Digalacturonates from pectin degradation induce tissue responses against potato soft rot

The pathogenicity of the bacteriumErwinia carotovorasubsp.atroseptica, which causes potato soft rot, is triggered by short oligogalacturonates released by enzymic degradation of plant cell wall pectin. In the first stage unsaturated digalacturonate (uDG), produced by the action of pectate lyases, is degraded by oligogalacturonide lyase (OGL) to keto-deoxyuronate (DKI). The OGL encoding gene fromE. carotovoraand the corresponding recombinant enzyme were characterized. Measuring the changes in plant cell viability and tissue maceration during soft rot pathogenesis in tissue slices of sprouting potato tubers, it was observed that exposure to uDG and DKI, produced by recombinant OGL, killed up to 30% of the plant cells over a period of 16h. This protected the tissue against maceration byE. carotovorasubsp.atroseptica. Endogenous OGL activity was detected in extracts from sprouting tubers where it may be involved in the conversion of uDG into cell toxic compounds. The results indicate that an additional function of small, diffusable digalacturonates is to induce plant cell death during the rotting process, thus contributing to defence reactions againstE. carotovorasubsp.atroseptica.     

Classification of thermally modified wood by FT-NIR spectroscopy and SIMCA

Quality assessment of thermally modified wood has evolved as one of the major fields in the research on thermal modification of wood. This study investigates NIR spectroscopy in combination with the pattern recognition method of soft independent modeling of class analogies (SIMCA). Focus is put on identifying different treatment intensities of thermally modified samples of beech, ash, and Norway spruce. The results indicate that SIMCA classification based on NIR spectroscopy could be used for quality control of thermally modified wood. The method might be applicable for producers (pre-delivery checks) and customers (reception control). However, transfer from laboratory to industrial conditions needs further investigation.     

Behaviour of lignin during thermal treatments of wood

Different thermal treatments or processes (combustion, welding, thermowood) of several wood species were examined and compared. Each procedure resulted in different temperature loads on wood. The changes of lignin after thermal treatments were determined by different suitable methods, both wet chemical and instrumental analyses.The characterisation of the wood meals by means of FTIR spectroscopy has shown that changes of the aromatic skeletal vibrations occur, which indicate condensation reactions of lignin. The variations within the FTIR spectra of hardwood were more evident than those of softwood.The decomposition of lignin has also been proven in the acetone extracts of “thermowood”, which contained a lignan, identified by GC/MS.Moreover, the thioacidolysis showed the decrease of monomeric degradation products in all thermal treated samples. This is due to the cleavage of structural units bound by arylgycerol-β-ether linkages.However, it can be assumed that in addition to the degradation of specified types of bonds also condensation reactions have occurred and these products were not detectable by means of GC/MS. This conclusion would also support the above-mentioned results of FTIR spectroscopy.     

Herd prevalence of Salmonella enterica infections in Danish slaughter pigs determined by microbiological testing

As a part of a nationwide programme to survey and control salmonella in pig herds, a microbiological survey of 1363 pig herds was performed in Denmark. A total of 13 468 slaughter pigs were examined at slaughter by culture of 5 g of caecal contents. Overall, 30 different serotypes of Salmonella enterica were isolated from 832 pigs (6.2%). The predominant serotype was S. Typhimurium, comprising 536 (64.4%) of the isolates. Four hundred and forty-eight isolates of S. Typhimurium were examined by phage typing, resulting in detection of 17 different phage types (definitive types, DT) with DT12 being the most frequent (49.1%).

Salmonella enterica was found in 302 herds (22.2%), S. Typhimurium was found in 61.1% of these. 279 (23.1%) large herds (producing more than 2600 slaughter pigs per year) were found to be salmonella positive compared with 23 (14.7 %) small herds (annual production of 500 to 550 slaughter pigs). Practical constraints in the study design did not allow for a firm conclusion on the interplay among herd size, geographical location and occurrence of salmonella.

In 284 of 302 infected herds (94.0%) only one serotype was detected. Infections with two different serovars were seen in 18 herds (6.0%).     

Studies of Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition in a Mire of the German National Park Hochharz Mountains Using Two Different Methods

The purpose of this study was to determine the nitrogen (N) deposition in a mire of the German National Park Hochharz Mountains in regard to different input pathways of open area and forest stand deposition. High N deposition rates strongly affect the development and growth of mires in general. For determination of the open area N deposition two methods were applied: the bulk deposition method and the Integral Total Nitrogen Input (ITNI) method. This method is based on the ¹⁵N isotope dilution technique and was adapted at this study to evaluate its applicability for natural ecosystems as well as to compare with the traditional bulk method. The forest stand deposition included canopy throughfall, stemflow and fog was measured by means of bulk collectors. On the test site, bulk deposition measurements showed an input of 27 kg N ha^{? 1} yr^{? 1} in the open area and 47 kg N ha^{? 1} yr^{? 1} in the forest stand. The higher N input in the forest stand is caused by interception of fog by the canopy. N concentrations in fog were up to more than six times higher than in rain. The ITNI system yielded a total N deposition of 30 kg N ha^{? 1} yr^{? 1} on average in the open area. The small differences between the two simultaneously applied measuring techniques were caused by a minimum biomass development of the autochthonous plant Calamagrostis villosa in the ITNI system. With increasing biomass production the influence of plants on the atmospheric N input also increased. It can be concluded that the ITNI system is beneficial for the application in a natural ecosystem when using more robust and biomass producing plants. The measured atmospheric N deposition exceeds the critical load for nutrient poor mires and represents therefore a potential risk for the continuity of this ecosystem.     

Disease of geese caused by a new herpesvirus

A goose flock farmed outdoors in south-eastern Queensland suffered an outbreak of peracute disease with high death rate (97%). Small button ulcers and large plaques overlying lymphocyte aggregates were present on the mucosa of the small intestine of affected birds. Small white foci of necrosis and focal haemorrhages were seen in the livers. Numerous intranuclear inclusion bodies were observed microscopically in hepatocytes and a herpesvirus which grew rapidly in chicken kidney cells was isolated from tissues. Duck virus enteritis (DVE) was suspected but DVE antiserums failed to neutralise the virus. Further serological studies with a limited range of known avian herpesviruses have failed to identify the virus. Experimental transmission resulted in high mortality in geese (100%), lower mortality in ducklings and nil mortality in chickens. Surveillance studies showed no evidence of infection in domestic and wild birds beyond the original farm and the infection appears not to have been established in the area. Wild ducks, which were frequent visitors to the farm dam, were considered the most likely source of the infection.