Stimulation of protective immune responses against intracellular pathogens is difficult to achieve using non-replicating vaccines. BALB/c mice immunized by intramuscular injection with killed Francisella tularensis (live vaccine strain) adjuvanted with preformed immune stimulating complexes admixed with CpG, were protected when systemically challenged with a highly virulent strain of F. tularensis (Schu S4). Serum from immunized mice was used to probe a whole proteome microarray in order to identify immunodominant antigens. Eleven out of the top 12 immunodominant antigens have been previously described as immunoreactive in F. tularensis. However, 31 previously unreported immunoreactive antigens were revealed using this approach. Twenty four (50%) of the ORFs on the immunodominant hit list belonged to the category of surface or membrane associated proteins compared to only 22% of the entire proteome. There were eight hypothetical protein hits and eight hits from proteins associated with different aspects of metabolism. The chip also allowed us to readily determine the IgG subclass bias, towards individual or multiple antigens, in protected and unprotected animals. These data give insight into the protective immune response and have potentially important implications for the rational design of non-living vaccines for tularemia and other intracellular pathogens.

The pygmy blue-tongue lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis, had been considered extinct until its recent rediscovery near Burra in the mid-north of South Australia. The lizards apparently rely on spider burrows with a single entrance as refuge sites. In this paper we describe observations from all-day video recordings of the entrances of burrows occupied by lizards on 31 days across the spring and early summer of 1996. The lizards spent most of each day either retreated down the burrow or basking at the burrow entrance. Early in the season, when temperatures were cooler, lizards spent more of each day basking, and more of their basking time fully emerged from the burrow, than later in the season. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that the lizards thermoregulate by moving in and out of the burrow. Lizards also fed by making short excursions from the burrow, often to catch passing invertebrate prey, although they also fed on flowers early in spring. Later in the season lizards were more likely to vacate their burrows for longer times, or to move away from their burrows, and mating activity was observed when males approached burrows occupied by females. The observations suggest that pygmy blue-tongue lizards rely heavily on burrows for many activities, and that any conservation management scheme for this endangered species will rely on maintaining an adequate supply of burrows. W R 0 2 0 8 7 B u r r o w u s e i n p y g m y bl u e -t o n g u e l i z a r d s T . Mi l n e e t a l .

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Many of South Australia's remnant temperate native grasslands are degraded by introduced livestock grazing. As a conservation measure, grazing was excluded from three 50 × 50 m exclosures in grazed native grassland. After 4 years, grazing removal had a noticeable effect on the grassland structure, increasing basal vegetation cover. Grazing removal had no significant effect on either native or exotic species richness, rather differences in richness changed as a result of interannual differences, such as the amount of rainfall that fell in the growing season. The percent cover of the native tussock grass Austrostipa spp. and the introduced annual grass Avena barbata, whilst fluctuating from year to year, both increased following the removal of grazing. Multivariate analyses showed that whilst only interannual differences affected community taxon richness, changes in structure were affected by the interaction between grazing treatment and year. Excluding livestock from a degraded grassland resulted in limited recovery and restoration of these endangered plant associations will require active rehabilitation efforts.

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