Population dynamics of endophytic bacteria in field-grown sweet corn and cotton

1995 ◽  
Vol 41 (10) ◽  
pp. 895-901 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. McInroy ◽  
Joseph W. Kloepper

Investigations were designed to gain fundamental information on the microbial ecology of endophytic bacteria in model dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous hosts. Population dynamics of indigenous endophytic bacteria in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. 'DES119') and sweet corn (Zea mays L. 'Silver Queen') stems and roots were studied in a 2-year field trial by quantifying culturable bacteria at intervals during the season on three media: R2A, medium SC, and tryptic soy agar. Population dynamics of endophytic bacteria inside cotton petioles and bolls were also determined in 1 year. Endophytes were recovered from sweet corn roots and stems at seedling emergence at mean population densities of 4 log (colony-forming units per gram fresh weight (cfu/g-fw)) for both seasons, and were present throughout most of the growing season at populations ranging from 4 to 6 log(cfu/g-fw) in 1990 and 4 to 7 log(cfu/g-fw) in 1991. Endophytic bacteria were also present at emergence in cotton roots and stems in 1991 but were not detected until 2 days after emergence in 1990. Endophytic populations in cotton roots ranged from 4 to 6 log(cfu/g-fw) for most of the growing season in 1990 and 1991, while populations in cotton stems fluctuated between 3 and 7 log(cfu/g-fw) during both seasons. In cotton petioles, mean populations generally ranged from 1 to 4 log(cfu/g-fw), while no endophytic bacteria were recovered from bolls (minimum detectable limit = 1.30 log(cfu/g-fw)). The relative contribution of seeds and soil as sources of endophytic bacteria recovered from inside plants was assessed using surface-disinfested seed in a potting mix or on water–agar. With sweet corn, the mean endophytic bacterial population in seedlings grown on water agar was below 2 log(cfu/g-fw), while with cotton the mean was 5 log(cfu/g-fw) 6 days after germination. Internal populations resulting from surface-disinfested seed planted in nonsterile potting mix were 6 log(cfu/g-fw) at 6 days after planting with corn but only 2 log(cfu/g-fw) with cotton. These results indicate that endophytic bacteria are natural inhabitants of internal regions of roots and stems and that the endophytes may arise from both seeds and soils.Key words: cotton, sweet corn, endophytes, colonization.


2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Stadler ◽  
Thomas Müller

Different types of herbivores were investigated for their effects on microorganisms in the phyllosphere of forest trees during the growing season. Aphids on spruce, beech, and oak produced honeydew, which was readily consumed by microorganisms and resulted in two to three orders of magnitude higher densities (colony forming units) of bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous fungi on leaves of infested trees. The amounts of honeydew excreted by different aphid species and their mode of excretion (large droplets, tiny droplets scattered over leaves, production of wax wool) affected the degree to which honeydew could be processed by epiphytic microorganisms. All groups of microorganisms appeared to be energy limited. These results were consistent for different growth media offered to the microorganisms. Leaf-feeding moth caterpillars also positively affected the growth of microorganisms on leaves of beech and oak. The effects were more pronounced for bacteria and yeasts especially on oak. Thus, different functional groups of herbivores positively affected the growth of microorganisms in the phyllosphere of trees. It is suggested that the population dynamics of herbivores and their feeding characteristics are important features, which should be considered when the population dynamics of microorganisms in the canopies of trees is studied.





1983 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 978-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. WENTZ ◽  
A. P. DURAN ◽  
A. SWARTZENTRUBER ◽  
A. H. SCHWAB ◽  
R. B. READ

The microbiological quality of fresh blue crabmeat, soft- and hardshell clams and shucked Eastern oysters was determined at the retail (crabmeat, oysters) and wholesale (clams) levels. Geometric means of aerobic plate counts incubated at 35°C were: blue crabmeat 140,000 colony-forming units (CFU)/g, hardshell clams, 950 CFU/g, softshell clams 680 CFU/g and shucked Eastern oysters 390,000 CFU/g. Coliform geometric means ranged from 3,6/100 g for hardshell clams to 21/g for blue crabmeat. Means for fecal coliforms or Escherichia coli ranged from <3/100 g for clams to 27/100 g for oysters, The mean Staphylococcus aureus count in blue crabmeat was 10/g.



1996 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 744-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Anderson ◽  
D. C. Nielsen

Seedling emergence was characterized for five weeds that infest summer annual crops in the central Great Plains as affected by crop canopy or tillage. The study was established in winter wheat stubble between 1987 and 1990, with seedling emergence recorded weekly between April 1 and November 1. Kochia emerged primarily from early April to late June, whereas green foxtail, wild-proso millet, and redroot pigweed began emerging in late May and continued until August. Volunteer wheat emerged throughout the growing season. Tillage did not affect the emergence pattern of any species, but the numbers of kochia, volunteer wheat, and green foxtail seedlings were increased in no-till. Conversely, wild-proso millet emergence was greater with tillage. Only volunteer wheat's emergence was affected by crop canopy, as fall emergence of volunteer wheat was more than three times greater in corn than in proso millet.



1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 2005-2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Hall ◽  
Lana Gay Phillips

Evidence is presented that population dynamics of Fusarium solani f.sp. phaseoli in soil depend on the effects of crop sequence and rainfall on parasitic activities of the pathogen. In a rotation trial started in 1978 and conducted over 14 years, population densities (colony-forming units/g) of the fungus in soil remained below 50 in treatments (fallow, repeated corn, repeated soybean) where the preferred host plant (common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris) was not grown. Where bean was grown every 3rd year or every year, population densities reached 475 and 660, respectively, by 1984. Thereafter, population densities of the fungus fluctuated widely from year to year in both rotation and repeated bean treatments. In the rotation treatment, peaks in population density of the pathogen coincided with the years of bean production. In repeated bean plots between 1985 and 1991, population density of the fungus in June was significantly correlated (r = 0.77, p = 0.04) with total rainfall received during the previous summer (June–August). It is postulated that higher rainfall during the growing season of the bean crop stimulated root growth and root infection, leading to the accumulation of higher levels of potential inoculum in infected tissue and the release of higher levels of inoculum into the soil by the following June. Key words: Fusarium solani f.sp. phaseoli, bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, rainfall, crop rotation.



1972 ◽  
Vol 104 (8) ◽  
pp. 1197-1207 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Morris

AbstractThe number of predators inhabiting nests of Hyphantria cunea Drury was recorded annually for 13 years in four areas in New Brunswick and two areas on the coast of Nova Scotia. The most common groups were the pentatomids and spiders, which sometimes reproduced within the nests, but the mean number per nest was low in relation to the number of H. cunea larvae in the colonies. The rate of predation on fifth-instar larvae was low. Small or timid predators appeared to prey largely on moribund larvae or small saprophagans during the principal defoliating instars of H. cunea.No relationship could be detected between the number of larvae reaching the fifth instar and the number of predators in the colony; nor could any functional or numerical response of the predators to either the initial number of larvae per colony or the population density of colonies be found. It is concluded that the influence of the nest-inhabiting predators is small and relatively stable, and may be treated as a constant in the development of models to explain the population dynamics of H. cunea.H. cunea is a pest in parts of Europe and Asia, where it has been accidentally introduced from North America. The introduction to other continents of the North American predator, Podisus maculiventiis (Say), is discussed briefly.



Plant Disease ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 84 (8) ◽  
pp. 901-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerald K. Pataky ◽  
Lindsey J. du Toit ◽  
Noah D. Freeman

Maize accessions were evaluated in 1997, 1998, and 1999 to identify additional sources of Stewart's wilt resistance and to determine if reactions differed among accessions collected from various regions of the United States and throughout the world. The distributions of Stewart's wilt reactions rated from 1 (no appreciable spread of symptoms) to 9 (dead plants) were relatively similar among groups of accessions from all regions of the world except for those from the Mid-Atlantic/Ohio River Valley region of the United States, the southern United States, and the northeastern United States. The mean and median Stewart's wilt rating for 1,991 accessions evaluated in 1997 was 4. The mean Stewart's wilt rating for 245 accessions collected from the Mid-Atlantic/Ohio River Valley region was 3.1, which was significantly lower than that for accessions from all other regions. The mean rating for accessions from the southern United States was 3.7, which also was lower than mean ratings for accessions from all other regions. Ratings from trials in 1997 and 1998 were highly correlated (r = 0.87) for 292 accessions and 15 sweet corn hybrid checks evaluated in both years. Of 20 accessions rated below 2 in 1997 and 1998, seven were from Virginia, seven were from the Ohio River Valley or central Corn Belt of the United States, four were from the northern or western Corn Belt of the United States, and two were from Spain. Ratings for these accessions ranged from 1.7 to 3.1 in 1999. Ratings ranged from 2.6 to 3.7 for F1 hybrids of these accessions crossed with one of two susceptible sweet corn inbreds, CrseW30 or Crse16, which were rated 5.7 and 5.4, respectively. Based on the reactions of this collection of germ plasm, it appears that high levels of Stewart's wilt resistance are prevalent only among accessions collected from areas where the disease has been endemic for several years, whereas moderate levels of resistance can be found in accessions collected from nearly everywhere in the world.



1997 ◽  
Vol 106 (8) ◽  
pp. 624-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kari J. Kvaerner ◽  
Jennifer R. Harris ◽  
Kristian Tambs ◽  
Per Magnus

The distribution of recurrent ear infections was obtained from a population-based sample of 2,750 pairs of Norwegian twins born between 1967 and 1974. The lifetime prevalence of self-reported recurrent ear infections was 8.9%, with a significant predominance of female cases. The mean age of onset was 4.2 years, with a gradual decrease in occurrence from 2 to 7 years of age. Among monozygotic pairs, the rate of tetrachoric correlation between co-twins was almost identical in males (0.73, SE 0.08) and females (0.74, SE 0.06), but among the dizygotic pairs the correlation was clearly higher in males (0.53, SE 0.12) than in females (0.20, SE 0.12). The value in the unlike-sexed dizygotic twins (0.25, SE 0.05) was intermediate to that of the like-sexed male and female dizygotic pairs. The relative contribution of genes and environment to variability in the predisposition to develop otitis media was estimated by means of structural equation modeling. Variation in liability to ear infections was mainly explained by additive genetic and dominance factors in females, for whom heritability was estimated at 74%. The remaining 26% of the variation in liability was explained by individual environmental factors. In males, 45% of the variation could be accounted for by genetic factors, 29% by common familial environment, and the remaining 26% by individual environmental effects.



1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 1768-1778 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. D. Bowen ◽  
J. W. Lawson ◽  
B. Beck

The grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) population on the Scotian Shelf has grown significantly over the past 20 yr, thus increasing the potential for competitive interactions between grey seals and fisheries. The relative contribution (percent wet weight) and size of prey eaten were estimated from otoliths and squid beaks recovered from 143 stomachs that contained food of the 528 collected from 1988 to 1990. Although 22 taxa were found, only four species (Atlantic herring, silver hake, Atlantic cod, and squid) accounted for 80% of the estimated weight of food eaten. The mean length of prey eaten ranged from 19 to 35 cm for six species. Only 17% of the cod and none of the pollock and squid eaten were of the length taken in commercial fisheries. However, about 80% of the silver hake and herring eaten were of commercial size. Offshore at Sable Island, northern sand lance, silver hake, and squid (in order of importance) accounted for 86.1% of the wet weight ingested by seals during summer; sand lance and cod accounted for 96.1% of prey eaten in winter. At inshore locations, herring, cod, and pollock made up 90% of the diet in summer; Atlantic mackerel, cod, squid, and herring made up 83% of the diet in winter.



2011 ◽  
Vol 101 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 5-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas F Peiró ◽  
Fernando L Mantelatto

The Pinnotheridae family is one of the most diverse and complex groups of brachyuran crabs, many of them symbionts of a wide variety of invertebrates. The present study describes the population dynamics of the pea crab Austinixa aidae (Righi, 1967), a symbiont associated with the burrows of the ghost shrimp Callichirus major (Say, 1818). Individuals (n = 588) were collected bimonthly from May, 2005 to September, 2006 along a sandy beach in the southwestern Atlantic, state of São Paulo, Brazil. Our data indicated that the population demography of A. aidae was characterized by a bimodal size-frequency distribution (between 2.0 and 4.0 mm and between 8.0 and 9.0 mm CW) that remained similar throughout the study period. Sex ratio does not differ significantly from 1:1 (p > 0.05), which confirms the pattern observed in other symbiontic pinnotherids. Density values (1.72 ± 1.34 ind. • ap.-1) are in agreement with those found for other species of the genus. The mean symbiosis incidence (75.6%) was one of the highest among species of the Pinnotheridae family, but it was the lowest among the three studied species of the genus. Recruitment pattern was annual, beginning in May and peaking in July, in both years, after the peak of ovigerous females in the population (from March to May). Our findings describe ecological and biological aspects of A. aidae similar to those of other species of this genus, even from different geographic localities.



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