于田县西伯利亚白刺播种育苗技术研究

以新疆和田地区于田县的克里雅河上游分布的西伯利亚白刺种子为试材,进行温水浸种催芽、层积处理和沙藏催芽等3种处理方法,研究了不同播种育苗方法对白刺种子出苗率和成活率的影响,以期找到使育苗成活率高、繁殖速度快的播种育苗方法,对白刺属植物播种育苗基地建设方面提供实地试验基础。结果表明:对白刺种子进行温水浸种催芽、层积处理和沙藏催芽后,当有30%以上的种子露白时即可播种,当年4月25日播种,5月7日出苗,5月13日苗木基本出齐,不同处理方法出苗率分别为温水浸种催芽78%、层积处理72%、沙藏催芽67%,平均出苗率72.3%。3种处理方法的种子出苗率和成活率均较高。     

Genome-wide association studies of preweaning growth and in vivo carcass composition traits in Esme sheep

Sheep are considered as a major contributor of global food security. Moreover, sheep preweaning growth traits as well as in vivo carcass composition traits such as ultrasonic measurements of Longissimus dorsi muscle depth (UMD) and back-fat thickness (UFD) are crucially important indicators of meat yield and hot carcass composition. Despite their relative importance for productivity and profitability of a sheep production system, detected QTL for these traits are quite scarce. Therefore, we implemented GWAS for these traits using animal mixed model-based association approach provided by GenABEL in Esme sheep. Three genome-wide and 14 individual chromosome-wide associated SNPs were discovered. As a result, ESRP1, LOC105613082, ZNF641, DUSP5, TEAD1, SMOX, PTPRT, RALYL, POM121C, PHIP, LOC101106051, ZIM3, PEG3, TRPC7, FBXL4, LOC105610397, LOC105616489 and DNAAF2 were suggested as candidates. Some of the discovered genes and involved pathways were already annotated to contribute growth and development in various species including human, mice and cattle. All in all, the results of this study are expected to strongly contribute to shed a light on the underlying molecular mechanisms behind growth and carcass composition traits, with potential implications on studies aiming faster genetic improvement, targeted low-resolution SNP panel designs and genome-editing studies.     

Integrated pest management of Tuta absoluta: practical implementations across different world regions

Journal of Pest Science - The South American tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), has invaded most Afro-Eurasian countries and is threatening worldwide tomato...     

Feeding value of different levels of malt sprout and katikala atella on nutrient utilization and growth performance of sheep fed basal diet of Rhodes grass hay

Nonconventional agro-industrial by-products such as traditional liquor residues (locally called katikala atella) are widely used by livestock farmers in Ethiopia. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the supplementary value of katikala atella and malt sprout (MS) on performance of sheep fed a basal diet of Rhodes grass hay. Thirty intact yearling male sheep with an average initial body weight of 17.4?±?0.74 kg (mean?±?SD) were assigned to the treatments in a completely randomized block design: atella alone (T1), 75 % atella?+?25 % malt sprout (MS) (T2), 50 % atella?+?50 % MS (T3), 25 % atella?+?75 % MS (T4), MS alone (T5), and Rhodes grass hay alone (T6). Grass hay was fed ad libitum to all treatments. The total dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) intakes of sheep fed T4, T5, and T3 diets were the highest (P?<?0.05), while sheep receiving T6 had the lowest DM intake. The highest (P?<?0.05) total crude protein (CP) intake was for sheep fed T5 diet, while the lowest was for those fed T6 diet. Sheep receiving T3 diet had higher (P?<?0.05) DM, OM, CP, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) digestibility as compared with those fed T1, T2, and T6 diets. Sheep supplemented with 50–100 % malt sprout had similar (P?>?0.05) DM, OM, CP, NDF, and ADF digestibility. The highest (P?<?0.05) average daily gain was for sheep fed T3, T4, and T5 diets, while sheep in T6 lost body weight. Sheep fed T5 diet had the highest (P?<?0.05) nitrogen retention, while those fed T6 diet had the lowest. The study has shown that a mixture diet consisting of equal parts of katikala atella and malt sprout (T3) are found to be superior in most of the required nutrient characteristics.     

Characterization of a Probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum Isolated from Snakehead,Channa striatus,Stomach

This study sought to isolate and characterize lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from stomach of adult snakehead fish, Channa striatus, to be used as probiotics for freshwater fish. A total of 13 strains were isolated from the stomach of 10 fish, and 4 of these belonged to LAB. Strain LAB‐3 showing highest in vitro growth inhibition of Aeromonas hydrophila in a disk diffusion test was identified as Lactobacillus fermentum by conventional and molecular techniques and evaluated in vitro through various tests. The bacterium could grow at pH 3–8; but the optimum growth was observed at pH 6. Moreover, LAB‐3 grew at 0.15 and 0.3% bile salt concentrations, from 15 to 45 C, and at 4% NaCl. L. fermentum showed in vitro inhibitory activity against three fish pathogens, A. hydrophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Shewanella putrefaciens, tested by disk diffusion and well diffusion methods. Antibiotic sensitivity tests indicated that L. fermentum was resistant to streptomycin, gentamycin, and kanamycin, intermediate to tetracycline, but sensitive to chloramphenicol, amoxicillin, and ampicillin. Challenge test by using A. hydrophila showed that survival of snakehead was significantly (P < 0.05) improved when 2 × 10⁶ LAB‐3/g was supplemented to the diet. Therefore, this study suggests that L. fermentum might be a promising probiotic in snakehead aquaculture .     

Bovine respiratory syncytial virus can induce apoptosis in MDBK cultured cells

Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) is a major cause of respiratory disease in calves. BRSV infection is associated with epithelial cell death and inflammation. Over the past few years, a growing number of viruses have been found to induce apoptosis. In order to determine the ability of BRSV to induce apoptosis, we studied the effect of BRSV infection in cultured MDBK cells. We used ligation-mediated PCR assay to detect specific blunt-end cellular DNA fragments produced by cellular endonucleases cleaving the genomic DNA between the nucleosomes during apoptosis. We found that BRSV infection resulted in apoptosis in MDBK cells. This data demonstrates for the first time that BRSV can induce apoptosis. This data also may contribute to delineate the mechanisms that regulate tissue injury and potential lung repair following BRSV infection.     

新疆不同沙棘品种的抗寒性比较

【目的】研究低温处理对沙棘品种抗寒性的影响,筛选出抗寒能力强品种,为新疆沙棘栽培品种的选择与种植提供可靠依据。【方法】以新疆青河县4个沙棘品种辽阜、阿尔泰新闻、楚依、阿列伊的一年生枝条为材料,分析10 ~-40℃ 条件下沙棘枝条自由水/束缚水比值、电导率、丙二醛含量、可溶性糖和可溶性蛋白含量的变化。【结果】在-20℃以下,4个品种沙棘枝条中自由水/束缚水比值、电导率和丙二醛的含量随着温度的降低逐渐增加,可溶性糖和可溶性蛋白的含量随着温度的降低呈先增加后降低的趋势。在整个低温变化过程中,阿尔泰新闻和楚依品种沙棘枝条自由水/束缚水比值,电导率和丙二醛含量相对较低。【结论】阿尔泰新闻沙棘品种的抗寒性最好,依此是楚依、辽阜和阿列伊,阿尔泰新闻更适宜新疆寒冷地区种植。     

Breeding for yield and quality in durum wheat

Three populations of an intervarietal durum wheat cross IWP5308/PDW208, F₅, F₅BIP₁ (population derived after intermating in F₂) and F₅BIP₂ (population derived after intermating in BIPF₁), were evaluated under three different agronomic environments for mean performance and stability of genotypes for grain yield, yield components and protein content. Though the biparental progenies indicated a higher mean performance, they did not differ significantly from progenies of the pedigree method for almost all characters. The biparental progenies, however, produced a higher number of stable genotypes for grain yield per plant, grains per ear and protein content. The F₅ population had a higher number of stable genotypes for 1000 grain weight and number of tillers per plant. The BIP progenies also had a higher number of genotypes with above average mean performance, and many were significantly higher than the checks WH896 and WH542, compared with F₅ progenies. Hence, in spite of high G x E interactions, the use of cycles of biparental mating and selection of top yielding lines on the basis of yield components can enable selection of stable genotypes with high protein content. Number of tillers per plant and 1000 grain weight were the yield component characters which made maximum contribution to phenotypic stability of the genotypes. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.