种植密度对玉米-大豆带状间作下大豆光合、产量及茎秆抗倒的影响

【目的】阐明玉米-大豆带状间作下大豆植株冠层在不同种植密度下的光环境变化规律,明确种植密度对间作大豆叶片光合特性、产量形成及茎秆抗倒的影响,为构建寡日照地区间作大豆合理群体密度提供理论参考。【方法】本研究以大豆（川豆-16）和玉米（正红-505）为试验材料。采用双因素随机区组设计,主因素为种植方式,设玉米-大豆带状间作和大豆带状单作2个水平,副因素为大豆的3个种植密度（PD1=17株/m²,PD2=20株/m²,PD3=25株/m²),研究种植密度对间作大豆冠层内部光环境变化、叶片光合特性、植株生长动态、田间倒伏率及产量构成等的影响。【结果】2年结果表明,在玉米-大豆带状间作系统中,大豆生长中后期受高位作物玉米遮荫和自荫性增加的影响,其植株群体冠层内部的光合有效辐射（PAR）、叶面积指数（LAI）、叶片光合能力、分枝数及产量显著降低,但受玉米影响的程度因大豆种植密度的不同而不同。在间作模式下,PD1和PD2处理的大豆植株群体冠层光合有效辐射比PD3处理分别增加了45.4%和24.8%,净光合速率分别增加了46.1%和12.3%,单株有效荚数分别增加了53.2%和27.2%,单株分枝数分别增加了270.4%和140.9%,田间倒伏率分别降低了50.3%和19.3%。相关性分析发现,间作大豆的田间倒伏率与冠层内部光合有效辐射、叶片净光合速率、茎秆抗折力、茎叶干物质比、单株分枝数及单株有效荚数呈显著负相关,与株高、叶面积指数和单株无效荚数呈显著正相关。【结论】在玉米-大豆带状间作模式下,20株/m²的大豆密度（PD2）有利于创造良好的群体冠层内部光环境,降低植株田间大豆倒伏率,增加光合产物积累,从而提高大豆产量。     

Chemical composition and in vitro antifungal activity of Sambucus ebulus and Actinidia deliciosa on the fish pathogenic fungus,Saprolegnia parasitica

The aim of the present study was to determine the chemical composition of Sambucus ebulus and Actinidia deliciosa ethanolic extracts as well as their in vitro antifungal activity on the mycelial growth of the water mold, Saprolegnia parasitica. The preliminary minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimum lethal concentration (MLC) were determined by the HeMP method and finally, concentrations of each extract ranging from 1 to 10% were prepared by an agar dilution method to assess the in vitro antifungal activity, quantitatively. Both herbal extracts inhibited growth of Saprolegnia hyphae in vitro. Complete in vitro growth inhibition was found at a concentration of ≥5% for S. ebulus, whereas it was not observed even at 10% concentration of A. deliciosa. Based on gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis, the main constituents of S. ebulus include monophthalate (66.17%), fatty acids (26.47%), phytol (4.25%), and acetic acid (2.11%). Using colorimetric assays, A. deliciosa contained phenolic contents at 162 mg gallic acid (GAE)/g DW and flavonoid contents at 2.31 mg quercetin (QE)/g DW. In conclusion, the results of this study indicated that S. ebulus and A. deliciosa showed some antifungal activities against S. parasitica with formerly exhibiting stronger activity (p < 0.05).

     

Inhibition of protease activities in discus Symphysodon spp. by three plant meals

Based on biochemical assays and electrophoretical methods, the inhibitory effects of three plant meals (soybean meal, wheat meal, winged bean meal) on digestive alkaline proteases of discus were investigated. Casein assays revealed that increasing levels of soybean meal caused a linear inhibitory effect on activity of protease. SDS-PAGE images revealed that trypsin and chymotrypsin were the inhibited enzymes. Soybean showed the lowest inhibition rate followed by wheat meal and raw winged bean. There was a quadratic relationship between wheat meal levels and its inhibition of protease acitivity. The highest inhibitory effect was obtained with the winged bean meal with inhibition of caseinolytic activities ranging from 3.6–98.6%. Results from this study showed the potential of both soybean meal and wheat meal as ingredients for practical diet for discus, while demonstrating the need for further improvement in processing method for winged bean meal.     

Effects of steam-treated rice straw feeding on growth,digestibility, and plasma volatile fatty acids of goats under different housing systems

In order to use rice straw as forage in livestock feeding, the effects of steam-treated rice straw (at 15.5 kgf/cm² for 120 s) feeding on growth performance, plasma volatile fatty acid profile, and nutrient digestibility of goats were determined. Twenty male goats (18.69?±?0.34 kg) were used in an 84-day trial. The goats were divided into four groups of five goats each to receive steam-treated (STRS) or untreated (UTRS) rice straw diet under closed house (CH) and open house (OH) systems. The results revealed that the goats fed with STRS had significantly higher dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) digestibility; similarly, the average daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio were higher for STRS groups under both CH and OH systems than those for UTRS. The plasma protein and insulin in STRS and cholesterol in UTRS groups was higher (P?P?>?0.05) at 30 days. The plasma amylase, lipase, T₃, T₄ and glucagon at 30 and 60 days were not different (P?>?0.05) among the groups. The plasma acetate, propionate, butyrate, and total volatile fatty acid were higher (P?P?>?0.05) on these parameters. It could be concluded that steam treatment of rice straw at 15.5 kgf/cm² for 120 s increased apparent nutrient digestibility, hence increased the growth and feed efficiency of growing goats.     

Prenatal Development of the Eye Tunics in the Dromedary Camel (Camelus dromedarius)

Studies of ocular development in the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) have not been reported previously. The aim of the present investigation was therefore to document the major landmarks and the time course in the prenatal development of the eye tunics in dromedary camel and its accommodation with the surrounding hard environment of the desert. Serial histological sections of dromedary camel embryos and foetuses were used. Age estimation was made on the basis of gestational size, crown vertebral‐rump length (CVRL), which ranged 1.2–110 cm. The eye of the dromedary camel developed in a similar manner to that of the human and domestic animals eyes; the principal differences were in the time of occurrence of certain developmental events, pigmented peripheral cornea near the limbus, a remarkably thickened Descemet's membrane and pigmentation in the corneo‐scleral junction, which represent an adaptive modification in relation to a severe environment.     

Herbaceous species diversity in relation to fire severity in Zagros oak forests,Iran

Zagros forests are mainly covered byQuercus brantii L. coppices and oak sprout clumps occupy the forest area like patches. We investigated post-fire herbaceous diversity in the first growing season after fire. For this purpose neighboring burned and unburned areas were selected with the same plant species and ecological conditions. The data were collected from areas subjected to different fire severities. Overall 6 treatments were considered with respect to fire severity and the mi-crosites of inside and outside of oak sprout clumps including： unburned inside and outside of sprout clumps （Ni and No）, inside of sprout clumps that burned with high fire severity （H）, inside of sprout clumps that burned with moderate fire severity （M）, outside of sprout clumps that burned with low fire severity （OH and OM）. Different herbaceous com-position was observed in the unburned inside and outside of oak sprout clumps. The species diversity and richness were increased in treatments burned with low and moderate fire severity. However, in treatment burned with high fire severity （H）, herbaceous cover was reduced, even-ness was increased, and richness and diversity were not significantly changed. We concluded that besides the microsites conditions in forest, fire severity is an inseparable part of the ecological effect of fire on her-baceous composition.     

Determination of Heat Requirements and Effective Heat Summations of Some Pomegranate Cultivars Grown in Southern Anatolia

Temperature (high and low) is one of the most limiting environmental factors for growth and production of fruits in different parts of the world. For temperate-zone fruit species, a certain total heat requirements are needed in order to obtain ripe fruits. The aim of this study was to determine heat requirements of three commercial pomegranate cultivars (‘Suruc’, ‘Katirbasi’ and ‘Hicaznar’) grown in Southern Anatolia region. The cultivars showed a narrower range of heat requirements for flowering (growing degree hours, GDH), i.e. ‘Suruc’ (25,000), ‘Katirbasi’ (25,270), ‘Hicaznar’ (28,000) and a wide range of heat requirements for fruit ripening, i.e. ‘Suruc’ (73,670), ‘Katirbasi’ (74,105) and ‘Hicaznar’ (88,052) GDH. Under the Sanliurfa province conditions, two years average of effective heat summation requirement from bud swelling to 50 % flowering stage for ‘Suruc’, ‘Katirbasi’ and ‘Hicaznar’ cultivars are calculated as 643, 655 and 718 growing degree days (GDD) and from bud swelling to harvest are 2734, 2802 and 3289 GDD. It can be concluded that the effective heat summation of Sanliurfa province is enough for commercial growing for all pomegranate cultivars.     

Rates of inbreeding and genetic diversity in Iranian Holstein Cattle

The accumulation of inbreeding and the loss of genetic diversity is a potential problem in Holstein dairy cattle. The goal of this study was to estimate inbreeding levels and other measures of genetic diversity, using pedigree information from Iranian Holstein cattle. Edited pedigree included 1 048 572 animals. The average number of discrete generation equivalents and pedigree completeness index reached 13.4 and 90%, respectively. The rate of inbreeding was 0.3% per year. Effective number of founders, founder genomes, non‐founders and ancestors of animals born between 2003 and 2011 were 503, 15.6, 16.1 and 25.7, respectively. It was proven that the unequal founder contributions as well as bottlenecks and genetic drift were important reasons for the loss of genetic diversity in the population. The top 10 ancestors with the highest marginal genetic contributions to animals born between 2003 and 2011 and with the highest contributions to inbreeding were 48.20% and 63.94%, respectively. Analyses revealed that the most important cause of genetic diversity loss was genetic drift accumulated over non‐founder generations, which occurred due to small effective population size. Therefore, it seems that managing selection and mating decisions are controlling future co‐ancestry and inbreeding, which would lead to better handling of the effective population size.     

Dynamics of appetite in three fish species (Gasterosteus aculeatus, Phoxinus phoxinus and Carassius auratus gibelio) after feed deprivation

The temporal dynamics of appetite (weight of food consumed per day) were analysed for fish fed to satiation after a 1 or 2-week period of feed deprivation. Three species were compared: two omnivores (minnow, Phoxinus phoxinus and gibel carp, Carassius auratus gibelio) and a carnivore (three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus). All species showed compensatory changes in appetite and growth during the re-feeding period but in the stickleback, there was a lag of a week before the compensatory response was detected. The temporal dynamics of appetite differed between the three species but not within a species. Appetite of the minnow declined towards control levels from the onset of re-feeding. In gibel carp, appetite increased to a peak and then declined to control levels. In the stickleback, appetite was initially below control levels, increased to a maximum, then declined towards control levels. The differences between the species might have been artefacts of the experimental protocols used but could also reflect underlying differences in the control of appetite in these species of fish.     

Effect of γ (Gamma)-radiation on the physico-mechanical properties of grafted jute fabric reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites

The bleached jute fabric (BJF) reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites with various contents of acrylic acid (AA)-treated BJF and un-AA-treated BJF were fabricated by compression moulding method at 190 °C. The AA-grafted BJF reinforced PP composites were then irradiated by γ-ray at various doses. The mechanical properties of neat PP (N-P), ungrafted-BJF and PP composites (UG-BJFPC), AA-grafted-BJF and PP composites (AA-BJFPC) and γ-ray cum AA-grafted-BJF and PP composites (γAA-BJFPC) show maximum tensile strength (TS) of 30, 46, 47 and 51 MPa, maximum flexural strength (FS) of 34, 49, 50 and 54 MPa and maximum Young’s modulus (E) of 280, 428, 436, and 680 MPa, respectively. The increase of TS, FS and E from UG-BJFPC are 2 %, 2 %, and 2 % for AA-BJFPC and 11 %, 10 % and 59 % for γAA-BJFPC. The TS, FS and E are found to increase with radiation dose up to 500Krad and then decrease. The water absorption (WA) for UG-BJFPC, AA-BJFPC and γAA-BJFPC is respectively about 14, 10 and 9 %, indicating a gradual development of hydrophobic character of the composites first by AA-treatment and then by γ-ray-treatment. AA treatment on jute fabric and gamma irradiation on composite result in significant change of morphology of the jute fabric composites surface and better mechanical bonding between fabric and polymer matrix, as a result improved mechanical properties are found.