Effect of anionic salts in concentrate mixture and magnesium intake on some blood and urine minerals and acid-base balance of dry pregnant cows on grass silage based feeding

Selostus: Kationi-anionitasapaino ja magnesiumin saanti ummessaolevien lypsylehmien säilörehuruokinnassa

Congo grass grown in rotation with soybean affects phosphorus bound to soil carbon

The phosphorus supply to crops in tropical soils is deficient due to its somewhat insoluble nature in soil, and addition of P fertilizers has been necessary to achieve high yields. The objective of this study was to examine the mechanisms through which a cover crop (Congo grass - Brachiaria ruziziensis) in rotation with soybean can enhance soil and fertilizer P availability using long-term field trials and laboratory chemical fractionation approaches. The experimental field had been cropped to soybean in rotation with several species under no-till for six years. An application rate of no P or 240 kg ha-1 of P2O5 had been applied as triple superphosphate or as Arad rock phosphate. In April 2009, once more 0.0 or 80.0 kg ha-1 of P2O5 was applied to the same plots when Congo grass was planted. In November 2009, after Congo grass desiccation, soil samples were taken from the 0-5 and 5-10 cm depth layer and soil P was fractionated. Soil-available P increased to the depth of 10 cm through growing Congo grass when P fertilizers were applied. The C:P ratio was also increased by the cover crop. Congo grass cultivation increased P content in the soil humic fraction to the depth of 10 cm. Congo grass increases soil P availability by preventing fertilizer from being adsorbed and by increasing soil organic P.

Job switching in ants: role of a kinase

Reproductive division of labour is a defining characteristic of eusociality in insect societies. The task of reproduction is performed by the fertile males and queens of the colony, while the non-fertile female worker caste performs all other tasks related to colony upkeep, foraging and nest defence. Division of labour, or polyethism, within the worker caste is organized such that specific tasks are performed by discrete groups of individuals. Ordinarily, workers of one group will not participate in the tasks of other groups making the groups of workers behaviourally distinct. In some eusocial species, this has led to the evolution of a remarkable diversity of subcaste morphologies within the worker caste, and a division of labour amongst the subcastes. This caste polyethism is best represented in many species of ants where a smaller-bodied minor subcaste typically performs foraging duties while larger individuals of the major subcaste are tasked with nest defence. Recent work suggests that polyethism in the worker caste is influenced by an evolutionarily conserved, yet diversely regulated, gene called foraging (for), which encodes a cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG). Additionally, flexibility in the activity of this enzyme allows for workers from one task group to assist the workers of other task groups in times of need during the colony's life.

Audit report on the City of Blue Grass, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2011

Audit report on the City of Blue Grass, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2011

Grass Pickerel Esox amercicanus, 2011

Data sheet produced by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is about different times of animals, insects, snakes, birds, fish, butterflies, etc. that can be found in Iowa.

Behavioural species discrimination in red wood ants (Formica rufa group)

The Formica rufa group (red wood ants) currently includes six species. Nevertheless, during previous work based on molecular markers, we showed the existence of one population morphologically identified as F. lugubris, but genetically different from all other analysed populations of this species. This population could represent a cryptic species within the Swiss National Park and has been provisionally named Formica lugubris-A2. To verify our hypothesis, we conducted a behavioural test based on the ability of ants to recognize pupae of their own species when compared to those of another species. The three red wood ant species present in the Swiss National Park (F. lugubris, F. paralugubris and F. aquilonia) and the F. lugubris-A2 population were used in our study. Results indicate that the F. lugubris-A2 population differs from other F. lugubris and from all other species in the behaviour of its workers and in the way its pupae are discriminated by other species. This is in accordance with the genetic data and strengthens our hypothesis on the existence of a new cryptic red wood ant species within the Swiss National Park.

Seed production characters and germination performance of reed canary grass in Finland

Selostus: Ruokohelven siementuotanto-ominaisuudet ja itävyys Suomessa

Foster carers influence brood pathogen resistance in ants.

Social organisms face a high risk of epidemics, and respond to this threat by combining efficient individual and collective defences against pathogens. An intriguing and little studied feature of social animals is that individual pathogen resistance may depend not only on genetic or maternal factors, but also on the social environment during development. Here, we used a cross-fostering experiment to investigate whether the pathogen resistance of individual ant workers was shaped by their own colony of origin or by the colony of origin of their carers. The origin of care-giving workers significantly influenced the ability of newly eclosed cross-fostered Formica selysi workers to resist the fungal entomopathogen Beauveria bassiana. In particular, carers that were more resistant to the fungal entomopathogen reared more resistant workers. This effect occurred in the absence of post-infection social interactions, such as trophallaxis and allogrooming. The colony of origin of eggs significantly influenced the survival of the resulting individuals in both control and pathogen treatments. There was no significant effect of the social organization (i.e. whether colonies contain a single or multiple queens) of the colony of origin of either carers or eggs. Our experiment reveals that social interactions during development play a central role in moulding the resistance of emerging workers.

Termination of major ductile strike-slip shear and differential cooling along the Insubric line (Central Alps): U-Pb, Rb-Sr and 40Ar/39Ar ages of cross-cutting pegmatites

To constrain the age of strike-slip shear, related granitic magmatism, and cooling along the Insubric line, 29 size fractions of monazite and xenotime were dated by the U-Pb method, and a series of 25 Rb-Sr and Ar-40/Ar-39 ages were measured on different size fractions of muscovite and biotite. The three pegmatitic intrusions analyzed truncate high-grade metamorphic mylonite gneisses of the Simplon shear zone, a major Alpine structure produced in association with dextral strike-slip movements along the southern edge of the European plate, after collision with its Adriatic indenter. Pegmatites and aplites were produced between 29 and 25 Ma in direct relation to right-lateral shear along the Insubric line, by melting of continental crust having Sr-87/Sr-86 between 0.7199 and 0.7244 at the time of melting. High-temperature dextral strike-slip shear was active at 29.2 +/- 0.2 (2 sigma) Ma, and it terminated before 26.4 +/- 0.1 Ma. During dike injection, temperatures in the country rocks of the Isorno-Orselina and Monte Rosa structural units did not exceed approximate to 500 degrees C, leading to fast initial cooling, followed by slower cooling to approximate to 350 degrees C within several million years. In one case, initial cooling to approximate to 500 degrees C was significantly delayed by about 4 m.y., with final cooling to approximate to 300 degrees C at 20-19 Ma in all units. For the period between 29 and 19 Ma, cooling of the three sample localities was non-uniform in space and time, with significant variations on the kilometre scale. These differences are most likely due to strongly varying heat flow, and/or heterogeneous distribution of unroofing rates within the continuously deforming Insubric line. If entirely ascribed to differences in unroofing, corresponding rates would vary between 0.5 and 2.5 mm/y, for a thermal gradient of 30 degrees/km.

New grass phylogeny resolves deep evolutionary relationships and discovers C4 origins.

• Grasses rank among the world's most ecologically and economically important plants. Repeated evolution of the C(4) syndrome has made photosynthesis highly efficient in many grasses, inspiring intensive efforts to engineer the pathway into C(3) crops. However, comparative biology has been of limited use to this endeavor because of uncertainty in the number and phylogenetic placement of C(4) origins. • We built the most comprehensive and robust molecular phylogeny for grasses to date, expanding sampling efforts of a previous working group from 62 to 531 taxa, emphasizing the C(4)-rich PACMAD (Panicoideae, Arundinoideae, Chloridoideae, Micrairoideae, Aristidoideae and Danthonioideae) clade. Our final matrix comprises c. 5700 bp and is > 93% complete. • For the first time, we present strong support for relationships among all the major grass lineages. Several new C(4) lineages are identified, and previously inferred origins confirmed. C(3)/C(4) evolutionary transitions have been highly asymmetrical, with 22-24 inferred origins of the C(4) pathway and only one potential reversal. • Our backbone tree clarifies major outstanding systematic questions and highlights C(3) and C(4) sister taxa for comparative studies. Two lineages have emerged as hotbeds of C(4) evolution. Future work in these lineages will be instrumental in understanding the evolution of this complex trait.