Relationship between light,fruit and leaf mineral content with albinism incidence in strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.)

A study was conducted in strawberry to establish a relationship between shading, mineral nutrient of leaves and fruits with albinism incidence. Plants grown under shade produced albino fruits in higher proportion than those grown in open fields. Similarly, plants under shade produced smaller sized fruits and have lower fruit yield. Among cultivars, Etna had highest incidence of albinism (49.6%) and Sweet Charlie the lowest (14.4%). Dry matter content (%), concentration of five major nutrients, viz. N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S and N:Ca and K:Ca nutrient ratios did not differ significantly in the leaves of plants producing normal or albino fruits. However, in contrast, the concentration of K was notably higher (1.97 mg g⁻¹ fresh tissue weight) and that of Ca was lower (0.098 mg g⁻¹ fresh tissue weight) in albino fruits than normal ones. Consequently, the ratios of N:Ca (11.34) and K:Ca (20.08) were higher in albino fruits than normal ones. Cultivars also differed widely in respect to dry matter (%), mineral content and nutrient ratios. Thus, it appears that lower light intensity favours the development of albinism in strawberry, and it seems that calcium is not the basic cause of albinism, but increased vigour associated with overuse of N and K might be positively associated with it.     

Bioinformatically mined simple sequence repeats in UniGene of Citrus sinensis

Characterization of microsatellites is extremely important for the development of molecular markers. Here, we present the detection and abundance of microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in UniGene sequences of Citrus sinensis. A total of 427 SSRs were mined in 8786 UniGene sequences downloaded from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Depending on the repeat units, the length of SSRs ranged from 14 to 21 for mono-, 14 to 48 for di-, 18 to 48 for tri-, 24 to 40 for tetra- and 42 bp for hexa-nucleotide repeats. Average density of SSRs (1SSR/12.92 kb of 5518.71 kb sequences mined) suggests that only 4.43% of sequences contained SSRs. Di-nucleotide repeats were most frequent repeat type (49.41%) followed by tri-nucleotide repeats (41.45%). An attempt was made to design primer pairs for 427 identified SSRs but these were found only for 216 sequences. The positions of SSRs with respect to open reading frame (ORF) detected and annotation of sequences containing SSRs were also carried out to assign function to each of the sequences.     

THORACIC RADIOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF CANINE INFLUENZA VIRUS IN SIX DOGS

Canine influenza virus is an emerging, highly contagious, respiratory pathogen that has not previously been radiographically described. In this retrospective case series study, we describe the thoracic radiographic appearance of confirmed canine influenza virus in six dogs. Radiographic findings varied, but included abnormal unstructured interstitial (one) and unstructured interstitial and alveolar (five) pulmonary patterns, which were distributed cranioventral (four), diffuse (one), and caudodorsal (one). The right middle (five), left cranial (five), and right cranial (four) lung lobes were most commonly affected. Additionally, mild pleural effusion was present in one dog. Intrathoracic lymphadenopathy and cranial mediastinal widening/fluid accumulation were not detected in any dog. Canine influenza virus should be considered as a differential diagnosis for canine patients with respiratory signs and a cranioventral unstructured interstitial to alveolar pulmonary pattern.     

Carbon stocks in Ethiopian soils in relation to land use and soil management

The effect of soil management and land use change are of interest to the sustainable land management for improving the environment and advancing food security in developing countries. Both anthropogenic changes and natural processes affect agriculture primarily by altering soil quality. This paper reviews and synthesizes the available literatures related to the influence of soil management and land use changes on soil carbon (C) stock in Ethiopia. The review shows that topsoil C stock declines approximately 0–63%, 0–23%, and 17–83% upon land use conversion from forest to crop land, to open grazing, and to plantation, respectively. An increase of 1–3% in soil C stock was observed within 10 years of converting open grazed land to protected enclosures. However, there was a little change in soil C stock below 20 cm depth. There is a large potential of increasing SOC pool with adoption of land restorative measures. Total potential of soil C sequestration with the adoption of restoration measures ranges 0·066–2·2 Tg C y⁻¹ on rain‐fed cropland and 4·2–10·5 Tg C y⁻¹ on rangeland. Given large area and diverse ecological conditions in Ethiopia, research data available in published literature are rather scanty. Therefore, researchable priorities identified in this review are important. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pharmacokinetics of Enrofloxacin and Its Metabolite Ciprofloxacin after Intramuscular Administration of Enrofloxacin in Goats

The pharmacokinetics of enrofloxacin and its active metabolite ciprofloxacin were investigated in goats after a single intramuscular administration of enrofloxacin at 2.5 mg/kg body weight. The plasma concentrations of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were determined simultaneously by a HPLC method. The peak concentrations (C _max) of enrofloxacin (1.13 g/ml) and ciprofloxacin (0.24 g/ml) were observed at 0.8 and 1.2 h, respectively. The elimination half-life (t _1/2), volume of distribution (V _d(area)), total body clearance (Cl_B) and mean residence time (MRT) of enrofloxacin were 0.74 h, 1.42 L/kg, 1329 ml/h per kg and 1.54 h, respectively. The t _1/2, area under the plasma concentration–time curve (AUC) and the MRT of ciprofloxacin were 1.38 h, 0.74 g h/ml and 2.73 h, respectively. The metabolic conversion of enrofloxacin to ciprofloxacin was appreciable (36%) and the sum of the plasma concentrations of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin was maintained at or above 0.1 g/ml for up to 4 h. Enrofloxacin appears to be useful for the treatment of goat diseases associated with pathogens sensitive to this drug.     

On the magnitude and dynamics of eddy covariance system residual energy (energy balance closure error) in subsurface drip-irrigated maize field during growing and non-growing (dormant) seasons

We investigated the magnitude and dynamics of the eddy covariance system (ECS) residual energy (energy balance closure error) for a subsurface drip-irrigated maize (Zea mays L.) field in 2005 and 2006 growing and non-growing (dormant) seasons. The corrections for coordinate rotation, oxygen, frequency, and Webb–Pearman–Leuning corrections improved the slope of the total convective energy (latent heat + sensible heat) with respect to the net available energy (from 0.68 to 0.84), but the data filtering (for horizontal and frictional wind speeds higher than 2 m s^?1 and lower than 0.2 m s^?1) had little effect on the slope. Also, the number of data points available for the analyses was reduced by 53 % after filtering. Overall, the daytime residual energy varied between ?100 and 200 W m^?2 during the dormant seasons and between ?500 and 600 W m^?2 during the growing seasons. Most of the nighttime residual energy ranged within ±40 W m^?2 during the calendar year in 2005 and within ?60 and 20 W m^?2 in 2006. During nighttime, the total convective energy is vertically distributed with respect to (R _n ? G), indicating that the total convective energy is independent of the variations in (R _n ? G). Secondly, it was observed that nighttime residual energy did not show any seasonal variation patterns throughout the two consecutive years and confined mostly within a narrow range of ±40 W m^?2, showing no dependency on seasonal changes in surface conditions. The maximum variation in residual energy was usually around frictional wind speed of 0.3–0.5 m s^?1 (varying between ?150 and 300 W m^?2) and then decreasing to a range of ±100 W m^?2 at higher frictional wind speeds. On average, the residual energy decreased by about 33 W m^?2 (after the intercept) for every 1.0 m s^?1 increase in frictional wind speed, whereas the residual energy decreased by about 4 W m^?2 (after the intercept) for every 1.0 m s^?1 increase in horizontal wind speed. Similar diurnal residual energy distribution patterns, with different magnitudes, were observed during growing and dormant seasons. Even though a slight decrease in residual energy was observed with increase in leaf area index (LAI) in both growing seasons, LAI did not have considerable influence on the seasonal variation in the residual energy. The residual energy was also evaluated by separating the data into morning and afternoon hours. We observed that the root-mean-squared difference value is slightly greater for the morning data than the afternoon, indicating greater residual energy in the morning hours due to weaker turbulent mixing than the afternoon. Overall, significant reduction in the available evapotranspiration data after applying a series of corrections possess challenges in terms of utilization of ECS for in-season irrigation management and crop water requirement determinations that needs to be further researched and addressed.     

Understanding genetic diversity in blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper] collections of Indian National Genebank

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - Blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper] is a protein rich pulse crop of Indian origin. The crop is cultivated in diverse range of agro-ecological regions,...     

Intra‐annual changes in reproductive indices of male and female Himalayan snow trout,Schizothorax richardsonii (Gray, 1832)

Periodic changes in reproductive hormone levels, gonadal histology and gonadosomatic index (GSI) of snow trout, Schizothorax richardsonii, were examined to ascertain annual cycle of gonadal development and reproductive status in their natural habitat. In females, there were coherent changes in plasma 17β‐oestradiol and vitellogenin along with GSI, oocyte maturation and vitellogenic progression, collectively indicating two distinct maturation peaks during the months of September and February. Coinciding with this, in males, plasma 11‐keto testosterone was also noticeably higher during September and February, with highest GSI values in September. However, plasma 17α, 20β‐dihydroxyprogesterone levels in males were found to be persistently high from September to February. This observation suggests the potential presence of matured oozing males over a longer period, unlike in females. Overall, the close association between reproductive hormone levels, GSI and gonadal maturation stages in males and females (particularly, the presence of postovulatory follicle complexes) with apparent natural synchronization clearly indicates that S. richardsonii breeds twice in a year, possibly during late September to early November and late February to early April in the coldwater riverine habitats of the Indian Himalayan region.     

Papaya yellow leaf curl virus: A newly identified begomovirus infecting Carica papaya L. from the Indian Subcontinent

India is one of the world’s largest producers of papaya. Viruses, mainly begomoviruses and potyviruses, cause a significant loss in papaya production. The study described here has identified a new species of begomovirus and a new species of betasatellite infecting Carica papaya in India. The sequences of the begomovirus and betasatellite show 90.03% nucleotide sequence identity to an isolate of Radish leaf curl virus and 92.25% identity to an isolate of Tomato leaf curl betasatellite, respectively. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree of begomovirus sequence of isolate DP2 (KX353622) showed distant relationships with previously characterised begomoviruses. Recombination analysis proposed six recombination breakpoints in begomovirus genome with other geographical begomovirus isolates.     

Energy input–output modeling and sensitivity analysis for on-farm mechanically paddy straw bales formation

Paddy and Water Environment - The paddy straw was collected in the form of bales with three mechanical process CI (stubble shaver + rectangular baler), CII (stubble...