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Biomedical subjects

R E Berry

Publications and source records attributed to R E Berry.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Identification of symbiotic bacteria (Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus) from the entomopathogenic nematodes Heterorhabditis marelatus and Steinernema oregonense based on 16S rDNA sequence.

Two species of entomopathogenic nematodes, Heterorhabditis marelatus and Steinernema oregonense, were described recently from the west coast of North America. It is not known whether the bacterial symbionts of these nematodes are also unique. Here we compared partial 16S rRNA sequences from the symbiotic bacteria of these two nematodes with sequence from previously described Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus species. The 16S sequence from the new Xenorhabdus isolate appears very similar to, although not identical to, that of X. bovienii, the common symbiont of S. feltiae. The new Photorhabdus isolate appears to be very distinct from other known Photorhabdus species, although its closest affinities are with the P. temperata group. We also verified a monoxenic association between each isolate and its nematode by amplifying and sequencing bacterial 16S sequence from crushed adult and juvenile nematodes and from bacterial cultures isolated from infected hosts.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Association of insects and ergot (Claviceps purpurea) in Kentucky bluegrass seed production fields.

Insects in Kentucky bluegrass seed production fields in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington were sampled just before harvest and their association with ergot conidia of Claviceps purpurea Fr. (Tul.) was evaluated during 1996-1998. A diversity of insects was observed at all three locations. The most abundant beneficial insects collected with sweep nets were Nysium spp., Nabis spp., ichneumonid wasps, and Hippodamia spp. The cranberry girdler, Chrysoteuchia topiaria (Zeller), was the only important pest on grass seed collected by sweep net. Numbers of aphids such as Sitobion avenae (F.), cicadellids and thrips such as Anaphothrips spp. and Aptinothrips spp. that were collected with all aphid sampler were below economic thresholds. Other insect groups occurred in low numbers. Noctuid moths collected in universal blacklight traps included nine species of cutworms and armyworms. Protogrotis obscura (B. & McD.) was the most common cutworm species and was present in all fields. The moth Chortodes rufostrigata (Pack.) previously reported only from wet meadows in northeast and south central Oregon was found in Kentucky bluegrass fields in central Oregon, suggesting that irrigated Kentucky bluegrass seed production fields may simulate a montane meadow habitat. Conidia of C. purpurea were found on a diversity of insects, including moths, flies, leafhoppers, and thrips. Up to 100% of moths and 75% of flies collected from some fields carried conidia of C. purpurea. No correlation between ergot honeydew present in a field and number of insects with conidia of C. purpurea was detected.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Investigations of Amavadin.

The development of the understanding of the co-ordination chemistry and the properties of Amavadin, the chemical form in which vanadium is accumulated by the Amanita genus of mushrooms, is reviewed.

Amanita↗
PubMed2000

Control of insect pests with entomopathogenic nematodes: the impact of molecular biology and phylogenetic reconstruction.

Entomopathogenic nematodes are excellent biological control agents. Utilization of these nematodes is developing rapidly with almost a doubling of newly described species in the past five years. Advances in molecular biology and phylogenetic reconstruction have revolutionized understanding of population structure, identification, genetic improvement, systematics, and the symbiosis between entomopathogenic nematodes and their bacteria. Population structure provides the most fundamental information for reliable identification of species and unique genetic variants. Such information could be further assessed for nematode potential as biological control agents. Phylogenetic reconstruction is an important approach for understanding multitrophic interactions among entomopathogenic nematodes, symbiotic bacteria, and their insect hosts. Phylogenetic reconstruction is also important for the development of a natural and stable type of systematics, which can provide guidelines for selecting appropriate entomopathogenic nematode species for particular biological control programs.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Life cycle variation and the genetic structure of nematode populations.

Few data are available on population genetic structure in nematode species, and little of the available data allows direct comparison of the genetic structures of species having different life cycles. Here we use mtDNA sequence data to describe the genetic structure of a heterorhabditid nematode, and compare results to published data on other nematode species. Heterorhabditis marelatus is a parasite of soil-dwelling insects. Its life cycle and local ecology should result in small effective population sizes and restricted gene flow. As predicted, H. marelatus shows much lower mtDNA diversity within populations and over the species as a whole, and has a much more strongly subdivided population structure, than parasites of mobile vertebrate hosts. From data such as these we can begin to generalize about the effects of life cycle variation on genetic structure in different nematode species.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Phytoseiid mites on peppermint and effectiveness of Neoseiulus fallacis to control Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Phytoseiidae, Tetranychidae) in arid growing regions.

The humid-adapted species Neoseiulus fallacis (German) was the most common phytoseiid mite collected in either humid (> 100 cm annual rainfall) or arid (20-45 cm annual rainfall) mint growing regions of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and California during 1991-1995. In experimental field plots, this predator gave excellent biological control of Tetranychus urticae Koch on mint grown under arid conditions in central Oregon when evaluated by an insecticide check method or by the caging of mites. N. fallacis is effective as a predator in arid areas probably because regular irrigation creates a humid environment in the canopy. The selective miticide propargite, when used in combination with predators, was effective at reducing high spider mite populations to below the treatment threshold faster than did N. fallacis alone.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Molecular differentiation and phylogeny of entomopathogenic nematodes (rhabditida: heterorhabditidae) based on ND4 gene sequences of Mitochondrial DNA.

We determined partial ND4 gene sequences of mitochondrial DNA from 15 heterorhabditid nematode isolates, representing 5 species collected from different regions of the world, by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct-sequencing of PCR products. Aligned nucleotide as well as amino acid sequences were used to differentiate nematode species by comparing sequence divergence and to infer phylogeny of the nematodes by using maximum parsimony and likelihood methods. Robustness of our phylogenetic trees was checked by bootstrap tests. The 15 nematode isolates can be divided into 7 haplotypes based on DNA sequences. On a larger scale, the sequence divergence revealed 4 distinct groups corresponding to 4 described species. No sequence divergence was detected from 5 isolates of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora or between Heterorhabditis marelatus to Heterorhabditis hepialius. Our sequence data yielded phylogenetic trees with identical topologies when different tree-building methods were used. Most relationships were also confirmed by using amino acid sequences in maximum parsimony analysis. Our molecular phylogeny of Heterorhabditis species support an existing taxonomy that is based largely on morphology and the sequence divergence of the ND4 gene permits species identification.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Demonstration of the presence of cyclic inositol phosphohydrolase in human urine.

Cyclic inositol phosphohydrolase (cIPH), cleaves the cyclic bond of cyclic inositol monophosphate (cIP) to yield inositol monophosphate. In this communication, we demonstrate the presence of cIPH in human urine. cIPH was measured in the 24-h urine samples of both male and female hospital patients. cIPH released per day ranged from 0 to 243 units in men (n = 16) and from 15 to 346 units in women (n = 18). Release of cIPH activity was not related to renal function as measured by creatinine clearance. HPLC ion-exchange chromatography or HPLC gel filtration of ammonium sulfate precipitate yielded a distinct cIPH peak with an apparent molecular weight of 40 kDa on gel filtration. This is the first demonstration of the presence of this enzyme in human urine. The large variation (over 20-fold) in the excretion of this protein suggests that it may have physiological and/or pathological significance.

Female↗
PubMed1997

Phylogenetic relationships of entomopathogenic nematodes (Heterorhabditidae and Steinernematidae) inferred from partial 18S rRNA gene sequences.

Aligned 265-bp sequences of partial 18S rRNA gene were used to infer phylogenetic relationships among entomopathogenic nematodes by using maximum parsimony and likelihood methods. Phylogenetic analyses support Heterorhabditidae and Steinernematidae belonging to different monophylies. There was more sequence divergence in Steinernema species than in Heterorhabditis species. These results are congruent with the phylogenies based on morphological, life cycle, and distributional evidence. Examination of all trees within 1% of the length of the most parsimonious trees and bootstrap analyses support most relationships among Steinernema species but the relationships among Heterorhabditis species were not supported. We suggest that the partial 18S rRNA gene sequences may be too conserved for phylogenetic inference among Heterorhabditis species, but are well suited for phylogenetic inference within and among closely related families and genera of entomopathogenic nematodes and for inferring phylogenetic relationships among Steinernema species.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Comparison of endemic and exotic entomopathogenic nematode species for control of Colorado potato beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).

We compared the efficacy of 2 endemic strains of entomopathogenic nematodes isolated from Hermiston, OR, with that of 3 exotic nematode species for control of Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say). In laboratory experiments, the exotic Heterorhabditis species were more pathogenic to Colorado potato beetle than were the endemic Heterorhabditis strains. Exotic Steinernema species were less pathogenic to Colorado potato beetle than the exotic Heterorhabditis species. No Colorado potato beetle adults emerged from soil treated with H. marelatus Liu & Berry, a new species collected from Seaside, OR. Nematode pathogenicity was detected up to 14 wk after application in Galleria mellonella (L.) in soil taken from field plots treated with endemic and exotic nematode species.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Internet resources for family physicians.

PROBLEM BEING ADDRESSED: The internet has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years and has many resources in the field of family medicine. However, many family physicians remain unaware of how the Internet can be used to enhance their practice and of how to gain access to this powerful tool. OBJECTIVE OF PROGRAM: To characterize components of the Internet, to explore how family physicians can use the Internet to enhance practice, and to increase awareness of how to gain access to Internet sites relevant to family medicine. MAIN COMPONENTS OF THE PROGRAM: An on-line search through the World Wide Web was conducted using multiple search engines including Lycos, WebCrawler, OpenText, and Yahoo as well as a conventional MEDLINE search of Internet publications for the past 5 years. A website containing an evolving selection of resources can be found at http:@dfcm 18.med.utoronto.ca/anthes/hpgdfcm1.htm. CONCLUSION: The Internet has useful applications and resources for family physicians including rapid communication between physicians, access to medical literature, continuing medical education programs, and lists of patient support and discussion groups.

Attitude to Computers↗
PubMed1994

Gastrostomy: evaluation of a new tube using an old technique.

Formerly, for gastrostomy, we passed a No. 18 French red rubber catheter through the antrum of the stomach with the tip directed toward the fundus. We used this method with great success, both for decompression and feeding. Recently, a tube made of silicone rubber and thus resistant to gastric secretions was manufactured for us by the Medical Innovations Corporation of Milpitas, Calif. The tip of the tube is long enough to reach to within 3 cm of the fundus. A doughnut-shaped inflatable balloon fits nicely against the gastric mucosa, and a "Secur-Lok" ring external to the abdominal wall slides down to the skin, allowing the tube to be held in position without the use of sutures. We believe that the tube placed using the above technique is effective, comfortable, and reliable. This study was done to evaluate its efficacy. We report a series of 90 patients in whom this new gastrostomy tube was placed. We discuss the lasting qualities of the tube, the function of the doughnut-shaped balloon, the hypothesis we have developed to explain why there has been no esophageal reflux with this tube, and the efficacy of the Secur-Lok ring in holding the tube in position without the use of sutures.

Catheterization↗
PubMed1994

Deep venous thrombosis in the trauma patient.

The incidence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in the trauma population and those risk factors which affect its development remain an enigma. We prospectively studied 100 trauma patients admitted to a Level I trauma center with duplex scans throughout their hospitalization. Fifteen patients (15%) developed DVT. The remaining 85 patients (85%) had no evidence of DVT during their hospitalization. The two groups were similar in sex ratio, Glasgow coma scale, trauma score, and type of injury. Fourteen patients (93%) with DVT had been given prophylactic treatment with 5,000 units of Heparin subcutaneously q12h, and 36 patients (42%) without DVT were similarly treated. The data in this study describe the incidence of DVT (15%) in the trauma population and those patients at most risk for its development. Patients admitted with high Injury Severity Scores and extremity injuries are at most risk for development of DVT.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Avoiding serious infections associated with abdominal hysterectomy: a meta-analysis of antibiotic prophylaxis.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to determine whether the use of preoperative antibiotics prevents serious infections associated with total abdominal hysterectomy. STUDY DESIGN: We identified 25 randomized controlled trials of antibiotic prophylaxis that used rigorous protocols. We performed meta-analysis and cumulative meta-analyses for all of the trials, and then we performed separate meta-analysis for cefazolin, metronidazole, and tinidazole. RESULTS: Overall, 21.1% (373 of 1768) of the patients who did not receive antibiotic prophylaxis had serious infections after abdominal hysterectomy. Among patients who received any antibiotics, we found that 9.0% (166/1836) had serious postoperative infections; among those who received cefazolin, metronidazole, or tinidazole, 11.4% (70 of 615), 6.3% (17 of 269), and 5.0% (5 of 101), respectively, had serious postoperative morbidity. The differences in the prevalence of infection between women who received prophylaxis and women who did not receive prophylaxis were statistically significant (any antibiotics, p = 0.00001; cefazolin, p = 0.00021; metronidazole, p = 0.015; and tinidazole, p = 0.034). CONCLUSION: Because preoperative antibiotics are highly effective in the prevention of serious infections associated with total abdominal hysterectomy, we believe they should be used routinely. In addition, we believe that the use of controls who receive no treatment is no longer justified in trials of antibiotic prophylaxis for total abdominal hysterectomy.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1991

Heparin, deep venous thrombosis, and trauma patients.

One hundred consecutive patients with multiple trauma, who were admitted to a level I trauma center with an injury severity score of 10 or greater, were studied prospectively. A duplex scan was used to evaluate each patient initially and at set intervals during the hospitalization for the presence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The prophylactic regimen for DVT in this study was 5,000 U of subcutaneous heparin every 12 hours. This was used in 50 patients at the discretion of the attending physician, while the remaining 50 patients received no DVT prophylaxis. Fourteen of 50 patients (28%) who were receiving heparin developed DVT, while only 1 patient (2%) of the 50 who did not receive heparin developed DVT. The use of heparin did not provide any significant protection in the susceptible trauma patient. It is believed that those patients with minimal lower extremity injuries, lower injury severity scores, and a shorter period of immobilization do not require any form of DVT prophylaxis. However, those patients at increased risk for DVT are better served with either increased doses of heparin or alternative forms of DVT prophylaxis.

Adolescent↗