The life-cycle of the compost worm

To determine the full potential of the compost worm Eisenia fetida as waste processor and as source of protein, the life-cycle of this species had to be studied thoroughly. The development, growth and reproduction of Eisenia fetida were studied on cattle manure under favourable conditions of moisture, temperature and nutrition. Data were gathered over a period of 600 days. Apart from the life-cycle this study also indicated that this species can be reproductively active for more than 500 days. This is significantly longer than had previously been believed. Each cocoon produced a mean of 2,7 hatchlings after a mean incubation period of 23 days. These worms attained sexual maturity after 40 to 60 days and produced their first cocoons within four days after mating took place

The weakening of eggshells of the laughing dove, Streptopelia senegalensis (Linn.)

Eggshells of Streptopelia senegalensis dating from 1899 to 1983 were studied to determine whether a change had occurred in the mass of the shells, the length section, breadth (width) section, thickness and index. A significant difference was determined in both mass and index of the more recent eggs (after 1957) compared with older eggs. The two groups of eggs represent periods prior and subsequent to the introduction of agricultural pesticides in southern Africa. Although no definite link has been established the results merit further experimental studies to determine whether the observed changes could be ascribed to the increased usage of agricultural pesticides

Operating costs: pbs vs conventional heavy vehicles in south africa

Road transport is a highly competitive industry and is renowned for low profit margins. Road transport however accounts for almost 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is the backbone of the economy. The Performance-Based Standards (PBS) or Smart Truck Pilot project has existed in South Africa since 2007 and monitoring data has shown substantial savings including a 34% reduction in crash rates, 18.3 million litres of fuel and 534 840 trips being saved since the start of the project. The Australian PBS programme is projected to save more than AUS$17 billion by 2034. The potential financial impact of PBS in South Africa has not yet been fully quantified using actual operational costs from operators participating in the trial. In this study a questionnaire was used to collect operational costs from PBS operators and has compared the costs of PBS and baseline vehicles. The most significant finding is that on a per tonne-km basis, the weighted average overall cost savings was 18.8% for the all PBS versus baseline vehicles. Not all PBS operators showed a reduction in operating costs but this could be attributed to having only one PBS vehicle and operating in a specialized industry with short lead distances. PBS however, appears as a viable solution to reduce transport costs, reduce crashes and emissions and also save the road infrastructure and should be considered for regulated implementation in South Africa.Papers presented virtually at the 39th International Southern African Transport Conference on 05 -07 July 202

Integrative conjugative elements of the ICEPan family play a potential role in Pantoea ananatis ecological diversification and antibiosis

Pantoea ananatis is a highly versatile enterobacterium isolated from diverse environmental sources. The ecological diversity of this species may be attributed, in part, to the acquisition of mobile genetic elements. One such element is an Integrative and Conjugative Element (ICE). By means of in silico analyses the ICE elements belonging to a novel family, ICEPan, were identified in the genome sequences of five P. ananatis strains and characterized. PCR screening showed that ICEPan is prevalent among P. ananatis strains isolated from different environmental sources and geographic locations. Members of the ICEPan family share a common origin with ICEs of other enterobacteria, as well as conjugative plasmids of Erwinia spp. Aside from core modules for ICEPan integration, maintenance and dissemination, the ICEPan contain extensive non-conserved islands coding for proteins that may contribute toward various phenotypes such as stress response and antibiosis, and the highly diverse ICEPan thus plays a major role in the diversification of P. ananatis. An island is furthermore integrated within an ICEPan DNA repair-encoding locus umuDC and we postulate its role in stress-induced dissemination and/or expression of the genes on this island.This study was partially supported by the University of Pretoria Postdoctoral Fellowship Fund, National Research Foundation (NRF), the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP), the NRF/Dept. of Science and Technology Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB), and the THRIP support program of the Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa, the department of Life Sciences and Facility Management of ZHAW, the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (BLW Fire Blight Research – Achilles), and the Swiss Secretariat for Education and Research (SBF C07.0038).http://www.frontiersin.org/Microbiologyam2016Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

Size Doesn't Matter: Towards a More Inclusive Philosophy of Biology

notes: As the primary author, O’Malley drafted the paper, and gathered and analysed data (scientific papers and talks). Conceptual analysis was conducted by both authors.publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticlePhilosophers of biology, along with everyone else, generally perceive life to fall into two broad categories, the microbes and macrobes, and then pay most of their attention to the latter. ‘Macrobe’ is the word we propose for larger life forms, and we use it as part of an argument for microbial equality. We suggest that taking more notice of microbes – the dominant life form on the planet, both now and throughout evolutionary history – will transform some of the philosophy of biology’s standard ideas on ontology, evolution, taxonomy and biodiversity. We set out a number of recent developments in microbiology – including biofilm formation, chemotaxis, quorum sensing and gene transfer – that highlight microbial capacities for cooperation and communication and break down conventional thinking that microbes are solely or primarily single-celled organisms. These insights also bring new perspectives to the levels of selection debate, as well as to discussions of the evolution and nature of multicellularity, and to neo-Darwinian understandings of evolutionary mechanisms. We show how these revisions lead to further complications for microbial classification and the philosophies of systematics and biodiversity. Incorporating microbial insights into the philosophy of biology will challenge many of its assumptions, but also give greater scope and depth to its investigations

The MeerKAT Galaxy Cluster Legacy Survey: I. Survey overview and highlights

Please abstract in the article.The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), the National Research Foundation (NRF), the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, US National Science Foundation, the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the DSI/NRF, the SARAO HCD programme, the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Innovation.http://www.aanda.orghj2022Physic