Forage legumes in grass pastures in tropical Brazil and likely impacts on greenhouse gas emissions: A review

Beef cattle producers seldom use fertilizers for their pastures in tropical regions of Brazil. Slowly, this is changing but because of the need for repeated applications, N fertilizer is rarely applied. The introduction of a forage legume is an appropriate solution for this problem, but until recently adoption has been very low as the legumes generally have not persisted in the sward. We report research on how grazing management can affect the persistence of stoloniferous legumes in pastures of Brachiaria spp. and the problems of establishing and maintaining crown-forming legumes such as Stylosanthes spp. With suitable management, milk or bovine carcass yields can be equal or greater from mixed than from grass-alone pastures fertilized with 120 or 150 kg Nha^-1 year⁻¹. In addition to savings in CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels for the production and distribution of N fertilizers, nitrous oxide emissions from cattle excreta and legume residues are lower than those from N-fertilized brachiaria grass monocultures. Other studies indicate that enteric methane emissions from cattle may be mitigated when forage legumes are included in their diet. The use of forage legumes in mixed pastures for tropical regions is emerging as a feasible strategy to keep meat and milk production at acceptable levels with reduced greenhouse gas emission rates.     

香蕉TGA转录因子家族的鉴定及枯萎病菌胁迫下的表达分析

尖孢镰刀菌（Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Cubense, Foc）引起的香蕉枯萎病是我国香蕉的主要病害之一,严重影响香蕉的产量和品质。TGA防御反应基因在香蕉应对尖孢镰刀菌胁迫的应答转录调控过程中至关重要。本研究以拟南芥TGA转录因子家族成员蛋白为查询序列,在香蕉基因组数据库中Blast筛选出TGA转录因子家族成员,并对该家族成员进行生物信息学分析。共鉴定得到9个香蕉TGA家族成员,分别命名为MaTGA1~MaTGA9;香蕉TGA家族蛋白富含酸性氨基酸,大部分蛋白以α螺旋为主;亚细胞定位主要在细胞核内。进化树分析表明,香蕉MaTGA转录因子家族的9个成员可分为Class Ⅰ和Class Ⅱ两类,基因结构及功能结构域的分布情况也呈现出高度一致。进一步通过RT-qPCR分析发现,MaTGA2、MaTGA3和MaTGA8在香蕉枯萎病菌侵染后的‘威廉斯’（易感病）及‘南天黄’（抗病）中均显著下调表达,MaTGA1、MaTGA6、MaTGA7和MaTGA9均呈现先下降后上升的趋势;然而MaTGA4和MaTGA5仅在‘威廉斯’中上调表达,以上结果表明MaTGA2、MaTGA3和MaTGA8在香蕉抗枯萎病中发挥重要的生物学功能。本研究结果为香蕉TGA转录因子功能挖掘奠定理论基础。     

Projecting future habitat quality of three midwestern reservoir fishes under warming conditions

Rising temperatures caused by climate change are likely to affect cool‐water and warm‐water fishes differently. Yet, forecasts of anticipated temperature effects on fishes of different thermal guilds are lacking, especially in freshwater ecosystems. Towards this end, we used spatially explicit, growth rate potential (GRP) models to project changes in seasonal habitat quality for a warm‐water piscivore (largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides), a cool‐water piscivore (walleye Sander vitreus) and a hybrid piscivore (saugeye S. vitreus × S. canadensis) in two Midwestern reservoirs. We assessed habitat quality for two periods (early and middle 21st century) under two realistic greenhouse gas emission scenarios (a mid‐century emissions peak and a rapid continuous increase in emissions). Largemouth bass were projected to experience enhanced or slightly reduced habitat during all seasons, and throughout the mid‐21st century. By contrast, walleye habitat was projected to decline with anticipated warming, except during the spring in the smaller of our two study reservoirs and during the fall in the larger of our two study reservoirs. Saugeye habitat was projected to either increase modestly or decline slightly during the spring and fall and declines in habitat quality and quantity that were smaller than those for walleye were identified during summer. Collectively, our findings indicate that climate warming will differentially alter habitat suitability for reservoir piscivores, favouring warm‐water species over cool‐water species. We expect these changes in habitat quality to impact the dynamics of reservoir fish populations to varying degrees necessitating the consideration of climate when making future management decisions.     

Effect of bacteria isolates in powdery mildew control in flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida L.)

Five bacterial isolates collected from dogwood leaves were evaluated for powdery mildew control in shadehouse and greenhouse environments by using foliar sprays and/or root drenching. Two isolates displayed superior bioactivity and suppressed powdery mildew similar to conventional fungicide thiophanate methyl (Cleary’s 3336F^®). The two bacteria disrupted powdery mildew spore germination and ruptured spore membranes causing spore lyses. Bacterial filtrates without bacterial cells were also effective in suppressing powdery mildew and disrupting spore germination and suggested the involvement of secondary metabolites. The two biocontrol agents (BCAs) colonized roots endophytically and promoted plant growth.     

柳蛎盾蚧危害与丁香防御蛋白活力的关系

在柳蛎盾蚧的未危害期(5月末)、危害盛期(6月末)、危害弱期(7月末)、危害末期(8月末),测定高抗类[什锦丁香等7种(品种)]、中抗类[西南丁香等3种(品种)]、易感类[紫丁香等2种]、高感类(红丁香)13种(品种)丁香叶中的POD,SOD,CAT,PPO,PAL,TI和CI 7种防御蛋白的活性.结果表明:危害时期,丁香种(品种)对丁香防御蛋白活力有极显著影响(P＜0.01).POD活性,在危害盛期,在高抗、中抗类丁香中均显著升高(P＜0.05),而在易感、高感类中应激滞后,即分别在危害弱期和危害末期升高.CAT在易感类和高感类丁香防御上起主导作用,其活性在危害盛期显著升高,而中抗和高抗类未见明显变化.SOD活性,在危害盛期高抗类丁香中无显著变化,而其余3类则显著降低.PPO活性在未危害期的高低与抗性相关,在虫害盛期诱导表达的强弱也与抗性相关;PAL活性未能反映抗性品种间的差异.TI和CI活性,在未危害期的高低与其抗虫性无明显相关性,在危害盛期的升高幅度与抗虫性呈正相关.综上所述,PPO在未危害期的活力可作为筛选丁香抗虫种(品种)的指标,危害盛期POD,PPO,TI和CI活性升高的幅度与丁香抗虫性呈正相关.     

A filter-assisted culture method for isolation of Treponema spp. from bovine digital dermatitis and their identification by MALDI-TOF MS

Digital dermatitis (DD) is a major infectious foot disease of cattle worldwide. Some DD stages are associated with lameness, and the disease has significant economic and animal welfare consequences. The pathogenesis of the disease is not yet fully understood, but Treponema spp. have been associated consistently with clinical cases. Isolation of these fastidious bacteria is difficult and cumbersome. We describe an improved method enabling the culturing of the 3 Treponema spp. (T. pedis, T. phagedenis, and T. medium) from bovine foot specimens derived from DD lesions, using a combination of membrane filtering and subsequent growth on selective agar media. The entire procedure from sampling to verification of individual Treponema spp. takes up to 24 d. In addition, we established a MALDI-TOF MS–based identification method to be applied for confirmation of the different Treponema spp. This scheme provides an unambiguous, simple, and straightforward identification procedure for DD-associated Treponema spp.     

Validation of a multiplex PCR assay to detect Babesia spp. and Anaplasma marginale in cattle in Uruguay in the absence of a gold standard test

Detection of bovine Babesia spp. and Anaplasma marginale is based on the reading of Giemsa-stained blood or organ smears, which can have low sensitivity. Our aim was to improve the detection of bovine Babesia spp. and A. marginale by validating a multiplex PCR (mPCR). We used 466 samples of blood and/or organs of animals with signs and presumptive autopsy findings of babesiosis or anaplasmosis. The primers in our mPCR amplified the rap-1a gene region of Babesia bovis and B. bigemina, and the msp-5 region of A. marginale. We used a Bayesian model with a non-informative priori distribution for the prevalence estimate and informative priori distribution for estimation of sensitivity and specificity. The sensitivity and specificity for smear detection of Babesia spp. were 68.6% and 99.1%, and for A. marginale 85.6% and 98.8%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity for mPCR detection for Babesia spp. were 94.2% and 97.1%, and for A. marginale 95.2% and 92.7%, respectively. Our mPCR had good accuracy in detecting Babesia spp. and A. marginale, and would be a reliable test for veterinarians to choose the correct treatment for each agent.     

Detection of bacterial contamination and DNA quantification in stored blood units in 2 veterinary hospital blood banks

Blood transfusions in veterinary medicine have become increasingly more common and are now an integral part of lifesaving and advanced treatment in small and large animals. Important risks associated with transfusion of blood products include the transmission of various infectious diseases. Several guidelines suggest what infectious agents to screen for in canine and feline transfusion medicine. However, while the risk of bacterial contamination of blood products during storage and administration has not been documented in veterinary medicine, it has emerged as a cause of morbidity and mortality in human transfusion medicine. Clinical experience shows that the majority of blood component bacterial contaminations are caused by only a few species. Unlike other types of bacteria, psychrotolerant species like Pseudomonas spp. and Serratia spp. can proliferate during the storage of blood units at 4°C from a very low titer at the time of blood collection to a clinically significant level (> 10⁵ CFU/mL) causing clinical sepsis resulting from red blood cell concentrate transfusions in human medicine. The purpose of this report was to describe the detection and quantification procedures applied in 4 cases of bacterial contamination of canine and feline blood units, which suggest the need for further investigations to optimize patients’ safety in veterinary transfusion medicine.     

苜蓿原生质培养及体细胞杂交技术的应用

阐述了植物原生质体培养和体细胞杂交技术以及苜蓿Medicago spp.体细胞胚胎发生特性,综述了该技术在苜蓿育种研究中的应用状况,同时介绍了我国苜蓿研究领域原生质体培养和体细胞杂交技术的研究进展.     

除草剂莠去津降解菌SFAD3的分离鉴定及其土壤修复潜力

为获得能够修复除草剂莠去津污染土壤的高效降解菌,采用摇瓶富集法、平板分离法从莠去津过量使用的土壤中分离得到降解菌SFAD3,通过形态学、生理生化特征观察以及16S rDNA和ITS序列分析进行种类鉴定,测定获得菌株的最适降解条件,并通过土壤接种和盆栽试验验证菌株对莠去津污染土壤的修复作用。结果表明,菌株SFAD3最终被鉴定为门多萨假单胞菌Pseudomonas mendocina,该菌株培养30 d时对污染土壤中50 mg/kg莠去津的降解率可达72.6%;菌株SFAD3在MM液体培养基中最适降解条件为温度37℃、pH 7、莠去津初始浓度6.25 mg/L、接种量2%,对莠去津降的降解率为50.0%～72.2%;与仅有莠去津的处理相比,添加有SFAD3发酵液的处理20 d后芝麻的株高、根长、湿重和干重能够显著恢复,并且该菌对芝麻还具有一定的促生作用。表明降解菌SFAD3在修复莠去津污染土壤方面具有潜在的应用价值。