Dynamics of Cell Redifferentiation in Dictyostelium mucoroides

During migration of a D. mucoroides slug, prespore cells at the immediate edge of the prespore-prestalk junction advance into the prestalk region in approximately 1.5 min. Redifferentiation of the prespore into prestalk cells occurs during this period. Evidence that the cells redifferentiated required autoradiographic, electron microscopic, and staining techniques. These methods determined that glycoprotein synthesis declined; prespore vesicles, the organelles found specifically in prespore cells, were degraded; and staining was reduced during this developmental transition into prestalk cells.     

Patterns of parasite infection in bumble bees (Bombus spp.) of Northern Virginia

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The Search for a New Compliance Mechanism Within the International Whaling Commission

The final area of work that needs to be completed by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) before the moratorium on commercial whaling may be lifted is the Revised Management Scheme (RMS). The key issue stalling conclusion of the RMS is the failure to agree on the details of a suitable inspection, observation, and compliance regime. This contribution looks at the negotiations respecting the development of a suitable inspection, observation, and compliance regime.­     

Field and laboratory studies on the effects of temperature on the development of the carrot fly (Psila rosae F.)

The thermal requirements for the pre-oviposition period, egg, larval, pupal and adult stages of the carrot fly were measured under field conditions and at a range of constant temperatures in the laboratory. In the laboratory, the pre-oviposition period lasted from 4 days at 24^oC to 28 days at 9^oC. In general, female carrot flies laid about 20–40 eggs in each batch. Once the first eggs had been laid, subsequent batches were laid after an average of 3 days at 24^oC to 7 days at 11.5^oC. The numbers of days required for egg, larval and pupal development ranged from 5, 31 and 24 days respectively at 21.5^oC to 25, 145 and 84 days respectively at 9^oC. Under laboratory conditions, complete development from egg to adult required from 60 days at 21.5^oC to 254 days at 9^oC. Newly-formed carrot fly pupae were exposed to temperatures of 22–30^oC for various 5–10 day periods during pupal development. Exposure to temperatures of 24^oC and 26^oC caused some, and exposure to 28^oC and 30^oC caused all, of the pupae to delay development. Pupae were sensitive to high temperatures only for approximately 4–10 days after pupation. Under field conditions between mid-May and early September, full carrot fly development (egg-adult) took 84–100 days. The numbers of day-degrees required (base temperatures of 2^oC and 4^oC) for carrot fly development in the laboratory and in the field were similar for egg hatching but not for the pre-oviposition period or for egg-adult development. The thermal requirement for fly development in the field varied between inoculation dates, fewest day-degrees being required when development was rapid.     

Characterization of Encephalitozoon (Septata) intestinalis Isolates Cultured from Nasal Mucosa and Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluids of Two AIDS Patients

ABSTRACT. Microsporidia are obligate intracellular protozoan parasites that can cause opportunistic infections in AIDS patients. Species from five genera of microsporidia are presently known to infect man. One species, Septata intestinalis originally was detected in stool specimens of individuals with chronic diarrhea and subsequently was found to disseminate to the kidneys, lungs, and nasal sinuses. This organism has since been reclassified as Encephalitozoon and in this study, we report the culture of Encephalitozoon intestinalis from a bronchoalveolar lavage specimen and a nasal mucus aspirate of two AIDS patients living in the USA. The bronchoalveolar and nasal microsporidian isolates grew in several continuous cell lines including RK-13, MDCK, HT-29, Caco-2, Vero, and 1047. Transmission electron microscopy of the clinical and cell culture specimens revealed that the new isolates appeared to be E. intestinalis based on morphology and growth of organisms in septated membrane-bound parasitophorous vacuoles. The new E. intestinalis isolates were characterized and compared with the first isolated E. intestinalis that was cultured from stool to confirm their identity and to determine if there existed any minor differences, as seen in the closely related Encephalitozoon cuniculi strains. By the methods of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis staining for proteins and carbohydrates, Western blot immunodetection, and polymerase chain reaction-based methods with restriction endonuclease digestion, double-stranded DNA heteroduplex mobility shift analysis, and DNA sequencing of the ribosomal DNA intergenic spacer region, the new isolates were identical to each other and to the reference isolate of E. intestinalis. In addition, with any of these methods, the E. intestinalis organisms could be distinguished from the three E. cuniculi strains, Encephalitozoon hellem, and Vittaforma corneae, which is important for diagnostics, therapeutic strategies, and epidemiology.     

Prey selection and baculovirus dissemination by carabid predators of Lepidoptera

Abstract.

• 1 The interaction between coleopteran predators and baculovirus-infected larvae was studied in the laboratory and the field in order to assess the potential role of predators in the dissemination of a nucleopolyhedrovirus (NPV).
• 2 Preference tests using three carabid species, Harpalus rufipes De Geer, Pterostichus melanarius Illiger and Agonum dorsale Pont, showed no evidence of discrimination between healthy and diseased larvae of the cabbage moth Mamestra brassicae L. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) as prey items.
• 3 Virus infectivity was maintained after passage through the predator's gut. NPV mortality ranged from 97% to 20% when test larvae were exposed to faeces collected immediately after and 15 days post-infected meal respectively.
• 4 The potential for transfer of inoculum in the environment was estimated in the laboratory by soil bioassay. Carabids continuously passed infective virus to the soil for at least 15 days after feeding on infected larvae.
• 5 Field experiments showed that carabids which had previously fed on diseased larvae transferred sufficient virus to the soil to cause low levels of mortality in larval populations of the cabbage moth at different instars.

     

The Effect of Light on Carotenoids of Etiolated Mung Bean Seedlings

Etiolated mung bean seedlings have been shown to contain thefollowing carotenoids: phytofluene, ß-carotene, ß-zeacarotene,5,6-monoepoxy-ß-carotene, 5,6:5', 6'-diepoxy-ß-carotene,violaxanthin, lutein, 5,6-monoepoxylutein, flavoxanthin, andauroxanthin whereas in the light -carotene and neoxanthin werealso identified. In the dark, total carotenoids after 8 dayswere 71.4 µg/g compared to 926.5 µg/g dry weightin light. In the dark, whereas most of the other individualcarotenoids were decreasing between 6 and 8 days, auroxanthinwas increasing. Further, flavoxanthin (5,8-monoepoxylutein)and auroxanthin (5,8:5', 8'-diepoxyzeaxanthin) were decreasingand disappeared in the light. Total xanthophylls increased much more than total caroteneson illuminating etiolated seedlings; lutein increased much morethan ß-carotene. This is in agreement with Goodwinand Phagpolngarm's (1960) results and in contrast to those ofother workers who suggested that ß-carotene was rapidlysynthesized whereas xanthophyll levels altered only slightlyunder these conditions. However, a critical look at these resultsshowed that a considerable increase in carotenes was more thanmatched by the increase in xanthophylls.     

The effects of time of sowing and harvest on carrot biochemistry and the resistance of carrots to carrot fly

Two carrot cultivars which represented contrasting levels of resistance to carrot fly, Psila rosae, were grown in a replicated field experiment at Wellesbourne in 1984–85. Seed was sown on five occasions between April and August 1984 and the crop harvested after a minimum growth in the field of 16 wk on seven occasions between August 1984 and February 1985. A highly significant correlation (r = -0.78; P > 0.001) between the levels of carrot fly damage and the concentration of chlorogenic acid in the roots enabled a model to be formulated to predict the relative predisposition to carrot fly larval damage; high levels of chlorogenic acid early in the season predisposed roots to severe attack when they were older.     

Effects of chronic elevated ozone concentration on antioxidant capacity,photosynthesis and seed yield of 10 soybean cultivars

Crops losses to tropospheric ozone (O₃) in the United States are estimated to cost $1–3 billion annually. This challenge is expected to increase as O₃ concentrations ([O₃]) rise over the next half century. This study tested the hypothesis that there is cultivar variation in the antioxidant, photosynthetic and yield response of soybean to growth at elevated [O₃]. Ten cultivars of soybean were grown at elevated [O₃] from germination through maturity at the Soybean Free Air Concentration Enrichment facility in 2007 and six were grown in 2008. Photosynthetic gas exchange, leaf area index, chlorophyll content, fluorescence and antioxidant capacity were monitored during the growing seasons in order to determine if changes in these parameters could be used to predict the sensitivity of seed yield to elevated [O₃]. Doubling background [O₃] decreased soybean yields by 17%, but the variation in response among cultivars and years ranged from 8 to 37%. Chlorophyll content and photosynthetic parameters were positively correlated with seed yield, while antioxidant capacity was negatively correlated with photosynthesis and seed yield, suggesting a trade‐off between antioxidant metabolism and carbon gain. Exposure response curves indicate that there has not been a significant improvement in soybean tolerance to [O₃] in the past 30 years.