Have recently discovered a rust type growth/fungus on certain acacia varieties that seems to be of interest , has anyone come across this and done any chemistry with it ? Any idea what the alkaloid content is ?
Can i do a alkaloid extraction of this rust and how would one go about it , whats the tek and process , would it be the same as acacia/wattle extraction ?
As this material ive found does not seem to be known i looked at the possibility of an insect gall and it appears to be more like this as most galls have larvae casings in them , it looks like it has been treansferred by insect to host/acacia . There seems to be a virus that can be introduced to the host that replicates and enhances the dna of the plant, i woonder what an extraction would yeild ?
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Acacia ThripsBy Laurence Mound (CSIRO Entomology, Canberra)
The thrips, or Thysanoptera, are small insects in which adults usually have very narrow wings with long fringing hairs. Although commonly considered flower insects, due to a northern hemisphere literature bias, worldwide about 40% of thrips species feed only on fungus in leaf-litter or on dead twigs, and about 30% feed only on green leaf tissues. Many of the flower-feeding species, such as western flower thrips and onion thrips, are important horticultural pests. On Acacia flowers, a few thrips may be found occasionally, but in Australia there has been a massive radiation of highly specific “leaf-feeding” thrips in association with the phyllodes of many species, particularly those from sections Juliflorae and Plurinerves. In addition, an unrelated thrips species induces galls on one Indian Acacia and a second on an African Acacia.
Two major groups of thrips are distinguished. In the first group (suborder Terebrantia) the adult females have a saw-like ovipositor that is used to cut into plant tissue and insert each egg one at a time; this group includes most of the pest species of thrips. In the second group (order Tubulifera ) the females lay their eggs on the surface of their food plant, commonly in groups. The young stages of thrips look rather like wingless adults, and there are two such larval stages in all species, followed by two (three in Tubulifera) non-feeding pupal stages in which the organs of the body are reorganised into the adult condition. Although adult thrips usually have wings, in many species adults are wingless, and in other species both winged and wingless adults occur. The most curious features of thrips, apart from their fringed wings, are their tarsi which have an inflatable adhesive bladder, and their asymmetric mouth parts. Insects usually have a pair of mandibles, but in thrips the mandible on the right hand side of the head is resorbed during embryonic development, and the left mandible is a pointed structure that is used to make a hole in a leaf. The paired maxillary stylets, co-adapted to form a tube, are then inserted through this hole and the contents of plant cells are withdrawn one at a time.
More than 250 species in 35 genera of the Tubulifera subfamily Phlaeothripinae are now known from Australian phyllodinous Acacia species, and these thrips are not found on any other plants. These Acacia thrips appear to constitute a single evolutionary lineage that has radiated and diversified on these plants (Morris et al., 2002). One group of species induces phyllode galls, and another group are kleptoparasites that invade these galls. One remarkable and highly diverse group comprises species that construct their own domiciles by gluing or sewing together two or more phyllodes to provide a shelter within which to feed (Mound & Morris, 2001), and a different set of kleptoparasitic species has involved that usurp these domiciles (Mound & Morris, 2000). The largest suites of species comprise opportunists that invade abandoned shelters, such as the leaf mines of beetle and moth larvae, and old thrips galls.
Gall-inducing thripsOne of these Australian genera of thrips includes at least 25 species, each of which induces galls on the young phyllodes of particular Acacia species. In some of these gall-inducing thrips the first generation produced by the winged gall-foundress is small, and the adults develop as wingless 'soldiers' (Kranz et al. 2001; Wills et al. 2003). In some species, these wingless individuals defend the gall from invasion, particularly from the kleptoparasites of the genus Koptothrips, but in other members of the same genus there is less evidence of defensive behaviour (Perry et al. 2002). The second generation within these galls is of fully winged adults that disperse and induce further galls. A very different life-history strategy has been adopted by several other species of the same genus of thrips. In these, the gall-foundress becomes physogastric with a greatly expanded abdomen, and then produces a single generation that in some species may comprise as many as 1000 individuals (Crespi et al. 2004
Domicile-creating thripsIn contrast to the galling thrips, a large number of species in six different genera construct their own domiciles, rather than induce plants to do this for them. They do this by gluing or sewing together two or more phyllodes to produce a small space, within which they can breed and feed. Some species produce a glue-like product from their anus to fix together two flattened phyllodes face to face, whereas others use a silk-like product to hold together two or more narrow or needle-like phyllodes. At least two species are known to weave onto the surface of a phyllode a flattened tent from the silk that they secrete (Mound & Morris 2001).
The Acacia thrips galls are invaded and usurped by kleptoparasitic thrips of the genus Koptothrips. These invading thrips kill the original gall thrips by stabbing with their fore tarsal teeth, and then breed for one or more generations in the galls that they have usurped, sometimes producing large populations. Although kleptoparasitic, these thrips are phytophagous not predatory. Domicile-creating thrips also attract the attention of kleptoparasitic thrips, but these apparently do not kill their hosts. Species in the genus Xaniothrips use an array of stout setae on their abdomen to drive out from the domicile those thrips that had originally produced it, by thrashing their tail and walking backwards (Mound & Morris 1999). Adults of two other genera are presumed to use curious spade-like tubercles on their antennae to effect entry into the domiciles they are known to usurp.
At least one thrips species has evolved as a true inquiline, in that it apparently breeds within the colonies of a particular domicile creating species without unduly disturbing the original inhabitants (Morris et al. 2000).
Opportunistic thripsAt least 50% of the species of Australian Phlaeothripinae on Acacia are opportunistic in their habits, invading only abandoned galls, or abandoned domiciles of other thrips, or the abandoned mines or enclosures created by larvae of moths and weevils. Three genera of such species are now known to each include more than 30 species. Moreover, a further group of Phlaeothripinae species can be found in splits on the bark of young twigs, but most of these thrips species are very small and difficult to observe in the field (Mound & Moritz 2000).
Australian Acacia thrips relationships
Current evidence suggests that the entire suite of Phlaeothripinae on Australian Acacia species comprises a single lineage that has radiated subsequent to a single invasion of this genus in Australia (Morris et al. 2002; Crespi et al. 2004). The radiation appears to have been driven primarily by competition for small enclosed spaces that provide protection from insolation and dehydration in the extremely arid environment of central Australia, but also by the need for protection from the many and abundant ant species (Crespi & Mound 1997).
Non-Australian Acacia thrips
Only two specific associations between species of thrips and Acacia are recorded from areas other than Australia. Acaciathrips ebneri is specific to Acacia nilotica in much of Africa, and Thilakothrips babuli is specific to Acacia leucophloea in India. Both of these thrips are highly specific and induce terminal galls by feeding.'
Rust (microbiology)Plant diseases caused by fungi of the order Uredinales and characterized by the powdery and usually reddish spores produced. There are more than 4000 species of rust fungi. All are obligate parasites (require a living host) in nature, and each species attacks only plants of particular genera or species. Morphologically identical species that attack different host genera are further classified as special forms (formae speciales); for example, Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici attacks wheat and P. graminis f. sp. hordei attacks barley. Each species or special form can have many physiological races that differ in their ability to attack different cultivars (varieties) of a host species. Rusts are among the most destructive plant diseases. Economically important examples include wheat stem rust, white pine blister rust, and coffee rust. See Uredinales
Rust fungi have complex life cycles, producing up to five different fruiting structures with distinct spore types that appear in a definite sequence. Macrocyclic (long-cycled) rust fungi produce all five spore types, whereas microcyclic (short-cycled) rust fungi produce only teliospores and basidiospores. Some macrocyclic rust fungi complete their life cycle on a single host and are called autoecious, whereas others require two different or alternate hosts and are called heteroecious.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory - Invasive Fungi Fact Sheets
Uromycladium tepperianum on Acacia spp.
Uromycladium tepperianum is a microcyclic rust that infects more than one hundred species of Acacia (Gathe 1971) and several other genera in the Fabaceae, causing large, conspicuous galls (Morris 1987).
Acacia pycnantha Benth., cultivated in Australia for its bark, is severely affected by U. tepperianum, which causes significant yield losses and eventually the death of the host (Gathe 1971). However, this rust has potential as a biocontrol agent for weedy acacias outside of Australia, for example, U. tepperianum has been proven a highly effective against A. saligna in South Africa (Morris 1997, Wood & Morris 2007).
Uromycladium tepperianum (Sacc.) McAlpine, Ann. Mycol. 3: 310. 1905.
Spermogonia minute, brownish then black, globose, 150 µm diam; spermatia hyaline, ellipsoid.
Aecia and uredinia unknown.
Telia develop on galls on leaves, branches, inflorescences, and fruits; infections causing swollen,distorted galls up to 18 × 6 cm, and witches' brooms of different shapes and sizes, cinnamon to chocolate brown, powdery; teliospores composed of a cluster of three probasidial cells at top of a single pedicel,depressed globose to globose, cinnamon brown, thickly vertically striate, margin crenulate, wall 2-3 µm,
at apex up to 5 µm thick, 14-22 µm high, 18-25 µm wide, one apical germ pore; pedicel hyaline, septate,deciduous.
Hosts: Species of Acacia, Albizia and Racosperma (Fabaceae)Geographic Distribution Australia, Java, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and South Africa.
Uromycladium is characterized by the production of teliospores composed of 1-3 probasidial cells, with or without cysts, on a single pedicel. Eight species of Uromycladium have been described occurring primarily on Acacia in Australia and New Zealand. Teliospores of Uromycladium tepperianum and U. notabile McAlpine have three probasidial cells and no cysts (Burges 1934). Uromycladium notabile produces uredinia, and the probasidial cells have linear verrucae, while no uredinia are known for U.tepperianum and the probasidial cells are distinctly striate. Uromycladium acaciae (Cooke) P. Syd. & Syd.produces teliospores with two probasidial cells and no cysts. Teliospores of Uromycladium simplex McAlpine and Uromycladium robinsoni McAlpine have one globose probasidial cell and one cyst.
Uromycladium fusisporum (Cooke & Massee) Savile has teliospores with one probasidial cells and no cyst (Savile 1971). Uromycladium maritimum McAlpine and Uromycladium alpinum McAlpine produce teliospores with two probasidial cells and one cyst.
Analysis of anal secretions from phlaeothripine thripsJ Chem Ecol. 2004 Feb;30(2):409-23.
Analysis of anal secretions from phlaeothripine thrips.
Suzuki T, Haga K, Tsutsumi T, Matsuyama S.
Institute of Applied Biochemistry, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan.
The anal secretions of 16 phlaeothripine thrips species (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) were studied, including a reinvestigation of three species previously reported. A total of 37 components were detected, including
hydrocarbons, acetates, terpenes, carboxylic acids, a quinone, an aromatic compound, and a pyranone compound. The secretions of all species were composed of some of these components, with Xylaplothrips inquilinus possessing as many as 11 components. Of these components, (Z)-9-octadecene, (Z)-9-nonadecene, nonadecadiene, octanoic acid, decanoic acid, geranial, neral, alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, caryophyllene, 2-hydroxy-6-methylbenzaldehyde, and two unidentified monoterpenes [UK-I (M+136) and UK-II (M+16
] were detected for the first time. The chemicals were species-specific; four Liothrips species and three Holothrips species could be distinguished from each other and their congeners by the GC profiles of the ether extracts of their anal secretions. The anal secretions of gall-inducing thrips commonly contained terpenes. of which citral (a mixture of geranial and neral) and beta-acaridial repelled ants or had antifungal activity. The findings suggest that these terpenes play a defensive role and prevent galls from fungal infestation. 3-Butanoyl-4-hydroxy-6-methyl-2H-pyran-2-one, found from three Holothrips spp., caused paralysis in ants. Chemical analysis of anal secretion components is a useful method for the classification of tubuliferan species that are difficult to distinguish on the basis of morphological characters.
[ Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) ]
CaMV - Cauliflower Mosaic Virus
from wiki :
Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) is the type member of the caulimoviruses, one of the six genera in the Caulimoviridae family, pararetroviruses that infect plants (Pringle, 1999). Pararetroviruses replicate through reverse transcription just like retroviruses, but the viral particles contain DNA instead of RNA (Rothnie et al., 1994).
Structure
The CaMV particle is an icosahedron with a diameter of 52 nm built from 420 capsid protein (CP) subunits arranged with a triangulation T = 7, which surrounds a solvent-filled central cavity (Cheng et al., 1992). It contains a circular double-stranded DNA molecule of about 8.0 kB, interrupted by sitespecific discontinuities resulting from its replication by reverse transcription. After entering the host, the single stranded nicks in the viral DNA are repaired, forming a supercoiled molecule that binds to histones. This DNA is transcribed into a full length, terminally redundant 35S RNA and a subgenomic 19S RNA.
Bacteria and fungi are able to take up DNA from their surroundings, whether this is water, soil or gut. They can use this DNA as a food source or as genetic information, integrating it into their own DNA. This form of horizontal gene transfer is part of an ongoing evolutionary process. Bacteria are capable of exchanging genetic information between each other, such as genes for antibiotic or herbicide resistance - a very common form of horizontal gene transfer.
The transfer of GM genes from GM crops to soil or gut bacteria is hence a distinct possibility and has already been observed in different laboratory settings.
Transgenic trees" Transgenic trees are major products of tree biotechnology. This relatively young field of both plant biotechnology and tree biology concentrates on (1) improvement of pathogen, pesticide, and stress resistance, (2) manipulation of lignin content and composition, and (3) improvement of growth. Transgenic trees also have a great potential in other areas of applied and environmental research, such as in the production of phytochemicals and in phytoremediation of polluted soils. However, genetically modified trees are also excellent tools for physiological research. Transgenic trees are indispensable in investigations of the regulation of wood formation, long-distance transport, and tree growth cycles. In addition, transgenic poplars contribute significantly to our understanding of the regulation of sulfur nutrition. In this review we concentrate on the use of transgenic tree species to improve knowledge in tree and, more generally, plant physiology rather than to cover extensively the field of commercial tree biotechnology or the biological safety of transgenic plant release.
The Cauliflower Mosaic Virus (CaMV) is a double-stranded DNA virus which infects a wide range of crucifers, especially brassicas such as cabbages, cauliflowers, oilseed rape or mustard. In order to get itself and its DNA replicated (multiplied) within a plant cell, the virus must trick the plant’s own molecular ‘machinery’ to do this task. For this purpose the virus has two promoters (35S and 19S) in front of its genes, which the plant cell believes to be its own. Furthermore, these promoters override the plant’s own regulatory system, as they are constitutive, i.e. they are constantly switched on and can’t be regulated or switched off by the plant.
The CaMV 35S promoter is being used in almost all GM crops currently grown or tested, especially GM maize. It is the promoter of choice for plant genetic engineering, as it is a strong and constitutive promoter.
Horizontal Gene Transfer
Horizontal gene transfer can be defined as the movement of genetic information (DNA) between cells and organisms by means other than sexual reproduction. This process enables the transfer of genetic information between sexually incompatible organisms and works across the boundaries of species, genera and even kingdoms. Such transfer of a gene from e.g. plant to bacteria is called horizontal gene transfer.
Promoter
For an organism to be able to activate or turn off its own genes, each gene has its own molecular switch, called a promoter. A promoter is made of DNA and located at the front of a gene. A promoter is usually gene specific, and reacts to signals given by the organism, thus allowing the fine-tuning of the gene product (e.g. enzymes or hormones) according to need and developmental stage."
so.... what has this done to the DMT or tryptamines in these trees ,wonder what the galls contain ?
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