Detection,isolation and characterization of cowpea mosaic virus in Egypt

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Cowpea mosaic virus is among the most economically important viruses infecting cowpea. Incidence of infection was assessed in two governorates in Egypt,...     

Identification of proanthocyanidin dimers and trimers, flavone C-Glycosides, and antioxidants in Ficus deltoidea , a malaysian herbal tea

Phenolic compounds in an aqueous infusion of leaves of Ficus deltoidea (Moraceae), a well-known herbal tea in Malaysia, were analyzed by HPLC coupled to photodiode array and fluorescence detectors and an electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometer. Following chromatography of extracts on a reversed phase C(12) column, 25 flavonoids were characterized and/or tentatively identified with the main constituents being flavan-3-ol monomers, proanthocyanidins, and C-linked flavone glycosides. The proanthocyanidins were dimers and trimers comprising (epi)catechin and (epi)afzelechin units. No higher molecular weight proanthocyanidin polymers were detected. The antioxidant activity of F. deltoidea extract was analyzed using HPLC with online antioxidant detection. This revealed that 85% of the total antioxidant activity of the aqueous F. deltoidea infusion was attributable to the flavan-3-ol monomers and the proanthocyanidins.     

Amino Acid Composition of Developing Larval Freshwater Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Abstract.— Amino acid profiles of freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii were determined during early larval stages (I-IX) to provide some baseline biochemical information of the growing larvae. The larvae obtained from several females were stocked into three 250-L tanks at a density of 30 larvae/L. The feeding regime consisted of newly hatched Artemia nauplii and egg custard containing 5% cod liver oil. For each developmental stage, larval samples from each experimental tank were pooled, freeze dried and after acid hydrolysis, the quantification of amino acids was done by a reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography ( N = 2). The highest represented of the total amino acids were for glutamic acid and phenylalanine (with cystine) with ranges from 13.4–16.6 and 9.7–11.5%, respectively, whereas tryptophan (1.4–1.6%). methionine (1.4–2.7%) and histidine (2.9–4.2%) were relatively lower. The levels of the following essential amino acids did not significantly change during larval development: arginine, leucine, phenylalanine (plus cystine), threonine, tryptophan and valine. Despite statistically significant changes that were observed in levels of some amino acids, amino acid composition appeared to be relatively unchanged during the larval growth. The results may suggest that the amino acid requirements of the freshwater prawn is relatively constant during larval life and can be satistied by a suitable protein source that resembles the larval amino acid profile.     

Multilocus sequence analysis supports a low genetic diversity among ‘<Emphasis Type="Italic">Candidatus</Emphasis> Phytoplasma australasia’ related strains infecting vegetable crops and periwinkle in Egypt

‘Candidatus Phytoplasma australasia’ causes important damages to the Egyptian vegetable crop production. A prerequisite for controlling the different diseases it causes to eggplant, tomato and squash, is to trace its propagation pathways. To allow the differentiation of ‘Ca. P. australasia’ strains, a multilocus sequence analysis protocol was developed. Four conserved phytoplama genes namely tuf, secY, dnaK and dppA, were selected among the CDS of a ‘Ca. P. aurantifolia’ genome draft. The corresponding genes were PCR amplified from tomato, eggplant and squash collected in 2010 from the governorates Sharkia, Elmynia and Beni sueif, as well as from Catharanthus roseus periwinkles collected in 2013 from Kafrelsheikh governorate. Sequence comparisons showed no diversity among the Egyptian isolates of ‘Ca. P. australasia’ that also constitute a distinct cluster within the 16SrII-D taxonomic subgroup. This low diversity supports a common epidemiology for the different diseases affecting vegetable crops and periwinkle in Egypt and suggests that future investigations on insect vector should focus on polyphagous leafhoppers.     

新疆真藓属(Bryum Hedw.)新资料

通过经典分类学方法,对采自新疆各地的185号真藓属植物标本进行了整理、鉴定,报道新疆新记录2种:毛状真藓(Bryum apiculatum Schwaegr.)与近高山真藓(Bryum paradoxum Schwaegr.)。重新确定了曾有文献记载,但未见现存标本因而未加入新疆苔藓植物名录的:狭网真藓(Bryum algovicum Sendt.ex C.Müll.)与红蒴真藓(Bryum atrovirens Brid.)。并对新记录种的识别特征、生境及其地理分布作了阐述。根据识别特征绘制了狭网真藓、红蒴真藓与近高山真藓的墨线图。     

Foraging behavior of heifers with or without social models in an unfamiliar site containing high plant diversity

Grazing behavior, diet selection and weight gain of heifers (with or without social models) were assessed in an unfamiliar site containing high plant diversity. The study was performed within a tropical forest ecosystem containing a mixture of grass forb/herb, shrub and tree species. Ten inexperienced crossbred Bos taurus × Bos indicus heifers (7 ± 1 months old) were randomly assigned to one of two groups: naive or naive + social model (sm) and two experienced heifers (16 months old) were assigned to the second group. Naive heifers were bottle-nursed from days 2 to 90 after birth and began grazing at 1 month of age in tropical grass monocultures, while experienced animals had been foraging in sites containing a high diversity of plant species for 3 months prior to the study. Each group grazed in separate paddocks for a 12-week period during the rainy season, and animals were observed using focal sampling from 7:00 to 19:30 h to assess diet composition based on bite counts. Weight gain was assessed every 14 days. Paddocks contained from 1481 to 1789 kg/ha of herbaceous dry matter, enough to support the heifers throughout the study without affecting diet selection. Shrub and tree cover ranged from 55.2 to 58.4% across treatments. Bites per minute were adjusted to a log-scaled quadratic-plateau model and the curves showed no differences between treatments (P = 0.756). However, diet composition differed between groups (P < 0.001), with naive + sm heifers ingesting a greater proportion of trees (P < 0.001) and shrubs (P = 0.02), while naive heifers ingested more forb/herbs (P = 0.02); no difference in grass consumption was observed (P = 0.92). Heifers in both treatments consumed the same plant species (50 from 26 families). Over time, utilization of several plant species increased or decreased (P < 0.05), eventually leveling off for the remainder of the study. Although differences in diet composition were observed, they did not affect overall weight gain (117 and 113 g/day in the naive and naive + sm groups, respectively; P = 0.913). However, initial post-weaning weight loss was avoided in the naive + sm group. Social learning facilitates a higher use of shrubs and trees in tropical pastures containing a high diversity of plant species with different growth habits. As many plant species have high potential as forage, more effort should be placed on developing mechanisms to increase their dietary inclusion by cattle.     

Morphological study of Socorro Island Merino sheep and its crosses with hair breeds

Tropical Animal Health and Production - A study was conducted with the objective to characterize the morphology of Socorro Island Merino sheep. A total of 67 sheep, 62 females, 26 purebred and 36...     

新疆喀纳斯国家级自然保护区土壤螨类群落特征

为研究喀纳斯自然保护区土壤螨类群落特征,2011年7月和9月对该保护区针叶林、混交林、阔叶林、灌木林、草甸草原、林间草地、沼泽地7种生境进行了取样调查。结果表明:1)共获得土壤螨类7268只,隶属于3亚目51科58属。其中甲螨亚目3819只,38科44属,占总数的93.34%;中气门亚目264只,9科11属,占总数的6.45%;前气门亚目7只3科3属,占总数的0.21%。整个研究区域中奥甲螨属Oppia、盖头甲螨属Tectocepheus、钉棱甲螨属Passalozetes、菌甲螨属Scheloribates为优势类群,占总数的60.05%;阿斯甲螨属、短甲螨属、大翼甲螨属等13属为常见类群,占总数的29.43%;其余的41属为稀有类群,占总数的10.52%。2)在不同生境条件下土壤螨类个体数和类群数均有显著差异(P<0.05),其中个体数依次为阔叶林>针叶林>林间草地>混交林>沼泽地>草甸草原>灌木林;而类群数依次为阔叶林>草甸草原>沼泽地>针叶林>灌木林>混交林>林间草地。3)垂直分布具有明显的表聚性特征,其中0~5cm土层最多,其次为5~10cm,而10~15cm最少。4)在该保护区不同生境土壤螨类的群落组成和结构差异与植被类型、土壤环境因素及人为干扰程度有关。