An Alternate Method for Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopic Determination of Soil Nitrate Using Derivative Analysis and Sample Treatments

This study aimed at examining effective sample treatments and spectral processing for an alternate method of soil nitrate determination using the attenuated total reflectance (ATR) of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Prior to FTIR measurements, soil samples were prepared as paste to enhance adhesion between the ATR crystal and sample. The similar nitrate peak heights of soil pastes and their supernatants indicated that the nitrate in the liquid portion of the soil paste mainly responded to the FTIR signal. Using a 0.01-M CaSO₄ solution for the soil paste, which has no interference bands in the characteristic spectra of the analyte, increased the concentration of the nitrates to be measured. Second-order derivatives were used in the prediction model to minimize the interference effects and enhance the performance. The second-order derivative spectra contained a unique nitrate peak in a range of 1,400–1,200 cm^?1 without interference of carbonate. A partial least square regression model using second-order derivative spectra performed well (R ²?=?0.995, root mean square error (RMSE)?=?23.5, ratio of prediction to deviation (RPD)?=?13.8) on laboratory samples. Prediction results were also good for a test set of agricultural field soils with a CaCO₃ concentration of 6% to 8% (R ²?=?0.97, RMSE?=?18.6, RPD?=?3.5). Application of the prediction model based on soil paste samples to nitrate stock solution resulted in an increased RMSE (62.3); however, validation measures were still satisfactory (R ²?=?0.99, RPD?=?3.0).     

Genetic and QTL analysis of pericarp thickness and ear architecture traits of Korean waxy corn germplasm

Pericarp thickness and ear traits are important selection criteria for breeding fresh market waxy corn. This research was conducted to better understand genetic control of these traits in popular South Korean germplasm now grown in Illinois. Pericarp thickness on five kernel regions, and ten inflorescence architecture traits were measured on ears from 264 F_2:3 families from a cross between Korean inbreds BH20 and BH30. All five pericarp thickness traits showed high heritabilities and were highly correlated. Multivariate principal components analysis (PCA) revealed that just one principal component (PC) explained most of the total phenotypic variation. A number of univariate quantitative trait loci (QTL) were detected and most were associated with more than one kernel pericarp region. Four out of seven PC-QTL were located in chromosome positions where three or more pericarp thickness univariate QTL were detected. Conversely, three PC-QTL were found in regions with just a single or two univariate QTL, indicating that these QTL regions may be more important for overall pericarp thickness than suggested by univariate analysis. The PCA, QTL, and PC-QTL results indicate that pericarp thickness on different kernel regions may be controlled by common genes with pleiotropic effects. Additive effects of QTL for thinner pericarp thickness came from both BH20 and BH30. For ear architecture traits, heritability varied from 0.38 to 0.72, and several traits were correlated. The PCA reduced these traits into three independent PCs, and all substantial component traits for these PCs were also significantly correlated. A number of univariate QTL were clustered closely, and some PC-QTL were detected in these regions. Some PC-QTL were found in chromosome regions where univariate QTL were not detected, again suggesting that these regions may have larger overall effects on ear architecture than suggested by univariate analyses. Collectively, these QTL may be useful for marker assisted introgression into germplasm more adapted to the U.S.     

Vortex core-driven magnetization dynamics

Time-resolved x-ray imaging shows that the magnetization dynamics of a micron-sized pattern containing a ferromagnetic vortex is determined by its handedness, or chirality. The out-of-plane magnetization in the nanometer-scale vortex core induces a three-dimensional handedness in the planar magnetic structure, leading to a precessional motion of the core parallel to a subnanosecond field pulse. The core velocity was an order of magnitude higher than expected from the static susceptibility. These results demonstrate that handedness, already well known to be important in biological systems, plays an important role in the dynamics of microscopic magnets.     

Cover Image,Volume 73, Issue 10

The cover image, by Jia‐Wei Tay et al., is based on the Research Article Development of an alginate hydrogel to deliver aqueous bait for pest ant management, DOI: 10.1002/ps.4616 .

     

Phylogenetic analysis of benign Theileria species based on major piroplasm surface protein (MPSP) genes from ticks of grazing cattle in Korea

Complete major piroplasm surface protein (MPSP) gene sequences of benign Theileria parasites were isolated from ticks of grazing cattle in Korea. A total of 556 tick samples were collected in five provinces: Chungbuk, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, Gyeongbuk, and Jeju during 2010-2011. Fifteen samples from Chungbuk and Jeonnam were positive for the Theileria MPSP gene by PCR amplification using a specific primer set. A phylogenetic tree was constructed with the amplified gene sequences and 26 additional sequences published in GenBank. The benign Theileria parasites were classified into eight types, those isolated from Korean cattle ticks belonged to Types 1 (Ikeda), 2 (Chitose), 4, and 8. Types 2 and 4 were the most common types, with the rate of 40%, followed by Types 1 and 8 (with the rate of 13% and 7%, respectively). Nucleotide sequence identities of 23 theilerial MPSP sequences (15 MPSP gene sequences amplified and 8 sequences published) ranged from 67.3 to 99.8%. Multiple alignments of the deduced amino acid sequences also showed that each type was characterized by specific amino acids: 7 for Type 1, 9 for Type 2, 4 for Type 4, and 3 for Type 8.     

Egg production, faecal pH and microbial population, small intestine morphology, and plasma and yolk cholesterol in laying hens given liquid metabolites produced by Lactobacillus plantarum strains

1. Various dosages of metabolite combinations of the Lactobacillus plantarum RI11, RG14 and RG11 strains (COM456) were used to study the egg production, faecal microflora population, faecal pH, small intestine morphology, and plasma and egg yolk cholesterol in laying hens. 2. A total of 500 Lohmann Brown hens were raised from 19 weeks to 31 weeks of age. The birds were randomly divided into 5 groups and fed on various treatment diets: (i) basal diet without supplementation of metabolites (control); (ii) basal diet supplemented with 0·3% COM456 metabolites; (iii) basal diet supplemented with 0·6% COM456 metabolites; (iv) basal diet supplemented with 0·9% COM456 metabolites; and (v) basal diet supplemented with 1·2% COM456 metabolites. 3. The inclusion of 0·6% liquid metabolite combinations, produced from three L. plantarum strains, demonstrated the best effect in improving the hens' egg production, faecal lactic acid bacteria population, and small intestine villus height, and reducing faecal pH and Enterobacteriaceae population, and plasma and yolk cholesterol concentrations. 4. The metabolites from locally isolated L. plantarum are a possible alternative feed additive in poultry production.     

Radiographic and computed tomographic evaluation of experimentally induced lung aspiration sites in dogs

This study was performed to radiographically examine the prevalence of aspiration sites and to evaluate their atomical correlation with the bronchial pattens. Ten healthy beagle dogs were repeatedly radiographed, at weekly intervals, in the left and right lateral, ventrodorsal (VD) and dorsoventral (DV) positions. Three mililiters of iohexol distilled with same volume of saline was infused into the tracheal inlet. Which lung lobe was aspirated was decided upon by the presence of a significant alveolar pattern due to the contrast medium. Alveolar patterns were identified at the left (100%) and right cranial lung lobes (77%) with the dogs in dependant lateral recumbency, at the right caudal lung lobe (71%) with the dogs in VD recumbency and at the right middle lung lobe (59%) with the dogs in DV recumbency, respectively. The anatomical correlation was evaluated by performing computed tomography. The right principal bronchus (165.8 ± 1.6°) was more straightly bifurcated than was the left principal bronchus (142.7 ± 1.8°, p < 0.01). In VD position, the right side lung had a greater opertunity to become aspirated. The ventrally positioned right middle lobar bronchial origin was more easily to be aspirated the other laterally positioned ones. We think that these anatomical characteristics can be one of the causes for aspiration pneumonia to occur more frequently in the right side lung.     

Modification of ascorbic acid using transglycosylation activity of Bacillus stearothermophilus maltogenic amylase to enhance its oxidative stability

Ascorbic acid (1), a natural antioxidant, was modified by employing transglycosylation activity of Bacillus stearothermophilus maltogenic amylase with maltotriose and acarbose as donor molecules to enhance its oxidative stability. The transglycosylation reaction with maltotriose as donor created mono- and di-glycosyl transfer products with an alpha-(1,6)-glycosidic linkage. In addition, two acarviosine-glucosyl transfer products were generated when transglycosylation was performed with acarbose as a donor. All transfer products were observed by TLC and HPLC, and purified by Q-sepharose anion exchange and Biogel P-2 gel permeation chromatographies. LC/MS and (13)C NMR analyses revealed that the structures of the transfer products were 6-O-alpha-D-glucosyl- (2) and 6-O-alpha-D-maltosyl-ascorbic acids (3) in the reaction of maltotriose, and 6-O-alpha-acarviosine-D-glucosyl- (4) and 2-O-alpha-acarviosine-D-glucosyl ascorbic acids (5) in the reaction of acarbose. The stability of the transglycosylated ascorbic acid derivatives was greatly enhanced against oxidation by Cu(2+) ion and ascorbate oxidase. Among them, compound 3 proved to be the most stable against in vitro oxidation. The antioxidant effects of glycosyl-derivatives of ascorbic acid on the lipid oxidation in cooked chicken breast meat patties indicated that they had antioxidant activities similar to that of ascorbic acid. It is suggested that the transglycosylated ascorbic acids can possibly be applied as effective antioxidants with improved stability in food, cosmetic, and other applications.     

Efficient Production of Cloned Bovine Embryos Using cdc2 kinase Inhibitor

This study was carried out to compare the effects of the combination of ionomycin with a H1‐histone kinase inhibitor (dimethylaminopurine, DMAP) or cdc2 kinase inhibitor (sodium pyrophosphate, SPP) on the development of reconstituted bovine eggs. For this study, the enucleated bovine oocytes were injected with a presumptive primordial germ cell pre‐treated with 1% sodium citrate, and randomly allocated into three activation groups: Group 1 (ionomycin 5 μm , 5 min), Group 2 (ionomycin + DMAP 1.9 mm , 3 h), and Group 3 (ionomycin + SPP 2 mm , 3 h). The reconstituted eggs were compared on the rates of cleavage and development with the blastocyst stage and the ploidy of embryos at 96 h post‐activation. Cleavage rates and blastocyst development in Groups 1, 2 and 3 were 7 and 0%, 63 and 17%, and 53 and 14%, respectively. The chromosomal composition differed significantly (p < 0.05) among treatments. Although the embryos in Group 1 had significantly lower developments, 60% of embryos evaluated had diploid chromosomal sets. In contrast, ～60% of embryos in Group 2 had abnormal ploidy (21% polyploid and 38% mixoploid). In Group 3, the appearance of abnormal chromosome sets was reduced with the proportion of diploid embryos being increased to 86% (19 of 22), significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in Group 2. It can be concluded that the use of SPP with ionomycin reduces greatly the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities, and may be applicable for the activation of nuclear transplant bovine embryos.     

Potential use of ground brown rice for weanling pigs

The purpose of the current study was to assess the effects of substituting corn with ground brown rice on growth performance, immune status, and gut microbiota in weanling pigs. Seventy-two weanling pigs (28 d old with 6.78 ± 0.94 kg body weight [BW]) were randomly allotted to two dietary treatments with six pens and six pigs (three barrows and gilts) per pen within a randomized complete block design. The control pigs were fed a typical diet for weanling pigs based on corn and soybean meal diet (control diet: CON), and the other pigs were fed a formulated diet with 100% replacement of corn with ground brown rice for 35d (treatment diet: GBR). Growth performance, immune status, and gut microbiota of weanling pigs were measured. The substitution of corn with GBR did not affect growth performance or diarrhea frequency. Additionally, there were no differences in white blood cell number, hematocrit, cortisol, C-reactive protein, and serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels between pigs fed CON or GBR for the first 2 wk after weaning. However, weanling pigs fed GBR had lower (P < 0.05) serum transforming growth factor-beta 1 level than those fed CON. Furthermore, weanling pigs fed GBR had increased (P < 0.05) relative abundance of phylum Firmicutes and genus Lactobacillus and Streptococcus and decreased (P < 0.05) relative abundance of phylum Bacteroidetes and genus Clostridium and Prevotella in the gut microbiota compared with those fed CON. In conclusion, there was no significant difference in growth performance when corn was replaced with ground brown rice in diets for weanling pigs. Furthermore, the substitution of corn with ground brown rice in weaning diet modulated immune status and gut microbiota of pigs by increasing beneficial microbial communities and reducing harmful microbial communities. Overall, ground brown rice-based diet is a potential alternative to corn-based diet without negative effects on growth performance, immune status, and gut microbiota changes of weanling pigs.