Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2008
Abstract
The Fusarium genus includes devastating plant pathogenic fungi that cause diseases in cereals around the world. They produce several mycotoxins, including the estrogenic compound zearalenone. To better understand the molecular mechanisms determining zearalenone production, we performed differential display RT-PCR under conditions where Fusarium graminearum and F. culmorum produced high amounts of zearalenone. We found 133 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and 54 of these were considered to be up-regulated during high zearalenone production. Several of the ESTs were confirmed to be up-regulated by real-time qPCR, but none showed any significant down-regulation in the zearalenone negative mutant Delta PKS4-T9, or were similar to typical gene expression patterns of previously described zearalenone-related genes. Some of the up-regulated ESTs were similar to genes involved in secondary metabolite production, lipid metabolism, transcriptional activation, provision of precursors, signal transduction, transport or detoxification. Several of the ESTs were also located adjacent to one another in the genome and therefore might represent genes involved in the same biosynthetic pathway. Members of six such putative pathways could be found. All sequences were compared to the MIPS F. graminearum Genome Database to verify autocalled gene predictions experimentally and to introduce new exons and gene structures.
Abstract
Detailed knowledge of temperature effects on the timing of dormancy development and bud burst will help evaluate the impacts of climate change on forest trees. We tested the effects of temperature applied during short-day treatment, duration of short-day treatment, duration of chilling and light regime applied during forcing on the timing of bud burst in 1- and 2-year-old seedlings of nine provenances of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.). High temperature during dormancy induction, little or no chilling and low temperature during forcing all delayed dormancy release but did not prevent bud burst or growth onset provided the seedlings were forced under long-day conditions. Without chilling, bud burst occurred in about 20% of seedlings kept in short days at 12 C, indicating that young Norway spruce seedlings do not exhibit true bud dormancy. Chilling hastened bud burst and removed the long photoperiod requirement, but the effect of high temperature applied during dormancy induction was observed even after prolonged chilling. Extension of the short-day treatment from 4 to 8 or 12 weeks hastened bud burst. The effect of treatments applied during dormancy development was larger than that of provenance; in some cases no provenance effect was detected, but in 1-year-old seedlings, time to bud burst decreased linearly with increasing latitude of origin. Differences among provenances were complicated by different responses of some origins to light conditions under long-day forcing. In conclusion, timing of bud burst in Norway spruce seedlings is significantly affected by temperature during bud set, and these effects are modified by chilling and environmental conditions during forcing.
Abstract
Rhodiola rosea is widely distributed in Norway, but so far limited knowledge exists on the level of genetic diversity. To initiate a selective breeding program, Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) analysis was used to estimate genetic diversity within the Norwegian R. rosea germplasm collection. AFLP analysis of 97 R. rosea clones using five primer combinations gave a total of 109 polymorphic bands. We detected high percentage of polymorphic bands (PPB) with a mean of 82.3% among the clones of R. rosea. Each of the 97 R. rosea clones could be unambiguously identified based on these primer combinations. Estimates of genetic similarities were obtained by the Dice coefficient, and a final dendrogram was constructed with the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic mean (UPGMA). Genetic similarity based on the AFLP data ranged from 0.440 to 0.950 with a mean of 0.631. This genetic analysis showed that there was no close genetic similarity among clones related to their original growing county. No gender-specific markers were found in the R. rosea clones. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed a significantly greater variation within regions (92.03%) than among regions (7.97%). A low level of genetic differentiation (F-ST=0.043) was observed, indicating a high level of gene flow, which had a strong influence on the genetic structure at different counties. Our results indicate high gene flow among R rosea clones that might be a result of seed dispersal rather than cross-pollination. Further world-wide studies are required to compare the level of genetic diversity and more studies in R. rosea detailing the consequences of different patterns of gene flow (pollen spread and dispersal of seeds and clonal plants) will be useful for characterization of roseroot. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
Ragnhild Hafskjold Nærstad Arne Hermansen Tore BjorAbstract
A series of field trials combining cultivars with different levels of resistance to Phythophtora infestans and different haulm killing methods was conducted in 1997, 1998 and 1999 to assess the contamination potential of the haulm. In addition, the frequency of tubers with late blight was assessed after harvest and storage, combining effects of pretreatment infection, infection by the haulm at harvest and the development of the disease during storage. Haulm killing was performed by diquat (200, 400, 600 g a.i. ha-1), half cutting of the haulm in combination with diquat (100, 200, 300 g a.i. ha-1) or full cutting of the haulm. In those treatments where haulm killing was performed purely chemically the haulm remnants¿ contamination potential tended to increase at reduced doses. Full mechanical destruction gave as low a contamination potential as application of the full dose of chemical haulm killer. However, there were no consistent differences between the haulm killing treatments in the frequency of blighted tubers after harvest and storage. This indicates that the input of chemical haulm killers may be reduced. There was a large difference between years in tuber blight after harvest and storage, which confirms that climatic factors are of major importance for tuber infection. The large difference found between the cultivars in the frequency of tuber blight indicates that tuber resistance should be an important part of integrated late blight disease management.
Authors
Vidar Selås Ronny Steen Sverre Kobro Terje Lislevand Ingvar StenbergAbstract
In Norway, a positive relationship between spring numbers of lesser spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor) and previous June temperatures has been interpreted as an effect of temperatures on woodpecker survival and reproduction during the breeding season. This article considers the possibility that woodpecker numbers are related to the abundance of the moth Argyresthia goedartella in the current year. Larvae and pupae of A. goedartella are important food for lesser spotted woodpeckers in early spring when few other surface-living invertebrates are available. The occurrence of this moth depends on the flowering of birch (Betula spp.) and alder (Alnus glutinosa), which in turn is influenced by June temperatures in the preceding year. Spring numbers of the lesser spotted woodpecker in two regions of Norway were compared with a trapping index of A. goedartella and weather variables assumed to influence the woodpeckers' breeding success and adult survival. The best multiple regression model included December temperatures and moth indices, supporting the hypothesis of a strong impact of A. goedartella on spring survival. Conservation strategies for the lesser spotted woodpecker should therefore focus not only on minimum areas of deciduous forests with decaying wood, but also on the availability of the moths' host trees, birch and alder.
Abstract
The coastal areas of SE Norway provide suitable conditions for studying soil development with time, because unweathered land surfaces have continuously been raised above sea level by glacio-isostatic uplift since the termination of the last ice age. We investigated Podzol development in a chronosequence of six soils on sandy beach deposits with ages ranging from 2,300 to 9,650 y at the W coast of the Oslofjord. The climate in this area is rather mild with a mean annual temperature of 6 degrees C and an annual precipitation of 975mm (Sandefjord). The youngest soil showed no evidence of pocizolization, while slight lightening of the A horizon of the second soil (3,800 years) indicated initial leaching of organic matter (OM). In the 4,300 y-old soil also Fe and humus accumulation in the B horizon were perceptible, but only the 6,600 y-old and older soils exhibited spodic horizons. Accumulation of OM in the A horizons reached a steady state in <2,300 y, while in the B horizons OM accumulated at increasing rates. pH dropped from 6.6 (H2O)/5-9 (KCI) in the recent beach sand to 4.5 (H2O)/3.8 (KCl) within approx. 4,500 y (pH(H2O))/2,500 y (pH(KCl)) and stayed constant thereafter, which was attributed to sesquioxide buffering. Base saturation showed an exponential decrease with time. Progressive weathering was reflected by increasing Fe-d and Al-d contents, and proceeding podzolization by increasing amounts of pyrophophate- and oxalate-soluble Fe and Al with soil age. These increases could be best described for most Fe and Al fractions by exponential models. Only the increasing amounts of Fe-p could be better described by a power function and those of Fe-o by a linear model.
Authors
Vegard Gundersen Lars Helge FrivoldAbstract
We reviewed 53 studies of forest landscape preferences carried out as quantitative surveys in Finland, Sweden and Norway and published between 1972 and 2006. Most of them were related to boreal coniferous forests in which even-aged forestry had been the rule. There was a great diversity in survey designs, ranging from nation-wide or regional surveys where target populations and sampling frames were clearly defined, to studies where neither a target population nor a sampling frame could be identified. The latter type of surveys, however, often had a high validity, with measurements made either in the forest or indoors by use of colour slides or advanced digital imaging. A common feature was that people¿s preferences for a forest stand increased with increasing tree size and advancing stage of stand development. Some surveys indicated that the public tended to give high scores to irregular stands with a mixture of trees of different sizes, but on the other hand, a feeling of accessibility and provision of a view was also very important. Large clear-cuts and obvious traces from forest operations were little appreciated. Trained foresters were more positive to clear-cuts than the general population. Few studies included virgin stands, and those that did mostly found low scores for unmanaged forests. Preferences appeared to be fairly stable over time. Elderly or handicapped people, and children and young adolescents, were strongly underrepresented in the surveys.
Abstract
Studies regarding the environmental impact of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) are hampered by the lack of tools to localize and quantify ENPs in water, sediments, soils, and organisms. Neutron activation of mineral ENPs offers the possibility of labeling ENPs in a way that avoids surface modification and permits both localization and quantification within a matrix or an organism. Time-course experiments in vivo also may be conducted with small organisms to study metabolism and exposure, two aspects currently lacking in ecotoxicological knowledge about ENPs. The present report explains some of the prerequisites and advantages of neutron activation as a tool for studying ENPs in environmental samples and ecologically relevant organisms, and it demonstrates the suitability of neutron activation for Ag, Co/Co3O4, and CeO2 nanoparticles. In a preliminary experiment with the earthworm Eisenia fetida, the dietary uptake and excretion of a Co nanopowder (average particle size, 4 nm; surface area, 59 m(2)/g) were studied. Cobalt ENPs were taken up to a high extent during 7 d of exposure (concentration ratios of 0.16-0.20 relative to the ENP concentration in horse manure) and were largely retained within the worms for a period of eight weeks, with less than 20% of absorbed ENPs being excreted. Following dissection of the worms, Co-60 was detected in spermatogenic cells, cocoons, and blood using scintillation counting and autoradiography. The experimental opportunities that neutron activation of ENPs offer are discussed.
Abstract
Three unsprayed coffee farms (farm 1, 2 and 3) were studied for the natural occurrence of the insect pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana in Hypothenemus hampei populations throughout the rainy season of 2004 (July-November) and 2005 (July-December). B. bassiana infections were found during most sampling dates in both years, on all three farms. The B. bassiana infection levels were higher in 2005 than in 2004 with mean prevalence of 12.1 % and 2.7%, respectively. No consistent significant differences in infection level between farms were found in any of the years. B. bassiana infection levels fluctuated widely throughout the season, and peaked at 13.5% on farm 3 in 2004 and at 44.0% on farm 1 in 2005. The H. hampei population was significantly higher in 2004 than in 2005, with 6.9% of the berries infested in 2004 and only 0.7% in 2005. In both years, the H. hampei infestation level was significantly higher on farm 2. No consistent significant differences in H. hampei infestation levels were found between sampling dates on any of the farms. H. hampei infestation levels fluctuated throughout both seasons, and peaked at 15.3% on farm 2 in 2004 and 2.2% on farm 2 in 2005. No consistent density dependent correlation between H. hampei infestation level and B. bassiana infection level was found. Correlations between climatic conditions and R bassiana or H. hampei were not found. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Abstract
Alpha-cypermethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid, is used as an insecticide in agricultural settings and is increasingly replacing organophosphates and carbamates because of lower application rates and lower toxicity to mammals. Because very little is known about the acute and chronic toxicity of this compound for soil-living organisms, the present study investigated acute and sublethal toxicity of alpha-cypermethrin for four terrestrial invertebrate species in an agricultural soil from Norway. Bioassays with the earthworm Eisenia fetida, the potworm Enchytraeus crypticus, the springtail Folsomia candida, and the land snail Helix aspersa were performed according to slightly modified versions of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Paris, France) or International Organization for Standardization (Geneva, Switzerland) guidelines and resulted in median lethal concentrations of greater than >1,000 to 31.4 mg/kg and sublethal no-observed-effect concentrations of 2.51 to 82 mg/kg. A high acute to chronic ratio was found, especially in the earthworms. Interspecies differences in sensitivity may be explained by differences in exposure and differences in metabolization rate. When based on measured pore-water concentrations, terrestrial species overall appear to be approximately one order of magnitude less sensitive than aquatic species. Effect assessments conducted according to European guideline for risk assessment of pesticides reveal that assessments based on acute toxicity tests are not always conservative enough to determine environmentally safe concentrations in soil. Mandatory incorporation of sublethal toxicity data will ensure that in regions with temperate climate, the effects of pesticides on populations of soil-living organisms are unlikely.