Feedbacks between nutrient cycling and vegetation predict plant species coexistence and invasion

To investigate the role of species‐specific litter decomposability in determining plant community structure, we constructed a theoretical model of the codevelopmental dynamics of soil and vegetation. This model incorporates feedback between vegetation and soil. Vegetation changes the nutrient conditions of soil by affecting mineralization processes; soil, in turn, has an impact on plant community structure. The model shows that species‐level traits (decomposability, reproductive and competitive abilities) determine whether litter feedback effects are positive or negative. The feedback determines community‐level properties, such as species composition and community stability against invasion. The model predicts that positive feedback may generate multiple alternative steady states of the plant community, which differ in species richness or community composition. In such cases, the realized state is determined by initial abundance of co‐occurring species. Further, the model shows that the importance of species‐level traits depends on environmental conditions such as system fertility.     

Einfluß von Epicoccum nigrum,Alternaria alternata,Mucor racemosus und Ulocladium chartarum auf die Protozoenpopulation im Pansen des Rindes (in vitro)

The influence of moulded hay (Alternaria alternata, Epicoccum nigrum, Mucor racemosus, Ulocladium chartarum) and the efficiency of Vitamin B1 substitution to cope these effects on rumen protozoa was investigated using the longterm rumen simulation technique (RUSITEC) for about 25 days. Moulded hay affected medium-sized protozoa to a different extent (Alternaria alternata: ?16 %, Epicoccum nigrum: ?27 %, Mucor racemosus: ?9 %, Ulocladium chartarum: +2 %). The vitamin B1 substitution had positive effects during the feeding of Mucor racemosus and Ulocladium chartarum.     

Moniliformin,deoxynivalenol, 3Acetyldeoxynivalenol and zearalenone — Mycotoxins associated with corn cob fusariosis in Poland

An isolated rat liver was perfused with deoxynivalenol (DON) at a dose of 3 mg in a recirculating perfusion system. To identify glucuronide conjugates equal amounts of bile samples, perfusate and liver homogenates were incubated with and without (control) a β-glucuronidase preparation and analyzed by thin layer chromatography and capillary gas liquid chromatography — chemical ionization mass spectrometry. A total of 40.4% of the administered dose of DON was found to be conjugated with glucuronic acid (perfusate 20.4%, bile 19.2%, liver 0.8%), while only 1.3% of the parent DON (perfusate 1.1%, bile 0.2%) was detected. The cleavage of DON-glucuronide was demonstrated by incubating DON-glucuronide containing bile samples with intestine contents under anaerobic conditions.     

Secretion of Mucor rennin, a fungal aspartic protease of Mucor pusillus, by recombinant yeast cells

Summary The aspartic protease gene of a zygomycete fungus Mucor pusillus was expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae under the control of the yeast GAL7 promoter. A putative preproenzyme with an NH₂-terminal extension of 66 amino acids directed by the gene was processed in yeast cells and the mature enzyme, whose NH₂-terminus was identical to that of the Mucor enzyme, was efficiently secreted into the medium at a concentration exceeding 150 mg/l. The enzyme secreted from the recombinant yeast was more glycosylated than the native Mucor enzyme but its enzymatic properties were almost identical with those of the native enzyme, which has been used as a milk coagulant in cheese manufacture.