Thyroid gland development in Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis Kaup 1858) during early life stages: A histochemical and immunohistochemical approach

A key to success in the culture of marine fish species is the mass production of high quality fry, a process largely dependent on successful first feeding and normal development and growth of fish larvae. In this regard it is important to examine the structural and functional development of the endocrine system (pituitary, thyroid, interrenal glands) during early ontogeny of marine fish. Particularly, the thyroid hormones, thyroxine (T₄) and triiodothyronine (T₃), influence numerous metabolic processes, such as growth, differentiation, metamorphosis, reproduction, respiration, migratory behaviour, central nervous system activity, seasonal adaptation, etc. Therefore the aim of this study was to describe the development of the thyroid gland and the ontogeny appearance of the thyroid hormones in Solea senegalensis larvae by means of histological and immunohistochemical techniques. The first thyroid follicle was present at 4 days-post-hatch (dph) coinciding with first feeding. During metamorphosis (12–20 dph) the follicles increased in both number and size, and by 30 dph presented the same characteristics as that seen in adult fish. Tissue immunostaining of both thyroid hormones decreased during the endogenous larvae development to nearly undetectable levels at the completion of yolk-sac absorption. During larvae exogenous phase, T₃ and T₄ immunostaining was first detected by 6 dph and an increase of specific staining for both hormones was detected between 12 and 20 dph, during metamorphosis phase.     

Changes in Cd,Cu, Ni,Pb and Zn Fractionation and Liberation Due to Mussel Shell Amendment on a Mine Soil

Mining activities are related to relevant environmental pollution issues that should be controlled. We used sequential extractions to fractionate Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn retained on unamended or mussel shell‐amended mine soil samples, all of them treated with a mixture of the five heavy metals (total metal concentration of 1·57 mmol L⁻¹), after 1, 7 and 30 days of incubation. In addition, we used the stirred flow chamber technique to study the release of each of the five heavy metals from these different unamended and shell‐amended soil samples. The results indicate that the shell amendment caused a decrease in the most soluble fraction, while increasing the most recalcitrant (least mobile) fraction. With equivalent implications, the stirred flow chamber experiments showed that mussel shell amendment was associated to a decrease in heavy metal release and increased retention. The highest mussel shell dose and incubation time caused the most relevant changes in pH values and thus in metal retention, also indicating the importance of pH modifications in the mechanism of retention acting in the amended samples. In view of these results, the use of mussel shell amendment can be encouraged to increase heavy metal retention in acid mine soils, in order to minimise risks of environmental pollution. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of potato–grain rotations on soil erosion, carbon dynamics and properties of rangeland sandy soils

The potential for wind erosion in South Central Colorado is greatest in the spring, especially after harvesting of crops such as potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) that leave small amounts of crop residue in the surface after harvest. Therefore it is important to implement best management practices that reduce potential wind erosion and that we understand how cropping systems are impacting soil erosion, carbon dynamics, and properties of rangeland sandy soils. We evaluate the effects of cropping systems on soil physical and chemical properties of rangeland sandy soils. The cropping system included a small grain–potato rotation. An uncultivated rangeland site and three fields that two decades ago were converted from rangeland into cultivated center-pivot-irrigation-sprinkler fields were also sampled. Plant and soil samples were collected in the rangeland area and the three adjacent cultivated sites. The soils at these sites were classified as a Gunbarrel loamy sand (Mixed, frigid Typic Psammaquent). We found that for the rangeland site, soil where brush species were growing exhibited C sequestration and increases in soil organic matter (SOM) while the bare soil areas of the rangeland are losing significant amounts of fine particles, nutrients and soil organic carbon (SOM-C) mainly due to wind erosion. When we compared the cultivated sites to the uncultivated rangeland, we found that the SOM-C and soil organic matter nitrogen (SOM-N) increased with increases in crop residue returned into the soils. Our results showed that even with potato crops, which are high intensity cultivated cropping systems, we can maintain the SOM-C with a rotation of two small grain crops (all residue incorporated) and one potato crop, or potentially increase the average SOM-C with a rotation of four small grain crops (all residue incorporated) and one potato crop. Erosion losses of fine silt and clay particles were reduced with the inclusion of small grains. Small grains have the potential to contribute to the conservation of SOM and/or sequester SOM-C and SOM-N for these rangeland systems that have very low C content and that are also losing C from their bare soils areas (40%). Cultivation of these rangelands using rotations with at least two small grain crops can reduce erosion and maintain SOM-C and increasing the number of small grain crops grown successfully in rotation above two will potentially contribute to C and N sequestration as SOM and to the sequestration of macro- and micro-nutrients.     

Liberalization of Peru's formal seed sector

During the 1990s, the Government of Peru began to aggressivelyprivatize agriculture. The government stopped loaning money to farmers' cooperatives and closed the government rice-buying company. The government even rented out most of its researchstations and many senior scientists lost their jobs. As part of this trend, the government eliminated its seed certification agency. Instead, private seed certification committees were set up with USAID funding and technical advise from a US university. The committees were supposed to become self-financing (bycertifying seed grown by small seed producers) and each committee was supposed to encourage the development of a group of small seed-producing firms, clustered around the seedcertification agency. The amazing thing is that many of the seed committees actually accomplished these goals. The agronomists who staffed the committees stood by their jobs,even after US funding ended, even though the committees' income was (at best) modest, and occasionally under the threat of violence from the extreme left. Some seed certificationcommittees failed and others did not. Some of the problems with Peruvian agricultural liberalization can be seen in regard to the seed programs of maize, rice, potatoes, and beans. For example, the government abandoned most research, yet could not resist creating certain distortions in the seed market (e.g.,buying large amounts of seed and distributing them for political ends).     

A standardized cytological and immunochemical method for the analysis of fine-needle spleen aspirates: assessment of leukocyte population changes in canine visceral leishmaniosis

A method for the evaluation of splenic cellularity using samples collected by fine-needle aspirative biopsy was standardized in this work. The procedure includes erythrocyte lysing, preparation of cytospin films and staining by histochemical and immunocytochemical techniques. The cellular profiles of spleen preparations were compared with those observed in peripheral blood samples subjected to the same procedure. Two groups were compared, one consisting of 14 healthy uninfected and the other of 15 polysymptomatic Leishmania chagasi/infantum-infected dogs, from an endemic area for visceral leishmaniosis. Cell populations were identified by conventional hematoxilin-eosin and Wright' stainings, and by immunocytochemistry using monoclonal antibodies against canine CD45RA and CD45RB, phagocytes and a pan-leukocyte antigen. Larger neutrophil (P < 0.0001) and monocyte/macrophage (P = 0.0036) relative counts and lower lymphocyte relative counts (P < 0.0001) were found in the spleen, and not in the blood, of the animals with leishmaniosis than in those of the healthy animals. The proportions of CD45RB+ cells were higher, and of CD45RA+ cells were lower, both in the spleen and in the blood of animals with leishmaniosis than in those of healthy dogs (P < 0.05). Additionally, hematoxilin-eosin-stained cytospins of spleen aspirates from Leishmania-infected animals permitted the easy visualization of amastigote forms inside phagocytes, under light microscopy.     

Rapid Gas Chromatographic Technique for Quantifying 2‐Acetyl‐1‐Pyrroline and Hexanal in Rice (Oryza sativa,L.)

The aroma of rice plays a role in its consumer acceptability. The popcorn‐like smell of aromatic rice stemming primarily from its 2‐ acetyl‐1‐pyrroline (2‐AP) content is considered desirable by many consumers. Conversely, hexanal has been correlated with off odors in rice that develop from lipid oxidation. A rapid method for 2‐AP and hexanal quantification suitable for use in breeding programs, large‐scale research efforts, and quality assurance programs is needed. While developing such a method, sample preparation (degree of milling, particle size), solvent extraction time and temperature, and gas chromatographic parameters were studied. Particle size had no influence on 2‐AP or hexanal recovered. One extraction solubilized ≈80% of the 2‐AP and 56% of the hexanal present in milled rice. The optimum extraction method was assessed to require 0.3 g of ground brown or milled rice in methylene chloride held at 85°C for 2.5 hr. The complete gas chromatographic run requires ≈25 min, and 50 samples can be analyzed per day. The optimized method's linear response (R² = 0.99) and reproducibility was demonstrated. The stability of 2‐AP and hexanal in frozen milled rice and in refrigerated methylene chloride extracts was excellent for at least six months. Milled and unmilled commercial and breeders' aromatic rice samples contained 10–1,104 ng/g of 2‐AP and 148–2,541 ng/g of hexanal. Genotype had the greatest effect on the 2‐AP and hexanal content of two lines grown over four years and in four states.     

Amaranth Peptides from Simulated Gastrointestinal Digestion: Antioxidant Activity Against Reactive Species

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - We evaluated the capacity of simulated gastrointestinal digests or alcalase hydrolysates of protein isolates from amaranth to scavenge diverse physiologically...     

Soil chemical and biochemical properties of a salt-marsh alluvial Spanish area after long-term reclamation

Marisma, one of the largest salt-marsh alluvial areas in SW Spain, has been reclaimed since 1970 by artificial drainage and amendment with phosphogypsum (PG) so as to reduce Na⁺ saturation. Within the reclaimed area, two 250- × 20-m plots were treated as follows: (1) amendment with 25 Mg/ha of PG every 2 to 3 years between 1979 and 2003 (plot PY); (2) like PY but PG treatment stopped after 1997 (plot DR). A contiguous virgin Marisma salt-marsh plot (MV), neither drained nor amended, was the control. In MV, soil microbial biomass C, most enzyme activities and total organic C content were much greater than in PY and DR soils, despite the salinity stress. The decrease in soil organic matter content in PY and DR soils was likely due to cotton-cropping practices, which favoured the organic C mineralisation and nutrients removal by crops. Microbial activity of MV soil, probably stimulated by the rhizodepositions of the natural vegetation, did not suffer from the osmotic effect due to the raising of soil solution ionic strength. Microbial quotient could be ranked as MV > PY > DR, whereas the metabolic quotient had an opposite trend. Thus, both quotients suggested that the interruption of PG amendment was not favouring microbial activity. Principal component analysis clearly identified the chemical and biochemical soil properties mostly affected by the reclamation and also indicated the longer PG amendment in PY plot. Stepwise discriminant analysis identified two physiologically different types of soil microflora, one less active present in the MV virgin soil and another more active present in the reclaimed PY and DR soils.