Joint Report of the Third International Bovine Lymphocyte Antigen (BoLA) Workshop, Helsinki, Finland, 27 July 1986

Summary. Two hundred and eighty-two alloantisera were submitted by 20 participating laboratories from 13 countries and tested against lymphocytes of 1298 cattle. The cell panel consisted of samples from 38 Bos taurus breeds, 11 Bos taurus crossbreeds, 4 Bos indicus breeds, 6 Bos taurus X Bos indicus , and a variety of other crossbred populations. Using a standardized lymphocytotoxicity test, all 17 previously identified BoLA specificities were confirmed. The workshop produced agreement on 16 new lymphocyte alloantigenic specificities. Three of the new specificities behaved as splits of previously identified BoLA specificities. Four of the new specificities behaved as alleles at the agreed BoLA-A locus. Seven new specificities are tentatively assigned to the BoLA-A locus but require further definition. Two new specificities may represent products of a second closely-linked BoLA locus.     

Soils,a sink for N2O? A review

Soils are the main sources of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N₂O). The N₂O emission at the soil surface is the result of production and consumption processes. So far, research has concentrated on net N₂O production. However, in the literature, there are numerous reports of net negative fluxes of N₂O, (i.e. fluxes from the atmosphere to the soil). Such fluxes are frequent and substantial and cannot simply be dismissed as experimental noise.
Net N₂O consumption has been measured under various conditions from the tropics to temperate areas, in natural and agricultural systems. Low mineral N and large moisture contents have sometimes been found to favour N₂O consumption. This fits in with denitrification as the responsible process, reducing N₂O to N₂. However, it has also been reported that nitrifiers consume N₂O in nitrifier denitrification. A contribution of various processes could explain the wide range of conditions found to allow N₂O consumption, ranging from low to high temperatures, wet to dry soils, and fertilized to unfertilized plots. Generally, conditions interfering with N₂O diffusion in the soil seem to enhance N₂O consumption. However, the factors regulating N₂O consumption are not yet well understood and merit further study.
Frequent literature reports of net N₂O consumption suggest that a soil sink could help account for the current imbalance in estimated global budgets of N₂O. Therefore, a systematic investigation into N₂O consumption is necessary. This should concentrate on the organisms, reactions, and environmental factors involved.     

NaHCO3胁迫下外源海藻糖对南蛇藤几种与抗逆性有关的生理生化指标变化的影响

NaHCO3胁迫下叶面喷施海藻糖(trehalose,TR)的南蛇藤叶中活性氧(O2和H2O2)产生速率、丙二醛(MDA)含量以及电解质外渗率显著下降(P<0.05),超氧化物歧化酶(SOD),过氧化氢酶(CAT)、过氧化物酶(POD),抗坏血酸过氧化物酶(APX)和谷胱甘肽还原酶(GR)活性以及抗坏血酸(AsA)和还原型谷胱甘肽(GSH)含量明显提高.显示外源海藻糖可在一定程度上提高NaHCO3胁迫下的南蛇藤叶细胞膜保护功能,减少叶中活性氧的积累,抑制脂质过氧化,从而提高南蛇藤抗NaHCO3胁迫的能力.     

In situ interactions between the effects of season,current velocity and pollution on a river biofilm

1. The development of periphytic algae and bacteria is controlled by a combination of interacting biotic processes and abiotic factors. Distinguishing between the selection pressure resulting from pollution and that of natural environmental factors is therefore one of the most critical aspects of assessing the impact of pollutants on the diversity and function of benthic microbial communities in natural ecosystems. 2. We studied how current velocity and season affect the ability of river biofilms to cope with complex chemical pollution. We compared the diversity, structure and production of periphytic algae and bacteria from four sampling zones with differing chemical water quality levels and different flow velocities over the course of two seasons (summer and winter). 3. The three factors tested all influenced biofilm development, but this depended on the biological variable being measured. Bacterial and algal densities were highly dependent on season and chemical water quality. Algal density was lower in summer than in winter, but bacterial density and production increased from upstream (reference) to downstream (polluted), and this increase was more marked in winter. The impact of chemical water quality was also dependent on the season. 4. An interaction between current velocity and pollution was also detected. During the summer, there was no difference in bacterial density or production between the upstream and downstream segments in the fast current zones, whereas both variables were higher downstream in the slow current zones. Such interactions between environmental factors and the impact of water quality on biofilms must be taken into account in assessments of the effects of chemicals on biofilm community structure and functioning in rivers.     

臭氧胁迫对植物主要生理功能的影响

近年来,由于光化学反应的臭氧前体增加,全球植物受对流层臭氧(O3)胁迫的程度越来越严重。臭氧污染被认为是造成东欧、西欧和整个美国的大片森林衰退和枯死的主要原因。臭氧胁迫严重影响植物叶片对光能的利用,通过气孔限制和非气孔限制,导致其光合速率的降低,影响光合产物的产量。臭氧对植物的影响与植物体内代谢物质的积聚量紧密联系。臭氧胁迫引发植物的各种防御保护机制,刺激抗氧化系统,影响膜系统,改变其体内碳和矿质养分的吸收并引起它们的重新分配,诱导其基因表达的深层变化。为了适应臭氧胁迫环境,植物通过生理生化机制的调节来保证其生命活动。如细胞通过调节渗透物质的含量来保持渗透势的平衡;细胞内各种抗氧化酶活性增加,以清除自由基,避免或者减轻细胞受到伤害;改变代谢途径以保持能量储备和降低代谢速率。可见,生态环境对生物进化具有重要影响。这个观点将在臭氧胁迫对植物生理的影响中得到证实,也是生物进化论的另一种证据。综述了臭氧对光合生理、呼吸代谢、抗氧化系统、膜系统、矿质养分的吸收和分配与分子生理等主要生理功能的影响,并提出臭氧胁迫对植物生理影响的今后研究方向与未来研究热点是:(1)加强在植物个体和群落水平上臭氧胁迫对植物生理影响的研究;(2)臭氧影响下植物的基因调控和相关信号传递网络系统的机理;(3)通过分子标记、基因图谱、基因组学和转基因技术等方法研究选育适应臭氧胁迫环境的植物;(4)尽可能在接近自然条件的环境中开展研究;(5)臭氧胁迫对亚热带和热带森林及其树种主要生理功能影响的研究;(6)建立模型评估臭氧对植物的影响。     

High levels of linkage disequilibria between serologically defined class I bovine lymphocyte antigens (BOLA-A) and class II DQB restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in Norwegian cows

Serum defined BoLA-A antigens, together with BoLA-DQB RFLP patterns, were determined in 87 almost unrelated Norwegian cattle. Statistical analysis revealed strong linkage disequilibria between these loci at the population level. A total of 13 haplotypes were found to be present at frequencies significantly greater than those predicted on the basis of their component gene frequencies. Among these, the subgroups 1A and 1B of the DQ1 haplotype were found to be closely associated with the class I antigens A11 and w16, respectively. The association between A11 and DQ1A is of particular interest, as two independent studies, one employing class I serology, and the other RFLP analysis of the class II locus DQ, have previously indicated that A11 and DQ1A confer relative susceptibility to mastitis.     

Genome scan in the mosquito Aedes rusticus: population structure and detection of positive selection after insecticide treatment

Identification of genes involved in local adaptation is particularly challenging for species functioning as a network of interconnected populations undergoing frequent extinctions–recolonizations, because populations are submitted to contrasted evolutionary pressures. Using amplified fragment length polymorphism markers, population genetic structure of the mosquito Aedes rusticus was analysed in five geographical areas of the French Rhône‐Alpes region. We included a number of sites that were treated with the bio‐insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) for more than 15 years. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that most of the genetic variability was found within populations (96%), with no significant variation among geographical areas, although variation among populations within areas (4%) was significant. The global genetic differentiation index F_ST was low (0.0366 ± 0.167). However, pairwise F_ST values were significant and no isolation‐by‐distance at the regional level was observed, suggesting a metapopulation structure in this species. Bti‐treatment had no effect on genetic structure and on within‐population genetic diversity. Potential signatures of positive selection associated with Bti‐treatment were detected for five loci, even though toxicological bioassays performed on field‐collected larvae showed no significant difference in mortality between Bti‐treated and nontreated sites. The difficulty of detecting moderate resistance in field‐collected larvae together with possible differential persistence of toxins in the environment may explain our inability to detect a toxicological response to Bti in treated sites. The evidence for positive selection occurring at several genomic regions suggests a first step towards Bti resistance in natural mosquito populations treated with this bio‐insecticide. Furthermore, this signal was detectable using genomic tools before any toxicological evidence for resistance could be identified.     

The cost of ant attendance and melezitose secretion in the black bean aphid Aphis fabae

1. The aphid Aphis fabae (Scopoli) is facultatively tended by Lasius niger (Linnaeus) ants. Previously, we found that A. fabae colonies can be made up of several clones, and that clones display significant differences in the composition of their honeydew sugars, especially in the amount of the ant attractant sugar melezitose that they produce. 2. These clonal differences could greatly impact the strength of the mutualistic interaction with ants as well as the aphids' fitness. 3. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare the fitness of different A. fabae clones that differed in their melezitose secretion, and whether or not they were tended by ants. 4. Individual fitness indices, colony growth, and alate production of single‐clone aphid colonies were analysed. 5. The results demonstrate that the fitness consequences of ant attendance critically depend on an interaction between levels of melezitose production. In particular, we show that high‐melezitose secreting clones produce fewer alates and hence might have a lower dispersal ability in the presence of ants. 6. Furthermore, these data confirm previous evidence that ant attendance is costly and results in the production of fewer apterae.     

Sex Identification in the Mink (Mustela vison Schreber) by Metrical Measurements of the Skull

The dental length and length of the first molar in the upper jaw of mink are characteristics used to estimate a discriminant function for sex identification of Norwegian populations. Reliability of the method is theoretically 93.2%.