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Ard News October 1996

Agricultural Research Division: News and Annual Reports

Contents:

Comments from the Associate Director
Fund for Rural America
FY 1997 CSREES Budget
Mussehl Endowment
ESCOP/ACOP Leadership Development Program
Proposals Submitted for Federal Grants
Nebraska Soybean Development, Utilization and Marketing Board
New or Revised Projects

Review Of Conservation Of Great Plains Ecosystems: Current Science, Future Options, Edited By S. R. Johnson And Aziz Bouzaher, David J. Wishart

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This book stems from a symposium entitled "Conservation of Great Plains Ecosystems: Current Science, Future Options" held in Kansas City in April of 1993, the purpose of which was to forge a "Great Plains regional environmental initiative." The editors explain what this means in an introduction that also summarizes the book's contents and offers recommendations: only with integrated community-based management of identifiable ecosystems, they argue, can the Great Plains avoid further severe ecological distress. The most highly touted word in the volume is "sustainability," the most castigated, "monoculture." And who could disagree with that?

Conservation of Great Plains Ecosystems is …

Review Of An Illustrated Guide To Endangered Or Threatened Species In Kansas By Joseph T. Collins, Suzanne L. Collins, Jerry Horak, Dan Mulhern, William Busby, Craig C. Freeman, And Gary Wallace, Michael A. Mares

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This is a handsome little volume offering information on the status and biology of all of the sixty species of Kansas plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates listed by the state or by federal statutes as threatened or endangered. The book begins with a one-page introduction stating the authors' goal of producing a single volume to provide ready access to information on all legally designated protected species in Kansas. In this the authors are successful. The introduction is followed by a brief history of how a species comes to be considered either threatened or endangered, as well as a complete list of …

Fish & Wildlife News: October 1996

Fish and Wildlife News

Contents:
Putting Refuges on the Map: Service Celebrates National Wildlife Refuge Week
Statement by President Clinton on Signing the “Mollie Beattie Wilderness Area Act”
Service Mussels Forward with Ecosystem Approach to Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Service Helps Dedicate Illinois Wetland as 15th Wetland of International Importance
Service Proposes Youth Waterfowling Day; Approval of Bismuth-Tin Sho
Seven Departments Agree to Bolster Recreational Fisheries
Talented Toddler Takes Trout at Alaska “Kids Fishing Day”
Service Urges Boaters to “Pump and Dump”
Lions and Tigers and . . . Snakes–– O’Hare Exhibit Educates Travelers About Illegal Wildlife
Wolves Thriving in Yellowstone, No New Introductions …

A Cytoplasmic Male Sterility-Associated Mitochondrial Protein Causes Pollen Disruption In Transgenic Tobacco, Shichuan He, Andre R. Abad, Stanton B. Gelvin, Sally Ann Mackenzie

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

In higher plants, dominant mitochondrial mutations are associated with pollen sterility. This phenomenon is known as cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS). It is thought that the disruption in pollen development is a consequence of mitochondrial dysfunction. To provide definitive evidence that expression of an abnormal mitochondrial gene can interrupt pollen development, a CMS-associated mitochondrial DNA sequence from common bean, orf239, was introduced into the tobacco nuclear genome. Several transformants containing the orf239M gene constructs, with or without a mitochondrial targeting sequence, exhibited a semisterile or male-sterile phenotype. Expression of the gene fusions in transformed anthers was confirmed using RNA gel …

Water Current, Volume 28, No. 5, October 1996

Water Current Newsletter

Republican River Irrigators Seek to Make Every Drop Count
From the Director: New School to be Formed Within IANR, UNL
1997 Water Resources Seminar, Drought, Climate Change and Water Management
Pesticide Education Reaches Across State
New Publication Focuses on Pesticide Runoff
NRCS Works with Landowners to Protect Water Quality
Water News Briefs
Water Council Members Attend Annual Meeting
Nitrate Program Works Despite Level Increase
Colorado State Creates the Water Center
Water Data Base Updated
Groundwater Foundation on the Web
1997 Conferences to Address Sustainable Management

Expression And Characterization Of An Rna Capping Enzyme Encoded By Chlorella Virus Pbcv-1, C. Kiong Ho, James L. Van Etten, Stewart Shuman

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

We report that the A103R protein of Chlorella virus PBCV-1 is an mRNA capping enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of GMP from GTP to the 5’ diphosphate end of RNA. This is a two-step reaction in which the enzyme first condenses with GTP to form a covalent enzyme-GMP intermediate and then transfers the GMP to an RNA acceptor to form a GpppN cap. Purified recombinant A103R is a 38-kDa monomer that lacks RNA (guanine-7-) methyltransferase activity. With respect to its size, amino acid sequence, and biochemical properties, A103R is more closely related to the yeast RNA guanylyltransferases than it is …

Bacillus Thuringiensis Hd-73 Spores Have Surface-Localized Cry1ac Toxin: Physiological And Pathogenic Consequences, Cheng Du, Kenneth Nickerson

Papers in Microbiology

Spores from Cry⁺ strains of Bacillus thuringiensis bound fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled antibodies specific for the 65-kDa activated Cry 1Ac toxin, whereas spores from Bacillus cereus and Cry^- strains of B. thuringiensis did not. The Cry⁺ spores could be activated for germination by alkaline conditions (pH 10.3), whereas Cry^- spores could not. Once the surrounding exosporia had been removed or permeabilized, Cry⁺ spores were able to bind the toxin receptor(s) from insect gut brush border membrane vesicle preparations, and their germination rates were increased ca. threefold in the presence of brush border membrane vesicles. A model is …

Hemorrhagic Gastritis In Free-Living Rodents In Idaho, Patricia G. Wilber, Donald W. Duszynski, B. Van Horne

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Between February 1992 and March 1994, four species of rodent from the Snake River Birds of Prey Area near Boise, Idaho (USA) were necropsied. Hemorrhagic gastritis was observed in 16 of 131 Townsend’s ground squirrels (Spermophilus townsendii), one of 11 Ord’s kangaroo rats (Dipodomys ordii) and the one Great Basin pocket mouse (Perognathus parvus) evaluated. No lesions were observed in 14 white-footed deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). Tissue from one Townsend’s ground squirrel was negative for Helicobacter sp.-like bacteria.

Proceedings Of The International Conference On Genetic Improvement Of Sorghum And Pearl Millet, Darrell Rosenow, Gary Peterson, John Mullet, Henry Nguyen, Gebisa Ejeta, John Axtell, David Andrews, Jeff Dahlberg, A. Bruce Maunder, Kay Porter, Mike Gilbert, John Witcombe, John Stenhouse, C. Tom Hash, Kanayo Nwanze, Sam Mukuru, Anand Kumar, Francisco Gomez, Aboubacar Toure, Ouendeba Botorou

INTSORMIL Impacts and Bulletins

In 1971, an international symposium, "Sorghum in the Seventies", organized by the All India Coordinated Sorghum Improvement Project with support from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Rockefeller Foundation was held in Hyderabad, India. The symposium reviewed the current knowledge base of the scientific, production and nutritional aspects of sorghum as a crop and as a human food. In 1981, ICRISAT, INTSORMIL, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) sponsored "Sorghum in the Eighties", an international symposium at ICRISAT Center in India, to review the achievements accomplished in sorghum research during the preceding 10 years. They reviewed …

A Continuous Process For The Conversion Of Vegetable Oils Into Biodiesel, Hossein Noureddini, D Harkey, V Medikonduru

Papers in Biomaterials

Over the last few years fatty acid methyl esters have assumed importance as research has intensified on the utilization of vegetable oils and animal fats derivatives from liquid fuels (better known as biodiesel).Traditional batch processing has been an still is the most widely used process for this coversion. New and more efficient processing schemes. for large scale production of biodiesel for fuelfile1 purposes, is a. key for commercialization of biodiesel. In this, study a continuous process for the transesterification of triglycerides to methyl esters was investigated. This process is based a combined high shear and motionless reactor system. The experimental …

Self-Study Report: 04 Background

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Materials and History

The University of Nebraska consists of four components: the land-grant University of Nebraska – Lincoln, the University of Nebraska – Omaha (UNO), the University of Nebraska – Kearney (UNK) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center-Omaha (UNMC). This system (see Figure 4.1 on the next page) is governed by an elected board of regents representing eight geographical districts in the state. The chief executive officer for the entire system is the president. Each of the four components of the university is headed by a chancellor.

Self-Study Report: 05 Undergraduate Academic Programs

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Materials and History

Four years ago the Departments of Agricultural Communications and Agricultural Education were merged into one unit. The resultant Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication (AgLEC) has provided considerable opportunities for growth and development.

The collaborative efforts of the faculty are readily identified in the expanded offerings for students in both the teaching and non-teaching options of the agricultural education major and in the agricultural journalism major, as well as for students from other majors opting for various AgLEC courses. New offerings in human resources development and technical communication have been developed; major changes in the agricultural education program are …

Self-Study Report: 07 Research And Scholarly Activity

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Materials and History

The Department of AgLEC is committed to a strong program of research and scholarly activity, which is complementary to its programs of teaching and outreach. In recognition of this programmatic initiative, as a part of the 1995•1999 strategic planning process, the department created and empowered a separate faculty committee to be exclusively concerned with research and scholarly activity. The Research & Scholarly Activity (R&SA) Committee (which consists of both departmental faculty and members external to the department) assumed duties previously included in the mandates of the departmental Graduate Committee. This action reflected special faculty concern regarding the status of research …

Self-Study Report: 09 Outreach

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Materials and History

Extension outreach activities have been an integral part of the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication since its inception in 1992. At the time the department was founded, two faculty members had extension appointments: Bill brown with a .25 FTE extension appointment, primarily associated with the Center for Leadership Development, and Ozzie Gilbertson with a .15 FTE extension appointment, primarily associated with Agricultural Literacy programs. In 1993 Leverne Barrett was assigned a .25 FTE extension appointment, primarily to allow him to work with the Center for Leadership Development and to do staff development for extension personnel and other client …

Cropwatch No. 96-21, Sept. 13, 1996, Lisa Brown Jasa

Crop Watch (1994–2005)

Inside

Biological control info............144

Weed control after CRP............145

Post-CRP soil fertility............146

Post-CRP management tips............147

Erosion-reducing manure............148

Self-Study Report: 11 Ianr Strategic Plan

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Materials and History

We anticipate the changes during the next decade which will impact Nebraska food, agricultural and agribusiness industries, the management of natural resources and the quality of life opportunities for our people are expected to exceed those that occurred during the past 50 years. To ensure the programs of the University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) remain responsive and effective in the future, it is urgent for as to assess our program priorities and operational procedures to strengthen Nebraska’s agricultural and natural resources system. While doing so, we must also prepare students and clientele to make the …

Department Of Agricultural Leadership, Education And Communication: Comprehensive Review

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Materials and History

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Comprehensive Review

Nebline, September 1996

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Horticulture

Rural $ense

Family Living

4-H & Youth

Environmental Focus

Community & Leadership Development

Extension Calendar

Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)

Nebraska Association for Family and Community Education News

and other extension news and events

Current Issues In Rabies Prevention In The United States: Health Dilemmas, Public Coffers, Private Interests, Charles E. Rupprecht, Jean S. Smith, John Krebs, Michael Niezgoda, James E. Childs

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Over the last 100 years, rabies in the United States has changed dramati~ally. More than 90% of all animal rabies cases reported annually to the CDC now occur in wildlife, whereas before 1960 the majority were in domestic animals. The principal rabies hosts today are wild carnivores and bats infected with several viral variants. Annual human deaths have fallen from more than a hundred at the turn of the century to one to two per year despite major outbreaks of animal rabies in several geographic areas. Modem day prophylaxis has proven nearly 100% successful; most human fatalities now occur in …

Crystal Protein Expression During Vegetative Growth Of Dictyostelium, Kristy K. Taylor, Catherine P. Chia

Papers in Microbiology

We are studying interactions between membrane proteins and the cytoskeleton of Dictyostelium discoideum. Detergent (Triton X-100) -insoluble cytoskeletons from vegetative (AX2) amebae are enriched in a 70 kDa Concanavalin A (Con A)-binding protein (gp70). An enriched fraction of gp70 was prepared by Con A affinity chromatography of cytoskeletons from axenically-grown cells. N-terminal amino acid sequence of gel-purified gp70 established its identity to a 69 kDa 'crystal protein' previously characterized by Bomblies, et al. (1990, J. Cell Biol. 110:669 -679). Enzymatic deglycosylation of gp70 resulted in a 65 kDa product that did not bind Con A, verifying the predicted number …

Center For Sustainable Agricultural Systems Newsletter, September/October 1996

Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Newsletter (1993–2000)

Contents:

Restoring Productivity, Profit, and Ecological Integrity in Chile

Specialty Food Products Field Day a Success

Glickman Lauds Farmers' Markets for Consumers and Farmers

Windbreaks Help Pepper Production

Integrated Farm Update: Visitor Comments

Minigrants Awarded for Sustainable Ag Education

Satellite Programs on 1996 Farm Bill

Number of Nation's Large Farms Increases

Call for Papers on Ogallala Aquifer

Collision Course: The Hazards Of Lighted Structures And Windows To Migrating Birds, Lesley J. Evans Ogden

Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP)

The collision of migrating birds with human-built structures and windows is a world-wide problem that results in the mortality of millions of birds each year in North America alone. Birds killed or injured at such structures are due to two main factors. The first of these is the lighting of structures at night, which “traps” many species of nocturnal migrants. The second factor contributing to the hazard is the presence of windows, which birds in flight either cannot detect, or misinterpret. In combination, these two factors result in a high level of direct anthropogenic (human-caused) mortality. Bird mortality at human-built …

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 28, No. 3. September 1996

The Prairie Naturalist

REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS OF GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS IN RELATION TO EDGE ▪ J. M Delisle, and J. A. Savidge

OBSERVATIONS ON BATS AT BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH DAKOTA ▪ M A. Bogan, J. G. Osborne, and J. A. Clarke

DIETS OF FEMALE WHITE-TAILED DEER IN THE CROSS-TIMBERS REGION ▪ F. C. Bryant, G. Van Vreede, T. J. Deliberto, and K. L. Gee

NOTES

Second Record of White Ibis in North Dakota ▪ J. W. Marlow, L. D. Igl, and M. R. Hartman

A Recent Record of Mountain Lion in Nebraska ▪ H. H. Genoways and P. W. Freeman

Prairie Falcon Predation on …

Affinity Purification Of Biologically Active Andinactive Forms Of Recombinant Human Protein C Produced In Porcine Mammary Gland, Kevin E. Van Cott, Barry Williams Department Of Chemical Engineering,Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Va 24061, Usa, William H. Velander, Francis C. Gwazdauskas, Tim Lee Jerome Holland Laboratory, American Red Cross, Rockville, Md 20855, Usa, Henryk Lubon, William N. Drohan

Papers in Biotechnology

Recombinant human protein C (rhPC) secreted in the milk of transgenic pigs was studied. 'Ikansgenes having different regulatory elements of the murine milk protein, whey acidic protein, were used with cDNA and genomic human protein C (hPC) DNA sequences to obtain lower and higher expressing animals. The cDNA pigs had a range of expression of about 0.1-0.5 g/l milk. Two different genomic hPC pig lines have expressed 0.3 and 1-2 g/l, respectively. The rhPC was first purified at yields greater than 60 per cent using a monoclonal antibody (mAb) to the activation site on the heavy chain of hPC. Subsequent …

Effect Of Antibody Orientation On Immunosorbent, Anuradha Subramanian, William H. Velander

Papers in Biotechnology

The impact of antibody orientation on immunosorbent efficiency was quantitatively assessed. A pH-dependent murine monoclonal antibody (Mab) against human protein C (hPC), recombinant hPC (rhPC) and two different immobilization chemistries and matrices were used as model systems. The lysyl groups of the rhPC were covalently modified with an acetic acid ester of N-hydroxysuccinimide and this modified rhPC was used as a Fab masking agent (FMA). The FMA was used to mask the antigen bind-ing regions (Fab) of the Mab prior to and during covalent immobilization. Thereafter, the residual active sites of the support were in-activated and the FMA was removed. …

A Recent Record Of Mountain Lion In Nebraska, Hugh H. Genoways, Patricia W. Freeman

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

On the morning of November 10, 1991, a deer hunter in the Pine Ridge area of extreme northwestern Nebraska shot a young female mountain lion (Gertzen, 1991, Omaha World-Herald, November 15, Sunrise ed. p. 17sf; Henion, 1991, Omaha World-Herald, November 15, Metro ed. p. 17). Although mountain lions (Felis concolor) were part of the original mammalian fauna of Nebraska (Jones, 1949, J. Mammal. 30: 313; 1962, Bull Univ. Nebraska State Mus. 4: 87-100; 1964, Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus. Nat. Hist. 16: 1-356), the species has been considered to be extirpated from the state. The most recent record that …

Distribution And Abundance Of Roof-Nesting Gulls In The Great Lakes Region Of The United States, Chris P. Dwyer, Jerrod L. Belant, Richard A. Dolbeer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In 1994, we conducted aerial, mail, and telephone surveys to determine the distribution and abundance of roof-nesting gulls in states bordering the Great Lakes. We documented more than 7,922 nesting pairs of gulls at 30 colonies in four states; species composition was 71% ring-billed (Larus delawarensis^, 24% herring (Z. argentatus^, and 5% unknown. Colony size ranged from 1 to 1,003 nesting pairs. Proportions of ring-billed gulls nesting less that 5.0 and more than 10.0 km from the Great Lakes were 31% and 39%, in contrast to 63% and less than 1% for herring gulls, respectively. Maximum distances herring and ring-billed …

Intestinal Lesions Caused By Two Swine Chlamydial Isolates In Gnotobiotic Pigs, Douglas G. Rogers, Arthur A. Andersen

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to determine whether 2 distinct chlamydial isolates recovered from the intestines and feces of diarrheic nursery pigs could cause intestinal lesions in gnotobiotic pigs. Both isolates share biological characteristics with Chlamydia trachomatis. Chlamydial isolates R27 and R19 were propagated in Vero cells or embryonated eggs, respectively, and suspended in sucrose-phosphate-glutamine buffer with 10% fetal bovine serum for inoculation. Sham inocula were prepared from uninfected cell culture lysates and from uninfected eggs. Each piglet was fed 1 ml of inoculum or sham inoculum at 3-4 days of age. Ten piglets were each fed 10 …

Lung And Nasal Lesions Caused By A Swine Chlamydial Isolate In Gnotobiotic Pigs, Douglas G. Rogers, Arthur A. Andersen, Breck D. Hunsaker

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to determine whether a chlamydial isolate recovered from nasal swabs from swine with pneumonia could cause pneumonia and rhinitis in gnotobiotic pigs. The identity of the isolate currently is unknown, but it shares characteristics with Chlamydia trachomatis. After propagation in Vero cells and preparation of the inoculum (2.5 x 1010 inclusion-forming units/ml), Chlamydiae were instilled into nostrils (1.0 ml/nostril) and lungs (2.0 ml intralaryngeally) of 15 anesthetized 3-day-old gnotobiotic piglets. Five age-matched gnotobiotic piglets were anesthetized and sham infected with uninfected cell culture lysates. Two treated piglets were moribund and 2 were severely …