Adenosine-5'-triphosphate release by Mannheimia haemolytica, lipopolysaccharide, and interleukin-1 stimulated bovine pulmonary epithelial cells

Mannheimia haemolytica, one of the agents associated with bovine respiratory disease complex, can cause severe lung pathology including the leakage of vascular products into the airways and alveoli. Previous work by this laboratory has demonstrated that bovine lung endothelial and epithelial cells undergo dramatic permeability increases when exposed to adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP). Therefore, we wanted to determine if ATP levels were elevated in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples from calves experimentally infected with M. haemolytica. In addition, cultured bovine pulmonary epithelial (BPE) cells were stimulated with heat-killed and live M. haemolytica bacteria, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), lipoteichoic acid (LTA), interleukin-1 (IL-1), and zymosan activated plasma (ZAP) to determine whether they might release extracellular ATP during in vitro infection. Calves experimentally exposed to M. haemolytica had an approximately 2-fold higher level of ATP in their BAL samples compared to control. BPE cells exposed to increasing numbers of heat-killed or live M. haemolytica had significantly increased levels of ATP release as compared to time-matched controls. Finally, BPE cells treated with several concentrations of LPS and IL-1 had increases in ATP release as compared to time-matched controls. This increase appeared to be a result of active ATP secretion by the cells, as cell viability was similar between treated and non-treated cells. Neither ZAP nor LTA induced any ATP release by the cells. In conclusion, ATP levels are elevated in lung secretions from calves infected with M. haemolytica. In addition, lung epithelial cells can actively release ATP when exposed to heat-killed or live M. haemolytica, LPS or IL-1.     

Potential,constraints and applications of in vitro methods in improving grain legumes

Grain legumes, the important constituents of sustainability‐based cropping systems and energy‐limited vegetarian diets have long been the subject of scientific research. Tremendous technological strides were made in the so‐called orphan crops, in terms of both varietal improvement and generation of basic information. Despite recalcitrancy and high genotype dependency, in vitro culture techniques such as organogenesis, in vitro mutagenesis, embryo rescue and in vitro gene transfer have been deployed for improvement of several grain legumes and these played an important role in introgression of desirable genes from related and distant species and creation of additional genetic variability. Stable and reproducible regeneration protocols resulted in the development of genetically modified chickpea, pigeon pea, cowpea, mungbean, etc., while embryo rescue was deployed successfully for recovery of interspecific recombinants, a few of them exploited for the development of commercial cultivars. Nevertheless, doubled haploidy witnessed limited success and protoplast regeneration and in vitro mutagenesis remained of academic interest. The present review focuses on the progress, achievements, constraints and perspectives of using in vitro technology in grain legume improvement.     

Exploring genetic diversity for heat tolerance among lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) genotypes of variant habitats by simple sequence repeat markers

The study was carried out to assess genetic diversity among 119 lentil genotypes grown in different habitats for heat tolerance using morpho‐physiological and reproductive traits and SSR markers. High‐temperature stress was applied at seedling (35/33°C) and anthesis stages (35/20°C) to study the effects on morpho‐physiological and reproductive traits under hydroponic condition, which was compared with non‐stressed and stressed field conditions. A set of 209 alleles were identified by 35 SSR markers among the genotypes. Genetic diversity and polymorphism information content values varied between 0.0494–0.859 and 0.0488–0.844, with mean values of 0.606 and 0.563, respectively. Genotypes were clustered into nine groups based on SSR markers. Morpho‐physiological and reproductive traits under heat stress were found to be significantly different among SSR clusters. These findings suggest that heat adaptation is variable among the genotypes and the tolerant materials can be evolved through hybridization using parents from different clusters with diverse mechanisms of heat tolerance.     

Effect of laboratory‐isolated Lactobacillus plantarum LGFCP4 from gastrointestinal tract of guinea fowl on growth performance,carcass traits,intestinal histomorphometry and gastrointestinal microflora population in broiler chicken

The study aimed to investigate the effect of feed supplements, viz Lactobacillus plantarum LGFCP4 (laboratory isolate from GIT of Guinea fowl), Lactobacillus acidophilus (NCDC, Karnal) and in‐feed antibiotic bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD) on growth performance, FCR, carcass traits and immune organs weight, intestinal histomorphometry and gastrointestinal microflora population in broiler chickens. In a completely randomized design, CARIBRO‐Dhanraja broiler chicks (n = 160) were used with four treatment groups. During the entire experimental duration of 35 days, treatment groups were provided with different dietary treatments (T1 – basal diet (negative control), T2 – antibiotic growth promoter BMD 20 g/100 kg feed (positive control), T3 – 1 × 10⁸ cfu of L. acidophilus/gm‐fermented feed +MOS 1 g/kg feed and T4 – 1 × 10⁸ cfu of laboratory‐isolated L. plantarum LGFCP4/gm‐fermented feed+ MOS 1 g/kg feed. After 35 days of experimental period, no significant results have been observed in different growth performance traits among treatment groups. Cut‐up parts and edible organs' weight remained unaffected by dietary supplementation, whereas weight of immune organs were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in L. plantarum LGFCP4‐supplemented group. At the end of feeding trial, significantly (p < 0.05) lower E. coli count was observed in crop of T4 birds, while in ileum, T2 and T3 showed lower count. In caeca, T2 group showed lowest E. coli count. Salmonella count in crop and ileum was significantly (p < 0.05) low in T3 and T4, while in caeca, T2 group showed lowest count. In terms of histomorphometry, duodenal villous height (VH), crypt depth (CD) and VH:CD ratio were higher for T3 and T4 and lowest values were obtained for T2 group. The results of the study showed that L. plantarum LGFCP4 isolated from GIT of guinea fowl can effectively replace in‐feed antibiotic growth promoters in broiler diets by altering intestinal villi morphology and improving the gut health by reducing the pathogenic microbial load.     

Hybrid chlorosis in wheat × rye crosses

Fourteen accessions of rye when crossed to Triticum aestivum cv. C 306 (Ne1ne2ch1Ch2) yielded chlorotic F1 hybrids and six accessions involved in hybrid combination with the same tester produced normal F1 hybrid plants. Two rye accessions, namely, EC 179188 and EC 143825 when crossed to the wheat lines HD 2329 (ne1Ne2ch1Ch2) and NI 5439 (ne1ne2ch1Ch2) also produced chlorosis. The hybrids between T. macha and two rye accessions produced normal plants. Variable degrees of chlorosis were observed among different wheat × rye F1 hybrids. It is suggested that the rye accessions producing chlorosis in combination with wheat cvs. C 306, HD 2329 and NI 5439 (all Ch2-carriers) carry one of the complementary genes for chlorosis. Gene symbol Chr1 is proposed for the chlorosis gene of rye.     

Crop yields of rice and wheat grown in rotation as intercrops with three tree species in the outer hills of Western Himalaya

Studies on tree crop interaction under rainfed condition in Dehradun valley were conducted for 13 years during 1977 to 1990. Grewia optiva (Bhimal), Morus alba (Mulbery) and Eucalyptus hybrid were tried along with rice (CV: Akashi) — wheat (CV: RR-21) rotation. One-year-old tree seedlings of the above tree species were planted in line, 5 m apart in N-S direction, in July 1977, in the middle of the plot (size 20 m × 20 m). Eucalyptus was first harvested in 1987. Grewia optiva, Morus alba and coppice of Eucalyptus were harvested in 1990. All tree species had depressing effect on crop yields. Eucalyptus had maximum effect in depressing crop yield till the first harvest and had least effect thereafter. From 1987 onwards, Morus alba affected rice most, while wheat was mostly affected by Grewia optiva. The depressing effect on an average varied from 28 to 34% depending upon the species.Distance of tree line from the crop significantly affected the crop yield upto a distance of 5 m and there was 39% decrease in crop yield upto 1 m, 33% from 1–2 m, 25% from 2–3 m and 12% from 3–5 m distance. Annual removal of lops and tops from trees partly compensated the deficit. Grewia optiva could produce 1.08 t ha^–1 yr^–1 of branches and 0.26 t ha^–1 yr^–1 of leaves (air dry) and 1.28 t ha^–1 yr^–1 of branches and 0.28 t ha^–1 yr^–1 of leaves were obtained from Morus alba. Wood (ADT) produced by the trees was 33.6 t ha^–1 from Eucalyptus, 9.5 t ha^–1 from Grewia optiva and 11.6 t ha^–1 from Morus alba.