Pteroceras dalaputtuwa (Orchidaceae: Epidendroideae: Vandeae: Aeridinae), a new species from Sri Lanka and re-collection of Pteroceras viridiflorum after 150 years

Pteroceras dalaputtuwa, a new species, is described from the lowland-wet zone of Sri Lanka. For the first time in the history of plant nomenclature, a new species is named after an elephant, ‘Galgamuwa Dala Puttuwa’, which was killed for its majestic ivory. The new species shows a close morphological affinity with P. philippinense from the Philippines. However, P. dalaputtuwa sp. nov. can be readily distinguished by having small and partially opened flowers (10 mm long × 5 mm wide), short petals (4 mm long × 1 mm wide), short sepals (4.9 mm long × 3.0 mm wide) and elongated rectangular-oval spur (7 mm long × 3 mm wide). P. viridiflorum, which is considered as a “Critically Endangered Possibly Extinct” [CR(PE)] orchid, is also re-collected after after a gap of nearly 150 years with a record of a new colour form (white colour variant) and, is re-described with designation of a lectotype and an epitype.

A Bilaterally Partitioned Colour Variant of an Appalachian Brook Crayfish (Cambarus bartonii bartonii) from eastern Pennsylvania

This observation of a bilaterally partitioned colour phenotype of an Appalachian Brook Crayfish (Cambarus bartonii bartonii) from Fishing Creek, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, USA, appears to be the first report of such an aberrant phenotype for this species. The pattern is similar to that reported previously in Papershell Crayfish (Orconectes immunis) and Ameri can Lobster (Homarus americanus). Although the cause of the colour pattern in the specimen of C. b. bartonii could not be determined, hypotheses related to previous cases in aquatic crustaceans include bilateral partition of primary and secondary sexual characteristics (bicoloured gynandromorphy) and mutation during embryogenesis.

Selection of a suitable data set and model for the genetic evaluation of the linear description of conformation and type description in Old Kladruber horses

The objective of this paper was to select a suitable data subset and statistical model for the estimation of genetic parameters for 36 traits of the linear type in 977 Old Kladruber horses. Two subsets were tested to identify a suitable subset for analysis. One subset included repeated evaluation of certain individuals, whereas the other did not. The most suitable subset included repeated evaluation (n=1 390). The selection of a suitable model was made from 4 candidate models. These models comprised a number of random effects (direct individual effect and animal permanent environmental effect of the animal) and a number of fixed effects (colour variant, stud, colour variant × stud interaction, sex, age at description, year of birth, year of description). The model was selected based on the Akaike information criterion (AIC, Akaike 1974), residual variance and heritability coefficient. The model that included colour variant, stud, colour variant × stud interaction, sex, age at description, and year of description as fixed effects and direct individual and animal permanent environment as random effects was the most suitable model for the estimation of genetic parameters and for the subsequent estimation of breeding values.

An overview of Mechanistic Characterization and optimization of Pullulan producing microorganism

Pullulan is the generic name given to water‐soluble homopolysaccharide thatis produced extracellularly by the polymorphic micromycete Aureobasidiumpullulans. It is a linear α‐d‐glucan, made mainly of maltotriose repeatingunits interconnected by α (1→6) linkages. The present study was carried outto isolate effective pullulan producing strains of A. pullulans from plantleaves collected from a village named Iruvaram in Chittoor district (AndhraPradesh). Two strains of A. pullulans were isolated, out of which SSW strainwas isolated from the leaves of Ficus benghalensis and SSP strain was isolatedfrom the leaves of Mangifera indica. The strains isolated proved that A.pullulans is a ubiquitous fungus and phylloplane being the important habitatof the organism. The colour variant pullulan–hyper producing strain SSWshowed colourless colonies in the production medium and produced pinkcolour pigment in the production broth. The optimization of the medium forpullulan production in SSW strain considering different carbon sources, nitrogensources, temperature and pH was carried out in the study. The confirmationand purification of exopolysaccharide was performed by thin layerchromatography using pullulan from Sigma, U.S.A as standard.

Revision of the genus Epexochus Reitter, with description of three new species (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Lixinae: Cleonini)

The genus Epexochus Reitter is revised, its morphological characters are defined and the differences from the most closely related genera, Leucochromus Motschulsky and Eurycleonus Bedel, are outlined. All the populations of Epexochus from Kazakhstan and north-western China (Xinjiang) are referred to a single species, E. lehmanni (Ménétries). The status of Exochus latus Chevrolat is discussed and its name is formally synonymised with lehmanni. According to Art. 45.6.4.1 of the ICZN (1999), the name lehmanni var. consobrinus Faust, originally proposed for a colour variant and misidentified by Ter-Minasyan, is deemed to be subspecific and thus a synonym of lehmanni. Three new species are described in the genus: E. korotyaevi sp. n. (type locality: southern Tajikistan, Shaar-tuz region), characterised by the pronotum curved towards the elytra and by slender, lanceolate scales; E. voriseki sp. n. (type locality: central Uzbekistan, Gazli), characterised by small size, only slightly convex elytra and long hair-like setae, and E. mongolicus sp. n. (type locality: western Mongolia, Kobdoskij Aimak), characterised by large size, convex elytra with flat intervals and an elongate lamella of the aedeagus.

The performance test of the Old-Kladruby horse

The Old-Kladruby horse is the only autochthonous Czech horse, a gene pool and national cultural heritage, which has been bred continually for more than 400 years in the Czech Lands. During such a long time span it has become perfectly adapted to a specific environment. The performance test is one of the most important factors, which decides whether the horse is to be incorporated in breeding and it is also a basis for efficiency testing. In our project we focused on a detailed analysis of performance tests of this breed with the aim to streamline the system of evaluation, above all in terms of increasing its objectivity.Our database records and evaluates the results of a performance tests of the Old-Kladruby horses from the beginning of keeping records in the National Stud Farm Kladruby nad Labem. The comparisons of horses were based on the colour variant, foundation stock, family, sex, owner and year of performance test. Apart from this we observed the correlations among the particular characters and features evaluated in the performance test. We also compared the systems of performance tests of the Old-Kladruby and Lipican horses.