Serum amyloid A (SAA) mRNA expression in chicken and quails in response to bacterial stress

Monitoring of acute phase proteins such as serum amyloid A at gene expression level may provide quick information about immune status of the host and its susceptibility towards common infections. Present study was carried out to evaluate and compare the mRNA expression of SAA gene in Rhode Island Red chicken (RIR) and Japanese quails using real time PCR analysis in response to inactivated Salmonella gallinarum culture. The results showed that expression of SAA gene was approximately 17–33 folds higher in case of birds administered with bacterial culture when compared to un-inoculated controls and expression was higher and quicker in case of quails than RIR chicken. The SAA genes from chicken and quail were cloned and upon sequence analysis it was observed that deduced amino acid sequence of SAA from chicken and quails were having approximately seven percent variation which might have significance in function of this protein in these species.     

长白山阔叶红松林早春植物生长特征研究

以长白山阔叶红松林下的早春植物为对象,对其生长发育过程、生长环境特点、生物量及其群落学特征进行研究,结果表明:长白山阔叶红松林下早春植物有12种2变种,相对重要的前10种依次为黑水银莲花、朝鲜银莲花、顶冰花、多被银莲花、东北延胡索、侧金盏花、五福花、全缘叶延胡索、大人字果、线叶延胡索;早春植物生长发育需凉爽、湿润、光照充足的环境条件,其生长发育过程与上层林冠有密切关系。长白山阔叶红松林下早春植物总生物量为395.83 kg·hm-2,其中,地上部分生物量为135.26 kg·hm-2,占总生物量的34.17%;地下部分生物量为260.57 kg·hm-2,占65.83%,总密度为272.65万株·hm-2。早春植物在森林生态系统物质循环、能量流动方面具有重要作用。     

长白山红松阔叶林主要树种树皮抗火性的分析与排序

应用因子分析法对长白山红松阔叶林8种乔木树皮的5种性状进行统计分析,得出了树皮抗火性顺序.对树皮抗火性由强到弱的排序为:春榆(胸径52.9 cm)、紫椴(胸径13.5 cm)、蒙古栎(胸径82.8cm)、色木槭(胸径32.5 cm)、水曲柳(胸径31.0 cm)、白牛槭(胸径13.5 cm)、色木槭(胸径34.2 cm...     

小兴安岭典型温带森林土壤呼吸对强降雨的响应

森林土壤呼吸是全球碳循环的重要组成部分,其对降雨格局的变化如何响应,是当前全球变化研究中的热点问题。本研究以小兴安岭地区原始温带森林(云冷杉红松林)为研究对象,使用SF-3000土壤气体通量自动测量系统,对雨季不同时期4次强降雨前后的土壤呼吸速率、土壤呼吸的组分和相关环境因子进行了连续观测。结果表明:1)土壤温度和含水量协同影响土壤呼吸强度。降雨是影响甚至改变控制土壤呼吸(Rs)的关键环境因子,强降雨使土壤含水量激增,并对土壤温度也有不同程度的影响。雨季初期强降雨对Rs的扰动作用相对较小,雨季中期强降雨可抑制Rs,在雨季结束后强降雨可促进Rs。2)在雨季不同时期的强降雨均不同程度的影响了土壤异养呼吸(Rh)与土壤呼吸的比例(Rh/Rs),相对于土壤自养呼吸(Ra),短时极强降雨对Rh的抑制作用更强。3)加入水分修正系数c的Rs与T5、W5指数关系模型可更好的表征土壤含水量和土壤温度对土壤呼吸的影响,不同雨季时期的强降雨均对土壤的温度敏感系数(Q10)有着显著的影响。强降雨使得土壤对水分的敏感性降低,处于雨季不同时期的土壤水分敏感性表现为:在雨季的开始和结束后,土壤呼吸的水分敏感性较高,而雨季中期的水分敏感性较低。      

演替和气候对阔叶红松林土壤有机碳密度的影响

东北阔叶红松林及其次生林是我国重要的森林碳库,土壤中储存着大量的有机碳。本研究调查了纬度梯度上的4个典型地点(长白山、蛟河、五营和胜山)不同演替阶段(杨桦林、硬阔叶林、红松近熟林和成熟林)的土壤有机碳密度(SOCD),并分析了总SOCD(0~60 cm)、表土层SOCD(0~20 cm)与演替、气候等因素的关系。结果表明:各研究地点的总SOCD、表土层SOCD和表土层占总SOCD的比例随演替的进展并没有一致的变化趋势。总SOCD与纬度、最冷月均温、年降水量和温暖指数无显著关系;表土层SOCD、表土层/总SOCD比例随纬度增加而显著降低,随最冷月均温升高而显著上升。多元分析表明,气候因子本身对表土层SOCD的解释力高于对总SOCD的解释力,演替阶段对3个SOCD变量的解释力均不显著,但演替阶段与温度指标(最冷月均温或温暖指数)的交互作用对总SOCD和表土层/总SOCD比例影响显著。此外,坡位对总SOCD和表层SOCD都有显著影响。研究表明,表土层SOCD可能主要受气候梯度和小地形影响;总SOCD的异质性较强、影响因素复杂,气候因子自身对总SOCD的影响较弱,群落特征(生活型、蓄积量)和小地形、以及演替与气候的交互作用对总SOCD的影响显著。      

便携式近红外光谱仪检测红松籽中的水分含量

为了建立红松籽水分无损、快速检测,采用便携式近红外光谱仪在波长范围900~1 700 nm对红松籽的光谱信息进行采集和分析,建立红松籽水分的近红外预测模型。利用多种预处理方法优化模型,同时采用反向间隔偏最小二乘法、无信息变量消除法实现特征波段的选取。结果表明,带壳红松籽光谱经矢量归一化预处理后构建的模型最优,松仁光谱经一阶导数预处理后构建的模型最优;波段筛选能够优化模型质量,其中反向间隔偏最小二乘法的筛选结果最优,其带壳红松籽和松仁水分模型校正集相关系数分别为0.864 1和0.907 8,验证集均方根误差分别为1.041 7和0.833 8。结果表明,经过优化后,模型的效果较好,能够实现红松籽水分无损检测,为带壳坚果的在线检测提供技术参考。     

Polymorphism Analysis of the Agouti-related Protein Gene Exon Ⅰof Quail

The poultry feather color inheritance has been a hot research topic, because the feather color is a kind of important quality character.In this study, we used polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to detect the polymorphisms of four quail populations of different feather color (China Yellow quail, Black quail, Korean quail, Beijing White quail) of agouti-related protein gene (Agrp) exon Ⅰ, so as to investigate the relationship of Agrp exon I with quail plumage color, and to provide reference for the breeding and production of quail.The results showed that two alleles were detected in the Agrp exon Ⅰ of China Yellow quail, Black quail, Korean quail, Beijing White quail populations,and expressed by A and B, respectively. Frequency of allele A in Beijing White quail was up to 0.9500. The frequency of B allele in Korean quail was the highest, reaching 0.3392, in Beijing White quail genes in the lowest frequency is only 0.0500. The genotype frequency of AA genotype in Beijing White quail was the highest (0.9500), the lowest in Korean quail and Black quail (0.4286). BB genotype was not observed in Beijing White quail. We speculated that it may have a certain relationship between Agrp exon Ⅰ B allele and feather color of quail.     

Study on Expression of Bcl-2 and PCNA Genes in Testicular Tissue of Chickens,Quails and Chicken-quail Hybrids

In order to investigate the molecular mechanism of stunted growth testis of chicken (♂) and quail (♀) hybrids. 84 testicular tissue samples of New Roman cocks, male Korean quails and chicken-quail hybrids at different developmental stages were collected,the mRNA expression of Bcl-2 and PCNA genes in testicular tissue of cocks, quails and chicken-quail hybrids at different growth stages were detected using Real-time PCR. The results showed that the Bcl-2 and PCNA genes mRNA expression patterns in testes of chickens and quails at different growth stages were similar.The Bcl-2 gene was fluctuated in a whole, and decreased to the lowest value, then recovered rapidly and remained at a high level. The PCNA gene had a very significant peak value.Compared with the chicken and quail,the expression of Bcl-2 and PCNA genes mRNA in hybrids had no obvious change, which indicated that the pattern of the Bcl-2 gene regulation apoptosis in testis was different from chicken and quail at the hybrid testicular development process, and there was no obvious cell appreciation process.It was suggested that the molecular influencing factors of testicular dysplasia of chicken and quail hybrids were related to the abnormal expression of Bcl-2 and PCNA genes mRNA in testes.The results provided an important reference for the further study of the mechanism of testicular dysplasia between chicken and quail interspecific hybrids.     

Characterization of the cathelicidin cluster in the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

The Japanese quail has several advantages as a low‐fat meat bird with high immunity against diseases. Cathelicidins (CATHs) are antimicrobial peptides that play an important role in innate immunity. The aim of this study was to characterize the CATH cluster in the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). The Japanese quail CATH (CjCATH) cluster, contains four CATH genes, as in the chicken. The coding sequences of CjCATHs exhibited >85.3% identity to chicken CATHs. The predicted amino acid sequences of the four CjCATH genes contained the cathelin‐like domain characteristic of CATH proteins. Polymorphisms were detected in the open reading frames (ORFs) of all CjCATH sequences. Two amino acid substitutions were observed in the antimicrobial region of the mature peptide of CjCATH2, and predicted to influence peptide function. CjCATH1 is expressed in lung, heart, bone marrow and bursa of Fabricius (BF). CjCATH2 is expressed in bone marrow. CjCATH3 is expressed in lung, heart, bone marrow, BF, tongue and duodenum. CjCATHB1 is expressed in bone marrow and BF. This study is the first to characterize CATH genes in the Japanese quail, and identifies novel antimicrobial peptide sequences belonging to the cathelicidin family, which may play a role in immunity in this species.     

Evaluation of dietary methionine requirement of male Korean native ducks for 3 weeks post‐hatching

A total of 336 1‐day‐old male Korean native ducks (KND) were used in a completely randomized design with seven dietary methionine levels (0.30–0.90% with 0.1% increment) to determine the methionine requirement of male Korean native ducks for 3 weeks after hatching. Each dietary treatment had six replicates with eight ducklings per pen. One duckling from each pen (n = 6) was sacrificed to weigh empty body and drumsticks at the end of the experiment. Final body weight and weight gain of 3 weeks old KND were increased with increasing dietary methionine levels up to 0.4%, and then decreased (P < 0.05) with a further increasing dietary methionine level. In contrast, feed conversion ratio of the KND decreased up to 0.4% and increased (P < 0.05) with the increasing dietary methionine level. Both empty body weight and proportions of empty body weight were linearly increased (P < 0.05) while the dietary methionine level elevated up to 0.4%. Estimated dietary methionine requirement for maximum body weights, daily gain and minimum feed conversion ratio were 0.36, 0.39 and 0.40%, respectively, when it was fitted into linear‐ and quadratic‐plateau models.