Thelocarpon cyaneum sp. nov.

Thelocarpon cyaneum, a new lichenicolous fungus on Polyblastia, is described from Antarctica.     

A newborn child with karyotype 47,XX,+der(12) (12pter→12q12::8q24→8qter),t(8;12) (q24;q12) pat

Summary A case of Meckel or Gruber syndrome is reported, together with a survey of the relevant literature of recent years (1971–1977), in reference to a probably autosomal recessive inheritance of this malformation.     

Prevalence of Edwards' syndrome. Clustering and seasonal variation?

Summary The incidence of Edwards' syndrome was found to be 1 per 4857 newborn children of 34000 consecutively newborn children in two Danish counties. Six of the 7 cases were born during the months of February through April.The incidence was high compared with the expected incidence of Edwards' syndrome of approximately 1 per 10000. This might be due to clustering in the area studied during the period 1967 to 1973.The finding of variations in incidence of children with Edwards' syndrome in different parts of the world, as well as the finding of seasonal variation in birth of such children, indicates that some of the etiological factors of nondisjunction of chromosome 18 are of an environmental nature.     

Cross-resistance between dieldrin and fipronil in German cockroach (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae)

The toxicity of fipronil and dieldrin was determined in one susceptible laboratory strain and seven insecticide-resistant field-collected strains of Blattella germanica (L). The Zo960302 and Ga021001 strains were 1,270- and 2,030-fold resistant to dieldrin and 15- and 14-fold resistant to fipronil. The Su960304 and Od010803 strains were 15- and 13-fold resistant to dieldrin and two- and four-fold resistant to fipronil. Three strains showed no or a low level of resistance to dieldrin and fipronil. Crosses were performed between the susceptible strain Danish Pest Infestation Laboratory (DPIL)-SUS and the resistant strains Zo960302 and Su960304 and resistance to dieldrin and fipronil were intermediate compared with the susceptible and the resistant strains. Backcrosses to both of the parental strains showed cosegregation of dieldrin and fipronil resistance. The toxicity of dieldrin and fipronil was correlated when compared at LD50, and 93% of the observed variation in LD50 of fipronil can be ascribed to variation among predictions based on the value of LD50 of dieldrin. The frequency of the A302S substitution in the resistance to dieldrin (Rdl) gene in the highly dieldrin- and fipronil-resistant strains Zo960302 and Ga021001 and the moderately resistant Su960304 was 0.97, 1.0, and 0.38, respectively. We consider the connection between the frequency of the Rdl mutation and dieldrin and fipronil resistance a causal connection and not merely a coincidence.     

Prevalence of skull pathologies in European harbor seals (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phoca vitulina</Emphasis>) during 1981–2014

Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) inhabit the seas surrounding Denmark and are an important top predator in the marine food chain. This trophic position exposes them to environmental contaminants with disease epidemics and hunting being additional threats to this population. It is therefore important to study how environmental pollution at the current order of magnitude affects the health of the population. Earlier studies have shown that occurrence of periodontitis could be linked to the amount of pollution the seals were subjected to. In order to investigate this further, 380 skulls and 141 mandibles of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) from the Wadden Sea, the Limfjord, and Kattegat collected during the period 1970–2014 were examined. The skulls were examined for pathological lesions. The Hounsfield Units (HU) which are correlated to the bone mineral density (BMD) were measured in a subsample (n = 34) using CT scans. The macroscopic examination revealed (with the exception of the Swedish part of Kattegat) a significant increase of pathological lesions over the study period of 1981–2014. The examination of HU showed that median HU measured at multiple sites was highest in the healthy skulls compared to the skulls with one or more of the lesions. A discriminant analysis allowed high discriminatory capacity to separate healthy skulls from the skulls with pathologies, simply by the utilization of the HU data. Former studies of BMD in marine mammals have shown that exposure to environmental chemicals alter BMD and cause periodontitis. The present study, based on temporal and spatial trends in BMD, confirms the results of previous studies.     

Adaptation of Musca domestica L. Field Population to Laboratory Breeding Causes Transcriptional Alterations

Background

The housefly, Musca domestica, has developed resistance to most insecticides applied for its control. Expression of genes coding for detoxification enzymes play a role in the response of the housefly when encountered by a xenobiotic. The highest level of constitutive gene expression of nine P450 genes was previously found in a newly-collected susceptible field population in comparison to three insecticide-resistant laboratory strains and a laboratory reference strain.

Results

We compared gene expression of five P450s by qPCR as well as global gene expression by RNAseq in the newly-acquired field population (845b) in generation F₁, F₁₃ and F₂₉ to test how gene expression changes following laboratory adaption. Four (CYP6A1, CYP6A36, CYP6D3, CYP6G4) of five investigated P450 genes adapted to breeding by decreasing expression. CYP6D1 showed higher female expression in F₂₉ than in F₁. For males, about half of the genes accessed in the global gene expression were up-regulated in F₁₃ and F₂₉ in comparison with the F₁ population. In females, 60% of the genes were up-regulated in F₁₃ in comparison with F₁, while 33% were up-regulated in F₂₉. Forty potential P450 genes were identified. In most cases, P450 gene expression was decreased in F₁₃ flies in comparison with F₁. Gene expression then increased from F₁₃ to F₂₉ in males and decreased further in females.

Conclusion

The global gene expression changes massively during adaptation to laboratory breeding. In general, global expression decreased as a result of laboratory adaption in males, while female expression was not unidirectional. Expression of P450 genes was in general down-regulated as a result of laboratory adaption. Expression of hexamerin, coding for a storage protein was increased, while gene expression of genes coding for amylases decreased. This suggests a major impact of the surrounding environment on gene response to xenobiotics and genetic composition of housefly strains.     

Untersuchungen über das Vorkommen einer Bioskomponente,Bios F,in Pflanzenextrakten

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Untersuchungen über die Methode,das Wachstum der Hefe durch Änderung des pH in der Nährlösung zu messen

Ohne ZusammenfassungMit 1 Textabbildung.