Although much work has focused on how the presence of an audience may influence aggression and mate choice, little is known about how this may impact other behaviors such as resource defense or habitat use. While the social behavior of guppies, Poecilia reticulata, has been extensively studied in the contexts of predator inspection and mate choice copying, the existence of true audience effects has not been investigated in this species. P. reticulata do not have a resource-based mating system, but males have been observed to form dominance hierarchies and compete for access to females. Male P. reticulata behavior may be altered when an audience is present to maintain access to females.
The gel-based electrophoretic assay described in this study measures the levels of DNA damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) light, particularly UVB radiation, directly, in the absence of any possibility for DNA repair. The correlation between exposure to UV light, particularly UVB radiation, and increased skin cancer risk has necessitated the ability to easily assess DNA damage and the protective effects of certain UV absorbing chemicals. UV exposure followed by alkali treatment and gel electrophoresis reveals the extent of DNA Damage to be directly correlated with gel mobility.
Grafting to control soilborne diseases and nematodes is common in many horticultural crops. Vegetable grafting has become standard procedure for many greenhouse operations, and is gaining importance in field production. The grafting of Capsicum annuum L. seedlings (Early Jalapeno,' Keystone,' and NuMex Joe E. Parker' ) by hand onto Celebrity' tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.) seedlings was evaluated.