A national survey of airborne pollen and grass flowering in New Zealand,with implications for respiratory disorder

Airborne pollen and spore levels were monitored at seven sites in New Zealand using the Intermittent Cycling Rotorod sampler during the summer of 1988/1989. Grasses formed the major component of atmospheric pollen levels during spring and summer at every locality. Peak levels of grass and total pollen occurred during December or late November, with a slight latitudinal lag apparent at the more southern sites. Highest levels were recorded at the smaller rural centres of Gore and Kaikohe and the lowest at the larger urban centres of Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. We make a first approximation of the likely risk to hayfever and allergic asthma patients at each of the seven centres. For example, significantly higher grass pollen levels were experienced at Kaikohe on 44% and 65% of days during November and December, compared with just 15% and 8% at Auckland. By recording the flowering seasons of the principal allergenic grass species at each locality, we determined the potentially allergenic grasses contributing to peak pollen levels, the most ubiquitous being tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.,L. multiflorum Lam.), cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.), Yorkshire fog (Holcus lanatus L.) and sweet vernal (Anthoxanthum odoratum L.). Corresponding author. Deceased.     

An unusual new species of the genus Brachypalpus Macquart (Diptera: Syrphidae) from Eastern Asia

Brachypalpus (Brachypalpus) longifacies sp. nov. is described and illustrated from Eastern Asia (Russian Far East and Japan). It differs from other species of the nominative subgenus by several unusual characters, i.e. face in profile weakly convex dorsally and concave ventrally, antennae very elongated, and abdomen with reddish transversal maculae on 2nd tergum (male) or 2nd and 3rd terga (female). A key is given for known species of the subgenus Brachypalpus.LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:634CB6E2-B2C1-40EC-8811-BF3DD4BDE69A     

Modelling biological invasions over homogeneous and inhomogeneous landscapes using level set methods

The establishment, spread and subsequent degradation of existing environments by invasive species is a worldwide problem affecting native and agricultural ecosystems. The phenomenal cost to governments as a result of research and eradication or control drives the need to understand invasion characteristics. In this paper we develop a method for modelling the boundary of an invasion over time with model inputs being the initial distribution of the invasion and the speed at which the invasion front moves over time. This speed function can depend on the topography of the ground cover and we consider examples of homogeneous and inhomogeneous spread. The possibility of a long-distance dispersal event occurring is also considered. In particular, examples of the spread of emergent weeds and weeds which favour creeks and river beds in New Zealand are presented.     

The use of energy stores in the puerulus of the spiny lobster Jasus edwardsii across the continental shelf of New Zealand

Nektonic pueruli of the spiny lobster, Jasus edwardsii, were caught from two locations about 20 km apart across the continental shelf on the south east of the North Island, New Zealand. The pueruli were assayed for total protein, glucose, glycogen, and lipid content. Only the lipid content differed between pueruli caught onshore and offshore (mean difference=3.1 mg or 3.4% of dry mass). The average difference in lipid content measured over this distance was used to calculate the rate of energy consumption and timing for pueruli to actively swim from the continental shelf to shore. These results confirmed previous theoretical estimates and indirect measures. Furthermore, the rate of energy consumption would allow all of the pueruli caught offshore to swim to shore based on their total measured lipids. However, some individuals with low energy stores may be energetically compromised at arrival which may affect their subsequent moulting and survival. The results of this study indicate that lipid is the primary format for energy storage of the nektonic puerulus of the spiny lobster and that these lipid reserves have sufficient energetic capacity to allow the puerulus to actively swim the distance across the shelf to settle on the coast.     

New triterpene saponins from the seed cake of Camellia Oleifera and their cytotoxic activity

Two new oleanane-type triterpene saponins, identified as 16α-hydroxy-22-O-angeloyl-23-formyl-28,31-dihydroxymethylene-olean-12-ene-3β-O-{β-d-galactopyranosyl-(1 → 2)[β-d-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-α-l-arabinopyranosyl(1 → 3)]-β-d-glucopyranosiduronic acid} (oleiferasaponin B₁, 1) and 22-O-hydrocinnamoyl-23-formyl-28-dihydroxymethylene-olean-12-ene-3β-O-{β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 2)[β-d-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-α-l-arabinopyranosyl(1 → 3)]-β-d-glucopyranosiduronic acid} (oleiferasaponin B₂, 2), were isolated from the seed cake of Camellia oleifera Abel. Their structures were established by extensive 1D- and 2D-NMR experiments along with TOF-MS analysis and acid hydrolysis. The cytotoxicity of the isolated compounds was evaluated in four human carcinoma cell lines: A 549, SK-OV-3, SK-MEL-2 and HCT15. Both compounds 1 and 2 exhibited significantly cytotoxic activity with IC₅₀ values of 18.5 μM (A549), 11.3 μM (SK-OV-3), 13.9 μM (SK-MEL-2) and 1.6 μM (HCT15) for 1 and IC₅₀ values of 8.4 μM (A549), 6.3 μM (SK-OV-3), 9.2 μM (SK-MEL-2) and 0.8 μM (HCT15) for 2. In addition, compound 2 showed more effective cytotoxic activity than compound 1.     

广东省种子植物分布新资料

报道广东省种子植物分布新记录2属——甜茅属(Glyceria R. Br.)及锦鸡儿属(Caragana Fabr.)，2个新记录种——甜茅[Glyceria acutiflora subsp. japonica (Steud.) T. Koyama et Kawano]及锦鸡儿[Caragana sinica (Buc’hoz) Rehder]，均发现于丹霞山国家级自然保护区。新记录的发现对于研究丹霞山的区系发生具有一定指示意义。     

Further new species of the plant bug genus Campylomma Reuter from the Oriental Region (Heteroptera: Miridae: Phylinae: Nasocorini)

The fauna of the nasocorine plant bug genus Campylomma Reuter from the Oriental Region, including subtropical Japanese Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa Island of Southwest Islands-group) and Taiwan is updated. Three new species are herein described, C. astica n. sp. (from Okinawa and Taoyuan, Taiwan), C. hibiscicola n. sp. (Bangkok, Thailand) and C. nanrenana n. sp. (Pingtung, Taiwan). Of these, C. astica and C. hibiscicola, were observed to have cryptic habitat-preference, inhabiting bracts, stipules or flower buds of the sea (or coastal) hibiscus, Hibiscus tiliaceus (L.) (Malvaceae), planted for landscaping at urbanized zones. An updated checklist of the 22 Oriental Campylomma species is provided.     

The fossil record and estimating divergence times between lineages: Maximum divergene times and the importance of reliable phylogenies

Summary Bounded estimates on divergence times between lineaes are crucial to the calculation of absolute rates of molecular evolution. Upper (minimum) bounds on divergence times are easily estimated based on earliest fossil finds. Lower (maximum) bounds are more difficult to estimate; the age of putative ancestors may be used, though in practice it is virtually impossible to distinguish ancestors from primitive sister groups, which do not, of logical necessit, consitute lower bounds on divergence times. Two relatively new approaches to estimating lower bounds directly assess the incompleteness of the fossil record. The first uses taphonomic control groups to distinguish real absences from nonpreservation, while the second, and probably more powerful, uses the quality of the fossil recored to estimate confidence intervals on the bases of stratigraphic ranges. For some groups, especially vertebrates, the inclusion or exclusion of problematic fossils can dramaticaly affect estimated lower bounds on divergence times, often swamping the uncertainties due to the incompleteness of the fossil record and/or corelation and dating errors. When datable paleogeographic events reflect ancient divisions of faunas, a lower bound on the divergence time of speices within a fauna can be established based on the geologic, rather than fossil, record. The fossil records of hominids, eutherianmammals, echinoids, and geese are used as examples.This article was presented at the C.S.E.O.L. Conferrence on DNA-DNA Hybridization and Evolution, Lake Arrowhead, California, May 11–14, 1989     

Amphidoma languida (Amphidomatacea,Dinophyceae) with a novel azaspiracid toxin profile identified as the cause of molluscan contamination at the Atlantic coast of southern Spain

Azaspiracids (AZA) are a group of food poisoning phycotoxins that are known to accumulate in shellfish. They are produced by some species of the planktonic dinophycean taxon Amphidomataceae. Azaspiracids have been first discovered in Ireland but are now reported in shellfish from numerous global sites thus showing a wide distribution. In shellfish samples collected in 2009 near Huelva (Spain), AZA was also found along the Andalusian Atlantic coast for the first time. Analysis using LC–MS/MS revealed the presence of two different AZA analogues in different bivalve shellfish species (Chamelea gallina, Cerastoderma edule, Donax trunculus, and Solen vagina). In a number of samples, AZA levels exceeded the EU regulatory level of 160 μg AZA-1 eq. kg⁻¹ (reaching maximum levels of >500 μg AZA-1 eq. kg⁻¹ in Chamelea gallina and >250 μg AZA-1 eq. kg⁻¹ in Donax trunculus) causing closures of some local shellfish production areas. One dinophyte strain established from the local plankton during the AZA contamination period and determined as Amphidoma languida was in fact toxigenic, and its AZA profile disclosed it as the causative species: it contained AZA-2 as the main compound and the new compound AZA-43 initially detected in the shellfish. AZA-43 had the same mass as AZA-3, but produced different collision induced dissociation (CID) spectra. High resolution mass spectrometric measurements indicated that there is an unsaturation in the H, I ring system of AZA-43 distinguishing it from the classical AZA such as AZA-1, -2, and -3. Furthermore, the Spanish strain was different from the previously reported AZA profile of the species that consist of AZA-38 and AZ-39. In molecular phylogenetics, the Andalusian strain formed a monophyletic group together with other strains of Am. languida, but ITS sequences data revealed surprisingly high intragenomic variability. The first Andalusian case of AZA contamination of shellfish above the EU regulatory limit reported here clearly revealed the risk of azaspiracid poisoning (AZP) for this area and also for the Atlantic coast of Iberia and North Africa. The present study underlines the need for continuous monitoring of AZA and the organisms producing such toxins.