Do cover crops change the lability of phosphorus in a clayey subtropical soil under different phosphate fertilizers?

Plants have developed different mechanisms to absorb and solubilize phosphorus (P) in the soil, especially in environments with low P availability. This study evaluated the effects of different winter cover crops on soil P availability in a clayey subtropical (Hapludox) soil receiving soluble P fertilizer and a rock phosphate applied to the summer crop, under no‐tillage. The experiment was carried out over 3 yrs (2009–2011) with five different cover crop species: common vetch, fodder radish, ryegrass, black oat, white clover and fallow as control. The soil was sampled after the third year of cover crop cultivation and analysed for inorganic and organic P forms according to the well‐established Hedley fractionation procedure. Phosphate fertilizers promoted accumulation of both labile and nonlabile P pools in soil in the near surface layer, especially under rock phosphate. Fertilizer applications were not able to change P fractions in deeper layers, emphasizing that the Brazilian clayey soils are a sink of P from fertilizer and its mobility is almost nil. Although the cover crops recycled a great amount of P in tissue, in a short‐term evaluation (3 yrs) they only changed the content of moderately labile P in soil, indicating that long‐term studies are needed for more conclusive results.     

The Effect of Size and Diet on Gonad Production by the Chilean Sea Urchin Loxechinus albus

Conadal production was studied in Loxechinus albus (Molina, 1782) maintained in cages suspended from a long-line in the Estero Castro, Chiloé for 3 mo during the austral summer. The sea urchins were fed either an artificial diet or a natural diet consisting of the macroalgae Macrocystis pyrifera and Ulva sp. Both diets were tested for four size ranges: 40–45, 50–55, 60–65 and 70–75 mm diameter. For all four size ranges, highest gonad production was with the artificial diet. Gonad production was greatest in the 40–45 mm individuals with an increase of about 1,400% and 750% in the wet weight of gonads in individuals fed the artificial and natural diet, respectively. With the three other size ranges, the increase was nearly 100% with the artificial diet and nearly 0% with the natural diet The gonad index showed similar patterns, being highest in the smallest individuals. Small individuals fed the artificial diet would provide the most cost effective aquaculture as production is best. It is not necessary to grow L. albus to the minimal legal size for fisheries (70-mm diameter) for cost effective gonad production.     

Adherence of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 1 to swine buccal epithelial cells involves fibronectin

The swine pathogen Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 1 was investigated for its ability to adhere to swine, rat, and human buccal epithelial cells (BEC). The highest number of bacteria adhered was to swine BEC. This binding ability was affected by heating, extreme pH, treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate, ethylenediamine tetraacetate, or periodate, and proteolysis, suggesting that cell-surface glycoproteins participate in adherence and that adherence is based mostly on ionic interactions. Mannose and swine fibronectin may play a direct role in this interaction. Convalescent-phase serum from naturally infected pigs inhibited the adhesion. There was a correlation between bacterial pathogenicity as well as host specificity and the capacity for adherence to swine BEC. Adhesion to swine BEC provides a convenient method to study in vitro the adherence of A. pleuropneumoniae and other pathogens of the pig respiratory tract.     

Genomic characterization of the first oral avian papillomavirus in a colony of breeding canaries (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Serinus canaria</Emphasis>)

Papillomaviruses are non-enveloped, DNA viruses that infect skin and mucosa of a wide variety of vertebrates, causing neoplasias or simply persisting asymptomatically. Avian papillomaviruses, with six fully sequenced genomes, are the second most studied group after mammalian papillomaviruses. In this study, we describe the first oral avian papillomavirus, detected in the tongue of a dead Yorkshire canary (Serinus canaria) and in oral swabs of the same bird and other two live canaries from an aviary in Madrid, Spain. Its genome is 8,071 bp and presents the canonical papillomavirus architecture with six early (E6, E7, E1, E9, E2, E4) and two late open reading frames (L1 and L2) and a long control region between L1 and E6. This new avian papillomavirus L1 gene shares a 64% pairwise identity with FcPV1 L1, so it has been classified as a new species (ScPV1) within the Ethapapillomavirus genus. Although the canary died after showing breathing problems, there is no evidence that the papillomavirus caused those symptoms so it could be part of the oral microbiota of the birds. Hence, future investigations are needed to evaluate the clinical relevance of the virus.     

Heritability and genetic correlations between rumination time and production traits in Holstein dairy cows during different lactation phases

So far, rumination has been used as a proxy for monitoring dairy cow health at farm level. However, investigating its genetic aspects as well as its correlation with other important productive traits may turn this management tool into a new informative selection criterion. However, scientific evidences on genetic correlation among rumination time (RT) and milk production and milk composition are still scarce. Therefore, the objective of this study was to estimate the heritability of RT across three lactation phases and its genetic correlation with milk production, milk composition and somatic cell count (SCC). Results of our study showed that heritability for RT was 0.34 and was constant across lactation. The mean genetic correlations between RT and milk production and composition traits were 0.07 (milk production), ?0.07 (protein yield), ?0.31 (fat yield), and ?0.32 (fat/protein ratio). The mean genetic correlation between RT and the SCC was 0.05.     

Heritability of the resistance to pepper huasteco yellow vein virus in wild genotypes of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Capsicum annuum</Emphasis>

Pepper huasteco yellow vein virus (PHYVV) is the main virus of pepper crop in Mexico. No resistant cultivars are available and resistance breeding is hampered by the lack of knowledge of heritability (h ²) of PHYVV resistance. This is a continuation of previous studies and the objectives were to analyze the h ² and the behavior of the resistant trait to PHYVV. Four resistant assays were done with three resistant wild lines (UAS12, UAS13 and UAS10) of Capsicum annuum in the S4, S5, S6 and S7 generation under greenhouse conditions. Plants from all tests were inoculated with PHYVV through Bemisia tabaci. Line UAS12 was the most resistant showing a significantly proportion of resistant plants, less disease symptoms and longer incubation time, followed by the lines UAS13 and UAS10 in all assays. Distribution of symptoms showed a bimodal tendency in all the trials, suggesting that two groups of genes are involved in this resistance trait. The lines UAS12, UAS13 and UAS10 showed the same pattern of response to selection with an average of h ² of 0.17, 0.06, 0.02 and 0.00 in the S4, S5, S6 and S7, respectively. These results indicate that all lines responded positively to the selection in the S4, S5 and S6, whereas in the S7 there was no response by the possible exhaustion of variation. Line UAS12 is the most promising genotype and the lines UAS13 and UAS10 are genetic resources that can be supplemented to breed the resistance of PHYVV. These results provides basic information for resistance breeding.     

Management strategies for forage rape (Brassica napus L. cv Goliath): Impact on dry-matter yield,plant reserves,morphology and nutritive value

Limited information is available on the grazing management principles of forage rape (Brassica napus L.), particularly in relation to grazing height and intensity and the impact of these on dry-matter (DM) yield and nutritive value. A glasshouse study was undertaken to investigate the effect of three defoliation heights (plant height at harvest; DH: 40, 70 and 90 cm; L, M and H DH respectively) and three defoliation intensities (height at which plants were cut; DI: 5, 20 and 35 cm of residual height; H, M and L DI respectively) on forage rape (cv Goliath) yield and nutritive value at two harvests (harvest 1, H1 and harvest 2, H2), and the impact of nitrogen (N) and water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) reserves on regrowth. Increasing DH from L to H increased estimated total DM yield (H1 plus H2) from 0.5 to 4.6 t DM/ha but DI did not affect yield. Dry-matter yield was optimized at 90 cm DH, but greater nutritive value was achieved by harvesting at lower levels of DH. Despite high in vitro DM digestibility (IVDMD; 852–889 g/kg), harvesting at 90 cm DH could not meet the protein requirement of lactating dairy cows and harvesting at lower levels risks nitrate poisoning. Our results indicate the optimum DH may be between 70 and 90 cm DH, and 20 and 35 cm DI, which requires further studies.     

A new standard area diagram set for assessment of severity of soybean rust improves accuracy of estimates and optimizes resource use

Soybean rust (SBR), caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, is the most important yield-damaging fungal disease of soybean due to severe reduction in healthy leaf area and acceleration of leaf fall. In experimental research, SBR severity is estimated visually aided/trained by a standard area diagram (SAD) developed and validated during the mid-2000s (Old SAD). In this study, we propose a new SAD set for SBR with six true-colour diagrams following linear increments (c. 15% increments) amended with four additional diagrams at low (<10%) severities, totalling 10 diagrams (0.2%, 1%, 3%, 5%, 10%, 25%, 40%, 55%, 70%, and 84%). For evaluation, 37 raters were split into two groups. Each assessed severity in a 50-image sample (0.25%–84%), first unaided and then using either the Old SAD or the New SAD. Accuracy, precision, and reliability of estimates improved significantly relative to unaided estimates only when aided by the New SAD (accuracy >0.95). Low precision (<0.78) and a trend of underestimation with an increase in severity were the main issues with the Old SAD, which did not differ from unaided estimates. Simulation to evaluate the impact of the errors by different methods on hypothesis tests, showed that the new SAD was more powerful for detecting the smallest difference in mean control (e.g., 70% vs. 65% disease reduction) than the Old SAD; the latter required a 2-fold increase in sample size to achieve the same power. There is a need to improve some SADs, taking advantage of new knowledge and technology to increase accuracy of the estimates, and to optimize both resource use efficiency and management decisions.     

A 3-year assessment of nitrous oxide emission factors for urine and dung of grazing sheep in a subtropical ecosystem

Purpose

Grazing livestock has strong impact on global nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions by providing N sources through excreta. The scarcity of information on factors influencing N₂O emissions from sheep excreta in subtropical ecosystems such as those of Southern Brazil led us to conduct field trials in three different winter pasture seasons on an integrated crop–livestock system (ICL) in order to assess N₂O emission factors (EF-N₂O) in response to variable rates of urine and dung.

Materials and methods

The equivalent urine-N loading rates for the three winter seasons (2009, 2010, and 2013) ranged from 96 to 478 kg ha^?1, and the dung-N rates applied in 2009 and 2010 were 81 and 76 kg ha^?1, respectively. Air was sampled from closed static chambers (0.20 m in diameter) for approximately 40 days after excreta application and analyzed for N₂O by gas chromatography.

Results and discussion

Soil N₂O-N fluxes spanned the ranges 4 to 353 μg m^?2 h^?1 in 2009, ??47 to 976 μg m^?2 h^?1 in 2010, and 46 to 339 μg m^?2 h^?1 in 2013. Urine addition resulted in N₂O-N peaks within for up to 20–30 days after application in the 3 years, and the strength of the peaks was linearly related to the N rate used. Emission factors of N₂O (EF-N₂O, % of N applied that is emitted as N₂O) of urine ranged from 0.06 to 0.34% and were essentially independent of N rate applied. By considering a ratio of N excreted by urine and dung of 60:40, a single combined excretal EF-N₂O of 0.14% was estimated.

Conclusions

Our findings showed higher mean EF-N₂O for sheep urine than that for dung (0.21% vs 0.03%), irrespective of the occurrence or not of urine patches overlap. This value is much lower than default value of 1% of IPCC’s Tier 1 and reinforces the needs of its revision.