The prevalence of V.ovalifolium in Pulau Dua Nature Reserve was surveyed. This parasite was observed parasitizing on only two host species, Excoecaria agallocha and Thespesia populnea, among 11 potential host tree species in the study area. This phenomenon, contemporarily coined as local host specificity, is complementary to a small endnote on Backer & Bakhuizen van den Brink’s 1965 Flora of Java vol. II. V.ovalifolium’s prevalence is higher as the increase on host tree DBH, as the decrease of infested host branch diameter and as the increase of host tree branching order. Two later findings point at Dicaeum trochileum as V.ovalifolium seed disperser among 90 bird species living on the nature reserve.

The limiting factor which is a weakness of sea water pearl production are high costs, the risk of major business failures and a long coating time. From the issue of freshwater pearls appear to have prospects of alternative substitution for sea water pearl. This present study aimed to evaluate effect of loads (the number and diameter nucleus) on freshwater pearl coating process and the number and size of the appropriate nucleus diameter, to produce the optimum coating thickness of half-round pearls. The research consists of experimental implantation of 2, 4, and 6 nucleus number per individual mussel was maintained by the method stocked in hapa in bottom waters. Observation method and factorial randomized block design used in the study of the influence of the load to the successfulness of  pearl coating and the pearl layer thickness. The results showed that A. woodiana can be utilized as a producer of freshwater pearls. In addition, the number of optimum nucleus that can be attached to the mussel A. woodiana was 2 grains/individuals with a diameter of 10 mm. Shells implanted with the optimum nucleus diameter and number of pearls produced the highest layer thickness of 17 mm after 9 months cultivation. This result was good enough compared with the layer thickness of sea water pearl production after the same cultivation time.

Rodent tuber (Typhonium flagelliforme Lodd.) is an Indonesian native plant that potential as anticancer. Even though the potential use of bioactive compounds from T. flagelliforme is very high, its genetic variation in Indonesia is low. Gamma irradiation can be used to increase genetic variation. The objective of this research was to obtain the first generation mutants (M1) of T. flagelliforme resulting from gamma irradiation of normal mother plantlets with different plant height and number of shoots. T. flagelliforme was irradiated at the doses of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 Gy. The percentage of plant death was then calculated to determine the Lethal Dose (LD) 50. T. flagelliforme was then re-irradiated at LD50 dose to obtain M1 mutant. The plant height and number of shoots variation was observed after eight weeks of culture. The analysis of T. flagelliforme radiosensitivity resulted in LD50 at 25 Gy. Observation at six weeks after irradiation showed significant differences between the normal mother plant, 20 Gy mutants, and 25 Gy mutants with an average plant height of 9.57, 3.41, and 2.43 cm respectively, and the  average number of shoots produced was 7.85, 6.03, and 5.00 shoots respectively. Irradiation at 20 and 25 Gy produced 49 and 37 mutant plantlets. This research showed that gamma irradiation at LD50 dose could generate plant height and number of shoots variation of M1 mutant plantlets that are different from normal mother plantlets.

Limited data is hitherto available on the diversity and dispersal of parasitic mites of geckos in Indonesia. Here, we collected three species of geckos, namely Cosymbotus platyurus, Hemidactylus frenatus, and H. garnotii throughout Indonesia to study the distribution and diversity of its parasitic mites. We conducted detail morphological analysis of the mites using whole mount polyvinyl lactophenol and scanning electron microscope preparation. Three species of ectoparasite mites from genus Geckobia were identified in a total of 221 individuals out of 448 geckos collected from 25 sites in Indonesia. Two species were G. glebosum and G. bataviensis, and the other one was designated as Geckobia sp 1. Based on our result, the three mites species were spread randomly and live sympatrically. The G. bataviensis mite showed the widest distribution, because it was found in almost all gecko collection sites, hence the most cosmopolitan mites. We also found that C. platyurus gecko had the lowest mite prevalence which might due to the fact that it has the least number of skin folds, an important site for mite protection. This result implies that further research on the relationship of anatomy of gecko skin with chelicera and claw structure of mites is necessary in the future.

Arctornis riguata Snellen is one of lymantriids which attacked a vast range of mango trees in Probolinggo at the beginning of 2011. About 1.2% mango trees from nine sub-districts have been defoliated by the larvae of this species. The larvae of this genus have been reported to forage at Anacardiacea as well; however, they have never been reported to forage at cultivated mango trees in Indonesia. Since there is no biological information of this species, thus, a study on some biological aspects of this species is needed. This study was conducted in the field as well as in the laboratory during 4 months (March-July 2011). The diagnostic characters of this species are black scale at dorsal antenna on both male and female and slightly setae particularly at the costal angle of valve on the male genitalia. Life span of this species is in the range of 30-37 days. This study also found four natural enemies of A. riguata i.e.: Bleparipa sp. (Diptera: Tachinidae), Euagathis sp. (Hymenoptera: Brachonidae), Theronia sp. (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), and Brachymeria lasus (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae). Moreover, a single fungal pathogen of this species also was identified, i.e. Isaria fumosorosea Wize. Having these results, we considered that to control A. riguata, one need to conserve the native natural enemies by manipulating their environment.

Malaria is a serious global disease and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in tropical and sub-tropical countries. Radiation attenuated vaccines have been demonstrated to be an effective means of controlling certain parasitic infections such as malaria. Our previous research showed that irradiation dose of 150-175 Gy to Plasmodium berghei were enable to suppress the infected erythrocyte cells and irradiation dose at 150 Gy was more effective compared to 175 Gy in attenuate the parasites based on parasitemia index. Aim of this research was to investigate the most suitable irradiation dose to attenuated P. berghei based on the the histological changes in the liver mouse malaria model. Histological changes in mice liver because of Plasmodium is congestion in the sinusoids and masses of hemozoin. Fourty Swiss mice were randomly assigned to four equal groups. First group of mice were inoculated with the unirradiated malaria parasites as a positive control while negative control group represented uninfected normal control. The third group of mice was inoculated with the irradiated malaria parasites with dose 175 Gy. Last group were inoculated with the irradiated malaria parasites with dose 150 Gy. Mice were sacrificed at day 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 post inoculation for liver histological study. Their livers processed for histomorphometric assessment of sinusoidal area, haemozoin area and hepatosomatic index as a quantitative measure of altered morphology. Hepatic sinusoidal area in mice infected with the unirradiated malaria parasites increased by 104% in day 24 post inoculated compared to day 6 post inoculated, whereas a smaller increase of 46% occurred in mice that were inoculated with the irradiated malaria parasites with dose 150 Gy. The difference between positive control and 150 Gy group was significant (P < 0.05).  The highest average haemozoin area in all days post inoculation was in positive control whereas a smaller occurred in mice that were inoculated with the irradiated malaria parasites with dose 175 Gy, but the different was not significant (P > 0.05). For hepatosomatic index (HSI) at day 24 post inoculation the HSI value in group 150 Gy (5.33) was the smallest compared to other groups. Based on our research it can be concluded that irradiation dose at 150 Gy was more effective compared to 175 Gy in attenuate the parasites based on assessment of sinusoidal area, and HSI value at 24 day post inoculation.

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), a causal agent of bacterial leaf blight (BLB), is one of the most important pathogens of rice. The effectiveness of ten Streptomyces spp. isolates in suppressing Xoo disease was assessed in planta and in vitro. In planta experiments were carried out in a greenhouse and arranged in a randomized completely block design (RCBD) with three replications. Twenty treatments were tested which included plants inoculated with both Streptomyces spp. and Xoo, and plants inoculated with only Streptomyces spp. Plants inoculated with Xoo and sprayed with a chemical bactericide, and plants inoculated with only Xoo served as positive controls, whereas plants not inoculated with either Streptomyces spp. or Xoo were used as negative controls. The results showed that the effect of endophytic Streptomyces spp. on BLB disease expressed as area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) was not significantly different to that on control plants (P &gt; 0.05). However, plants inoculated with endophytic Streptomyces spp. were significantly taller and produced higher tiller number than control plants (P &lt; 0.05). Streptomyces spp. isolate AB131-1 gave the highest plant height. In vitro studies on biocontrol mechanisms of selected Streptomyces spp. isolates showed that isolate LBR02 gave the highest inhibition activity on Xoo growth, followed by AB131-1 and AB131-2. Two isolates (AB131-1 and LBR02) were able to produce chitinase, phosphatase, and siderophore which included biocontrol characteristics. Morphological and colonization studies under SEM and light microscopy confirmed that the three isolates were endophytic Streptomyces spp. from different species. These studies found that the paddy plant which was inoculated with endophytic Streptomyces spp. AB131-1 and infected by Xoo could increase the height of plant and number of tillers.

Effect of phospholipids on survival and molting synchronicity of mud crab larvae Scylla serrata were examined using Artemia enriched with five treatments of emulsion oil i.e. treatment with different level of soybean lecithin (SL) together with a level of DHA70G (referred to as DHA-SL0, 20 and 40) and treatment with SL and cuttle fish phospholipids (CPL) at 40 uL/L without DHA70G (referred to as WDHA-SL and WDHA-CPL). Survival rate, intermolt period, carapace width, and molting synchronicity were evaluated. Additionally, lipid classes and fatty acid composition of enriched Artemia were analyzed. Survival rate, intermolt period, and carapace width at the first crab (FC) stage of mud crab larvae fed DHA-SL0 to 40 were similar to that of WDHA-CPL but higher than that of WDHA-SL (P &lt; 0.05). Moreover, mud crab larvae fed DHA-SL20, DHA-SL40, and WDHA-CPL had a significantly higher molting synchronicity index compared to that of larvae fed WDHA-SL and DHA-SL0. It can be concluded that combination of phospholipids and essential fatty acids exhibited an additive effect in improving molting synchronicity of mud crab larvae.

Two clones of N1 gene derived from isolate A/Dk/Tangerang/Bbalitvet-ACIAR-TE11/2007 (H5N1) exhibit single mismatch of amino acid sequence at position 242 that is threonine and methionine for the clone #3 and #5, respectively. In order to evaluate the effect of the amino acid substitution, these clones were inserted into two different expression vectors that are pEGFP-C1 and pcDNA-3.3 TOPO® TA cloning. Subsequently, the respective recombinant clones were transfected into eukaryotic cells, including CEF, RK13 and VERO using Lipofectamine ‘plus’ reagent. As a result, the clone #3 retaining atypical sequence showed lower expression level rather than the clone #15 in both vectors and all type of cells. The 3D conformational modelling revealed that the mutation occurs in the inner part of glycoprotein embedded within envelope or matrix. Therefore, the missense mutation seems has no effect on the antigenic properties of neuraminidase but this substitution by any means causes lethal mutagenesis in the individual gene expression by reducing level of protein transcript.

Visually identifying the sex of a bird can be difficult. It cannot be done in half the world’s species when they are adults, and virtually none can be sexed as chicks. Despite this, the sex of a bird is vital for captive breeding. An increased number of birds are being sexed using DNA amplification techniques. In this approach, the CHD-W and CHD-Z are distinguished by the amplification of an intron present in both genes. PCR products on the gel electrophoresis vary in size revealing one band in males at the CHD-Z, and two bands in females corresponding to both the CHD-W and CHD-Z. Two independent sets of primer (P8/P2 and 2550F/2718R) were used to amplify the CHD gene region from both the Z and W chromosome. One hundred and ten (110) birds were sexed using first pair of primers: (P8/P2). Sexing results indicated that 81.8% were successfully determined, 12.7% failed to be amplified and 5.5%  were not perfectly determined because the PCR products showed thick band. The thick band caused misidentified female to male birds. An alternative primer (2550F/2718R) was applied to solve the problem. Two hundreds and twenty-nine birds were sexed and the results showed 100% successfully determined. From this study, it is suggested to use a pair of 2550F and 2718R primers for distinguishing a male from a female bird.