Tree Species Composition in Mixed Plantations Influences Plant Growth, Intrinsic Water Use Efficiency and Soil Carbon Stock

Species interactions in mixed plantations can influence tree growth, resources capture and soil fertility of the stands. A combined approach of tree-ring analyses and carbon stable isotope was used to check tree growth and water use efficiency of two species, Populus alba L. and Juglans regia L., intercropped with each other and with N-fixing or competitive production species. Furthermore, soil analyses were performed to understand how the different intercropping systems can influence soil characteristics, in particular soil carbon stock. Dendrochronological data showed that during the first years, the growth of principal species was favored by intercropping. This positive effect decreased in the following years in most of intercropped stands, due to light competition with the crown of companion species. Carbon isotope data showed that P. alba and J. regia had the highest intrinsic water use efficiency when growing with Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb, a shrubby species with a shallow root system that favors a non-competitive exploitation of soil water resources. Finally, the intercropping of the principal species with Corylus avellana L. promoted the highest soil C stock. Our findings confirmed the importance to consider the plantation dynamics and wood formation in the long-run and to apply appropriate thinning and pruning interventions to counteract interspecific competition.

The Phytotherapeutic Arsenal in the Guerbes-Sanhadja Wetlands Complex (North East of Algeria)

This study documents indigenous medicinal flora - utilization, and was carried out in the Guerbes-Sanhadja wetland complex, between January 2018 and December 2020. The detailed information was gathered from users of medicinal plants mainly based on semi-structured interviews. A total of 102 plant species distributed in 48 families were found in practice by the natives for fulfilling their daily life requirements. The most frequently cited plants are: Myrtus communis L. (158 citations), Pistacia lentiscus L. (122) and Thymus vulgaris L. (97). Most of the medicinal species listed were herbs (68.93%). The phanerophytes (33.33%) and hemicriptophytes (27.45%) were the principal species used by the local population of the complex to treat different diseases. And finally, the dependence of the local population on medicinal plants prompted the establishment of a complex management plan in order to promote and protect them through their rational use and domestication.

Evidence that a naturally occurring single nucleotide polymorphism in the RagC gene of Leishmania donovani contributes to reduced virulence

Leishmaniasis is a widespread neglected tropical disease transmitted by infected sand flies resulting in either benign cutaneous infection or fatal visceral disease. Leishmania donovani is the principal species responsible for visceral leishmaniasis, yet an atypical L. donovani has become attenuated in several countries including Sri Lanka and causes cutaneous leishmaniasis. Previous studies have identified 91 genes altered in the atypical cutaneous L. donovani compared to typical visceral disease associated L. donovani including mutations in the RagC and Raptor genes that are part of the eukaryotic conserved TOR pathway and its upstream sensing pathway. In the present study, we investigate whether the RagC R231C mutation present in atypical cutaneous L. donovani introduced into the virulent L. donovani 1S2D chromosome by CRISPR gene editing could affect virulence for survival in visceral organs. Through bioinformatic analysis, we further investigated the presence of sensing pathway components upstream of TOR in L. donovani including RagC complexing proteins, RagA and Raptor. L. donovani 1S2D edited to express mutant RagC R231C were viable in promastigote but had reduced visceral parasitemia in infected BALB/c mice. The RagC R231C mutant retained the ability to interact with RagA and gene knockout experiments revealed that although the RagA gene was essential, the RagC gene was not essential under promastigote culture conditions but was essential for survival in the liver of experimentally infected mice. These results provide evidence that the TOR associated sensing pathway plays a prominent role in L. donovani visceral disease and the RagC R231C mutation contributed to the atypical pathology of cutaneous L. donovani in Sri Lanka.

DYNAMICS OF VILLAGE POULTRY PRODUCTION IN THE KEITA REGION OF NIGER

The dynamics of the village poultry population was studied in the region of Keita in Niger. A weekly survey was carried out for 8 weeks in the dry season and 8 weeks in the rainy season in 47 families chosen at random in five villages. The principal species raised were: chickens, guinea fowl, pigeons and ducks. In 85% of cases, poultry was owned by men and in 15% by women. Pigeons were kept by children. Feed and housing were rudimentary. Mortality was essentially due to predation of chicks and of growers while other losses were through trampling, drowning and rain. Mortality due to disease was negligible during the periods of the survey. Mortality and predation were responsible for 83% of offtakes from chickens and 43% from guinea fowl. A greater proportion of guinea fowl (57%) were consumed and sold than chickens (14%).

Behavior of the cultivable airborne mycobiota in air-conditioned environments of three Havanan archives, Cuba.

High concentrations of environmental fungi in the archives repositories are dangerous for the documents preserved in those places and for the workers' health. The aims of this work were to evaluate the behavior of the fungal concentration and diversity in the indoor air of repositories of 3 archives located in Havana, Cuba, and to demonstrate the potential risk that these taxa represent for the documentary heritage preserved in these institutions. The indoor and outdoor environments were sampled with a biocollector. From the I/O ratios, it was evident that two of the studied archives were not contaminated, while one of them did show contamination despite having temperature and relative humidity values very similar to the other two. Aspergillus, Penicillium and Cladosporium were the predominant genera in the indoor environments. New finds for archival environments were the genera Harposporium and Scolecobasidium. The principal species classified ecologically as abundant were C. cladosporioides and P. citrinum. They are known as opportunistic pathogenic fungi. All the analyzed taxa excreted acids, the most of them degraded cellulose, starch and gelatin while about 48% excreted different pigments. But 33% of them showed the highest biodeteriogenic potential, evidencing that they are the most dangerous for the documentary collections.

Inference of principal species in caustic aluminate solutions through solid-state spectroscopic characterization

Tetrahedrally coordinated Al(OH)4− and Al2O(OH)62− have been isolated in the solid-state and interrogated using XRD, NMR, XAS, IR, and Raman.

Aeromonas Isolates from Fish and Patients in Tainan City, Taiwan: Genotypic and Phenotypic Characteristics

ABSTRACT The present study aimed to isolate Aeromonas from fish sold in the markets as well as in sushi and seafood shops and compare their virulence factors and antimicrobial characteristics with those of clinical isolates. Among the 128 fish isolates and 47 clinical isolates, Aeromonas caviae, A. dhakensis, and A. veronii were the principal species. A. dhakensis isolates carried at least 5 virulence genes, more than other Aeromonas species. The predominant genotype of virulence genes was hlyA lip alt col ela in both A. dhakensis and A. hydrophila isolates, alt col ela in A. caviae isolates, and act in A. veronii isolates. A. dhakensis, A. hydrophila, and A. veronii isolates more often exhibited hemolytic and proteolytic activity and showed greater virulence than A. caviae isolates in Caenorhabditis elegans and the C2C12 cell line. However, the link between the genotypes and phenotypes of the studied virulence genes in Aeromonas species was not evident. Among the four major clinical Aeromonas species, nearly all (99.0%) A. dhakensis, A. hydrophila, and A. veronii isolates harbored blaCphA, which encodes a carbapenemase, but only a minority (6.7%, 7/104) were nonsusceptible to carbapenem. Regarding AmpC β-lactamase genes, blaAQU-1 was exclusively found in A. dhakensis isolates, and blaMOX3 was found only in A. caviae isolates, but only 7.6% (n = 6) of the 79 Aeromonas isolates carrying blaAQU-1 or blaMOX3 exhibited a cefotaxime resistance phenotype. In conclusion, fish Aeromonas isolates carry a variety of combinations of virulence and β-lactamase resistance genes and exhibit virulence phenotypes and antimicrobial resistance profiles similar to those of clinical isolates. IMPORTANCE Aeromonas species can cause severe infections in immunocompromised individuals upon exposure to virulent pathogens in the environment, but the characteristics of environmental Aeromonas species remain unclear. Our study showed that several pathogenic Aeromonas species possessing virulence traits and antimicrobial resistance similar to those of Aeromonas isolates causing clinical diseases were present in fish intended for human consumption in Tainan City, Taiwan.

Assumpsit for misfeasance

The principal species of action on the case in the fourteenth century was that brought for a non-forcible wrong causing physical damage, such as negligence by a carrier or surgeon. The cases in this chapter contain discussions of the distinction between such actions on the case for ‘misfeasance’, actions of trespass for battery with force, and actions of covenant for breaking a promise. The boundaries were important for practical reasons. Although the actions were seen to rest on undertakings – assumpsit means ‘he undertook’ - it was important for plaintiffs that they should be trespassory in form; this meant that the plaintiff did not have to produce a sealed document as proof, as in the action of covenant, and that the defendant could not wage his law.