New Phytologist 141 (1999), 99–108

In the January 1999 issue of New Phytologist , we published the research paper entitled 'The effect of light on the growth and reproduction of Floerkea proserpinacoides ' by Margaret F. McKenna and Gilles Houle ( New Phytol . (1999) 141 , 99–108). Since its publication, the authors have identified two important errors in the text. First, values given for leaf area ratio (LAR) and specific leaf area (SLA) have been given erroneously in units of cm² g⁻¹; the correct units are cm² mg⁻¹. Second, the values for unit leaf rate (ULR) have been given incorrectly as tenfold lower than they should be; these should be multiplied by ten to give the correct values in mg m⁻² d⁻¹.
We apologise to our readers for these mistakes.     

New Phytologist 140 (1998), 363–383

In the November 1998 issue of New Phytologist , we published the Tansley review 'Gibberellins: regulating genes and germination' by Sian Ritchie and Simon Gilroy ( New Phytol. (1998) 140 , 363–383). Since its publication, it has come to our attention that text associated with Fig. 4 was omitted during production. The correct figure is reprinted here in full.
We apologise to the author and to our readers for this mistake.
Figure 4. Promoter sequences of various genes expressed in the cereal aleurone and shown to be regulated by GA. The position of each sequence is indicated relative to the start codon. Regions identified as being involved in regulation of the genes are highlighted, as are similar regions in other genes. Sites at which protein has been shown to bind are also indicated. ( a ) Barley Amy 32b (Sutcliff et al ., 1993; Whittier et al ., 1987); wheat Amy 2/54 (Huttley et al ., 1992; Rushton et al ., 1992; Rushton et al ., 1995); barley Amy 46 (Khursheed & Rogers, 1988); barley Amy 2/p155 (Knox et al ., 1987); barley aleurain (Whittier et al ., 1987); barley β-glucanase II (Wolf, 1992); wheat cathepsin B-like (Cejudo et al ., 1992); rice ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (Chen et al ., 1995). ( b ). Wheat Amy 1/18 (Rushton et al ., 1992); barley Amy pHV 19 (Jacobsen & Close, 1991; Gubler & Jacobsen, 1992)/ Amy 1 / 6-4 (Khursheed & Rogers, 1988; Rogers, Lanahan & Rogers 1994); rice OSamy-a / Amy 3c (Ou-Lee et al ., 1988; Sutcliff et al ., 1991; Yu et al ., 1992; Goldman et al ., 1994); rice Amy 3B (Sutcliffe et al ., 1991); rice OSamy-c (Kim et al ., 1992; Kim & Wu, 1992; Tanida et al ., 1994); rice Amy 1A (Huang et al ., 1990; Itoh et al ., 1995).
Figure 4 ( b ). For legend see facing page.     

New Phytologist 140 (1998), 709–714

In the December 1998 issue of New Phytologist , we published the research paper entitled 'Natural occurrence of Ampelomyces intracellular mycoparasites in mycelia of powdery mildew fungi' by Levente Kiss ( New Phytol. (1998) 140 , 709–714). Since its publication, an error in the published title has been brought to our attention: this refers to the ampelomyces , but the name should be Ampelomyces , meaning the genus.
We apologise to the author and to our readers for this mistake.     

The herbicidal activity of bromoxyside (3,5–dibromo-4–hydroxyphenyl methyl sulphide), its esters and related compounds

Studies on the herbicidal activity of 3,5–dibromo-4–hydroxybenzonitrile (bromoxynil) and 3,5–dibromo-4-hydroxyphenyl methyl sulphone (bromoxysone) have been extended to include 3,5–dibromo-4-hydroxyphenyl methyl sulphide (bromoxyside), its esters and other related compounds. Bromoxyside produced chlorotic effects in barley and wild oat seedlings, the herbicidal activity being similar to that of bromoxysone but quite different to that of bromoxynil. A range of aliphatic and aromatic esters of bromoxyside were prepared and examined as herbicides using barley and wild oat seedlings as test plants. The acetate and propionate were the most active against both species. No compound tested was more herbicidal to wild oat than to barley. Introduction of a further bromo or methyl ring-substituent into bromoxyside removed herbicidal activity. Spraying plants of differing age showed that the herbicidal effect was greater when the plants were small.     

Amyloid β Protein (25–35) Stimulation of Phospholipase C in LA-N-2 Cells

Abstract: The amyloid β protein (25–35) stimulated appearance of ³H-inositol phosphates from [³H]inositol-prelabeled LA-N-2 cells was investigated. This stimulation was unaltered by extra- and intracellular calcium chelators in a calcium-free medium or by several protein kinase inhibitors. This phospholipase C stimulation by amyloid β protein appeared to be pertussis toxin sensitive. It is possible that this phospholipase C stimulation by amyloid β protein is a receptor-mediated process. This possibility is based on two related observations. The stimulation is ablated by the presence of conventional antagonists for metabotropic, adrenergic, and bombesin agonists. The IC₅₀ values were 12 µ M for propranolol, 15 µ M for AP-3, and 25 n M for [Tyr⁴, d -Phe¹²]bombesin. Additional support comes from results of densensitization and resensitization experiments. Amyloid β protein stimulation of phospholipase C was absent from LA-N-2 cells previously treated with norepinephrine, trans -1-amino-1,3-cyclopentanedicarboxylic acid (t-ACPD), bombesin, or amyloid β peptide. In a similar manner, LA-N-2 cells previously treated with amyloid β protein were no longer responsive to norepinephrine, t-ACPD, or bombesin. The responsiveness to amyloid β protein returned, subsequent to a period of resensitization for the individual agonists. It is suggested that this observed amyloid β protein stimulation of phospholipase C may be responsible for the elevated quantity of inositol seen in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients.     

Trend words in ecological core journals over the last 25 years (1978–2002)

Ecological research has been repeatedly criticized for its general lack of progress. While it has proved difficult to reveal scientific progress, from a subjective view trends in ecology seems evident. In order to objectively detect principal trends in this broad discipline during the past 25 years (1978–2002), we performed several word and co-word analyses on titles and abstracts of articles that appeared in five core journals of ecology: «Ecology>>, «Oecologia>>, «Oikos>>, «Journal of Animal Ecology>> and «Journal of Ecology>>. A general time gradient in the use of words was evident and words with a positive trend dominated. Trend words derived from article titles were used to perform co-word analyses on abstracts available since 1991. Besides a trend towards the study of processes most important ecological fields found are landscape ecology, biodiversity, ecosystem research, modelling, and food-web/predator–prey interactions. A semantic map of trend words was built by ordination. In the map, words formed a continuous space with the three thematic directions «biotic>>, «abiotic>> and «temporal & spatial>> representing the classic aspects of ecological research. With respect to the obvious trends and features derived from our analyses, we suggest that the results represent real scientific progress in ecology as a pluralistic, multi-aspect and multiple-causation discipline. Such a progress could hardly be observed from details in sub-disciplines.     

John Lawrance Nicholls, MNZM BSc (NZ), 2 December 1920 – 19 August 2010

The passing of John Nicholls in Rotorua on 19 August 2010 marks the end of an era in New Zealand forest ecology. John was intimately involved in the National Forest Survey of 1946–55 and oversaw the subsequent Ecological Survey (1960–67) that filled gaps in the original survey. Though undertaken initially to assess remaining timber volumes, these initiatives also acquired a vast amount of ecological data. Through them and his own thirst for knowledge, John gained unparalleled insights into the compositional variation of New Zealand forests that were later to prove invaluable in his career in forest mapping, reserve designation, and biogeographic classification.