Screening by coral green fluorescent protein (GFP)-like chromoproteins supports a role in photoprotection of zooxanthellae

Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-like pigments are responsible for the vivid colouration of many reef-building corals and have been proposed to act as photoprotectants. Their role remains controversial because the functional mechanism has not been elucidated. We provide direct evidence to support a photoprotective role of the non-fluorescent chromoproteins (CPs) that form a biochemically and photophysically distinct group of GFP-like proteins. Based on observations of Acropora nobilis from the Great Barrier Reef, we explored the photoprotective role of CPs by analysing five coral species under controlled conditions. In vitro and in hospite analyses of chlorophyll excitation demonstrate that screening by CPs leads to a reduction in chlorophyll excitation corresponding to the spectral properties of the specific CPs present in the coral tissues. Between 562 and 586 nm, the CPs maximal absorption range, there was an up to 50 % reduction of chlorophyll excitation. The screening was consistent for established and regenerating tissue and amongst symbiont clades A, C and D. Moreover, among two differently pigmented morphs of Acropora valida grown under identical light conditions and hosting subclade type C3 symbionts, high CP expression correlated with reduced photodamage under acute light stress

Survey of canola growers: practices, inputs, and production

Non-Peer Reviewe

Effects of nitrogen fertilizer on drought-affected corn (Zea mays)

This project explored the effects of nitrogen fertilizer on droughted corn plants. It aimed to investigate whether the amount of fertilizer would affect the rate at which the plant underwent photosynthesis. The hypothesis was that nitrogen would have little or reduced effect on a droughted plant, due to the requirement of water to undergo photosynthesis. To test this, three nitrogen treatments (zero, low, and high concentrations) and two water treatments (well-watered and droughted) were used on corn plants. Chlorophyll concentration, height, stomatal conductance, internal CO2, and photosynthesis were measured for eight weeks of treatment. Increased water primarily had an effect on the height of the plant, while the nitrogen treatments primarily affected chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rates. This suggests that while plants experience stunted growth when droughted, they do not experience a significant change in photosynthetic rates, which are decided by the nitrogen content of the soil rather than the water content

Effects of nitrogen fertilizer on drought-affected corn (Zea mays)

This project explored the effects of nitrogen fertilizer on droughted corn plants. It aimed to investigate whether the amount of fertilizer would affect the rate at which the plant underwent photosynthesis. The hypothesis was that nitrogen would have little or reduced effect on a droughted plant, due to the requirement of water to undergo photosynthesis. To test this, three nitrogen treatments (zero, low, and high concentrations) and two water treatments (well-watered and droughted) were used on corn plants. Chlorophyll concentration, height, stomatal conductance, internal CO2, and photosynthesis were measured for eight weeks of treatment. Increased water primarily had an effect on the height of the plant, while the nitrogen treatments primarily affected chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rates. This suggests that while plants experience stunted growth when droughted, they do not experience a significant change in photosynthetic rates, which are decided by the nitrogen content of the soil rather than the water content

Optimizing canola and field pea production: disease implications of intensive canola and field pea rotations

Non-Peer Reviewe

Symbiodinium thermophilum sp. nov., a thermotolerant symbiotic alga prevalent in corals of the world's hottest sea, the Persian/Arabian Gulf

Coral reefs are in rapid decline on a global scale due to human activities and a changing climate. Shallow water reefs depend on the obligatory symbiosis between the habitat forming coral host and its algal symbiont from the genus Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae). This association is highly sensitive to thermal perturbations and temperatures as little as 1°C above the average summer maxima can cause the breakdown of this symbiosis, termed coral bleaching. Predicting the capacity of corals to survive the expected increase in seawater temperatures depends strongly on our understanding of the thermal tolerance of the symbiotic algae. Here we use molecular phylogenetic analysis of four genetic markers to describe Symbiodinium thermophilum, sp. nov. from the Persian/Arabian Gulf, a thermally tolerant coral symbiont. Phylogenetic inference using the non-coding region of the chloroplast psbA gene resolves S. thermophilum as a monophyletic lineage with large genetic distances from any other ITS2 C3 type found outside the Gulf. Through the characterisation of Symbiodinium associations of 6 species (5 genera) of Gulf corals, we demonstrate that S. thermophilum is the prevalent symbiont all year round in the world's hottest sea, the southern Persian/Arabian Gulf

Cost and Pecuniary Economies in Cotton Production and Marketing: A Study of Texas Southern High Plains Cotton Producers.

24 p

Serologic Evidence of Lyssavirus Infections among Bats, the Philippines

Active surveillance for lyssaviruses was conducted among populations of bats in the Philippines. The presence of past or current Lyssavirus infection was determined by use of direct fluorescent antibody assays on bat brains and virus neutralization assays on bat sera. Although no bats were found to have active infection with a Lyssavirus, 22 had evidence of neutralizing antibody against the Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV). Seropositivity was statistically associated with one species of bat, Miniopterus schreibersi. Results from the virus neutralization assays are consistent with the presence in the Philippines of a naturally occurring Lyssavirus related to ABLV