Influence of dietary garlic (Allium sativum) on the antioxidative status of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Oxidative damage by free radicals has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several diseases. In this study, the antioxidative effect of dietary garlic on rainbow trout was examined. Trout fingerlings were fed on diets containing 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 g garlic powder kg^?1 diet. Serum lipid peroxides and activities of antioxidant enzymes were measured. Serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay showed that garlic consumption that resulted in a significant decrease in lipid peroxidation. The lowest levels of TBARS were observed in fish fed diet supplemented with 30 g kg^?1 garlic. However, higher doses of garlic (40 and 50 g kg^?1 diet) caused no further reduction in serum TBARS. The results showed a significant increase in superoxide dismutase in all of the garlic‐treated groups compared with the control. Ingestion of 10, 20 and 30 g kg^?1 dietary garlic resulted in a significant reduction in the catalase activity compared with all but the 10 g kg^?1 group. There was no significant difference in glutathione peroxidase activity among the different groups. Serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels increased significantly in trout‐fed diets containing 40 and 50 g kg^?1 garlic powder. These results suggest that dietary garlic may improve the antioxidant status of rainbow trout. However, undesirable effects of higher doses of garlic should be considered.     

Antinociceptive and antidiarrhoeal activity of Zanthoxylum rhetsa

The methanolic extract of the Zanthoxylum rhetsa Roxb. stem bark, given by oral route to mice at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg, significantly reduced the abdominal contraction induced by acetic acid and the diarrhoeal episodes induced by castor oil in mice.     

Variability in expression of insecticidal Cry1Ab gene in Indica Basmati rice

Attempts at breeding squash (Cucurbita pepo) resistant to powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca fuliginea and Erysiphe cichoracearum) have heretofore been unsuccessful due mainly to association of the resistance trait with reduction in yield. The goal of the present work was to determine if heterozygous hybrids expressing partial resistance could be potentially valuable for squash growers. One heterozygous hybrid each of zucchini, cocozelle, and vegetable-marrow squash was grown alongside a leading susceptible commercial hybrid cultivar of the same type, under standard field conditions. Although fungicides were applied at recommended rates every 6 to 13 days to suppress powdery mildew, the susceptible hybrids became heavily infested later in the season. The resistant hybrids were similar to their respective commercially available susceptible hybrids in fruit appearance and other horticulturally important traits. The resistant hybrids yielded at least as well as the commercial hybrids early in the season and outyielded them later in the season. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The effect of niclofolan on desert sheep experimentally infected with immature Fasciola gigantica

Eight desert sheep were each infected orally with 500 metacercariae of Fasciola gigantica and, after 4 weeks, four of the animals were given niclofolan orally at the recommended therapeutic dose rate of 7 mg/kg, the other four remaining as controls. One week later, the animals were slaughtered and the fasciocidal effect of the drug was evaluated on the basis of worm burden, haemogram, some plasma constituents, and gross and histopathological lesions of the liver, as indicators of efficacy. The treatment was found to be ineffective, the degree of infection remaining the same as in the untreated control group. The experiment was repeated using eight infected sheep: four were given the drug orally at a dose rate of 10.5 mg/kg, i.e., 1.5 times the recommended dose; and the same parameters were measured as described above. The drug failed to cure the infected sheep, and caused depression, anorexia and weakness. In a third experiment six sheep were infected as before and three were treated with niclofolan by deep i.m. injection at the recommended therapeutic dose of 2 mg/kg. A week later the animals were killed and examined as before. The drug was effective in treating the infection and produced no untoward effects except for transient signs of pain at the site of injection. It seems possible that the oral dose, unlike the i.m. dose, of niclofolan is not absorbed and/or metabolized sufficiently to prevent elimination of the infection.     

荒漠土壤成分对陆面过程的影响研究

采集塔克拉玛干沙漠北缘肖塘观测站附近的土壤,应用Mastersizer-2000激光粒度仪测定土壤粒径,按照伍登-温德华粒级标准进行土壤成分分类,发现土壤类型并非均质沙土,在0~30 cm深度的浅层存在10%~24%的黏土,根据土壤成分比例对Noah陆面模式的土壤参数重计算,然后利用肖塘站2011年3月22日至7月25日的观测数据驱动Noah模式,对比修正土壤参数前后的模拟效果。结果表明：更新土壤参数后10 cm土壤温度模拟偏差减少0.62 ℃,土壤热通量偏差减小10.47 W·m-2,感热通量偏差减少7.02 W·m-2,地表净辐射偏差减少5.48 W·m-2,且效率系数达到更高的接受程度。通过泰勒图分析了土壤参数修正对Noah模拟效果的整体作用,表明修正土壤参数后的模式中热量传输扩散有一定的优化作用,10 cm土壤温度和热通量土壤温度模拟效果得到改进。     

Effects of Hatching Time Interval on Growth Performance,Survival Rate,Sedimentation Behavior,and Exogenous Feeding Onset of Great Sturgeon (Huso huso Linnaeus, 1758)

We examined the influence of different hatching times on growth and survival of beluga, Huso huso, over a 28-day period. Larvae from a single pair of beluga, Huso huso, were divided according to hatching time into four groups: early, mid (between 6–9 h after the first group), late (23–26 h after the first group), and a mixture of first to last hatched larvae. At hatching time, there was no statistical difference (P > 0.05) in size and length among the four groups. Prior to the onset of exogenous feeding, groups A and D exhibited slightly earlier onset of aggregation behavior and began exogenous feeding 18 h sooner than the other groups (P < 0.05). Mortality after the onset of the endogenous feeding phase was not significantly different among groups (A: 8.15% ± 0.47%; B: 8.55% ± 0.41%; C: 6.63% ± 0.53% and C: 8.23% ± 0.43%) (P > 0.05). Results showed that hatching time has no effect on the growth and overall mortality of larval beluga.     

Comparative efficacy of surface drying and re-drying seed priming in rice: changes in emergence, seedling growth and associated metabolic events

In seed priming, seeds are soaked in a solution of low water potential and dried back to their original weight. This study was conducted to evaluate the comparative performance of different seed priming treatments and to investigate whether re-drying is essential or not? Seeds of fine grain aromatic rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivar Super-Basmati were subjected to hardening, osmohardening with CaCl₂ and KCl (ψ _s ?1.25 MPa) each for 24 h (one cycle), and hydropriming and ascorbate priming (10 mg L^?1) for 48 h. Seeds were primed in two sets. In one set after each treatment, seeds were given three surface washings with distilled water and dried back near to original moisture contents with forced air. In the other case, after surface washings with distilled water, seeds were surface dried using blotting paper and sown immediately. All the priming treatments improved the emergence, seedling growth and reserve metabolism. Use of surface drying was more effective for rice seed invigoration, as evident from earlier and synchronized seedling emergence. Moreover, shoot and root length, seedling dry weight, root score, α-amylase activity, soluble sugars and dehydrogenase activity were also improved, although germination percentage and leaf score were similar from both strategies. Results suggested that surface drying, rather than re-drying close to original weight, was more effective, while among the treatments, osmohardening with CaCl₂ was the most effective. Increasing rice production with judicious use of water is need of the day, and aerobic rice cultivation is an attractive alternative for this purpose. However, poor and erratic stand establishment is one of the major hindrances in its wide scale adoption. In this regard, seed priming techniques are pragmatic approaches to achieve proper stand establishment in the new rice culture. They help in improving seedling density per unit area under optimal and adverse soil conditions and may be opted to improve the performance of aerobic rice.     

Effects of uniconazole with or without micronutrient on the lignin biosynthesis,lodging resistance,and winter wheat production in semiarid regions

Lodging stress results in grain yield and quality reduction in wheat. Uniconazole, a potential plant growth regulator significantly enhances lignin biosynthesis and thus provides mechanical strength to plants in order to cope with lodging stress. A field study was conducted during the 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 growing seasons, to investigate the effects of uniconazole sole application or with micronutrient on the lignin biosynthesis, lodging resistance, and production of winter wheat. In the first experiment, uniconazole at concentrations of 0(CK), 15(US1), 30(US2), and 45(US3) mg L~(-1)was applied as sole seed soaking, while in the second experiment with manganese(Mn) at concentration of 0.06 g L~(-1)Mn, 0.06 g L~(-1)Mn+ 15 mg L~(-1)uniconazole(UMS1), 0.06 g L~(-1)Mn+30 mg L~(-1)uniconazole(UMS2), and 0.06 g L~(-1)Mn+45 mg L~(-1)uniconazole(UMS3), respectively. Uniconazole sole application or with micronutrient significantly increased the lignin content by improving the lignin-related enzyme activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, tyrosine ammonialyase, and peroxidase, ameliorating basal internode characteristics, and breaking strength. The spike length, spike diameter, spikes/plant, weight/spike, yield/spike, and grain yield increased and then decreased with uniconazole application at a higher concentration, where their maximum values were recorded with UMS2 and US2 treatments. The lignin accumulation was positively correlated with lignin-related enzyme activities and breaking strength while, negatively correlated with lodging rate. Uniconazole significantly improved the lignin biosynthesis, lodging resistance, and grain yield of winter wheat and the treatments which showed the greatest effects were uniconazole seed soaking with micronutrient at a concentration of 30 mg L~(-1)and 0.06 g L~(-1), and uniconazole sole seed soaking at a concentration of 30 mg L~(-1).     

Local nitrogen application increases maize post-silking nitrogen uptake of responsive genotypes via enhanced deep root growth

Nitrogen (N) is unevenly distributed throughout the soil and plant roots proliferate in N-rich soil patches. However, the relationship between the root response to localized N supply and maize N uptake efficiency among different genotypes is unclear. In this study, four maize varieties were evaluated to explore genotypic differences in the root response to local N application in relation to N uptake. A split-root system was established for hydroponically-grown plants and two methods of local N application (local banding and local dotting) were examined in the field. Genotypic differences in the root length response to N were highly correlated between the hydroponic and field conditions (r>0.99). Genotypes showing high response to N, ZD958, XY335 and XF32D22, showed 50–63% longer lateral root length and 36–53% greater root biomass in N-rich regions under hydroponic conditions, while the LY13 genotype did not respond to N. Under field conditions, the root length of the high-response genotypes was found to increase by 66–75% at 40–60 cm soil depth, while LY13 showed smaller changes in root length. In addition, local N application increased N uptake at the post-silking stage by 16–88% in the high-response genotypes and increased the grain yield of ZD958 by 10–12%. Moreover, yield was positively correlated with root length at 40–60 cm soil depth (r=0.39). We conclude that local fertilization should be used for high-response genotypes, which can be rapidly identified at the seedling stage, and selection for “local-N responsive roots” can be a promising trait in maize breeding for high nitrogen uptake efficiency.     

Symptom remission in spiked sandal trees by infusion of tetracycline antibiotics

Spike disease of sandal has recently been recorded in Kerala. For chemotherapy of the diseased trees a gravity-flow infusion technique was used to compare tetracycline compounds. All the compounds, including doxycycline and oxytetracycline, were effective when 500 mg per tree was infused in 500 ml water, but disease remission lasted for 4 months only. Repeated infusions failed to give complete remission. Increasing the concentration of tetracycline to 4–8 g per tree gave remission for 7–8 months; at 12 g per tree, phototoxicity was observed.