A Novel Integron in the Genome of Escherichia Coli Isolated From Indonesian Monitor Lizard (Varanus Spp).

The genotype of antibiotic resistance in natural isolates of Escherichia coli was determined through integron detection and characterization of the associated antibiotic resistance. E. coli SG2 isolated from Varanus salvator of Java demonstrated resistance to spectinomycin (50ng/ml) and streptomycin (SOng/ml). Integron detection indicated that eight isolates out of nine E. coli isolates possessed a conserved segment of the integron. Amplification of the inserted cassette of the integron in this SG2 isolate yielded a 1-kb DNA fragment. Sequence analyses indicated that this fragment was homologous with aad gene, which confirmed the resistance to spectinomycin/streptomycin. This is the first report on the presence of integron in the E. coli isolated from the environment

Depauperate Avifauna in Plantations Compared to Forests and Exurban Areas

Native forests are shrinking worldwide, causing a loss of biological diversity. Our ability to prioritize forest conservation actions is hampered by a lack of information about the relative impacts of different types of forest loss on biodiversity. In particular, we lack rigorous comparisons of the effects of clearing forests for tree plantations and for human settlements, two leading causes of deforestation worldwide. We compared avian diversity in forests, plantations and exurban areas on the Cumberland Plateau, USA, an area of global importance for biodiversity. By combining field surveys with digital habitat databases, and then analyzing diversity at multiple scales, we found that plantations had lower diversity and fewer conservation priority species than did other habitats. Exurban areas had higher diversity than did native forests, but native forests outscored exurban areas for some measures of conservation priority. Overall therefore, pine plantations had impoverished avian communities relative to both native forests and to exurban areas. Thus, reports on the status of forests give misleading signals about biological diversity when they include plantations in their estimates of forest cover but exclude forested areas in which humans live. Likewise, forest conservation programs should downgrade incentives for plantations and should include settled areas within their purview

The genus Calotes (Sauria: Agamidae) in Sri Lanka: Clutch Sizes and Reproductive Seasonality of Calotes versicolor – Preliminary Results

Volume: 9Start Page: 111End Page: 11

Entwicklung neuer fluessigkristalliner Photoleiter

SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F98B1180+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman