14 research outputs found
First record of verticillium wilt (Verticillium longisporum) in winter oilseed rape in the UK
Verticillium longisporum is an important pathogen of oilseed rape (OSR) and vegetable brassicas in several European countries, but has not been reported previously in the UK (Karapapa et al., 1997; Steventon et al., 2002). In 2007, Verticillium wilt was suspected in UK crops of winter OSR (W-OSR) on cv. Castille in Romney Marsh, Kent and on cv. Barrel near Hereford. At these two locations, 32 and 10% of the plants, respectively, appeared to be affected, but the presence of stem canker may have masked some infections. Symptoms were first seen as the crops began to ripen (seeds green-brown to brown, Growth Stage: 6,4-6,5) and included brown and dark grey vertical bands on the stems from soil level into the branches, and premature ripening of some branches (Fig. 1).
Microsclerotia were observed on stem samples collected in the field (Fig. 2), suggesting V. longisporum as the causal agent. Cultures were prepared from field samples by immersing stem pieces in 5% sodium hypochlorite solution for one minute, washing twice in sterile distilled water and plating onto potato dextrose agar containing 25 mg/l streptomycin sulphate. Isolates from three plants per outbreak were identified morphologically as V. longisporum. Mean conidial dimensions (25 spores per isolate) were 8.80-9.65 Όm (length) and 2.50-2.85 Όm (width) and all isolates produced elongated microsclerotia, characters typical of V. longisporum (Karapapa et al., 1997). The identity was confirmed by PCR using species-specific primers (Steventon et al., 2002) and, as a member of the α sub-group, by direct sequencing of the amplicons from primer pairs ITS4-ITS5 and DB19-DB22 (Collins et al., 2003; 2005). Sequences for isolate 003 from Kent were deposited in GenBank (Accession Nos. HQ702376 and HQ702377). All isolates tested from 2008 and 2009 were identical with previously deposited sequences for European OSR isolates (e.g. AF363992 and AF363246 respectively). Pathogenicity was confirmed by inoculating three OSR cv. Castille seedlings per isolate using the root dip technique with 1 x 106 spores/ml (Karapapa et al., 1997) under heated glasshouse conditions at 19°C. Leaf yellowing and blackening of the leaf veins were found 26 days after inoculation (Fig. 3). Yellowing affecting the three oldest leaves increased for seven to nine days. After five weeks the final mean leaf area affected was 63-78% with no differences between isolates. No leaf yellowing occurred in the controls. After five weeks, V. longisporum was re-isolated from all the inoculated seedlings, but not from the non-inoculated controls.
In June 2008, infection of W-OSR crops in different fields on the same farms was found on cv. Es Astrid in Kent (56% incidence) and on cv. Lioness in Hereford (15% incidence). The Kent farm had been growing W-OSR alternating with winter wheat for at least 10 years whilst the Hereford farm had grown W-OSR one year in four. These short rotations of OSR may be contributing to the appearance of this disease. This study confirms the identification of V. longisporum on any host in the UK, through molecular studies and detailed spore measurements that were not reported in an earlier review (Gladders, 2009). This pathogen occurs in several European countries and, since OSR may be traded freely, following a Defra consultation, no statutory plant health action is to be taken
The Optical Afterglow of GRB 011211
We present early-time optical photometry and spectroscopy of the optical
afterglow of the gamma-ray burst GRB 011211. The spectrum of the optical
afterglow contains several narrow metal lines which are consistent with the
burst occurring at a redshift of 2.140 +/- 0.001. The optical afterglow decays
as a power law with a slope of alpha = 0.83 +/- 0.04 for the first
approximately two days after the burst at which time there is evidence for a
break. The slope after the break is at least 1.4. There is evidence for rapid
variations in the R-band light approximately 0.5 days after the burst. These
variations suggest that there are density fluctuations near the gamma-ray burst
on spatial scales of approximately 40--125 AU. The magnitude of the break in
the light curve, the spectral slope, and the rate of decay in the optical,
suggest that the burst expanded into an ambient medium that is homogeneous on
large scales. We estimate that the local particle density is between
approximately 0.1 and 10 cm^{-3} and that the total gamma-ray energy in the
burst was 1.2--1.9 x 10^{50} erg. This energy is smaller than, but consistent
with, the ``standard'' value of (5 +/- 2) x 10^{50} erg. Comparing the observed
color of the optical afterglow with predictions of the standard beaming model
suggests that the rest-frame V-band extinction in the host galaxy is less than
approximately 0.03 mag.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, AASTeX 5.02, to appear in AJ Referee's report
incorporated, minor changes in the tex
The XMM Cluster Survey: Forecasting cosmological and cluster scaling-relation parameter constraints
We forecast the constraints on the values of sigma_8, Omega_m, and cluster
scaling relation parameters which we expect to obtain from the XMM Cluster
Survey (XCS). We assume a flat Lambda-CDM Universe and perform a Monte Carlo
Markov Chain analysis of the evolution of the number density of galaxy clusters
that takes into account a detailed simulated selection function. Comparing our
current observed number of clusters shows good agreement with predictions. We
determine the expected degradation of the constraints as a result of
self-calibrating the luminosity-temperature relation (with scatter), including
temperature measurement errors, and relying on photometric methods for the
estimation of galaxy cluster redshifts. We examine the effects of systematic
errors in scaling relation and measurement error assumptions. Using only (T,z)
self-calibration, we expect to measure Omega_m to +-0.03 (and Omega_Lambda to
the same accuracy assuming flatness), and sigma_8 to +-0.05, also constraining
the normalization and slope of the luminosity-temperature relation to +-6 and
+-13 per cent (at 1sigma) respectively in the process. Self-calibration fails
to jointly constrain the scatter and redshift evolution of the
luminosity-temperature relation significantly. Additional archival and/or
follow-up data will improve on this. We do not expect measurement errors or
imperfect knowledge of their distribution to degrade constraints significantly.
Scaling-relation systematics can easily lead to cosmological constraints 2sigma
or more away from the fiducial model. Our treatment is the first exact
treatment to this level of detail, and introduces a new `smoothed ML' estimate
of expected constraints.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures. Revised version, as accepted for publication in
MNRAS. High-resolution figures available at http://xcs-home.org (under
"Publications"
The XMM Cluster Survey: X-ray analysis methodology
The XMM Cluster Survey (XCS) is a serendipitous search for galaxy clusters
using all publicly available data in the XMM-Newton Science Archive. Its main
aims are to measure cosmological parameters and trace the evolution of X-ray
scaling relations. In this paper we describe the data processing methodology
applied to the 5,776 XMM observations used to construct the current XCS source
catalogue. A total of 3,675 > 4-sigma cluster candidates with > 50
background-subtracted X-ray counts are extracted from a total non-overlapping
area suitable for cluster searching of 410 deg^2. Of these, 993 candidates are
detected with > 300 background-subtracted X-ray photon counts, and we
demonstrate that robust temperature measurements can be obtained down to this
count limit. We describe in detail the automated pipelines used to perform the
spectral and surface brightness fitting for these candidates, as well as to
estimate redshifts from the X-ray data alone. A total of 587 (122) X-ray
temperatures to a typical accuracy of < 40 (< 10) per cent have been measured
to date. We also present the methodology adopted for determining the selection
function of the survey, and show that the extended source detection algorithm
is robust to a range of cluster morphologies by inserting mock clusters derived
from hydrodynamical simulations into real XMM images. These tests show that the
simple isothermal beta-profiles is sufficient to capture the essential details
of the cluster population detected in the archival XMM observations. The
redshift follow-up of the XCS cluster sample is presented in a companion paper,
together with a first data release of 503 optically-confirmed clusters.Comment: MNRAS accepted, 45 pages, 38 figures. Our companion paper describing
our optical analysis methodology and presenting a first set of confirmed
clusters has now been submitted to MNRA
Witnessing the assembly at z=1.6 of a galaxy cluster (GMASS ultradeep spectroscopy of galaxies at z~2 - V)
We present a study of a galaxy overdensity at z=1.6, Cl 0332-2742, uncovered
in the Galaxy Mass Assembly ultra-deep Spectroscopic Survey (GMASS). We
conservatively estimate the overdensity in redshift space for the spike,
containing 42 galaxies at z=1.6, to be 8.3+/-1.5 and find a velocity dispersion
of 500 km/s. A map of the surface density of galaxies at z=1.6 in the GMASS
field shows that its structure is irregular. The differences in the physical
properties of Cl 0332-2742 member and field galaxies agree with the latest
hierarchical galaxy formation models: for overdensity members, the star
formation rate (SFR), and specific SFR, is approximately 50% lower than for the
field galaxies; overdensity galaxies are twice the age, on average, of field
galaxies; and there is a higher proportion of both massive (M>10^{10.7} M_sol),
and early-type galaxies, inside Cl 0332-2742 than in the field. Among the 42
members, 7 have spectra consistent with being passively evolving, massive
galaxies. In a z-J colour-magnitude diagram, the photometric data of these
early-type galaxies are in close agreement with a theoretical red sequence of a
galaxy cluster at redshift z=1.6, which formed most of its stars in a short
burst of star formation at z~3. We conclude that the redshift spike at z=1.6 in
the GMASS field represents a sheet-like structure in the cosmic web and the
area with the highest surface density within this structure, containing already
seven passively evolving galaxies, will evolve into a cluster of galaxies at a
later time.Comment: Accepted by A&A, 20 pages, 11 figure
Crowded Field Galaxy Photometry: Precision Colors in the CLASH Clusters
We present a new method for photometering objects in galaxy clusters. We
introduce a mode-filtering technique for removing spatially variable
backgrounds, improving both detection and photometric accuracy (roughly halving
the scatter in the red sequence compared to previous catalogs of the same
clusters). This method is based on robustly determining the distribution of
background pixel values and should provide comparable improvement in
photometric analysis of any crowded fields. We produce new multiwavelength
catalogs for the 25 CLASH cluster fields in all 16 bandpasses from the UV
through the near IR, as well as rest-frame magnitudes. A comparison with
spectroscopic values from the literature finds a ~30% decrease in the redshift
deviation from previously-released CLASH photometry. This improvement in
redshift precision, in combination with a detection scheme designed to maximize
purity, yields a substantial upgrade in cluster member identification over the
previous CLASH galaxy catalog. We construct luminosity functions for each
cluster, reliably reaching depths of at least 4.5 mag below M* in every case,
and deeper still in several clusters. We measure M* , , and their
redshift evolution, assuming the cluster populations are coeval, and find
little to no evolution of , , and M* values consistent with passive evolution. We present a catalog of
galaxy photometry, photometric and spectroscopic redshifts, and rest-frame
photometry for the full fields of view of all 25 CLASH clusters. Not only will
our new photometric catalogs enable new studies of the properties of CLASH
clusters, but mode-filtering techniques, such as those presented here, should
greatly enhance the data quality of future photometric surveys of crowded
fields.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures. Published in ApJ, 201