Yield and quality response of drip irrigated broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) under different irrigation regimes, nitrogen applications and cultivation periods

The experiment aimed at evaluating the yield and quality response of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) to applied irrigation water and nitrogen by drip irrigation method during the spring and autumn cultivation periods of 2007. Irrigation water was applied based on a ratio of Class A pan evaporation (k_cp = 0.50, 0.75, 1.00 and 1.25) with 7 days interval. Also, the effect of four nitrogen levels (0 kg ha⁻¹, 150 kg ha⁻¹, 200 kg ha⁻¹ and 250 kg ha⁻¹) was compared with each treatment. The seasonal evapotranspiration in the treatments varied from 233 mm to 328 mm during the spring period and from 276 mm to 344 mm during the autumn period. The highest broccoli yield was obtained in the spring period as 11.02 t ha⁻¹ and in the autumn period as 4.55 t ha⁻¹. In general, there were statistical differences along nitrogen does with respect to yield and yield components while there were no statistically significant differences in the yield and yield components among irrigation regimes. Both yield and yield parameters in the spring period were found to be higher than that of the autumn period due to the low temperature and high rainy days in autumn. Irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) ranged from 3.78 kg m⁻³ to 14.61 kg m⁻³ during the spring period and from 1.89 kg m⁻³ to 5.93 kg m⁻³ during the autumn period. On the other hand, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) changed as 37.32-73.13% and 13.08-22.46% for spring and autumn season, respectively.     

The Effect of Salicylic Acid On Photosynthetic Characteristics,Growth Attributes,and Some Antioxidant Enzymes On Parsley (Petroselinum crispum L.) Under Salinity Stress

Gesunde Pflanzen - Parsley (Petroselinum crispum L.) is widely used in food, medicine, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. This research was conducted to determine the effect of six...     

The Importance of Hair Goats in Turkey

Of the goat population in Turkey, 98% of the goat population consists of hair goats. They are the prime breeds of goats and they can be bred in the Mediterranean, Aegean and Southeast regions of Turkey. Hair goats are the main income for their breeders. The goats are typically raised in scarce conditions, thus giving rise to greater yield of meat. In spite of the fact that the studies are limited to hair goats bred by the public, in 2005, Republic of Turkey Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock （TAGEM） initiated a countywide reclamation project aiming to identify the regional differences and characteristics of the hair goats. This paper focuses on the yearly quantity of hair goats＇ produce, particularly observing the proportions of goat milk, meat and other animal produce, and to highlight the importance of the hair goats. Recommendations are made from these findings.     

Deficit irrigation of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in a sub-humid climate

The response of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) to 14 irrigation treatments in a sub-humid environment (Bursa, Turkey) was studied in the field for two seasons. A rainfed (non-irrigated) treatment as the control and 13 irrigation treatments with full and 12 different deficit irrigations were applied to the hybrid Sanbro (Novartis Seed Company) planted on clay soil, at three critical development stages: heading (H), flowering (F) and milk ripening (M). The yield increased with irrigation water amount, and the highest seed yield (3.95 t ha⁻¹) and oil yield (1.78 t ha⁻¹) were obtained from the HFM treatment (full irrigation at three stages); 82.9 and 85.4% increases, respectively, compared to the control. Evapotranspiration (ET) increased with increased amounts of irrigation water supplied. The highest seasonal ET (average of 652 mm) was estimated at the HFM treatment. Additionally, yield response factor (k _y) was separately calculated for each, two and total growth stages, and k _y was found to be 0.8382, 0.9159 (the highest value) and 0.7708 (the lowest value) for the total growing season, heading, and flowering-milk ripening combination stages, respectively. It is concluded that HFM irrigation is the best choice for maximum yield under the local conditions, but these irrigation schemes must be re-considered in areas where water resources are more limited. In the case of more restricted irrigation, the limitation of irrigation water at the flowering period should be avoided; as the highest water use efficiency (WUE) (7.80 kg ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹) and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) (10.19 kg ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹) were obtained from the F treatment.     

A cluster of metabolic defects caused by mutation in a mitochondrial tRNA

Hypertension and dyslipidemia are risk factors for atherosclerosis and occur together more often than expected by chance. Although this clustering suggests shared causation, unifying factors remain unknown. We describe a large kindred with a syndrome including hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and hypomagnesemia. Each phenotype is transmitted on the maternal lineage with a pattern indicating mitochondrial inheritance. Analysis of the mitochondrial genome of the maternal lineage identified a homoplasmic mutation substituting cytidine for uridine immediately 5' to the mitochondrial transfer RNA(Ile) anticodon. Uridine at this position is nearly invariate among transfer RNAs because of its role in stabilizing the anticodon loop. Given the known loss of mitochondrial function with aging, these findings may have implications for the common clustering of these metabolic disorders.     

The expressions of some metabolic hormones (leptin,ghrelin and obestatin) in the tissues of sheep tongue

In this study, we aimed to observe the localization and expression of peptide hormones—leptin, ghrelin and obestatin—in the sheep tongue by immunohistochemistry. For that purpose, tongues of ten adult sheep were used. Leptin expression of moderate intensity was observed in the basal and parabasal epithelial cells of the luminal epithelium, and leptin was strongly expressed in the taste buds of the circumvallate and fungiform papillae and in von Ebner's glands. Ghrelin was primarily expressed in some of the skeletal muscle cells and the smooth muscle cells of the middle layer of blood vessels. A strong expression was observed in the epithelial cells lining the base of the groove surrounding the circumvallate papillae. Obestatin expression was particularly strong in the epithelial cells of the salivary ducts. It was also stronger in the von Ebner's glands than in the seromucous glands. Leptin, ghrelin and obestatin were shown to be produced at varying levels in different cell types, including epithelial, stromal and skeletal muscle cells, as well as in ganglion neurons, neural plexuses and blood vessels in the sheep tongue. Cellular localization and expression of these peptide hormones have not been investigated in many species including sheep.     

Evaluating and Modeling of the Seedling Growth Ability of Wheat Seeds as Affected by Shallow-Saline Groundwater Conditions

The adverse effects of shallow-saline groundwater may vary among crucial growth stages of crops by decreasing crop growth and productivity. The present study aimed to assess the germination and seedling growth ability of wheat seeds grown in four different (0.38, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.0 dSm^?1) groundwater salinities (GWS) and three (30, 55, and 80?cm) groundwater depths (GWD) condition. To achieve this aim, wheat crops were grown in drainable lysimeters under rain shelter conditions until the maturity stage, and then wheat seeds were harvested from various saline groundwater conditions. Afterward, wheat seeds were germinated to identify the performance of germination and seedling growth attributes. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine the optimal growing wheat seeds condition, which had high early seedling growth performance. The results showed that the seedling growth performance of wheat seeds increased with increasing GWDs, while decreased with increasing GWSs. Based on the RSM findings, we suggest that GWD and GWS should be at least 42?cm and at most 5.46 dSm^?1, respectively, for sustainable higher wheat yield and seed quality. Finally, this study could provide considerable information for selecting strong and healthy wheat seeds grown under shallow saline groundwater conditions.

     

The effect of shearing in a hot environment on some welfare indicators in Awassi lambs

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of shearing on the individual behaviors and rectal temperature profile during the day at hot environment in Awassi lambs. Twenty Awassi male lambs were randomly allocated into shorn (n = 10) and unshorn (n = 10) groups (28.8 ± 0.7 and 29.9 ± 0.7 kg, respectively) and were kept indoor during the experiment. The physiological and behavioral response variables measured were rectal temperature, standing, lying, feeding, ruminating, drinking, locomotor activity, and elimination. The effect of day, time of day, and all interactions on rectal temperature were found significant (P < 0.001). The effect of shearing on the rectal temperatures of lambs was tend to be significant (P = 0.06). Overall, unshorn lambs showed more frequencies of locomotor activity (P < 0.05) and there was a tendency of less standing behavior (P = 0.08) when compared to the lambs in shorn group. The difference of the other behaviors was not significant (P > 0.05). Within the observation hours, there was a tendency of difference for behavioral frequencies between groups especially early in the day and late at night (P = 0.07). But during the day, the difference of behavior type between groups was highly significant at 1300 and 1600 hours (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively). The findings of the current study showed that the behavior of shorn lambs changed with the changing of environmental heat and showed more behavioral differences at 1300 hours but they tend to cope with heat stress better than unshorn lambs in a hot environment when their rectal temperatures were compared.     

Geographic distribution and domestication of wild emmer wheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum dicoccoides</Emphasis>)

The transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture had revolutionary consequences for the development of human societies. Crops such as wheat, barley, lentil, pea and chickpea played a crucial role in the establishment of complex civilizations in south west Asia. Wild emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccoides) was one of the first cereals to be domesticated in the Fertile Crescent between c. 12,000 and c. 10,000 years ago. This step provided the key for subsequent bread wheat evolution. Wild emmer is found today in the western Fertile Crescent in Jordan, Syria and Israel, the central part of southeastern Turkey and mountain areas in eastern Iraq and western Iran. In this review, we summarize issues concerning geography and domestication of wild emmer wheat based on published molecular and archaeobotanical data and on our recent findings. We suggest that modern domestic tetraploid wheats derived from wild emmer lines from southeast Turkey. However, our understanding of emmer domestication is not complete. The “dispersed-specific” domestication model proposed for einkorn might well be appropriate also for emmer.     

Strong interactions in multimode random lasers

Unlike conventional lasers, diffusive random lasers (DRLs) have no resonator to trap light and no high-Q resonances to support lasing. Because of this lack of sharp resonances, the DRL has presented a challenge to conventional laser theory. We present a theory able to treat the DRL rigorously and provide results on the lasing spectra, internal fields, and output intensities of DRLs. Typically DRLs are highly multimode lasers, emitting light at a number of wavelengths. We show that the modal interactions through the gain medium in such lasers are extremely strong and lead to a uniformly spaced frequency spectrum, in agreement with recent experimental observations.