Buchbesprechung (Book Review)

Die Bedeutung insektenpathogener Viren als “Biologische Pflanzenschutzmittel” im System des Integrierten Pflanzenschutzes wird erläutert. Es wird dabei insbesondere auf die “Lückenindikationen” in Kulturpflanzenarten mit geringem Anbauumfang hingewiesen. Zu ihnen werden u.a. Gemüse, Zierpflanzen, Sonderkulturen wie Hopfen, Tabak und Wein, aber auch der Obstbau, gerechnet; daneben gehören aber auch Heil‐und Gewürzpflanzen sowie Rohstoffe für Diät‐und Säuglingsnahrungsmittel dazu. Schließlich wird der Forstschutz als ein wichtiges Refugium für die Anwendung biologischer Pflanzenschutzmittel im allgemeinen und damit auch für insektenpathogene Viren angesehen.

Einen hohen Stellenwert besitzen Unter‐Glas‐Kulturen, da hier biologische Bekämpfungsverfahren schon in einem erheblichen Umfang zur Anwendung kommen.

Die nachfolgenden Beispiele sollen stellvertretend für einen erfolgreichen Einsatz insektenpathogener Viren stehen:

• Bekämpfung von Spodoptera exigua in Chrysanthemenbeständen unter Glas in den Niederlanden mit dem autochthonen Virus und von Mamestra brassicae mit dem spezifischen Kernpolyeder‐Virus in Gewächshauskulturen von Rosen und Paprika (Wirkungsgrad 80 bis 100%) sowie an Kohl im Freiland (Wirkungsgrad 68, 9 bis 100%) in Deutschland.

• Das Granulose‐Virus der Wintersaateule (Agrotis segetum) ergab bei Anwendung gegen den Schädling an Astern Mortalitätswerte zwischen 90, 5 und 94, 1%.

In allen Versuchen erwiesen sich die Viren den als Standard mitgeführten chemischen Insektiziden als gleichwertig.

Am Zusammenbruch lokaler Gradationen der Kiefernbuschhornblattwespe Diprion similis in verschiedenen deutschen Bundesländern (Sachsen‐Anhalt, Sachsen) war ein spezifisches Kernpolyeder‐Virus wesentlich mitbeteiligt.     

Parental care and UV coloration in blue tits: opposite correlations in males and females between provisioning rate and mate’s coloration

Parental investment and sexually‐selected signals can be intimately related, either because the signals indicate the amount of investment that an individual is prepared to make, and hence its value as a mate (the ‘good parent process’), or because individuals are selected to vary their own investment in relation to their mate’s signals (‘differential allocation’ or ‘reproductive compensation’). Correlations between parental investment and the sexually selected signals of both an individual and its mate are therefore of central interest in sexual selection. Blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus are an ideal study species to investigate such correlations because they provide substantial amounts of biparental care and possess sexually‐selected structural UV coloration that seems to signal attractiveness in both sexes. We investigated whether feeding rates of male and female blue tits were correlated with either their own or their mate’s UV coloration, and whether any such correlation was affected by the sex ratio of the brood. We also investigated whether any such correlations were reflected in offspring phenotype. Feeding rates were not correlated with either sex of parent’s own UV coloration. However, they were correlated with the mate’s UV coloration, but in opposite directions in males and females: females had higher feeding rates when mated to bright UV males, implying differential allocation, while males had lower feeding rates when mated to bright UV females, implying reproductive compensation. These relationships were unaffected by the sex ratio of the brood. In addition, fledgling tarsus length, but not mass, was related to male UV coloration, and to female UV coloration in interaction with male age. These results suggest that both male and female attractiveness influence parental investment of the mate, and that this in turn affects offspring phenotype. We found no evidence for differential sex allocation.     

Genomic Analysis Reveals Chromosomal Variation in Natural Populations of the Uncultured Psychrophilic Archaeon Cenarchaeum symbiosum

Molecular phylogenetic surveys have recently revealed an ecologically widespread crenarchaeal group that inhabits cold and temperate terrestrial and marine environments. To date these organisms have resisted isolation in pure culture, and so their phenotypic and genotypic characteristics remain largely unknown. To characterize these archaea, and to extend methodological approaches for characterizing uncultivated microorganisms, we initiated genomic analyses of the nonthermophilic crenarchaeote Cenarchaeum symbiosum found living in association with a marine sponge, Axinella mexicana. Complex DNA libraries derived from the host-symbiont population yielded several large clones containing the ribosomal operon from C. symbiosum. Unexpectedly, cloning and sequence analysis revealed the presence of two closely related variants that were consistently found in the majority of host individuals analyzed. Homologous regions from the two variants were sequenced and compared in detail. The variants exhibit >99.2% sequence identity in both small- and large-subunit rRNA genes and they contain homologous protein-encoding genes in identical order and orientation over a 28-kbp overlapping region. Our study not only indicates the potential for characterizing uncultivated prokaryotes by genome sequencing but also identifies the primary complication inherent in the approach: the widespread genomic microheterogeneity in naturally occurring prokaryotic populations.     

Sister chromatid cohesion and recombination in meiosis

Sister chromatids are associated from their formation until their disjunction. Cohesion between sister chromatids is provided by protein complexes, of which some components are conserved across the kingdoms and between the mitotic and meiotic cell cycles. Sister chromatid cohesion is intimately linked to other aspects of chromosome behaviour and metabolism, in particular chromosome condensation, recombination and segregation. Recombination, sister chromatid cohesion and the relation between the two processes must be regulated differently in mitosis and meiosis. In meiosis, cohesion and recombination are modified in such a way that reciprocal exchange and reductional segregation of homologous chromosomes are ensured. Received: 11 October 1999; in revised form: 3 December 1999 / Accepted: 6 December 1999     

Generation of bioactive peptides by biological libraries

Biological libraries are powerful tools for discovery of new ligands as well as for identification of cellular interaction partners. Since the first development of the first biological libraries in form of phage displays, numerous biological libraries have been developed. For the development of new ligands, the usage of synthetic oligonucleotides is the method of choice. Generation of random oligonucleotides has been refined and various strategies for random oligonucleotide design were developed. We trace the progress and design of new strategies for the generation of random oligonucleotides, and include a look at arising diversity biases. On the other hand, genomic libraries are widely employed for investigation of cellular protein-protein interactions and targeted search of proteomic binding partners. Expression of random peptides and proteins in a linear form or integrated in a scaffold can be facilitated both in vitro and in vivo. A typical in vitro system, ribosome display, provides the largest available library size. In vivo methods comprise smaller libraries, the size of which depends on their transformation efficiency. Libraries in different hosts such as phage, bacteria, yeast, insect cells, mammalian cells exhibit higher biosynthetic capabilities. The latest library systems are compared and their strengths and limitations are reviewed.     

Comparative genomic hybridization-array analysis enhances the detection of aneuploidies and submicroscopic imbalances in spontaneous miscarriages

Miscarriage is a condition that affects 10%-15% of all clinically recognized pregnancies, most of which occur in the first trimester. Approximately 50% of first-trimester miscarriages result from fetal chromosome abnormalities. Currently, G-banded chromosome analysis is used to determine if large-scale genetic imbalances are the cause of these pregnancy losses. This technique relies on the culture of cells derived from the fetus, a technique that has many limitations, including a high rate of culture failure, maternal overgrowth of fetal cells, and poor chromosome morphology. Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH)-array analysis is a powerful new molecular cytogenetic technique that allows genomewide analysis of DNA copy number. By hybridizing patient DNA and normal reference DNA to arrays of genomic clones, unbalanced gains or losses of genetic material across the genome can be detected. In this study, 41 product-of-conception (POC) samples, which were previously analyzed by G-banding, were tested using CGH arrays to determine not only if the array could identify all reported abnormalities, but also whether any previously undetected genomic imbalances would be discovered. The array methodology detected all abnormalities as reported by G-banding analysis and revealed new abnormalities in 4/41 (9.8%) cases. Of those, one trisomy 21 POC was also mosaic for trisomy 20, one had a duplication of the 10q telomere region, one had an interstitial deletion of chromosome 9p, and the fourth had an interstitial duplication of the Prader-Willi/Angelman syndrome region on chromosome 15q, which, if maternally inherited, has been implicated in autism. This retrospective study demonstrates that the DNA-based CGH-array technology overcomes many of the limitations of routine cytogenetic analysis of POC samples while enhancing the detection of fetal chromosome aberrations.     

Small within-day increases in temperature affects boldness and alters personality in coral reef fish

Consistent individual differences in behaviour, termed personality, are common in animal populations and can constrain their responses to ecological and environmental variation, such as temperature. Here, we show for the first time that normal within-daytime fluctuations in temperature of less than 3°C have large effects on personality for two species of juvenile coral reef fish in both observational and manipulative experiments. On average, individual scores on three personality traits (PTs), activity, boldness and aggressiveness, increased from 2.5- to sixfold as a function of temperature. However, whereas most individuals became more active, aggressive and bold across temperature contexts (were plastic), others did not; this changed the individual rank order across temperatures and thus altered personality. In addition, correlations between PTs were consistent across temperature contexts, e.g. fish that were active at a given temperature also tended to be both bold and aggressive. These results (i) highlight the importance of very carefully controlling for temperature when studying behavioural variation among and within individuals and (ii) suggest that individual differences in energy metabolism may contribute to animal personality, given that temperature has large direct effects on metabolic rates in ectotherms.     

Multiple quantitative trait loci mapping with cofactors and application of alternative variants of the false discovery rate in an enlarged granddaughter design

The experimental power of a granddaughter design to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) in dairy cattle is often limited by the availability of progeny-tested sires, by the ignoring of already identified QTL in the statistical analysis, and by the application of stringent experimentwise significance levels. This study describes an experiment that addressed these points. A large granddaughter design was set up that included sires from two countries (Germany and France), resulting in almost 2000 sires. The animals were genotyped for markers on nine different chromosomes. The QTL analysis was done for six traits separately using a multimarker regression that included putative QTL on other chromosomes as cofactors in the model. Different variants of the false discovery rate (FDR) were applied. Two of them accounted for the proportion of truly null hypotheses, which were estimated to be 0.28 and 0.3, respectively, and were therefore tailored to the experiment. A total of 25 QTL could be mapped when cofactors were included in the model-7 more than without cofactors. Controlling the FDR at 0.05 revealed 31 QTL for the two FDR methods that accounted for the proportion of truly null hypotheses. The relatively high power of this study can be attributed to the size of the experiment, to the QTL analysis with cofactors, and to the application of an appropriate FDR.     

Visual discrimination of objects differing in spatial depth by goldfish

Training experiments were performed to investigate the ability of goldfish to discriminate objects differing in spatial depth. Tests on size constancy should give insight into the mechanisms of distance estimation. Goldfish were successfully trained to discriminate between two black disk stimuli of equal size but different distance from the tank wall. Each stimulus was presented in a white tube so that the fish could see only one stimulus at a time. For each of eight training stimulus distances, the just noticeable difference in distance was determined at a threshold criterion of 70% choice frequency. The ratio of the retinal image sizes between training stimulus and comparison stimulus at threshold was about constant. However, in contrast to Douglas et al. (Behav Brain Res 30:37–42, 1988), goldfish did not show size constancy in tests with stimuli of the same visual angle. This indicates that they did not estimate distance, but simply compared the retinal images under our experimental conditions. We did not find any indication for the use of accommodation as a depth cue. A patterned background at the rear end of the tubes did not have any effect, which, however, does not exclude the possibility that motion parallax is used as a depth cue under natural conditions.     

Efficacy tests and determination of optimal spray timing values to control nantucket pine tip moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) infestations

The Nantucket pine tip moth, Rhyaciona frustrana (Comstock), a common regeneration pest of loblolly pine, Pinus taeda L., has been shown to reduce tree volume yields through larval feeding. Chemical applications can be effective in protecting trees from the growth losses associated with this feeding, and optimum spray timing values are commonly used to reduce the number of necessary applications and to increase insecticide efficacy. Optimal spray timing values for the Georgia Piedmont were obtained for the following four insecticides available for use in loblolly pine plantations: permethrin (Pounce), lambda-cyhalothrin (Warrior T), spinosad (SpinTor 2 SC), and Bacillus thuringiensis variety kurstaki Berliner (Foray 48B). Optimal timing values were similar between the first and second generations for each of these compounds. All of the insecticides used in this study significantly reduced tip moth damage below the control treatment levels. Lambda-cyhalothrin was the most efficacious and had the longest spray timing window. B. thuringiensis was the least effective and had the shortest timing window. Spinosad and permethrin were similar in efficacy and spray timing values. This information is applicable to regions where there are three tip moth generations per year, as found in the southern Piedmont region and the coastal plain of Virginia and most of North Carolina.