Trade-off between height growth and spring flushing in common beech (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Fagus sylvatica</Emphasis> L.)

• Introduction   

The annual development cycle of boreal and temperate trees results from an evolutionary trade-off between two opposing forces. These are namely, the adjustment of leaf phenology to the timing of frost occurrence at the beginning and/or the end of the growth season countered by an effective adjustment to the duration of the growth season to maximise photosynthesis and biomass production during the growing season.     

Evaluation of the humoral and cellular immune response to different antigens of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis in Canindé goats and their potential protection against caseous lymphadenitis

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is the etiologic agent of caseous lymphadenitis, a disease that affects goats and sheep, and can cause severe economic losses. In this study, four different antigenic extracts were obtained from the attenuated strain T1, which was isolated in the state of Bahia (Brazil). Forty-four Canindé breed goats were divided in five groups, each receiving a different antigen solution and saline buffer as a control. The humoral response was monitored through the identification of specific IgG by indirect ELISA and Western Blotting, and the production of IFN-gamma was followed in order to observe the activation of cellular response. After twelve weeks of antigen inoculation, the animals were challenged with 2 x 10(5)CFU of a wild strain, also isolated in Bahia, and necropsy was performed on all animals twelve weeks afterwards. It was observed that the attenuated bacteria gave a protection of 33.3%, in addition to the weak humoral response elicited. Animals inoculated with secreted antigen associated with Freund's incomplete adjuvant and oligodeoxynucleotide containing unmethylated CpG dinucleotides (CpG ODN) showed a strong humoral response, but this inoculation could not prevent the spread of challenge bacteria in the majority of animals. These results demonstrate the immunogenic potential of the attenuated T1 strain in the development of a vaccine against caseous lymphadenitis in goats.     

Considering landscape connectivity and gene flow in the Anthropocene using complementary landscape genetics and habitat modelling approaches

Landscape Ecology - A comprehensive understanding of how rapidly changing environments affect species gene flow is critical for mitigating future biodiversity losses. While recent methodological...     

Landscape genetics highlight the importance of sustainable management in European mountain spruce forests: a case study on Western capercaillie

The mountain spruce forests of the Western Carpathians have experienced a dramatic deterioration in the last decades increasing the landscape fragmentation. This considerably affected the Western capercaillie population recently surviving within small habitat patches surrounded by unfavourable habitats. Our study shows that the long-term isolation resulted in genetic differentiation with decreasing trend in allelic richness towards the most adjacent western subpopulations. We evaluated dispersal possibilities within the landscape and identified barriers and the most critical corridors between genetically distinct subpopulations. Landscape genetic analysis confirmed that the isolation by environmental features explains the observed genetic patterns better than straight geographical distance. We highlight the urgent need for an active conservation management in the critical habitats where dispersion might be constrained or “bottlenecked” in order to ensure gene flow within the fragmented capercaillie metapopulation of the Western Carpathian mountain forests.     

Serologic immunoreactivity to Neospora caninum antigens in dogs determined by indirect immunofluorescence, western blotting and dot-ELISA

Neospora caninum, is a coccidian protozoan known as a major cause of bovine abortion and canine neuropathies. The aim of the present study was to develop a reliable and quick test to detect antibodies to N. caninum in dog sera. Sixty-five serum samples from dogs, including 35 positive and 30 negative for N. caninum antibodies were used for standardization of the test. In parallel, immunoreactivity of the sera to Toxoplasma gondii antigens was investigated using a passive agglutination test. A dot-ELISA test, using soluble extract of N. caninum tachyzoites on nitrocellulose ester membranes, was developed and standardized. SDS-PAGE and complementary analysis of reactivity by Western blotting were used for the characterization of the immunoreactive fractions of all tested sera. The sensitivity and specificity of the dot-ELISA were 94 and 73%, respectively, compared to IFAT at a cut-off of 1:50, and 87 and 100% compared to IFAT at a cut-off of 1:25. Among the sera that tested positively for both IFAT and dot-ELISA, only 8.6% were reactive to T. gondii. The most immunoreactive fractions in Western blots were the 14-, 33-, 42- and 55 kDa bands, with percentages of 42, 60, 42 and 37%, respectively. The 60 kDa band showed a non-specific reaction in 43% of neosporosis-negative animals by both dot-ELISA and IFAT. These results indicate that the dot-ELISA using N. caninum antigen present good sensitivity and specificity, and might be used as a screening test to detect antibodies to N. caninum in dogs.     

Effect of growth hormone on muscle protein synthesis in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

This paper reports on the effect of administration of mammalian growth hormone (GH) on muscle protein synthesis as measured in white muscle using the phenylalanine flooding technique. The effect of exogenous GH was compared with that of insulin and prolactin, and with endogenous GH.The rate of protein synthesis in white muscle of rainbow trout 6 h after the injection of bovine GH or bovine insulin was twice (2.6 and 2.9% d^–1) that of the control saline-injected fish (1.2% d^–1). A metabolic effect of GH, as observed with insulin, is suspected.The rates of change in body weight and body length and the fractional rate of protein synthesis in muscle of rainbow trout were enhanced by mammalian GH administration. The effect of GH on muscle RNA/protein ratios was not significant. An opposite effect of antibodies against salmon GH (Lebailet al. 1989) on growth rate and muscle protein synthesis rate was found in rainbow trout. It is suggested that the effects of exogenous and endogenous GH on capacity and efficiency of muscle protein synthesis were similar.The long-term effects of mammalian GH on presmolt Atlantic salmon was also tested. The same trends were found with ovine prolactin supplementation in Atlantic salmon but not as high as those observed with ovine GH.     

Experimental Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis primary infection in goats: kinetics of IgG and interferon-gamma production, IgG avidity and antigen recognition by Western blotting

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is the cause of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) in small ruminants, a chronic granulomatous disease that provokes significant zootechnics losses to ovine and goat breeders in northern Brazil. The present work was conducted to analyse aspects of humoral and cellular immune responses after experimental infection. Eight goats were infected intradermally with a single dose of virulent C. pseudotuberculosis strain and specific IgG, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production as well as IgG avidity and antigens pattern recognition dynamics against an excreted-secreted antigen were recorded during 20 weeks. At the end of the follow-up, animals were slaughtered and necropsied. Although no animals showed apparent clinical signs of infection at the end of the trial, IFN-gamma response, even more so than the humoral response, differentiated animals into two groups of high or medium/low response. The time-course of IFN-gamma production presented a short-lived primary response on day 5 after infection of animals of both groups, and a strong and long lasting secondary response starting on day 16 after infection in the high response group. The indirect ELISA used was able to detect a positive antibody titre between 6 and 11 days after infection in the two groups. IgG avidity index oscillated initially between 15 and 45%, and showed approximately 5% units increment during the 20 follow-up weeks. With only one individual exception, the qualitative antigens pattern recognition showed on day 11 after infection remained constant through the experiment. IgG avidity is highly correlated with IgG production, but could not be related with specific immunodominant bands. Both humoral and cellular responses kinetics presented a similar pattern of activation/deactivation but necropsy results suggested that the IFN-gamma test would be a very specific marker of CLA status.     

Spatial and microgeographical genetic differentiation of black alder (Alnus glutinosa Gaertn.) populations

Three Alnus glutinosa populations from central Slovakia were investigated by means of isozyme analysis. The average expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.151 to 0.173. Despite significant differences in allele frequencies among populations, genetic differentiation was low (F_ST=0.022). Intrapopulation fixation indices indicate no or very slight deviation from panmictic expectations towards the heterozygote deficiency. No indications were found that the investigated populations have experienced recent bottlenecks in population size. A spatial autocorrelation analysis based on Moran’s I indicates the existence of a spatial genetic structuring in the population Král’ová. Patch size was estimated to be 70–100 m, which is more than observed in other broadleaved tree species. This difference is explained by the linear shape of alder populations and a higher mobility of seeds.     

The status and conservation of the cheetah Acinonyx jubatus in Tanzania

This is the first assessment of the status of cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, in Tanzania since 1965. It completes a series of recent studies in Kenya, Uganda, and Malawi to provide an overall understanding of the species’ status in East Africa. Interviews with 370 informants yielded 1050 cheetah sightings. Eighty nine percent of all sightings were made in 1990-1994, and 39% of all sightings occurred in protected areas. All-adult groups contained 1.92±0.04 S.D. individuals; the average number of dependent cubs was 2.63±0.08 S.D.; and the cub-to-adult ratio was 0.34. Since the 1960s, the distribution has remained stable overall with possible reductions in central Tanzania. No definite population trends were detected. With an estimated 569-1007 cheetahs, Tanzania emerges as a sanctuary for the species worldwide. However rangelands, which may hold half of Tanzania’s cheetahs, are undergoing rapid degradation. This precarious situation calls for the establishment of a nationwide monitoring program. Distribution map and population sizes from this study could serve as a baseline for monitoring the species’ status.