Furcarcturus polarsterni gen. nov., sp. nov., a large deep-sea arcturid isopod from the Drake Passage, with a preliminary molecular characterization

A new arcturid species of unusual size (> 6 cm) is described from a locality in the Drake Passage at 3720 m depth. Due to the unique combination of characters found in these isopods, the new genus Furcarcturus is proposed. Sequences of the 16S rRNA gene obtained from eight species indicate that the new species does not belong to groups of species currently placed in the genera Antarcturus and Chaetarcturus. More sequences are needed to corroborate arcturid phlylogeny. Accepted: 28 May 2000     

Prevalence of Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli, and Salmonella serovars in retail chicken, turkey, pork, and beef from the Greater Washington, D.C., area.

A total of 825 samples of retail raw meats (chicken, turkey, pork, and beef) were examined for the presence of Escherichia coli and Salmonella serovars, and 719 of these samples were also tested for Campylobacter spp. The samples were randomly obtained from 59 stores of four supermarket chains during 107 sampling visits in the Greater Washington, D.C., area from June 1999 to July 2000. The majority (70.7%) of chicken samples (n = 184) were contaminated with Campylobacter, and a large percentage of the stores visited (91%) had Campylobacter-contaminated chickens. Approximately 14% of the 172 turkey samples yielded Campylobacter, whereas fewer pork (1.7%) and beef (0.5%) samples were positive for this pathogen. A total of 722 Campylobacter isolates were obtained from 159 meat samples; 53.6% of these isolates were Campylobacter jejuni, 41.3% were Campylobacter coli, and 5.1% were other species. Of the 212 chicken samples, 82 (38.7%) yielded E. coli, while 19.0% of the beef samples, 16.3% of the pork samples, and 11.9% of the turkey samples were positive for E. coli. However, only 25 (3.0%) of the retail meat samples tested were positive for Salmonella. Significant differences in the bacterial contamination rates were observed for the four supermarket chains. This study revealed that retail raw meats are often contaminated with food-borne pathogens; however, there are marked differences in the prevalence of such pathogens in different meats. Raw retail meats are potential vehicles for transmitting food-borne diseases, and our findings stress the need for increased implementation of hazard analysis of critical control point (HACCP) and consumer food safety education efforts.     

Ayala, F.J., Fitch, W.M. and Clegg, M.T. Variation and evolution in plants and microorganisms: toward a new synthesis 50 years after Stebbins

In January 2000, an impressive cohort of evolutionary biologistsconvened in Irvine, California, to celebrate the 50th anniversaryof the publication of G. Ledyard Stebbins’ Variation andevolution in plants. The brief introductory appreciation ofStebbins by Peter Raven describes Variation as ‘the mostimportant book on plant evolution of the 20th century’(p. 5). This strongly worded claim is not entirely without justification.Among the ‘New Synthesists’, Stebbins achieved forbotanists what Theodosius Dobzhansky (later to be a colleagueof Stebbins at UC Davis) had previously achieved for geneticists,Ernst Mayr for zoologists and G. G. Simpson for palaeontologists.Admittedly, the     

Mobilicoccus pelagius gen. nov., sp. nov. and Piscicoccus intestinalis gen. nov., sp. nov., two new members of the family Dermatophilaceae, and reclassification of Dermatophilus chelonae (Masters et al. 1995) as Austwickia chelonae gen. nov., comb. nov

Two Gram-positive bacteria, designated strains Aji5-31(T) and Ngc37-23(T), were isolated from the intestinal tracts of fishes. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that both strains were related to the members of the family Dermatophilaceae, with 95.6-96.9% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities. The family Dermatophilaceae contains 2 genera and 3 species: Dermatophilus congolensis, Dermatophilus chelonae and Kineosphaera limosa. However, it has been suggested that the taxonomic position of D. chelonae should be reinvestigated using a polyphasic approach, because the chemotaxonomic characteristics are not known (Stackebrandt, 2006; Stackebrandt and Schumann, 2000). Our present study revealed that strains Aji5-31(T), Ngc37-23(T) and D. chelonae NBRC 105200(T) should be separated from the other members of the family Dermatophilaceae on the basis of the following characteristics: the predominant menaquinone of strain Aji5-31(T) is MK-8(H(2)), strain Ngc37-23(T) possesses iso- branched fatty acids as major components, and the menaquinone composition of D. chelonae is MK-8(H(4)), MK-8 and MK-8(H(2)) (5 : 3 : 2, respectively). On the basis of these distinctive phenotypic characteristics and phylogenetic analysis results, it is proposed that strains Aji5-31(T) and Ngc37-23(T) be classified as two novel genera and species of the family Dermatophilaceae. The names are Mobilicoccus pelagius gen. nov., sp. nov. and Piscicoccus intestinalis gen. nov., sp. nov., and the type strains are Aji5-31(T) (=NBRC 104925(T) =DSM 22762(T)) and Ngc37-23(T) (=NBRC 104926(T) =DSM 22761(T)), respectively. In addition, D. chelonae should be reassigned to a new genus of the family Dermatophilaceae with the name Austwickia chelonae gen. nov., comb. nov.     

Triteleia peyerimhoffi comb. n., a remarkably variable circum-Mediterranean scelionid (Hymenoptera, Platygastroidea)

Triteleia peyerimhofficomb. n. (Kieffer, 1906) is redescribed taking into account its great variability and is considered the senior synonym of Triteleia dubia (Kieffer, 1908), Calliscelio lugens (Kieffer, 1910) and Triteleia striolata Kononova & Petrov, 2000, syn. n. Neotypes are designated for Triteleia dubia and Triteleia peyerimhoffi. Triteleia peyerimhoffi is a new record for Greece, France and Croatia and was reared for the first time from eggs of Orthoptera laid in the dead wood of Quercus sp. and Tilia sp. in Romania.     

Alberts, B., Johnson, A., Lewis, J., Raff, M., Roberts, K. and Walter, P. Molecular biology of the cell. 4th edn.

First edition, 1983; 2nd edition, 1989; 3rd edition, 1994; 4thedition, 2002. Any book that appears in so many editions insuch a relatively short space of time must be doing somethingright. And so it is, for Molecular Biology of the Cell (‘MBoC’as the authors refer to it) is arguably setting the pace—andthe standard—that other textbooks on the subject mustaspire to. Although not familiar with the previous incarnationsof MBoC, I do note that the line-up     

Comparisons of the polar lipid and pigment profiles of two solar salterns located in Newark, California, U.S.A., and Eilat, Israel

The whole community pigments and lipids have been examined during a 5-year period in two commercial solar salterns located in the United States and in Israel. There were significant differences in the complexity of the lipid and pigment patterns within the California saltern system, and these differences were not consistent over the sampling period despite examination of ponds with the same salinity. The solar saltern system in Eilat, Israel, showed greater consistency during this sampling period and compared directly with previous studies. The complexity of the saltern in Newark, California, could be explained on the basis of the prevailing weather conditions (cooler and more rainfall) and the nutrient-enriched source water. The Eilat saltern, however, has an oligotrophic water source and has a considerably warmer and drier climate. This difference resulted in more diverse and more complex pigment and lipid patterns and presumably microbial populations in the Newark, California, plant than in the saltern in Eilat, Israel. Received: December 10, 1999 / Accepted: April 6, 2000     

The hardening process of the egg chorion of the cod, Gadus morhua L., and lumpsucker, Cyclopterus lumpus L.

When transferred to sea water the chorion of cod and lumpsucker eggs harden, reaching a resistance of about 150 and 2000 g respectively. In sea water this hardening process is independent of fertilization. Studies of eggs kept in artificial sea water with various ionic compositions indicated, in the lumpsucker eggs, that a cortical reaction seems to be a prerequisite for the hardening process. Calcium is necessary for the reaction both in unfertilized and inseminated eggs, whereas hardening takes place in the absence of potassium, magnesium or sulphate. Addition of barium or strontium as a substitute for calcium only caused hardening in the presence of activating spermatozoa. Activating spermatozoa were also necessary for hardening of lumpsucker eggs kept in ovarian fluid, but such hardening only occurred if calcium and/or magnesium were added. The hardening of lumpsucker eggs was associated with profound changes in the thickness and surface appearance of the chorion.     

Phagomyxa bellerocheae sp. nov. and Phagomyxa odontellae sp. nov., Plasmodiophoromycetes feeding on marine diatoms

The parasitic Plasmodiophoromycetes Phagomyxa bellerocheae sp. nov. and P. odontellae sp. nov. have been found in the North Frisian Wadden Sea; North Sea, feeding on the centric diatoms Bellerochea malleus and Odontella sinensis, respectively. Their structure and development is investigated by light microscopy and compared. The diagnoses are given. The life cycle of P. odontellae takes about a week. Received in revised form: 25 September 2000 Electronic Publication     

Khachatourians, G.G., McHughen, A., Scorza, R., Nip, W.K. and Haui, Y.H. eds. Transgenic plants and crops

Readers of this journal may ask themselves whether the worldreally needs another multi-author volume on transgenic crops.Indeed, I asked the same question myself when invited to reviewthis new     

Tret'yakov,N.N., Koshkin,E.I., Novikov,N.N., Makrushin,N.M., Pil'shchikova,N.V., Karnaukhova,T.V., and Loseva,A.S., Fiziologiya i biokhimiya sel'skokhozyaistvennykh rastenii (Physiology and Biochemistry of Crop Plants), Moscow: Kolos, 1998

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology -