Un modèle d’estimation de l’état d’avancement de la période d’infection primaire par le Venturia inaequalis en verger de pommiers

La tavelure du pommier (Venturia inaequalis) demeure la principale maladie à laquelle ont à faire face les pomiculteurs. La connaissance de l'état de l'inoculum primaire est essentielle pour mener une lutte efficace et économique contre cette maladie. Les relations entre le probit de la proportion d'asques vidés et les variables degrés-jours (base 0°C) et précipitations rapportées pour Frelighsburg, Québec, de 1981 à 1983 ont été comparées aux émissions d'ascospores enregistrées dans six autres localités réparties sur un axe NE-SO de 320 km pour les années 1982, 1985 et 1987. La variabilité des coefficients de régression a indiqué que ces variables ne sont pas des prédicteurs satisfaisants de l'éjection des ascospores pour cette période de temps. De nouvelles variables fonctionnelles basées sur la température, la précipitation, la luminosité et le temps ont été utilisées pour la construction d'un modèle de prédiction; celui-ci utilise la transformation angulaire de la proportion d'asques vidés et fait appel à la technique des moindres carrés pondérés en régression multiple ainsi qu'à une correction de toutes les variables dépendantes et indépendantes par le coefficient d'autocorrélation. L'équation obtenue a été validée sur l'aire géographique et les années incluses dans l'étude. L'intérêt principal de cette équation réside dans la possibilité de prédire la progression de la proportion d'ascospores éjectées ainsi que la fin de la période des infections primaires.Apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) remains the main disease in apple production. The knowledge of the primary inoculum development is essential for an effective and economical control of this disease. The relationships between the probit of the proportion of empty asci and the variables degree-days (base 0°C) and precipitation reported for Frelighsburg, Quebec, from 1981 to 1983, were compared to ascospore ejections monitored in six other localities distributed on a 320 km NE-SW axis in 1982, 1985, and 1987. Variability of the regression coefficients indicated that these variables were unsatisfactory predictors of empty asci for this time period. New functional variables based on temperature, precipitation, luminosity and time are used to build a forecasting model. This model uses the angular transformation of the proportion of empty asci and was estimated by weighted least squares procedure in multiple regression with all dependent and independent variables corrected by the autocorrelation coefficient. The equation obtained was validated over the geographic area and years included in this study. An important application of this equation is forecasting the percentage of ejected ascospores and hence the end of the primary infection season

Évaluation au Québec d’un modèle de prédiction de la fin de la période annuelle d’éjection des ascospores du Venturia inaequalis.

Un modèle de prédiction de la fin de la période des éjections d'ascospores du Venturia inaequalis, développé à partir de données recueillies au New Hampshire, a été évalué dans sept localités de pomoculture québécoise, entre 1981 et 1987. Pour Frelighsburg 1983 et Saint-Joseph-du-Lac 1982, à la date à laquelle le modèle a estimé le niveau de 100% d'ascospores matures, les valeurs observées n'ont pas différé significativement des estimés; dans tous les autres cas, les valeurs observées ont été significativement inférieures aux estimés avec une différence variant entre 4,2 % et 35,4 %. Le modèle a aussi prédit trop tôt la fin de la période d'éjection des ascospores dans 12 cas sur 16, alors qu'il restait entre 14% et 70% des ascospores dans les pseudothèces.A model for forecasting the end of the Venturia inaequalis ascospore ejection period, developed from New Hampshire data, was evaluated in seven apple growing localities in the province of Quebec from 1981 to 1987. For Frelighsburg 1983 and Saint-Joseph-du-Lac 1982, at the date estimated by the model for the 100% mature ascospore level, the observed values were not significantly different from the estimates; in all other cases, the observed values were significantly lower than the estimates with a difference between 4.2 % and 35.4 %. The model has also underestimated the duration of the ascospore ejection period in 12 of 16 cases with 14% to 70% of the spores still remaining in the asci

Première mention du Marssonina salicicola sur des saules pleureurs au Québec

Au cours des printemps 1996 et 1997, des prélèvements ont été réalisés sur cinq sites à Montréal (Québec) pour établir l'étiologie de l'anthracnose des saules pleureurs (Salix alba Tristis' et S. babylonica). Sur les 25 arbres examinés, 21 étaient affectés par une maladie fongique due au Marssonina salicicola qui constitue le stade conidien du Drepanopeziza sphaeroides. Cette détection est la première mention de la présence du champignon au Canada, à l’est des Rocheuses.During spring 1996 and 1997, five sites on the Island of Montreal, Quebec, were examined to study the occurrence of anthracnose on weeping willows (Salix alba Tristis' and S. babylonica). On 21 trees of 25 surveyed, the pathogenic fungus Marssonina salicicola, the conidial state of Drepanopeziza sphaeroides, was found. This report is the first mention of the presence of this fungus in Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities of Native Plant Species under High Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contamination Highlights Rhizophagus as a Key Tolerant Genus.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been shown to play an important role in increasing plant fitness in harsh conditions. Therefore, AMF are currently considered to be effective partners in phytoremediation. However, AMF communities in high levels of petroleum pollution are still poorly studied. We investigated the community structures of AMF in roots and rhizospheric soils of two plant species, Eleocharis elliptica and Populus tremuloides, growing spontaneously in high petroleum-contaminated sedimentation basins of a former petrochemical plant (91,000 μg/Kg of C10-C50 was recorded in a basin which is 26-fold higher than the threshold of polluted soil in Quebec, Canada). We used a PCR cloning, and sequencing approach, targeting the 18S rRNA gene to identify AMF taxa. The high concentration of petroleum-contamination largely influenced the AMF diversity, which resulted in less than five AMF operational taxonomical units (OTUs) per individual plant at all sites. The OTUs detected belong mainly to the Glomerales, with some from the Diversisporales and Paraglomerales, which were previously reported in high concentrations of metal contamination. Interestingly, we found a strong phylogenetic signal in OTU associations with host plant species identity, biotopes (roots or soils), and contamination concentrations (lowest, intermediate and highest). The genus Rhizophagus was the most dominant taxon representing 74.4% of all sequences analyzed in this study and showed clear association with the highest contamination level. The clear association of Rhizophagus with high contamination levels suggests the importance of the genus for the use of AMF in bioremediation, as well as for the survey of key AMF genes related to petroleum hydrocarbon resistance. By favoring plant fitness and mediating its soil microbial interactions, Rhizophagus spp. could enhance petroleum hydrocarbon pollutant degradation by both plants and their microbiota in contaminated sites

Allelic differences within and among sister spores of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus etunicatum suggest segregation at sporulation

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are root-inhabiting fungi that form mutualistic symbioses with their host plants. AMF are made up of coenocytic networks of hyphae through which nuclei and organelles can freely migrate. In this study, we investigated the possibility of a genetic bottleneck and segregation of allelic variation at sporulation for a low-copy Polymerase1-like gene, PLS. Specifically, our objectives were (1) to estimate what allelic diversity is passed on to a single spore (2) to determine whether this diversity is less than the total amount of variation found in all spores (3) to investigate whether there is any differential segregation of allelic variation. We inoculated three tomato plants with a single spore of Glomus etunicatum each and after six months sampled between two and three daughter spores per tomato plant. Pyrosequencing PLS amplicons in eight spores revealed high levels of allelic diversity; between 43 and 152 alleles per spore. We corroborated the spore pyrosequencing results with Sanger- and pyrosequenced allele distributions from the original parent isolate. Both sequencing methods retrieved the most abundant alleles from the offspring spore allele distributions. Our results indicate that individual spores contain only a subset of the total allelic variation from the pooled spores and parent isolate. Patterns of allele diversity between spores suggest the possibility for segregation of PLS alleles among spores. We conclude that a genetic bottleneck could potentially occur during sporulation in AMF, with resulting differences in genetic variation among sister spores. We suggest that the effects of this bottleneck may be countered by anastomosis (hyphal fusion) between related hyphae

Distribution of mycorrhizal fungi in different soil zone with pyrosequencing approach

Non-Peer ReviewedWe collected 83 soil samples distributed in all five soil types of Saskatchewan, and amplified 18s rDNA as our target DNA segment with primer pairs NS1/NS4 and AMV4.5NF/AMDGR. Sequencing results show that there is rich diversity of AM and other soil fungi in summer season but fungal composition vary among different soil zones and culture management

Abnormal Calcium Handling and Exaggerated Cardiac Dysfunction in Mice with Defective Vitamin D Signaling

Aim Altered vitamin D signaling is associated with cardiac dysfunction, but the pathogenic mechanism is not clearly understood. We examine the mechanism and the role of vitamin D signaling in the development of cardiac dysfunction. Methods and Results: We analyzed 1α-hydroxylase (1α-OHase) knockout (1α-OHase−/−) mice, which lack 1α-OH enzymes that convert the inactive form to hormonally active form of vitamin D. 1α-OHase−/− mice showed modest cardiac hypertrophy at baseline. Induction of pressure overload by transverse aortic constriction (TAC) demonstrated exaggerated cardiac dysfunction in 1α-OHase−/− mice compared to their WT littermates with a significant increase in fibrosis and expression of inflammatory cytokines. Analysis of calcium (Ca2+) transient demonstrated profound Ca2+ handling abnormalities in 1α-OHase−/− mouse cardiomyocytes (CMs), and treatment with paricalcitol (PC), an activated vitamin D3 analog, significantly attenuated defective Ca2+ handling in 1α-OHase−/− CMs. We further delineated the effect of vitamin D deficiency condition to TAC by first correcting the vitamin D deficiency in 1α-OHase−/− mice, followed then by either a daily maintenance dose of vitamin D or vehicle (to achieve vitamin D deficiency) at the time of sham or TAC. In mice treated with vitamin D, there was a significant attenuation of TAC-induced cardiac hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis, inflammatory markers, Ca2+ handling abnormalities and cardiac function compared to the vehicle treated animals. Conclusions: Our results provide insight into the mechanism of cardiac dysfunction, which is associated with severely defective Ca2+ handling and defective vitamin D signaling in 1α-OHase−/− mice

Natural variation in immune responses to neonatal mycobacterium bovis bacillus calmette-guerin (BCG) vaccination in a cohort of Gambian infants

Background There is a need for new vaccines for tuberculosis (TB) that protect against adult pulmonary disease in regions where BCG is not effective. However, BCG could remain integral to TB control programmes because neonatal BCG protects against disseminated forms of childhood TB and many new vaccines rely on BCG to prime immunity or are recombinant strains of BCG. Interferon-gamma (IFN-) is required for immunity to mycobacteria and used as a marker of immunity when new vaccines are tested. Although BCG is widely given to neonates IFN- responses to BCG in this age group are poorly described. Characterisation of IFN- responses to BCG is required for interpretation of vaccine immunogenicity study data where BCG is part of the vaccination strategy. Methodology/Principal Findings 236 healthy Gambian babies were vaccinated with M. bovis BCG at birth. IFN-, interleukin (IL)-5 and IL-13 responses to purified protein derivative (PPD), killed Mycobacterium tuberculosis (KMTB), M. tuberculosis short term culture filtrate (STCF) and M. bovis BCG antigen 85 complex (Ag85) were measured in a whole blood assay two months after vaccination. Cytokine responses varied up to 10 log-fold within this population. The majority of infants (89-98% depending on the antigen) made IFN- responses and there was significant correlation between IFN- responses to the different mycobacterial antigens (Spearman’s coefficient ranged from 0.340 to 0.675, p=10-6-10-22). IL-13 and IL-5 responses were generally low and there were more non-responders (33-75%) for these cytokines. Nonetheless, significant correlations were observed for IL-13 and IL-5 responses to different mycobacterial antigens Conclusions/Significance Cytokine responses to mycobacterial antigens in BCG-vaccinated infants are heterogeneous and there is significant inter-individual variation. Further studies in large populations of infants are required to identify the factors that determine variation in IFN- responses

Correction: Spore development and nuclear inheritance in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A conventional tenet of classical genetics is that progeny inherit half their genome from each parent in sexual reproduction instead of the complete genome transferred to each daughter during asexual reproduction. The transmission of hereditary characteristics from parents to their offspring is therefore predictable, although several exceptions are known. Heredity in microorganisms, however, can be very complex, and even unknown as is the case for coenocytic organisms such as Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF). This group of fungi are plant-root symbionts, ubiquitous in most ecosystems, which reproduce asexually via multinucleate spores for which sexuality has not yet been observed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We examined the number of nuclei per spore of four AMF taxa using high Z-resolution live confocal microscopy and found that the number of nuclei was correlated with spore diameter. We show that AMF have the ability, through the establishment of new symbioses, to pass hundreds of nuclei to subsequent generations of multinucleated spores. More importantly, we observed surprising heterogeneity in the number of nuclei among sister spores and show that massive nuclear migration and mitosis are the mechanisms by which AMF spores are formed. We followed spore development of <it>Glomus irregulare </it>from hyphal swelling to spore maturity and found that the spores reached mature size within 30 to 60 days, and that the number of nuclei per spores increased over time.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We conclude that the spores used for dispersal of AMF contain nuclei with two origins, those that migrate into the spore and those that arise by mitosis in the spore. Therefore, these spores do not represent a stage in the life cycle with a single nucleus, raising the possibility that AMF, unlike all other known eukaryotic organisms, lack the genetic bottleneck of a single-nucleus stage.</p