bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
PHARMACOLOGY OF THE STEROID REGULATION OF TRANSMITTER CHOICE IN CULTURED RAT SYMPATHETIC GANGLIA
Authors: McLennan Ian S , Hill Caryl E , Hendry Ian A
Published: August 2007

The normally adrenergic rat superior cervical ganglion becomes cholinergic when grown in explant culture. This response is prevented by the physiological glucocorticosteroid, corticosterone, and the mineralocorticoid, aldosterone. The synthetic glucocorticosteroid, RU 26988, was also active in this respect. Progesterone, spironolactone, testosterone and 17β‐estradiol were all inactive at 10−6 M, demonstrating the specificity of the response. The response to 10−7 M corticosterone was not antagonized by a hundred‐fold excess of progesterone, testosterone, cortexolone or spironolactone. The response to 10−7 M aldosterone was antagonized by spironolactone but not by progesterone.

The order of potency of the agonists in this study is similar to that described for classical glucocorticoid receptors. The action of aldosterone was antagonized, however, by the mineralocorticoid antagonist, spironolactone. Thus, the steroid response described here may be mediated by both glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors or, alternatively, by a new glucocorticoid receptor which can be antagonized by a mineralocorticoid antagonist.
SERUM IgM/A, IgA AND FUNCTIONALLY DISTINCT IgM ANTI‐TYPE III PNEUMOCOCCAL POLYSACCHARIDE (SIII) ANTIBODIES IN BALB/c AND ATHYMIC (NUDE) MICE
Authors: Kearney R , Johnstone S
Published: August 2007

The influence of hereditary absence of thymus upon the synthesis of IgA, complement‐fixing (CF) hybrid IgM/A, CF‐IgM and non‐CF‐IgM antibodies to pneumococcal type III polysaccharide (SIII) injected into BALB/c and athymic nude mice was studied. Techniques Involved the differential absorption of the serum antibodies by protein‐A of Staphylococcus aureus (Sa), co‐precipitation in gels with 125I‐SIII and autoradiography. IgM/A anti‐SIII activity was not demonstrable in nude mice but was produced in significant amounts, by day 5 in BALB/c mice injected with SIII. By day 8, node mice produced more IgA anti‐SIII antibodies than BALB/c mice injected with the same antigen. IgA anti‐SIII antibodies were not detected in either strain 5 days after SIII administration. The absence of hybrid IgM/A anti‐SIII antibodies in athymic mice, prior to the appearance of monotypic IgA anti‐SIII antibodies at day 8, suggests that IgM/A and not IgA synthesis is largely T cell‐dependent The evidence also implies that hybrid IgM/A antibody production, maximal on day 5 in BALB/c mice, and absent from nude mice, is not an essential produced in the switching from IgM to IgA synthesis. Both strains of mice produced comparable amounts of complement‐fixing (CF)‐IgM and NCF‐IgM anti‐SIII antibodies, with the production of non‐complement‐fixing (NCF)‐IgM anti‐SIII in athymic mice being delayed. Results indicate that attemptS to quantitate the levels of IgA by assays incorporating anti‐IgA anti‐sera may be complicated by the presence of IgM/A hybrid antibody. The lower levels of IgA in nude mice may not necessarily imply T cell dependency of IgA synthesis. Since cells producing the T cell‐dependent IgM/A antibodies are visualized by direct plagues, the present findings have important implications in studies where the calculation of the number of indirect plaque‐forming cells is based on the assumption that direct plaques are due only to thymus‐independent CF‐IgM antibodies.
THE RELATION BETWEEN TECHNICAL VARIATION AND THE MEAN IN THE MIXED LYMPHOCYTE REACTION IN THE RAT
Authors: Hibberd AD , Wells JE , Walker PA , Lindsay VJ
Published: August 2007

Technical variation is a linear function of the incremental mean in the mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) and is independent of the immune status of the responders and the gene dose of the stimulators. Logarithmic transformation of the absolute count/control mean makes technical variation independent of the mean. We recommend that this transformation be used before parametric analysis of the data.
CHANGES IN THE CORTICAL COMPONENTS OF THE VISUAL EVOKED POTENTIAL WITH AGE IN MAN
Authors: Shaw NA
Published: August 2007

Pattern visual evoked potentials (PVEPs) were recorded from 177 normal subjects aged 11–87 years. The purpose was to determine age‐dependent changes in the latency of the individual components of the waveform. The initial components of the PVEP, which are thought to reflect activity in the primary visual (striate) cortex, showed no change in latency from 11–50 years followed by an abrupt increase occurring during the sixth decade. It is probable that this delay in the PVEP is mediated largely by pathophysiological changes occurring either in the eye or visual pathways, or both. The secondary components of the PVEP, which are presumed, to be generated in the visual association areas of the extrastriate cortex, showed a progressive although initially very limited increase in latency starting after adolescence. It is suggested that those delays occurring between 21 and 50 years in the secondary components are mediated largely by intracortical factors. The more pronounced delays occurring for the older age groups (over 50 years) appear to be caused by a combination of cortical, sub‐cortical and ocular changes in visual function. The prolongation of the later components in the age group 11–20 years seems to reflect maturational changes almost entirely confined to intracortical processes. The results are discussed in terms of the many conflicting reports of the effects of age on the PVEP.
Synthesis, Characterization, and Electronic Structures of Organically Templated Lead Halides with One- and Two-Dimensional Hybrid Structures, [(nbq)(PbI3)]n and {[(CH3)3NC2H4N(CH3)3]3(Pb6I18)}n
Authors: Li Hao-Hong , Chen Zhi-Rong , Guo Liang-Qia , Ding Kai-Ning , Li Jun-Qian , Huang Chang-Cang , Cai Zeng-Liang
Published: August 2007

Two new organically templated lead(ii) iodide complexes, [(nbq)(PbI3)]n 1 and {[(CH3)3NC2H4N(CH3)3]3(Pb6I18)}n 2, have been synthesized in the presence of aromatic and aliphatic quaternary ammonium compounds, N-(n-butyl)quinolinium (nbq+) and [(CH3)3NC2H4N(CH3)3]2+, respectively, acting as structure-directing agents. Both 1 and 2 consist of uncoordinated structure-directing agents and inorganic moieties bound to the organic structure-directing agents. In 1, an inorganic (PbI3–)n one-dimensional polyanion chain is built up by face-sharing of distorted PbI6 tetrahedra. The inorganic framework of 2 presents a two-dimensional arrangement that could be discussed in terms of [Pb3I10]4– building blocks. Static attractive interactions between organic countercations and inorganic moieties were revealed through the crystal packing. Density functional theory calculations indicate that 1 possesses semiconductor properties, tuned by the π-electrons of nbq+. In contrast, 2 is conductive in the direction of aliphatic quaternary ammonium moiety.
Ferrocene Mono- and Di-Sulfonates as Building Blocks in Hydrogen-Bonded Networks
Authors: Xie Jingli , Abrahams Brendan F. , Zimmermann Tobias J. , Mukherjee Arindam , Wedd Anthony G.
Published: August 2007

The structure directing influence of a variety of hydrogen-bonding cations on the arrangement of ferrocene mono- and di-sulfonate anions within the crystalline state is reported. The crystal structures of four different networks of composition A[Fe(η5-C5H5)(η5-C5H4SO3)] (A = imidazolium or N-methylimidazolium) and B2[Fe(η5-C5H4SO3)2] (B = imidazolium or pyridinium) are presented. The imidazolium ions are able to act as hydrogen bond bridges in the generation of layer-type structures similar to those found for guanidinium analogues. Secondary bonding interactions exert a powerful structure-directing influence within these networks even though the individual interactions appear to be rather weak.
Stereochemical Study of 2-Substituted N-Vinylpyrroles
Authors: Krivdin Leonid B. , Rusakov Yury Yu. , Schmidt Elena Yu. , Mikhaleva Al'bina I. , Trofimov Boris A.
Published: August 2007

Stereochemical study of five 2-substituted N-vinylpyrroles obtained via the Trofimov reaction was carried out based on the experimental measurements of their 13C–1H and 13C–13C spin–spin coupling constants substantiated by the high-level ab initio calculations of the parent 2-methyl-N-vinylpyrrole. The title compounds were shown to adopt a predominantly skewed s-trans conformer with a noticeable population (approximately 10%) of the higher-energy skewed s-cis conformation, however, with the exception of 2-tert-butyl-N-vinylpyrrole adopting almost entirely a skewed s-trans conformation.
Copper(II) Complexes with Reduced Schiff Base: Synthesis, Spectroscopic, Thermal, X-Ray, and Cytotoxic Studies of Novel Copper(II) Complexes with an Arylpyrazole Ligand
Authors: Leovac Vukadin M. , Bombicz Petra , Szécsényi Katalin Mészáros , Joksović Milan D.
Published: August 2007

The synthesis of a novel arylpyrazole-derived ligand, 1,2-bis[(1,3-diphenylpyrazol-4-yl)methyl]diaminoethane (Ph4Pz2mde), and its complexes prepared with CuCl2 [Cu(Ph4Pz2mde)Cl2(MeOH)] 1, CuBr2 [Cu(Ph4Pz2mde)Br2(MeOH)] 2, from MeOH, and [Cu(Ph4Pz2mde)Cl2(DMF)] 3, from a mixture of MeOH and DMF, are described. The complexes are characterized by elemental and thermal analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy, while the 1H and 13C NMR assignments are given for the ligand. The crystal and molecular structure of [Cu(Ph4Pz2mde)Cl2(DMF)] was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In-vitro cytotoxicity of the Ph4Pz2mde ligand and two copper(ii) complexes was obtained using sulforhodamine B (SRB) treatment against three human tumour cell lines: HeLa (epitheloid carcinoma of cervix), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), and MRC-5 (lung fetal fibroblasts).
Race, infection, and arteriosclerosis in the past
Authors: Costa Dora L. , Helmchen Lorens A. , Wilson Sven
Published: August 2007

We document racial trends in chronic conditions among older men between 1910 and 2004. The 1910 black arteriosclerosis rate was six times higher than the white 2004 rate and more than two times higher than the 2004 black rate. We argue that blacks' greater lifelong burden of infection led to high arteriosclerosis rates in 1910. Infectious disease, especially respiratory infections at older ages and rheumatic fever and syphilis at younger ages, predicted arteriosclerosis in 1910, suggesting that arteriosclerosis has an infectious cause. Additional risk factors for arteriosclerosis were being born in the second relative to the fourth quarter, consistent with studies implying that atherogenesis beginsin utero, and a low body mass index, consistent with an infectious disease origin of arteriosclerosis.
IL-8 secreted in a macrophage migration-inhibitory factor- and CD74-dependent manner regulates B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia survival
Authors: Binsky Inbal , Haran Michal , Starlets Diana , Gore Yael , Lantner Frida , Harpaz Nurit , Leng Lin , Goldenberg David M. , Shvidel Lev , Berrebi Alain , Bucala Richard , Shachar Idit
Published: August 2007

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a malignant disease of small mature lymphocytes. Previous studies have shown that CLL B lymphocytes express relatively large amounts of CD74 mRNA relative to normal B cells. In the present study, we analyzed the molecular mechanism regulated by CD74 in B-CLL cells. The results presented here show that activation of cell-surface CD74, expressed at high levels from an early stage of the disease by its natural ligand, macrophage migration-inhibition factor (MIF), initiates a signaling cascade that contributes to tumor progression. This pathway induces NF-κB activation, resulting in the secretion of IL-8 which, in turn, promotes cell survival. Inhibition of this pathway leads to decreased cell survival. These findings could form the basis of unique therapeutic strategies aimed at blocking the CD74-induced, IL-8- dependent survival pathway.
Loss of T cell receptor-induced Bmi-1 in the KLRG1+senescent CD8+T lymphocyte
Authors: Heffner Maike , Fearon Douglas T.
Published: August 2007

Clones of CD8+T cells specific for viral antigens must avoid replicative senescence to maintain continuous production of new effector cells during chronic viral infections. In the present study, we have determined whether this capability may be related to Bmi-1, a transcriptional repressor that is required for the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells and certain neural stem cells and that mediates its antisenescence function by inhibiting transcription of theInk4a/Arftumor suppressor locus. Ligation of the T cell receptor increased the levels of Bmi-1 mRNA and protein in primary CD8+T cells. The increased expression was reversible upon removal of antigen but could be maintained by using stimulation with the IL-2 receptor. Specific suppression of Bmi-1 by using a lentivirally encoded short hairpin RNA inhibited the proliferation of IL-2-stimulated CTLL-2 cytotoxic T cells and primary CD8+T cells. Ectopically expressed Bmi-1 enhanced the expansion of primary CD8+T cells stimulated by IL-2 and IL-7in vitroand by homeostatic signalsin vivo. Taken together, these findings indicate that Bmi-1 is required for CD8+T cell clonal expansion and is positively regulated by receptors that mediate this response. Therefore, the observation that the ability of the T cell receptor to induce Bmi-1 is maintained in the subset of replication-competent, antigen-experienced CD8+T cells that do not express the killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 (KLRG1) but is developmentally switched off in the senescent, KLRG1+subset suggests that Bmi-1 is a molecular determinant of the capacity of a CD8+T cell clone to persist during chronic viral infections.
Query-driven module discovery in microarray data
Authors: Dhollander Thomas , Sheng Qizheng , Lemmens Karen , De Moor Bart , Marchal Kathleen , Moreau Yves
Published: August 2007

Motivation: Existing (bi)clustering methods for microarray data analysis often do not answer the specific questions of interest to a biologist. Such specific questions could be derived from other information sources, including expert prior knowledge. More specifically, given a set of seed genes which are believed to have a common function, we would like to recruit genes with similar expression profiles as the seed genes in a significant subset of experimental conditions.

Results: We introduce QDB, a novel Bayesian query-driven biclustering framework in which the prior distributions allow introducing knowledge from a set of seed genes (query) to guide the pattern search. In two well-known yeast compendia, we grow highly functionally enriched biclusters from small sets of seed genes using a resolution sweep approach. In addition, relevant conditions are identified and modularity of the biclusters is demonstrated, including the discovery of overlapping modules. Finally, our method deals with missing values naturally, performs well on artificial data from a recent biclustering benchmark study and has a number of conceptual advantages when compared to existing approaches for focused module search.

Availability: Software is available on the Supplementary Material.

Contact:  thomas.dhollander@esat.kuleuven.be

Supplementary information: Available on http://homes.esat.kuleuven.be/~tdhollan/Supplementary_Information_Dhollander_2007/index.html
Control and Corporate Rescue–An Anglo-American Evaluation
Authors: McCormack Gerard
Published: August 2007

This article compares and contrasts Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code with the UK administration procedure under the Insolvency and Enterprise Acts. It focuses in particular on who runs a company during the restructuring process—debtor-in-possession or management displacement in favour of an outside administrator. Various reasons have been given to explain the US/UK divergence in this respect including differences in entrepreneurial culture and differences in the lending markets in the two countries. The article suggests that the divergence cannot be reduced to a single factor but instead implicates a complex web of circumstances.
International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law, and Fragmentation of International Law
Authors: Cassimatis Anthony E
Published: August 2007

International tribunals and legal scholars have been considering the relationship between International Humanitarian Law (‘IHL’) and International Human Rights Law (‘IHRL’) for a number of years.1The International Court of Justice famously or infamously (depending on your perspective) considered their relationship in itsNuclear Weapons Advisory Opinionin 1996.2The Court concluded that while IHRL did apply in times of armed conflict, when it came to the prohibition of arbitrarily taking human life in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, the content of that prohibition had to be found in thelex specialisof IHL.
I. Conflicts of Criminal Jurisdiction
Authors: Warbrick Colin , Brookson-Morris Kate
Published: August 2007

The expansion of claims of extended territorial and extraterritorial criminal legislative jurisdiction and the increasing facility with which States are able to obtain custody over defendants by way of more effective extradition arrangements is leading to a new problem in transnational criminal law. The result of these developments is that more than one State may have legitimate jurisdiction to legislate for the same conduct and the courts of more than one State may be entitled to exercise judicial jurisdiction over those persons charged with crimes arising from that conduct. For prosecutors, the problem may present itself as one of prosecutorial efficiency—how may the case be proceeded with expeditiously, in particular, in which jurisdiction is a conviction most likely to be secured? Considerations such as the availability of witnesses or the admissibility of evidence may influence the prospects of conviction and prospective punishments may be a factor when deciding in which system prosecutors prefer the case to go ahead. Defendants have different perspectives. In many cases involving extradition to face a charge based on an exercise of extended jurisdiction, the defendant will be removed from the place where he lives and works to another State. There may be adverse consequences for him compared to facing a trial where he is usually located. Criminal proceedings abroad will be in an unfamiliar legal system; bail may be harder to obtain because of a perceived greater danger of flight; the impossibility to continue working during the period in which the trial is being prepared may impose financial hardship; defendants will be removed from their families and social networks for considerable periods.
Pan Bread and Chinese White Salted Noodle Qualities of Chinese Winter Wheat Cultivars and Their Relationship with Gluten Protein Fractions
Authors: Zhang Pingping , He Zhonghu , Zhang Yan , Xia Xianchun , Liu Jianjun , Yan Jun , Zhang Yong
Published: August 2007

Improvement of food processing quality has become a major breeding objective in China. Nineteen Chinese leading winter wheat cultivars with improved quality and two Australian cultivars with high bread and noodle‐making qualities were sown in four locations for two years to investigate dough properties, pan bread, and Chinese white salted noodle (CWSN) qualities, and their association with the quantity of protein fractions. The results indicated that genotype, environment, and genotype‐by‐environment interaction significantly affected most of quality traits and amount of protein fractions. Genotype mainly determined the quantity of gluten protein fractions and pan bread quality parameters, while environment was the most important source of variation for the noodle quality parameters. Chinese cultivars were characterized by acceptable protein content (11.1–13.4%), medium to strong dough strength (maximum resistance 176.9–746.5 BU), medium to poor dough extensibility (166.5–216.4 mm), fair to very good pan bread qualities, and good to very good CWSN qualities. Gliadin contributed more in quantity to protein content (r = 0.80, P < 0.001), however, glutenin and its subgroups were more important to dough strength. The quantity of glutenin, HMW‐GS, and LMW‐GS were highly and significantly correlated with dough strength‐related traits such as farinograph development time, stability, extensigraph maximum resistance, and extension area (r = 0.70–0.91, 0.65–0.89, and 0.70–0.91, respectively; P < 0.001). The quantity of LMW‐GS could explain 82.8% of the total variation of dough maximum resistance. The quantity of gliadin and the ratio of HMW‐GS to LMW‐GS determined dough extensibility (r = 0.75 and r = –0.59, respectively; P < 0.001 and P < 0.01, respectively). Higher quantity of glutenin and lower ratio of gliadin to glutenin resulted in higher bread score with r = 0.70 (P < 0.001) and r = –0.74 (P < 0.001), respectively. However, protein content and its fractions have a moderate undesirable effect on CWSN parameters such as color, firmness, and taste. Therefore, both allelic variation and quantity of storage protein fractions should be considered in breeding cultivars with improved pan bread making quality.
Laboratory Methods to Remove Surface Layers from Cereal Grains Using a Seed Scarifier and Comparison with a Barley Pearler
Authors: Liu Keshun
Published: August 2007

The distribution of nutrients and undesirable components within a cereal seed is heterogeneous, and many of the valuable nutrients are located in the outer layers. Efficient laboratory methods to remove these layers will allow for the experimental production of value‐added products. A seed scarifier (SS) was used to abrade barleys, and factors affecting abrading performance and the quality of end fractions including sample charge size, mode of operation, motor speed, and cereal species were investigated. Results showed that the level of surface removal decreased as the sample charge size increased. Compared with a continuous abrading mode (only one abrading cycle per sample), a successive abrading mode (multiple abrading cycles per sample) not only provided a means to collect different fractions of outer layers and remaining kernels, but also minimized kernel breakage and gave more uniform removal of outer layers among seeds. Reduction in motor speeds tended to decrease removal efficiency but significantly prevented kernels from breakage. Subsequent trials with other grain species (wheat, rice, sorghum, and oat) confirmed these findings. Compared with a barley pearler, the SS was easier to operate, produced more repeatable data, and gave more uniform removal from a seed. The SS is an inexpensive and reliable alternative for abrading various species of cereal grains.
Characterization of a Darkly Pigmented Mycelial Isolate of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on Valencia Peanut in New Mexico
Authors: Sanogo S. , Puppala N.
Published: August 2007

A sclerotia-forming fungus was isolated from a peanut field in eastern New Mexico, where Valencia peanut is grown. The isolated fungus was typified by its darkly pigmented mycelium when grown on culture media, with pigmentation influenced by media. The optimal temperature range for mycelial growth was 20 to 25°C. In pathogenicity tests, the fungus caused water-soaked and light tan lesions on stems at points of inoculation, and lesions progressed up the stems into petioles followed by collapse of leaves. White fluffy mycelium and sclerotia were present on inoculated plants. Based on the examination of morphological and cultural characteristics of sclerotia, apothecia, asci, and ascospores, the isolated fungus with darkly pigmented mycelium on culture media was identified as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. This study is the first report of S. sclerotiorum on peanut in New Mexico.
Inoculum Density-Disease Development Relationship in Verticillium Wilt of Artichoke Caused by Verticillium dahliae
Authors: Berbegal M. , Ortega A. , García-Jiménez J. , Armengol J.
Published: August 2007

The relationship between inoculum density of Verticillium dahliae in soil and disease development was studied in 10 commercial artichoke fields. Inoculum density of V. dahliae varied between 2.2 and 34.2 microsclerotia (ms) g–1 of soil near planting. Artichoke plants were monitored for disease at the beginning and the end of each growing season. There was a significant correlation, which was best described by negative exponential models, between inoculum density and disease incidence, symptom severity, and recovery of the pathogen from the plants. Inoculum densities ranging from 5 to 9 ms g–1 of soil were associated with a mean percentage of infected plants of about 50%. Additionally, three fields were monitored in two consecutive growing seasons to evaluate the population dynamics of V. dahliae microsclerotia in soil and disease development. Numbers of microsclerotia per gram of soil decreased significantly by the end of the first growing season but slightly increased at the end of the second growing season. In these fields, symptom severity was greatest during the second growing season when high percentages of infected plants also were recorded.
Colonization Dynamics and Spatial Progression of Verticillium dahliae in Individual Stems of Two Potato Cultivars with Differing Responses to Potato Early Dying
Authors: Bae J. , Atallah Z. K. , Jansky S. H. , Rouse D. I. , Stevenson W. R.
Published: August 2007

Potato early dying (PED), caused by Verticillium dahliae, is a chronic yield-limiting disease of potato (Solanum tuberosum). In this study, we describe the colonization dynamics of V. dahliae in two potato cultivars with varying responses to PED. We utilized a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) assay to assess the colonization and spatial progression of V. dahliae in cvs. Ranger Russet (moderately resistant) and Russet Norkotah (highly susceptible). Ninety plants per cultivar were inoculated with a conidial suspension in the greenhouse. Every 2 weeks until week 10, we collected basal samples from 15 plants, and repeatedly sampled the growing apices of another 15 plants. The mean infection coefficient (IC) values in the basal and apical samples were significantly lower in cv. Ranger Russet at all five sampling dates. The pathogen was detected in basal samples of both cultivars by week 2, and in apical samples of cv. Russet Norkotah at week 4 and of cv. Ranger Russet at week 6. Colonization of cv. Russet Norkotah consistently increased in apical and basal samples during the 10 weeks, while it plateaued after week 6 in cv. Ranger Russet. Differences in response to PED appear associated with the speed of colonization and the establishment of a higher population density by V. dahliae in the plant.
Plant-Parasitic Nematodes Infecting Grapevine in Southern Spain and Susceptible Reaction to Root-Knot Nematodes of Rootstocks Reported as Moderately Resistant
Authors: Téliz Daniel , Landa Blanca B. , Rapoport Hava F. , Camacho Fernando Pérez , Jiménez-Díaz Rafael M. , Castillo Pablo
Published: August 2007

Incidence and nematode population densities of plant-parasitic nematodes were determined in 64 samples of soil and grapevine roots collected from commercial vineyards in southern Spain between October 2003 and May 2005. In addition, a histopathological study was done of root-stock roots naturally infected by root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.). Nematodes infecting the rootstocks were identified according to conventional procedures, and the Meloidogyne spp. were furthermore identified by sequence characterized amplified region-polymerase chain reaction (SCAR-PCR) and isozyme esterase analyses. The most important plant-parasitic nematodes detected, in order of decreasing frequency of total soil infestation and root infection (percentage of samples), were Mesocriconema xenoplax (34.4%), Meloidogyne incognita (26.6%), Meloidogyne javanica (14.1%), Xiphinema index (12.5%), Xiphinema italiae (10.9%), Pratylenchus vulnus (6.3%), and Meloidogyne arenaria (1.6%). No disease symptoms were observed on aboveground plant parts of the infected grapevines, except for plants in some fields where soil was infested with the virus-vector nematodes X. index and X. italiae. Those grapevines showed a yellow mosaic pattern in leaves early in the growing season and the internode shortening characteristic of infections by Grapevine fanleaf virus. Rootstocks infected by root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) showed distorted feeder roots and large- to moderate-sized root galls, present either singly or in clusters. Histopathology of galled roots showed a typical susceptible response to infection by root-knot nematodes: cellular alterations were induced in the cortex, endodermis, pericycle, and vascular system, including giant-cell formation and severe distortion of vascular tissues. Most Meloidogyne egg masses ocurred on the surface of the galled root tissues, a position that could facilitate dispersion of the nematode eggs and juveniles and the occurrence of secondary infections. Some of the grapevine rootstocks surveyed in this study (Paulsen 1103, Richter 110, Rupestris du Lot, and SO4) had previously been reported to be resistant to Meloidogyne spp.; however, the population densities of these nematodes found in soil and roots sampled in the present study, as well as the compatible host-parasite relationship revealed by histopathology, indicate a susceptible response to Meloidogyne spp. from southern Spain.
Evaluation of Fusarium graminearum Associated with Corn and Soybean Seed and Seedling Disease in Ohio
Authors: Broders K. D. , Lipps P. E. , Paul P. A. , Dorrance A. E.
Published: August 2007

Fusarium graminearum is an important pathogen of cereal crops in Ohio causing primarily head blight in wheat and stalk and ear rot of corn. During the springs of 2004 and 2005, 112 isolates of F. graminearum were recovered from diseased corn and soybean seedlings from 30 locations in 13 Ohio counties. These isolates were evaluated in an in vitro pathogenicity assay on both corn and soybean seed, and 28 isolates were tested for sensitivity to the seed treatment fungicides azoxystrobin, trifloxystrobin, fludioxonil, and captan. All of the isolates were highly pathogenic on corn seed and moderately to highly pathogenic on soybean seed. Fludioxonil was the only fungicide that provided sufficient inhibition of mycelial growth; however, several fludioxonil-resistant mutants were identified during the sensitivity experiments. These results indicate that F. graminearum is an important pathogen of both corn and soybean seed and seedlings in Ohio, and that continued use of fludioxonil potentially may select for less sensitive isolates of F. graminearum.
Comparison of Field, Greenhouse, and Detached-Leaf Evaluations of Soybean Germplasm for Resistance to Phakopsora pachyrhizi
Authors: Twizeyimana M. , Ojiambo P. S. , Ikotun T. , Paul C. , Hartman G. L. , Bandyopadhyay R.
Published: August 2007

Fourteen soybean accessions and breeding lines were evaluated for resistance to soybean rust caused by the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi. Evaluations were conducted in replicated experiments in growth chambers using detached leaves and under greenhouse and field conditions. In growth-chamber experiments, inoculation of detached leaves with 1 × 106 spores/ml resulted in a significantly (P < 0.0001) higher total number of pustules and spores per unit leaf area than inoculations with lower spore concentrations. Amending agar medium with plant hormones significantly (P < 0.0001) aided retention of green leaf color in detached leaves. Leaf pieces on a medium containing kinetin at 10 mg/liter had 5% chlorosis at 18 days after plating compared with leaf pieces on media amended with all other plant hormones, which had higher levels of chlorosis. Leaf age significantly affected number of pustules (P = 0.0146) and number of spores per pustule (P = 0.0088), and 3- to 4-week-old leaves had a higher number of pustules and number of spores per pustule compared with leaves that were either 1 to 2 or 5 to 6 weeks old. In detached-leaf and greenhouse screening, plants were evaluated for days to lesion appearance, days to pustule formation, days to pustule eruption, lesion number, lesion diameter, lesion type, number of pustules, and spores per pustule in 1-cm2 leaf area. Plants also were evaluated for diseased leaf area (in greenhouse and field screening) and sporulation (in field screening) at growth stage R6. There were significant (P < 0.0001) differences among genotypes in their response to P. pachyrhizi infection in the detached-leaf, greenhouse, and field evaluations. Accessions PI 594538A, PI 417089A, and UG-5 had very low levels of disease compared with the susceptible checks and all other genotypes. Detached-leaf, greenhouse, and field results were comparable, and there were significant correlations between detached-leaf and greenhouse (absolute r = 0.79; P < 0.0001) and between detached-leaf and field resistance (absolute r = 0.83; P < 0.0001) across genotypes. The overall results show the utility of detached-leaf assay for screening soybean for rust resistance.
Characterization and Inheritance of a New Source of Resistance toFusarium oxysporumf. sp.melonisRace 1.2 inCucumis melo
Authors: Herman R. , Perl-Treves R.
Published: August 2007

Four physiological races (0, 1, 2, and 1.2) of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis, causal agent of Fusarium wilt in melons, have been described. Whereas resistance against each of the races 0, 1, and 2 is encoded by a single dominant R-gene, resistance against the fourth race, FOM 1.2, is polygenically inherited and was recently characterized in the cultivar Isabelle. In the present study, we report on an independently derived source of resistance to race 1.2, the Israeli breeding line BIZ. The disease response of BIZ seedlings was compared with two susceptible genotypes, Line 33 and PI 414723, and the partially resistant genotype, Isabelle, at increasing concentrations of inoculum. BIZ exhibited near-complete resistance to race 1.2, even at inoculum levels of 106spores per ml and root wounding, indicating that such resistance is stronger than that in Isabelle. Although in previous studies the F1hybrids between BIZ and the sensitive lines displayed full resistance in the field, in the present study they were susceptible under artificial inoculation conditions that involve high inoculum concentrations of 106spores per ml and root wounding; under intermediate inoculum levels (105and 5 × 105spores per ml) they were partially resistant. Segregation of the resistance response in the F2and back-cross-1 progeny from a cross between BIZ and PI 414723 supported a model in which two complementary, recessive genes are required to obtain full resistance. While the fungus was shown to colonize root tissue of both resistant and susceptible lines, colonization was markedly lower in the resistant plants, and the fungus was nearly absent from upper stem segments.
First Report of Sclerotial Rot of Saffron Caused by Sclerotium rolfsii in India
Authors: Kalha C. S. , Gupta V. , Gupta D. , Priya Satya
Published: August 2007

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is highly desirable as a condiment and is also used for medicinal purposes. In India, saffron is cultivated in 2,825 ha with a production of 6,048 t and an average yield of 2.28 kg/ha. Approximately 70 to 80% of the saffron crop in 25 commercial fields in the Kishtwar District of Jammu and Kashmir, India was affected with a corm rot from October 2005 to 2006. In newly infested fields, the disease occurred in small patches that gradually enlarged each year. Symptoms appeared as brown-to-dark brown sunken, irregular patches below corm scales. Lesions were usually 1 mm deep with raised margins. Severely infected corms had foliage that dried from the tip downward. White fungal mycelia appeared on the bulbs that rotted at later stages of disease development. Sclerotia formation was observed. For isolation of the pathogen, small bits of the infected tissue were surface sterilized in 0.1% mercuric chloride and washed three times in sterile distilled water. The surface-sterilized pieces were placed aseptically on potato dextrose agar and incubated at 28 ± 1°C for 3 days. The fungus was characterized by hard, brown-to-black sclerotia that was 1 to 2.1 mm in diameter with a pseudoparenchymatous rind. These were produced on sterile, cottony white mycelium with clamp connections. On the basis of morphological characteristics (3), the fungus was identified and deposited as Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. at the Indian Type Culture Collection Center, IARI-New Delhi as ID No. 6491.07. Pathogenicity tests were carried out in a growth chamber maintained at 28 ± 1°C. S. rolfsii was grown in potato dextrose broth for 7 days and then blended to make a mycelial suspension. Fifty milliliters (1 × 104 hyphal fragments per ml) of the suspension was mixed in each kilogram of sterilized soil and placed in pots. Healthy saffron corms were planted in 10 pots containing soil infested with S. rolfsii, and five pots with noninfested soil served as controls. Symptoms appeared on eight corms 9 to 10 days after planting. Signs of the pathogen in the form of mycelia and sclerotia were also present. The corms rotted and died 12 to 14 days after inoculation. Control plants did not display any symptoms. S. rolfsii was reisolated from infected bulbs, thus proving Koch's postulates. Corm rot caused by Fusarium spp., Penicillium spp., and Rhizoctonia spp. is also reported on saffron (2). Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. gladioli has been reported in Italy (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of S. rolfsii as being pathogenic on saffron from India.

References: (1) P. Di Primo and C. Cappelli. Plant Dis. 84:806, 2000. (2) M. G. Hassan and L. Sobita Devi. Indian Phytopathol. 56:122, 2003. (3) Z. K. Punja and A. Damiani. Mycologia 88:694, 1996.
Detection of Multiple Infections of Citrus exocortis viroid, Citrus viroid III, and Hop stunt viroid Variants in Hunan Province, China
Authors: Rizza S. , Catara A. , Ma X. F. , Deng Z.
Published: August 2007

Citrus cultivation in China has increased since the late 1970s, with China now having the largest area of citrus in culture in the world that is spread in 22 provinces and municipalities. Hunan Province has undergone a program to become one of the major citrus producers in China. Poncirus trifoliata is the main rootstock, so citrus viroids are a limiting factor for further citriculture development. In mainland China, only the presence of Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd) has been reported from Etrog citron indexing, sPAGE (sequential polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) analysis (2), and reverse transcription (RT)-PCR (3). Three viroid-like RNAs, a1, b1, and d, based on sPAGE patterns were detected years ago in our laboratory in budsticks received from Sichuan Province. To identify different viroids and determine their distribution, a survey has been undertaken. Field trees showing stunting, bark scaling and cracking of the rootstock, and poor yield were tested using biological indexing and PCR for the most frequent citrus viroids. Samples from six trees of a local sweet orange variety and three of a Clementine variety introduced from abroad, both grafted on P. trifoliata and showing a variable degree of bark scaling and cracking, were collected near Changsha and in the County of Xin Ning at the end of summer 2006. Small pieces of bark were inserted in stems of young E. citron budwood grafted on rough lemon and maintained in a warm greenhouse (24 to 32°C). Indexing on E. citron showed mild epinasty and leaf roll typical of citrus viroid infections. To identify specific viroids, bark was ground to a fine powder with liquid nitrogen and total RNA was extracted with TRIZOL Reagent (Invitrogen, San Diego, CA) and tested by RT-PCR to detect CEVd, Hop Stunt viroid (HSVd), and Citrus viroid III (CVd-III), as well as to identify the cachexia variants of HSVd. Four primer pairs were used to test the RNA extracts by RT-PCR (1). All samples were infected by HSVd, eight with CVd-III, and six with CEVd. The cachexia variants of HSVd were detected in four of nine samples. Mixed infections were as follows: one sample had CEVd and HSVd, eight had HSVd and CVd-III, and five were infected by the three viroids. A second sampling 3 months after inoculation gave the same amplification patterns. The results show that at least three viroids are present in citrus orchards in Hunan Province. To our knowledge, this is the first report of cachexia variants of HSVd and CVd-III in China. The common occurrence of these viroids supports the need for proper indexing of mother trees and a specific shoot tip grafting program to create healthy budwood sources to provide healthy plants.

References: (1) L. Bernard and N. Duran-Vila. Mol. Cell. Probes, 20:105, 2006. (2) L. Han et al. Viroids. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 283, 2003. (3). Q. Hu et al. Acta Bot. Sin. 39:613, 1997.
Effect of Infection Timing on Fusarium Head Blight and Mycotoxin Accumulation in Open- and Closed-Flowering Barley
Authors: Yoshida Megumi , Kawada Naoyuki , Nakajima Takashi
Published: August 2007

Barley has two flowering types, chasmogamous (open-flowering) and cleistogamous (closed-flowering). We examined the effect of the timing of Fusarium graminearum infection on Fusarium head blight (FHB) and mycotoxin accumulation in barley cultivars with different flowering types using greenhouse experiments. In the first experiment, 13 cultivars were spray inoculated at two different developmental stages, and the severity of FHB was evaluated. The effect of the timing of infection differed among cultivars. Cleistogamous cultivars were resistant at anthesis but susceptible at 10 days after anthesis, whereas chasmogamous cultivars were already susceptible at anthesis. In the second experiment, five cultivars were inoculated at three different developmental stages and the concentrations of deoxynivalenol (DON) and nivalenol (NIV) in mature grain were analyzed. Cleistogamous cultivars accumulated more mycotoxins (DON and NIV) when inoculated 10 or 20 days after anthesis than when inoculated at anthesis, whereas chasmogamous cultivars accumulated more mycotoxins when inoculated at anthesis. Thus, the most critical time for F. graminearum infection and mycotoxin accumulation in barley differs with cultivar, and likely is associated with the flowering type. Late infection, even without accompanied FHB symptoms, was also significant in terms of the risk of mycotoxin contamination.
Host Range and Molecular Phylogenies of the Soft Rot Enterobacterial Genera Pectobacterium and Dickeya
Authors: Ma Bing , Hibbing Michael E. , Kim Hye-Sook , Reedy Ralph M. , Yedidia Iris , Breuer Jane , Breuer Jeffrey , Glasner Jeremy D. , Perna Nicole T. , Kelman Arthur , Charkowski Amy O.
Published: August 2007

Pectobacterium and Dickeya spp. are related broad-host-range entero-bacterial pathogens of angiosperms. A review of the literature shows that these genera each cause disease in species from at least 35% of angiosperm plant orders. The known host ranges of these pathogens partially overlap and, together, these two genera are pathogens of species from 50% of angiosperm plant orders. Notably, there are no reported hosts for either genus in the eudicots clade and no reported Dickeya hosts in the magnoliids or eurosids II clades, although Pectobacterium spp. are pathogens of at least one plant species in the magnoliids and at least one in each of the three eurosids II plant orders. In addition, Dickeya but not Pectobacterium spp. have been reported on a host in the rosids clade and, unlike Pectobacterium spp., have been reported on many Poales species. Natural disease among nonangiosperms has not been reported for either genus. Phylogenetic analyses of sequences concatenated from regions of seven housekeeping genes (acnA, gapA, icdA, mdh, mtlD, pgi, and proA) from representatives of these genera demonstrated that Dickeya spp. and the related tree pathogens, the genus Brenneria, are more diverse than Pectobacterium spp. and that the Pectobacterium strains can be divided into at least five distinct clades, three of which contain strains from multiple host plants.
A Statistical Comparison of the Blossom Blight Forecasts of MARYBLYT and Cougarblight with Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve Analysis
Authors: Dewdney M. M. , Biggs A. R. , Turechek W. W.
Published: August 2007

Blossom blight forecasting is an important aspect of fire blight, caused by Erwinia amylovora, management for both apple and pear. A comparison of the forecast accuracy of two common fire blight forecasters, MARYBLYT and Cougarblight, was performed with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and 243 data sets. The rain threshold of Cougarblight was analyzed as a separate model termed Cougarblight and rain. Data were used as a whole and then grouped into geographic regions and cultivar susceptibilities. Frequency distributions of cases and controls, orchards or regions (depending on the data set), with and without observed disease, respectively, in all data sets overlapped. MARYBLYT, Cougarblight, and Cougarblight and rain all predicted blossom blight infection better than chance (P = 0.05). It was found that the blossom blight forecasters performed equivalently in the geographic regions of the east and west coasts of North America and moderately susceptible cultivars based on the 95% confidence intervals and pairwise contrasts of the area under the ROC curve. Significant differences (P < 0.05) between the forecasts of Cougarblight and MARYBLYT were found with pairwise contrasts in the England and very susceptible cultivar data sets. Youden's index was used to determine the optimal cutpoint of both forecasters. The greatest sensitivity and specificity for MARYBLYT coincided with the use of the highest risk threshold for predictions of infection; with Cougarblight, there was no clear single risk threshold across all data sets.
Boards of Directors and Shark Repellents:Assessing the Value of an Agency Theory Perspective
Authors: Frankforter Steven A. , Berman Shawn L. , Jones Thomas M.
Published: August 2007

Because shark repellents decrease the vulnerability of firms (and their incumbent managers) to the market for corporate control, the decision to adopt these devices represents an excellent test of agency theory. In this empirical study, we examined the relationships between the adoption of shark repellents and several mechanisms that, according to agency theory, should align the interests of corporate board members and shareholders and/or make directors more effective monitors of management behaviour. Of the variables included, only board stock ownership (especially by employee directors) was linked to a reduced propensity to adopt shark repellents in the predicted manner. Two variables not immediately as‐ sociated with agency theory — the proportion of inside directors appointed by the incumbent chief executive officer (CEO) and a lower ratio of CEO compensation to the compensation of other top executives — were linked to higher rates of shark repellent adoption. Given that agency theory explains relatively little of the variance in shark repellent adoption, we advocate serious consideration of other theoretical formulations for corporate governance, including two approaches — stewardship theory and agent morality — that take the moral (‘other regarding’) obligations of directors seriously.