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Reports of the vaginal flora of wild cats such as lions or leopards are scarce. The micro-organisms most commonly found in the vagina of clinically healthy cats are aerobic bacteria such as coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, Streptococcus canis, and Escherichia coli. Simonsiella spp are large Gram-negative bacteria belonging to the Neisseriaceae family, typically found in the oral cavity and upper respiratory tract of many species. To date, there are no reports of the detection of Simonsiella spp in the vaginal flora of any felid. For a period of six months, daily behaviour monitoring was performed on six captive lionesses at a South African conservation centre, in parallel with the collection of vaginal swabs and interpretation of the resultant vaginal cytologies every other day. Oestrus was identified by typical female reproductive behaviours, as well as by enlarged and separated vulvar lips, and a predominant proportion of superficial cornified cells, clearing of the background, and high bacterial presence in the vaginal smear. Simonsiella spp were identified by their characteristic morphology in 58% (60 of 103) of the vaginal samples collected during oestrus. They were also found in oral swabs of three out of three lions tested. Additionally, Simonsiella spp were opportunistically found in a vaginal smear from a zoo housed female Sri Lankan leopard in oestrus, during a routine reproduction assessment. The finding of Simonsiella spp may be more common than previously suspected, transitory, and without detectable clinical relevance. A connection between occurrence of these bacteria and oestrus was apparent.

Parasites are essential components of ecosystems and can be instrumental in maintaining host diversity and populations; however, their role in trophic interactions has often been overlooked. Three apicomplexan parasite species of Sarcocystis (S. singaporensis, S. zamani, and S. villivillosi) use the reticulated python as their definitive hosts and several species within the Rattus genus as intermediate hosts, and they form a system useful for studying interactions between host–parasite and predator–prey relationships, as well as anthropogenic impacts on parasite transmission. Based on predictions from a 1998 survey, which detected an inverse relationship between urban development and Sarcocystis infection in Rattus, we tested the hypothesis that Sarcocystis transmission in Singapore will decrease over time due to anthropogenic activities. Despite a large proportion of the reticulated python diet consisting of Rattus species at all sizes of pythons, Sarcocystis infection rates decreased from 1998 to 2010. Pythons found in industrial areas had lower Sarcocystis infection rates, particularly in the western industrial area of Singapore Island. Average python size also decreased, with implications that we predict may disrupt host–parasite relationships. Anthropogenic activities such as habitat modification, fragmentation, and systematic removal and translocation of pythons have negative impacts on Sarcocystis transmission in Singapore, which in turn may augment pest rat populations. Trends observed may ultimately have negative impacts on human health and biodiversity in the region.

Tagetus erecta (Compositae) is an erect annual herb grown as an ornamental plant for its beautiful blooms. This species was introduced to India by the Portu ghese, and now this has become a popular garden plant in many parts of India. The relatively long blooming period and good keeping quality of the flowers add to its ornamental value. However, the tall habit of the plant is felt as an undesir able character.Since polyploidy very often effect reduction in plant height, and also cause gigantism of different plant parts (Stebbins 1950), an attempt is made here to induce polyploidy in this species using colchicine with a view to see if this can reduce the height of the plant, and also enhance size of the capitulum, both of which are desirable features from the horticultural and ornamental point of view. Material and methodsIn order to determine the effective concentration of colchicine solution in inducing polyploidy in the plant, initial screening experiments were conducted using different concentrations of colchicine solution, and it was found that 0.15 and 0.2 per cent aqueous solutions were most effective. Following this, ten plants were treated with each of the two concentrations, and ten plants grown as controls. Treatment was made at the apical buds of seedlings at the 2-leaved stage. The buds were covered with small pieces of sterile cotton, and the solution dropped on to the cotton at regular intervals of 4 hrs/day. Treatments were administered from 9A.M. to 1P.M. for three consecutive days. Care was taken to see that the cotton did not dry up during the treatment period. Everyday, after treatment, the cotton pieces were removed, and the growing tips washed in distilled water. Individual treated plants and the controls were grown in separate pots under identical conditions. Cytomorphological observations were made from the full-grown plants. Chromo some studies were made from PMCs at meiosis. For this young flower buds were fixed in 3:1 Carnoy's fluid. Slides were prepared by the haematoxylin technique (Henderson and Lu 1968). ObservationsEight of the ten plants treated with 0.15 per cent colchicine solution survived, of which four were tetraploids.In the case of plants treated with 0.2% solution, seven plants survived of which six were tetraploids.Cytomorphological obser vations on all the tetraploid plants and the diploid controls were made. Data

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