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The numbers of infectious propagules of indigenous vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi were determined at different stages of the rice-based cropping systems in two irrigated rice fields of varying strata and in a rainfed field. The most-probable-number method was used to estimate the infective VAM fungal population.On the irrigated farms the mycorrhizal inoculum was consistently less in the poorly drained low-lying field with a rice-rice cropping pattern than in the field in the better-drained upper stratum with a rice-corn-mungbean pattern. The population of infective VAM fungi was generally low after the wet season rice crop when the field was inundated for a long period, increased during fallow in the presence of weeds, and was highest upon the maturity of the dry-season corn or rice crop. In the rainfed area the highest endophytic population was found at maturity of the mungbean crop and the lowest after land preparation prior to rice seeding.

The mouse prostate is an attractive model for studying the relationship between epithelial-mesenchymal interactions and the mechanism of androgen action because of the volume of information on tissue interactions in the development of the prostate of this species and the existence of a mutant mouse lacking functional androgen receptors (Tfm mouse). In this paper the major proteins of the mouse dorsolateral prostate (DLP) have been described, and antibodies to these proteins have been characterized. The two most abundant secreted proteins were of 110,000-115,000 (Mj1) and 55,000-62,000 (Mj2) mol wt. They were glycosylated, androgen dependent, and appeared to exist in an oligomeric complex. Antibodies raised against mouse DLP secretion reacted mainly with Mj1, Mj2, and a minor protein of 140,000 mol wt (Mn1). The antibodies were of a high titer and recognized these three mouse DLP proteins by Western blotting, immunoprecipitation, and immunocytochemical techniques. Mj1 and Mj2 were antigenically similar to proteins in the mouse coagulating gland and in the rat DLP, but were not found in other organs. Immunocytochemical staining of the DLP from intact mice revealed many ducts that were lined by a tall columnar epithelium whose cells stained intensely. However, ducts that were distended with luminal secretion had a low columnar epithelium that rarely showed intracellular staining. These marker proteins and the antibodies to them will be useful for detecting androgen-dependent functional activity in tissue recombinant studies with a variety of experimental tissues.

The potential of antagonistic bacteria from paddy water, rhizosphere soils, sclerotia, and rice plants to control “bakanae” caused by Fusarium moniliforme was assessed. Experiments were conducted to determine the in vitro antibiosis and effect of bacteria on seed germination. Out of 441 isolates, 113 were inhibitory to mycelial growth of the pathogen. Bacterial strains were classified into three groups based on effect on seed germination: (i) those that promoted germination and enhanced seedling vigor; (ii) those that had no effect on germination; and (iii) those that were deleterious and inhibited germination. Bacterization of naturally infected seeds reduced bakanae incidence in seedbox and seedbed tests. In a seedbed experiment with IR 58 seeds soaked in suspensions of bacterial strains, bakanae incidence and disease control ranged from 0.9 to 6.8% and 71.7 to 96.3%, respectively. From the 3 years of field trials, 10 strains reduced bakanae. Five strains consistently reduced bakanae, but the other five exhibited variable effects among trials. Specificity of suppression by antagonistic bacteria against different pathogenic isolates of F. moniliforme from various locations in the Philippines was observed.