Intestinal Helminth Communities of Grey Partridge Perdix perdix and Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus in Poland.

The aim of this study was to describe the morphology and means of identification of helminths in native partridges (65) and introduced pheasants (32) in Poland and to determine the level of intestinal infection of these birds by helminths using parasitological and ecological indices. The birds were acquired during the hunting season in the years 2015-2017. Nematodes, Capillaria phasianina, cestodes, Railietina friedbergeri, and one trematode, Brachylaima sp. were recorded for the first time in partridges in Poland. Our findings indicate that parasites are more prevalent in pheasants (prevalence 70.4%) than in partridges (prevalence 50.0%). The component community and infracommunity of parasites of partridges are more diverse (Simpson's diversity index: 0.63 and mean Brillouin diversity index: 0.10 ± 0.17) and less dominated by a single parasite species (Capillaria sp., Berger-Parker dominance index: 0.53) than the pheasant parasite community (Simpson's diversity index: 0.07, mean Brillouin diversity index: 0.005 ± 0.02, dominant species Heterakis gallinarum, Berger-Parker dominance index: 0.96). There were statistically significant differences between partridges and pheasants in the Brillouin diversity index and in the prevalence of Heterakis gallinarum (55.6% in pheasants vs. 19.0 in partridges). There were significant differences between wild and farmed partridges in the prevalence of infection by Capillaria sp. (4.3% vs. 37.5%) and H. gallinarum (39.1 vs. 6.2%). In conclusion, the pheasant was shown to be a reservoir, carrier, and shedder of nematodes, which may increase the risk of infection in partridges.

The Phenolic Compounds in the Young Shoots of Selected Willow Cultivars as a Determinant of the Plants' Attractiveness to Cervids (Cervidae, Mammalia).

This study examined the phenolic acids, flavonoids, and salicylates contents in young, 3-month-old shoots (including the leaves) of willow (Salix spp.). The cultivars were selected based on experiments carried out previously in Poland on fodder and energy willows. It was found, using the HPLC-MS/MS method, that the willow cultivars analyzed from three experimental plots, contained nine different phenolic acids, five salicylates and nine flavonoids, including four flavanols (quercetin, kaempferol, taxifolin and isorhamnetin), two flavanones (prunin, naringenin), two flavones (luteolin, apigenin) and one flavan-3-ol (catechin). The contents of individual compounds were not identical and depended on the cultivar from which they were isolated. The S. laurina 220/205 and S. amygdalina Krakowianka contained the greatest amounts of phenolic acids. The lowest quantities of these compounds were found in the S. viminalis Tur, S. pantaderana and S. cordata clone 1036. The highest concentration of flavonoids in young stems was found in S. fragilis clone 1043. The S. purpurea clone 1131 contained the highest amounts of salicylic compounds. Based on the results obtained from all experimental plots, it was shown that there is a negative correlation between the extent of browsing damage and the content of helicine and salicin from the group of salicylic compounds. A similar analysis between the phenolic acid concentration and the degree of willow browsing showed a positive correlation, especially between ferulic, trans-cinnamic, and synapinic acid. A negative correlation was found between the concentration of protocatechic acid content and browsing by cervids.

GEOGRAPHIC AND ECOLOGIC ASPECTS OF THE COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF TREMATODES OF MALLARDS (ANAS PLATYRHYNCHOS) IN NORTHERN POLAND AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC.

Trematode infestation of Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) varies between northern Poland and the Czech Republic. We determined the trematode fauna of juvenile and adult Mallards from Poland in 2010-16 (n=79 Mallards) and from the Czech Republic in 1964-2001 (n=296). Infracommunity diversity of trematodes from juvenile Mallards, defined by the Brillouin index and mean number of species, was significantly greater in Poland than it was in the Czech Republic. There were more species and greater biodiversity in the trematode communities of Mallards from Poland, where the environment is more natural and less altered by human activity than it is in the Czech Republic. In the trematode community of juvenile Mallards, the Simpson's index of biodiversity was higher in the Czech Republic than it was in Poland. The Berger-Parker dominance index was comparable in both countries. In terms of prevalence, the structure of the trematode fauna was hierarchic, and trematode species had different positions in this hierarchy in the two countries. Statistically significant differences in the epidemiologic indices between infection of juvenile Mallards from Poland and the Czech Republic were noted for Bilharziella polonica, Echinostoma miyagawai, Echinostoma revolutum, Prosthogonimus cuneatus, Prosthogonimus ovatus, Notocotylus attenuatus, Echinoparyphium recurvatum, Australapatemon minor, Apatemon gracilis, Cyathocotyle prussica, Hypoderaeum conoideum, Metorchis xanthosomus, Psilochasmus oxyurus, and Cotylurus cornutus.

Effect of Exogenous Application of Methyl Jasmonate on the Lipid and Carbohydrate Content and Composition of Winter Triticale ( Triticosecale Wittm.) Grain and the Severity of Fungal Infections in Triticale Plants and Grain.

Kernels of winter triticale ( Triticosecale Wittm. cv. Dinaro) were analyzed. In the autumn of 2015, the effect of methyl jasmonate (MJ) on the germination of triticale kernels and the development of triticale seedlings was analyzed in a laboratory before kernels were sown in experimental plots. Kernels harvested from plots in August 2016 were analyzed to determine their lipid and carbohydrate content and composition and the severity of fungal infections. Triticale grain was harvested at full maturity. The plots were sprayed with MJ at concentrations of 10-6 to 10-3 M in the stem elongation stage (200 L/ha) and in the early milk stage (300 L/ha). Other preventive treatments, fungicides, pesticides, or foliar fertilizers were not applied. Lipids of triticale kernels contained 20 fatty acids (FAs) with the highest proportion of linoleic acid. Methyl jasmonate did not exert a significant effect on the FA composition of kernel lipids treated with the plant hormone during the growing season. Statistical analysis did not reveal significant ( p < 0.05) differences in the total content of soluble carbohydrates in control kernels and in the kernels collected from triticale plants treated with MJ. Methyl jasmonate applied at a concentration of 10-3 M in BBCH stages 54 and 73 reduced the prevalence of stem base, leaf, and spike diseases. However, the severity of grain infections caused by mycotoxin-producing fungi increased in treatments where MJ was applied at a concentration of 10-5 M relative to the control treatment. The study describes the results noted in naturally infected plants and provides valuable inputs for agricultural practice, but further research is required to validate the presented findings.

Composition of fatty acids in the Varroa destructor mites and their hosts, Apis mellifera drone-prepupae.

The fatty acid (FA) profile of lipids extracted from the Varroa destructor parasitic mite and its host, drone-prepupae of Apis mellifera, was determined by gas chromatography (GC). The percentages of saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were generally similar in parasites and their hosts. Fatty acids were arranged in the following descending order based on their content: MUFAs (ca. 52-55%), SFAs (ca. 41%) and PUFAs (ca. 3%). The predominant fatty acids were oleic acid (46% in mites, 44% in prepupae) and palmitic acid (23% and 30%, respectively). Varroa parasites differed from their hosts in the quantity of individual FAs and in their FA profiles. Three PUFAs noted in the host were not observed in parasitic mites, whereas the presence of C21:0, C24:0 and C22:1 FAs was reported in mites, but not in drones.

Effect of jasmonic acid-methyl ester on the composition of carbohydrates and germination of yellow lupine (Lupinus luteus L.) seeds.

Mature seeds of yellow lupine contained sucrose, raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs), and galactosyl cyclitols as major soluble carbohydrates. The study showed that RFOs dominated in lupine seeds (16% DW). The disappearance of both types of alpha-d-galactosides in germinating lupine seeds was strongly inhibited by the presence of jasmonic acid-methyl ester (JA-Me) at a concentration of 10(-3)M in the incubation medium. JA-Me inhibited the activity of alpha-D-galactosidase (fraction I) during seed germination. Anatomical studies of lupine roots have shown certain cell structure differences between control and JA-Me-treated seedlings. The cross-sections of plant roots treated with JA-Me showed a characteristic folding of the cell walls in all root tissues, starting from the rhyzodermis, cortex and vascular cylinder. In water-treated (control) plants, the cell walls were rounded with no folding.

Unusual odd-chain and trans-octadecenoic fatty acids in tissues of feral European beaver (Castorfiber), Eurasian badger (Melesmeles) and raccoon dog (Nyctereutesprocyonoides).

The fatty acid (FA) composition of depot adipose tissues in the raccoon dog (Nyctereutesprocyonoides) and the European beaver (Castorfiber) differs from that reported for the lipids of other monogastric animals, especially with regard to the presence of trans-octadecenoic acids. The concentrations of pentadecanoic acid 15:0 (PA) and heptadecanoic acid 17:0 (HA) in the lipids of the tested animals ranged from 0.23 to 0.79% and from 0.33 to 2.35% of total FAs, respectively. The total content of their monounsaturated cis isomers varied from 0.12 to 2.75% for pentadecanoic acid (c-PA) and from 0.38 to 2.45% for heptadecanoic acid (c-HA). It is interesting that the tissues of European beavers and raccoon dogs contained also trans isomers of octadecenoic acid C18:1 (t-OA) including vaccenic acid C18:1,11t (VA), typical of ruminants. The presence of FAs with an uneven number of carbon atoms and trans-octadecenoic acids in depot adipose tissue is indicative of the process of hydrogenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid) in the digestive tract. The tissues of badgers also contained t-OA (from below 0.05% in the liver to 0.44% in the kidneys), but no VA was found.

Sperm morphology of the Eurasian beaver, Castor fiber: an example of a species of rodent with highly derived and pleiomorphic sperm populations.

The structural organization of the spermatozoon from the Eurasian beaver, Castor fiber (Family: Castoridae), was determined and compared to that of other sciuromorph rodents. The beaver spermatozoon has a head, which is variable in form but usually paddle-shaped, with a small nucleus and very large acrosome, and a tail that is relatively short compared to that of most other rodents. Transmission electron microscopy indicates that in most testicular spermatozoa the acrosome projects apically, although in a few it becomes partly flexed. During the final stages of maturation, however, the acrosome becomes highly folded so that the apical segment comes to lie alongside part of the acrosome that occurs lateral to the nucleus, with, in some cases, fusion taking place between the outer acrosomal membranes. The sperm nucleus is wedge-shaped, being broader basally and narrowing apically with an occasional large nuclear vacuole occurring. This spermatozoon structure is markedly different from that found in the other species of Geomyoidea, which is the sister group of the Castoridae. The findings thus emphasize the highly divergent nature of the beaver spermatozoon and demonstrate that, within the proposed Infraorder Castorimorpha, very large differences in sperm structure have evolved.

[Perfluorinated chemicals in the environment, food and human body]. / Zwiazki perfluorowane w srodowisku przyrodniczym, zywnosci i organizmie czlowieka.

Some data on production, toxicity, properties, uses, analytics as well as an environmental occurrence of PFCs in Poland are reviewed. In total 16 fluorochemicals were detected in surface water (Radunia River and Gulf of Gdansk), beaver's liver (Warmia and Mazury region), cod and eider duck blood (Gulf of Gdansk), young cattle blood (County of Stezyca) and human blood (Gdansk Coast; donors which declared elevated Baltic fish intake) in Poland. In blood of the Gdansk Coast inhabitants PFHxS, PFOS, PFOSA, PFHxA, PFHpA, PFOA, PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA and PFDo-DA were found. In surface water for the first time were found fluorochemicals such as PFBuS, PFOcDA, PFBA and PFPeA, while in beavers' liver also PFTeA and N-Ethyl FOSA.