ESR study of development of RFM/Un murine myeloid leukaemia.

The blood, spleen and liver of RFM/Un mice were examined by means of electron spin resonance (ESR) throughout the course of myeloid leukaemia induced by i.v. injection of leukaemic spleen cells. Marked changes in the concentration of iron transferrin and caeruloplasmin were observed in the blood 1 day after injection. As the disease progressed, changes occurred in the concentrations of the ascorbyl radical and of paramagnetic metal complexes in both spleen and liver. These changes are compared with those induced in RF/J mice injected with normal and leukaemic spleen cells from RFM/Un mice

Quantifying the Mulligan River Pituri, Duboisia hopwoodii ((F. Muell.) F.Muell.) (Solanaceae), trade of Central Australia

Pituri (Duboisia hopwoodii (F. Muell.) F. Muell.) (Solanaceae) is a narcotic shrub which grows in the parallel dune fields of the Simpson Desert of far south-western Queensland, Australia. The ethnographic literature points to an impressive scale of trade of pituri between Aboriginal groups across inland eastern Australia, and suggests total annual production of 2500-3000 kg of dried plant material. However, there has been no attempt to assess the feasibility of these figures, or investigate the number of pituri plants required to sustain such a scale of trade. We mapped the distribution and density of D. hopwoodii along four one km wide transects, totally 130 km in length. Our results suggest that the population of pituri west of the Mulligan River could number around 36,000 mature plants. Ninety randomly selected plants were measured, and the foliage of six of these was harvested and dried. Plants yielded between 0.15 and 6.68 kg of dry matter. Our 90 measured plants would have yielded around 155 kg of dried pituri. Therefore, between 1450 and 1740 plants would be required to sustain the purported level of trade and use. With knowledge of the location of dense pituri groves and highly efficient expeditions, harvesting this number of plants is feasible. However, numerous questions remain surrounding the ecological and ethnographic aspects of the pituri trade

Evolution of volatile and phenolic compounds during bottle storage of merlot wines vinified using pulsed electric fields-treated grapes

This study aimed to elucidate changes in volatile, phenolic, and oenological profiles of wines vinified from Pulsed Electric Fields (PEF)-treated and untreated Merlot grapes during bottle storage of up to 150, 90, and 56 days at 4 °C, 25 °C, and 45 °C, respectively, through chemometrics technique. Wines produced from untreated grapes and those PEF-treated at four different processing conditions (electric field strength 33.1 and 41.5 kV/cm and energy inputs between 16.5 and 49.4 kJ/kg) were used for the bottle storage study. Results showed that hydroxycinnamic and hydroxybenzoic acids in all stored wines, regardless vinified from untreated and PEF-treated grapes, increased as a function of time and temperature, while anthocyanins and selected esters (e.g., ethyl butanoate) decreased. Extreme storage temperature, at 45 °C particularly, resulted in a higher amount of linalool-3, 7-oxide in all stored wines. After prolonged storage, all wines produced from grapes PEF-treated with four different processing conditions were shown to favor high retention of phenolics after storage but induced faster reduction of anthocyanins when compared to wines produced from untreated grapes. Moreover, some volatiles in wines vinified using PEF-treated grapes, such as citronellol and 2-phenylethyl acetate, were found to be less susceptible towards degradation during prolonged storage. Production of furans was generally lower in most stored wines, particularly those produced from PEF-treated grapes at higher energy inputs (>47 kJ/kg). Overall, PEF pre-treatment on grapes may improve storage and temperature stability of the obtained wines

Amphidromy Links a Newly Documented Fish Community of Continental Australian Streams, to Oceanic Islands of the West Pacific

BACKGROUND: Indo-Pacific high island streams experience extreme hydrological variation, and are characterised by freshwater fish species with an amphidromous life history. Amphidromy is a likely adaptation for colonisation of island streams following stochastic events that lead to local extirpation. In the Wet Tropics of north-eastern Australia, steep coastal mountain streams share similar physical characteristics to island systems. These streams are poorly surveyed, but may provide suitable habitat for amphidromous species. However, due to their ephemeral nature, common non-diadromous freshwater species of continental Australia are unlikely to persist. Consequently, we hypothesise that coastal Wet Tropics streams are faunally more similar, to distant Pacific island communities, than to nearby faunas of large continental rivers. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Surveys of coastal Wet Tropics streams recorded 26 species, 10 of which are first records for Australia, with three species undescribed. This fish community is unique in an Australian context in that it contains mostly amphidromous species, including sicydiine gobies of the genera Sicyopterus, Sicyopus, Smilosicyopus and Stiphodon. Species presence/absence data of coastal Wet Tropics streams were compared to both Wet Tropics river networks and Pacific island faunas. ANOSIM indicated the fish fauna of north-eastern Australian coastal streams were more similar to distant Pacific islands (R = 0.76), than to nearby continental rivers (R = 0.98). MAIN CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Coastal Wet Tropics streams are faunally more similar to distant Pacific islands (79% of species shared), than to nearby continental fauna due to two factors. First, coastal Wet Tropics streams lack many non-diadromous freshwater fish which are common in nearby large rivers. Second, many amphidromous species found in coastal Wet Tropics streams and Indo-Pacific islands remain absent from large rivers of the Wet Tropics. The evolutionary and conservation significance of this newly discovered Australian fauna requires clarification in the context of the wider amphidromous fish community of the Pacific

A novel targeted/untargeted GC-Orbitrap metabolomics methodology applied to Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus biofilms

Introduction: Combined infections from Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus are a leading cause of death in the developed world. Evidence suggests that Candida enhances the virulence of Staphylococcus—hyphae penetrate through tissue barriers, while S. aureus tightly associates with the hyphae to obtain entry to the host organism. Indeed, in a biofilm state, C. albicans enhances the antimicrobial resistance characteristics of S. aureus. The association of these microorganisms is also associated with significantly increased morbidity and mortality. Due to this tight association we hypothesised that metabolic effects were also in evidence. Objectives: To explore the interaction, we used a novel GC-Orbitrap-based mass spectrometer, the Q Exactive GC, which combines the high peak capacity and chromatographic resolution of gas chromatography with the sub-ppm mass accuracy of an Orbitrap system. This allows the capability to leverage the widely available electron ionisation libraries for untargeted applications, along with expanding accurate mass libraries and targeted matches based around authentic standards. Methods: Optimised C. albicans and S. aureus mono- and co-cultured biofilms were analysed using the new instrument in addition to the fresh and spent bacterial growth media. Results: The targeted analysis experiment was based around 36 sugars and sugar phosphates, 22 amino acids and five organic acids. Untargeted analysis resulted in the detection of 465 features from fresh and spent medium and 405 from biofilm samples. Three significantly changing compounds that matched to high scoring library fragment patterns were chosen for validation. Conclusion: Evaluation of the results demonstrates that the Q Exactive GC is suitable for metabolomics analysis using a targeted/untargeted methodology. Many of the results were as expected: e.g. rapid consumption of glucose and fructose from the medium regardless of the cell type. Modulation of sugar-phosphate levels also suggest that the pentose phosphate pathway could be enhanced in the cells from co-cultured biofilms. Untargeted metabolomics results suggested significant production of cell-wall biosynthesis components and the consumption of non-proteinaceous amino-acids

Threatened plant translocation in Australia: A review

Translocation of plants has become a common approach in conservation biology in the past two decades, but it is not clear how successful it is in achieving long-term conservation outcomes. We combined a literature review with extensive consultations with translocation practitioners to compile data on translocations of threatened Australian plants. We documented 1001 translocations involving 376 taxa, concentrated in regions and habitats with high numbers of threatened species. Only 109 translocation attempts encompassing 71 taxa are documented in peer-reviewed literature. Over 85% of translocations have occurred since 2000 and half since 2010, with an especially rapid increase in development mitigation translocations, which account for 30% of all translocations documented. Many translocations involved extremely small numbers of propagules, with 45% using 250. Of the 724 translocations with sufficient data to assess performance, 42% have <10 plants surviving, and 13% have at least 50 plants surviving and some second-generation recruitment into the population. Translocation performance, measured by number of plants surviving and second-generation recruitment, was highly variable between plant lifeforms, habitats and propagule type. However, species was more variable than all of these, suggesting that some species are more conducive to translocation than others. Use of at least 500 founder individuals increased the chances of creating a viable population. Four decades after the first conservation translocations, our evaluation highlights the need to consider translocation in the broad context of conservation actions for species recovery and the need for long-term commitment to monitoring, site maintenance and documentation.J.L. Silcock, C.L. Simmons, L. Monks, R. Dillon, N. Reiterc, M. Jusaitise, P.A. Veskg, M. Byrne, D.J. Coate

Threatened plant translocation in Australia: A review

Translocation of plants has become a common approach in conservation biology in the past two decades, but it is not clear how successful it is in achieving long-term conservation outcomes. We combined a literature review with extensive consultations with translocation practitioners to compile data on translocations of threatened Australian plants. We documented 1001 translocations involving 376 taxa, concentrated in regions and habitats with high numbers of threatened species. Only 109 translocation attempts encompassing 71 taxa are documented in peer-reviewed literature. Over 85% of translocations have occurred since 2000 and half since 2010, with an especially rapid increase in development mitigation translocations, which account for 30% of all translocations documented. Many translocations involved extremely small numbers of propagules, with 45% using 250. Of the 724 translocations with sufficient data to assess performance, 42% have <10 plants surviving, and 13% have at least 50 plants surviving and some second-generation recruitment into the population. Translocation performance, measured by number of plants surviving and second-generation recruitment, was highly variable between plant lifeforms, habitats and propagule type. However, species was more variable than all of these, suggesting that some species are more conducive to translocation than others. Use of at least 500 founder individuals increased the chances of creating a viable population. Four decades after the first conservation translocations, our evaluation highlights the need to consider translocation in the broad context of conservation actions for species recovery and the need for long-term commitment to monitoring, site maintenance and documentation.This research was funded by the National Environmental Science Program through the Threatened Species Recovery Hu