Effects of species and sex on plasma hormone and metabolite concentrations in crossbred Brahman cattle and crossbred water buffalo

Buffalo meat is tasty and indistinguishable from beef, and has been described as being lean and low in cholesterol in comparison with beef. However, little is known about the plasma hormone and metabolic profiles related to fat metabolism in buffalo, and how their levels are affected by species and sex. In this study levels of plasma hormones and metabolites were compared between species and sexes. Ten growing crossbred Brahman cattle and ten growing crossbred buffaloes (five males and five females in each), with an average age of 22 months were used. The animals were fed on an experimental diet composed of corn silage, brewer's spent grain and a concentrate mixture at a 50:30:20 ratio on a dry matter basis during a fattening period of 6 months. Blood samples were collected every month during the experiment, and were analysed for plasma leptin, insulin, glucose, triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) concentrations. Plasma leptin, insulin and TC concentrations increased during fattening and were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in cattle than in buffaloes. These concentrations in cattle showed a big difference between sexes in comparison with buffaloes, and were higher in females than in males. The plasma glucose and TG concentrations did not differ (P > 0.05) between cattle and buffaloes.

The crude fat content of longissimus muscle was significantly higher in cattle than in buffalo. Differences in body fat deposition seem to have an influence on plasma leptin, insulin and TC concentrations differently between cattle and buffaloes.     

Stimulation of axillary shoot formation of cuttings of Hylocereus trigonus (Cactaceae) by pre-soaking in benzyladenine solution

Either before or after curing their cut surfaces for 5 days, 7 cm- and 15-cm-long decapitated Hylocereus trigonus cuttings were treated by soaking their apical or basal ends in benzyladenine (BA) solution. They were then planted and grown in a greenhouse.For the 7 cm-long cuttings, BA (25–100 mg l^?1) applied to the apical ends for 24 h increased the ratio of cuttings with sprouted buds to 64–100%, the number of sprouted buds to 1.9–3.1 and of shoots to 1.6–2.8, and the shoot length to 35–60 mm, compared to the water control which showed 13%, 1.0, 1.0 and 12.5 mm, respectively. Soaking the basal part had only a small effect.Naphthylacetic acid (NAA) applied to the basal ends of cuttings immediately after cutting increased the number of sprouted buds and shoots by inducing early rooting. The number and length of BA-induced axillary shoots in the longer cuttings was greater than those in the shorter ones.In the 15-cm-long cuttings, increasing the soaking time from 5 min to 24 h resulted in a greater promotive effect of BA on shoot formation. BA applied before curing showed the same effect as that given after curing but caused necrosis of the tissue just under the cut surface. Enlarging the area soaked in BA solution from 5 cm to 10 cm decreased the number of sprouting buds and shoots.     

Flood damage assessment on rice crop in the Stung Sen River Basin of Cambodia

Paddy and Water Environment - In Cambodia, rice production is important for the majority of rural populations as the main source of income. However, historical extreme flood events, especially the...     

Molecular identification of `Candidatus Mycoplasma haemovis' in sheep with hemolytic anemia

We examined the presence of hemoplasmas, hemotropic mycoplasmas, among 11 sheep (Ovis aries) with regenerative and hemolytic anemia and found six of them were positive by real-time PCR. The positive samples were then subjected to conventional PCR for direct sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Nucleotide sequences of all the positive samples were identified as the 16S rRNA gene of `Candidatus Mycoplasma haemovis' by phylogenetic analysis, demonstrating the infections with this particular hemoplasma species in Japan.     

Effect of supplementing Rhodes grass hay (Chloris gayana) with Berchemia discolor or Zizyphus mucronata on the performance of growing goats in Kenya

Twenty growing Small East African goats were used to determine the effects of feeding sun-dried leaves of the browse forages Berchemia discolor and Zizyphus mucronata as supplements to low-quality basal diet, Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) hay, on voluntary feed intake (VFI), digestibility and growth performance. The grass hay and maize bran were used as a control. The dried leaves were then included at the rates of 15% and 30% of the dry matter intake (DMI). Berchemia discolor had the highest crude protein (CP) content of 195.5 g/kg DM, while Z. mucronata had CP content of 169.5 g/kg DM. The grass hay had the lowest CP content of 50.9 g/kg DM. The browse forages had low fibre content [Neutral detergent fibre (NDF); 257.9-369.5 g/kg DM], while the grass hay had high fibre content (NDF; 713.1 g/kg DM). Goats in the groups supplemented with either of the browse forages had higher total DMI, nitrogen (N) intake and retention and live-weight gains than those in the control diet group. The digestibility of DM and organic matter (OM) was not affected by supplementation, but the CP digestibility increased with supplementation. The use of the browse forages as supplements for goats fed on poor-quality basal diets would enhance the performance of the animals.     

Morphological, histochemical and morphometric study of the myotomal muscle tissue of the pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus Holmberg 1887: Serrasalminae, Characidae, Teleostei)

Histochemical, ultrastructural and morphometric methods were used to study growth patterns of red, pink and white muscle fibres and their relation to body weight and total length in the fast-growing freshwater fish Piaractus mesopotamicus Holmberg. The correlations amongst body weight, body length and diameter of red, pink and white fibres were low. From 10-15 to 40-50 cm, body weight increased 102.7 times, while the diameter of each type of fibre increased by factors of 0.94, 0.74 and 0.70, respectively. Muscle fibres revealed different morphological and histochemical stages of maturation. The frequencies of < 20 microns fibres of red, pink and white muscle tissue in the youngest and oldest classes were 64.5 and 11.0, 38.2 and 7.7 and 24.0 and 1.4%, respectively. In 30-40 cm fish, the frequency of < 20 microns fibres in the red and pink tissue was 24.5 and 25.5%, while in the white tissue it was 11.5%. During sexual maturity (40-50 cm), the recruitment of < 20 microns fibres in white muscle was 1.4%. Muscle fibres of this species showed continuous growth by both hyperplastic and hypertrophic mechanisms, and hyperplasia was particularly active in the juvenile phase.     

Rapid identification of hemoplasma species by palindromic nucleotide substitutions at the GAAA tetraloop helix in the specificity domain of ribonuclease P RNA

We examined secondary structures of the ribonuclease P RNA sequences obtained from DNA databases, and identified a determinative prototype of the P12 helix peculiar to each species of hemoplasmas. This key structure will provide a rapid means for species identification of these uncultivable pathogens without making a phylogenetic tree based on alignments of nucleotide sequences. This procedure based on palindromic nucleotide substitutions at the stem portion of the P12 helix provide clear information such as the level of heterogeneity within a species, the relatedness between species, or facilitating the characterization and clustering of specific strains. In conclusion, the PNS analysis is based on the evaluation of only the strategic and highly conserved genomic region in the specificity domain of RNase P RNA.