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PubMed2002

Clinical phenotypes and molecular characterization of Hb H-Paksé disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Hemoglobin Constant Spring (Hb CS), caused by a termination codon mutation (TAA-->CAA) in the a2 gene, is the most common non-deletional type of a thalassemia in Southeast Asia. This mutation can most easily be detected by loss of an MseI-restriction site (T/TAA) spanning the termination codon. Recently, we sequenced the a globin genes from patients with a thalassemia in whom this MseI site was absent. This revealed, a previously described termination codon mutation (TAA-->TAT) associated with Hb Paksé. This prompted us to re-evaluate the molecular basis of a thalassaemia in other Thai patients with non-deletional types of Hb H disease. DESIGN AND METHODS: DNA samples from 30 patients, previously diagnosed as having Hb H-CS disease, were characterized by direct genomic sequencing and by using a mismatched polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Clinical and hematologic data were assessed. RESULTS: Hemoglobin electrophoresis in almost all 30 unrelated patients with non-deletional a thalassemia revealed a slow migrating band resembling Hb CS. Five of these patients were found to have Hb H-Paksé disease and the remainder had Hb H-CS disease. Comparing the hematology in patients with these two genotypes, no significant differences were found except that the proportion of Hb H was higher in patients with Hb H-Paksé disease. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that termination codon mutations may have been previously misidentified in many cases of non-deletional Hb H disease. Findings from six unrelated families described in this study suggest that the proportion of patients with the Hb Paksé mutation might be underestimated and that this mutation could be prevalent in Southeast Asia. Analysis of mismatched-PCR-RFLP, described here, was shown to provide an unequivocal diagnosis and will be applicable in population screening programs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Using microsatellite and MHC variation to identify species, ESUs, and MUs in the endangered Sonoran topminnow.

Highly variable loci can provide insight into the recognition of species, evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) and management units (MUs). In general, the ESU and MU categories are thought to be reflective of adaptive differences between them. Here we examine this premise by presenting a comprehensive examination of genetic variation for both microsatellite loci and a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) locus, thought to be of adaptive significance, in the endangered Sonoran topminnow. The extent of variation for the microsatellite loci and the MHC gene within the 13 populations of the Gila topminnow is highly correlated, suggesting that nonselective factors have played an important role in influencing variation within and between populations for the MHC locus. Therefore, using all of these loci, we found that the eight natural populations of the Gila topminnow fell into two different ESUs, one of which had four different MUs. The source of the Boyce Thompson sample, a population that was used extensively for restocking, appeared to be Monkey Spring. The source of the Watson Wash population also appeared to be Monkey Spring (or Boyce Thompson). The newly colonized Santa Cruz River population, which had the most genetic variation of any Gila topminnow population, appeared to descend primarily from Sonoita Creek populations. The Yaqui topminnow, presently considered another subspecies of the Sonoran topminnow, was very distinct for both microsatellite (only two of 25 alleles found in the Yaqui were in any of the Gila topminnow samples) and MHC alleles (nonoverlapping sets of alleles for the two groups). As a result, it appeared that the taxonomic status of the two subspecies should be re-evaluated and that full species status for Gila and Yaqui topminnows was appropriate. There was evidence for the importance of long-term selection at the MHC locus in the higher rate of nonsynonymous than synonymous substitution. In addition, there appeared to have been a duplication of the MHC locus that was present in most of the fish in six of the natural populations of the Gila topminnow.

Amino Acids↗

PubMed2006

Tularemia re-emerging in European part of Turkey after 60 years.

The aim of this study was to investigate a tularemia outbreak in the Thrace region of Turkey. The outbreak occurred in Demirkoy village of Edirne, in 2005. Of 400 villagers, 266 were examined and their sera were taken. Throat swabs and lymph node aspirates were cultured. Specific antibodies in patients and domestic animals were screened by a microagglutination test. PCR assays and cultures of the samples of patients, animal tissues, and water sources were performed, along with active surveillance to identify risk factors. Seven out of 10 cases were diagnosed as oropharyngeal form; the remaining three patients were asymptomatic. The cultures for tularemia were negative; however, PCR assays were positive in one lymph node aspirate and in water from one spring. Some animals had the specific antibody at low levels. Increased rodent population in the vicinity, exposure to wild rabbits, and drinking from one of the springs were identified as risk factors with the risk ratios (and 95% confidence interval) of 10.5 (10.3-10.7), 6.5 (5.43-7.57), and 2.1 (1.1-2.5), respectively. Therapeutic and preventive measures were taken. When tularemia cases have been detected in a region even a few decades earlier, tularemia should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Restoring force development by titin/connectin and assessment of Ig domain unfolding.

Titin/connectin is the main determinant of physiological levels of passive muscle force. This force is generated by the extensible I-band region of the molecule, which is composed of serially-linked immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domains and several unique sequence elements. Here we address the role of titin/connectin in sarcomeres shortened to below the slack length (length attained by an un-activated cell in absence of external forces). Such shortened cells develop so-called restoring forces that re-extend the cells upon relaxation. The experiments that we present are based on a high throughput method with a rapid solution switching system which allows unattached single cardiac myocytes to be activated (resulting in shortening below the slack length) and then to be rapidly relaxed while their maximal re-lengthening velocity is measured at the sarcomere level (dSL/dtmax), with high-resolution imaging techniques. Experiments were carried out on myocytes that express different isoforms of titin/connectin. We measured the relation between dSL/dtmax and the minimal SL during contraction (SLmin) and determined the slope of this relation as a measure of 'restoring stiffness.' We found that the restoring stiffness correlates with the isoform expression profile with myocytes that express high levels of the stiff isoform (N2B) having the highest restoring stiffness. These results support the notion that titin/connectin is a bi-directional spring that develops passive force when stretched above the slack length and restoring force when shortened to below this length. We also discuss in detail the mechanisms that underlie titin/connectin's restoring force development and focus on whether or not unfolding of Ig domains plays a role.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed2001

Candidate-gene cloning and targeted marker enrichment of wheat chromosomal regions using RNA fingerprinting-differential display.

The usefulness of the RNA fingerprinting-differential display technique in gene cloning and targeted marker enrichment in wheat is demonstrated. A small region of chromosome 5BL was targeted that contains Ph1, a chromosome-pairing regulator gene. The cultivar Chinese Spring (CS) and mutant ph1b are almost identical except for chromosome 5BL, which, in the mutant line, carries an interstitial deletion encompassing the Ph1 gene. Poly(A)+ RNA of the two lines from anthers at developmental stages ranging from pre-meiotic mitosis to anaphase II was PCR-amplified using 38 pairwise combinations of 19 primers. The 35S-labeled amplified products were size-separated on denaturing polyacrylamide-urea gels. A total of 3154 fragment bands were observed, of which 43 were present in CS but absent in the ph1b mutant. These 43 fragment bands were eluted, re-amplified, and used as probes in gel-blot DNA analyses of wheat group 5 nullisomic-tetrasomic lines and the ph1b mutant. Twenty-four of these 43 probes were single- or few-copy sequences. Eight of the 24 probes mapped to wheat group 5 and five mapped to the deletion of the ph1b mutant. Three of these five probes were further localized to the submicroscopic region containing the Ph1 gene, by using two deletion lines flanking the region. Northern-blot analysis revealed that the gene corresponding to one of these three probes expresses mainly during meiosis and is from the B genome.

Blotting, Northern↗

PubMed1995

[Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "Garbage, the city and death"-- a German landscape of the soul].

No other recent "art event" has aroused so much public debate in Germany as Fassbinder's play "Garbage, City, Death" (1976). The controversy it sparked on its appearance has still not entirely died down. In a painstaking psychoanalytic interpretation Vogt first shows that the play achieves an artistic representation of the unconscious dilemma besetting the second generation of non-Jewish Germans in their relationship to National Socialism. In Fassbinder's play this dilemma, which is bound up with vicarious guilt feelings, is however only presented and not in any way worked out. The upshot is that all those forms of identification with German traditions that have been repudiated on a conscious level re-enter, as it were by the back door, and attain a new virulence. The author demonstrates that at the heart of the play a mechanism of guilt-refusal is operative that inverts the historical culprit-victim relation and makes the Germans themselves into the real victims. In the second part of his article Vogt is concerned to situate the play and the controversy surrounding it in a broader political context--Bitburg (1985), the "historians' conflict" (1986), Jenninger's speech (1988)--revealing a specific collective psychological inscape in present-day Germany for which, in its profounder well-springs, Fassbinder's play may be legitimately regarded as symptomatic. Fassbinder (born 1945) articulates for his generation aspects of an "ethnic disturbance" (George Devereux) which continues to persist precisely because there is a German past "that refuses to go away" (Ernst Nolte).

Drama↗

PubMed2003

An alternative design of locked percutaneous device for skeletal extension through skin.

A skeletal extension bar (SEB) through the skin may be involved with many treatments of orthopedic diseases. A new locked percutaneous device (LPD), LPD-III, was designed for the SEB not only to allow the skin to bind onto the SEB, similarly to the LPD, but also to allow the skin binding to shift up or down the SEB while the body changes weight. Two designs of LPD-III were tried. The LPD-III-F was made from a formation of nylon hooks, fixed directly onto the SEB surface. Soft tissue can lock and shift onto the hook formation naturally. The LPD-III-S was made by attaching a stainless steel spring as a single row of rings on a nylon sleeve. Tissue can lock through the spring rings and the nylon sleeve can be manually shifted on the SEB to follow the change of thickness of soft tissue. The SEB is a stainless steel bar implanted in the sheep ilium through the skin and buttock. Two sheep were employed, both implanted with a SEB with LPD-III-F in one ilium and another SEB with LPD-III-S in the other ilium. Our experiment demonstrates that: first, both designs, LPD-III-F and LPD-III-S, function well as a skin junction shifting device; second, the LPD-III-F has abilities to re-bind the skin that not only repair damaged binding junction but also shift the skin binding up to overcome skin downgrowth; and third, powerful evidence certifies again that the mechanical connection exists in LPD.

Adipose Tissue↗

PubMed2005

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS): a year in review.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) emerged from China as an untreatable and rapidly spreading respiratory illness of unknown etiology. Following point source exposure in February 2003, more than a dozen guests infected at a Hong Kong hotel seeded multi-country outbreaks that persisted through the spring of 2003. The World Health Organization responded by invoking traditional public health measures and advanced technologies to control the illness and contain the cause. A novel coronavirus was implicated and its entire genome was sequenced by mid-April 2003. The urgency of responding to this threat focused scientific endeavor and stimulated global collaboration. Through real-time application of accumulating knowledge, the world proved capable of arresting the first pandemic threat of the twenty-first century, despite early respiratory-borne spread and global susceptibility. This review synthesizes lessons learned from this remarkable achievement. These lessons can be applied to re-emergence of SARS or to the next pandemic threat to arise.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents↗

PubMed1984

[Total circular pharyngolaryngectomy. A method of reconstruction with a free forearm skin flap].

The reconstruction of the digestive tube after total circular pharyngo-laryngectomy continues to pose a number of problems. Fistulae and delayed healing of the mucosa are common problems after musculo-cutaneous flaps. They are due, on the one hand, to a spring effect of the flap which interferes with tubulisation and, on the other hand, to the problematical suture of the thick thoracic wall skin to the fine oesophageal mucosa. Free visceral plasties give first intention repairs with rapid return of eating, but they carry a mortality of 10 to 15%. The free ante-brachial plasty with a radial pedicle seems to be a satisfactory alternative due to the quality of the oesophageal reconstruction and the absence of mortality. The technique of forming the flap and the operative procedure are described. Five cases are presented. There were no failures and oral feeding could be re-commenced by the 21st day, on average.

Colon, Sigmoid↗

PubMed2000

Interactive effects of elevated ozone and carbon dioxide on growth and yield of leaf rust-infected versus non-infected wheat.

Spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Turbo) was grown from seedling emergence to maturity (129 days) in chambers simulating the physical climate and ozone pollution of a field site in Northern Germany from 1 April to 31 July with a mean 1-h daily maximum of 61.5-62.4 nl l(-1) ozone compared to a constant low level of 21.5-22.8 nl l(-1) ozone. The two ozone levels were combined with either a current (374.1-380.2 microl l(-1)) or enriched (610.6-615.0 microl l(-1)) CO(2) atmosphere. Additionally, a leaf rust epidemic (Puccinia recondita f. sp. tritici) was induced at tillering stage by repeated re-inoculations with the inoculum formed on the plants. Leaf rust disease was strongly inhibited by ozone, but largely unaffected by elevated CO(2). Ozone damage on leaves was strongly affected by CO(2) and infection. On infected plants, ozone lesions appeared 2-4 weeks earlier and were up to fourfold more severe compared to non-infected plants. Elevated CO(2) did not delay the onset of ozone lesions but it significantly reduced the severity of leaf damage. It also enhanced the photosynthetic rate of flag leaves and increased the water use efficiency, biomass formation and grain yield. The relative increases in growth and yield induced by CO(2) were much larger on ozone-stressed than on non-stressed plants. Both ozone and fungal infection reduced biomass formation, number of grains per plant, thousand grain weight and grain yield; however, adverse effects of leaf rust infection were more severe. Elevated CO(2) largely equalized the negative effects of ozone on the photosynthetic rate, growth and yield parameters, but was not capable of compensating for the detrimental effects of fungal infection. The data imply that the impact of ozone in the field cannot be estimated without considering the predisposing effects deriving from fungal infections and the compensating effects deriving from elevated CO(2).

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Red list plants: colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and dark septate endophytes.

Since information concerning the mycorrhization of endangered plants is of major importance for their potential re-establishment, we determined the mycorrhizal status of Serratula tinctoria (Asteraceae), Betonica officinalis (Lamiaceae), Drosera intermedia (Droseraceae) and Lycopodiella inundata (Lycopodiaceae), occurring at one of two wetland sites (fen meadow and peat bog), which differed in soil pH and available P levels. Root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSE) was quantified. Colonization by AMF appeared to be more frequent in the fen meadow than in the peat bog, and depended on the host plant. Roots of S. tinctoria and B. officinalis were well colonized by AMF in the fen meadow (35-55% root length) and both arbuscules and vesicles were observed to occur in spring as well as in autumn. In the peat bog, L. inundata showed a low level of root colonization in spring, when vesicles were found frequently but no arbuscules. In roots of D. intermedia from the peat bog, arbuscules and vesicles were observed, but AMF colonization was lower than in L. inundata. In contrast, the amount of AMF spores extracted from soil at the peat bog site was higher than from the fen meadow soil. Spore numbers did not differ between spring and autumn in the fen meadow, but they were higher in spring than in autumn in the peat bog. Acaulospora laevis or A. colossica and Glomus etunicatum were identified amongst the AMF spores extracted from soil at the two sites. S. tinctoria and B. officinalis roots were also regularly colonized by DSE (18-40% root length), while L. inundata was only rarely colonized and D. intermedia did not seem to be colonized by DSE at all.

Asteraceae↗

PubMed2000

Repeated oestrus synchronisation of beef cows with progesterone implants and the effects of a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist at implant insertion.

A group of 97 spring-calving beef cows were initially oestrus synchronised with controlled internal drug release (CIDR) intravaginal progesterone implants inserted for nine days and a prostaglandin injection on day 7. Approximately half the cows were given 10 microg buserelin when the implants were inserted, and they all received a single fixed-time artificial insemination (AI) 56 hours after the withdrawal of the implants. The overall pregnancy rate to the first synchronised AI was 55 per cent, the buserelin-treated cows having a pregnancy rate of 63 per cent compared with 47 per cent in the untreated cows (P>0.05). Sixteen days after the first synchronised AI all the cows were re-implanted with used CIDR implants which were removed five days later, and the cows received a second synchronised AI on days 23 to 24. Cows which received the second AI were implanted with new CIDR devices 16 days later and these were removed after five days and the non-pregnant cows received a third synchronised AI. The pregnancy rates to the second and third synchronised services were 74 per cent and 75 per cent, respectively.

Administration, Intravaginal↗

PubMed2000

End points of planar reaching movements are disrupted by small force pulses: an evaluation of the hypothesis of equifinality.

A single force pulse was applied unexpectedly to the arms of five normal human subjects during nonvisually guided planar reaching movements of 10-cm amplitude. The pulse was applied by a powered manipulandum in a direction perpendicular to the motion of the hand, which gripped the manipulandum via a handle at the beginning, at the middle, or toward the end the movement. It was small and brief (10 N, 10 ms), so that it was barely perceptible. We found that the end points of the perturbed motions were systematically different from those of the unperturbed movements. This difference, dubbed "terminal error," averaged 14.4 +/- 9.8% (mean +/- SD) of the movement distance. The terminal error was not necessarily in the direction of the perturbation, although it was affected by it, and it did not decrease significantly with practice. For example, while perturbations involving elbow extension resulted in a statistically significant shift in mean end-point and target-acquisition frequency, the flexion perturbations were not clearly affected. We argue that this error distribution is inconsistent with the "equilibrium point hypothesis" (EPH), which predicts minimal terminal error is determined primarily by the variance in the command signal itself, a property referred to as "equifinality." This property reputedly derives from the "spring-like" properties of muscle and is enhanced by reflexes. To ensure that terminal errors were not due to mid-course voluntary corrections, we only accepted trials in which the final position was already established before such a voluntary response to the perturbation could have begun, that is, in a time interval shorter than the minimum reaction time (RT) for that subject. This RT was estimated for each subject in supplementary experiments in which the subject was instructed to move to a new target if perturbed and to the old target if no perturbation was detected. These RT movements were found to either stop or slow greatly at the original target, then re-accelerate to the new one. The average latency of this second motion was used to estimate the voluntary RT for each subject (316 ms mean). Additionally, we found that the hand neither exerted target-oriented force against the handle nor drifted toward the desired end point just before coming to rest, making it unlikely that the mechanical properties of the manipulandum prevented the hand from reaching its intended target.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2001

Seasonal variation in energy expenditure, water flux and food consumption of Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx.

We report on the energy expenditure and water flux, measured in the laboratory and in the field, of the Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx, the largest desert ruminant for which measurements of the field metabolic rate of free-living individuals have been made using doubly labeled water. Prior to extirpation of this species in the wild in 1972, conservationists sequestered a number of individuals for captive breeding; in 1989, oryx were reintroduced in Saudi Arabia into Mahazat as-Sayd (2244 km(2)). Apart from small pools of water available after rains, oryx do not have free-standing water available for drinking and therefore rely on grasses that they eat for preformed water intake as well as their energy needs. We tested whether oryx have a reduced fasting metabolic rate and total evaporative water loss (TEWL) in the laboratory, as do some other arid-adapted mammals, and whether oryx have high field metabolic rates (FMRs) and water influx rates (WIRs), as predicted by allometric equations for large arid-zone mammals. We measured FMR and WIR during the hot summer, when plant moisture content was low and ambient temperatures were high, and after winter rains, when the water content of grasses was high. For captive oryx that weighed 84.1 kg, fasting metabolic rate averaged 8980 kJ day(-1), 16.7% lower than predictions for Artiodactyla. Our own re-analysis of minimal metabolic rates among Artiodactyla yielded the equation: logV(O2)=-0.153+0.758logM, where V(O2) is the rate of oxygen uptake in lh(-1) and M is body mass in kg. Fasting metabolic rate of oryx was only 9.1% lower than predicted, suggesting that they do not have an unusually low metabolic rate. TEWL averaged 870.0 ml day(-1), 63.9% lower than predicted, a remarkably low value even compared with the camel, but the mechanisms that contribute to such low rates of water loss remain unresolved. For free-living oryx, FMR was 11076 kJ day(-1) for animals with a mean body mass of 81.5 kg during summer, whereas it was 22081 kJ day(-1) for oryx in spring with a mean body mass of 89.0 kg, values that were 48.6% and 90.4% of allometric predictions, respectively. During summer, WIR averaged 1310 ml H(2)O day(-1), whereas in spring it was 3438 ml H(2)O day(-1). Compared with allometric predictions, WIR was 76.9% lower than expected in summer and 43.6% lower in spring. We found no evidence to support the view that the WIR of large desert ungulates is higher than that of their mesic counterparts. On the basis of the WIR of the oryx averaged over the year and the water contents of plants in their diet, we estimated that an oryx consumes 858 kg of dry matter per year.

Animals↗

PubMed1984

[Biomechanical studies on fracture fixation mechanism of the clover leaf medullary nail].

The intramedullary nailing method described by Küntscher is used widely now as an excellent treatment of the fracture of the long bone. However, it is well known from clinical experience that fracture fixation of the clover leaf nail is not so strong and especially rotational fixation is very poor. For the purpose of re-evaluating fracture fixation mechanism with Küntscher's nail, the following studies were performed. Osteotomized human cadaveric femur was fixed with the clover leaf nail in an ordinary manner. This osteosynthesis model was imbedded in plastic resin (RIGOLAC) in situ. Afterwards this model was cut into specimens 1.5 cm in thickness. The contact area between the bone and the nail was investigated macroscopically and roentgenographically on each specimen. Stress distribution in cross section of some commercially available clover leaf nails was investigated by the technique of photoelastography. Total expansive force of the clover leaf nail was obtained by the calculation based on the measured values. From these investigations the author concludes that the clover leaf nail does not fix the fracture by the expansive spring mechanism only, as was originally claimed by Küntscher.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗

PubMed2006

Chemical mapping of proterozoic organic matter at submicron spatial resolution.

A NanoSIMS ion microprobe was used to map the submicron-scale distributions of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, silicon, and oxygen in organic microfossils and laminae in a thin section of the approximately 0.85 billion year old Bitter Springs Formation of Australia. The data provide clues about the original chemistry of the microfossils, the silicification process, and the biosignatures of specific microorganisms and microbial communities. Chemical maps of fossil unicells and filaments revealed distinct wall- and sheath-like structures enriched in C, N, and S, consistent with their accepted biological origin. Surprisingly, organic laminae, previously considered to be amorphous, also exhibited filamentous and apparently compressed spheroidal structures defined by strong enrichments in C, N, and S. By analogy to NanoSIMS data from the well-preserved microfossils, these structures were interpreted as being of biological origin, most likely representing densely packed remnants of microbial mats. Given that the preponderance of organic matter in Precambrian sediments is similarly "amorphous," our findings indicate that a re-evaluation of ancient specimens via in situ structural, chemical, and isotopic study is warranted. Our analyses have led us to propose new criteria for assessing the biogenicity of problematic kerogenous materials, and, thus, these criteria can be applied to assessments of poorly preserved or fragmentary organic residues in early Archean sediments and any that might occur in meteorites or other extraterrestrial samples.

Archaea↗

PubMed2004

Evaluation of hospitalisation for indigenous children with malnutrition living in central Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of hospital admissions for indigenous children with malnutrition in a rural/remote Australian centre. DESIGN: Retrospective review of the medical records. SETTING: Rural secondary hospital. SUBJECTS: Remote and rural indigenous children aged less than four years managed for malnutrition in Alice Springs Hospital (ASH). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The primary outcome measure was weight gain during hospitalisation and posthospitalisation. Secondary outcome measures were yield of investigations, diagnoses made, treatments given, social interventions, readmission rate and nosocomial infection. RESULTS: Median age of the 55 children was 15.1 months. Median weight change was 1.5 g day(-1)prior to hospitalisation, 36.7 g day(-1)during and 9 g day(-1)two months following hospitalisation (P < 0.05). Investigations performed had high yields (80% of children had a treatable organic contributor to malnutrition). Nosocomial infection occurred in 21 (38%) children. Readmission occurred at an average of 1.9 times per child (range 0-5), 34 (37%) occurred within three months and 48 (52%) within six months. CONCLUSION: In rural Indigenous children with malnutrition, hospitalisation was effective in re-establishing growth and defining organic contributors to malnutrition. However, the high readmission rate and nosocomial infection mandates that alternative models to nutritional rehabilitation, in addition to a broad psychosocial and public health approach to prevention and management of malnutrition, is required.

Child Nutrition Disorders↗

PubMed2001

Effects of climatic warming on cold hardiness of some northern woody plants assessed from simulation experiments.

Effects of climatic warming on cold hardiness were investigated for some northern woody plants. In the first experiment, seedlings of Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.) were exposed to naturally fluctuating temperatures averaging -6 degrees C (ambient) and 0 degrees C (elevated) for 16 weeks in midwinter before they were thawed and re-saturated with water. In lodgepole pine, needle sugar concentrations had decreased by 15%, and the temperature needed to induce 10% injury to needles in terms of electrolyte leakage had increased by 6 degrees C following treatment to elevated as compared with control temperatures. In contrast, Norway spruce and Scots pine showed no effects. The lack of an effect for Scots pine was ascribed to seedlings containing unusually large energy reserves that buffered respiratory expenditure of sugars. A strong, linear relationship between levels of cold hardiness, assessed by the electrolyte leakage method, and sugars was found when combining data from this and previous, similar experiments. In the second experiment, the evergreen dwarf shrub Empetrum hermaphroditum Hagerup was analysed for leaf cold hardiness, using the electrolyte leakage method, and sugar concentrations in late spring and late autumn during the third year of a warming experiment in a subarctic dwarf shrub community. The objective was to test the hypothesis that warming in the growing season alters hardening/dehardening cycles by increasing soil nitrogen mineralization and plant growth. Data found, however, suggested that cold hardening/dehardening cycles were unaffected by warming.

Journal Article↗