Utilisation of phosphorus nutrient content in industrial scale plasmid DNA production: a waste minimisation study

Human gene therapy is currently seeing an increase in the use of plasmid (pDNA)-based vectors as a preferred choice of vehicle for delivery of the therapeutic gene into the body. In this regard, the environmental impacts of the waste streams from the possible industrial scale manufacture of pDNA require more detailed assessment. In this study, an initial assessment was made of the nutrient phosphorus (P) inputs to four fermentation processes recommended for the industrial scale production of pDNA for the purposes of gene therapy. Phosphorus inputs to each of the four selected fermentation processes ranged from approximately 60 mg l^?1 up to 3000 mg l^?1 in the fresh media. However, the spent media waste from each of the processes exhibited only a minor reduction in the phosphorus concentrations indicating minimal uptake of P by the microorganisms. This unutilised excess level of phosphorus nutrient within the waste streams poses a strong potential for environmental impact. Waste minimisation studies were undertaken on one model fermentation process with the aim of reducing unnecessary phosphorus input. An optimised media containing a 98% reduction in added P to the media was developed. This phosphorus-minimised media had little quantitative effect upon cell biomass produced and no effect upon the quantity or quality of pDNA produced, relative to the control media. The reduction in P requirement results in an overall cost savings of 12% per fermentation batch, would simplify subsequent wastewater treatment and would contribute to slowing the depletion rate of a valuable, finite natural resource.     

Extinction risk of the endemic vascular flora of Kauai,Hawaii, based on IUCN assessments

The International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN Red List) is the world's most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of species. Governmental agencies and conservation organizations increasingly rely on IUCN Red List assessments to develop conservation policies and priorities. Funding agencies use the assessments as evaluation criteria, and researchers use meta-analysis of red-list data to address fundamental and applied conservation science questions. However, the circa 143,000 IUCN assessments represent a fraction of the world's biodiversity and are biased in regional and organismal coverage. These biases may affect conservation priorities, funding, and uses of these data to understand global patterns. Isolated oceanic islands are characterized by high endemicity, but the unique biodiversity of many islands is experiencing high extinction rates. The archipelago of Hawaii has one of the highest levels of endemism of any floristic region; 90% of its 1367 native vascular plant taxa are classified as endemic. We used the IUCN's assessment of the complete single-island endemic (SIE) vascular plant flora of Kauai, Hawaii, to assess the proportion and drivers of decline of threatened plants in an oceanic island setting. We compared the IUCN assessments with federal, state, and other local assessments of Kauai species or taxa of conservation concern. Finally, we conducted a preliminary assessment for all 1044 native vascular plants of Hawaii based on IUCN criterion B by estimating area of occupancy, extent of occurrence, and number of locations to determine whether the pattern found for the SIE vascular flora of Kauai is comparable to the native vascular flora of the Hawaiian Islands. We compared our results with patterns observed for assessments of other floras. According to IUCN, 256 SIE vascular plant taxa are threatened with extinction and 5% are already extinct. This is the highest extinction risk reported for any flora to date. The preliminary assessment of the native vascular flora of Hawaii showed that 72% (753 taxa) is threatened. The flora of Hawaii may be one of the world's most threatened; thus, increased and novel conservation measures in the state and on other remote oceanic islands are urgently needed.     

Effects of nutrition and temperature on metabolic enzyme activities in larval and juvenile red drum,Sciaenops ocellatus,and lane snapper,Lutjanus synagris

The metabolic enzyme activities were determined in larvae of red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, and lane snapper, Lutjanus synagris, to determine the effect of temperature and nutrition on metabolic enzyme activities and to evaluate if metabolic enzyme activities are useful in assessing the feeding condition of larval fish. During experiments conducted during the spring of 1990, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities in both red drum and lane snapper were approximately an order of magnitude lower than values typical for adult fish; LDH and citrate synthase (CS) activities increased during early developmental stages, but nutritional effects were apparent. Clear differences (up to 4-fold) between well-fed and starving fish were evident in both LDH and CS activity in red drum. Differences between well-fed and poorly fed larvae were evident until 9 d after hatching. Lane snapper larvae reared at a 25°C had significantly lower LDH activities than larvae reared at 28°C.     

Divorce in common murres (Uria aalge): relationship to parental quality

Behavioral precursors of 12 divorces were examined in 30 color-banded pairs of common murres (Uria aalge) over six breeding seasons. Common murres are long-lived seabirds that typically return each year to the same mate and nest site in dense colonies. At least one parent is present continuously from egg lay to chick fledging. Murres, therefore, have considerable opportunities to compare their mates parental behavior with that of several familiar neighbors. Previous reproductive success was lower for divorcing birds than for reuniting pairs. As predicted by the better option hypothesis, there were clear choosers (seven females and five males) that initiated divorce by moving to a new birds site or by courting a new partner at their current site. Choosers improved their reproductive success after the divorce, whereas their previous partners, the victims did not. Yearly divorce rates (average 8.2% per year) were significantly correlated with yearly mortality rates. Divorces appear to be opportunistic: pairs divorced after varying numbers of reproductive failures with the immediate precursor usually being the disappearance (death) of a murre from a successful neighboring site. In contrast to the delays experienced by victims, choosers formed new pairs quickly and laid their eggs no later than reuniting pairs. Prior to the divorce, victims fed their chicks less often than choosers, and some engaged in other behaviors that compromised egg or chick survival. These observations suggest that deficiencies in parental behavior were precursors to the divorce. This report is one of the first cases where reproductive failure of divorcing pairs has been linked to deficits in the parental behavior of the subsequent divorce victim.Communicated by C. Brown     

Temperature adaptation in sea anemones: Physiological and biochemical variability in geographically separate populations of Metridium senile

Latitudinally separate populations of the sea anemone Metridium senile (L.) are very similar genetically by electrophoretic criteria, yet respond differently to temperature. Anemones from southern and northern California (USA) have different oxygen consumption patterns in response to acclimatory and acute changes in temperature. Northern anemones show a pronounced increase in Q₁₀ at temperatures just above the normal environmental range, but southern anemones do not. The two populations also differed in the extent of metabolic compensation to temperature following several weeks of acclimation. This acclimation regime resulted in changes in the activities of several enzymes of intermediary metabolism, yet the extent and direction of these changes did not display a consistent trend with regard to acclimation temperature or population. The biochemical concomitants of acclimatory and acute temperature effects were studied further by measuring the concentrations of adenylates (ATP, ADP, and AMP) in anemones from the two populations exposed to different temperature regimes. During cold acclimation for several weeks, total adenylate concentrations (A_T) increased in both the southern and northern populations, possibly due to metabolic rate compensation, since A_T is positively correlated with tissue metabolic rate in many species. Moreover, the extremely low weight-specific oxygen consumption rates of M. senile are probably related to its very low A_T values. Acute temperature decreases had no effect on adenylate concentrations and adenylate energy charge (AEC); in contrast, acute temperature increases led to large changes in adenylate concentrations. The effects of starvation on adenylate concentrations are pronounced, and the effect is temperature-dependent. In starved individuals held at 20°C, AEC values fell to 50% of normal values after 8 d, while those held at 10°C maintained normal AEC values.     

Review of studies on environmental impacts of recreation and tourism in Australia

The paper provides a review of available information on the impact of recreation and tourism on environments, particularly on vegetation and soil, in Australia, with an emphasis on forests. Efforts have been made to compare the current research and development situation in Australia with some overseas countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. While many documents reveal that Australia has been experiencing an increasingly high level of recreation and tourism use in its environments, only limited studies of environmental impacts of recreation and tourism have been published. Compared with other developed countries, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States, Australia lags behind in undertaking research in this area. The results of these limited studies and some observations indicate that the most common recreational and tourist activities (such as bush walking, camping, horse-riding) can, if not well managed, adversely affect the values of Australian natural and semi-natural resources. Overall, they can affect the vegetation and other recreational sites physically and biologically. Physical effects include track formation, soil loss and/or compaction and an increase in fire frequency. Littering and water pollution are also seen as impacts associated with bush walking and camping. Biological effects include causing damage to vegetation, increasing risk of myrtle wilt disease and the spread of the soil pathogen,Phytophthora cinnamomi, as well as assisting weed dispersal. Based on the information reviewed, the authors suggest the following areas as priorities for future research into the environmental impact of recreation and tourism in Australia: determine the type of natural features that attract recreation use; determine the quantitative relationship between the impact and the level of recreation and tourism use for different activities within major vegetation habitats; ascertain site carrying capacity or environment thresholds for major vegetation habitats and recreation activities; and determine the impacts of recreation and tourism for major regions and major vegetation habitats where there have been considerable nature-based recreation and tourism activities.1998 Academic Press     

The effect of particle size reduction by grinding on subsampling variance for explosives residues in soil

Efforts to characterize the surface soil contamination on military training ranges have been compromised by the inability to obtain representative subsamples of soils submitted to analytical laboratories for determination of explosives residues. Two factors affecting subsampling error for explosives residues were examined using soils collected from hand grenade and anti-tank ranges. These factors were increased subsample size and particle size reduction prior to subsampling of soils. Increasing the subsample size from 2 to 50 g did not reduce the soil subsampling error because of the extreme heterogeneous distribution of the solid contaminants. Alternatively, particle size reduction by machine grinding on a ring mill reduced subsampling error to less than 10% relative standard deviation for replicate analyses using 10-g subsamples.     

Objective Assessment of Countryside Recreation by Observation

It has been shown that strategic planning for countryside recreation may be based on an inadequate level of empirical information regarding countryside recreational activity. Questionnaire surveys provide most of the available data and the limitations of these are discussed. A methodology for investigating recreational activity is proposed and tested in Mid Wales using the observation of discrete areas of randomly selected Ordnance Survey 1 km grid squares. The results illustrate the type of countryside resource that is being used, the activities undertaken and the number of people involved. It is concluded that observation is a valuable tool in understanding the nature of recreation in the wider countryside.     

Utility of North Atlantic Right Whale Museum Specimens for Assessing Changes in Genetic Diversity

Abstract: We examined six historical specimens of the endangered North Atlantic right whale ( Eubalaena glacialis ) using DNA isolated from documented baleen plates from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Sequences from the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region from these samples were compared with those from a near-exhaustive survey (269 of approximately 320 individuals) of the remaining right whales in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Our results suggest that there has been only relatively modest change in maternal lineage diversity over the past century in the North Atlantic right whale population. Any significant reduction in genetic variation in the species most likely occurred prior to the late nineteenth century. One historical specimen was from the last documented female capable of propagating one of the maternal lineages in the population today; no females in the existing population have been found to carry this mtDNA haplotype. Analysis of the only specimens from the eastern North Atlantic right whale population ever to be examined revealed that eastern and western North Atlantic right whales may not have been genetically differentiated populations. Loss of gene diversity experienced by North Atlantic right whales over the last century has been modest, and the six decades of protection have been successful in maintaining much of the maternal lineage diversity that was present in the late nineteenth century.