Prediction of Genetic Gain in Sweet Corn using Selection Indexes

Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology - The cultivation of sweet corn is expanding in Brazil, but there are serious constraints about the availability of commercial cultivars. The selection of...     

Sensitivity of Seeds to Chemical Mutagens,Detection of DNA Polymorphisms and Agro-Metrical Traits in M1 Generation of Coffee (Coffea arabica L.)

Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology - Coffee (Coffea Arabica L.) is threatened by biotic and abiotic stresses. Nevertheless, the breeding of Arabica coffee is restricted due to its low...     

Establishment techniques affect productivity,nutritive value and atmospheric N2 fixation of two sunn hemp cultivars

Nitrogen fertilization is a common practice for sustaining forage production in forage systems in southeastern United States. Warm-season annual legumes may be an alternative forage to warm-season perennial grasses that do not require N fertilization. Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) is a fast-growing, warm-season annual legume native to India and Pakistan. The objective of this 2-year study was to assess the herbage accumulation (HA), atmospheric N₂ fixation (ANF) and nutritive value of sunn hemp. Treatments were the factorial arrangement of two sunn hemp cultivars (“Crescent Sun” and “Blue Leaf”), three seeding rates (17, 28 and 39 kg seed/ha) and seed inoculation (inoculated or non-inoculated seeds), distributed in a randomized complete block design with four replicates. Crescent sun had greater HA (3,218 vs. 1764 kg DM/ha) and ANF (41 vs. 25 kg N/ha). Blue leaf had greater crude protein (CP) (188 vs. 176 g/kg) and in vitro digestible organic matter (IVDOM) concentrations (564 vs. 531 g/kg) than crescent sun. Non-inoculated seed had greater CP than inoculated seed, 188 and 177 g/kg, respectively, and inoculation did not affect HA. Intermediate seeding rate (28 kg/ha) decreased HA (2002 kg DM/ha), while HA from high and low seeding rates (17 and 39 kg/ha, respectively) did not differ (2,863 and 2,615 kg DM/ha respectively). Planting non-inoculated crescent sun at 17 kg/ha seeding rate is a feasible management practice to produce sunn hemp in subtropical regions; however, inoculation should always be recommended for proper establishment.     

Innovation and gendered negotiations: Insights from six small‐scale fishing communities

There has so far been limited investigation into gender in relation to innovation in fisheries. Therefore, this study investigates how gender relations shape the capacity and motivation of different individuals in fishing communities to innovate. We compare six fishing communities in Cambodia, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands. Our findings suggest that gendered negotiations mediate the capacity to innovate but that wider structural constraints are important constraints for both men and women. Our findings show that men's and women's capacity to innovate is strongly mediated by the behaviour of their marriage partner. Consequently, we argue that gender research from a social relational perspective has an important contribution to make in understanding poor fishing communities where new ways of doing things or new technologies are being promoted.     

Effect of dietary protein content on growth rate,survival and body composition of juvenile cauque river prawn,Macrobrachium americanum (Bate 1868)

We determined the effect of four concentrations of dietary crude protein, 30.7, 37.2, 41.8 and 46.8% on growth rate, survival and body composition of the juvenile cauque river prawn (Macrobrachium americanum). The prawns were hatched in the laboratory from the spawn of one wild ovigerous female. Prawns consuming 37.2% crude protein reached a final weight of 0.58 g (feed conversion ratio of 2.15), which was significantly better than the other treatments. Survival was 100% in all treatments. Protein content in the diets had no significant effect on whole body proximate composition and amino acid profile. Juveniles consuming the 37.2% crude protein diet grew faster than those fed the other diets. Specific growth rate was adjusted to the two‐slope broken‐line regression analysis model to estimate the optimal protein requirement. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that the 37.2% protein level diet is optimal for juvenile cauque river prawn M. americanum in the experimental conditions of this study.     

Susceptibility to and transmission of H5N1 and H7N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses in bank voles (Myodes glareolus)

The study of influenza type A (IA) infections in wild mammals populations is a critical gap in our knowledge of how IA viruses evolve in novel hosts that could be in close contact with avian reservoir species and other wild animals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the susceptibility to infection, the nasal shedding and the transmissibility of the H7N1 and H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses in the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), a wild rodent common throughout Europe and Asia. Two out of 24 H5N1-infected voles displayed evident respiratory distress, while H7N1-infected voles remained asymptomatic. Viable virus was isolated from nasal washes collected from animals infected with both HPAI viruses, and extra-pulmonary infection was confirmed in both experimental groups. Histopathological lesions were evident in the respiratory tract of infected animals, although immunohistochemistry positivity was only detected in lungs and trachea of two H7N1-infected voles. Both HPAI viruses were transmitted by direct contact, and seroconversion was confirmed in 50% and 12.5% of the asymptomatic sentinels in the H7N1 and H5N1 groups, respectively. Interestingly, viable virus was isolated from lungs and nasal washes collected from contact sentinels of both groups. The present study demonstrated that two non-rodent adapted HPAI viruses caused asymptomatic infection in bank voles, which shed high amounts of the viruses and were able to infect contact voles. Further investigations are needed to determine whether bank voles could be involved as silent hosts in the transmission of HPAI viruses to other mammals and domestic poultry.     

Using fish models to investigate the links between microbiome and social behaviour: The next step for translational microbiome research?

Recent research has revealed surprisingly important connections between animals’ microbiome and social behaviour. Social interactions can affect the composition and function of the microbiome; conversely, the microbiome affects social communication by influencing the hosts’ central nervous system and peripheral chemical communication. These discoveries set the stage for novel research focusing on the evolution and physiology of animal social behaviour in relation to microbial transmission strategies. Here, we discuss the emerging roles of teleost fish models and their potential for advancing research fields, linked to sociality and microbial regulation. We argue that fish models, such as the zebrafish (Danio rerio, Cyprinidae), sticklebacks (?Gasterosteidae), guppies (Poeciliidae) and cleaner–client dyads (e.g., obligate cleaner fish from the Labridae and Gobiidae families and their visiting clientele), will provide valuable insights into the roles of microbiome in shaping social behaviour and vice versa, while also being of direct relevance to the food and ornamental fish trades. The diversity of fish behaviour warrants more interdisciplinary research, including microbiome studies, which should have a strong ecological (field‐derived) approach, together with laboratory‐based cognitive and neurobiological experimentation. The implications of such integrated approaches may be of translational relevance, opening new avenues for future investigation using fish models.