Heterogeneity of Pseudomonas savastanoi populations infecting Myrtus communis in Sardinia (Italy)

Genetic, phenotypic and host range diversity among Pseudomonas savastanoi isolates from Myrtus communis were investigated. Thirty‐one isolates from six Sardinian commercial myrtle orchards and three isolates from plants growing spontaneously on the island of Rhodes (Greece) were compared with reference strains of P. savastanoi from olive, oleander, ash and myrtle. Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) indicated the presence of a monomorphic population with a very low level of variability. Conversely, Biolog phenotypic fingerprinting and phytohormone production analyses showed a considerable metabolic diversity, as bacteria obtained from single infected tissue differed more than bacteria obtained from different orchards. When pathogenicity tests were carried out on myrtle plants, different types of symptoms were induced: knots, canker lesions with or without tissue proliferations and, occasionally, wilting of the inoculated twig, a symptom never reported before for P. savastanoi. Comparable symptoms were also observed in the natural environment both on spontaneous and cultivated plants. Moreover, the host range of the myrtle population was heterogeneous and not well defined. Some isolates showed a wide host range whilst others were pathogenic only to their natural host. Overall these findings suggest that the diversity of the P. savastanoi population from myrtle does not depend so much on the locality or the natural host and does not allow the Sardinian and Greek isolates, together with previously characterized myrtle strains, to be ascribed to a known pathovar of P. savastanoi, nor to propose their belonging, as a whole, to a new pathovar.     

A Possible Correlation between the Blood Leukocyte Formula and the Use of Glucocorticoids as Growth Promoters in Beef Cattle

Clinical analyses designed to set welfare parameters were performed on blood drawn from the caudal vein of 14 groups of cattle (young bulls and heifers) (n = 10) from 480 to 550 kg b.w., each group representative of a different farm. The leukocyte formula exhibited a lymphocytopenia in four groups compared with the values from a control group (n = 50). This finding was related to the possible illicit use of corticoids as growth promoters in meat production. The individual plasmas tested negative by two different ELISA kits for corticosteroids, but chemical analyses by LC-MS/APCI (detection limit 0.5 ng/ml) on the pooled plasma of each of the 14 groups revealed the presence of beclomethasone and fluocinolone acetonide in 3 of the 4 suspect farms. These corticosteroids are not always efficiently screened by commercially available immunoassays. The epidemiological reliability of blood analysis as a screening test for such drugs is discussed in the light of the need for quality certification of the whole meat production processes from farm to fork, and for enhanced animal welfare.     

Convergence of developmental mutants into a single tomato model system: 'Micro-Tom' as an effective toolkit for plant development research

Background

The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plant is both an economically important food crop and an ideal dicot model to investigate various physiological phenomena not possible in Arabidopsis thaliana. Due to the great diversity of tomato cultivars used by the research community, it is often difficult to reliably compare phenotypes. The lack of tomato developmental mutants in a single genetic background prevents the stacking of mutations to facilitate analysis of double and multiple mutants, often required for elucidating developmental pathways.

Results

We took advantage of the small size and rapid life cycle of the tomato cultivar Micro-Tom (MT) to create near-isogenic lines (NILs) by introgressing a suite of hormonal and photomorphogenetic mutations (altered sensitivity or endogenous levels of auxin, ethylene, abscisic acid, gibberellin, brassinosteroid, and light response) into this genetic background. To demonstrate the usefulness of this collection, we compared developmental traits between the produced NILs. All expected mutant phenotypes were expressed in the NILs. We also created NILs harboring the wild type alleles for dwarf, self-pruning and uniform fruit, which are mutations characteristic of MT. This amplified both the applications of the mutant collection presented here and of MT as a genetic model system.

Conclusions

The community resource presented here is a useful toolkit for plant research, particularly for future studies in plant development, which will require the simultaneous observation of the effect of various hormones, signaling pathways and crosstalk.     

甘蔗与蔗茅杂交亲本及后代材料的抗旱性鉴定

研究旨在筛选出优良抗旱育种材料,为今后甘蔗抗旱育种和抗旱栽培技术提供重要的理论依据。采用盆栽干旱处理,测定蔗茅野生种无性系、甘蔗栽培品种（系）及其杂交后代共12份材料苗期与抗旱相关的8项生理生化指标,利用极点排序法对供试材料的抗旱性进行了综合评价。结果表明：干旱胁迫下,12份供试材料的Pro、MDA、SS及PMP均呈上升趋势,SP、Chl和SOD活性呈下降趋势,CAT活性有升有降。极点排序法分析表明,12个供试材料的抗旱强弱为：‘蔗茅99-2’>‘蔗茅99-1’>‘蔗茅99-4’>‘蔗茅I91-8’>‘蔗茅99-3’>‘蔗茅90-29’>‘滇蔗01-58’>‘滇蔗04-14’>‘滇蔗02-39’>‘蔗茅II91-2’>‘新台糖10’>‘崖城89-9’,说明蔗茅优质抗旱性状可以通过基因渗透方式传递给后代。在苗期干旱胁迫下,‘蔗茅99-2’在渗透调节等方面表现出积极的生理响应。     

Perspectives on the use of a seaweed extract to moderate the negative effects of alternate bearing in apple trees

Summary

Alternate bearing is a serious problem in many apple varieties. In fact, each year, apple trees have to be thinned in order to ensure a correct and constant balance between the reproductive and vegetative tendencies of the plant. In organic fruit growing, there is no alternative to the expensive and time-consuming process of hand-thinning. Under these conditions, the use of natural bio-stimulants which enhance the efficiency of nutrient uptake, plant fitness to different pedoclimatic conditions, and plant tolerance to stress, offers new opportunities to reduce the negative effects of alternate bearing. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of Actiwave^®, a metabolic enhancer derived from the alga, Ascophillum nodosum, on ‘Fuji’ apple trees affected by experimentally-imposed alternate bearing. The experiments were carried in open field conditions over four consecutive years. Although the effect of Actiwave^® was erratic from year-to-year, the compound generally reduced those problems linked to alternate bearing. Actiwave^® had its most significant effect on alternate bearing plants that were also affected by nutrient deprivation due to the absence of fertilisation. In these trees,Actiwave^® decreased the oscillations in yield between “on” and “off” years and increased the average fruit weight on plants affected by too-high a crop load. Treated trees also showed higher leaf chlorophyll contents (increased by 12%), with a consequent increase in the rates of photosynthesis and respiration. On the other hand, under standard conditions, in well-fertilised balanced plants, Actiwave^® did not have any significant effect. This evidence corroborates the hypothesis that Actiwave^® may be a useful tool to reduce alternate bearing in organic and low-input farming.     

Pseudomonas syringae pv. coryli, the Causal Agent of Bacterial Twig Dieback of Corylus avellana

ABSTRACT Thirty-eight bacterial strains isolated from hazelnut (Corylus avellana) cv. Tonda Gentile delle Langhe showing a twig dieback in Piedmont and Sardinia, Italy, were studied by a polyphasic approach. All strains were assessed by fatty acids analysis and repetitive sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fingerprinting using BOX and ERIC primer sets. Representative strains also were assessed by sequencing the 16S rDNA and hrpL genes, determining the presence of the syrB gene, testing their biochemical and nutritional characteristics, and determining their pathogenicity to hazelnut and other plants species or plant organs. Moreover, they were compared with reference strains of other phytopathogenic pseudomonads. The strains from hazelnut belong to Pseudomonas syringae (sensu latu), LOPAT group Ia. Both fatty acids and repetitive-sequence-based PCR clearly discriminate such strains from other Pseudomonas spp., including P. avellanae and other P. syringae pathovars as well as P. syringae pv. syringae strains from hazelnut. Also, the sequencing of 16S rDNA and hrpL genes differentiated them from P. avellanae and from P. syringae pv. syringae. They did not possess the syrB gene. Some nutritional tests also differentiated them from related P. syringae pathovars. Upon artificial inoculation, these strains incited severe twig diebacks only on hazelnut. Our results justify the creation of a new pathovar because the strains from hazelnut constitute a homogeneous group and a discrete phenon. The name of P. syringae pv. coryli is proposed and criteria for routine identification are presented.     

接种内生菌对干旱胁迫下甘蔗的生理影响

探索内生菌对甘蔗抗旱能力的影响,以期为开发利用甘蔗内生菌抗旱性功能菌株提供理论依据和技术支撑.以课题组前期分离鉴定的6株甘蔗内生菌为供试菌株,甘蔗品种'ROC22'幼苗接种7天后进行干旱胁迫,然后取完全展开的第一叶叶片测定相关生理指标.结果 表明,E3、09和YC89均有较高的ACC脱氨酶活性,不同甘蔗内生菌菌株对甘蔗...     

全国甘蔗野生种质资源的采集和考察

１９８５～１９９３年在全国进行了甘蔗野生种质资源的采集和考察。采集到甘蔗亚族（Ｓａｃｃｈａｒｉｎａｅ）内９个属１８个种的无性系共８２４份，种植在云南农业大学校园内（昆明黑龙潭），建立了甘蔗资源圃。考察了甘蔗属（Ｓａｃｃｈａｒｕｍ）、蔗茅属（Ｅｒｉａｎｔｈｕｓ）、河八王属（Ｎａｒｅｎｇａ）和芒属（Ｍｉｓｃａｎｔｈｕｓ）中主要野生种的地理分布、开花期、形态特征、繁殖方式、生态适应性、锤度和种质流失的情况。探明了割手密（Ｓ．ｓｐｏｎｔａｎｅｕｍＬ．）和斑茅（Ｓ．ａｒｕｎｄｉｎａｃｅｕｍＲｅｔｚ）的开花期与原产地纬度和海拔的相关，探索了割手密与蔗茅（Ｅ．ｆｕｌｖｕｓＮｅｅｓ）茎秆锤度与地理分布的联系。     

Characterization of the LH peak after short and long fixed‐time artificial insemination protocols in sheep raised in the tropics

The aim of this study was to evaluate the peak in luteinizing hormone (LH) and the pregnancy rate of sheep (Texel × Santa Inês) in the tropics using short‐ (6 days) and long‐term (12 days) progesterone protocols followed by artificial insemination (AI) both in and out of the breeding season. Experiment 1 was conducted within (IN) the breeding season (autumn, n = 36), and experiment 2 was conducted outside (OUT) of the breeding season (spring, n = 43). In each experiment, the sheep were divided into two groups (6 or 12 days) according to the duration of treatment with a single‐use progesterone release vaginal device (CIDR^®, Pfizer, São Paulo, SP, Brazil), and blood samples were collected from 10 animals per group every 4 hr to measure the LH and progesterone concentrations. In the spring, the characteristics of the LH peak did not differ between groups; but in the autumn, there were differences between groups at the beginning (G‐6 IN: 36.44 ± 5.46 hr; G‐12 IN: 26.57 ± 4.99 hr) and end of the LH peak (G‐6 IN: 46.22 ± 7.51 hr; G‐12 IN: 34.86 ± 8.86 hr). The results showed alterations in the LH peak during the breeding season only in the sheep undergoing the short‐term protocol.