Oyster greening by outdoor mass culture of the diatom Haslea ostrearia Simonsen in enriched seawater

Oyster greening was first described in the seventeenth century as a natural phenomenon. However, it has recently been discovered that the diatom Haslea ostrearia Simonsen causes greening by synthesis of a blue pigment designated as ‘marennine’. This phenomenon, which involves massive proliferation of H. ostrearia in oyster ponds, was not understood or controlled by oyster farmers in the Marennes‐Oléron region (Atlantic coast of France). As greening oysters improved their market value, they tried to develop empirical methods to guarantee oyster fattening and improve profits. In this context, the present study investigated the feasibility of mass culture of diatoms outdoors in 10‐m³ ponds, using enriched seawater. Different biotic and abiotic parameters were monitored daily to determine the influence of the day–night temperature range. After 8 days, H. ostrearia was the dominant diatom species (66%), reaching a mean cell concentration of 2 × 10⁵ cell mL^?1 and a marennine concentration of 3.4 mg L^?1. Although intensive greening was obtained, further studies are required to optimize the production stages before this technology can be transferred to oyster farmers.     

Characterization of Amaranthus cruentus L. seed proteins by 2-DE and LC/MS–MS: Identification and cloning of a novel late embryogenesis-abundant protein

Amaranth is taking great attention as an important cereal crop that could fulfill food requirements for the growing population, especially in developing countries. However, the protein composition of these seeds is not well known yet. We have used the proteomics tools to characterize amaranth seed proteome. About 400 proteins spots were resolved on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and protein spots were analyzed by LC-MS/MS (liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry). Identified proteins were related to stress and defense responses, metabolic, respiratory, and oxide-reduction processes. One abundant spot was identified as a Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) protein and the gene was cloned and characterized. The AcLEA cDNA contains a 418 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polypeptide of 139 amino acids. Bioinformatics analysis showed that AcLEA belongs to LEAs Group 5. Proteomics is a powerful technique that could be used even in non-sequenced organisms such as amaranth. The obtained information reveals that amaranth seed, beyond the classical seed storage proteins, contains proteins related to protection against stress. The identification of these proteins opens the door to the application of new strategies to improve the quality of amaranth production.     

Composition of Typical Soil Minerals and Quantitative Analysis for Influence of Iron and Manganese Forms on Purple Soil Color in Northeastern Sichuan,China

Eurasian Soil Science - Eight soil samples from the Jurassic Shaximiao Formation (J2s) in the Sichuan Basin, China, were taken as the research object to explore the correlation and quantitative...     

Fungal diversity in coffee plantation systems and in a tropical montane cloud forest in Veracruz,Mexico

We compared the abundance, species richness and diversity of saprobic filamentous microfungi in the forest and in coffee plantation systems (with different biophysical structures of the vegetation and agricultural management) and evaluated the degree of similarity in species composition among these sites. Soil washing was used to isolate the saprobic filamentous microfungi. Emerging colonies were quantified and transferred to tubes with culture medium and then mounted on semi-permanent slides for identification under the microscope. From 90 samples and 4,500 inoculated soils particles, 415 species were distinguished. The genera Trichoderma, Penicillium, Fusarium, Chaetomium and Humicola were the most frequent in all study sites. The transformation of the tropical montane cloud forest in coffee plantation had no significant effect on the abundance, species richness and diversity of the saprobic filamentous microfungi. Effects of the biophysical structures of the vegetation and the agricultural management of the sites were only detected at the level of dominant genera (Fusarium, Trichoderma and Penicillium) and on the evenness. The low degree of similarity among the six sites suggests the existence of a high exchange of species.     

我国农业科技成果转化存在的问题及对策

科学技术要转化为现实生产力,在很大程度上取决于农业科技成果转化成现实生产力的进程。文章分析了我国农业科技成果转化的现状与存在的问题,提出改革科研项目立项机制、改革科技评价机制、改革成果奖励制度、推进农业科技成果转化服务方式变革和加强农业科技推广体系机制创新的对策建议,以期为我国农业科技成果的顺利转化提供参考。     

Do community-conserved areas effectively conserve biological diversity? Global insights and the Indian context

The view that biodiversity-rich areas partially or largely managed by local residents, sometimes referred to as community-conserved areas (CCAs), can be effective in biological conservation has gained considerable ground over the past decade. In this paper, we review available scientific information on the conservation effectiveness of such areas globally. We compiled studies undertaken during the last 5 years (2004-2009) that use quantifiable ecological attributes to: (1) compare CCAs with strictly protected areas (SPAs); (2) compare CCAs with open-access ecosystems and (3) study trends in biological attributes of CCAs over time. We found that there were few consistent differences in diversity/species richness of flora or fauna protected under the two types of management or in deforestation rates. However, CCAs tend to harbour a species complement distinct from that of SPAs and show lowered abundances of monitored taxa that are of conservation importance. CCAs conserve biological values more effectively than open-access areas. Also, biological values tend to decline in CCAs over time. We conclude that CCAs could represent a significant improvement over open-access areas in terms of conservation effectiveness, yet fall short of the needs of comprehensive biological conservation. While extremely few studies have been undertaken in India, the trends seen largely concur with global ones. This review, based on a limited sample size, is only a beginning, and is expected to serve as an invitation for further research to address both the question of biological effectiveness of diverse forest governance regimes as well as the socio-economic, demographic and institutional reasons underlying these differences.     

Mate choice of an endogeic earthworm revealed by microsatellite markers

Endogeic earthworms are difficult study subjects due to the cryptic medium in which they live; thus, only the behaviour of epigeic and anecic earthworms has been studied before. We used microsatellite markers as a tool to elucidate the mate choice processes of Hormogaster elisae, an endogeic earthworm. It was shown to normally mate with two partners, preferably of the same size that are found in close proximity thereby eliminating the need for long-distance dispersion, which could explain the previously observed high genetic differentiation between populations. The genetic analyses of the sperm within each of its four spermathecae showed a uniform distribution with no signs of differential storage of sperm from different partners.