Broad bean (Vicia faba L.) is an important crop worldwide. An increase in seed yield would increase both the grain reserve and the profit for farmers. Previous studies on increasing broad bean seed yield have focused mainly on increases at the whole population level. Few studies have focused on the differences in plant type within populations. In this study, we classified broad bean plants into...

A study was conducted in Santa Cruz County to estimate the prevalence and distribution of the agents of Lyme disease, human granulocytic (HGE), and human monocytic (HME) ehrlichiosis in 1,187 adult ixodid ticks collected from eight public-use recreation areas over a 2-yr period. Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, was detected by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 44 of...

Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) has been applied to plants, algae and cyanobacteria, in which excitation laser conditions affect the chlorophyll fluorescence lifetime due to several mechanisms. However, the dependence of FLIM data on input laser power has not been quantitatively explained by absolute excitation probabilities under actual imaging conditions. In an effort to disti...

Little is known about growth rates of deep-water reef forming corals or the rates atwhich these reefs accumulate. Such information is critical for determining the resilience ofthe reefs to anthropogenic impacts such as trawling and climate change. We radiocarbon datelive-caught and sub-fossil samples of the bioherm-forming coral Solenosmilia variabiliscollected from precisely kn...

A 10-kb DNA region of the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413 containing the structural genes of the uptake hydrogenase (hupSL) was cloned and sequenced. In contrast to the hupL gene of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120, which is interrupted by a 10.5-kb DNA fragment in vegetative cells, there is no programmed rearrangement within the hupL gene during the heterocyst differentiation of A. v...

Prepupae of the rose galling Diplolepis spinosa from areas with relatively cold winters in southern Canada, and Diplolepis variabilis from a milder locale in western Canada, were used to test the hypothesis that mild winter temperatures are detrimental to the survival and potential fecundity of insects. Prepupae of D. spinosa held within or removed from their galls were exposed to simulated ove...