Molecular typing of Iranian field isolates Mycoplasma synoviae and their differentiation from the live commercial vaccine strain MS-H using vlhA gene

1. The single-copy domain of the N-terminal region of the vlhA gene of Mycoplasma synoviae was sequenced, analysed and verified and used to type Iranian field isolates of M. synoviae and the MS-H live vaccine strain. In addition, a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method was developed to differentiate between field isolates of Iranian and MS-H vaccine strains.

2. All sequences were analysed and aligned; the percentage similarity of the DNA was calculated and dendrograms were constructed. Based on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that existed in all field isolates in Iran, the PCR-RFLP method allowed the differentiation of all M. synoviae field isolates from the vaccine strain.

3. Using phylogenetic analysis, the isolates were assigned to 8 unique genotypes and, within each group, DNA had a high level of similarity.

4. DNA sequence analysis and PCR-RFLP of the amplicon based on percent similarity and evolutionary relationship appeared to be useful tools for strain differentiation whether M. synoviae clinical isolates from infected chickens were derived from the vaccine strain or wild-type strains.

5. This study confirms the potential value of strain typing for epidemiological purposes and suggests that phylogenetic studies are essential to understand the true relationships between strains.     

Prenatal Development of the Eye Tunics in the Dromedary Camel (Camelus dromedarius)

Studies of ocular development in the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) have not been reported previously. The aim of the present investigation was therefore to document the major landmarks and the time course in the prenatal development of the eye tunics in dromedary camel and its accommodation with the surrounding hard environment of the desert. Serial histological sections of dromedary camel embryos and foetuses were used. Age estimation was made on the basis of gestational size, crown vertebral‐rump length (CVRL), which ranged 1.2–110 cm. The eye of the dromedary camel developed in a similar manner to that of the human and domestic animals eyes; the principal differences were in the time of occurrence of certain developmental events, pigmented peripheral cornea near the limbus, a remarkably thickened Descemet's membrane and pigmentation in the corneo‐scleral junction, which represent an adaptive modification in relation to a severe environment.     

Herbaceous species diversity in relation to fire severity in Zagros oak forests,Iran

Zagros forests are mainly covered byQuercus brantii L. coppices and oak sprout clumps occupy the forest area like patches. We investigated post-fire herbaceous diversity in the first growing season after fire. For this purpose neighboring burned and unburned areas were selected with the same plant species and ecological conditions. The data were collected from areas subjected to different fire severities. Overall 6 treatments were considered with respect to fire severity and the mi-crosites of inside and outside of oak sprout clumps including： unburned inside and outside of sprout clumps （Ni and No）, inside of sprout clumps that burned with high fire severity （H）, inside of sprout clumps that burned with moderate fire severity （M）, outside of sprout clumps that burned with low fire severity （OH and OM）. Different herbaceous com-position was observed in the unburned inside and outside of oak sprout clumps. The species diversity and richness were increased in treatments burned with low and moderate fire severity. However, in treatment burned with high fire severity （H）, herbaceous cover was reduced, even-ness was increased, and richness and diversity were not significantly changed. We concluded that besides the microsites conditions in forest, fire severity is an inseparable part of the ecological effect of fire on her-baceous composition.     

Determination of Heat Requirements and Effective Heat Summations of Some Pomegranate Cultivars Grown in Southern Anatolia

Temperature (high and low) is one of the most limiting environmental factors for growth and production of fruits in different parts of the world. For temperate-zone fruit species, a certain total heat requirements are needed in order to obtain ripe fruits. The aim of this study was to determine heat requirements of three commercial pomegranate cultivars (‘Suruc’, ‘Katirbasi’ and ‘Hicaznar’) grown in Southern Anatolia region. The cultivars showed a narrower range of heat requirements for flowering (growing degree hours, GDH), i.e. ‘Suruc’ (25,000), ‘Katirbasi’ (25,270), ‘Hicaznar’ (28,000) and a wide range of heat requirements for fruit ripening, i.e. ‘Suruc’ (73,670), ‘Katirbasi’ (74,105) and ‘Hicaznar’ (88,052) GDH. Under the Sanliurfa province conditions, two years average of effective heat summation requirement from bud swelling to 50 % flowering stage for ‘Suruc’, ‘Katirbasi’ and ‘Hicaznar’ cultivars are calculated as 643, 655 and 718 growing degree days (GDD) and from bud swelling to harvest are 2734, 2802 and 3289 GDD. It can be concluded that the effective heat summation of Sanliurfa province is enough for commercial growing for all pomegranate cultivars.     

Rates of inbreeding and genetic diversity in Iranian Holstein Cattle

The accumulation of inbreeding and the loss of genetic diversity is a potential problem in Holstein dairy cattle. The goal of this study was to estimate inbreeding levels and other measures of genetic diversity, using pedigree information from Iranian Holstein cattle. Edited pedigree included 1 048 572 animals. The average number of discrete generation equivalents and pedigree completeness index reached 13.4 and 90%, respectively. The rate of inbreeding was 0.3% per year. Effective number of founders, founder genomes, non‐founders and ancestors of animals born between 2003 and 2011 were 503, 15.6, 16.1 and 25.7, respectively. It was proven that the unequal founder contributions as well as bottlenecks and genetic drift were important reasons for the loss of genetic diversity in the population. The top 10 ancestors with the highest marginal genetic contributions to animals born between 2003 and 2011 and with the highest contributions to inbreeding were 48.20% and 63.94%, respectively. Analyses revealed that the most important cause of genetic diversity loss was genetic drift accumulated over non‐founder generations, which occurred due to small effective population size. Therefore, it seems that managing selection and mating decisions are controlling future co‐ancestry and inbreeding, which would lead to better handling of the effective population size.     

Dynamics of appetite in three fish species (Gasterosteus aculeatus, Phoxinus phoxinus and Carassius auratus gibelio) after feed deprivation

The temporal dynamics of appetite (weight of food consumed per day) were analysed for fish fed to satiation after a 1 or 2-week period of feed deprivation. Three species were compared: two omnivores (minnow, Phoxinus phoxinus and gibel carp, Carassius auratus gibelio) and a carnivore (three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus). All species showed compensatory changes in appetite and growth during the re-feeding period but in the stickleback, there was a lag of a week before the compensatory response was detected. The temporal dynamics of appetite differed between the three species but not within a species. Appetite of the minnow declined towards control levels from the onset of re-feeding. In gibel carp, appetite increased to a peak and then declined to control levels. In the stickleback, appetite was initially below control levels, increased to a maximum, then declined towards control levels. The differences between the species might have been artefacts of the experimental protocols used but could also reflect underlying differences in the control of appetite in these species of fish.     

Efficiency of local feeds for the common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in Saudi Arabia

The effects of feeding three local feeds (53%, 43% and 33% protein) on the growth and quality of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) were investigated. The 43% protein feed proved most economical, with the highest biological value and has increased the protein and amino acid contents of the flesh but resulted in poor fish growth (0.10 g/day).     

Effect of γ (Gamma)-radiation on the physico-mechanical properties of grafted jute fabric reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites

The bleached jute fabric (BJF) reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites with various contents of acrylic acid (AA)-treated BJF and un-AA-treated BJF were fabricated by compression moulding method at 190 °C. The AA-grafted BJF reinforced PP composites were then irradiated by γ-ray at various doses. The mechanical properties of neat PP (N-P), ungrafted-BJF and PP composites (UG-BJFPC), AA-grafted-BJF and PP composites (AA-BJFPC) and γ-ray cum AA-grafted-BJF and PP composites (γAA-BJFPC) show maximum tensile strength (TS) of 30, 46, 47 and 51 MPa, maximum flexural strength (FS) of 34, 49, 50 and 54 MPa and maximum Young’s modulus (E) of 280, 428, 436, and 680 MPa, respectively. The increase of TS, FS and E from UG-BJFPC are 2 %, 2 %, and 2 % for AA-BJFPC and 11 %, 10 % and 59 % for γAA-BJFPC. The TS, FS and E are found to increase with radiation dose up to 500Krad and then decrease. The water absorption (WA) for UG-BJFPC, AA-BJFPC and γAA-BJFPC is respectively about 14, 10 and 9 %, indicating a gradual development of hydrophobic character of the composites first by AA-treatment and then by γ-ray-treatment. AA treatment on jute fabric and gamma irradiation on composite result in significant change of morphology of the jute fabric composites surface and better mechanical bonding between fabric and polymer matrix, as a result improved mechanical properties are found.     

Development of an Iron-enriched High-yieldings Indica Rice Cultivar by Introgression of A High-iron Trait from Transgenic Iron-biofortified Rice

Low level of iron in staple food crops is one reason for the predominance of iron-deficiency anemia in developing countries. Most of the iron in rice grains accumulates in the outer aleurone layer and embryo, which are removed during milling, and the edible endosperm contains very low amounts of iron. In an effort to increase iron nutrition, we report here the transgene introgression of a high-iron trait into a high-yielding indica rice cultivar. The ferritin gene from soybean (soyfer1) was introduced into rice plants through interbreeding between soybean ferritin-overexpressing transgenic IR68144 and the high-yielding cultivar Swarna. The stable integration of the soyfer1 gene was confirmed in the BC₂F₄ generation, and the hybrid seeds showed 2.6-fold soybean ferritin gene expression over the recurrent parent Swarna. The hybrid milled seeds revealed a 2.54-fold increase in iron and 1.54-fold increase in zinc compared to Swarna. Agronomic data and an SSR marker analysis of the hybrid rice plants were taken into account for NIL character identification.     

能源植物斑茅在不同生长时期的产量与组分变化

研究不同时期斑茅产量及其化学组分的变化。结果表明:斑茅生物质产量在11月达到最高,其后开始下降;整个生长发育过程中茎叶生物质产量比呈现上升趋势;含水量随生长发育的进行显著降低;叶片灰分含量全年最低为5月,从10月份开始显著增加,至12月份达到最高。茎秆灰分含量略低于叶片,全年最低为10月,最高为7月,变化幅度不大。叶片中木质素含量全年由高到低排列顺序为12月11月9月10月7月8月6月;茎秆中木质素含量全年由高到低排列顺序为12月11月9月7月8月10月6月。10月份茎秆含水量低,灰分含量最低,热值较高,结合产量和燃料品质考虑其更适于直接燃烧,而9月份叶片则更加适于作为生物转化的材料。