An assessment of feral horse impacts on treeless drainage lines in the Australian Alps

The feral Horse (Equus caballus) is widespread across the Australian Alps. Feral horses degrade alpine and sub‐alpine ecosystems and damage habitat of a range of threatened species. Despite this, there is little published work to document the extent and severity of these impacts. This study investigated impacts of feral horses on treeless drainage lines at 186 sites across the Australian Alps. The study included sites in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Victoria. We assessed nine variables related to soil and stream stability and vegetation cover, which in turn influence ecosystem function and habitat quality. We found significant differences among horse‐occupied and horse‐free sites for all soil and stream stability variables assessed. For all variables assessed, the average score (and hence, condition) was worse in horse‐occupied areas. The sites in poorest condition were occupied by horses. Impacts from other mammalian herbivores species appeared to be minor. Management intervention is necessary if these impacts of feral horses are to be addressed.     

PMab-219: A monoclonal antibody for the immunohistochemical analysis of horse podoplanin

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against human, mouse, rat, rabbit, dog, cat, and bovine podoplanin (PDPN), a lymphatic endothelial cell marker, have been established in our previous studies. However, mAbs against horse PDPN (horPDPN), which are useful for immunohistochemical analysis, remain to be developed. In the present study, mice were immunized with horPDPN-overexpressing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-K1 cells (CHO/horPDPN), and hybridomas producing mAbs against horPDPN were screened using flow cytometry. One of the mAbs, PMab-219 (IgG_2a, kappa), specifically detected CHO/horPDPN cells via flow cytometry and recognized horPDPN protein using Western blotting. Furthermore, PMab-219 strongly stained CHO/horPDPN via immunohistochemistry. These findings suggest that PMab-219 is useful for investigating the function of horPDPN.     

Alteration of selection regime resulting from harvest of American ginseng, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Panax quinquefolius</Emphasis>

Replicate harvest simulations were conducted in a large natural population of Panax quinquefolius L.␣(Araliaceae) to determine the selective effects of harvest. We investigated how minimum size requirements and the influence of size on apparency to human harvesters could result in preferential removal of large plants. To determine which plants were encountered in the large population, harvesters were tracked using GPS as they searched for every legally harvestable, adult plant they could find. Plants were assigned stage-specific fitness measures based on their contributions to population growth rate (λ) under three demographically based harvest regimes: no harvest, harvest and harvest removing seeds. Plant size was codified into a size-index equal to the product of total leaf area and stem height. Heterogeneity of slopes was tested to determine if the selection gradients (β) describing the relationship between fitness and size varied among the three harvest regimes. Harvest differentially reduced the fitness of larger plants in one of four individual harvest simulations. The combined harvest simulation significantly altered the selection regime for size in the population of juvenile and adult (harvestable) plants. Seed removal by harvesters intensified fitness declines for larger plants. Because larger plants contribute most to population growth, the selective effects of harvest could result in a shift in the evolutionary dynamics of this species with significant conservation implications.     

A seasonal cycle of cell wall structure is accompanied by a cyclical rearrangement of cortical microtubules in fusiform cambial cells within taproots of Aesculus hippocastanum (Hippocastanaceae)

Aspects of the structure and ultrastructure of the fusiform cambial cells of the taproot of Aesculus hippocastanum L. (horse chestnut) are described in relation to the seasonal cycle of cambial activity and dormancy. Particular attention is directed at cell walls and the microtubule and microfilament components of the cytoskeleton, using a range of cytochemical and immunolocalization techniques at the optical and electron-microscopical levels. During the dormant phase, cambial cell walls are thick and multi-layered, the cells possess a helical array of cortical microtubules, and microfilament bundles are oriented axially. In the early stages of reactivation, vesicle-like profiles are associated with the cell walls, whereas arrangement of the cytoskeletal elements remains unchanged. In the succeeding active phase, the cell walls are thin, and cortical microtubules form a random array, although microfilament bundles maintain a near-axial orientation. The observations are discussed in relation to the seasonal cycle of wall structure and cortical microtubule rearrangement within the vascular cambium of hardwood trees. It is suggested that the cell-wall thickening at the onset of cambial dormancy, which is associated with the presence of a helical cortical microtubule array, should be considered to be secondary wall thickening, and that selective lysis of this secondary wall layer during cambial reactivation restores the thinner, primary wall found around active cambial cells.     

山西云顶山自然保护区野生种子植物区系研究

山西云顶山自然保护区位于吕梁山脉中段,有野生种子植物926种,隶属于391属、85科,其中裸子植物2科、4属、6种,被子植物83科、387属、920种(其中双子叶植物72科、311属、756种;单子叶植物11科、76属、164种).种子植物属的区系成分复杂多样,以温带成分占绝对优势,温带属共275属,占总属数的82.08％.种子植物种的区系成分中,温带分布占绝对优势,达566种,占总种数的62.61％,中国特有分布次之,有306种,它们是构成云顶山自然保护区森林植被和灌丛植被的建群种和优势种的主要成分.经与有关山地植物区系和植被组成比较后得出,云顶山自然保护区与庞泉沟自然保护区具有较高的同质性和密切的联系,与五台山次之,而与中条山具有明显的差异.云顶山自然保护区有国家二级保护植物野大豆,还有山西省重点保护植物山西乌头、红景天和党参3种.     

野生植物根围的丛枝菌根真菌Ⅱ

本文主要报道了野生植物根围Glomus属的17个种,聚球囊霉G.aggregatumSchenck＆Smith,苏格兰球囊霉G.caledonium（Nicol.＆Gerd.）Trappe＆Gerd,近明球囊霉G．claroideumSchenck＆Smith,明球囊霉G．clarumNicolson＆Schenck,缩球囊霉G．constrictumTrappe,透光球囊霉G．diaphanumMorton,幼套球囊霉G．etunicatumBecker＆Gerdemann,集球囊霉G．fasciculatum（Thaxter）Gerd．＆Trappe,何氏球囊霉G．hoiBerch＆Trappe,地球囊霉G.geosporum（Nicol．＆Derd.）Warker,根内球囊霉G．intraradicesSchenck＆Smith,摩西球囊霉G．mosseae（Nicol．＆Gerd.）Gerd.＆Trappe,隐球囊霉G.occultumWalker,网状球囊霉G.reticulatumBhattcharjee＆Mukerji,地表球囊霉G.versiforme（Karsten）Berch,台湾球囊霉G．formosanumWu＆Chen,悬钩子球囊霉G．rubiformeGerdemann＆Trappe）Almeida＆Schenck;内养囊霉属1个种,稀有内养囊霉Entrophosporainfrequens（Hall）Ames＆Schenider。其中,网状球囊霉为我国新记录种。     

Reductive nitrosylation of ferric cyanide horse heart myoglobin is limited by cyanide dissociation

Cyanide binds to ferric heme-proteins with a very high affinity, reflecting the very low dissociation rate constant (k_off). Since no techniques are available to estimate k_off, we report herewith a method to determine k_off based on the irreversible reductive nitrosylation reaction to trap ferric myoglobin (Mb(III)). The k_off value for cyanide dissociation from ferric cyanide horse heart myoglobin (Mb(III)-cyanide) was determined at pH 9.2 and 20.0 °C. Mixing Mb(III)-cyanide and NO solutions brings about absorption spectral changes reflecting the disappearance of Mb(III)-cyanide with the concomitant formation of ferrous nitrosylated Mb. Since kinetics of reductive nitrosylation of Mb(III) is much faster than Mb(III)-cyanide dissociation, the k_off value, representing the rate-limiting step, can be directly determined. The k_off value obtained experimentally matches very well to that calculated from values of the second-order rate constant (k_on) and of the dissociation equilibrium constant (K) for cyanide binding to Mb(III) (k_off = k_on × K).     

NSF independent fusion of Salmonella-containing late phagosomes with early endosomes

Initial characterizations of live-Salmonella-containing early (LSEP) and late phagosomes (LSLP) in macrophages show that both phagosomes retain Rab5 and EEA1. In addition, LSEP specifically contain transferrin receptor whereas LSLP possess relatively more rabaptin-5. In contrast to LSLP, late-Salmonella-containing vacuoles in epithelial cells show significantly reduced levels of Rab5 and EEA1. Subsequent results demonstrate that both phagosomes efficiently fuse with early endosomes (EE). In contrast to LSEP, fusion between LSLP and EE is insensitive to ATPγS treatment. Furthermore, LSLP fuses with EE in absence of NEM-sensitive fusion factor (NSF) as well as in the presence of NSF:D1EQ mutant demonstrating that LSLP fusion with EE is NSF independent.