Golden Cup Research Articles

Excessive and asymmetrical removal of heterozygous sites by maxSH biases downstream population genetic inference: Implications for hybridization between two primroses

AbstractTechniques of reduced‐representation sequencing (RRS) have revolutionized ecological and evolutionary genomics studies. Precise establishment of orthologs is a critical challenge for RRS, especially when a reference genome is absent. The proportion of shared heterozygous sites across samples is an alternative criterion for filtering paralogs. In the prevailing pipeline for variant calling of RRS data – PYRAD/IPYRAD, maxSH is an often overlooked parameter with implications to detecting and filtering paralogs according to shared heterozygosity. Using empirical genotyping by sequencing data of two primroses (Primula alpicola Stapf and Primula florindae Ward) and their putative hybrids, and extra data sets of Californian golden cup oaks, we explore the impact of maxSH on filtering paralogs and further downstream analyses. Our study sheds light on the simultaneous validity and risk of filtering paralogs using maxSH, and its significant effects on downstream analyses of outlier detection, population assignment, and demographic modeling, emphasizing the importance of attention to detail during bioinformatic processes. The mutual confirmation between results of population assignment and demographic modeling in this study suggested maxSH = 0.10 has a potentially excessive and asymmetrical effect on the removal of truly shared heterozygous sites as paralogs. These results indicate that hybridization origin hypotheses of putative hybrids represented by results with maxSH = 0.25 and 0.50 are more credible. In conclusion, we revealed the critical hazard of paralogs filtration according to sharing heterozygosity at first, so that we propose to use specific protocols, rather than maxSH, to filter potential paralogs for closely related lineages.

Sisterhood in 5D

Sisterhood in 5D

Ancient Monuments of Abkhazia as a Means of Its History’s Falsification

There are a lot of facts of deliberate falsification of history. Abkhazia and Georgia are neighbors geographically having a common history. In Georgian historiography, the denial of the Abkhaz people and Abkhazia’s existence became the norm: attempts are being made to prove that Apsua and Abkhaz are two different ethnic groups, that Abkhaz and Abkhaz language in medieval sources were used in the meaning of Georgian and Georgian language. Nowadays, Georgia claims that there are 1,100 Georgian architectural monuments on the territory of Abkhazia which include such ancient temples as the Church of Dormition of Lykhny of the 10th century, the Church of St. Simon the Canaanite (New Athos), the Dranda Cathedral (6th–8th centuries), and other religious objects, pieces of art. However, these political statements are not true. At various times, temple objects from Abkhazia surfaced in Georgia, storing the icon of the Pitsunda Mother of God in the Gelat Monastery, located near Kutaisi; the Golden Cup from the Bedia Church; the Gospel which belonged to the Mokva Archbishop’s Seat and is held now in the Museum of Art of Georgia in Tbilisi. Georgia considers these artifacts Georgian and refuses to return them to Abkhazia. The falsification also affected the Besleti Bridge, one of the ancient architectural monuments of Abkhazia located on the river Basla near Sukhumi. According to Abkhaz scientists, the date of the bridge’s construction was falsified in 1935 during the restoration work carried out by Georgian researchers. The biographies of well-known figures of science and culture of Abkhazia were also falsified. All these examples show that modern Abkhazia has a lot of work to do to rewrite its state history.

Full-length genome characterization of a new fusagravirus hosted by the spring orange peel fungus Caloscypha fulgens.

Mycoviruses widely exist in diverse lineages of fungi, yet there are only a few studies on mycovirus infection in uncultivated fungi. We here report the presence of a dsRNA mycovirus in saprotrophic spring orange peel fungus Caloscypha fulgens. A novel dsRNA virus, named "Caloscypha fulgens fusagravirus 1" (CfFV1), was isolated from a single ascocarp of C. fulgens, and its molecular features were revealed. The full-length cDNA of CfFV1 comprises 9,548 nucleotides with a calculated GC content of 47.9% and two discontinuous open reading frames (ORF 1 and 2). A-1 ribosomal frameshift region with two distinctive elements, including a canonical slippery heptanucleotide (AAAAAAC) and a pseudoknot structure, predicted as a Recoding Stimulatory Element, was detected in the junction region of ORF1 and ORF2. The deduced amino acid sequence of ORF1 and ORF2 showed the highest similarity to the putative structural protein and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of Rosellinia necatrix fusagravirus 4 (RnFGV4). Genome organization, sequence similarity, and phylogenetic analysis indicate that this virus belongs to a new member of the proposed family Fusagraviridae. This is the first report of the presence of a mycovirus in the spring orange peel fungus C. fulgens. Keywords: mycovirus; dsRNA; proposed Fusagraviridae; uncultivated fungi; Caloscypha fulgens.

"The Vice of the Time": Wine, Libertinism, and Commerce in the Age of Charles II

"The Vice of the Time":Wine, Libertinism, and Commerce in the Age of Charles II Dayne C. Riley In 1660, Charles II made his triumphant return to England, and as John Evelyn notes in his diary, fountains ran red with wine, celebrating the restoration of the monarchy.1 Almost a full year later, on April 23, 1661, Charles II had his official coronation. Samuel Pepys, rising at four in the morning to get a good viewpoint, was greatly pleased with the splendor of the day. He describes the feast that took place after the official coronation as a "rare sight" and witnessed the ceremonial entry of Charles's champion, Sir Edward Dymock, who rode up "all in armor on horseback, with his Speare and targett carried before him," as a herald proclaimed that "if any dare deny Ch. Steward to be lawful King of England, here was a Champion that would fight with him."2 Dymock ceremonially flung down his gauntlet, and then Charles drank to Dymock before giving him the golden cup, from which the champion himself drank before the end of the ceremony. The rest of Pepys's day consisted of a flurry of drinking. When attending a post-Coronation party in Axe Yard with his wife and Mrs. Frankelyn, Pepys describes several bonfire parties, noting that "many great gallants, men and women" were drinking together (87). These complete strangers "laid hold of us and would have us drink the King's health upon our knee . . . which we all did, they drinking to us one after another—which we thought a strange Frolique. But these gallants continued thus a great while, and I wondered to see how the ladies did tiple" (87). Pepys notes two elements that struck him as particularly unusual: that the gallants drank healths not only to Charles but also to nonaristocratic citizens and that "the ladies"—most likely not just his wife and her companion but the [End Page 3] many women at the crowd—drank a great deal. Pepys's usage of the word "frolique," which could mean both general "fun, merriment, sportive mirth" or "a scene or occasion of gaiety or mirth; a merry-making; a party," is especially interesting because he draws attention to the "strangeness" of these two social choices, drinking the health of complete strangers and drinking with women.3 Pepys then "sent [his] wife and her bedfellow to bed" (87), rather than allow her to continue drinking. Later, when drinking with the royal wine collector, he and his compatriots drink only to the king's health. As Pepys's journal entry attests, alcohol in the seventeenth century was considered the province of men, while the ways in which it was consumed spoke to social hierarchies and class dynamics. The drinking of wine, a traditional way of honoring the monarchy, especially during and after the English Civil Wars, was a major component of royalist culture. Wine also became, unsurprisingly, a major aspect of Restoration libertine culture, treated as a consumable material, a signifier of wealth and status, a symbol of pride at the restoration of monarchal power, and a source of liquid inspiration. Charles's return was supposed to represent the triumph of the aristocracy, the return of seized lands and monies, and the disbanding of the taxation on alcohol. None of these fantasies, however, would become reality, despite the triumphant, grandiose spectacles of Charles's return and coronation. The Restoration government would continue the heavy taxation of imported wines, the primary luxury item bought from other countries, even as it increased markedly England's presence in the global market. As we shall see, these lucrative customs duties on wine, and the government revenue that they generated, would play a significant role in the treatment of wine and other alcoholic beverages in writings by courtly authors celebrating the monarchy. Alcohol was one of the most important commercial products for both internal and international trade, and for playwrights of the 1670s, it became a medium for investigating specific anxieties about trade, principally related to class and gender dynamics. For satirical writers such as Edward Ravenscroft, George Etherege, and Aphra Behn, the exploits of libertine heroes reflected on both the hedonistic...

О старейшей технологии пайки на примере археологических находок – золотого кубка из Триалети и муфеля из Квацхели

О старейшей технологии пайки на примере археологических находок – золотого кубка из Триалети и муфеля из Квацхели

Molecular evolution of the internal transcribed spacers in red oaks (Quercus sect. Lobatae)

Previous studies of the Internal Transcribed Spacers of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS) in sections Quercus (white oaks), Protobalanus (intermediate or golden cup oaks), Cerris (Cerris oaks), and Ilex (Ilex oaks) suggest that ITS regions undergo full concerted evolution in oaks; however, ITS evolution patterns in red oaks (section Lobatae) are unknown due to scant representation in published work. To determine whether full concerted evolution occurs in red oaks, the purpose of this study was to examine ITS sequences from 40 red oak species. The results show incomplete concerted evolution and the presence of three ITS ribotypes of lengths 505, 609, 601 bp, hereafter referred to as ITS-S (small), I ITS-M (medium), and ITS-L (large), respectively. Thirty species had only one ribotype (ITS-M), nine species had two ribotypes (different combinations of ITS-L, ITS-M, and ITS-S), and only one species had all three ribotypes. Furthermore, examination of these three ribotypes showed that only ITS-M is putatively functional and ITS-L and ITS-S are pseudogenes. Bayesian analysis strongly supported (100%) two pseudogenes clades but provided weak support for the monophyly of a putative functional clade (ITS-M); moreover, within the “functional” clade, species relationships were uncertain and, in most cases, sequences from the same species failed to group together. The results of the current study suggest that ITS may not be appropriate for phylogeny reconstruction of red oaks due to low levels of interspecific variation and incomplete concerted evolution.

A new genus of oak gallwasp, Protobalandricus Melika, Nicholls Stone (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini) from California.

We describe a new genus of cynipid oak gallwasp, Protobalandricus Melika, Nicholls Stone (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini). Protobalandricus gen. nov. includes one previously described species, Disholcaspis spectabilis (Kinsey), which induces stem swelling-like galls on golden cup oaks, Quercus section Protobalanus. Descriptions of the genus and diagnostic characters, including DNA sequence data, are presented.

Genomic data reveal cryptic lineage diversification and introgression in Californian golden cup oaks (section Protobalanus).

Here we study hybridization, introgression and lineage diversification in the widely distributed canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis) and the relict island oak (Q.tomentella), two Californian golden cup oaks with an intriguing biogeographical history. We employed restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing and integrated phylogenomic and population genomic analyses to study hybridization and reconstruct the evolutionary past of these taxa. Our analyses revealed the presence of two cryptic lineages within Q.chrysolepis. One of these lineages shares its most recent common ancestor with Q.tomentella, supporting the paraphyly of Q.chrysolepis. The split of these lineages was estimated to take place during the late Pliocene or the early Pleistocene, a time corresponding well with the common presence of Q.tomentella in the fossil records of continental California. Analyses also revealed historical hybridization among lineages, high introgression from Q.tomentella into Q.chrysolepis in their current area of sympatry, and widespread admixture between the two lineages of Q.chrysolepis in contact zones. Our results support that the two lineages of Q.chrysolepis behave as a single functional species phenotypically and ecologically well differentiated from Q.tomentella, a situation that can be only accommodated considering hybridization and speciation as a continuum with diffuse limits.

Drinking from a Golden Cup, Eating from a Silver Dish. Metalwork in Islamic Iranian Sources (11th–12th century)

Very few precious metalwork reached our age, against a large number of base metal objects. Historical sources related to the Eastern Iranian lands and dating to the 11th–12th century describe medieval Islamic courts as glittering with gold and silverware, on a continuity with the ancient Iranian culture strong enough to defy even religious bans. In particular, a high rank metalwork production is attested in Ghazni, during the period the city enjoyed the role of capital of the Eastern Iranian world.

Poetic Texts in Polish Heritage Language Classes

The use of poetic texts in heritage Polish composition classes offers a resourceful, motivating, and original way of learning the language and culture, primarily by mastering writing skills and understanding Poland’s rich and complex culture. Moreover, poetic texts give an aesthetical beauty and moral values, and the students discover universal truths during their readings and discussions. A chosen poem, such as Adam Mickiewicz’s “Lelije” (Lilies), Teofil Lenartowicz’s “Złoty kubek” (A Golden Cup), or Bolesław Leśmian’s “Urszula Kochanowska” (Ursula Kochanowska), is presented in class for listening exercises, reading, recitation, discussion, and especially creative writing. The students are introduced to the captivating genre of poetry and learn about the cultural and historical content of this work. Then, they write their poem or a composition on the introduced theme. The assessment consists of the student’s originality, the content of the paper, the organization of the paper, and the employment of correct grammatical sentence structure and vocabulary.Consequently, poetic texts immersed in Polish intertextual space are open and may be read in many ways, beyond their initial context, presenting many fascinating interpretations and offering many intellectual attractions. A poem is an excellent learning source for the creativity stage in the art of writing, transmuting elements of the past Polish culture and literature in modern language classes. Students write their own intriguing stories, focusing on their knowledge of the language, and using resourcefulness and creativity.

"Drinking of the Golden Cup of Babylon": Biblical Typology and Imagery in the Chronicle of Otto of Freising

Taking as its point of departure a series of miniatures accompanying the chronicle of Otto of Freising in the MS Jena Thüringer Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Bose q. 6, the present article explores the use of biblical typology and imagery in the Chronica sive historia de duabus civitatibus. The analysis of Otto’s symbolism and figurative language demonstrates that he not only develops and elaborates typologies found in his sources, but also invents his own typologies. In several cases, Otto establishes typological patterns by implicit associations or allusions, but he also explicitly makes use of technical terms such as typus. Most of the examples discussed below are semi-biblical typologies in which a biblical type prefigures a historical antitype. Typologies related to the theory of the two cities are also frequent.

IL Molto Amato Cuore di Ghismonda: Riflessioni sull’Eucaristia e sul Santo Graal

O presente artigo procura traçar possíveis convergências da novela de Ghismonda (Decameron IV, 9) com o mito do Santo Graal e o sacramento da Eucaristia, baseando-se nos escritos de Le Goff, Charbonneau-Lassy e Camporesi, entre outros. No sacramento católico, Cristo oferece seu corpo e seu sangue aos apóstolos a fim de que, consumindo-os, entrem em comunhão com Ele na vida eterna, anunciando a base da escatologia cristã. Ghismonda, após ter bebido o sangue misturado ao veneno, que ela mesma derramara sobre o coração do amante assassinado pelo pai, entra em comunhão com Guiscardo, também para uma vida eterna, consumando aquele amor que fora interrompido pelo pai e indicando a “sua” escatologia. Os discípulos beberam o sangue de Cristo do Graal: Ghismonda bebeu o sangue de Guiscardo de um cálice de ouro. Coincidência ou alusão?

Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring in Spinal Root Surgical Interventions

Background and Objective: Surgical interventions around spinal roots may result in rootlets injury and neurological deficits. Multimodal introperative neurophysiological monitoring (MIOM) can allow for early detection and then reversal of nerve roots potential injuries. These utilities have been currently used to evaluate spinal sensorimotor pathways and nerve root function during posterior spinal approches for transpedicular screw fixations in a rotine base in our setting (Vali-e ASR Hospital, Arak, Iran) since 1998. Methods: In three consecutive patients (1 male, 16 years old. and 2 female, 17 and 16 years old) kyphoscoliosis corrections, patient’s history, preoperative physical examination and MIOM were performed using a multimodal 40-channel electrophysiologic monitoring system (Nicolet Endeavor, VIASYS Healthcare, 2005, USA). In all cases somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) and F-wave responses corresponding tothe related myotome, were recorded 2 days prior surgery. The SSEPs, bilateral EMGs of paravertebrals and related muscle, stimulus-evoked evoked EMGs by mid-dural spinal stimulation, stimulus-evoked EMGs through root stimulation (pre/post foraminal) were performed when required during different stages of operation procedure. The compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs) were recorded using a pair of 1 Cm2 golden cup surface electrode. A paired-pulse stimulation consisting of two pulses with 2 ms interstimulus interval (ISI), 100-300 µs duration and 10-40 mA intensity was applied through a surgical probe pair electrode touched to the intact dura, over the midline of dorsal column, 2 segments above the involved root, to evoke constant reproducible EMGs in paravertebrals and/or approperiate myotomes of the segment in both lower limbs. Latency of CMAPs were measured for dorsal culumn, foramen entrance and root exit site stimulations. Following the measurements of the F-wave latencies, the central root conduction time and foramenal segments were calculated and used for further monitoring.The SSEPs of ascending valleis from medial tibial nerve stimulation were recorded at C7 spine and C3´ or C4´of the operation side. A unilateral, sustained loss of 50% of the SSEP amplitude and/or increase by 10% of latency from average values after anesthesia, and SSEP/CMAP waveform change to an asynchronous polyphasic wave, were considered to be pathologic. Drilling and screw positionings were evaluated intraoperatively with standard posteroanterior and lateral radiographs.Results: None of the 3 patients showed significant change in the SSEPsor post-operative radiculopathies distinct from their preoperative presentations. One hour after the start of surgery, when the spinal column was exposed to the operating theatre temperature, a minimal prolongation of latencies as well as amplitude reduction of SSEPs was observed. The SSEP waveforms were not affected subsequently. A reverse change appeared again after paravertebral muscles stitching at the final hour of surgery.In our cases, latencies of different root segments were kept intact during the operation and also during the transfer to the recovery room. Propofol or Propofol/Ketamine mixture plus narcotic is suitable to obtain stable reproducible SSEPs and EMGs. Atracurium or other nondepolarizing skeletal muscle relaxants should be avoided. Muscle relaxants application or mean arterial pressure (MAP) below 70 mmHg may cause bilateral reduction or loss of SSEPs and EMGs. There was no postoperative clinically detectable complication.Conclusions: Findings of our study demonstrated that MIOM should be used in all patients undergoing surgery around spinal roots. Monitoring can practically reduce possibilities of neurological deficit. Futhermore, it can be concluded that the use of SSEPs to evaluate the pedicle screw placement or similar interventions is not an appropriate tool itself, since, , it could be practically limited to sensory fibers of root. In these settings and similar procedures, if IOM is required, alternative multimodal methods with greater sensitivity and efficacy should be explored. To aquire MIOM modalities, close collaboration of an anesthesioloist is nessesary.

Blake: Job and ‘The Mental Traveller’

‘THE Mental Traveller’ by William Blake1 is a complex cyclical allegory imperfectly understood,2 and it has gone unnoticed that crucial elements of this poem are conflated from the Book of Job, one of Blake’s favorite biblical texts. Hence, the following Argument. Initially, I submit that ‘The Mental Traveller’ is a Moon Poem. The lunar Eternal Female as a ‘Woman Old’ in ‘The Mental Traveller’ (E 484: 9–16) foetalizes Christ as a Vegetation God, where he is bound down upon the tissues of generation, while this female drinks his ‘Shrieks in Cups of gold’, relevant to the matter that Christ in John (6:54–55) confirms that ‘my flesh is meat … , and my blood is drink’ (my emphasis). (See the bloody generative crescent-cup of the moon, as emblemized on plate 100 in Copy E of Jerusalem.) Blake’s Eternal Female in ‘The Mental Traveller’ unmistakably possesses attributes of the Whore of Babylon, identified by Blake as ‘Rahab Babylon’ in Milton (41/46: 17, E 141). Pertinently, the Whore of Babylon (not to be confused with ‘Rahab’ the Whore of Jericho in Joshua) is ‘drunken with … [human] blood’ in Revelation (17:6)—and she possesses a ‘golden cup’ of ‘fornication’ (mentioned in Revelation 17:4), associated by Blake with a moony ‘cup of Religion’ in The Four Zoas (IX.134: 5–6, E 491).3

Axonal electrovisiogram as an electrophysiological test to evaluate optic nerve and inner retina electrical potentials: findings in normal subjects

To standardize and validate the technique of axonal electrovisiogram (AxEvg), defining its normative values and parameters and characterizing its findings in normal individuals. We enrolled 140 normal individuals (280 eyes) divided into seven groups according to age, each one with 10 males and 10 females. The technique was based on monocular visual stimulation by a 0 dB intensity bright flash on Ganzfeld bowl at a presentation rate of 1.4 Hz. Golden cup electrodes were used and electrical waves were acquired after artifact rejection. For each amplitude and implicit time peak we calculated the mean, median, pattern deviation, minimum and maximum values and 95% confidence interval. Monocular visual stimulation with bright flash under mesopic conditions was the standard technical procedure established. The normal AxEvg waveform consists of an initial positive wave (named P1, with mean amplitude of 2.0 mV and mean implicit time peak of 23.1 ms) followed by a negative wave (named N1, with mean amplitude of -3.9 mV and mean implicit time peak of 41.4 ms). No significant differences were observed between males and females or between right and left eyes, but there was an increased P1 and N1 implicit time peaks according to age. Implicit time characteristics suggest that P1 wave represents an optic nerve electrical potential and N1 wave represents an inner retinal layers potential. AxEvg can be considered a pre-chiasmatic visual evoked potential capable to reliably record the electrical activity of optic nerve and inner retina. The findings suggest that AxEvg may be useful as an electrophysiological test in the diagnosis of neuroretinal diseases.

Anthem for a Dying Dynasty: The Qing National Anthem through the Eyes of a Court Musician

On October 5, 191 1, the Qing court announced the newly composed national anthem, Gongjiriou l^feiS [Strengthening our hold on the golden cup]. Within six days, the revolution broke out and within a few months the dynasty had ceased to exist. The expression wangguo zhiyin t ffl/^W) 'sound of a doomed state', comes from the yueji ^|B section of the Book of Rites, devoted to music. It might be translated more freely 'the death knell of a dynasty. It became a common expression throughout Chinese history, and was used to refer to the decadent style of music that comes into vogue towards the end of a dynasty. In the case of the Qing national anthem, the term wangguo zhiyin can be taken literally, as we just saw. This article concentrates on the criticism of the anthem's musical score made by a prominent court musician, Cao Xinquan W;L^« Cao was thoroughly familiar with the traditional Confucian view of music based upon principles expounded in the Book of Rites. He argued that the anthem ignored those principles and hastened the demise of the dynasty. His suggested revision of the anthem exemplifies the concept that the primary function of music is moral education, not entertainment.

Injury surveillance in a soccer tournament in Kenya

The occurrence of injuries in sports and the negligence of the injured players are key factors in the early exit of talented players from competitive sport in developing countries. It is for this reason that this study prospectively observed and documented injuries to male soccer players who participated in the 2001 Moi Golden Cup tournament. A total of 24 matches out of 30 were observed and injury statistics taken while watching the matches live in various stadia around the country. The injuries were recorded on a soccer match observation chart. The injuries recorded were those that either led to a temporary stoppage of the match or first aid attention to the affected player. The data was analysed and descriptively presented. Among other findings, it was established that most injuries, 44(43.14%) occurred in the preliminary phase of the tournament. Most injuries, 50(49%) were caused by an opponent as a result of tackling or fouling, 28(27.5%). The offensive zone recorded more injuries 37(36.3%) compared to the defensive and construction zones, which recorded 35 (34.3) and 30(29.4%), respectively. Soft tissue injuries accounted for the highest percentage (77.45%) of injuries during the tournament. Away teams registered more injuries 58(56.9%) than home teams 44 (43.1%), while winning teams incurred more injuries 54 (53%) than losing teams 48(47%). Anatomically, the lower body was most affected by injuries, 67(65.78%). Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that coaches and officials should lay emphasis on adequate preparation of players, provision of protective gear, observation of fair play and the proper maintenance of soccer playing facilities to avoid occurrence of unnecessary injuries. Key Words: Moi Golden Cup, aetiology, mechanism, offensive zone, defensive zone. AJPHERD Vol.10(3) 2004: 230-237

First Report of Phytophthora ramorum on Canyon Live Oak in California.

During August 2002, Phytophthora ramorum S. Werres & A.W.A.M. de Cock was isolated from branches <2.0 cm in diameter on a canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis) in Mt. Tamalpais State Park, Marin County, CA. The shrub was a cluster of stems <1 m in diameter and 1 m high. Similar cankers were observed on small branches of adjacent canyon live oaks and there was dieback of the branches distal to the lesions. Many tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), California bay laurel (Umbellularia californica), and evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) were also infected by P. ramorum at this site. The isolate was identified as P. ramorum by its abundant chlamydospores and caducous, semi-papillate sporangia and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA sequences identical to those of isolates of P. ramorum from Quercus spp., tanoak, and Rhododendron (1,3). To test for pathogenicity, two greenhouse trials (5 seedlings per trial plus controls) were conducted on 20- to 24-month-old canyon live oak seedlings. Coast live oak (Q. agrifolia, section Lobatae) seedlings were included in the trials as a comparison because the species is known to be susceptible (1). Stems (approximately 1 cm in diameter) were wound inoculated (1). After 6 weeks, lesion lengths in the cambium of canyon live oak averaged 17.2 mm (range 16 to 30 mm), which was significantly greater (analysis of variance [ANOVA], P < 0.05) in both trials than those of control inoculations (mean = 6 mm). Coast live oak seedlings inoculated at the same time had mean lesion lengths of 22.6 mm (range 15 to 30 mm). P. ramorum was recovered from 100% of inoculated stems. Canyon live oak has a wide geographic range within California, but is not common in the areas currently affected by P. ramorum. We have not observed disease symptoms or unusual mortality on overstory canyon live oaks. Although a number of understory canyon live oaks at the site on Mt. Tamalpais were apparently infected, the long-term effect of P. ramorum infection on understory trees remains unclear. To our knowledge, this is the first report of infection by P. ramorum of an oak species outside of the section Lobatae (red oaks); canyon live oak is classified in the section Protobalanus (intermediate or golden cup oaks) (2). Oaks in the section Quercus (white oaks) have not been observed to be infected by P. ramorum in the field.

First report of the seed‐pathogen Geniculodendron pyriforme, the imperfect state of the ascomycete Caloscypha fulgens, on imported conifer seeds in Germany

SummaryThe seed pathogen fungus Geniculodendron pyriforme (teleomorphic state: Caloscypha fulgens) was isolated from imported seeds (USA and Canada) of the following tree species: Picea sitchensis, Piceaengelmannii, Abies grandis and Abies concolor glauca. This is the first report of G. pyriforme on imported conifer seeds in continental Europe. A description of typical culture characteristics of the fungus is given.