Relative growth rate correlates negatively with pathogen resistance in radish: the role of plant chemistry

Plant growth rate has frequently been associated with herbivore defence: a large investment in quantitative defence compounds occurs at the expense of growth. We tested whether such a relationship also holds for growth rate and pathogen resistance. For 15 radish (Raphanus sativus L.) cultivars, we determined the potential growth rate and the resistance to fungal wilt disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum. We subsequently aimed to explain a putative negative relationship between growth rate and resistance based on plant chemical composition. Both growth rate and resistance level varied greatly among cultivars. Moreover, there was a strong negative correlation between growth rate and resistance, i.e. there are costs associated with a high resistance level. Roots of slow-growing, resistant cultivars have a higher biomass density. Using pyrolysis mass spectrometry. we part1y explained variation in both growth rate and resistance in terms of the same change in chemical composition. Leaves of slow-growing, resistant cultivars contained more cell wall material. Surprisingly, roots of slow-growing, highly resistant cultivars contained significantly less cell wall material, and more cytoplasmic elements (proteins). We speculate that this higher protein concentration is related to high construction and turn-over costs and high metabolic activity. The latter in turn is thought to be responsible for a rapid and adequate resistance reaction, in which phenols may be involved.     

Sequences of cDNAs for human salivary and pancreatic α-amylases

The nucleotide sequences of the cloned human salivary and pancreatic α-amylase cDNAs correspond to the continuous mRNA sequences of 1768 and 1566 nucleotides, respectively. These include all of the amino acid coding regions. Salivary cDNA contains 200 bp in the 5′-noncoding region and 32 in the 3′-noncoding region. Pancreatic cDNA contains 3 and 27 bp of 5′- and 3′-noncoding regions, respectively. The nucleotide sequence humology of the two cDNAs is 96% in the coding region, and the predicted amino acid sequences are 94% homologous.Comparison of the sequences of human α-amylase cDNAs with those previously obtained for mouse α-amylase genes (Hagenbuchle et al., 1980; Schibler et al., 1982) showed the possibility of gene conversion between the two genes of human α-amylase.     

Developmental changes in rat liver alcohol dehydrogenase

Hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase activity and mass content change coordinately during development in male rats. Enzyme activity and mass content increase continuously after birth to 100 and 80% of maximal values within 6 weeks (2.6 ± 0.4 μmole/min/g liver and 92 ± 20 μg/g liver), respectively. When expressed per milligram of soluble proteins, both parameters peak at 3 weeks (0.052 ± 0.002 μmole/min/mg protein and 2.0 ± 0.4 μg/mg protein) and then decrease gradually to plateau levels. These decreases probably arise from a “surge” in soluble liver protein levels that occurs after weaning. Similar developmental patterns also occur in female rats. These findings are the first quantitative measurements of this enzyme in developing animals.     

Temperature,deltamethrin-resistance status and performance measures of Plutella xylostella: complex responses of insects to environmental variables

1. Worldwide, the excessive use of insecticides has resulted in field-evolved insecticide-resistant populations of diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella. A deltamethrin-resistant DBM population from the field was divided into two subpopulations in the laboratory. One population (S-strain) was maintained with no further exposure to insecticides, whereas the other population (R-strain) was maintained under a regime of intermittent selection with deltamethrin. 2. Individuals from both strains were reared at constant temperatures in the range 10–35 °C in the absence of deltamethrin, and the effects of rearing temperature on various traits were investigated. At the time of experimentation, the R-strain was 20-fold more resistant to deltamethrin than the S-strain. 3. Temperature differentially affected developmental time, adult life span, pupal weight, and fecundity of both strains. Although both strains laid eggs after being reared at 10 °C, few of these eggs were fertile. The R-strain developed significantly faster than the S-strain. The integrated performance of the S-strain and R-strain was greatest at 25 and 15 °C, respectively. 4. The present study provides important information on the complexities of the outcomes of the interactions between ectotherms and temperature. Specifically, temperature-trait relationships may not be unimodal, and ectotherm genotypes (in this case insecticide-resistance status) and abiotic stresses can interact with unpredictable outcomes. 5. Current models predicting DBM population dynamics and relative abundance in different locations do not consider different thermal biologies of different genotypes. The present study shows the dramatic effects of environment on many parameters used in these models and will help to enhance their accuracy, and thus their utility.     

A phylogenetic analysis of species in the Bufo crucifer group (Anura: Bufonidae), based on indolealkylamines and proteins from skin secretions

This research tested the utility of two classes of skin secretion compounds to the phylogeny of the Bufo crucifer group. Skin secretions from specimens of nine populations of B. crucifer group were obtained and submitted to qualitative analysis. We observed a clear difference in the composition of the skin secretion molecules obtained from the species of Bufo studied. Fifty-nine molecules, 16 indolealkylamines and 43 proteins, were used as characters, and 39 of these were parsimonious informative. The tree topology of the skin secretion combined data showed areas of congruence and conflict when compared to an mtDNA phylogeny of the B. crucifer group. We used the Templeton test to evaluate the heterogeneity between the skin secretion and mtDNA data. Although not recommended, we performed a combined analysis with the two partitions. The skin secretion characters from the species of Bufo studied have phylogenetic signal. These data are indicative, at least as a preliminary study, of the phylogenetic relationships among the B. crucifer group taxa.     

A combined transcriptional,biochemical and histopathological study unravels the complexity of Alternaria resistance and susceptibility in Brassica coenospecies

Alternaria blight is one of the most devastating diseases of rapeseed-mustard caused by a necrotrophic fungus Alternaria brassicae. Lack of satisfactory resistance resource in Brassica is still a main obstruction for developing resistance against Alternaria. In this study, we have selected Brassica juncea, Sinapis alba and Camelina sativa to understand and unravel the mechanism of disease resistance against Alternaria. Histopathological studies showed early onset of necrosis in B. juncea (1 dpi) and delayed in S. alba (2 dpi) and C. sativa (3 dpi) respectively. Early and enhanced production of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was observed in C. sativa and S. alba (6 hpi) when compared to B. juncea (12 hpi). An increase in catalase activity was observed in both C. sativa (36 % at 6 hpi) and S. alba (15 % at 12 hpi), whereas it significantly decreased in B. juncea at 6 hpi (23 %), 12 hpi (30 %) and 24 hpi (8 %). Gene expression analysis showed induction of PR-3 and PR-12 genes only in C. sativa and S. alba when compared to B. juncea suggesting their vital role for Alternaria resistance. In contrast, SA marker genes were significantly expressed in B. juncea only which provides evidence of hormonal cross talk in B. juncea during Alternaria infection thereby increasing its susceptibility.     

Association of the colistin resistance gene mcr-1 with faecal pollution in water environments in Hanoi,Vietnam

Colistin is one of the antibiotics of last resort for human health. However, the dissemination of the plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene mcr-1 is of great concern globally. In the One Health framework, the environment is an important component for managing antimicrobial resistance. However, little information is available concerning the prevalence of mcr-1 in water environments. We aimed to reveal the prevalence of mcr-1 in different water environments in Hanoi, Vietnam. Quantitative PCR was applied to detect mcr-1 in four urban drainages receiving untreated domestic wastewater, three rivers, five lakes and two groundwater samples. Urban drainages contained higher concentrations of mcr-1, suggesting that urban residents carry the gene. The class 1 integron-integrase gene was identified as a good surrogate of antibiotic resistance genes including mcr-1. A significant correlation was found between the levels of mcr-1 and the human-specific cross-assembly phage, which is an indicator of human faecal pollution. These results indicated that the primary source of mcr-1 in urban water environments is human faeces, which is consistent with the fact that most domestic wastewater is untreated in Hanoi. The control of untreated wastewater is critical for alleviating the spread of mcr-1 in water environments in Vietnam.     

Genetics and Mechanism of Resistance to Meloidogyne arenaria in Peanut Germplasm

Segregation of resistance to Meloidogyne arenaria in six BC₅F₂ peanut breeding populations was examined in greenhouse tests. Chi-square analysis indicated that segregation of resistance was consistent with resistance being conditioned by a single gene in three breeding populations (TP259-3, TP262-3, and TP271-2), whereas two resistance genes may be present in the breeding populations TP259-2, TP263-2, and TP268-3. Nematode development in clonally propagated lines of resistant individuals of TP262-3 and TP263-2 was compared to that of the susceptible cultivar Florunner. Juvenile nematodes readily penetrated roots of all peanut genotypes, but rate of development was slower (P = 0.05) in the resistant genotypes than in Florunner. Host cell necrosis indicative of a hypersensitive response was not consistently observed in resistant genotypes of either population. Three RFLP loci linked to resistance at distances of 4.2 to 11.0 centiMorgans were identified. Resistant and susceptible alleles for RFLP loci R2430E and R2545E were quite distinct and are useful for identifying individuals homozygous for resistance in segregating populations.