High night-time temperature during flowering and pod filling affects flower opening,yield and seed fatty acid composition in canola

Winter canola (Brassica napus L.) is highly sensitive to increasing temperatures during the reproductive and pod-filling stages. Although the impact of high day-time temperature stress on yield and quality has been documented in canola, similar information under high night-time temperature (HNT) stress is not available. Using six hybrids and four open-pollinated cultivars, we observed a marked shift in peak flowering towards earlier, cooler hours of the morning under HNT. Averaged across two independent experiments, the photochemical efficiency of photosystem II was significantly decreased (3%), with a significant increase in thylakoid membrane damage (13%) in the leaves of susceptible cultivars under HNT stress. Similarly, the susceptible cultivars also recorded significant reduction in biomass (34%), pod number (22%), pod weight (37%) and total seed weight (40%) per plant while the same set of agronomic traits were not affected among the tolerant cultivars. Quantitative impact of heat stress was confirmed with increased sensitivity to HNT exposure from gametogenesis until maturity resulting in a significantly higher yield loss compared to stress exposure from post-flowering till maturity. HNT significantly decreased oil concentration, but increased protein concentration and saturated fatty acid levels in seeds of the susceptible cultivars. However, HNT had no impact on the unsaturated fatty acids in both hybrids and the open-pollinated cultivars. Breeding targets based on fatty acid composition for enhancing canola seed quality may not be easily amenable due to the inconsistency documented with the compositional changes under heat stress. In summary, our findings conclude that canola hybrids are better suited to regions experiencing heat stress, compared to open-pollinated cultivars, indicating the possibility of a complete shift to hybrid canola cultivation under predicted hotter climates in the future.     

不同品种公猪睾丸、精液品质发育规律及相关性研究

为明确公猪睾丸在选育中的意义，研究公猪睾丸参数、精液质量参数的发育性规律以及两者间的关联性。选择936头分布在280～1 409日龄的生产公猪，其中589头杜洛克、233头长白、114头大白。对睾丸和精液质量参数采用一般线性模型，以品种和日龄分组为固定因素进行多变量分析；使用二次项模型分品种分别对睾丸总体积和有效精子数进行发育曲线拟合；控制日龄变量，对睾丸与精液质量参数进行偏相关性分析。在睾丸大小方面：杜洛克>大白>长白，其中杜洛克与大白差异不显著（P>0.05），但两者均极显著（P<001）高于长白；在精液质量整体比较上：长白优于杜洛克优于大白，但差异不显著（P>0.05）；但在体积、密度、活力和畸形率上，三品种公猪均存在显著（P>0.05）或极显著(P<0.01)差异；睾丸随日龄增长呈先增大后萎缩趋势，精液整体质量随日龄增长呈下滑趋势；三品种公猪睾丸的大小均与精液量和有效精子数呈正相关，且大部分具有显著（P<0.05）或极显著性(P<0.01)。同日龄时期，三品种公猪睾丸的大小顺序为杜洛克>长白>大白，其中长白大于大白具有普遍性； 综合来看，三品种的精液质量比较结果为长白优于杜洛克优于大白，其中长白优于大白具有普遍性；公猪睾丸萎缩临界日龄可用于公猪淘汰依据，选育公猪时可重点选留睾丸较大者。     

Growing Degree Day: Noninvasive Remotely Sensed Method to Monitor Diet Crude Protein in Free-Ranging Cattle

The daily nutritional balance of free-ranging cattle is the net result of intake from available forage biomass and nutritive value weighed against the nutritional requirements of the animal. Plant phenology influences nutritive value. Plant phenology is dictated by time of year and an accumulation of photosynthetically active days. Growing degree day (GDD) is a concept that quantifies this relationship and has been used to predict nutritive value in perennial range grasses. GDD could be substituted for chemical analysis to inform grazing animal nutritional monitoring efforts. We hypothesized that in C4 grass-dominated rangelands, a cumulative GDD calculation would correlate with diet crude protein (CP) predictions obtained by fecal near infrared spectroscopy (FNIRS) from free-ranging cattle. Therefore, the objectives of our research were to evaluate the effectiveness of GDD to predict FNIRS-derived determinations of grazing cattle diet CP in 1) two groups of three individual animals grazing a small native pasture and 2) large commercial-scale herds grazing expansive rangelands. For the first objective, cumulative GDD and FNIRS-predicted diet CP were strongly correlated (r² = 0.76; P < 0.01). Relationships between cumulative GDD and FNIRS-predicted diet CP for the second objective varied considerably among ranches, ranging from a low r² of 0.05 (P = 0.871) to a high r² of 0.78 (P < 0.049). Similar values for individual ranch/year combinations were stronger; ranging from a minimum r² of 0.44 (P = 0.556) to a maximum of 0.95 (P = 0.051). The aggregate relationship between GDD and FNIRS-predicted CP for all ranch/year combinations was highly significant (r² = 0.37; P < 0.001), but the standard error was 1.86% CP. The noninvasive remotely sensed grazing animal nutritional monitoring method described here was accurate enough to inform tactical rangeland diet quality assessments but was not accurate enough to inform operational-scale grazing management decisions.     

不同光周期条件下PhyB和ABA对不同苜蓿品种的秋眠性调控

短日照和低温是导致苜蓿秋眠的主要环境因子。本研究检测了3个不同秋眠型苜蓿在8,12和16 h光照光周期条件下叶片和顶芽中PhyB和ABA的含量,并探讨其对秋眠的影响机制。结果表明,1)和非秋眠苜蓿相比,秋眠苜蓿叶片中PhyB含量高,PhyB作为绿色植物主要光受体可能通过光周期调控或参与了苜蓿的秋眠;并且3个品种均是在8 h光照下PhyB合成量高,暗示长暗期利于其合成。2)和12,16 h光照相比,8 h处理顶芽和第一展开叶中ABA含量最高,显然短日照利于ABA的合成;8 h光照处理时,秋眠型苜蓿品种Vernal ABA含量分别比半秋眠型CW5 0 2和非秋眠型CUF1 0 1高2.1 2和2.0 3倍,1 2 h光照处理ABA含量Vernal比CW5 0 2和CUF1 0 1分别高3 6.2 4%和46.46%,但16 h光照处理ABA含量并不表现上述规律,说明8和12 h光照程度不同地为苜蓿创造了逆境效应,ABA可能是调控或诱导秋眠的激素。3)8 h光照下苜蓿秋眠特征明显,生长严重受抑,不开花;12 h光照下苜蓿秋眠特征比8 h光照处理轻,生长受抑但抑制程度低于8 h光照处理,不开花;16 h光照下3个品种生长、开花正常。可能是PhyB含量多寡程度不同地调控了光周期反应,进而影响了ABA合成,而ABA在不同光周期诱导下通过合成量不同调控了不同秋眠基因表达,诱发了秋眠。     

罗城县雷暴天气活动规律及其灾害防御

利用广西罗城县1980—2009年的雷暴资料,通过统计分析雷暴活动的状况,年变化趋势,季节、月和日分布特征,找出了雷暴活动的时间和空间上的变化规律,分析了1980—2009年来雷暴发生影响的天气系统,计算出各天气条件下雷暴发生的概率。为今后雷电活动监测和分析提供依据,为防灾减灾工作提供参考,同时也比较具体地提出了灾害的防御措施,从而为加强罗城县雷暴防御提供参考。     

Analysis of sinking death using video images of the swimming performance of Pacific Bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) larvae

In this study, we aimed to clarify the mechanism of sinking death during the larval stage of Pacific Bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis by investigating the effects of swimming performance on sinking death, using a behavioral approach. Swimming performance was examined 3–9 days after hatching (DAH) under day and night light conditions in cuboid experimental tanks. Swimming behavior variables such as swimming speed and swimming angle were measured under both light conditions. Larvae in the daytime experiment and larvae with inflated swim bladders at night were distributed on the surface layer of the water column. In contrast, larvae with uninflated swim bladders at night were frequently observed swimming vertically or sinking to the bottom of the tank. Larvae with inflated swim bladders at night were always distributed beneath the surface until the next morning (survival rates were 100 %). However, larvae with uninflated swim bladders at night swam upward repeatedly and later sank to the bottom of the tank (survival rates were 60 % and 38 % at 5 and 9 DAH, respectively). Larvae with uninflated swim bladders were not always able to maintain their swimming depth by swimming until the next morning. Additionally, their swimming speed and vertical swimming frequency (ratio) depended on the illumination and swim bladder conditions. Our findings show that larvae with uninflated swim bladders at night were associated with a higher risk of sinking death. The swimming energy capacity of Pacific Bluefin tuna larvae, which indicates the total amount of the energy that enables individuals to swim throughout the night without feeding, was found to be linked to sinking death.     

浙江乌牛早春茶始摘期及霜冻风险区划

为了解浙江省乌牛早春茶初始采摘期的时空分布特征和减少遭受春季霜冻的风险,应用1971—2014年浙江省71个常规站日资料和2005—2014年共2094个气象自动区域站小时观测资料,以乌牛早春茶发育热量为始摘期区划指标和乌牛早春茶各级冻害总灾损率为霜冻害区划指标,应用GIS技术,采用距离权重反比法(IDW,Inverse Distance Weighted),得到浙江省乌牛早春茶始摘期区划图和乌牛早春季霜冻风险区划分布图。结果表明:浙江全省乌牛早春茶始摘期在2月上旬—3月上旬,从南到北时间递增,温州沿海地区最早,29°N以南为2月中旬,30°N以北地区最晚。浙江沿海、盆地、低丘陵地区适宜种植乌牛早茶,海拔高的地区遭受春季霜冻风险大,不适宜种植乌牛早茶,区划结果将为茶叶主管部门和农技推广部门指导乌牛早种植的布局调整提供重要参考价值和科学依据。     

Prediction of grain protein in spring malting barley grown in northern Europe

The ability to predict grain protein concentration at harvest (CP) in Swedish malting barley (Hordeum distichum) from observations of soil conditions, sowing day, fertilisation rate, remote sensing at early stem elongation and the temperature sum during grain filling, was tested for two cultivars; Astoria (Secobra, France) and Wikingett (Svalöf-Weibulls, Sweden) in 16 fertilisation trials in southern Sweden, encompassing 3 years (2001–2003). Fertilisation was applied either as a single dose at sowing, or as both a starting application and an application at early stem elongation. The highest total application rate was 160 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹. The soil was analysed for phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium in the layer 0–0.3 m, and mineral N down to 0.6 m. Canopy reflectance observations at BBCH 32 was used to calculate a vegetation index (TCARI(32)) to reflect the canopy (leaf and straw) chlorophyll concentration. Harvested grain CP correlated only marginally with the observed soil variables. It was, however, for a specific cultivar, possible to make a prediction of grain CP based on day of sowing and TCARI(32) with . Part of the sowing day effect might be due to thermal stress during grain filling, as the risk for high temperatures during this phase was higher when sowing was late. This might also explain why the introduction of accumulated temperature during grain filling, into a model already including sowing day and TCARI(32) as independent variables, did not improve the predictability of grain CP.     

光不敏感型大刍草新种质选育及利用的初步研究

热带类玉米属大刍草(Zea mexicana)为短日植物,在我国北方长日地区不能正常开花结实。本研究初步分析通过系统选育方法选出的光不敏感型大刍草新品种“鲁牧2号”,在长日照地区大田繁种和利用其进行杂交制种的可行性。结果表明,该品种能在长日地区（山东）正常开花结实,开花期在8月上中旬,10月上旬种子成熟。鲜草产量达45 930 kg/hm2,种子产量达1 595.5 kg/hm2,利用该品种作父本杂交制种试验成功率达72.7%。本研究结果说明该种质能够在长日照地区应用,对降低玉米（Z. mays）制种成本、丰富遗传育种资源具有重要意义。     

初配日龄对母猪产仔性能的影响

根据某猪场淘汰的203头母猪的生产记录,对不同初配日龄母猪的头胎产仔数、产仔胎数及产仔总数进行统计分析。结果表明,240～269日龄的初配母猪头胎产活仔数最少,270～299日龄的初配母猪平均产仔胎数最少,300～329日龄的初配母猪平均产仔胎数和产活仔总数最高,210～239日龄的初配母猪平均产仔胎数最低。从最佳经济效益来看,母猪的最佳初配日龄为210～239日龄。