Coccidia of the llama, Lama glama, in Colorado and Wyoming.

Fecal samples were collected from 144 llamas, Lama glama, on four premises in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming. Feces were examined for the presence of coccidial oocysts; Eimeria alpacae was found in 55.6%, Eimeria lamae in 67.3% and Eimeria macusaniensis in 1.4% of the samples. An adult female llama was found to be infected with Eimeria macusaniensis at necropsy. This is the first report of these species of coccidia in the llama.     

Einfluß der Fließstreckenlänge auf die Bodenumlagerung innerhalb einer erosionsgeschützten Kleinparzelle

Dependence of erosion from flow length within an erosion-protected plot On an Udalf derived from loess different micro-reliefs were formed to reduce erosion. Their effects on the spatial distribution of sand contents on bare soil after one vegetation period are described. At first erosion caused residuals of sand on unflooded areas and corresponding accumulation of finest material on flooded ones. Beds without flow barriers showed reduced clay and silt contents in the upper layer of about 2 mm. On beds with small dams there were no soil losses from the catchment areas between these flow barriers visible. Secondly the enriched sand was moved, too. This occured widely on flat beds. Within catchment areas there were only very small deposits of removed sand in front of the dams. In conclusion: Within the limits of a chosen risk, artificial microreliefs reduce completely erosion damages.     

Kommentar zum Diskussionsbeitrag zur Ermittlung der effektiven Durchwurzelungstiefe für geschichtete Profile von T. Tenholtern und S. Seiffert

Tenholtern and Seiffert (this issue) improved the calculation of the effective rooting depth of laminated soils after Mueller (1197). The new procedure remains however a heigh weighting of subsoil, opposing extensive results of plant cultivation. The calculation after Schrey (1996) follows better the results from plant cultivation and should therefore be used if – with the exception of the textural composition – all factors of influence of rooting depth are sufficiently uniform. Instead of calculated root depths the following generalized values proved to be acceptable in water supply and distribution as well as in plant cultivation: 4 dm for grassland (meadow and pasture) 10 dm for arable land (without special cultures) 15 dm for forests and woodland. Viewing individual cultures the usable capacity should be calculated as sum curve in steps of one dm over the depth of profile and combined as static value to time‐dependent root growth and weather‐dependent water requirement of the culture.     

Seawater transmission and infection dynamics of pilchard orthomyxovirus (POMV) in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

The Tasmanian salmon industry had remained relatively free of major viral diseases until the emergence of pilchard orthomyxovirus (POMV). Originally isolated from wild pilchards, POMV is of concern to the industry as it can cause high mortality in farmed salmon (Salmo salar). Field observations suggest the virus can spread from pen to pen and between farms, but evidence of passive transmission in sea water was unclear. Our aim was to establish whether direct contact between infected and naïve fish was required for transmission, and to examine viral infection dynamics. Atlantic salmon post‐smolts were challenged with POMV by either direct exposure via cohabitation or indirect exposure via virus‐contaminated sea water. POMV was transmissible in sea water and direct contact between fish was not required for infection. Head kidney and heart presented the highest viral loads in early stages of infection. POMV survivors presented low viral loads in most tissues, but these remained relatively high in gills. A consistent feature was the infiltration of viral‐infected melanomacrophages in different tissues, suggesting an important role of these in the immune response to POMV. Understanding POMV transmission and host–pathogen interactions is key for the development of improved surveillance tools, transmission models and ultimately for disease prevention.     

Schutzwürdige Böden in Nordrhein-Westfalen — Bodenkundliche Kriterien für eine flächendeckende Karte zum Bodenschutz

Valuable soils in Northrhine-Westphalia — soil scientific criteria for generating a complete map for soil protection At the Geological Survey of Northrhine-Westphalia a map was developed: Soils to be protected in Northrhine-Westphalia at a scale of 1:50.000. It is based on the Soil map of Northrhine-Westphalia at a scale of 1:50.000. This map indicates areas where such land uses should get high priority which need, save and develop the identified main soil functions. There are three groups of land use with main soil functions:

• natural habitat with high potential of biotope evolution
• agricultural production on soils with (regionally) high fertility
• regional specifica, including soils as archives of natural and cultural history.

Land uses disregarding or lowering these soil functions have to be placed otherwhere or have to be compensated by areas with comparable functions. The criteria generating this map are given and discussed. The evaluation of information coming from the digital soil map runs soil protection under the aim of securing the kind and state of soil substrate and characteristics, giving the functionality of soils in favor of other media of the environment.     

Penetrometer measurements for screening soil physical variability

Spatial variability of soil physical conditions can easily be assessed by means of a penetrometer. This is demonstrated at a reforestation site near Hannover on a Podzol-Cambisol (FAO). Reafforestation was performed after deep ploughing to a depth of 80–100 cm. Penetration resistance was measured as kg cm⁻² with a dial penetrometer. The data showed recompaction after deep ploughing. Furthermore, it became evident that measuring penetration resistance is a simple and inexpensive way to obtain a preliminary impression of the area to be examined. Based on these results, locations with minimum, maximum and average values can be chosen for further investigations, depending on the aim of the investigation. For screening purposes it is not important whether penetration resistance is expressed in physical units or other values, such as the number of blows per unit depth with a falling-weight penetrometer. In these circumstances the low specificity of penetration resistance is not a disadvantage, but enables any change in soil physical conditions to be detected.     

Schätzrahmen für die effektive Durchwurzelungstiefe mehrschichtiger Böden

Estimating the effective rooting depth of layered soils The values of the effective rooting depth given by the Soil Mapping Instruction are valid only for homogenous soils. In addition to these values a calculation is presented estimating the effective rooting depth of layered soils. This method is proposed as a reference method in databases of soil information systems.     

Evaluation for resistance to Pyrenophora tritici-repentis in Aegilops tauschii Coss. and synthetic hexaploid wheat amphiploids

Summary A total of 59 diploid Aegilops tauschii Coss. (syn. Aegilops sguarrosa auct. non L.) and 39 synthetic hexaploid wheat accessions were evaluated for reaction to Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Died.) Drechs. in a controlled environment, and classified using a disease rating system based on lesion type. 27 Ae. tauschii and 20 synthetic wheats were found to be resistant to tan spot disease. The overall mean disease ratings of Ae. tauschii and the synthetic wheat lines scored on a scale of 1 (resistant) to 5 (susceptible) were 1.80 and 2.38, respectively. Synthetic wheats generally showed a decrease in resistance, although several lines of synthetic wheat expressed a higher resistance than the diploid parents. Five synthetic wheat lines exhibited higher resistance than the standard resistant common wheat cultivar Red Chief.     

Impact of heavy metal amended sewage sludge on forest soils as assessed by bacterial and fungal biosensors

Bacterial and fungal bioluminescence-based biosensors were used as indicators of potential heavy metal toxicity to microorganisms in the needle litter of a mature Pinus radiata forest under heavy metal contaminated sewage sludge. Sewage sludge was amended with increasing concentrations of Cu, Ni and Zn and applied to the surface of a mature P. radiata forest. The response of the bacterial and fungal biosensors to soluble Cu, Ni and Zn in needle litter extracts was investigated. The bioluminescence response of the bacterial biosensor Escherichia coli HB101 pUCD607 declined as water-soluble Zn concentrations increased. The effective concentrations that gave a 50% reduction in bioluminescence (EC₅₀ values) for water-soluble Zn and total litter Zn were 1.3 mg l⁻¹ and 3700 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. The bioluminescence response of the fungal biosensor Armillaria mellea declined as soluble Cu concentrations increased. The EC₅₀ values for water-soluble Cu and total litter Cu were 0.12 mg l⁻¹ and 540 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. No decline in bioluminescence was noted for either the bacterial or fungal biosensor on exposure to increasing concentrations of water-soluble Ni. The use of a combination of bacterial and fungal biosensors offers a rapid and sensitive tool for assessing toxicity of heavy metals to microorganisms and, thus, elucidating the environmental impact of contaminants in sewage sludge on litter dwelling microorganisms.     

Nonenzymatic C-glycosylation of flavan-3-ols by oligo- and polysaccharides

Model reactions between the polysaccharide amylose and the polyphenol (-)-epicatechin followed by partial enzymatic hydrolysis of the reaction products formed led to the detection of mono- and oligo-C-glucosylated flavan-3-ols by means of LC-MS/MS experiments. To confirm the structure of these putative flavan-3-ol/oligosaccharide conjugates, (-)-epicatechin was reacted with maltose and maltotriose, respectively, giving rise to a series of previously unreported flavan-3-ol/maltose and flavan-3-ol/maltotriose conjugates, namely, (-)-epicatechin-8-C-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(4-->1)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranoside, (-)-catechin-8-C-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(4-->1)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranoside, (-)-catechin-6- C-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(4-->1)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranoside, (-)-catechin-8-C-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(4-->1)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(4-->1)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranoside, (-)-catechin-6-C-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(4-->1)- O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(4-->1)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranoside, and (-)-epicatechin-6/8-C-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(4-->1)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(4-->1)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranoside. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of flavan-3-ol-C-glucosides in an enzymatic total hydrolysate using a newly developed stable isotope dilution assay (SIDA) enabled a first insight into the yield of the formation of polyphenol/polysaccharide cross-links, for example, an amount of 14.0, 9.0, and 0.15 micromol of flavan-3-ol-6-C-beta-D-glucopyranoside, flavan-3-ol-8-C-beta-D-glucopyranoside, and flavan-3-ol-6- C,8-C-beta-D-glucopyranoside were per mmol (-)-epicatechin when reacted with amylose.