Soil test measures of available P (Colwell, resin and DGT) compared with plant P uptake using isotope dilution

Background and aims

Recent research has demonstrated the high accuracy of a new method for assessment of plant available P in soil called diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT). The process of P released by additions of bicarbonate to soil samples simulating common soil P tests is yet to be assessed by the new method (DGT). The aim of this study was to identify the pools of soil P extracted by soil test methods (DGT, Colwell and resin) by comparing, in ³²P–labelled soils, the specific activity (SA) of phosphorus extracted by common soil test extracts with the SA of wheat plants grown in a range of agricultural soils from southern Australia.

Methods

Wheat (cv. Frame) was grown for 4 weeks in 14 soils that were labelled uniformly with carrier-free ³²P. The specific activity (SA) of P (MBq ³²P kg ³¹P^?1) in each soil test extract was compared to the SA of P in the wheat plants.

Results

The SA of P in plants were similar to P extracted by the Colwell extractant in only 4 of the 14 soils; while SA in plants and extractants corresponded in 10 of the soils for the resin method and in 12 of the soils for the DGT method. Phosphorus in the Colwell and resin extract solutions had significantly lower SAs compared to P in the plants for 10 and 4 of the soils, respectively, indicating greater extraction of non-labile P sources (unlabelled ³¹P). Phosphorus in the DGT extractant had significantly lower SA than the plants for 1 soil and in 1 soil the SA was higher. Overall, across all soils, 25 % of P extracted by the Colwell method was non labile compared to 9 % and 2 % for the resin and DGT methods, respectively.

Conclusion

The new DGT method for extraction of soil P has the potential to accurately predict occurrences of P deficiency because it generally extracts the same pool of labile soil P accessed by wheat plants, while methods using bicarbonate solution (e.g. Colwell, Olsen) or water (resin) at wide soil:solution ratios are more likely to measure more non-labile forms of P in soil.     

Replication and trafficking of a plant virus are coupled at the entrances of plasmodesmata

Plant viruses use movement proteins (MPs) to modify intercellular pores called plasmodesmata (PD) to cross the plant cell wall. Many viruses encode a conserved set of three MPs, known as the triple gene block (TGB), typified by Potato virus X (PVX). In this paper, using live-cell imaging of viral RNA (vRNA) and virus-encoded proteins, we show that the TGB proteins have distinct functions during movement. TGB2 and TGB3 established endoplasmic reticulum–derived membranous caps at PD orifices. These caps harbored the PVX replicase and nonencapsidated vRNA and represented PD-anchored viral replication sites. TGB1 mediated insertion of the viral coat protein into PD, probably by its interaction with the 5′ end of nascent virions, and was recruited to PD by the TGB2/3 complex. We propose a new model of plant virus movement, which we term coreplicational insertion, in which MPs function to compartmentalize replication complexes at PD for localized RNA synthesis and directional trafficking of the virus between cells.     

The case in international law for Canada's extension of fisheries jurisdiction beyond 200 miles

In March 1995, Canadian fisheries authorities boarded and arrested the Spanish fishing vessel, Estai, outside the Canadian 200‐mile zone on the Grand Banks, an event that served to focus world attention on a dispute that had its origins in the failure of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to implement an effective conservation and management regime for fish stocks on the high seas, particularly with respect to fish stocks that straddle coastal states’ exclusive economic zones. This article examines the origins of the dispute, including the allegations relating to overfishing of North Atlantic Fisheries Organization‐recommended quotas, the background to the vessel's arrest, and the subsequent confrontation that occurred, both at diplomatic levels and on the high seas, between Canada and the European Union. An analysis is made of the case in international law for Canada's extension of jurisdiction beyond 200 miles pursuant to the provisions of Section 5 of the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act. Finally, the article examines the implications of the recently concluded Agreement on the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks for disputes of the kind that arose in the present case.     

The number of markers and samples needed for detecting bottlenecks under realistic scenarios,with and without recovery: a simulation‐based study

Detecting bottlenecks is a common task in molecular ecology. While several bottleneck detection methods exist, evaluations of their power have focused only on severe bottlenecks (e.g. to Ne ~10). As a component of a recent review, Peery et al. ( 2012 ) analysed the power of two approaches, the M‐ratio and heterozygote excess tests, to detect moderate bottlenecks (e.g. to Ne ~100), which is realistic for many conservation situations. In this Comment, we address three important points relevant to but not considered in Peery et al. Under moderate bottleneck scenarios, we test the (i) relative advantage of sampling more markers vs. more individuals, (ii) potential power to detect the bottleneck when utilizing dozens of microsatellites (a realistic possibility for contemporary studies) and (iii) reduction in power when postbottleneck recovery has occurred. For the realistic situations examined, we show that (i) doubling the number of loci shows equal or better power than tripling the number of individuals, (ii) increasing the number of markers (up to 100) results in continued additive gains in power, and (iii) recovery after a moderate amount of time or gradual change in size reduces power, by up to one‐half. Our results provide a practical supplement to Peery et al. and encourage the continued use of bottleneck detection methods in the genomic age, but also emphasize that the power under different sampling schemes should be estimated, using simulation modelling, as a routine component of molecular ecology studies.     

Studies on the paradox of seedling rarity in Vaccinium myrtillus L. in NE Scotland

Summary

On the moors studied Vaccinium myrtillus produced many berries containing highly viable seed, yet seedlings were rare. Offtake of berries by birds or mammalian herbivores was apparently minor, most berries simply falling from the bushes when ripe. Fallen berries quickly disappeared, probably being removed by small rodents. Berries were fed experimentally to captive field voles and capercaillies, and it was found that only c. 1% of the seeds survived. For the voles, most of these viable seeds probably resulted from contamination of the droppings with partially-eaten berries or discarded extracted seeds, processes which must contribute to dispersal in the wild. The soil seed-bank was shown to be small, and the viability of buried seed declined from c. 90% to c. 20% in 3 years, due to decay in the soil H horizon and premature germination in the litter layer. Fewer seedlings established from experimental sowings on grass and Vaccinium myrtillus turf than on bare peat. We conclude that Vaccinium myrtillus has a seed-dispersal strategy which secures some long-distance movement by frugivores at the expense of much lost seed, and that the small seed-bank and low numbers of seedlings result from poor defence of the seeds and weak competitive ability of the seedlings; other attributes of Vaccinium myrtillus, e.g. efficient vegetative reproduction, compensate for these losses and enable it to be a successful species.     

Massively Parallel Sequencing Reveals the Complex Structure of an Irradiated Human Chromosome on a Mouse Background in the Tc1 Model of Down Syndrome

Down syndrome (DS) is caused by trisomy of chromosome 21 (Hsa21) and presents a complex phenotype that arises from abnormal dosage of genes on this chromosome. However, the individual dosage-sensitive genes underlying each phenotype remain largely unknown. To help dissect genotype – phenotype correlations in this complex syndrome, the first fully transchromosomic mouse model, the Tc1 mouse, which carries a copy of human chromosome 21 was produced in 2005. The Tc1 strain is trisomic for the majority of genes that cause phenotypes associated with DS, and this freely available mouse strain has become used widely to study DS, the effects of gene dosage abnormalities, and the effect on the basic biology of cells when a mouse carries a freely segregating human chromosome. Tc1 mice were created by a process that included irradiation microcell-mediated chromosome transfer of Hsa21 into recipient mouse embryonic stem cells. Here, the combination of next generation sequencing, array-CGH and fluorescence in situ hybridization technologies has enabled us to identify unsuspected rearrangements of Hsa21 in this mouse model; revealing one deletion, six duplications and more than 25 de novo structural rearrangements. Our study is not only essential for informing functional studies of the Tc1 mouse but also (1) presents for the first time a detailed sequence analysis of the effects of gamma radiation on an entire human chromosome, which gives some mechanistic insight into the effects of radiation damage on DNA, and (2) overcomes specific technical difficulties of assaying a human chromosome on a mouse background where highly conserved sequences may confound the analysis. Sequence data generated in this study is deposited in the ENA database, Study Accession number: ERP000439.