Aflatoxin contamination in insect damaged seeds of horsegram under storage

Studies on one of the protein rich pulses, horsegram (Dolichos biflorus L.) were carried out to know how far these low risk pulses are free from aflatoxin contamination under severe insect infestation in storage. A total of 150 stored seed samples of horsegram were analyzed for the presence of aflatoxins by collecting 25 samples each of undamaged and insect damaged seeds of all the three varieties (PDM-1, PHG-1 and HG-96). More than 33% of insect damaged seed samples were contaminated with aflatoxin B₁ and B₂, whereas less than 8% of the undamaged seed samples contain only low levels of aflatoxin B₂. Higher levels of aflatoxin B₁ (up to 130 μg/kg) were reported in insect damaged seed samples of all the three varieties under study. The levels of aflatoxin B₂ were always lower than aflatoxin B₁ of the corresponding seed samples with insect damage. Aflatoxin B₁ was reported in both the undamaged and insect damaged seed samples of all the three varieties of horsegram. It is evident from the varietal response studies that PDM-1 and HG-96 varieties of horsegram are highly vulnerable to aflatoxin contamination whereas, PHG-1 variety is relatively less susceptible to it. In general, insect infestation leads to increase in fungal invasion (including aflatoxigenic fungi) and this further enhances the levels of aflatoxin contamination in horsegram seeds.     

Efficacy of a nature-like bypass channel in a Portuguese lowland river

Throughout Europe in the last decade there has been a steady shift away from more technical fish pass designs to more nature‐like passes, such as nature‐like bypass channels. Upstream fish passage in a nature‐like bypass channel was investigated in a lowland river, the Lima River, for 117 days from March 2000 to May 2002. Fish passage was recorded using an automatic video recording system. Electrofishing samples within the bypass and below the weir were compared with species abundance found on the tape recordings. More than 7500 individuals of eight species passed through the bypass channel. Species composition was dominated by striped mullet (65.3%) and potamodromous species (34.3%), which used the bypass mainly at night. Of the environmental variables considered, bypass discharge explained most of the variation in the number of cyprinids, whereas water temperature was more important for diadromous species. Comparing species composition below the weir using passage recordings provided a useful tool to assess species efficacy of the bypass, although biological requirements should also be taken into account. This study proved the efficacy of the bypass for passage of almost all occurring species and life stages and also for providing suitable habitat for fish fauna, highlighting the use of these facilities for river restoration schemes.     

The use of PIT telemetry to study movements of ammocoetes and metamorphosing sea lampreys in river beds

Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags were surgically implanted in 118 sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus ammocoetes which were left to recover in the laboratory for 2 months. During this period 55 individuals started to metamorphose. In the late summer of 2002 the tagged animals were released in a small tributary of the River Mondego, Portugal, and were regularly monitored for a period of 2 months using a portable PIT tag reader. The distribution of the released animals changed from an initial uniform pattern to a random distribution, and then to an aggregated pattern. At the end of the first week 60% of the tagged sea lampreys had already left the study area, indicating their dynamic behaviour. Ammocoetes were more active than metamorphosing sea lampreys, and downstream movements were more frequent when compared to the upstream ones, which were usually a short distance. In order to determine the influence of the dark‐light cycle in the diel activity rhythms, 10 tagged sea lamprey ammocoetes were released in a tank (2000 l capacity) and their position monitored twice a day, for a period of 1 month. Ammocoetes locomotor activity appeared to be conditioned by circadian rhythms, and they were particularly active during darkness.     

The effect of sex and shoal size on shoaling behaviour in Danio rerio

Male and female zebra fish Danio rerio were given choices of shoals that differed in sex and size. Male zebra fish preferred to associate with female shoals over male shoals, but had no preference when given a choice between a mixed‐sex shoal and either a male or female shoal. Female zebra fish showed no significant preference when given a choice between male and females shoals, nor between mixed‐sex shoals and either male or female shoals. When given choices between shoals of differing size, females preferred to associate with the larger shoal, whether or not they were composed of males or females. Males, however, had no preference for larger shoals over smaller shoals, whether or not they were composed of males or females. These results showed that male zebra fish were capable of distinguishing between males and females solely on the basis of visual cues. Furthermore, these results demonstrated a significant difference between the shoaling choices of male and female zebra fish, which may indicate a difference in the function of shoaling for the two sexes.     

Hybridization and the inheritance of female colour polymorphism in two ischnurid damselflies (Odonata: Coenagrionidae)

Female‐limited polychromatism is frequent in many species of Odonata. Ischnura elegans has three colour morphs: one male‐like coloured (androchrome) and two additional gynochrome brown morphs (infuscans and rufescens‐obsoleta morphs). A total of 19 progenies obtained from once‐mated females were reared in the laboratory in three generations. Results indicate that the colour morphs are controlled by the same genetic system as previously described for I. graellsii, i.e. an autosomal locus with female‐limited expression and with three alleles with a hierarchy of dominance (p^a > pⁱ > p°). Five interspecific crossings between female I. graellsii and male I. elegans, five crossings between hybrid females and male I. elegans and one crossing between female I. graellsii and a hybrid male further confirmed that the genetic system is the same in both species. A survey of morph frequencies in north‐west Spain revealed that I. elegans shows high variability in androchrome frequency (4–91%) between nearby populations, whereas in I. graellsii androchromes never are the majority morph (5–40%). The highest androchrome frequency in I. graellsii was found in populations closest to a locality where both species have hybridized, and that now has the highest androchrome frequency of I. elegans. We hypothesize that I. elegans genes have been incorporated into the genome of I. graellsii resulting in increased androchrome frequency in the latter species. Low androchrome frequency in I. elegans seems also related to the influence of I. graellsii genes. Therefore, we suggest that hybridization between both taxa is contributing to the temporal maintenance of contrasting androchrome frequencies in nearby populations. © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2005, 85 , 471–481.     

Inactivation and sensitization of tumor cells after transfection with gene Bax

Experiments on the transfection of cultured SKOV3 tumor cells of human ovarian adenocarcinoma and HeLa cells of human cervical carcinoma with gene Bax have demonstrated that SKOV3 cells are highly sensitive to the protein product of this gene, whereas the sensitivity of HeLa cells is substantially lower. HeLa cells obtained as a result of Bax transfection and subsequent selection are characterized by an extremely high Bax protein content and a hypersensitivity to doxorubicin. All Bax-transfected SKOV3 cells with an increased Bax content have died. In the SKOV3 cell line, a Bax exon 3 mutation has been found that corresponds to genotype G7/G9, whereas the native type of the Bax gene corresponds to genotype G8/G8. The results suggest that the G7/G9 mutation in Bax exon 3 deprives the Bax protein of proapoptotic activity.Translated from Molekulyarnaya Biologiya, Vol. 39, No. 1, 2005, pp. 40–47.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Rodina, Sladkova, Obuchova, Vezirkhanova, Moskaleva, Prusakova, Beletskii, Belushkina, Strelnikov, Ivanov, S. Severin, E. Severin.     

Parasites boosts biodiversity and changes animal community structure by trait-mediated indirect effects

Parasitism has long been emphasised as an important process structuring animal communities. However, empirical evidence documenting the impact of parasites in other than simple laboratory settings is lacking. Here we examine the trait-mediated indirect effects of echinostome trematodes on a New Zealand soft bottom intertidal community of macroinvertebrates. Curtuteria australis and a second related but undescribed trematode both utilise the cockle Austrovenus stutchburyi as second intermediate host in which the parasites infect the foot tissue. Heavily infected cockles are therefore more sessile than lightly infected individuals, and, unable to bury, often rest on the sediment surface. We utilised these behavioural changes in two long term field experiments, respectively manipulating the parasite load of buried cockle (i.e. bioturbation), and the density of surfaced cockles (i.e. surface structures and seabed hydrodynamics). Both high parasite loads in buried cockles and the presence of surfaced cockles increased species richness and generally also the density of certain species and of major systematic and functional groups of benthic macroinvertebrates. Species diversity (alpha) peaked under intermediate densities of surfaced cockles. Our results demonstrate that parasites, solely through their impact on the behaviour of a single community member, can be significant determinants of animal community structure and function.     

Viability of cotton and canola pollen on the proboscis of Helicoverpa armigera: implications for spread of transgenes and pollination ecology

Abstract.  1. Pollen can be transported thousands of kilometres by insects but its viability after long-distance transport is not known. Knowing the potential for this mechanism to cause outcrossing of transgenes from genetically modified (GM) plants is important for risk assessments.
2. The viability of pollen from cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) and canola ( Brassica napus L.) was determined after placing it on the proboscis of Helicoverpa armigera moths for intervals of up to 32 h. Viability of both cotton and canola pollen declined at a much greater rate when in contact with the moth proboscis. Most was non-viable by 8 h compared with 16 h for control cotton pollen or 32 h for canola pollen.
3. There was no significant difference in the rate of decline of pollen viability between the five conventional cotton varieties, or between these and the one GM cotton variety used in these experiments.
4. The number of canola pollen grains remaining on the proboscis declined over time. Very few cotton pollen grains were retained on the proboscis.
5. The reduction in pollen viability during contact with the proboscis might indicate partial ingestion of the pollen via the proboscis.
6. The points above suggest that pollen is unlikely to remain attached or remain viable when carried over large distances by H. armigera . The implications for spread of pollen from transgenic plants and for pollination ecology in general are discussed.