Predation by the naticid gastropod Polinices lewisii (Gould) on littleneck clams Protothaca staminea (Conrad) in British Columbia

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eija Peitso ◽  
Elizabeth Hui ◽  
Brian Hartwick ◽  
Neil Bourne

Feeding rates and prey-size selection of the predatory naticid snail Polinices lewisii (Gould) on the littleneck clam Protothaca staminea (Conrad) were studied on the west coast of British Columbia. Caging experiments indicated that few clams of the smallest size class (10–35 mm shell length) were drilled by Polinices lewisii; predation was heaviest on clams in the size range 35–50 mm. Feeding rates of P. lewisii did not vary significantly over the range of densities provided in field experiments, nor were they influenced by the close proximity of other moon snails. Feeding rates were relatively low. Summer feeding rates of P. lewisii indicated a correlation with respect to snail size, and results from the annual study indicated a seasonal trend towards reduced consumption during the winter months. Polinices lewisii, feeding on P. staminea, was estimated to eat 0.1% of its own dry mass per day. Information from recovered shells of drilled clams showed that the diameter of boreholes was correlated with snail length but only poorly correlated with shell thickness. Boreholes on valves of P. staminea were found mainly in the umbo region. No strong preference for either left or right valve was observed. Random sampling of field populations indicated that prédation by P. lewisii was a minor source of mortality in P. staminea populations at Ladysmith Harbour, British Columbia, Canada.

Author(s):  
Mark M. Bouwmeester ◽  
Andreas M. Waser ◽  
Jaap van der Meer ◽  
David W. Thieltges

AbstractIntroductions of predators can have strong effects on native ecosystems and knowledge of the prey size selection of invasive predators is pivotal to understand their impact on native prey and intraguild competitors. Here, we investigated the prey size selection of two invasive crabs (Hemigrapsus sanguineus and Hemigrapsus takanoi) recently invading European coasts and compared them with native shore crabs (Carcinus maenas) which are known to feed on similar prey species. In laboratory experiments, we offered different size classes of native blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) to different size classes of the crab species in an effort to identify the respective prey size preferences and potential overlap in prey size range of native and invasive crabs. In all three species, the preferred prey size increased with crab size reflecting general predator–prey size relationships. Prey size preference did not differ among the crab species, i.e. crabs showed similar mussel size preference in relation to carapace width. Given that additional morphological measurements showed that both of the invasive crab species have much larger claws relative to their body size compared with the native species, this finding was surprising and may relate to differential claw morphologies or structural strength. These results suggest that the invasive crabs exert predation pressure on the same size classes of native mussels as the native crabs, with potential effects on mussel population dynamics due to the high densities of the invaders. In addition, the overlap in prey size range is likely to result in resource competition between invasive and native crabs.


Author(s):  
M. Jose Yacaman

In the Study of small metal particles the shape is a very Important parameter. Using electron microscopy Ino and Owaga(l) have studied the shape of twinned particles of gold. In that work electron diffraction and contrast (dark field) experiments were used to produce models of a crystal particle. In this work we report a method which can give direct information about the shape of an small metal particle in the amstrong- size range with high resolution. The diffraction pattern of a sample containing small metal particles contains in general several systematic and non- systematic reflections and a two-beam condition can not be used in practice. However a N-beam condition produces a reduced extinction distance. On the other hand if a beam is out of the bragg condition the effective extinction distance is even more reduced.


2018 ◽  
Vol 251 ◽  
pp. 04040
Author(s):  
Zaven Ter-Martirosyan ◽  
Ivan Luzin

The article presents the results of a comprehensive research of the dynamic impacts on a modified base. The modified base was obtained as a result of compensatory injection at the experimental site for the accident recovery at the hydraulic engineering structure. The complex study of the dynamic impacts includes special laboratory tests to determine the soil parameters, the finite element analysis of the experimental site, taking into account the dynamic properties, the selection of the necessary equipment for field experiments based on the numerical solution results, a full-scale experiment with the measurement of the foundation sediments of the experimental site.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 500
Author(s):  
Eun Su Lee ◽  
Do-Sun Kim ◽  
Sang Gyu Kim ◽  
Yun-Chan Huh ◽  
Chang-Gi Back ◽  
...  

Watermelon (Citrulluslanatus) is an economically important fruit crop worldwide. Gummy stem blight (GSB) is one of the most damaging diseases encountered during watermelon cultivation. In the present study, we identified quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with GSB resistance in an F2 population derived from a cross between maternal-susceptible line ‘920533’ (C. lanatus) and the paternal-resistant line ‘PI 189225’ (C. amarus). The resistance of 178 F2 plants was assessed by two different evaluation methods, including leaf lesion (LL) and stem blight (SB). To analyze the QTLs associated with GSB resistance, a linkage map was constructed covering a total genetic distance of 1070.2 cM. QTL analysis detected three QTLs associated with GSB resistance on chromosome 8 and 6. Among them, two QTLs, qLL8.1 and qSB8.1 on chromosome 8 identified as major QTLs, explaining 10.5 and 10.0% of the phenotypic variations localizing at same area and sharing the same top markers for both LL and SB traits, respectively. A minor QTL, qSB6.1, explains 9.7% of phenotypic variations detected on chromosome 6 only for the SB trait. High-throughput markers were developed and validated for the selection of resistant QTLs using watermelon accessions, and commercial cultivars. Four potential candidate genes were predicted associated with GSB resistance based on the physical location of flanking markers on chromosome 8. These findings will be helpful for the development of watermelon cultivars resistant to GSB.


2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (5) ◽  
pp. 1021-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Nguyen ◽  
Jimin Wang ◽  
Thomas A. Steitz

Small self-cleaving ribozymes have been discovered in all evolutionary domains of life. They can catalyze site-specific RNA cleavage, and as a result, they have relevance in gene regulation. Comparative genomic analysis has led to the discovery of a new class of small self-cleaving ribozymes named Pistol. We report the crystal structure of Pistol at 2.97-Å resolution. Our results suggest that the Pistol ribozyme self-cleavage mechanism likely uses a guanine base in the active site pocket to carry out the phosphoester transfer reaction. The guanine G40 is in close proximity to serve as the general base for activating the nucleophile by deprotonating the 2′-hydroxyl to initiate the reaction (phosphoester transfer). Furthermore, G40 can also establish hydrogen bonding interactions with the nonbridging oxygen of the scissile phosphate. The proximity of G32 to the O5′ leaving group suggests that G32 may putatively serve as the general acid. The RNA structure of Pistol also contains A-minor interactions, which seem to be important to maintain its tertiary structure and compact fold. Our findings expand the repertoire of ribozyme structures and highlight the conserved evolutionary mechanism used by ribozymes for catalysis.


2010 ◽  
Vol 142 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Landolt ◽  
D. Thomas Lowery ◽  
Lawrence C. Wright ◽  
Constance Smithhisler ◽  
Christelle Gúedot ◽  
...  

AbstractLarvae of Abagrotis orbis (Grote) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) are climbing cutworms and can damage grapevines, Vitis vinifera L. (Vitaceae), in early spring by consuming expanding buds. A sex attractant would be useful for monitoring this insect in commercial vineyards. (Z)-7-Tetradecenyl acetate and (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate were found in extracts of female abdominal tips. In multiple field experiments, male A. orbis were captured in traps baited with a combination of these two chemicals but not in traps baited with either chemical alone. Males were trapped from mid-September to early October in south-central Washington and south-central British Columbia. Other noctuid moths (Mamestra configurata Walker, Xestia c-nigrum (L.), and Feltia jaculifera (Guenée)) were also captured in traps baited with the A. orbis pheromone and may complicate the use of this lure to monitor A. orbis. Abagrotis discoidalis (Grote) was captured in traps baited with (Z)-7-tetradecenyl acetate but not in traps baited with the two chemicals together.


1977 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. PENNEY ◽  
M. NYBORG ◽  
P. B. HOYT ◽  
W. A. RICE ◽  
B. SIEMENS ◽  
...  

The amount of cultivated acid soil in Alberta and northeastern British Columbia was estimated from pH values of farm samples analyzed by the Alberta Soil Testing Laboratory, and the effect of soil acidity on crops was assessed from field experiments on 28 typical acid soils. The field experiments consisted of two cultivars of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and one cultivar each of rapeseed (Brassica campestris L.), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) grown with and without lime for 2 yr. There are about 30,000 ha of soils with a pH of 5.0 or less where soil acidity seriously restricts yields of all four crop species. There are approximately 300,000 ha with a soil pH of 5.1–5.5 where liming will on the average increase yields of alfalfa by 100%, yields of barley by 10–15%, and yields of rapeseed and red clover by 5–10%. There are a further 1,600,000 ha where soil pH ranges from 5.6 to 6.0 and liming will increase yields of alfalfa by approximately 50% and yields of barley, rapeseed and red clover by at least 4–5%.


2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (11) ◽  
pp. 1351-1358 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.S. Luna ◽  
A. Duarte ◽  
F.W. Weckerly

Scaling relationships between body mass and gut capacity are valuable to predicting digestive efficiency. Interspecific scaling relationships between body mass and gut capacity have consistently estimated a slope of 1.0; however, intraspecific scaling relationships between body mass and gut capacity have been highly variable. We examined the influence of demands of growth and production on scaling relationships of body mass and rumen–reticulum characteristics in white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann, 1780)) because little is known about how juvenile and subadult ruminants accommodate increased digesta masses. We sampled 108 animals over a 2-year period and assessed the influence of body mass, time of kill, crude protein (%), and acid detergent fiber (%) in the rumen, lactation, sex, and back fat on rumen–reticulum organ mass, rumen–reticulum capacity, wet mass of the digesta, and the dry mass of the digesta. Juvenile and subadult white-tailed deer had rumen–reticulum organ masses, capacity, and digesta masses that were similar to adults because body mass and rumen–reticulum scaling relationships all had scalars similar to 1.0. Thus, under the confines of our study, ontogeny plays only a minor role in the physiological characteristics of the rumen–reticulum and the scaling relationships of body mass and rumen–reticulum capacity.


1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.B. Reich ◽  
J. Oleksyn ◽  
M.G. Tjoelker

Seedlings of 24 European Scots pine (Pinussylvestris L.) populations were grown in controlled environment chambers under simulated photoperiodic conditions of 50 and 60°N latitude to evaluate the effect of seed mass on germination and seedling growth characteristics. Seeds of each population were classified into 1-mg mass classes, and the four classes per population with the highest frequencies were used. Photoperiod had minimal influence on seed mass effects. Overall, seed mass was positively related to the number of cotyledons and hypocotyl height. Populations differed significantly in seed mass effect on biomass. In northern populations (55–61°N), dry mass at the end of the first growing season was little affected by seed mass. However, dry mass in 9 of 15 central populations (54–48°N) and all southern (<45°N) populations correlated positively with seed mass. Relative growth rate was not related to seed mass within or across populations, and thus early growth is largely determined by seed mass. Relative growth rate also did not differ among populations, except for a geographically isolated Turkish population with the highest seed mass and lowest relative growth rate. After one growing season, height was positively correlated (r2 > 0.6) with seed mass in 15 populations. To check the duration of seed mass effects, height growth of 1- to 7-year-old field experiments established with the same seed lots were compared. Seed mass effects on height were strongest for 1-year-old seedlings and declined or disappeared by the age of 5–7 years among central and southern populations, but remained stable over that time in northern populations.


2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 699-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana M. Corradi ◽  
Alan R. Panosso ◽  
Marcílio V. Martins Filho ◽  
Newton La Scala Junior

The proper management of agricultural crop residues could produce benefits in a warmer, more drought-prone world. Field experiments were conducted in sugarcane production areas in the Southern Brazil to assess the influence of crop residues on the soil surface in short-term CO2 emissions. The study was carried out over a period of 50 days after establishing 6 plots with and without crop residues applied to the soil surface. The effects of sugarcane residues on CO2 emissions were immediate; the emissions from residue-covered plots with equivalent densities of 3 (D50) and 6 (D100) t ha-1 (dry mass) were less than those from non-covered plots (D0). Additionally, the covered fields had lower soil temperatures and higher soil moisture for most of the studied days, especially during the periods of drought. Total emissions were as high as 553.62 ± 47.20 g CO2 m-2, and as low as 384.69 ± 31.69 g CO2 m-2 in non-covered (D0) and covered plot with an equivalent density of 3 t ha-1 (D50), respectively. Our results indicate a significant reduction in CO2 emissions, indicating conservation of soil carbon over the short-term period following the application of sugarcane residues to the soil surface.


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