The adrenergic and cholinergic innervation of the chicken vas deferens

The morphological characteristics of adrenergic and cholinergic innervation are described in the vas deferens of the domestic fowl. Adrenergic innervation was much better developed than the cholinergic. Both types of nerve fibre were found in the muscular membrane, submucosal membrane and in the mucosa. The largest number of adrenergic nerve fibres was observed in the muscular membrane. These were less numerous in the submucosa, mucosa and in the wall of small blood vessels. The largest number of cholinergic nerve fibres was noted under the mucosa. Single cholinergic nerve fibres were seen to penetrate between the epithelial cells

Uterus-innervating neurones of paracervical gangliol in the pig: immunohistochemical characteristics

Immunohistochemical characteristics of neurones innervating the porcine uterus located in paracervical ganglia were studied with a combination of retrograde fluorescent tracing and immunofluorescence. Retrograde fluorescent tracer Fast Blue (FB) was injected into the uterine horn and uterine cervix. The presence of biologically active substances, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), neuropeptide Y (NPY), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), galanin (GAL), Met-enkephalin-Arg-Gly-Leu (MEAGL) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) was studied in FBpositive neurones localised in paracervical ganglia. FB-positive neurones containing TH, NPY, VIP and MEAGL were numerous, while those containing CGRP were scarce. The results pointed to some species-related differences in immunohistochemical coding of neurones of paracervical ganglion responsible for uterus innervation

Distribution and immunohistochemical characterisation of paracervical neurons innervating the oviduct in the pig

The present study was aimed at disclosing the distribution of paracervical neurons projecting to the ampulla and isthmus of the porcine oviduct and the pattern(s) of co-existence of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine ß-hydroxylase (DßH), neuropeptide Y (NPY), substance P (SP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) within these nerve cell bodies. The fluorescent retrograde tracer Fast Blue (FB) was injected into the wall of the ampullar (n = 3) and isthmal (n = 3) part of the organ in six sexually immature female pigs. After a survival period of three weeks paracervical ganglia (PCG) were collected. 10 µm-thick cryostat sections of the ganglia were examined for the presence of FB-positive (FB+) nerve cells under the fluorescent microscope. Tracered neurons were counted in every third section and processed for double-labelling immunofluorescence according to the method of Wessendorf and Elde. 78.6% of FB+ neurons were projecting to the isthmus while 21.4% of the studied population innervated the ampulla of the oviduct. Double-labelling immunofluorescence revealed the existence of the following different chemically coded subpopulations of the studied perikarya: TH+/D bH+, TH+/NPY+, TH+/NOS+, TH+/ NOS-, SP-/NOS+, SP+/CGRP+

The influence of Hypholoma fasciculare and Phlebiopsis gigantea on the growth of Heterobasidion annosum in vitro

The influence of two saprotrophes — isolates of Hypholoma fasciculare and Phlebiopsis gigantea on the growth of thirty three root pathogen strains — Heterobasidion annosum was analysed. Two methods were used. The different reaction in paired cultures among saprotrophe and pathogen isolates suggest, that one isolate of H. annosum is not enough to study the interaction between this pathogen and saprophytes in vitro irrespective of the method used

Changes in the Species Composition of Elms (Ulmus spp.) in Poland

In nearly 600 randomly selected forest stands including elms (Ulmus spp.), we conducted field research to identify them to species level and to find trees showing symptoms of Dutch elm disease (DED). The presented data show that all the 3 native elms (U. glabra, U. laevis, and U. minor) still exist in the whole ranges of their distribution in Poland reported earlier, but their role as forest-forming species has changed. In comparison to published data, the contribution of U. minor has markedly decreased, while an increased contribution was observed in the case of U. laevis, a species which in the past was predominantly located out of woodland and was rarely cultivated. In mountains, where the most frequent is U. glabra, the contribution of elms to forest stands is currently clearly lower than in the lowlands and uplands of Poland. The observed changes most probably result from Dutch elm disease. It cannot be excluded that the changes are at least partly linked with natural correction of forest stand composition modified earlier by human activity (silviculture). In all parts of Poland, trees with symptoms of Dutch elm disease are found, but large-scale decline (of a majority of elm trees) is observed only in about 1.5% of the directly investigated localities

Stimulation of Armillaria rhizomorph growth by oak root fungi

Thirty one different genera of fungi were isolated from the wood of roots of 5O·year·old oak (Quercus robur). The most frequently isolated fungi were: Mycelium radicis atrovirens alpha (MRAA), Clonostachys sp. and Penicillium daleae, Beauveria bassiana, Clonostachys sp., Cryplosporiopsis rodicicolo, Geotrichum candidum, Mortierella vinacea, MRAA, P. daleae, P. janczewskii P. spinulosum, Sporothrix schenckii and Tolypocladium niveum significantly enhanced Armillaria mellea rhizomorph initiation and growth from oak branch segments in vitro. The biggest stimulation effect was noticed when the dematiaceous hyphomycetes, e.g. MRAA, P. dimorphospora and S. schenckii were studied