Redox halopriming: A Promising Strategy for Inducing Salt Tolerance in Bread Wheat

New strategies to enhance growth and productivity of food crops in saline soils represent important research priorities. This study has investigated the role of certain priming techniques to induce salt tolerance of bread wheat. Wheat grains were soaked in 0.2 mm sodium nitroprusside as nitric oxide donor (redox priming), diluted sea water (halopriming) and the combination of both (redox halopriming). Grains were also soaked in distilled water (hydropriming); in addition, untreated grains were taken as control. Our results indicated that priming treatments significantly improved all growth traits and increased leaf pigments concentration as compared to the control. Priming treatments markedly enhanced membrane stability index, proline, total soluble sugars and K⁺ concentration with simultaneous decrease in the concentration of Na⁺ and malondialdehyde (MDA). Furthermore, yield and yield‐related traits such as plant height, spike length, total number of tillers, 1000‐grain weight, straw and grain yield considerably affected by priming treatments. Moreover, the grain yield of both genotypes was positively affected by redox halopriming treatment. However, the extent of enhancement was more prominent in Gemmiza‐9 (salt sensitive) than that in Sakha‐93 (salt‐tolerant). Overall, this study clearly indicated that redox halopriming treatment is a promising and handy technique to induce salinity tolerance of wheat genotypes.     

Comparative Characterization of Enzymatic Digestion from Fish and Soybean Meal from Simulated Digestive Process of Pacific Bluefin Tuna,Thunnus orientalis

The digestive process of the Pacific bluefin tuna (PBT), Thunnus orientalis, was simulated through two phases of in vitro digestion: acidic digestion with porcine pepsin, followed by alkaline digestion with pancreatic crude extract (PCE) obtained from the PBT to hydrolyze fish meal (FM) and soybean meal (SBM) as protein substrates. The crude protein from FM resulted in a lower degree of hydrolysis (73.3%) compared with SBM (79.2%). However, the resulting digested products showed that FM contained 35% more small peptides, with sizes <6.5 kDa than those from the starting material (>150 kDa). The SBM had an increase of only 1.3% in the similar peptide cut‐offs found after hydrolysis. These results suggested that FM appeared to be a better source of protein according to the amount of low‐molecular weight peptides. In addition, the proteolytic activity of PCE showed that 88.9% of its alkaline proteolytic activity corresponded to trypsin and 2.9% corresponded to chymotrypsin activity. The results shown here demonstrate that peptide sizes are important in identifying suitable protein sources for aquafeed production to reinforce the primary results obtained from the in vitro digestibility using the pH‐Stat system. These results also contribute to a better understanding of the digestibility process in aquatic organisms.     

Ontochronic index for assessing and predicting growth of birds

An ontochronic index has been developed to evaluate biological patterns of growth in birds, which takes into account the ratio between the structural features of the body and the appearance of an individual. A high correlation and regression dependence of the index of intensity of birds’ growth during early ontogenesis has been discovered.     

Peculiar properties of pea plant selection for a high content of amylose in the starch for mature seeds

To produce biodegradable polymers and dietary food, the concept of the selection of pea plant for a high content of amylose in the starch of seeds was developed. The key parameters of the high-amylose varieties and specific indicators for selection were determined. The sources and donors of economically valuable signs were displayed, and the first in Russia variety of a new type—the Amior—was created. For dietetic therapy, the authors developed the recipes for the preparation of the functional grades of bread and macaroni with the addition of an enzyme-resistant starch.     

Are dual-purpose and male layer chickens more resilient against a low-protein-low-soybean diet than slow-growing broilers?

ABSTRACT

1. Although fattening dual-purpose types or male layer hybrid chickens appears more ethical than the common practice of culling day-old male layer chicks, the lower feed efficiency of these birds raises concerns. Replacing feed ingredients that compete with food production by those of lower value for human nutrition would be beneficial.

2. Lohmann Dual (LD), a modern dual-purpose type, Lohmann Brown (LB), a male layer hybrid, and Hubbard JA 957 (HU), a slow-growing broiler type, were fattened for nine weeks on two diets (control or ?20% crude protein; n = 6 × 12 birds). Growth, carcass and meat quality were analysed.

3. Growth performance of HU exceeded that of LD and especially of LB. The growth depression caused by the low-protein diet fed to LD (?7%) was only half of that found in HU (?13%). The LD fed the control diet had the same feed efficiency as the HU fed the low-protein diet. Even the LB had a lower performance and feed efficiency with the low-protein diet in growth. There was a gradient in carcass properties (weight, dressing percentage, breast meat yield, breast proportion and breast angle) from HU to LD to LB, with some additional adverse effects of the low-protein diet especially in HU. There were some breed differences in fatty acid profile in the intramuscular fat.

4. In conclusion, the dual-purpose type used complied with regulations for Swiss organic poultry systems in terms of growth rate and was found to respond less when fed a low-protein diet than the slow-growing broiler type. The LB males were inferior in all growth and carcass quality traits. Future studies need to determine the exact protein and amino acid requirements of dual-purpose and layer hybrid chickens and the economic feasibility of the systems, especially for organic farming.     

Effect of feeding different sources of selenium on growth performance and antioxidant status of broilers

ABSTRACT

1. This study was conducted to determine the effect of different sources of selenium (Se) on breast and liver tissue deposition, apparent metabolisable energy (AME), growth performance and antioxidant status of broilers, measured as Se content in liver and breast tissues and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in blood, when used in 0–35 d broiler chicken diets.

2. A total of 200 male Ross 308 broilers were used in the feeding trial, which comprised two dietary phases, a starter from 0 to 21 d and finisher from 21 to 35 d of age. Four treatments with 10 replications each were used. A control diet (C) was formulated that was sufficient in protein and energy (230 and 215 g/kg of crude protein and 12.67 and 13.11 MJ/kg of metabolisable energy, respectively), for both phases, but contained background Se only from the feed ingredients. Diet 2 (IS) was supplemented with 10.35 g/t inorganic, elemental source of Se. Diet 3 (SY) was supplemented with 136.36 g/t selenised yeast, an organic source derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Diet 4 (SS) was supplemented with 0.666 g/t sodium selenite, an inorganic source.

3. Birds fed the SY diet consumed less and weighed less than those fed IS or C (P < 0.05; 0–35 d of age), but there was no difference compared to birds fed SS diets. There were no differences in FCR or dietary AME between broilers fed different Se sources. All diets containing supplementary Se increased concentrations in the liver and breast muscle, and for GSH-Px levels in blood compared to birds fed the C diet (P < 0.001). Birds fed SY diets had greater Se levels in liver and breast tissues compared to birds fed any of the other diets (P < 0.001).

4. Diets supplemented with Se had variable effects on broiler growth performances and antioxidant status. Feeding Se from a yeast source has higher transfer into breast tissues. Feeding different sources and levels of Se to birds in a more challenging situation to induce oxidative stress may bring more conclusive results.     

The effects of exogenous xylanase supplementation on the in vivo generation of xylooligosaccharides and monosaccharides in broilers fed a wheat-based diet

ABSTRACT

1. This study quantified xylanase-induced changes in soluble monosaccharides, xylooligosaccharides (XOS) and volatile fatty acid (VFA) contents of the different sections of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and whether these were related to altered bird performance.

2. An in vitro digestion of the wheat-based diet was carried out with the xylanase (Econase XT at 16,000BXU/kg diet) to compare the in vitro and in vivo generation of these XOS and monosaccharides. For the in vivo study, 80 male Ross 508 b roiler chicks were split into two groups fed a wheat-based diet with or without Econase XT (16,000BXU/kg diet) for 21 days.

3. There were no effects of Econase XT inclusion on growth performance characteristics, likely a result of the high-quality wheat diet, the corresponding high performance of the control group (FCR average of 1.45 in controls) and the relatively young age of the birds (from four to 26 days of age).

4. Econase XT supplementation increased the xylotetraose (X₄) content in the colon (P = 0.046, enzyme x GIT section interaction) and the xylose contents in the colon and caeca (P < 0.001, enzyme x GIT section interaction).

5. The trend for increased acetate production in the caeca of Econase XT treated birds (P = 0.062) suggested that the XOS generated were subsequently fermented in the caeca, potentially impacting upon the types of microbiota present.

6. The present study suggested that wheat arabinoxylan degradation was enhanced by xylanase supplementation, which may have increased the production of beneficial volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the caeca, and thereby potentially modulated the caecal microbiome, but without affecting bird performance at this early age.     

Use of geoinformation and neurotechnology to assess and to forecast the humus content variations in the steppe soils

This paper reports the results obtained using the systemic basin approach, geoinformation, and neurotechnology for modeling and forecasting of the humus spatial inhomogeneity and content variations in the steppe and dry steppe zones (Kherson oblast, Ukraine). The general trend of such variations has been determined in the 0–40 cm layer for 42 years. The intensive use of irrigation and drainage activities in 1970–1989 resulted in a significant humus depletion by 0.36% on average (from 2.56% to 2.2%). The analysis in 4450 observation points has yielded a decrease in the variability, the rising polynomial dependence of the humus enrichment from the west to the east, and the logarithmic dependence from the south to the north. The neurotechnological modeling has made it possible to develop the artificial neural network for the spatiotemporal modeling of the humus content in the soils. The humus is predicted to be subject to the irreversible process of gradual depletion in the 0–40 layer until 2025 upon the use of the existing agrotechnologies: rainfed land by 0.01%/year and irrigated land by 0.03%/year. This result defines the territorial priorities of the regional policy and suggests the differentiated efficiency evaluation of the soil-protective unit of the farming systems.