The effect of lygus bugs (Exolygus prantensis L.) on marketing price of red lentil in Anatolia, Turkey

The aim of this study was to assess the damage commonly known as chalky spot syndrome caused by the lygus bug on red lentil and the negative relation to the resulting marketing price in the commodity market of Sanliurfa, Turkey. Analysis showed that there was significant difference among the content (%) of chalky spot damage (range 1.45–29%) of lentil samples collected from the farmers who brought their crops to sell in the commodity market and this was negatively related to the market price that farmers received. Marketing prices of samples were also found to be significantly affected. The correlation between visually inspected chalky spot damage (%) and that of decorticated and weighted lentils was found to be positive and significant. Marketing prices also were found to be negatively correlated with the results of both inspection methods. Further analysis indicated that regression equations could be used for price estimation of lentil with different ratios of chalky spot. It was concluded that 10% chalky spot can reduce the marketing price from 0.426 to 0.396 $ kg⁻¹ when visually inspected and from 0.438 to 0.358 $ kg⁻¹ when decorticated.     

Genotype differencies in direct plant regeneration from stem explants ofPopulus tremula in Turkey

Plant regeneration from 9 clones ofPopulus tremula representing diverse genotypes originated from Turkey, has been studied in different media, such as Murashige and Skoog’s Medium (MS), Aspen Culture Medium (ACM) and Woody Plant Medium (WPM) with appropriate supplements of growth regulators. Regeneration efficiency on WPM containing 1 mg/l zeatin using stem explantsin vitro, was higher than on MS and ACM. In this system, the time required for shoot regeneration was 2 weeks, which was shorter by two weeks than that of previous reports. A strong genotype dependence was observed among the tested nine clones. The regeneration system, we describe here, did not involve the callus phase and thus was less prone to somaclonal variation. When adventitious microshoots were cultured on WPM supplemented with 0.5 mg/l or 2 mg/l indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), root formation was obtained after 1 week of culture. Adaptation of regenerated plantletsin vivo was 100%. This system for micropropagation ofPopulus tremula is expected to be suitable for studies on transformation of genes involved in lignin biosynthesis via modification of lignin content. This study was a part of the Project No. 62-02-001 TUBITAK-MAN-GMBAE named “Investigations on Biogenetically Develop Poplar Clones as a Raw Material for Pulp and Paper Industry” and financially supported by General Management of Turkish Pulp and Paper Mills.     

Co-expression of the Bcl-xL antiapoptotic protein enhances the induction of Th1-like immune responses in mice immunized with DNA vaccines encoding FMDV B and T cell epitopes

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is one of the most devastating animal diseases, affecting all cloven-hoofed domestic and wild animal species. Previous studies from our group using DNA vaccines encoding FMD virus (FMDV) B and T cell epitopes targeted to antigen presenting cells, allowed demonstrating total protection from FMDV homologous challenge in those animals efficiently primed for both humoral and cellular specific responses (Borrego et al. Antivir Res 92:359-363, 2011). In this study, a new DNA vaccine prototype expected to induce stronger and cross-reactive immune responses against FMDV which was designed by making two main modifications: i) adding a new B-cell epitope from the O-serotype to the B and T-cell epitopes from the C-serotype and ii) using a dual promoter plasmid that allowed inserting a new cistron encoding the anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL gene under the control of the internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) of encephalomyocarditis virus aiming to increase and optimize the antigen presentation of the encoded FMDV epitopes after in vivo immunization. In vitro studies showed that Bcl-xL significantly prolonged the survival of DNA transfected cells (p?<?0.001). Accordingly, vaccination of Swiss out-bred mice with the dual promoter plasmid increased the total IgG responses induced against each of the FMDV epitopes however no significant differences observed between groups. The humoral immune response was polarized through IgG2a in all vaccination groups (p?<?0.05); except peptide T_3A; in correspondence with the Th1-like response observed, a clear bias towards the induction of specific IFN-γ secreting CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell responses was also observed, being significantly higher (p?<?0.05) in the group of mice immunized with the plasmid co-expressing Bcl-xL and the FMDV B and T cell epitopes.     

Effects of individual or combined housing systems on behavioural and growth responses of dairy calves

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of individual versus combined housing systems on behavioural and growth responses of dairy calves in order to test the hypothesis that when calves were kept in early age individually and later in groups, they would increase growth performance and social behaviours. Twenty-four Holstein Friesian calves were allocated to two different housing systems. After three days of colostrum feeding, individually housed (IH) calves were kept in pens (1 m×1.5 m) for 60 days while combined housed (CH) calves were kept in group pens (3 m×3 m) for 30 days after individual housing during the period of 4–33 days. Each calf was monitored twice a week for a period of 1 h starting at 08.00, 10.00, 12.00, 18.00, 20.00 and 22.00 h at 10-min intervals. Behavioural activities were playing, walking, licking objects, idle standing, lying, restlessness, grooming and tongue playing. Calves’ live weights, body measurements and feed intakes were determined on a weekly basis. The results were: 1) combined housing calves increased their calf starter intake (37.35±1.24 kg vs. 23.39±0.86 kg; p<0.001), alfalfa hay intake (8.76±0.35 kg vs. 7.14±0.43 kg; p<0.05) and total feed intake (46.11±1.04 kg vs. 30.53±0.86 kg; p<0.001) compared to individual housed calves; 2) combined housing increased the proportional events of playing (12.80 vs. 2.86%), walking (19.14 vs. 3.81%) and grooming (8.06 vs. 4.60%), but decreased licking objects (1.03 vs. 2.94%), idle standing (20.73 vs. 36.29%), lying (30.19 vs. 39.53%) and restlessness (1.69 vs. 3.47%) compared to individual housing systems (p<0.001) without affecting tongue rolling (6.36 vs. 6.50%); 3) combined housing system increased body weight gain by about 2.36 kg and body length by about 1.48 cm per calf compared to those kept in individual pens (p<0.05). In conclusion, combined housing system provided calves more opportunity to show their walking, playing and grooming activities, reflecting increases in feed intake, body weight gain and length compared to individual housing system.     

The Investigation of Relationships Between Some Fruit and Kernel Traits with Canonical Correlation Analysis in Ankara Region Walnuts

Canonical correlation analysis is a multivariate technique, which is employed to examine relationships between two variable sets, each of that consist of two or more variables. In the analysis, by maximizing the relationships between two sets, it is aimed to obtain new variables called as canonical variates that formed by linear combinations of the original variables for each sets. In this study, it is aimed to examine the relationships between some fruit and kernel characteristics of Ankara region walnuts. Thus, the following eight traits Fruit Length (mm), Fruit Width (mm) Fruit Height (mm) Fruit Weight (g), Shell Thickness (mm), Kernel Weight (g), Kernel Ratio (%) and Filled-firm Kernel Ratio (%) of 364 walnut samples were measured. First five of these characteristics were grouped as X variable and the rest of as Y variable. As a result, the correlation between the first canonical variable pair was found as 0.979 (p?<?0.01).     

Effect of calcium based fertilization on dried fig (Ficus carica L. cv. Sarılop) yield and quality

Fig tree mainly spread in regions where Mediterranean climate prevails can be grown over a wide range of soils without any significant deficiency or toxicity symptoms of plant nutrients. Surveys revealed that, however, quality is highly affected by nutrition especially N, K and Ca in fig production for commercial drying. This research work was initiated based on few studies performed on fertilization of fig. The experiment was performed between 2000 and 2002 in three fig orchards of cv. Sar?lop (syn. Calimyrna) in Ayd?n-Turkey. Trees received seven types of fertilization as (i) untreated control; (ii) NPK (430 g N, 200 g P₂O₅ and 430 g K₂O per tree); (iii) NPK + 70 g Ca; (iv) NPK + 140 g Ca; (v) NPK + 280 g Ca; (vi) NPK + 420 g Ca and (vii) N + 420 g Ca, Ca(NO₃)₂ used as the Ca source. Tested fertilizer applications showed significant differences in respect to yield and quality of fig. Basic NPK fertilization with additional 280 g Ca treatment increased overall quality by reducing the number of fruit with ostiole-end crack and sunscald. Results showed that applied fertilizers exerted significantly in reduction of cull ratio and could alleviate the negative impact of yearly drought conditions.     

Phyllotreta nigripens (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), a new host of Nosema phyllotretae (Microsporida) in Turkey

In the present study we describe a Nosema infection in a Phyllotreta nigripens population. The parasite was identified as Nosema phyllotretae. The spores are oval, 3.97±0.47 μm (2.85–4.75) in length and 2.19±0.36 μm (1.90–2.85) in width. The polar filament has commonly 14 coils. The spore wall is 138–200 nm thick and made up of a clear endospore (88–140 nm) and a uniform exospore (40–70 nm). The polar filament measures 100–125 nm in diameter in the mature spirals. The polaroplast is thin lamellar. This study presents P. nigripens as a new host for N. phyllotretae and a second infection locality in Turkey.     

Assessing farm tractor incidents and awareness levels of operators for tractor safety issues in the Hatay province of Turkey

Studies and statistical data on safety issues related to farm tractors and machinery are very limited in developing countries, including Turkey. This study was carried out to investigate tractor-related incidents in the Hatay province, located in the mid-south of Turkey. A questionnaire was conducted with 107 tractor operators using face-to-face interviews. Data were evaluated according to the incident type, machinery involved, and mechanism of injury or fatality. A total of 101 incidents were reported by 77 of the 107 respondents. Most of the incidents were due to tractor rollovers (65.4%), 14.8% of the incidents were due to entanglement of body parts in moving machinery, and 12.9% involved crashing into other vehicles or obstacles. The leading cause of the incidents was personal mistakes (60.4%). Fatalities resulted from 25.7% of the incidents, while 45.5% of the incidents caused non-fatal injuries. Only 5.6% of the tractors had a ROPS-enclosed cab. The percentage of ROPS-equipped tractors was 19.6%, while 41.3% of the tractors had a shade cover and 33.6% had no protective structure. Only one of the respondents used a seatbelt, although 44.9% of them stated that seatbelts should be used. It was also found that only 13.5% of the operators had training in work safety, while 95.1% stated that incidents might be reduced if people were trained. Development of appropriate policies and training programs are needed for safer operation of agricultural machinery to reduce injuries and fatalities due to farm accidents.     

Fertility of lactating dairy cows inseminated with sex‐sorted or conventional semen after Ovsynch,Presynch–Ovsynch and Double‐Ovsynch protocols

The objective was to compare pregnancy per artificial insemination (P/AI) with conventional (CS) or sex‐sorted semen (SS) in dairy cows subjected to one of the three timed AI protocols. Cows (n = 356) were randomly assigned to synchronization with Ovsynch (OVS), Presynch–Ovsynch (PO) or Double‐Ovsynch (DO) and inseminated on Day 77 ± 3 postpartum with either frozen‐thawed SS (n = 182) or CS (n = 184) of the same bull. More cows were cyclic at the beginning of breeding Ovsynch increased (p < 0.01) with presynchronization and it was greater for DO than PO (OVS = 78.5%, PO = 85.1%, DO = 95.6%). Overall, P/AI for SS and CS increased with presynchronization (p < 0.05) on Days 31 (OVS = 35.5%, PO = 47.1%, DO = 48.3%) and 62 (OVS = 30.1%, PO = 43.8%, DO = 43.9%). Regardless of synchronization treatments, insemination with SS reduced P/AI (p < 0.02) on Days 31 (38.1% vs. 50.6%) and 62 (34.5% vs. 45.6%) compared with CS. No interaction was observed between synchronization treatment and type of semen for P/AI, although in cows receiving CS, P/AI was numerically greatest for PO (OVS = 42.0%, PO = 59.3%, DO = 49.0%), and in cows receiving SS, it was numerically greatest for those inseminated following DO (OVS = 27.9%, PO = 35.5%, DO = 47.6%). Thus, presynchronization improved P/AI in cows inseminated with sex‐sorted or conventional semen.     

Effects of composts and vermicomposts obtained from forced aerated and mechanically turned composting method on growth,mineral nutrition and nutrient uptake of wheat

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the efficiencies of composts and vermicomposts obtained from two different composting methods on the growth, mineral nutrition and nutrient uptake of wheat. Composts and vermicomposts were applied to plastic pots under greenhouse condition with the application doses of 0, 5, 10, 20, and 40 t ha^?1. The pot-experiment lasted three months. The results showed that plant dry weight increased with the increase in doses when compared to the control groups where no composts and vermicomposts were applied. However, no differences were found among the doses from 5 to 40 t ha^?1 of composts and vermicomposts. Although application doses did not affect significantly on the most of the plant nutrient concentrations, Fe concentration in plant decreased with the increase in application doses. Additionally, no significant differences among the composts and vermicomposts on plant nutrient concentrations except for Mg were detected. Comparing to the control dose (0 t ha^?1), nutrient uptakes by plant from the soil significantly increased with the increase of application doses, but no significant differences were determined amongst the doses of 5 and 40 t ha^?1, generally. The effect of production methods on the most of investigated parameters including plant dry weight was similar.