RESPONSE OF ANTARCTIC FUR SEALS TO IMMOBILIZATION WITH KETAMINE, A KETAMINE-DIAZEPAM OR KETAMINE-XYLAZINE MIXTURE, AND ZOLETIL®

Adult Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) were immobilized with Zoletil^® ( n = 172), ketamine ( n = 30), ketamine mixed with diazepam ( n = 23) and with ketamine mixed with xylazine ( n = 45). Response to all drugs was highly variable. There was a relationship between dose rate and level of immobilization in females given Zoletil^®. Males were slightly more sensitive to Zoletil^® than females but this could have been due to the greater body mass and lower mass-specific metabolic rate of males. The dose required to achieve a level of immobilization declined with greater body mass for Zoletil^® and ketamine but not for ketamine-diatepam. Ketamine and ketamine-sedative mixtures commonly caused mild tremoring and occasionally caused convulsions. Neither reaction was seen with Zoletil^®. Mean doses were, Zoletil^® 1.5 mg/ kg, ketamine 6.9 mg/kg, ketamine-diazepam 6.3 mg/kg ketamine and 6.3 μg/kg diazepam, and ketamine-xylazine 7.3 mg/kg ketamine and 0.62 mg/ kg xylazine. Zoletil^® performs at least as well on Antarctic fur seals as ketamine but it may cause respiratory depression. The dose of ketamine required for Antarctic fur seals was greater than for most other species of seals.     

The ontogeny of the vascular cambium inGinkgo biloba roots

Observation was made on early ontogeny of vascular cambium in the developing root ofGinkgo biloba L. After completion of root elongation, the vascular meristem gradually acquires cambial characteristics. Strips of the periclinal division of cells in transverse section are observed on the inner side of phloem when the primary xylem and phloem in the stele have been established. The strips are united into a continuous layer between phloem and xylem. In tangenital section, the procambium shows a homogeneous structure, which is initially composed of short cells with transverse end walls and subsequently, of long cells with tapering ends. Then, the procambium is organized into two systems of cells; axial strands of short cells with transverse end walls resulting from the sporadic transverse divisions of long cells, and long cells with tapering ends. Still later, the short cells are divided frequently in a trasverse plane exhibiting one or a few cells in width and several decades of cells in height, while the long cells are elongated. The frequency of transverse divisions of the short cells decreases in subsequent stages. Eventually, the short cells in axial strands are vertically separated from one another by the elongation of neighboring long cells and by the decrease in the frequency of transverse divisions of short cells themselves. Cambial initials occur in two forms; ray initials a few cells in height and one cell in width derived from the short cells, and fusiform initials with tapering ends derived from the long cells.     

Molecular analysis confirms food source and simultaneous involvement of two distinct but related subgroups of Salmonella typhimurium bacteriophage type 10 in major interprovincial Salmonella outbreak.

More than 2,000 confirmed cases of food poisoning occurred in the four Atlantic provinces of Canada and in Ontario during the second and third quarters of 1984. Salmonella typhimurium phage type 10 was identified as the etiologic agent, and cheddar cheese was implicated as the source of infection. Strains isolated from infected humans and from cheese were indistinguishable by biotyping, antibiotic resistance typing, and phage typing. Plasmid analysis confirmed cheese as the source of infection and revealed the presence of two molecular subgroups of bacteriophage type 10. Group I strains carried 57-, 22.3-, and 3.4-kilobase (kb) plasmids; group II strains carried 57-, 4.6-, and 3.4-kb plasmids. Digestion with endonucleases HaeIII, HpaII, and AvaIII indicated that the 3.4-kb plasmids were identical. This outbreak was, therefore, caused by a mixed infection with two distinct but related bacteria. Group I strains are fairly common among Canadian S. typhimurium phage type 10 isolates, whereas group II strains appeared to be unique to this outbreak.     

Pilot scale production and preservation of a new malolactic culture Leuconostoc oenos 44.40 For use in secondary wine fermentation

Pilot scale production of a starter culture Leuconostoc oenos 44.40 for the secondary fermentation of wine has been demonstrated. Cultures harvested in mid-log phase gave maximum viability after lyophilization. Lyophilized cultures retained their viability best when packaged under nitrogen and stored in dry cool conditions.     

Occurrence and molecular identification of the zoysiagrass mite Aceria zoysiae (Acari: Eriophyidae) in turfgrasses in Korea

Mites are one of the serious pests of turfgrass. Our survey of turfgrass fields from 2013 to 2015 in Korea showed that the occurrence of leaf chlorotic symptom has gradually extended to at least 60% of the examined golf courses. We identified the zoysiae mite Aceria zoysiae in most damaged zoysiagrasses. Artificial infestation of A. zoysiae into zoysiagrasses in pots resulted in symptoms of chlorosis and marginal rolling of the leaves within 3 weeks. We firstly determined the nucleotide sequence of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA region of A. zoysiae. The variations in COI and ITS2 between A. zoysiae and other species of the genus were 20.9%–43.0% and 7.5%–67.3%, respectively, suggesting significant genetic divergence within the genus. Our study provides valuable information for the rapid diagnosis and infestation monitoring of A. zoysiae in turfgrass fields.     

Rhamnolipid production in batch and fed-batch fermentation using<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas aeruginosa</Emphasis> BYK-2 KCTC 18012P

The optimization of culture conditions for the bacteriumPseudomonas aeruginosa BYK-2 KCTC 18012P, was performed to increase its rhamnolipid production. The optimum level for carbon, nitrogen sources, temperature and pH, for rhamnolipid production in a flask, were identified as 25 g/L fish oil, 0.01% (w/v) urea, 25 and pH 7.0, respectively. Optimum conditions for batch culture, using a 7-L jar fermentor, were 200 rpm of agitation speed and a 2.0 L/min aeration rate. Under the optimum conditions, on fish oil for 216 h, the final cell and rhamnolipid concentrations were 5.3 g/L and 17.0 g/L respectively. Fed-batch fermentation, with different feeding conditions, was carried out in order to increase, cell growth and rhamnolipid production by thePseudomonas aeruginosa, BYK-2 KCTC 18012P. When 2.5 g of fish oil and 100 mL basal salts medium, containing 0.01% (w/v) urea, were fed intermittently during the fermentation, the final cell and rhamnolipid concentrations at 264 h, were 6.1 and 22.7 g/L respectively. The fed-batch culture resulted in a 1.2-fold increase in the dry cell mass and a 1.3-fold increase in rhamnolipid production, compared to the production of the batch culture. The rhamnolipid production-substrate conversion factor (0.75 g/g) was higher than that of the batch culture (0.68 g/g).     

Nasal and cloacal bacteria in free-ranging desert tortoises from the western United States

Aerobic bacteria were collected from three free-ranging desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) populations in the eastern Mojave Desert (Arizona, Utah; USA) from 1989 to 1993, and from two free-ranging populations in the central Sonoran Desert (Arizona, USA) from 1990 to 1994. Six species of nasal bacteria and 18 species of cloacal bacteria were identified. At least one potential pathogen was found in the nasal cavity (Pasteurella testudinis), and at least two potential pathogens in the cloaca (Pseudomonas spp., Salmonella spp.).     

Regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21<Superscript>WAF1/CIP1</Superscript> by protein kinase Cδ-mediated phosphorylation

Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p21^{WAF1/CIP1(-/-)}-null mice have an increased incidence of tumor formation. Here, we demonstrate that p21^WAF1/CIP1 is unstable in HeLa cells treated with siRNA duplexes that target PKCδ. PKCδ phosphorylates p21^WAF1/CIP1 at a serine residue (¹⁴⁶Ser) located in its C-terminal domain. In cells treated with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate, the levels of both p21^WAF1/CIP1 and its ¹⁴⁶Ser-phosphorylated form increased significantly. We also show that a substitution, resulting from a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at ¹⁴⁹Asp found in certain cancer patients, strongly compromises PKCδ-mediated phosphorylation at ¹⁴⁶Ser and results in cells that are relatively resistant to TNFα-induced apoptosis. Thus, post-translational phosphorylation of p21^WAF1/CIP1 is important from an apoptotic cell death, and may also have patho-physiological relevance for the development of human cancer.     

Using sparse survey data to investigate the declining abundance of British harbour seals

This study presents an analysis of changes in the regional abundance of harbour seals Phoca vitulina based on repeated aerial surveys of haulouts, and demonstrates the use of sparse data to deliver advice about population status and management. Generalized linear models with negative binomial errors were used to represent these overdispersed data. The shape parameter of the negative binomial distribution was directly estimated from the data where this was possible. Information from time-series of counts where there were few gaps in the data was used to improve the estimation of this parameter in areas where fewer surveys had been carried out. The results show that the number of harbour seals in eastern England has not increased since the end of the 2002 phocine distemper epidemic. There is also evidence of a general decline in most of the large harbour seal colonies around Britain. The populations in the Inner Hebrides were an exception, with numbers appearing to be stable or increasing. Between 2001 and 2006, the population in Orkney and Shetland declined by 40% (95% confidence interval: 30–50%), indicating harbour seals in these areas experienced substantially increased mortality or very low recruitment over this period. The widespread declines, ranging from Shetland to The Wash, suggest that the causes may have been present over a large part of the North Sea.