Nucleotide sequence of L1 and part of P1 of hexon gene of fowl adenovirus associated with hydropericardium hepatitis syndrome differs with the corresponding region of other fowl adenoviruses

In order to study the serotypic variations in hydropericardium hepatitis syndrome (HHS) causing virus, the DNA was extracted from the purified virus, a 0.7 kb variable region of hexon gene encoding L1 and part of P1 amplified and sequenced. Both nucleotide and derived amino acid sequences, corresponding to the variable region, were compared with the published fowl adenovirus sequences (FAV serotypes 10, 1 and 8). As expected the 0.7 kb sequence showed single open reading frame (ORF). There was a nucleotide sequence variation of 8.2, 28.1 and 40.3%, respectively, with FAV serotypes 10, 1 and 8. The dendrogram constructed with the nucleotide sequences showed that HHS virus and FAV10 are closer to each other and are away to FAV1 and FAV8. However, the derived amino acid sequence showed variations as high as 28.8, 38 and 45.1% with FAV serotypes 10, 1 and 8, respectively. Such high degree variation has been found due to the shift in the reading frame caused by deletions indicating that the FAV4 associated with HHS is unique and different from FAV10. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on nucleotide sequence analysis of hexon gene fragment of FAV4 associated with HHS.     

Morpho-agronomic and simple sequence repeat-based diversity in colored rice (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Oryza sativa</Emphasis> L.) germplasm from peninsular India

Knowledge of the genetic diversity in the germplasm accessions is important for the efficient germplasm management. We studied 45 colored rice accessions, which had been earlier collected from peninsular India. The accessions were evaluated at two diverse locations for 12 morpho-agronomic traits and genotyped using 50 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Significant genotypic variability was observed for all morpho-agronomic traits studied. Dendrogram and principal component analysis based on morpho-agronomic traits separated the accessions into three clusters. The first two principal components accounted for 82% of the total variation. The most discriminatory traits were number of grains per panicle, biomass yield, and days to flowering and maturity. The SSR analysis revealed high polymorphic information content value of 0.84. Though, Mantel test did not show a significant correlation, yet the classification based on phenotyping and genotyping data showed good agreement for the expression of morpho-agronomic traits in the formation of clusters. Five accessions had high concentration (> 100 μg/g) of Fe and one of Zn. Our study revealed the presence of large genetic variation among the colored rice accessions evaluated and moderate agreement between morpho-agronomic and SSR–based classifications and of these with geographic diversity.     

A review of potential image fusion methods for remote sensing-based irrigation management: part II

Satellite-based sensors provide data at either greater spectral and coarser spatial resolutions or lower spectral and finer spatial resolutions due to complementary spectral and spatial characteristics of optical sensor systems. In order to overcome this limitation, image fusion has been suggested to obtain higher spatial and spectral resolution images at the same time. Image fusion has been a valuable technique in digital image analysis and comparison because of the availability of multi-spatial and multispectral images from satellite and airborne sensors. It has been applied to merge coarser spatial resolution of multispectral images with a finer spatial resolution panchromatic image to enhance visual apprehension and to provide images that are more informative. Part I companion paper presented and discussed the image downscaling methods. In this paper (part II), the main objective is to review existing image fusion methods for their capability to downscale coarser spatial resolution images for irrigation management applications. A literature review indicated that image fusion methods have not been actively used in obtaining high-resolution land surface temperature (LST) and evapotranspiration (ET) images for irrigation management. However, there is a great potential for applying image fusion methods to retrieve finer LST and ET images from coarser thermal images by fusing them with finer non-thermal color or panchromatic images for irrigation scheduling and management purposes.     

Micronutrient Content of Certain Tropical Conventional and Unconventional Feed Resources of Southern India

The ash, silica and certain important micronutrients were estimated in conventional and unconventional feed and fodder resources available in Southern India. Commonly used dry roughages, such as paddy straw, ragi straw, maize kadbi/stalk, jowar kadbi/stalk, bajra stalk and wheat straw, were high in ash (9.9% +/- 0.77%) and silica (6.4% +/- 0.65%) and low in most of the other micronutrients, except iron, with paddy straw containing most silica (>9%). Cultivated non-leguminous (maize, jowar) and improved green crops (hybrid napier, guinea, green panic, NB-21, CO-1) were also high in ash (10.5% +/- 0.60% and 12.5% +/- 0.51%) but were moderate sources of P, Mg and Cu and good sources of Zn (98 +/- 13.8 ppm and 55 +/- 6.7 ppm). Leguminous green fodders (stylosanthus, lucerne, cow pea, soyabean) were excellent sources of Ca (1.9% +/- 0.16%), Mg (0.40% +/- 0.05%), Cu (30 +/- 5.2 ppm), Zn (121 +/- 14.7 ppm) and Fe (1234 +/- 166 ppm) and moderate sources of P. Mixed local grasses and weeds were high in silica (6.9% +/- 1.00%) but were good sources of Cu, Zn and Fe. Cereal grains (maize, wheat, rice, ragi) were low in ash (2.9% +/- 0.33%) and were relatively poor sources of Ca (0.22% +/- 0.03%), Mg (0.19% +/- 0.03%) and Cu (13 +/- 3.1 ppm). Pulses were low to medium sources of most minerals and good sources of Fe (1230 +/- 293 ppm). Oil seed cake/extractions (groundnut cake, cotton seed cake, soyabean meal, sunflower cake, safflower cake) and cereal by-products (rice polish, rice bran, wheat bran) were excellent sources of P (1.1% +/- 0.47% and 2.3% +/- 0.19%) and good sources of Zn (65 +/- 3.9 ppm and 66 +/- 10.7 ppm) and Fe (938 +/- 130 ppm and 662 +/- 126 ppm). Among the unconventional feeds screened, orange peel, sunflower heads, meat meal, rubber seed cake, spirulina algae and sea weeds contained plentiful Ca, Zn and Fe: tree leaves/top feeds (mulberry, erythrina, glyricidia, banana, subabul, groundnut haulms) were excellent sources of Ca (1.5% +/- 0.13%), Zn (120 +/- 22.9 ppm) and Fe (1033 +/- 133 ppm) but relatively poor sources of P. Soyabean husk, cocoa seed husk, rubber seed cake and meat meal were moderate to good sources of P (1.0% and 0.33%). The high Zn and Fe values of most feeds/fodders were probably due to soil contamination. This account of the micronutrient content of feed/fodder resources should help in strategic supplementation intended to alleviate local deficiencies.     

Effect of super dosing of phytase on growth performance,ileal digestibility and bone characteristics in broilers fed corn–soya‐based diets

A feeding trial was designed to assess the effect of super dosing of phytase in corn–soya‐based diets of broiler chicken. One hundred and sixty‐eight day‐old broilers were selected and randomly allocated to four dietary treatment groups, with 6 replicates having 7 chicks per treatment group. Two‐phased diets were used. The starter and finisher diet was fed from 0 to 3 weeks and 4 to 5 weeks of age respectively. The dietary treatments were consisted of normal phosphorus (NP) group without any phytase enzyme (4.5 g/kg available/non‐phytin phosphorus (P) during starter and 4.0 g/kg during finisher phase), three low‐phosphorus (LP) groups (3.2 g/kg available/non‐phytin P during starter and 2.8 g/kg during finisher phase) supplemented with phytase at 500, 2500, 5000 FTU/kg diet, respectively, to full fill their phosphorus requirements. The results showed that super doses of phytase (at 2500 FTU and 5000 FTU/kg) on low‐phosphorus diet improved feed intake, body weight gain, ileal digestibility (serine, aspartic acid, calcium, phosphorus), blood P levels and bone minerals such as calcium (Ca), P, magnesium (Mg) and zinc (Zn) content. It could be concluded that super doses of phytase in low‐phosphorus diet were beneficial than the normal standard dose (at 500 FTU/kg) of phytase in diet of broiler chicken.     

Root biology and genetic improvement for drought avoidance in rice

Rice root growth encompasses a remarkable genetic diversity in terms of growth patterns, architecture, and environmental adaptations. In order to harness this valuable diversity for improving rice response to drought, an understanding of key root traits and effective drought response mechanisms is necessary. A trait-based approach with precise understanding of the target environment, including temporal and spatial heterogeneity, is a possible path toward the use of roots and dehydration avoidance traits for improved drought resistance in rice. The ability to grow deep roots is currently the most accepted target trait for improving drought resistance, but genetic variation has been reported for a number of traits that may affect drought response. Here, we review variation in rice root response to drought from a physiological perspective in terms of morphology and function with respect to the different growth environments (upland and lowland) commonly used by farmers. Recent advances in linking physiology and breeding are also presented.     

Rice near-isogenic-lines (NILs) contrasting for grain yield under lowland drought stress

The development of near-isogenic-lines (NILs) is a very important tool for both genetic and physiological dissection of drought resistance in rice. Two pairs of NILs differing for grain yield under drought stress were isolated and characterized for yield, yield related traits, and several physiological traits in a range of contrasting environments. In replicated field trials both NIL pairs differed significantly for grain yield under drought stress but showed similar yield potential, phenology, and yield component traits under non-stress conditions. A polymorphism analysis study with 491 SSRs revealed that both NIL pairs are at least 96% genetically similar. These NILs show that small genetic differences can cause large difference in grain yield under drought stress in rice. In both pairs the drought-tolerant NILs showed a significantly higher assimilation rate at later stages both under stress and non-stress conditions. They also had a higher transpiration rate under non-stress condition. The most tolerant NIL (IR77298-14-1-2-B-10) had significantly higher transpiration rate and stomatal conductance in severe stress conditions. In one pair the tolerant NIL had constitutively deeper roots than the susceptible NIL. In the second pair, which had higher mean root length than the first pair, the tolerant NIL had more roots, greater root thickness, and greater root dry weight than the susceptible NIL. Deeper root length may allow tolerant NILs to extract more water at deeper soil layers. It is concluded that enhanced rooting depth is an important strategy for dehydration avoidance and rice adaptation to drought stress, but root architecture might not be the only mechanism causing the significant yield increase we observed in lowland drought stress environments. To further dissect the drought avoidance mechanisms in rice, analysis of root hydraulic properties may be necessary.     

Development of NILs from heterogeneous inbred families for validating the rust resistance QTL in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Heterogeneous inbred families segregating for rust resistance were identified from the two crosses involving susceptible (TAG 24 and TG 26) and resistant (GPBD 4) varieties of peanut. Rust‐resistant (less than score 5) and rust‐susceptible (more than score 5) plants were identified in each HIF and evaluated under rust epiphytotic conditions. The set of plants belonging to the same HIF, but differing significantly in rust resistance, not in other morphological and productivity traits, was regarded as near‐isogenic lines (NILs). Largely, rust‐resistant NILs had GPBD 4‐type allele, and susceptible NILs carried either TAG 24 or TG 26‐type allele at the three SSR loci (IPAHM103, GM1536 and GM2301) linked to a major genomic region governing rust resistance. Comparison of the remaining genomic regions between the NILs originating from each of the HIFs using transposon markers indicated a considerably high similarity of 86.4% and 83.1% in TAG 24 × GPPBD 4 and TG 26 × GPBD 4, respectively. These NILs are useful for fine mapping and expression analysis of rust resistance.     

Influence of Freeze-Dried Shrimp Meat in Pasta Processing Qualities of Indian T. durum Wheat

The present study aims to understand the influence of freeze-dried shrimp (Penaeus monodon) meat (SM) at different levels (2.5, 5, and 10%; w/w) in pasta processing. The rheological characteristics studies of SM-wheat flour blends indicated that dough stability increased with the increased addition of SM in the blends, whereas farinograph water absorption and amylograph peak viscosity decreased. Cooking loss increased with increasing levels of SM in the pasta (7.3% in 10% SM pasta; 6.7% in control pasta). However, all pasta samples were in the acceptable range. Color analysis of the pasta sample indicated that the L values increased with increasing levels of pasta. The instrumental texture of cooked pasta indicated that 10% SM pasta was significantly (p < 0.05) firmer (1.84 N) than that of the control (1.35 N). Microstructure studies revealed that incorporation of SM in the pasta had a better protein network. Pasta with 5% SM had the highest mean score for all sensory attributes, with increased levels of essential nutrients, fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, and amino acids such as lysine.