Towards better management of Australia’s shark fishery: genetic analyses reveal unexpected ratios of cryptic blacktip species Carcharhinus tilstoni and C. limbatus

The common blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) and the Australian blacktip shark (C. tilstoni) are morphologically similar species that co-occur in subtropical and tropical Australia. In striking contrast to what has been previously reported, we demonstrate that the common blacktip shark is not rare in northern Australia but occurs in approximately equal frequencies with the Australian blacktip shark. Management of shark resources in northern Australia needs to take account of this new information. Species identification was performed using nucleotide sequences of the control, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) and cytochrome oxidase I (COI) regions in the mitochondrial genome. The proportion of overall genetic variation (FST) between the two species was small (0.042, P < 0.01) based on allele frequencies at five microsatellite loci. We confirm that a third blacktip species (C. amblyrhynchoides, graceful shark) is closely related to C. tilstoni and C. limbatus and can be distinguished from them on the basis of mtDNA sequences from two gene regions. The Australian blacktip shark (C. tilstoni) was not encountered among 20 samples from central Indonesia that were later confirmed to be common blacktip and graceful sharks. Fisheries regulators urgently need new information on life history, population structure and morphological characters for species identification of blacktip shark species in Australia.

Economic modelling of grazing systems in the Fitzroy and Burdekin catchments

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the largest reef system in the world; it covers an area of approximately 2,225,000 km² in the northern Queensland continental shelf. There are approximately 750 reefs that exist within 40 km of the Queensland coast. Recent research has identified that poor water quality is having negative impacts on the GBR (Haynes et al. 2007). The Fitzroy Basin covers 143,000 km² and is the largest catchment draining into the GBR as well as being one of the largest catchments in Australia (Karfs et al. 2009). The Burdekin Catchment is the second largest catchment entering into the GBR and covers 133,432 km².The prime determinant for the changes in water quality entering into the GBR have been attributed to grazing, with beef production the largest single land use industry comprising 90% of the land area (Karfs et al. 2009). Extensive beef production contributes over $1 billion dollars to the national economy annually and employs over 9000 people, many in rural communities (Gordon 2007). ‘Economic modelling of grazing systems in the Fitzroy and Burdekin catchments’ was a joint project with the Fitzroy Basin Association and the Queensland Department of Employment Economic Development and Innovation. The project was formed under the federally funded Caring For Our Country and the Reef Rescue programs. The project objectives were as follows; * Quantifying the costs of over-utilising available pasture and the resulting sediment leaving a representative farm for four of the major land systems in the Burdekin or Fitzroy catchments and identifying economically optimal pasture utilisation rates * Estimating the cost of reducing pasture utilisation rates below the determined optimal * Using this information, guide the selection of appropriate tools to achieve reduced utilisation rates e.g. extension process versus incentive payments or a combination of both * Model the biophysical and economic impacts of altering grazing systems to restore land condition e.g. from C condition to B condition for four land systems in the Burdekin or Fitzroy catchments.

Electrotransformation of Haemophilus parasuis with in vitro modified DNA based on a novel shuttle vector

The objective of the present study was to establish a valid transformation method of Haemophilus parasuis, the causative agent of Glasser's disease in pigs, using a novel H. parasuis-Escherichia coli shuttle vector. A 4.2 kb endogenous plasmid pYC93 was extracted from an H. parasuis field isolate and completely sequenced. Analysis of pYC93 revealed a region approximately 800 bp showing high homology with the defined replication origin oriV of pLS88, a native plasmid identified in Haemophilus ducreyi. Based on the origin region of pYC93, E. coli cloning vector pBluescript SK(+) and the Tn903 derived kanamycin cassette, a shuttle vector pSHK4 was constructed by overlapping PCR strategy. When electroporation of the 15 H. parasuis serovar reference strains and one clinical isolate SH0165 with pSHK4 was performed, only one of these strains yielded transformants with an efficiency of 8.5 x 10(2) CFUhlg of DNA. Transformation efficiency was notably increased (1.3 x 10(5) CFU/mu g of DNA) with vector DNA reisolated from the homologous transformants. This demonstrated that restriction-modification systems were involved in the barrier to transformation of H. parasuis. By utilizing an in vitro DNA modification method with cell-free extracts of the host H. parasuis strains, 15 out of 16 strains were transformable. The novel shuttle vector pSHK4 and the established electrotransformation method constitute useful tools for the genetic manipulation of H. parasuis to gain a better understanding of the pathogen. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.