Dietary Moringa oleferia leaf meal induce growth,innate immunity and cytokine expression in grass carp,Ctenopharyngodon idella

The present research was designed to investigate the growth promoting and immunostimulating properties of Moringa oleferia leaf meal (MLM) in grass carp. Juvenile grass carp (22.03 g ± 1.164) were fed with diets supplemented with 0, 50, 100 and 150 g/kg MLM for 48 days. At the end of feeding trial, skin mucus was used for analysis of lysozyme, protease, antiprotease and peroxidase activity. Head kidney was used for expression analysis of tumour necrosis factor‐alpha, interleukin‐8 and interferon‐γ. The obtained results showed that fish fed with 100 and 150 g/kg MLM had significant increase in weight gain and specific growth rate (p < .05). However, condition factor was not altered. The MLM (50 and 100 g/kg) inclusion resulted in higher mucus lysozyme and protease activity (p < .05), while peroxidase activity increased only in fish fed with 100 g/kg MLM and antiprotease activity was not altered. Expression of tnf‐α increased in a dose‐dependent manner, and significant (p < .05) increase was recorded in fish fed with 150 g/kg MLM. The expression of il‐8 and ifn‐γ increased in fish fed with 50 and 150 g/kg MLM; however, the increase was not significant (p > .05). In conclusion, supplementing juvenile grass carp feed with MLM up to 150 g/kg has growth promoting and immunostimulating effects.     

Genetic dissection of grain yield traits in a large collection of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) germplasm

Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology - Understanding genetic architecture of a crop germplasm is necessary for designing a successful breeding program. Herein, we evaluated a large collection...     

Reactive Oxygen Species and Autophagy Modulation in Non-Marine Drugs and Marine Drugs

It is becoming more understandable that an existing challenge for translational research is the development of pharmaceuticals that appropriately target reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated molecular networks in cancer cells. In line with this approach, there is an overwhelmingly increasing list of many non-marine drugs and marine drugs reported to be involved in inhibiting and suppressing cancer progression through ROS-mediated cell death. In this review, we describe the strategy of oxidative stress-based therapy and connect the ROS modulating effect to the regulation of apoptosis and autophagy. Finally, we focus on exploring the function and mechanism of cancer therapy by the autophagy modulators including inhibitors and inducers from non-marine drugs and marine drugs.     

Genetic diversity and population structure assessed through simple sequence repeat markers in Saccharum spp. hybrids from Pakistan and Sri Lanka

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - The Saccharum species members are extremely complex allopolyploids. In this study, sixty Saccharum spp. hybrids were analyzed using simple sequence repeat...     

Impact of yield and quality-related traits of sugarcane on sugar recovery

Sugar recovery of Pakistani sugarcane varieties is relatively low as compared to the rest of the world while very little work is done on this aspect. The current study was conducted to tackle this issue and to assess the effect of quality and yielding traits on final sugar recovery. Sixty genotypes of sugarcane were sown during 2013 and data was collected at different growth stages during maturity and post maturity. Correlation studies indicated that polarity (0.77**) and purity (0.73**) were positively and significantly correlated with sugar recovery while brix% (-0.21**), fiber contents (-0.21**) and number of leaves per plant (-0.33**) were significant and negatively correlated with sugar recovery. Furthermore, leaf area was positively and significantly correlated with internode length (0.63**). Path coefficient analysis indicated that highest direct effect on sugar recovery was shown by purity (2.92), followed by brix% (2.48), and leaf area (0.66) which confirms that these traits could contribute more towards an increase of sugar recovery. Overall values of higher direct and indirect effects were observed by purity. The results of the current studies indicate that sugar recovery can be improved by focusing on purity, brix%, and leaf area.