Activities of acid and alkaline phosphatase and alanine and aspartate aminotransferase in different regions of the alimentary tract of adult White Rock cockerels

1. Alkaline phosphatase [EC 3.1.3.1], acid phosphatase [EC 3.1.3.2], aspartate aminotransferase [ASAT, EC 2.6.1.1] and alanine aminotransferase [ALAT, EC 2.6.1.2] were measured in mucosal homogenates of different segments of the alimentary tract of White Rock cockerels. 2. The activities of acid and alkaline phosphatases were higher in the duodenum, jejenum and caecum than the anterior segments of the alimentary tract. 3. The activity of aspartate aminotransferase was higher in the oesophagus and crop than in the caudal segments of the alimentary tract. Alanine aminotransferase activity did not show any specific pattern. 4. The increased phosphatase activities in the caudal alimentary tract indicates their involvement in the nutrient transport across the mucosa. Aminotransferases were probably involved in the synthesis of amino acids and proteins in the anterior alimentary tract.     

Implications of genotype × input interactions in breeding superior genotypes for favorable and unfavorable rainfed upland environments

Resource-poor farmers in India cultivate upland rice as a subsistence crop in poor soil with minimum inputs, often applying little or no fertilizer and controlling weeds by hand. Consequently, upland rice yields are very low. In our study, the response to management intensification of fertilizer application at rates of 40 N ha⁻¹, 13 P ha⁻¹, and 16.7 K ha⁻¹ and two weed control treatments as compared with no fertilizer, and one hand weeding practice commonly followed by farmers in rainfed upland areas was examined with a large set of advanced breeding lines and adapted upland varieties tested over 3 years in multi-location trials. Highly significant genotype × environment interaction was observed in combined analyses across environments, leading to sub-grouping of sites into the high-yielding or favorable and low-yielding or unfavorable upland environment groups. A significant effect of management regime was observed. Averaged over 15 environments, the moderate-input treatment out-yielded the low-input treatment by nearly 65% or 0.8 t ha⁻¹ under favorable environments and by nearly 48% (0.3 t ha⁻¹) in unfavorable environments. A significant genotype effect and genotype × input management interaction for yield at favorable sites was observed. However, the same was not significant at unfavorable sites. Varietal differences were relatively small at unfavorable sites across input levels. The heritability estimates for grain yield were moderately high in both moderate- and low-input conditions in favorable environments. The genetic correlation between yields in moderate- and low-input conditions was high in both favorable and unfavorable environments. The study indicated that improved varieties performed well relative to landraces under low-input management. Improved varieties along with modestly intensified management offer an attractive option to increase the productivity of rainfed upland environments. For both favorable and unfavorable environments, indirect selection under moderate-input conditions was less efficient than direct selection for grain yield in low-input conditions, indicating upland breeding programs to adopt selection for grain yield under both moderate- and low-input conditions.     

Transaminase and phosphomonoesterase activities in different regions of the oviduct epithelium of laying Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

1. Activities of alkaline (ALP) and acid phosphomonoesterases (ACP) and aspartic (GOT) and alanine (GPT) aminotransferases in the glandular epithelia of the infundibulum, magnum, isthmus and shell gland of the laying quail were measured when the egg was in the shell gland. 2. The activities of all the enzymes were significantly (P less than 0.001) greater in shell-gland than in isthmus and magnum. 3. Gel-electrophoretic analysis of proteins showed that the magnal epithelia had the same proteins as the albumen of the laid egg.     

Evaluation and impact assessment of culture‐based fisheries to enhance fish yield in small reservoirs in Odisha State,India

The present study investigates the success of stocking fingerlings of Indian major carps ‐Gibelion catla (Hamilton), Labeo rohita Hamilton and Cirrhinus mrigala Hamilton – to enhance fish yield in 58 small reservoirs in Odisha State, India. Fish stocking and yield data were collected from State Fisheries Department, Odisha. The relationships between area, stocking density and fish yield of different size groups of reservoirs were assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r). Fish yield increased significantly (p < 0.05, t‐test) from 204 kg/ha/year in 2012–13 to 323 kg/ha/year in 2013–14 due to adoption of CBF. The corresponding per capita fish production increased from 398 kg fisher^?1 year^?1 to 702 kg fisher^?1 year^?1 benefitting more than 8,000 fisher households. Reservoirs in the size group 100–500 ha showed the highest response of fish yield with respect to stocking of fingerlings. The size of fingerlings at stocking and area of the reservoir had greater impact on enhancing fish yield. Stocking had a profound positive impact on fish yield. This study forms a baseline evaluation of the impact of stocking on small tropical reservoirs in India. It also recommends management measures and discusses issues, and the way forward for sustainable fisheries enhancement in small tropical reservoirs in eastern India.     

Effect of nutrient density on production performance, egg quality and humoral immune response of brown laying (Dahlem Red) hens in the tropics

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of various concentrations of metabolizable energy (ME) with graded incremental levels of crude protein (CP) and essential amino acids (lysine and methionine) on production performance, egg quality and humoral immune response of Dahlem Red laying hens. Four experimental diets based on maize–soybean meal-deoiled rice bran were prepared. Diet 1 was fed as a control diet containing 2,600 kcal ME/kg, 15% CP, 0.75% Lys and 0.36% Met, and in the other three diets (D2, D3 and D4), concentrations of the above nutrients were increased by 2.5%, 5.0% and 7.5%, respectively. The levels of Ca (3.5%) and available P (0.32) were constant in all the diets. Each diet was offered ad libitum from 28 to 40 weeks of age to eight replicates containing six birds in each replicate. The egg production, egg weight and egg mass (in grams of egg per hen per day) were not affected by increasing the nutrient density up to 7.5% (2,795 kcal ME/kg diet) compared to the control group (2,600 ME/kg diet). However, feed consumption and feed efficiency (in grams of egg per gram of feed) were influenced by the variation in the nutrient density of diets. As the nutrient density increased by 5% (2,730 ME/kg diet), birds consumed significantly (P < 0.001) less feed. The birds in the 7.5% higher density group produced significantly (P < 0.05) higher egg mass per unit feed consumption compared to the control diet. Increasing nutrient density up to 7.5% had no effect on relative weight of albumen, yolk or shell. The Haugh unit, yolk colour and shell thickness were also not affected due to variation in the nutrient density. The humoral immune response measured at 34 and 40 weeks was progressively improved by increasing the nutrient density up to 5%. Increasing the nutrient density beyond 5% in the diet had no further influence on the humoral immune response. Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that Dahlem Red laying hens required 2,795 kcal/kg ME, 16% CP, 0.8% lysine and 0.4% methionine for eliciting optimum performance and immune response during 28 to 40 weeks of age.     

Lactic Acid Fermentation of β-Carotene Rich Sweet Potato (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ipomoea batatas</Emphasis> L.) into Lacto-juice

Lacto-juices processed by lactic acid fermentation bring about a change in the beverage assortment for their high nutritive value, vitamins and minerals which are beneficial to human health when consumed. Sweet potato roots (non-boiled/ fully-boiled) were fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum MTCC 1407 at 28 ± 2°C for 48 h to make lacto- juice. During fermentation both analytical [pH, titratable acidity, lactic acid, starch, total sugar, reducing sugar (g/kg roots), total phenol and β-carotene (mg/kg roots)] and sensory (texture, taste, aroma, flavour and after taste) analyses of sweet potato lacto-juice were evaluated. The fermented juice was subjected to panelist evaluation for acceptability. There were no significant variations in biochemical constituents (pH, 2.2–3.3; lactic acid, 1.19–1.27 g/kg root; titratable acidity, 1.23–1.46 g/kg root, etc.) of lacto-juices prepared from non-boiled and fully-boiled sweet potato roots except β-carotene concentration [130 ± 7.5 mg/kg (fully-boiled roots) and 165 ± 8.1 mg/kg (non-boiled roots)]. The panelist evaluation scores ranged from 3–4.8 (in a hedonic scale of 1–5) from moderate liking to very much liking of sweet potato lacto-juice. Principal component analyses reduced the eight original analytical variables to three independent components (factors), which accounted for 99.9% of the total variations. Similarly, five original sensory variables were reduced to two independent components, which accounted for 83.1% of the total variations.