Foliar nematode,Litylenchus crenatae ssp. mccannii,population dynamics in leaves and buds of beech leaf disease‐affected trees in Canada and the US

A foliar nematode, Litylenchus crenatae ssp. mccannii, is associated with beech leaf disease (BLD) symptoms. Information about the types of tissues parasitized and how nematode populations fluctuate in these tissues over time is needed to improve surveys as well as understand the nematodes role in BLD. During this study, the nematode was detected throughout the known range of BLD by researchers at both Canadian and US institutions using a modified pan method to extract nematodes. Monthly collections of symptomatic and asymptomatic leaves during the growing season (May–October), and leaves and buds between growing seasons (November–March), revealed that nematodes were present in all tissue types. Progressively larger numbers of nematodes were detected in symptomatic leaves from Ohio and Ontario, with the greatest detections at the end of the growing season. Smaller numbers of nematodes were detected in asymptomatic leaves from BLD‐infected trees, typically at the end of the growing season. The nematode was detected overwintering in buds and detached leaves. The discovery of small numbers of nematodes in detached leaves at one location before BLD was detected indicates that nematodes may have been present before disease symptoms were expressed. Other nematodes, Plectus and Aphelenchoides spp., were infrequently detected in small numbers. Our findings support the involvement of the nematode in BLD and indicate that symptoms develop only when certain requirements, such as infection of buds, are met. We also found that the nematode can be reliably detected in buds and leaves using the modified pan extraction method.     

Effect of nitrogen deficiency on growth and some biochemical characteristics in salt‐tolerant and salt‐sensitive lines of Lentil (lens cul1naris medic.)

The response of a salt‐tolerant line ILL 6793 and a salt‐sensitive line ILL 6439 of lentil (Lens culinaris) to N deficiency was studied in a pot experiment under glasshouse conditions. Plants of the two lines were treated with 56, 28, 14 and 7 mg N L^?1 in Rorison's nutrient solution. The salt‐tolerant line excelled the salt‐sensitive line in relative biomass production (per cent of control basis) under varying N regimes. Of the various physiological/biochemical variables measured in the present study only chlorophyll b and total soluble sugars proved to be helpful in discriminating the lines. Chlorophyll b was significantly greater in ILL 6793 as compared with ILL 6439 at the two lower N levels. Total soluble sugars increased consistently in both lines with decrease in N level of the growth medium and the salt‐tolerant line ILL 6793 had significantly greater soluble sugars than the salt‐sensitive ILL 6439 at 28 and 14 mg N L^?1. Chlorophyll a and free amino acids were uniformly reduced in both lines with decrease in N levels. The salt‐tolerant line showing high efficiency for N utilization could be of great economic value in terms of its use in salt‐affected soils which are usually deficient in N provided it also produces reasonable grain yield.     

Molecular simulations of Taxawallin I inside classical taxol binding site of β-tubulin

A new taxoid Taxawallin I (1) along with two known taxoids (2-3) were isolated from methanolic bark extract of Taxus wallichiana Zucc. Structural characterization was confirmed by mass and NMR spectral techniques. Taxawallin I exhibited significant in-vitro anticancer activity against HepG2, A498, NCI-H226 and MDR 2780AD cancer lines. Tubulin binding assay was performed to assess its tubulin binding activity. Molecular docking analysis was performed to study the potential binding mode inside the taxol binding site of β-tubulin.     

Inulin effects on bioavailability of soy isoflavones and their calcium absorption enhancing ability

The effect of inulin on isoflavone absorption and the effect of isoflavones and synergy with inulin on calcium absorption in rats was investigated. Rats (n = 48) were divided into three groups and fed inulin (50 mg/g), isoflavone (8 mg/g) or inulin + isoflavone (50 mg/g + 8 mg/g) diets for 21 days. After a 2-h fast, rats were given (45)Ca orally or intraperitoneally, together with 25 mg of calcium as calcium acetate. Blood and femurs were collected 4 days later. Sera were analyzed for isoflavones using HPLC-MS, femurs for (45)Ca by beta-scintillation counting, and total femoral calcium by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Both groups fed isoflavones had similar and significantly higher weight-adjusted total femoral calcium content compared to the inulin-fed group (p < 0.0001). (45)Ca absorption was significantly higher (p < 0.01) when isoflavones were added to the diet, and serum equol was significantly lower (p < 0.01) when inulin was added to the diet containing isoflavones. We conclude that isoflavones enhance calcium absorption, without synergy from inulin, and that inulin decreases equol production.     

Seasonal prevalence of coccidiosis in industrial broiler chickens in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan

The present paper reports the prevalence of coccidiosis in industrial broiler chickens in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan to determine the occurrence of different species of Eimeria in the area and to assess their correlation with the environmental conditions including temperature, humidity and rainfall. The study was conducted from January 2009 to December 2010. Examination of chicken guts revealed 43.89% (n = 3,283/7,480) prevalence of coccidiosis. The highest prevalence (27.04%) was recorded of Eimeria tenella followed by Eimeria maxima (22.42%), Eimeria acervulina (19.89%) and Eimeria necatrix (4.02%). The prevalence of disease was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in autumn (60.02 ± 4.38) followed by summer (47.42 ± 2.92), spring (36.92 ± 2.27) and winter (29.89 ± 3.43). Likewise, prevalence of different species of Eimeria also varied (P < 0.05) in different seasons of the year except that of E. necatrix. A strong correlation (P < 0.05) of environmental conditions with the overall and species-wise prevalence of coccidiosis was recorded except E. necatrix.     

Syringe test (modified larval immersion test): a new bioassay for testing acaricidal activity of plant extracts against Rhipicephalus microplus

We report a new bioassay "syringe test" (modified larval immersion test) for in vitro evaluation of acaricidal activity of crude plant extracts. Prepared syringes, containing eggs of tick, were incubated until 14 d after hatching of eggs, when the bioassay was performed on the larvae. Lethal concentrations for 50% of larvae (LC(50)), LC(90) and LC(99) values were calculated for each tested product. 95% confidence intervals for LC(50) were very narrow, indicating a high degree of repeatability for the new bioassay on larvae of R. microplus. Bioassays were applied to six crude aqueous-methanol extracts from five plants (Acacia nilotica, Buxus papillosa, Fumaria parviflora, Juniperus excelsa, and Operculina turpethum), of which three showed discernible effects. Twenty-four hours post exposure, LC(99) values were 11.9% (w/v) for F. parviflora, 20.8% (w/v) and 29.2% (w/v) for B. papillosa and A. nilotica, respectively. After six days of exposure these values were; 9.1% (w/v), 9.2% (w/v) and 15.5 (w/v) for F. parviflora, A. nilotica and B. papillosa, respectively.     

Quantification of dietary calcium requirement of fingerling Heteropneustes fossilis based on growth,feed conversion efficiency,mineralization and serum alkaline phosphatase activity

Seven isonitrogenous (400 g/kg crude protein) and isocaloric (17.89 kJ/g gross energy) purified diets (casein‐gelatin based) with different concentrations of calcium (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 g/kg) supplemented with calcium lactate at the levels of 0, 5.4, 10.8, 16.3, 21.8, 27.27 and 32.73 g/kg were prepared and fed for 12 weeks to triplicate groups of Heteropneustes fossilis (7.46 ± 0.03 g) to determine the optimum dietary calcium requirement. Analysed values of calcium in the diets were 2.41, 3.82, 4.56, 5.99, 6.71, 7.40 and 8.19 g/kg, respectively. Absolute weight gain, specific growth rate, protein retention efficiency, protein gain and feed conversion ratio of fish fed diets with increasing levels of dietary calcium improved up to 5.99 g/kg and then levelled off. Whole‐body protein, moisture and ash contents improved up to 5.99 g/kg dietary calcium and stabilized thereafter. However, whole‐body fat exhibited reverse pattern and decreased with incremental levels of dietary calcium up to 5.99 g/kg. Whole‐body and vertebrae mineralization was also significantly affected (p < .05) by the increasing dietary calcium levels. Alkaline phosphatase activity improved significantly (p < .05) up to 6.71 g/kg, and no change was recorded beyond this level. Serum calcium and phosphorus concentrations were not influenced (p > .05) by dietary calcium levels. The Ca–P ratio remained static in the whole body, vertebrae and serum. Broken‐line regression analysis of data obtained on growth, mineralization and serum ALP activity against increasing levels of dietary calcium reflected the optimum calcium requirement between 5.77–6.81 g/kg diet.     

A New Probability Model for Hydrologic Events: Properties and Applications

Upon the motivation of unstable climatic conditions of the world like excess of rains, drought and huge floods, we introduce a versatile hydrologic probability model with two scale parameters. The proposed model contains Lindley and exponentiated exponential (Lindley in J R Stat Soc Ser B 20:102–107, 1958; Gupta and Kundu in Biom J 43(1):117–130, 2001) distributions as special cases. Various properties of the distribution are obtained, such as shapes of the density and hazard functions, moments, mean deviation, information-generating function, conditional moments, Shannon entropy, L-moments, order statistics, information matrix and characterization via hazard function. Parameters are estimated via maximum likelihood estimation method. A simulation scheme is provided for generating the random data from the proposed distribution. Four data sets are used for comparing the proposed model with a set of well-known hydrologic models, such as generalized Pareto, log normal (3), log Pearson type III, Kappa(3), Gumbel, generalized logistic and generalized Lindley distributions, using some goodness-of-fit tests. These comparisons render the proposed model suitable and representative for hydrologic data sets with least loss of information attitude and a realistic return period, which render it as an appropriate alternate of the existing hydrologic models. Supplementary materials for this paper are available online.