Soil organic carbon fractions and humic substances are affected by land uses of Caatinga forest in Brazil

Caatinga is a Brazilian dry ecosystem that occupies around 1 million km² and is one of the largest tropical dry forests of the world. About 46% of the area that was originally covered has been deforested. Land use can cause pronounced reduction in soil carbon stocks that play a major role in the global carbon cycle. The objective of this study was to improve our understanding of the effect of land use on oxidizable carbon fractions, total carbon stocks and humic substances in different layers of soil in a Brazilian semi-arid region. We analyzed soils from tropical dry forest (TDF), forest succession with Anadenanthera falcata (ANA), with Tabebuia alba (TAB), secondary scrubby regeneration (SCR), and non-irrigated maize (MS). Forests showed larger fractions of more labile carbon, except for TDF. The most recalcitrant fraction of carbon stock, humin fraction stock, with the different land use decreased by 38–53% compared to TDF. Oxidizable carbon fractions, carbon stocks, and humic fraction stocks were able to differentiate the successional land uses and agricultural cover from TDF, mainly in the 0–5?cm layer. Our results show that changes in land use, especially with ANA forest succession, showed a larger labile carbon fraction, indicating easy decomposition and loss. Our results provide an alternative tool for the management of deforested areas in tropical dry caatinga ecosystems. This would contribute to the conservation of dry forest systems and could serve as guideline for sustainable management of agriculturally impacted caatinga areas.     

Irrigation of paddy soil with industrial landfill leachate: impacts in rice productivity,plant nutrition,and chemical characteristics of soil

Treated industrial effluents have high levels of nutrients and dissolved organic matter. The irrigation of rice by flooding can increase nutrient uptake and grain yield. Therefore, this study evaluated the nutrient contents in the shoots and grain of the rice crop and also the chemical of the soil after irrigation of the crop with leachate of the treated industrial effluent. A greenhouse experiment was conducted using pots filled with 20 kg of soil in a randomized block design with three replications. The treatments consisted of control (irrigation with distilled water) and four concentrations of the leachate (25, 50, 75, and 100 %) for irrigation. At the end of the experiment, the nutrient contents in tissues of rice plants, sterility of spikelets, and grain mass were evaluated. Results showed that irrigation with the leachate at 25 % content increased the macro- and micronutrients’ concentrations in the shoot biomass and grain, except for potassium and iron. Irrigation with the industrial leachate decreased tillering and grain yield; however, it increased chlorophyll content, sterility of spikelets, and sodium intake at this leachate concentration. The potassium and sodium levels and the electrical conductivity values of soils irrigated with treated industrial leachate were increased. The use of the treated leachate from industrial effluents is an alternative that reuses the nutritional load, but the volume of leachate should be limited and monitored to prevent the sodicity in the soil and problemsdue to eutrophication.     

Use of genomic and phenotypic selection in lines for prediction of testcrosses in maize II: grain yield and plant traits

Plant breeders have been trying to predict the performance of hybrids based on their parental performance. One application of molecular markers is its use in selection. The objectives were to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) and verify its congruence in maize lines and in their testcrosses and verify the possibility to select testcrosses from the predicted means of the lines by using information from markers. Two-hundred and fifty six lines and the testcrosses of these lines with two testers were evaluated in six environments, considering grain yield, plant lodging, days to anthesis and silking, anthesis-silking interval, plant and ear height and ear placement. QTL were mapped in the lines and in testcrosses and the predicted means of the lines were computed based on QTL effects and in all markers of the genome. The congruence of QTL detected in the lines and testcrosses were small for all traits. The correlations between the predicted means of the lines and the phenotypic means of the testcrosses ranged from low for grain yield to moderate for cycle and stature traits. The highest coincidences of the lines and selected testcrosses were observed for cycle and stature traits and the lowest for grain yield. Even by using molecular markers information, it is only possible to predict the testcrosses performance from the lines information to less complex traits and with reduced dominance effect. For complex traits and with pronounced dominance effect, information of markers must be obtained directly in the testcrosses, so they can be used for selection.     

First molecular detection of canine herpesvirus 1 (CaHV-1) in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon

BackgroundCanine herpesvirus type 1 (CaHV-1) infects dogs and is associated with neonatal deaths and reproductive, ocular, neurological, and respiratory problems. In Brazil, reports of CaHV-1 have been restricted to the southeast and south regions, particularly in municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.ObjectivesTo assess the presence and variability of CaHV-1 in canine populations in the state of Pará, North Brazil.MethodsBiological samples from 159 dogs from 4 municipalities in the State of Pará were evaluated using polymerase chain reaction and phylogenetic analyses, with the target being the viral enzyme, thymidine kinase.ResultsCaHV-1 was detected in 13 dogs (8.2%), with 2 animals being from the municipality of Santa Bárbara do Pará, 8 from Algodoal Island, 2 from Salinópolis, and one from Capanema. The study sequences revealed 100% identity among themselves and 64% to 100% identity with the other nucleotide sequences from Australia, Brazil, United Kingdom, and United States, including 100% identity with the 2002 isolate from Australia. The 1996 isolate from France was grouped in a branch that was different from the sequence of this study.ConclusionsThis study presents the first molecular detection of CaHV-1 in dogs from the Amazon region in northern Brazil. The nucleotide identity between the strains and cytosine insertion in the sequences isolated in this study suggests at least 2 strains of CaHV-1 circulating in Brazil (Pará and BTU-1).     

Host Plant-Based Artificial Diets Enhance Development,Survival and Fecundity of the Edible Long-Horned Grasshopper Ruspolia differens (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)

Wild swarms of the long-horned grasshoppers Ruspolia differens (Serville) which are widely harvested for consumption and sale in Africa are seasonal and unsustainable, hence the need for innovative ways of artificially producing the insects. We investigated the development, survival, and reproduction of R. differens in the laboratory on diets mixed with host plants [Digitaria gayana Kunth, Cynodon dactylon (L.) and Megathyrsus maximus Jacq (Poales: Poaceae); Ageratum conyzoides L. (Asterales: Asteraceae)] identified from guts of their wild conspecifics with a view to developing a suitable diet for artificial mass rearing of the edible insect. A standard diet comprising ground black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens L. (Diptera: Startiomyidae) larvae, soybean flour, maize flour, vitamin premix, and ground bones was tested for rearing R. differens as a control against the same ingredients incorporated with individual powders of the different host plants. Whereas R. differens developed more slowly in the diet mixed with D. gayana than in the control diet; its development was faster in the diet mixed with C. dactylon. Mortalities of R. differens in host plant-based diets were 42.5–52.5%, far lower than in the control diet with 71% mortality. The insects raised on the diet mixed with M. maximus laid approximately twice more eggs compared to R. differens fecundities from the rest of the diets. However, inclusion of host plants in the diets had no detectable influence on R. differens adult weight and longevity. These findings support inclusion of specific host plants in artificial diets used for mass rearing of R. differens to enhance its survival, development, and fecundity.     

Characterization of symptoms of senescence and chilling injury on inflorescences of Heliconia bihai (L.) cv. Lobster Claw and cv. Halloween

Inadequate temperatures during the shipping and commercialization of cut tropical flowers may accelerate the senescence process and cause chilling injury, leading to symptoms that have not yet been described for Heliconia bihai. The aim of the present study was to evaluate physiological responses in cut inflorescences of H. bihai cv. Lobster Claw (LC) and cv. Halloween (HW) as well as symptoms of senescence and chilling injury. For such, changes in fresh weight, bract color (L*, a* and b*), percentage of absolute integrity (PAI) of cell membranes and leakage of potassium ions (LPI) were determined. The flowering stems were evaluated at five different intervals after harvest (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 d). A refrigerated treatment (RT) with a temperature of 6.5 °C and 85% relative humidity was compared to a control treatment (CT) at room temperature of 24 °C and 66% relative humidity. Both cultivars stored at 6.5 °C exhibited dryness of bract tissue (symptom of senescence) and dark stains that became brownish and evolved to necrosis (symptom of chilling injury). The visual quality of inflorescences decreased with time in both cultivars maintained without refrigeration. The severity of chilling injury increased with the length of storage time in both cultivars. There was a significant reduction in the fresh weight of inflorescences in both treatments (RT and CT) and both cultivars (LC and HW). Bract color changed in both cultivars at 6.5 °C. There was no change in PAI throughout the evaluation period in the inflorescences stored at room temperature, whereas those stored at 6.5 °C for 6 and 8 d had lower PAI values. The inflorescences in the control treatment underwent no change in LPI values, whereas those stored under refrigeration had increased LPI values after the sixth day of storage. The physiological responses of cut Heliconia flowers were influenced by storage period and temperature, as demonstrated by visual symptoms of chilling injury and senescence.