Land Tenure and Naming Systems in Aboriginal Australia

Naming systems play a prominent role in discussions of land tenure by Aboriginal people. Reference to one area of land and its owners is most commonly in terms of name ‘X’, whereas reference to another area of land and its owners is most commonly made in terms of name ‘Y’. Much of the analytical literature examines how these names refer to groups of people. There is considerable dispute as to whether the reference of these names suffices to determine disjoint groupings of owners that can be described by the term ‘clan’. This paper proposes that the analysis of linkages between names and areas of land should have priority over the analysis of linkages between names and groups of people. The evidence shows that the attachment of names to areas of land is more stable and consistent than their attachment to groups of people. There are differences in the ways that names attach to the landscape, and these differences are significant—they determine whether or not more than one name from the same system may be attached to an area of land. This paper focuses on two areas of Australia: the northern Kakadu‐Oenpelli area and the Timber Creek area (both in the Northern Territory). It shows that naming systems identify disjunctive areas of land as the targets for claims of primary ownership in both areas. These disjunctive areas may reasonably be described with the translation term ‘estates’. In the northern Kakadu‐Oenpelli area, corresponding to these estates, there are disjunctive groupings of owners, which may be termed ‘clans’. However, groupings of owners are not clearly disjunctive in the Timber Creek area, and there is little motivation for using the term ‘clan’. This paper proposes that this difference reflects a general pattern in Aboriginal Australia, with naming systems stably and consistently identifying ‘estates’ across much of the continent. They do not identify ‘clans’ with equivalent stability and consistency.     

Bazar,Big Kites and Other Boys' Things: Distinctions of Gender and Tradition in Balinese Youth Culture

Balinese society is undergoing rapid change, but remains discursively situated in a ‘timeless’ ethos of cultural tradition. This tension can be observed in relation to the cultural activities of the island's young people, particularly the young men. The staging of bazar (neighbourhood fundraising parties), the making of ogoh‐ogoh (giant papier‐mâché effigies to mark Nyepi, the Balinese New Year) and the competitive flying of oversize kites are–despite their sometimes contentious reception from older generations—popularly dubbed as ‘traditional’ expressions of Balinese youth culture. This recourse to tradition must be viewed in relation to two pervasive discourses: that of adat (customary law) and ajeg (a new protectionist ethos in the discourse on Balinese cultural identity). This paper argues that in contemporary urban Bali, male youth culture finds its most visible expressions in relation to the abiding standards of established public ritual and the equally abiding gender divisions that serve to guarantee the reproduction of ‘traditional’ social life. Rather than fighting aggressively against the grown‐up norm, these expressions replicate the public culture of the adult world—while drawing on global and national youth styles—and strive towards the expression of a specifically ‘Balinese’ youth culture.     

Nationalism and Belonging in India,Pakistan and South Central Asia: Some Comparative Observations

The criteria invoked in the definition of national identity are commonly derived from contexts other than those of the nation-state itself—most notably those of territoriality, language/culture, kinship/descent and religion. It therefore follows that in seeking to understand the kind of identity or belongingness invoked in a particular instance of national ideology it is necessary to explore not only the kind of nation-state envisaged, but also those non-national forms of belonging or community from which the national ideology may itself be historically derived. In this paper I seek to develop this argument by comparing some of the principal forms of nationalism found in India, Pakistan and Central Asia. I pay particular attention to the importance of the concept qawm, which in Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere in Central Asia, is used to refer to a wide variety of groups to which people owe allegiance. Such usages alert us to the important fact that the nation, as ‘imagined community’, may have its origins as a political movement among sentiments and allegiances which draw on pre-modern social arrangements and are in tension with ‘nationalist’ exclusivism. Even when the nation (as nation-state) has been secured, so-called ‘nationalist’ revivalism, while taking the nation for granted, may in fact appeal to sentiments of a different kind.     

Aspects of the semantics of emotions and feelings in Dalabon (South‐Western Arnhem Land,Australia)

This article describes two of the principal roots allowing the expression of emotions and feelings in Dalabon, an endangered language of South‐Western Arnhem Land. The first root, kangu, ‘belly’, is depicted linguistically as the location of emotions induced by interpersonal relationships. The belly is thus presented as the locus of good and bad moods generally and of conflict more specifically. Furthermore, the material properties of the belly—its fluidity in particular—impact on one’s temper and ability to deal with others in an ideologically prescribed manner. Speakers describe ritual manipulations undertaken on the belly of young infants in order to shape their temper. Kangu‐no may thus be described as a malleable interface between the person and the outside world, principally other people. The second root, yolh, may at first sight translate as ‘feelings’, either good or bad, but also means ‘appetite’, ‘drive’, ‘pep’. Yolh‐no is associated with the most intimate part of the person, one’s own aspirations that are independent of interactions with others. Although yolh‐no connotes the core self and kangu‐no, the belly, connotes relatedness to others, they are conceived as physiologically connected, so that material properties of the belly impact on the self. Thus, the semantic analysis of Dalabon, along with related anthropological observations, unveils an explicit conceptual and cultural attention to the distinction between emotions and feelings (as respectively defined in the article) and to the autonomy of the person within a constraining social framework. The article shows how this concern echoes and challenges both anthropological and philosophical considerations.     

Intragroup competition predicts individual foraging specialisation in a group‐living mammal

Individual foraging specialisation has important ecological implications, but its causes in group‐living species are unclear. One of the major consequences of group living is increased intragroup competition for resources. Foraging theory predicts that with increased competition, individuals should add new prey items to their diet, widening their foraging niche (‘optimal foraging hypothesis’). However, classic competition theory suggests the opposite: that increased competition leads to niche partitioning and greater individual foraging specialisation (‘niche partitioning hypothesis’). We tested these opposing predictions in wild, group‐living banded mongooses (Mungos mungo), using stable isotope analysis of banded mongoose whiskers to quantify individual and group foraging niche. Individual foraging niche size declined with increasing group size, despite all groups having a similar overall niche size. Our findings support the prediction that competition promotes niche partitioning within social groups and suggest that individual foraging specialisation may play an important role in the formation of stable social groupings.     

Marine biogeography of southern Australia: phylogeographical structure in a temperate sea-star

Aim To test whether marine biogeographical patterns observed at the community level are also important within species. It is postulated that historical hydrogeographic barriers have driven in situ diversification. Location The intertidal and shallow subtidal zones of southern Australia, New Zealand and nearby islands. Australia's temperate marine communities are characterized by a high degree of endemism and show strong biogeographical structure along an east–west axis. Methods Phylogeographical analysis of the widespread asteriid sea‐star Coscinasterias muricata Verrill across southern Australia and New Zealand. Forty‐two samples from 27 locations were included in phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial (CO1; control region) and nuclear (ITS2) DNA sequences. Results Analysis of mtDNA revealed a deep phylogenetic split within Australian C. muricata, strongly correlated with latitude. ‘Northern’ haplotypes (latitude ≤ 37.6° S, nine sites, 15 samples) were 7.3–9.4% divergent from ‘southern’ haplotypes (latitude ≥ 37.6° S, 19 sites, 27 samples), consistent with late Pliocene separation. Eastern and western representatives of the ‘northern’ clade were 0.5–1.0% divergent, probably reflecting Pleistocene isolation. The ‘southern’ clade of Australia is also represented in New Zealand, indicating Pleistocene oceanic dispersal. Nuclear DNA (ITS2) sequences yielded relatively little phylogenetic resolution, but were generally congruent with mtDNA‐based groupings. Main conclusions The phylogeographical pattern detected within Australian C. muricata closely resembles marine biogeographical groupings proposed on the basis of community and species distributions. Recurring evolutionary patterns may have been driven by the hydrographic history of southern Australia. Specifically, we suggest that Plio‐Pleistocene temperature change and the repeated opening and closure of Bass Strait promoted allopatric divergence and perhaps cryptic speciation in C. muricata.     

Kombinowanie: agency,informality, and the poetics of self in Highland Poland

This article asks what role local models of agency and subjectivity play in the structure and interpretation of informal economic practices, and how this influences the ways in which people narrate their behaviour to others. Exploring the use of a common Polish idiom for informal activities – kombinowanie – amongst villagers in the Carpathian Highlands, it argues that the term acts as a ‘master‐trope’ for local identity, providing villagers with a narrative model for asserting and broadcasting their social agency to peers. Furthermore, it shows how in this particular ethnographic context, the retelling of instances of informal or illegal activity as kombinowanie can be seen as part of a Highlander ‘poetics of self’, in that each manifestation of the term carries with it a series of implicit sociohistorical and normative meanings that relate to notions of ‘typical’ Górale (Highland) behaviour. By characterizing kombinowanie as a type of tactics, I open up the term for comparative analysis with other local conceptions of agency which value insubordination.     

Making the Baruya great again: From glorified great men to modern suffering subjects?

This paper explores avenues for prestige‐making now available to and championed by the Baruya, the archetypal ‘Great Man’ people of Papua New Guinea, who I recently studied following previous work by Maurice Godelier. Amid critiques by Robbins and Ortner of anthropologists’ drive to document and empathise with “suffering subjects”, I suggest that being ‘left behind’ and ‘forgotten’ is an important part of Baruya social life that reinterprets previous ways of ‘making great men.’ Baruya exposure to material and institutional modernity remains very limited. Local rhetorics of being ‘last place’ (las ples) are both concomitant and discordant with Baruya assumptions and assertions of being ‘the greatest people’ of their region. Unable to revive traditional contexts for producing great men through warriorship, shamanism, cassowary hunting, and salt‐making, Baruya turn to the very modernity they cannot quite reach for their own pursuit of masculinity and prestige—which paradoxically now lies within domains also open to women. Desirous to both establish continuity with their glorified past and to depart from it, Baruya's local modernity itself constrains their newly‐shaped desire for prestige—and dramatically changes gender relations in the process. Though the concrete impossibility to ‘be great’ reinforces Baruya perceptions of enduring what we might call a ‘suffering slot’, the larger issue is how concrete experiences sediment into socio‐cultural change over time. This process is informed by a tension between a quest for modernity and its larger failure, resulting in a drive to reignite longer standing values of morality, spirituality, and ultimately, greatmanship.     

Phylogenetic analysis of higher-level relationships of Odonata

Abstract. This is the most comprehensive analysis of higher‐level relationships in Odonata conducted thus far. The analysis was based on a detailed study of the skeletal morphology and wing venation of adults, complemented with a few larval characters, resulting in 122 phylogenetically informative characters. Eighty‐five genera from forty‐five currently recognized families and subfamilies were examined. In most cases, several species were chosen to serve as exemplars for a given genus. The seven fossil outgroup taxa included were exemplar genera from five successively more distant odonatoid orders and suborders: Tarsophlebiidae (the closest sister group of Odonata, previously placed as a family within ‘Anisozygoptera’), Archizygoptera, Protanisoptera, Protodonata and Geroptera. Parsimony analysis of the data, in which characters were treated both under equal weights and implied weighting, produced cladograms that were highly congruent, and in spite of considerable homoplasy in the odonate data, many groupings in the most parsimonious cladograms were well supported in all analyses, as indicated by Bremer support. The analyses supported the monophyly of both Anisoptera and Zygoptera, contrary to the well known hypothesis of zygopteran paraphyly. Within Zygoptera, two large sister clades were indicated, one comprised of the classical (Selysian) Calopterygoidea, except that Amphipterygidae, which have traditionally been placed as a calopterygoid family, nested within the other large zygopteran clade comprised of Fraser's ‘Lestinoidea’ plus ‘Coenagrionoidea’ (both of which were shown to be paraphyletic as currently defined). Philoganga alone appeared as the sister group to the rest of the Zygoptera in unweighted cladograms, whereas Philoganga + Diphlebia comprised the sister group to the remaining Zygoptera in all weighted cladograms. ‘Anisozygoptera’ was confirmed as a paraphyletic assemblage that forms a ‘grade’ towards the true Anisoptera, with Epiophlebia as the most basal taxon. Within Anisoptera, Petaluridae appeared as the sister group to other dragonflies.     

Assessing the difference between sociodental and normative approaches to assessing prosthetic dental treatment needs in dentate older people

Objective: To illustrate differences in assessed need using normative and sociodental approaches to assess prosthetic treatment needs of dentate older people. Design: A cross‐sectional study using non‐random sample. Setting: Metropolitan area of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Subjects: 707 older individuals, 549 of the total sample were dentate, living independently, aged 60 to 74 years. Results: The dentate population examined consisted of 289 classified as ‘normal health’ and 44 with a nutritional problem. Of the total population, 60% (333) had a normative need for partial dentures. Excluding the 44 with a nutritional problem, 50% (146) of the NTM group had ‘impact‐related treatment need’ and of the latter 146, 69% (102) had a high propensity for health behaviour. 41% of the 102 who had ‘impact‐related’ and ‘propensity related treatment need’ had ‘accessible treatment need’. That is 14.5 per 100 of those with normative need. The gap between normative and ‘accessible need’ was greater among those with ‘general health related treatment need’ due to underweight. Of the 44 with a NTM and had a health problem, 45% (20) had a “propensity related treatment need”. 40% of the group with a ‘propensity related treatment need’ had ‘accessible treatment need’. Overall of the 44 older people with a normative need for a prosthesis and who had a health problem, only 2.4% had ‘accessible treatment need’ mainly due to lack of finance. If the treatment were subsidised then 45% of those with ‘propensity related treatment need’ would be eligible for treatment. Conclusion: Large differences of estimated treatment need were found between a socio‐dental and a normative approach to assess prosthetic dental treatment needs of older Thai people.     

Control of aphid-vectored and thrips-borne virus spread in lily, tulip, iris and dahlia by sprays of mineral oil, polydimethylsiloxane and pyrethroid insecticide in the field

In this study control of spread by insect vectors of non‐persistent Lily symptomless virus and Lily mottle virus in lily, Tulip breaking virus in tulip, Iris mild mosaic virus, Narcissus latent virus and Iris severe mosaic virus in bulbous iris, and semi‐persistent Dahlia mosaic virus and persistent Tomato spotted wilt virus in dahlia has been evaluated with weekly sprays of mineral oil, beta‐pinene emulsion, polydimethylsiloxane emulsions and pyrethroid insecticide. In lily, beta‐pinene in ‘Wilt Prufgave’ 40% reduction of virus spread. In 1995–97 deltamethrin in ‘Decisgave’ 22–58% reduction. Deltamethrin added to sprays of mineral oil ‘Luxan oil H’ and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), e.g. in ‘Dow Corning 36’, efficiently improved control efficacy. The latter was also observed in tulip and dahlia. Mineral oil and deltamethrin gave best control by 81–97% reduction of virus spread at standard spray volumes (6.25 litre ha^?1+0.4 litre ha¹). ‘Luxan oil H’ at 3.125 litre ha^?1 with deltamethrin gave 69–91% control. Efficacy of control by polydimethylsiloxane in ‘Dow Corning 36’ was superior to ‘Luxan anti‐foam’. ‘Dow Corning 36’ with deltamethrin (7+0.4 litre ha^?1) gave satisfactory control (68–87%). In tulip, the control by ‘Dow Corning 36’/deltamethrin sprays proved satisfactory compared with ‘Luxan oil H’/‘Decis’‐sprays. In bulbous iris the efficacy of tested PDMS‐brands was clearly different in favour of ‘Dow Corning 36’. In dahlia mineral‐oil and PDMS‐sprays gave some control of semi‐persistent DaMV (16–24%). This ranged at higher level (65–80%) when deltamethrin was added to the spray mixture. Similar trends were observed in the control of persistent TSWV. The effect of polydimethylsiloxane emulsions in the spectrum of virus‐control agents is described for the first time. The effect of PDMS compared with that of mineral oils and synthetic pyrethroid insecticides is discussed with respect to efficacy, mode of action to prevent virus transmission and possible reduction of bulb weights in vegetatively propagated bulb crops.     

The multiple meanings of moongo: on the conceptual character of doorways and backbones in Kilimanjaro

By means of ‘connective analysis’, this article explores the multiple meanings of moongo among the Chagga‐speaking people of Rombo district, Kilimanjaro region, which resemble neglected meanings of the vernacular terms translated as ‘lineage’ elsewhere. These meanings were eclipsed by an analytical move that privileged ‘the political’ at the expense of other relations. By suspending the question of politics, it is shown how moongo is central to bridewealth exchanges and reproductive relationships, which provides new impetus to classic anthropological discussions of the house‐property complex. The result is to treat moongo as a concept in its own right, which enunciates and concerns how persons and houses are transformations of each other and effects of particular relationships.     

The cosmopolitics of flow and healing in north‐central Timor‐Leste

In north central Timor‐Leste, multi‐sensory ecological engagement is deeply entangled with conceptualisations of and approaches to people’s wellbeing. How people understand human health and wellbeing is closely related to how they understand nature or more particularly human/nature relations and distinctions across multiple timescales. Working through complex cosmopolitics and activated through cross‐temporal more‐than‐human ‘mutualities of being’, kinship networks are attuned to relational flows between ‘bodies’ and things. Rather than concentrating on the disjunctions created by the differences in the natures of beings or their ritual separation, this paper examines how relational flows between such ‘bodies’ and things open up cosmopolitical spaces for the creation and negotiation of intergenerational wellbeing.     

Effects of the susceptibility of rice varieties to Sogatella furcifera on nymphal development and reproduction of Microvelia horvathi through a food chain

The effects of four rice varieties highly susceptible （ Xiang-Zao-Xian31 and Jia-Yu 164 ）, moderately susceptible （ Wei-You402 ）, and resistant （ Zhu-Liang-You02 ） to the whitebacked planthopper Sogatellafurcifera on the nymphal development, reproduc- tion and survival of Microvelia horoathi were investigated through a food chain using SogateUafurcifera as herbivore prey. Significant longer nymphal developmental time were observed in the 1 st, 4th, 5th instar and whole nymphal stage of M. horvathi raised on S. furcifera fed ZLY02 and WY402 than those of the other two varieties. M. horvathi raised on S. furcifera fed resistant ZLY02 showed a significant lower survival of whole nymphal stage than those fed other three susceptible varieties. Moreover, M. horvathi raised on S. furcifera fed resistant ZLY02 had shorter female longevity and lower lifetime fecundity than those of on susceptible XZX3l. Our results suggest that the S. furcifera- resistant rice variety ZLY02 had a negative effect on the growth and development of the predator M. horvathi through a food chain.     

Stacking three late blight resistance genes from wild species directly into African highland potato varieties confers complete field resistance to local blight races

Considered responsible for one million deaths in Ireland and widespread famine in the European continent during the 1840s, late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans, remains the most devastating disease of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) with about 15%–30% annual yield loss in sub‐Saharan Africa, affecting mainly smallholder farmers. We show here that the transfer of three resistance (R) genes from wild relatives [RB, Rpi‐blb2 from Solanum bulbocastanum and Rpi‐vnt1.1 from S. venturii] into potato provided complete resistance in the field over several seasons. We observed that the stacking of the three R genes produced a high frequency of transgenic events with resistance to late blight. In the field, 13 resistant transgenic events with the 3R‐gene stack from the potato varieties ‘Desiree’ and ‘Victoria’ grew normally without showing pathogen damage and without any fungicide spray, whereas their non‐transgenic equivalent varieties were rapidly killed. Characteristics of the local pathogen population suggest that the resistance to late blight may be long‐lasting because it has low diversity, and essentially consists of the single lineage, 2_A1, which expresses the cognate avirulence effector genes. Yields of two transgenic events from ‘Desiree’ and ‘Victoria’ grown without fungicide to reflect small‐scale farm holders were estimated to be 29 and 45 t/ha respectively. This represents a three to four‐fold increase over the national average. Thus, these late blight resistant potato varieties, which are the farmers’ preferred varieties, could be rapidly adopted and bring significant income to smallholder farmers in sub‐Saharan Africa.     

Historical Burden In Systematics And The Interrelationships Of 'Parareptiles'

The interrelationships within the clade comprised of turtles, pareiasaurs, and procolophonid-like taxa are investigated via a cladistic analysis incorporating 56 characters. A single most parsimonious tree was found (80 steps, c. i. = 0·8) in which the successive outgroups to turtles are: pareiasaurs, Sclerosaurus, lanthanosuchids, procolophonoids (=Owenetta, Barasaurus and procolophonids), and nyctiphruretians (= nycteroleterids). Thus, as suggested recently by other workers (Reisz, in Fischman, 1993) turtles are the highly modified survivors of a radiation of poorly-known reptiles commonly called ‘parareptiles’. Pareiasaurs are united with turtles on the basis of twenty unambiguous derived features which are absent in other basal amniotes (=‘primitive reptiles’) and reptiliomorph amphibians: for example, the medially located choana, enlarged foramina palatinum posterius, blunt cultriform process, fully ossified medial wall of the prootic, opisthotic-squamosal suture, lateral flange of exoccipital, loss of ventral cranial fissure, thickened braincase floor, ‘pleurosphenoid’ ossification, reduced presacral count, acromion process, trochanter major, reduced fifth pedal digit, and presence of transverse processes on most caudals. Recent phylogenetic proposals linking turtles with captorhinids, with dicynodonts, and with procolophonoids are evaluated. None of the proposed traits supporting the first two hypotheses is compelling. The procolophonoid hypotheses is supported by only one synapomorphy (the slender stapes). All other synapomorphies proposed in favour of the above groupings either occur in many other primitive amniotes, or are not primitive for turtles, or are not primitive for the proposed chelonian sister-group. Nyctiphruretus and Lanthanosuchids and nycteroleterids, often considered to be seymouriamorph amphibians, are demonstrated unequivocally to be amniotes. The ‘rhipaeosaurs’, currently considered to be pareiasaur relatives, are shown to be a heterogenous assemblage of seymouriamorphs, therapsids and nycteroleterids. The phylogeny proposed here indicates that many of the traits of the earliest known turtle, Proganochelys, previously interpreted as unique specialisations, also occur in pareiasaurs and other near outgroups of turtles, and must instead represent the primitive chelonian condition: for example, the wide parietals and the short quadrate flange of the pterygoid. The sequence of acquisition of chelonian traits is discussed: many features once thought to be diagnostic of turtles actually characterize larger groupings of procolophonomorphs, and must have evolved long before the chelonian shell appeared. These traits include most of the chelonian-pareiasaur synapomorphies listed above, and many others which characterize more inclusive groupings found in this analysis. In putting Proganochelys much closer to the main line of chelonian evolution, in elucidating the sequence of acquisition of chelonian traits, and in reducing greatly the number of differences between turtles and their nearest relatives, this study helps bridge one of the major gaps in the fossil record. The failure of previous cladistic analyses to identify correctly the nearest relatives of turtles is attributed to biased character selection, caused by an over-reliance on cranial characters deemed ‘important’ by earlier workers, and by a tendency to shoehorn ‘parareptile’ taxa into phylogenies derived from analyses restricted to ‘mainstream’ groups such as synapsids, diapsids, turtles, and ‘captorhinomorphs’. Many of the synapomorphies that resolve turtle origins are postcranial, and the three nearest outgroups to turtles are all highly bizarre groups which were dismissed as ‘too specialized’ by early workers and continued to be inadequately assessed even by workers using a cladistic framework.     

Fragments of a Composite Identity: Aspects of Australian Nationalism in a Sports Setting1

I argue that it is erroneous to view nations as culturally homogeneous entities. Rather, all nations are riven by multiple divisions. What characterises a nation is that the people constituting it believe that they share a sameness with their co-nationals. So, the idea of cultural homogeneity is a myth that breathes life into nationalism: it is a cohering leitmotiv, a predicate of the ‘imagined community’ that can be subscribed to in different ways by people of diverse social locations and of disparate interests. Whereas most writers on nationalism write from a top-down perspective, I side with Hobsbawm in posing the question of how ‘ordinary’ people embrace a belonging to their nation. I maintain that there is no single, simple axis of national cohesion: rather, in any nation, there are multiple ways of identifying with and intuiting the collectivity. The emergence of the axioms of Australian nationhood, particularly with regard to how ideas of Australian distinctiveness emerged in counterpoint to British based discourses, is explored. I suggest that people ‘lock-in’ to these axioms through the symbology of specific events and situations. Attention is directed to the Stawell Easter Gift professional running carnival as an event that, amongst other things, provides occasions that enable participants to ‘lock-in’ to the meta-discourse of national identity.     

A new method for rapid identification of ansamycin compounds by inactivating KLM gene clusters in potential ansamycin-producing actinomyces

Aims: In this study, we explored the possibility of construction of a ‘universal targeting vector’ by Red/ET recombination to inactivate L gene encoding 3‐amino‐5‐hydroxybenzoic acid (AHBA)‐oxidoreductase in AHBA biosynthetic gene cluster to facilitate the detection of ansamycins production in actinomycetes. Methods and Results: Based on the conserved regions of linked AHBA synthase (K), oxidoreductase (L) and phosphatase (M) gene clusters, degenerate primers were designed and PCR was performed to detect KLM gene clusters within 33 AHBA synthase gene‐positive actinomycetes strains. Among them, 22 KLM gene cluster‐positive strains were identified. A ‘universal targeting vector’ was further constructed using the 50‐nt homologous sequences chosen from four strains internal L gene in KLM gene clusters through Red/ET recombination. The L gene from nine of the KLM gene cluster‐positive actinomycetes strains was inactivated by insertion of a kanamycin (Km) resistance marker into its internal region from the ‘universal targeting vector’. By comparison of the metabolites produced in parent strains with those in L gene‐inactivated mutants, we demonstrated the possible ansamycins production produced by these strains. One strain (4089) was proved to be a geldanamycin producer. Three strains (3‐20, 7‐32 and 8‐32) were identified as potential triene‐ansamycins producers. Another strain (3‐27) was possible to be a streptovaricin C producer. Strains 24‐100 and 4‐124 might be served as ansamitocin‐like producers. Conclusions: The results confirmed the feasibility that a ‘universal targeting vector’ could be constructed through Red/ET recombination using the conserved regions of KLM gene clusters to detect ansamycins production in actinomycetes. Significance and Impact of the Study: The ‘universal targeting vector’ provides a rapid approach in certain degree to detect the potential ansamycin producers from the 22 KLM gene cluster‐positive actinomycetes strains.     

Late migration and seawater entry is physiologically disadvantageous for American shad juveniles

Juvenile American shad Alosa sapidissima were subjected to isothermal transfers into sea water (salinity 24)‘early’(1 September; 24° C) and ‘late’(10 November; 10° C) in the autumn migratory season. Early acclimation resulted in a modest osmotic perturbation that recovered rapidly. Haematocrit declined by 14% at 24 h, recovering within 48 h. Plasma osmolality increased by 6% at 4 h, recovering within 8 h. Early acclimation caused a two‐fold increase in gill Na⁺, K⁺‐ATPase activity by 24 h and a four‐fold increase by 4 days. The number of chloride cells on the primary gill filament increased two‐fold by 4 days. Chloride cells on the secondary lamellae rapidly decreased from 22 cells mm^?1 to <2 cells mm^?1 within 4 days. Late acclimation resulted in a severe and protracted osmotic perturbation. Haematocrit levels declined by 23% at 4 days, recovering by 14 days. Plasma osmolality increased by 36% by 48 h, recovering by 4 days. Initial gill Na⁺, K⁺‐ATPase activity was two‐fold greater than in ‘early’ fish and did not change during acclimation. Initial numbers of chloride cells on the primary filament were two‐fold greater than ‘early’ fish and did not increase during acclimation. Initial number of chloride cells on the secondary lamellae was five‐fold greater than ‘early’ fish (116 v. 22 cells mm^?1) and declined to negligible numbers over 14 days. Differences between initial measures for ‘early’ and ‘late’ fish reflect previously described physiological changes associated with migration. These data indicate that late migrants face a greater physiological challenge during seawater acclimation than early migrants. Physiological performance apparently limits the observed duration of autumnal migration.     

Land,Language and Social Identity in Aboriginal Australia

Views of pre-contact Aboriginal social groupings have ranged from those which posit a linguistically-defined, homogeneous ‘tribe’ to others which, more recently, have asserted that language plays little or no role in Aboriginal constructions of social identity. Given the obvious, different degrees of linguistic diversity in different parts of the continent, it seems of interest to look at native linguistic ideologies and the ways in which notions of language and linguistic difference are integrated with other variables in the construction of social identity. This paper begins to look at differential constructions of social identity in three parts of Australia—Cape Keerweer in Cape York, the Western Desert, and western Roper River and suggests some directions for future research.