• Fighting Fungi Protect Chocolate Trees
  
• EPA Revs Up New Motorcycle Emissions Standards
  
• Watchdogs Criticize Park Service for Religious Displays
  
• Conservationists Seek Protection for Okinawa Woodpecker
  
• U.S. Fuels Hydrogen Three Wheelers for India
  
• Orange County Moves to Conserve Water
  
• Study Adds to Secondhand Smoke Warning
  
• Texas Researchers Clone White Tailed Deer
  

Fighting Fungi Protect Chocolate Trees

The study was published today in "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

The researchers studied the effects of "endophytes" - fungi that infect healthy plant tissues without causing disease - on cacao seedlings.

Endophytes of woody plants land as airborne spores, burrowing into the plant tissues and living in the spaces between cells.

In their initial field studies, the researchers found that the load of endophyte infection on cacao leaves increases enormously as the leaves age, but that the leaves show no sign of being harmed by these infections.

Evidence that endophytes were not just infecting host trees at random and could be playing a role in the trees' biology prompted the researchers to study the effects of endophytes on disease resistance.

In those experiments, they grew cacao seedlings in conditions that prevented infections by endophytes.

They next infected some leaves with endophytes alone, some with the major cacao pathogen Phytophthora, and some with both endophytes and Phytophthora.

The researchers found that the pathogen "successfully infected the leaves that were treated with it, but that in the presence of endophytes, more leaves survived and the ones that survived had less leaf area damaged," explains Elizabeth Arnold, lead author of the paper and a postdoctoral fellow in the Duke University Department of Biology.

Nearly three times more leaves died in the Phytophthora-only infected leaves versus the leaves that were first treated with endophytes.

The antipathogen effects were highly localized, and were more important in older leaves that lack the defensive chemicals characteristic of younger leaves.

"The leaves that had first been infected with endophytes showed just tiny lesions by Phytophthora at the point of entry," said Arnold. "Whereas, in the leaves without endophytes, Phytophthora just ran wild."

The finding offers the potential for enlisting such fungal armies to protect cacao trees from the pathogens that damage the trees, which are the source of the world's chocolate.

Successful cultivation of cacao trees in American rainforests, they said, offers a viable economic alternative to clearing the forests for ranching.

Field tests of fungi as biological control agents are already underway in Panama, Arnold said, but the finding is only the start of an effort to understand an extremely complex ecological process.

"Our findings indicate that fungal dynamics are really complicated, and that the number of potential interactions - and their directionality - is really a big black box," she said. "For example, we see hints that there are direct interactions between endophytes and pathogens, but what those interactions are will require considerable future research," she said.

EPA Revs Up New Motorcycle Emissions Standards

The new standards, which do not kick in until 2006, will require manufacturers to reduce emissions of hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 60 percent. The EPA says this will be accomplished through an increased use of available technologies, such as secondary air injection, electronic fuel injection systems, and catalytic converters.

The new standards will include previously unregulated small scooters and mopeds and the EPA says it is also adopting standards, beginning in 2008, requiring the control of fuel loss through the fuel hoses and fuel tank.

"These new rules significantly advance pollution standards for motorcycles," said Leavitt. "Motorcycles, cars, SUVs, light- and heavy-duty trucks and off road equipment will run cleaner than ever before, and America's health and the environment will benefit."

Highway motorcycles currently produce more harmful exhaust emissions per mile than cars or even large sport utility vehicles.

When the new rule is in full effect, it will reduce emissions of NOx and HC by some 54,000 tons a year and save approximately 12 million gallons of fuel annually by preventing it from escaping from fuel hoses and fuel tanks.

HC and NOx are precursors to ground level ozone, a key component of smog and a serious air pollutant in cities across the United States.

Ground level ozone is formed by reactions involving HC and NOx in the presence of sunlight and causes respiratory health problems.

The EPA estimates that the new emission controls will cost an average of $75 per motorcycle when the final phase takes effect in 2010. The average cost of current motorcycles is about $10,000.

Watchdogs Criticize Park Service for Religious Displays

The group also reports that the agency has agreed to edit the videotape that has been shown at the Lincoln Memorial since 1995 to remove any image of gay and abortion rights demonstrations that occurred at the memorial, in response to criticism from religious groups.

"The Park Service leadership now caters exclusively to conservative Christian fundamentalist groups," said PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. "The Bush administration appears to be sponsoring a program of Faith-Based Parks."

The Park Service could not be reached to comment on the allegations.

The documents released by PEER show that in July National Park Service Deputy Director Donald Murphy ordered the Grand Canyon National Park to return three bronze plaques bearing biblical verses to public viewing areas on the Canyon's South Rim.

Murphy overruled the park superintendent who had directed the plaques' removal based on legal advice from the Interior Department that the religious displays violated the First Amendment.

PEER finds that this fall the Park Service also approved a creationist text, "Grand Canyon: A Different View" for sale in park bookstores and museums. The book claims that the Grand Canyon is really only a few thousand years old, developing on a biblical rather than an evolutionary time scale.

The Park Service is also engaged in an extended legal battle to continue displaying an eight foot tall cross, planted atop a 30 foot high rock outcropping in the Mojave National Preserve in California. PEER Board Member and former Park Service manager Frank Buono filed suit to force removal of the cross - that suit is now pending before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Conservationists Seek Protection for Okinawa Woodpecker

The woodpecker, which lives in the northern mountainous region of the island of Okinawa, Japan, is one of the world's most imperiled bird species,

The population is estimated to be 100 to 500 birds and the species is on the brink of extinction primarily due to the ongoing destruction of its forest habitat.

The conservation group filed the suit because a significant amount of the remaining habitat for the species is found on lands controlled by the U.S. Marine Corps, Northern Training Area (NTA).

This habitat, which up to now has remained relatively intact, is now threatened by plans to construct new helicopter landing pads and associated infrastructure.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has designated the Okinawa woodpecker as a "critically endangered" species because of its single, tiny, and declining population.

Japan's Ministry of Environment has similarly designated the species as "critically endangered."

The International Council for Bird Preservation sought protection for the Okinawa woodpecker in 1980 by petitioning the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the species as threatened or endangered under the ESA.

Although the Fish and Wildlife Service determined that listing the Okinawa woodpecker "may be warranted," it subsequently determined in 1984 that listing the species was "precluded" by higher priority listing actions.

The agency had a mandatory duty to revisit this determination every year and show expeditious progress toward listing the woodpecker, but has failed to do so since 1991.

"The Okinawa woodpecker is an international treasure, an ecological and cultural monument," said Peter Galvin, Pacific director for the Center for Biological Diversity. "The Fish and Wildlife Service has left it to languish in bureaucratic purgatory for far too long."

Energy Department Fuels Hydrogen Three Wheelers for India

"Hydrogen engine technology can have a dramatic impact in the developing world by improving air quality and energy security, and promoting sustainable economic growth," Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said. "This project could ultimately hasten introduction of hydrogen-fueled transportation into the United States by building upon lessons learned in widescale deployment of small vehicles in India."

USAID brought the American and Indian partners together and supported them with $500,000 to pursue the conversion of a three wheeler internal combustion engine to run on hydrogen fuel.

Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) Inc. on behalf of Texaco Ovonic Hydrogen Systems LLC, both of Rochester Hills, Michigan, is undertaking conversion in the United States in a 50-50 joint venture with a unit of ChevronTexaco. ECD will carry out the project in cooperation with one of India's largest automobile manufacturers, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.

The automaker has selected two vehicles for conversion, which will be carried out by ECD. The firm will convert the engine to run on hydrogen, design an appropriate metal hydride storage system, integrate the storage system into the vehicle, and perform vehicle testing.

One converted vehicle will be returned to India and the second vehicle will remain at ECD for tests and demonstrations in the United States.

The project falls under the Energy Department's hydrogen initiative, which the Bush administration says will help jumpstart an environmentally clean hydrogen economy.

Orange County Moves to Conserve Water

The temporary agreement could allow OCWD to capture up to 1.6 billion gallons of additional storm water that could be stored behind Prado Dam until March 1, 2004.

The water would eventually be released and percolated into the Orange County groundwater basin downstream.

"This temporary agreement could not come at a more crucial time, when any additional local water supplies are urgently needed in Orange County to refill our groundwater basin," said OCWD Board President Denis Bilodeau. "If Mother Nature cooperates and provides some rain, it will be a win win situation for taxpayers who will benefit from flood protection and new conserved water."

The temporary agreement increases the water storage capacity behind the dam in the upcoming winter months by about 50 percent over OCWD's current winter storage capacity agreement.

The water district will be able to capture 13, 500 acre feet of water instead of the previous amount of 8,600 acre feet. That equates to about 1.6 billion gallons, or enough water to serve 9,800 families for one year.

A drought on the Colorado River and Santa Ana River and continued high groundwater use has led to an overdraft of the local groundwater basin.

The water district manages and protects the huge groundwater basin underlying north and central Orange County - the basin more than half of the water needs for 2.3 million residents.

The OCWD hopes to make this temporary agreement permanent in the future, and is working with the Corps on the details of the plan.

Study Adds to Secondhand Smoke Warning

The study, which is the first to measure tobacco specific carcinogens in nonsmokers exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in a public setting, was published Monday in the journal "Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention."

The carcinogens, metabolites of 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), could increase their risk of lung cancer, the researchers report.

The researchers tested for NNK through its urinary metabolites, NNAL and NNAL-Gluc, which are excellent biomarkers of human uptake of NNK.

NNAL, like NNK, is a potent pulmonary carcinogen in rodents and a probable human carcinogen.

The study found that, on average, the levels of NNK metabolites were increased two fold - some 112 percent - demonstrating that exposure of nonsmokers to ETS in a public setting results in uptake of a tobacco specific lung carcinogen.

Eighteen individuals participated in the study, which took place in a casino. The average time spent at the casino by the 14 females and four males in the study was 4.25 hours.

"Environmental tobacco smoke in restaurants, bars, and casinos presents a potential health hazard to employees and non-smoking patrons," said lead author Kristin Anderson, associate professor in the School of Public Health and Cancer Center member. "However, further studies are needed to examine the long term health effects, on employees and patrons, of transient exposure to ETS."

According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, NNK has been found in a variety of tobacco products - chewing tobacco, snuff, cigarettes and cigars - in mainstream and sidestream smoke from cigars and cigarettes, in saliva of chewers of betel quid with tobacco, and in saliva of oral snuff users.

Some of the NNK in saliva appears to be formed from salivary nitrite and nicotine. Thus, there is widespread exposure to NNK among users of tobacco products and those exposed to sidestream smoke.

Texas Researchers Clone White Tailed Deer

Previously, researchers at the College of Veterinary Medicine have cloned cattle, goats, pigs and a cat.

The fawn was born to a surrogate mother seven months ago - the announcement of the successful deer cloning was delayed until DNA analysis could be performed to confirm genetic identity.

The researchers say the breakthrough in deer cloning may be useful in conserving endangered deer species including the Key West deer of Florida, researchers say.

"[The fawn] is developing normally for a fawn his age and appears healthy," said Dr. Mark Westhusin, who holds a joint appointment with the Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture and Life Sciences and is the lead investigator on the project.

The clone was produced using fibroblast cells which were isolated from skin samples derived from a deceased white tailed buck, expanded in culture then frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen. White tailed deer eggs were collected from ovaries of does and matured in vitro.

"With each new species cloned, we learn more about how this technology might be applied to improving the health of animals and humans," said Westhusin.