Genetical-statistical analysis of traits in the German trotter

Data on 331 321 racing performances of all competing trotters in the Federal Republic of Germany have been filed since 1973. After adjusting to environmental factors, repeatabilities and heritabilities of the most important traits (racing time, money earnings and perfect gait) have been estimated. The highest degrees for repeatability (r_{between years} = 0.55?0.79) and heritability (h² = 0.21?0.49) are found in the average racing time per year. Therefore, this trait should be the main selection criterion in a practical breeding programme.     

Feed enzyme supplementation does not ameliorate foot pad dermatitis in broiler chickens fed on a corn-soyabean diet

1.?Foot Pad Dermatitis (FPD) can be a serious health, quality and welfare problem in poultry production, with a significant affect on the economics of production. The physico-chemical properties of (NSP) have been correlated with increases in excreta viscosity and adherence, and hence FPD in broiler chickens.

2.?Two broiler experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of different dietary non-starch polisaccharide (NSP) applications to corn-soyabean based diets in replicated floor pens. In addition to live performance, the incidence and severity of FPD was scored and, in experiment 2, intestinal viscosity and ammonia volatilization were measured.

3.?Live performance did not vary with the different treatments in either experiment and the incidence and severity of FPD, and ammionia volatisation in experiment 2, were unaffected. However, birds reared on enzyme supplemented diets had lower (P? 4.?In this study with corn-soyabean meal based diets, dietary enzyme supplementation had no affect on the incidence and severity of FPD. The lack of an association between the excreta viscosity and FPD is attributed to the multifactorial etiology of this condition.     

Endometrial adenocarcinoma in two young queens

Endometrial adenocarcinoma is described in two young intact female Persian cats presented with haemorrhagic vaginal discharge. The discharge had been present for 3 and 15 days in each case, respectively. On the basis of signalment, history, clinical, laboratory and diagnostic imaging findings a tentative diagnosis of pyometra was made in each cat and ovariohysterectomy was subsequently performed. Histological examination revealed endometrial adenocarcinoma in both cats together with ovarian luteal cysts and pyometra in one case. Immunohistochemistry revealed a diffuse and strongly positive reaction for oestrogen receptors in the nuclei of glandular epithelium in well‐differentiated areas of the neoplastic tissue. Poorly differentiated areas of solid growth pattern had weak and focal expression of oestrogen receptors. Furthermore, the neoplastic cells within these areas displayed moderate to strong diffuse nuclear staining with Ki‐67 antibody suggestive of a high proliferative capacity. The owners reported that the cats were clinically healthy 23 and 21 months after the surgery. These cases highlight the importance of histological examination of surgically resected tissue even when clinical signs and laboratory findings suggest pyometra.     

STUDIES ON DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSE OF SPRING CANOLA CULTIVARS TO BORON TOXICITY

Although many states recommend boron (B) fertilizer for many field crops, information about B toxicity of canola is lacking. This experiment was carried out at Central Anatolia, Turkey from 2002 to 2003, to determine genotypic range in B efficiency of eight spring canola cultivars, to identify the B-inefficient cultivars and to identify specific responses. The cultivars were grown under B moderate deficiency (extractable B 0.56 mg kg^?1) and toxic B applied (15 kg B ha^?1) conditions. According to the results, seed yield varied significantly among the cultivars and B application decreased the seed yield by 31% on average. Also, toxic B application reduced protein and oil contents similar to seed yield, and increased leaf B concentration in all varieties. This study has shown that leaf B concentration has increased considerably when B is applied to Pactol and Star cultivars, but seed yield of +B and ?B has not shown significantly a change. It is possible to say that Star and Pactol—which have not been affected by the toxic B application—are genotypes that are tolerant to B toxicity and may be cultivated at B toxic lands.     

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici races and their genetic discrimination by molecular markers in West Mediterranean region of Turkey

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (FOL) races and F. oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici (FORL), the causal agents of root rot and crown rot diseases, respectively, cause serious economic losses in tomato greenhouses where production is intensive in the West Mediterranean region of Turkey. The isolates were collected from West Mediterranean region of Turkey and were characterized by specific primers based on three races (r1, r2, r3), besides pathogenicity tests in in vivo conditions Additionally, a scheme was developed using newly tested ISSR and SRAP markers to a genotyping database and to determine the possible origin of these pathogens. The present study provided new information on these pathogens based on their races and their dominant existence in this region that has not been reported before. Genetic diversity detected in the same races of the pathogen may be associated with difficulties in controlling the pathogen and a possible resistance formation effort exerted by the pathogen to chemicals used in plant protection in tomato greenhouses. Molecular analyses indicated genetic diversity in pathogen isolates identified as r3, r2 and FORL, which may be associated with abiotic stress to which the pathogens were exposed.     

Apilarnil reduces fear and advances sexual development in male broilers but has no effect on growth

1. An experiment was conducted to determine the possibility of stimulating sexual development at an early age in male and female broiler chickens by administration of apilarnil, a natural bee product, in the pre-pubertal period.

2. From 28 to 55 d of age, birds were given apilarnil orally. The effects of low (2.5 g/bird) and high (7.5 g/bird) doses of apilarnil on growth performance, testicular weight, secondary sexual characteristics, blood lipids, testosterone and fearful behaviour were evaluated.

3. Apilarnil administration did not cause a positive effect on growth performance of male and female broilers suggesting that apilarnil did not have an anabolic effect.

4. Apilarnil administration suppressed blood glucose and cholesterol.

5. Birds receiving apilarnil remained immobile for a shorter period in a tonic imobiliy test and showed less home-cage avoidance responses suggesting a lower level of fearfulness.

6. Increases in testicular weight, testosterone concentration and comb growth in males receiving apilarnil implied that it stimulates the sexual maturation at an early age. However, a similar stimulation of secondary sexual characteristics was not observed in females.     

Effect of thermal pretreatment on germination of seeds from different provenances of subalpine oriental spruce (Picea orientalis (L.) Link.) forest in Turkey

We examined the effect of thermal treatment at two temperatures (60 s of 90°C dry heat and 60 min in 40°C hot water) versus control conditions on the germination of oriental spruce (Picea orientalis (L.) Link.) seeds originating from different subalpine provenances. Cutting test results showed that there was wide variation (between 10% and 90%) in filled seed rates. The results revealed that highest germination yield was attained via the hot water treatment. The maximum germination percentages were observed in seeds from “tree 3” in the first tree collective of provenances 1 (85.33 ± 5.77 control; 88.67 ± 7.02 via the hot water treatment; 82.00 ± 10.58 via the dry heat treatment) and 3 (70.67 ± 17.24 control; 88.00 ± 4.00 via the hot water treatment; 86.67 ± 11.37 via the dry heat treatment). The mean germination percentages were significantly different (p-value < .05): percentage values were 32.57% in provenance 1, 23.22% in provenance 3, 12.25% in provenance 4, and 2.82% in provenance 2. Mean germination time of seeds from different provenances and experiencing various pretreatments showed significant variation. The best pretreatment increase in germination rates was achieved via the wet heat method (60 min in 40°C hot water).     

Short- and long-term effects of nitrogen fertilization on methane oxidation in three Swedish forest soils

 Under normal conditions, CH₄, one of the most important greenhouse gases, is subject to biological oxidation in forest soils. However, this process can be negatively affected by N amendment. The reported experiment was conducted in order to study the short- and long-term effects of N amendment on CH₄ oxidation in pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest soils. Soil samples were taken from three experimental sites, two of which had been amended with N once, over 20 years earlier, while the third had been amended 3 weeks earlier. The soil samples were incubated fresh at 15  °C at ambient CH₄ concentrations (ca. 1.8 ppmv CH₄). The variation in CH₄-turnover rates was high within the treatments: CH₄ was produced [up to 22.6 pmol CH₄ g dry wt. soil^–1 h^–1] in samples from the recently amended site, whereas it was consumed at high rates (up to 431 pmol CH₄ g dry wt. soil^–1 h^–1) in samples from the plot that had received the highest N amendment 27 years before sampling. Although no significant differences were found between N treatments, in the oldest plots there was a correlation between consumption of atmospheric CH₄ and the total C content at a depth of 7.5–15 cm in the mineral soil (r ²=0.74). This indicates that in the long-term, increased C retention in forest soils following N amendment could lead to increased CH₄ oxidation. Received: 3 September 1997     

Photosynthesis and Remobilization of Dry Matter in Wheat as Affected by Progressive Drought Stress at Stem Elongation Stage

With increasingly erratic rainfall patterns particularly in drought‐prone production systems, the capacity of plants to recover productively from drought spells becomes an important feature for yield stability in rainfed agriculture. Consequently, effects of water management at the stem elongation stage on partitioning and remobilization of dry matter, alteration in photosynthesis and water‐use efficiency (WUE), and yield components of wheat plants were studied in a glasshouse pot experiment. The plants were subjected to three soil moisture regimes: well watered during all phenological stages (WW), drought affected during stem elongation and post‐anthesis stages (DD) and drought affected during stem elongation and rewatered at post‐anthesis stage (DW). Total dry weight substantially decreased by both drought treatments. However, DD plants allocated relatively higher assimilates to roots whereas DW plants remobilized them to the grains. Drought applications resulted in a decrease of grain yield and thousand grain weight while reduction was more pronounced in DD treatment. Relative contribution of post‐anthesis photosynthesis to dry matter formation in grain was higher in WW treatment (72.6 %) than DD (68.5 %) and DW (68.2 %) treatments. Photosynthetic rate, gas exchange and transpiration decreased whereas leaf (photosynthetic) and plant level WUE increased with drought applications. However, all these parameters were rapidly and completely reversed by rewatering. Our findings showed that partitioning of dry weight to grain increases with rewatering of wheat plants subjected to drought during stem elongation phase, but the relative contributions of remobilization of stem reserves and post‐anthesis photosynthesis to grain did not change. Moreover, rewatering of plants at booting stage after a drought period lead to full recovery in photosynthesis and WUE, and a significant although partial recovery of yield components, such as grain yield, TGW and harvest index.