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Abstract: Non-pasteurized soil or soil-based rooting media are being used to raise eucalypts in nurseries in south China. It is unclear whether these practices are optimal for the growth of eucalypt plants or the development of ectomycorrhizal associations. Therefore, there is a need to optimize nursery practices to meet the demand for high quality seedlings and clonal lines of Eucalyptus urophylla and hybrids, for outplanting in the region. Inoculation with spores of ectomycorrhizal fungi is accepted as desirable due to potential yield benefits in the field. Previous studies have shown that spores of some collections of Scleroderma are vigorous colonizers on E. urophylla seedlings. These could be used in inoculation programs in China if nursery conditions were suitable for ectomycorrhizal development and the fungi persisted in the field. Therefore, effects of rooting medium and inoculation with Scleroderma on the growth of E. urophylla were examined in a nursery in south China. A complete randomized block design consisting of five rooting media and eight fungal inoculation (six fungi in non-sterile media, two uninoculated controls either in non-sterile or sterile media) was used. Four types of soil taken from eucalypt plantations in south China were compared to a potting mix with vermiculite, peat and sand. Spores of six Scleroderma taxa were taken from basidiomes collected from under eucalypt plantations in Western Australia and south China. Soil substrates significantly affected the growth of seedlings with large variation in both height and biomass. Seedlings grown in the potting mix were larger (90–220% in shoot height, and 110–420% in total dry weight) than those in soil. Inoculation with spores of Scleroderma to non-sterile soil generally promoted the growth of seedlings and their nutrient acquisition. Inoculation increased the growth of seedlings by 19–55% in shoot height and 25–41% in total biomass, compared to uninoculated plants in each soil. Although the ability to form ectomycorrhizas varied considerably between spore collections, most Scleroderma taxa vigorously colonized roots. However, the potting media significantly influenced the extent of colonization by Scleroderma. Some 58% of short roots were infected by Scleroderma in the potting mix, whilst only 12–18% of short roots were ectomycorrhizal in the granitic loam and the red clay. The three Australian collections generally colonized a larger proportion of short roots of plants than those from China origin, especially when plants were grown in the potting mix or lateritic loam. In conclusion, the potting mix was better than soil in promoting growth of plants and mycorrhization from Scleroderma spores, and five collections of Scleroderma were able to form ectomycorrhizas in non-pasteurized field soil under nursery conditions. The inoculant Scleroderma were able to out-compete indigenous mycorrhizal fungi in the rooting media. Soils collected from the field were not optimal for the growth of plants or ectomycorrhizal development under nursery conditions. These results challenge the current practices in eucalypt nurseries and following nursery practices are recommended to be modified: (i) due to the low diversity of compatible fungal symbionts in field soil, inoculation with tested ectomycorrhizal fungi, such as Scleroderma in this study, is recommended for eucalypts prior to outplanting. (ii) Low cost potting mix of suitable porosity and organic matter content should be explored as alternatives to soil. (iii) The lateritic loam may be used as rooting medium in eucalypt nurseries, whilst other three types of field soil are not recommended. (iv) Rooting media should not necessarily be pasteurized when raising mycorrhizal plants in eucalypt nurseries in south China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Application of superphosphate at establishment as basal fertilizer increased tree growth and survival of Eucalyptus urophylla in a 4.5-year-old trial near Gaoyao, Guangdong, China. It also increased P and N concentrations in young fully expanded leaves at one year and biomass in all tree components. The addition of 20, 50 and 200 kg P ha-1 increased stand volume by five to seven times of the mean annual increment of trees without P. The more P applied, the higher the percentage of stem-wood and the lower the relative allocation of biomass belowground. The low P concentrations in leaves and roots at 20 kg P ha-1 at year 4.5 suggested the withdrawal of P from the biomass, through internal cycling. The addition of P increased N, P, K, Ca and Mg uptake. The 200 kg P ha-1 treatment was optimal both for wood chip production and economic return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some eucalypt plantations in south China grow poorly because of soil infertility and low diversity of compatible ectomycorrhizal fungi. One option to improve productivity of plantations is to introduce beneficial fungi. In order to evaluate persistence of introduced symbiotic fungi, there is a need to discriminate them from any indigenous related species. Eucalypt mycorrhizal trial sites, established for nutrition and survival studies, were used for this purpose. Seedlings of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Eucalyptus urophylla had been inoculated with pure cultures of selected Australian ectomycorrhizal fungi, including three isolates of Pisolithus albus and one isolate each of two unnamed Pisolithus spp., and ectomycorrhizal seedlings had been out-planted at two sites in Guangzhou Province, People’s Republic of China.Sequences of the internal transcribed spacers (ITSs) of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) from inoculant fungi and fungi re-isolated from sporocarps in the field were compared. Sequencing confirmed that an Australian isolate (H4111) of one unnamed Pisolithus spp. had persisted in competition with an indigenous Pisolithus spp. Selected isolates of Australian Pisolithus formed macro- and micro-morphologically typical ectomycorrhizas in pure culture syntheses and in the field. In comparison, the indigenous Chinese Pisolithus formed an incomplete association with a poorly developed mantle. Comparisons between ITS sequences from Pisolithus isolates associated with Eucalyptus spp. from elsewhere in the world and ITS sequences of Australian Pisolithus spp. indicate that the same unnamed Pisolithus spp. has also become established in Portugal, Brazil and South Africa. Because Pisolithus isolate H4111 produced sporocarps in south China under eucalypts and promoted tree growth, this fungus would be useful in spore orchards to provide spore inoculum for eucalypt nurseries. The local Chinese Pisolithus is not recommended for inoculation programs because it is ineffective in forming mycorrhizas with eucalypts. The isolate H4111 is from a Pisolithus that occurs naturally along the east coast of Australia. Although this Pisolithus has been widely dispersed with eucalypts in other parts of the world, it is not present in eucalypt plantations in east Asia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article reviews several web sites including Medicine: Chinese Medicine, www.gio.gov.tw/info/culture/culture1.html, by the government of the Republic of China, Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture in Canada, www.medicinechinese.com, and Traditional Chinese Medicine www.healthy.net/CLINIC/therapy/Chinmed/Index.asp, a web site which provides information regarding traditional Chinese medicine.

Background: Many regions in the world are experiencing changes in precipitation pattern, which likely impact soil nitrogen cycling and availability. However, we know little about how soil nitrogen processes respond to drought stress under climate change. Methods: A continuous 5-year experiment of throughfall reduction treatment (TRT) was conducted in a Castanopsis hystrix plantation in subtropical China to assess how soil nitrogen processes responded to a change in precipitation. Net nitrogen transformation, soil properties, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN), and microbial community phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs as bacteria, fungi and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)) were investigated in the wet and dry seasons over the period of the manipulation experiment. Results: TRT had no significant effects on net ammonification rate (NAR) and nitrogen mineralization rate (NMR), and the unchanged NAR and NMR were mainly caused by the no change of soil nitrogen availability (i.e. NH4+-N, NO3−-N and dissolved organic nitrogen). However, TRT significantly increased net nitrification rate (NNR) in the wet season primarily due to the increase in NO3− concentration, and might be further caused by reduced NO3− leaching, denitrification or NO3−-N uptake in the TRT. Differently, TRT significantly decreased the NNR in the dry season, which might be linked to the limited SWC that resulted in greater microbial nitrate immobilization than gross nitrate mineralization. In addition, TRT significantly influenced the soil microbial community composition in 0–10 cm soil layer in the wet season, primarily due to the variations in NO3−-N, DOC and DON. Conclusions: Precipitation reduction affected the NNR rather than NAR and NMR, and consequently, further affected soil N availability and N uptake by Castanopsis hystrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Coniothyrium zuluense causes a serious canker disease of Eucalyptus in various parts of the world. Very little is known regarding the taxonomy of this asexual fungus, which was provided with a name based solely on morphological characteristics. In this study we consider the phylogenetic position of C. zuluense using DNA-based techniques. Distance analysis using 18S and ITS regions revealed extensive sequence divergence relative to the type species of Coniothyrium, C. palmarum and species of Paraconiothyrium. Coniothyrium zuluense was shown to be an anamorph species of Mycosphaerella, a genus that includes a wide range of Eucalyptus leaf and stem pathogens. Within Mycosphaerella it clustered with taxa having pigmented, verruculose, aseptate conidia that proliferate percurrently and sympodially from pigmented conidiogenous cells arranged in conidiomata that vary from being pycnidial to acervular. The genus Colletogloeopsis is emended to include species with pycnidial conidiomata, and the new combination Colletogloeopsis zuluense is proposed. This is also the first report of the pathogen from China where it is associated with stem cankers on Eucalyptus urophylla. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the presence of the eucalypt species Phaeophleospora destructans in China. The P. destructans is considered as one of the major eucalypt pathogens and are known to cause disease on eucalypts. The P. destructans, the most aggressive eucalypt, causes leaf blights and discoloration of the lower crowns that leads to reduced growth and vigor and, in some instances, death within plantations. It has been reported that P. destructans appears to be restricted to South-East Asia and China.

Objectives: Swine have been regarded as intermediate hosts in the spread of influenza from birds to humans but studies of the sialylated glycans that comprise their respiratory tract have not been extensively studied in the past. This study analyzed the sialylated N-glycan and O-glycan profile of swine trachea and lung and correlated this with ex-vivo infection of swine explants with avian influenza viruses., Sample: Lungs and tracheal samples were obtained from normal farm and laboratory raised swine and used for ex vivo infection as well as mass spectrometric analysis. Infection of the ex vivo tissues used high pathogenic and low pathogenic avian viruses including the novel H7N9 virus that emerged in China in early 2013., Main Outcome Measures: Assessment of successful replication was determined by TCID50 as well as virus immunohistochemistry. The N-glycan and O-glycan profiles were measured by MALDI-TOF and sialylated linkages were determined by sialidase treatment. Lectin binding histochemistry was also performed on formalin fixed tissue samples with positive binding detected by chromogen staining., Results: The swine respiratory tract glycans differed from the human respiratory tact glycans in two main areas. There was a greater abundance of Gal-α-Gal linkages resulting in a relative decrease in sialylated glycans. The swine respiratory tract also had a greater proportion of glycans containing Neu5Gc and Siaα2-6 glycans than the human respiratory tract. Infection with avian viruses was confined primarily to lung bronchioles rather than trachea and parenchyma., Conclusions: In contrast to previous studies we found that there was not as much expression of Siaα2-3 glycans on the surface of the trachea. Infection of Siaα2-3 binding avian viruses was restricted to the lower respiratory tract bronchioles. This finding may diminish the ability of the swine to act as an intermediary in the transmission of avian viruses to humans., (© 2013 The Authors. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)