Impact of wheat-Leymus racemosus added chromosomes on wheat adaptation and tolerance to heat stress

Adaptation of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to high temperatures could be improved by introducing alien genes from wild relatives. We evaluated the responses of wheat-Leymus racemosus chromosome introgression lines to high temperature to determine their potentiality for developing improved wheat cultivars. Introgression lines and their parent Chinese Spring were evaluated in a growth chamber at the seedling stage and in the field at the reproductive stage in two heat-stressed environments in Sudan. Optimum and late planting were used to ensure exposure of the plants to heat stress at the reproductive stage. The results revealed the impact of several Leymus chromosomes in improving wheat adaptation and tolerance to heat. Three lines possessed enhanced adaptation, whereas two showed high heat tolerance. Two addition lines showed a large number of kernels per spike, while one possessed high yield potential. Grain yield was correlated negatively with the heat susceptibility index, days to heading and maturity and positively with kernel number per spike and triphenyl tetrazolium chloride assay under late planting. The findings suggest that these genetic stocks could be used as a bridge to introduce the valuable Leymus traits into a superior wheat genetic background, thus helping maximize wheat yield in heat-stressed environments.     

Effect of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Acacia senegal</Emphasis> on growth and yield of groundnut,sesame and roselle in an agroforestry system in North Kordofan state,Sudan

Two field trials were conducted under rainfed conditions at El-Obeid Research Farm and Eldemokeya Forest Reserve, North Kordofan State during the growing seasons 2004/2005 and 2005/2006. The objective was to investigate the effect of Acacia senegal on the performance and yield of groundnut (Arachis hypogea), sesame (Sesamum indicum) and roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) in an agroforestry system. The two trials consisted of seven treatments: three represented the intercropping of groundnut, sesame and roselle with A. senegal, three without trees and one represented A. senegal alone. Data were recorded on soil physical and chemical properties, soil moisture content, crops fresh weight (kg/ha), dry weight (kg/ha), gum yield (g/picking) and crop yield (kg/ha). The trees at El-Obeid yielded no gum, whereas those at Eldemokeya were 15 years old and were tapped as part of the total harvest in the agroforestry plots. Land equivalent ratios (LER) and simple financial analyses of gross surpluses were used to evaluate the productivity of the different treatments. Fresh weight of groundnut, sesame and roselle was significantly different (P < .0.05) at both sites. Higher fresh weights were found under the intercropping system than the sole cropping system. This could be attributed to a shading effect that limits fruit production of the field crops more than vegetative growth. Dry weights were significantly greater for sesame and roselle in both sites, while that of groundnuts was not significantly different. In both sites, intercropping reduced the yield of sesame by 6 and 11% in the first season and 37 and 39% in the second season. The reduction in roselle yield was 19 and 28% in the first season and 15 and 8% in the second season. Yield reduction in groundnut was 35 and 17% in the first season and 35 and 11% in the second season. The combined analysis indicated that intercropping reduced groundnut yield by 26%, sesame by 21% and roselle by 20%. All the treatments gave LER of more than one—indicating the superiority of growing the field crops in intercropping over the sole cropping systems. The highest LER of (1.71) was obtained when roselle was intercropped with A. senegal, while the lowest LER (1.48) was obtained when groundnuts were intercropped with A. senegal. All the treatments gave positive net revenues, the highest being for intercropped roselle (438 SDG/ha). The intercropping of sesame gave the second highest net revenue (387 SDG/ha), while the sole roselle gave the lowest net revenue (97 SDG/ha).     

Effects of substituting dietary fish oil with crude palm oil and palm fatty acid distillate on growth,muscle fatty acid composition and the activities of hepatic lipogenic enzymes in snakehead (Channa striatus,Bloch 1793) fingerling

Three diets were formulated to be iso‐nitrogenous (450 g kg^?1), iso‐lipidic (65 g kg^?1) and iso‐energetic (18.5 KJ g^?1), varying only in their lipid sources and designated as 100% fish oil (FO), 100% crude palm oil (CPO) and 100% palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD). Feed were hand fed to homogenous groups of 12 Channa striatus fingerlings (mean weight 3.5 ± 0.3 g) per tank in triplicate for 12 weeks, in a recirculation system. The growth performance and feed intake in the CPO and PFAD treatments were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those in the fish fed the control diet (FO), respectively, whereas the feed conversion ratio was better in PFAD than that in the other treatments respectively. The biological indices monitored (hepatosomatic index and viscerosomatic index) as well as carcass yield did not vary significantly among all the treatments respectively. The muscle fatty acid (FA) profile of fish was influenced by the composition of the diets fed, whereas no differences were recorded in the activities of the hepatic lipogenic enzymes monitored (fatty acid synthetase, citrate cleavage enzyme and malic enzyme). Whole‐body proximate composition analysis revealed that PFAD treatment, compared with others, contained significantly higher protein and ash, but lower lipid contents, although the muscle content of these nutrients was similar among all the treatments. Based on the results of this trial, CPO and PFAD could be used to partially substitute FO in the diet for C. striatus fingerling, to achieve good growth performance without any negative effects or compromising the muscle n‐3 FA composition (especially in the docosa hexaenoic acid and eicosa pentaenoic acid content).     

Irrigation management transfer (IMT) and system of rice intensification (SRI) practice in the Philippines

SRI practices can usually increase the yield of paddy without using special varieties of rice or chemicals. High yield of paddy can be simply achieved through the combination of transplanting single seedlings about 8–10 days old with just two leaves on 40 cm × 40 cm spacing, providing organic fertilizer, and intermittent irrigation. No pesticides are applied. Historically, integrated management of water and crop (particularly rice) in the Philippines, had its beginning with the Spaniards, but more formal events were recorded in the 1950s by Margate (1954) in “Rice: 100 Cavans (50 kg/cavan) per Hectare.” This was followed by the Water Management Manual released in the 1970s by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and National Irrigation Administration (NIA). Recently, the Southern Philippines Irrigation Sector Project (SPISP), a joint ADB–NIA effort, has commenced trials with the system of rice intensification (SRI) practice. One of the most specific features of SRI is the intermittent irrigation system which requires assured water supply at necessary timing. It is easier to attain assured water supply on timely manner through irrigation management transfer (IMT) which encourages the empowerment of fair water distribution. This article analyzes the merit of IMT for SRI.     

Comparison between methods for measuring fecal egg count and estimating genetic parameters for gastrointestinal parasite resistance traits in sheep

Fecal egg count (FEC) is an indicative measurement for parasite infection in sheep. Different FEC methods may show inconsistent results. Not accounting for inconsistencies can be problematic when integrating measurements from different FEC methods for genetic evaluation. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the difference in means and variances between two fecal egg counting methods used in sheep—the Modified McMaster (LMMR) and the Triple Chamber McMaster (LTCM); to estimate variance components for the two FEC methods, treating them as two different traits; and to integrate FEC data from the two different methods and estimate genetic parameters for FEC and other gastrointestinal parasite resistance traits. Fecal samples were collected from a commercial Rideau-Arcott sheep farm in Ontario. Fecal egg counting was performed using both LMMR and the LTCM methods. Other parasite resistance trait records were collected from the same farm including eye score (FAMACHA), body condition score (BCS), and body weight (WT). The two FEC methods were highly genetically (0.94) and phenotypically (0.88) correlated. However, the mean and variance between the two FEC methods were significantly different (P < 0.0001). Therefore, re-scaling is required prior to integrating data from the different methods. For the multiple trait analysis, data from the two fecal egg counting methods were integrated (LFEC) by using records for the LMMR when available and replacing missing records with re-standardized LTCM records converted to the same mean and variance of LMMR. Heritability estimates were 0.12 ± 0.04, 0.07 ± 0.05, 0.17 ± 0.06, and 0.24 ± 0.07 for LFEC egg count, FAMACHA, BCS, and WT, respectively. The estimated genetic correlations between FEC and the other parasite resistance traits were low and not significant (P > 0.05) for FAMACHA (r = 0.24 ± 0.32) and WT (r = 0.22 ± 0.19), and essentially zero for BCS (r = −0.03 ± 0.25), suggesting little to no benefit of using such traits as indicators for LFEC.     

Early life history of yellow puffer,Chonerhinos naritus (Richardson, 1848) from Sarawak,Northwestern Borneo

The growth and morphological development including fins, spine distribution and pigmentation of larval and juvenile of hatchery‐reared yellow puffer, Chonerhinos naritus were described to provide essential information on the early life history of this species. The total length (TL) of newly hatched larvae was 3.42 ± 0.23 (mean ± SD) mm, reaching 5.66 ± 0.38 mm on 5 days after hatched (DAH), 7.80 ± 0.28 mm on 11 DAH, 9.88 ± 0.40 mm on 27 DAH and 10.92 ± 0.58 mm on 30 DAH. The yolk was completely absorbed in preflexion larvae at 4 DAH. The mouth opening started at 3 DAH of yolk sac larvae, while the teeth appeared starting from preflexion larvae at 7 DAH. Overall aggregate fin ray numbers including caudal fin attained full complement in postflexion larvae at 27 DAH. Several melanophores with appearance of small stellate were first appeared dorsally on the head of flexion larvae at 13 DAH, expanded at the dorsal region of the head, above the eye in juveniles at 30 DAH. The spines first appeared in preflexion larvae of C. naritus at 7 DAH, covering the ventral skin region below pectoral fin base and expanded to the ventral part of the body and nearly covered the whole abdomen region before the anus and below the eyes in juveniles. C. naritus remain as larvae for approximately 29 days, during which they metamorphose to the juvenile stage prior to sexual maturation. Observations in larvae development of C. naritus revealed similar characteristics with other Tetraodontidae species.     

Therapeutic Potential of Marine Bioactive Peptides against Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Recent Evidence,Challenges, and Future Trends

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic and potentially fatal ailment caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and remains a major health problem worldwide. In recent years, the research focus has shifted to a greater emphasis on complementing treatment regimens involving conventional antiretroviral (ARV) drug therapies with novel lead structures isolated from various marine organisms that have the potential to be utilized as therapeutics for the management of HIV-AIDS. The present review summarizes the recent developments regarding bioactive peptides sourced from various marine organisms. This includes a discussion encompassing the potential of these novel marine bioactive peptides with regard to antiretroviral activities against HIV, preparation, purification, and processing techniques, in addition to insight into the future trends with an emphasis on the potential of exploration and evaluation of novel peptides to be developed into effective antiretroviral drugs.     

Analysis of genetic variability in six Tunisian wild cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L. subsp. flavescens Wiklund) populations

A collection of six Tunisian wild cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L. subsp. flavescens Wiklund (syn. C. cardunculus var. sylvestris (Lam.) Fiori) populations was evaluated using nineteen morphological traits. Analysis of variance and correlation coefficient were performed based on XLSTAT version 2011 and principal components analysis using the past program. Significant differences between populations were noted for most morphological traits in four main groups. The first group, positively correlated to the two axes, is represented by “Zriba”, the second group; including population of “Twirif” is positively correlated to the component 2 and negatively correlated to the component 1 while the third group, is composed of the populations of (Bahra and wad mliz) were positively and negatively correlated to the component 2 and component 1, respectively. Finally, the fourth group is negatively correlated to the two axes and is composed of the populations of (Enfidha and Bouficha). The dendrogram based on Nei’s genetic distance using UPGMA method, show genetic drift between the studied populations.     

Uterine blood flow,fetal heart rate,gestational length,and fetal birth weight variability in response to maternal temperament in the goat

This prospective study was designed to investigate the effects of maternal temperament on uterine blood flow, fetal heart rate, gestational length, and fetal birth weight in a goat experimental model. Based on the arena test, behavioral testing related to fear-eliciting stimulus, goats were divided into nervous (n = 13) and calm (n = 11) groups. After mating, the perfusion of maternal uterine arteries (UTAs) and its related Doppler parameters, blood flow volume (BFV), time-averaged mean velocity (TAMEANV), acceleration (Acce), and resistance impedance (S/D), were evaluated biweekly from week two until the end of pregnancy. Fetal heart rate (FHR) was investigated during the pregnancy in addition to the gestation length (GL) and fetal birth weight (FBW). The UTA-BFV and TAMEANV, as well as Acce and S/D, were influenced by maternal temperament (p < .05). The FHR showed no significant changes between experimental animals of different temperaments (p = .81). Both GL and FBW were increased in calm rather than nervous goats (p < .05). These results indicated that the maternal nervous (temperament) have negative impacts on uterine artery Doppler indices, fetal growth, and gestational length in a goat experimental model.