758) and wels catfish Silurus glanis L. 1758 from the Tami? River. Gills from analysed fish species showed moderate to intense histopathological alterations. The most frequent progressive alteration was hyperplasia of epithelium, whereas the most frequent regressive alteration was epithelial lifting. Circulatory disturbances were most often manifested in the form of hyperaemia. During comparative analysis, differences in gill indices, reaction and alteration indices, as well as in gill and filament prevalence between analysed species, were observed. Although all analysed fish species did show both progressive and regressive alterations, there was a significant difference in the level of expression of these reaction patterns. Gill index obtained for pike clearly stands out as the lowest. Wels catfish showed the highest progressive reaction index, significantly higher in comparison with the other two species (P < 0.05), while pike‐perch showed the highest regressive reaction index, also significantly higher in comparison with the other species (P < 0.001). These results may implicate species‐specific gill reactions and thus present a useful tool for better understanding toxic mechanisms of various pollutants.     

Morphological examination of the intraorbital muscles (musculi bulbi) in dogs in the perinatal period

Twelve American Staffordshire terriers, gestational day 60, and 10 dogs de Bordeaux, gestational day 57 were examined in respect of the morphology and morphometry of their intraorbital muscles. The location of the retractor bulbi, recti and oblique muscles was described and the length of the muscles, the length and breadth of their tendons as well as the distance of the distal insertions of the muscle tendons from the corneal limbus were measured. Similarly, the shape of the line of distal insertions was investigated. The measurements were taken with an electronic caliper to the nearest 0.1 mm. The distance insertion-corneal limbus was measured by means of the Hifny and Misk method (1982). The following differences between the breeds in the morphometry of the intraorbital muscles and their tendons were found out. The distal insertions of the tendons of the dorsal, ventral and lateral recti muscles are further from the corneal limbus in American Staffordshire terriers than in dogs de Bordeaux. The muscular funiculi of the retractor bulbi muscle are further from the corneal limbus in dogs de Bordeaux, except the dorsolateral funiculus (1.96/1.94 mm). In addition, there are differences in the morphometry of the intraorbital muscles and their tendons. No differences, however, were found in the morphology of the intraorbital muscle tendons (their insertion line) and their location. The study can be applied to clinical sciences (surgery) and veterinary ophthalmology, in particular.     

The impact of dry and wet cleaning on fabric electromagnetic field shield effect

The aim of this research is to investigate shield effect properties of the fabrics with inox yarns included in the construction, which are used for special professional garments and should protect from electromagnetic microwave irradiation. The investigation was done prior to and after the professional care procedures of dry and wet cleaning in ten cleaning cycles. Shield effect measurements were done on the face and on the back of the fabric, weftwise and warpwise, prior to and after the first, third, fifth, seventh and tenth cycles of dry and wet cleaning, at the frequencies from 0.9 to 2.4 GHz. The results obtained indicated that shield effect of the fabric tested was reduced after professional care procedures, especially so after 5 cycles. The investigations also revealed that shield effect could be considerably enhanced if the inox yarns were incorporated into the fabric in the direction of the warp.     

The Characterization of Heavy Metals in the Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) Cultivar Rkatsiteli and Wild Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) from East Serbia by ICP-OES and BAFs

Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, in combination with calculation of various biological factors, was used in this study not only for a simple illustration of the present status of some essential and non-essential metals such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), and cadmium (Cd) in the grapevine cultivar Rkatsiteli and wild blackberry from East Serbia but also for the estimation of plant bioaccumulation potentials. Great majority of detected metal concentrations were in normal ranges except in few cases: Zn concentrations were at the level of deficiency in almost all plant parts, and some Cu and As concentrations were at the levels that could be considered phytotoxic. Biological accumulation factors provided very informative data on metal accumulation and translocation in both plants and pointed to low accumulation rates of metals except in the case of Cu, Zn, and As in some wild blackberry tissues.     

Maize defence mechanisms against the European corn borer,Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Maize is arguably the most widely grown crop in the world, but it is often associated with one of its major insect pests, the European corn borer (ECB). The damage caused by this species to maize production is generally variable, but in many cases it is economically significant. This review paper provides an overview of the research findings on the natural plant defence mechanisms against ECB larvae published till now. What is resistance and how it is achieved, what is the chemical response of maize plants to insect feeding and how tolerance can be increased. A short introduction in breeding for resistance and a discussion if the mentioned traits can be used in conventional breeding in order to create maize hybrids less affected by ECB are given.     

Evidence for genetic diversity of Toxoplasma gondii in selected intermediate hosts in Serbia

To contribute to the insight into the worldwide population structure of Toxoplasma gondii, we genetically characterized a total of eight strains isolated from intermediate hosts including humans, sheep and pigeons in Serbia. Although parasite DNA was detected in 28.2% (60/213) of the human samples from 162 patients serologically suspected of active toxoplasmosis, as well as in 5/7 seropositive pigeons and in 2/12 seropositive sheep examined, multilocus PCR-RFLP genotyping, using SAG1, 5′SAG2, 3′SAG2, GRA6, 5′GRA7 and 3′GRA7 as markers, was successful in only four human isolates (of which one was isolated from both the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and blood samples of a single patient), one sheep and three pigeons. Of the eight isolates, five were type II (62.5%), one was type III, one was atypical, and one had a type I allele at GRA6 as the single locus genotyped. Although type II, as elsewhere in Europe, predominated, these results may suggest a higher genetic diversity of T. gondii in Serbia, reflecting local environmental contamination and also the geographical position of the country in South-East Europe.     

Intratesticular benign peripheral nerve sheath tumour in a ferret (Mustela putorius furo)

A domestic ferret was submitted for sterilisation because of right testis enlargement. Oestradiol and cortisol concentrations were within normal physiological ranges, but testosterone was below and progesterone above normal. Microscopically, the right testis, with the exception of a small part of the epididymis, was replaced with neoplastic tissue. The tumour was composed of streams and bundles of closely packed spindle to ovoid cells forming whorls around collagen and capillaries, and separated by a collagenous matrix. In some areas, cells were loosely arranged and separated by a pale myxomatous matrix. The left testis showed atrophy. The majority of neoplastic cells expressed vimentin and S-100 protein, while expression of collagen IV was moderate and there was no expression of glial fibrillary acid protein. On the basis of macroscopical and histopathological findings, and supported by immunohistochemical reactivity, the diagnosis of benign peripheral nerve sheath tumour was made. This is the first report of benign peripheral nerve sheath tumour in ferret testis.     

Comparison of bacterial culture and real-time PCR for the detection of Salmonella in grow-finish pigs in Western Canada using a Bayesian approach

The study objective was to evaluate the accuracy of a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and a culture protocol used to detect Salmonella in the faeces of grow-finish pigs using a Bayesian approach. The RT-PCR was invA-gene-based assay, while the culture protocol included pre-enrichment in buffered peptone water, selective enrichment in tetrathionate and Rappaport-Vassiliadis broths, and isolation on semi-solid (modified semi-solid RV) or solid (XLT4, Rambach) agar plates. Bayesian analysis was performed using a two-test, two-population model with dependence between culture and RT-PCR and compared to a second model with conditional independence between these two tests. Two hundred and ninety three individual faecal and 294 pooled pen samples from grow-finish pig collected from 10 farms were tested and results were divided into two groups according to herd size (five herds <250 sows, five herds with >400 sows). In the dependence model, RT-PCR sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) were estimated to be 90% (95% probability interval 74, 97) and 99% (98, 99), respectively. Culture Se was 92% (75, 99), while culture Sp was considered 100% as all culture-positive samples were confirmed by serotyping. In the conditional independence model, RT-PCR Se and Sp, and culture Se, were 96% (93, 98), 99% (98, 100) and 97% (94, 100), respectively. The dependence model resulted in posterior estimates of Se that were lower and with broader probability intervals than the independence model, indicating that when RT-PCR and culture are evaluated relative to each other, the correlation between these tests is an important source of bias and should be adjusted for during analysis. The RT-PCR evaluated in this study performed almost comparably to culture; given the cost savings associated with using this test and more timely results, the RT-PCR may be a useful alternative to culture for screening large numbers of samples, particularly when Salmonella prevalence is low.