Effect of acute heat exposure on triglyceride transfer to the preovulatory follicles of the laying fowl (Gallus Domesticus)

1. The effect of acute heat exposure on triglyceride (TG) transfer to preovulatory follicles was studied in the laying fowl.

2. Heat exposure of laying fowl resulted in a 1.1°C rise in body temperature, a 10‐fold increase in respiration frequency and mild hypocapnia and hypoxaemia.

3. Plasma and follicular tissue TG concentrations were not significandy affected by heat exposure, but plasma TG specific radioactivity decreased significantly and was negatively correlated with body temperature.

4. The transfer rate of TG to the preovulatory follicles was not affected significantly by hyperthermia.

5. We conclude that nutrient supply to the developing follicles is not compromised in acutely heat‐exposed laying fowl.     

Kid depletion in mouse oocytes associated with multinucleated blastomere formation and inferior embryo development

This study investigated the knockdown (KD) of Kid on maturation developmental competence and multinucleation of mouse germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes after parthenogenetic activation. Data revealed that Kid messenger RNA (mRNA) was expressed in GV and MII stage oocyte and 1‐ and 2‐cell embryos. Additionally, Kid mRNA expression in the Kid KD group decreased by nearly 46% compared to the control small interfering RNA (siRNA) groups. The rate of multinucleated embryos in the Kid KD group (52.4%) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the control siRNA group (4.7%). Finally, the developmental rates were significantly lower in the Kid siRNA group at > 4‐cell stage (28.6% vs. 53.5%) and the blastocyst stage (2.4% vs. 23.3%) compared to the control siRNA groups. Suppression of Kid using siRNA caused multinucleation in early embryos with high frequency and it may increase 2‐ to 4‐cell arrested embryos and reduce the developmental competence to blastocyst.     

Prevalence and distribution pattern of intestinal helminths in chicken and pigeons in Aswan,Upper Egypt

Tropical Animal Health and Production - There is scarce data available on helminth infection of poultry in the region of Aswan province, Upper Egypt. A total of 276 poultry (156 baladi chickens and...     

Growth characteristics of Artemisia sieberi influenced by super absorbent polymers in texturally different soils under water stress condition

The effects of super absorbent polymers (SAPs) on growth characteristics and seedlings survival of Artemisia sieberi (under two soil textures, three irrigation levels and seven hydrogel compositions with three replications) were investigated. The studied traits were shoot height, shoot dry weight, root dry weight, ratio of root/shoot, root length, root perimeter, root area and root volume. SAPs successfully enhanced growth capability of A. sieberi in two soil textures compared to the controls. Ideally, 5 g kg^?1 Aquasorb? (SNF Company, France) with 100% irrigation and 10 g kg^?1 Stockosorb® (Evonik Corporation, Germany) with 75% irrigation in a sandy loam texture and 10 g kg^?1 Boloorab A? (Boloorab Company, Iran) with 75% irrigation in a loamy texture significantly affected all traits, resulting in 100% survival for A. sieberi seedlings. Aquasorb? and Stockosorb® showed the best results in the sandy loam texture and preferable outputs were obtained by Boloorab A? application in the loamy texture. In other words, because of the basic differentiation among soils in terms of mineralogy, temperature and moisture content, different SAPs should be applied. Production of dense root network and root aggregation stimulated by SAPs increased root contact with moisture. Therefore, improving the growth and survival of the plants is accessible using SAPs under water stress condition.     

Application of the Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA) as an Effective Rheological Tool for Measurement of β‐Glucan Viscosity

The physiochemical characteristics of β‐glucan in oat and barley foods can affect human physiological response. A method for continuous measurement of β‐glucan viscosity with a Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA) was developed to overcome the complexity of the common protocols based on in vitro digestion methods. The effects of several parameters on viscosity and solubility were considered. Oat cereal foods showed different RVA viscosity profiles depending on their physiochemical characteristics. Products high in starch exhibited a high initial viscosity that was reduced by α‐amylase action, whereas products with low amounts of starch exhibited a slow increase in viscosity. The viscosity of all samples reached a plateau in the viscosity curve after 1–2 hr, which is the key for obtaining reproducible results. Optimum digestion condition was achieved using sodium phosphate buffer (pH 6.9) and 1% β‐glucan dispersion at 37°C and 160 rpm. A particle size of <0.6 mm gave more consistent viscosities than did larger particles without affecting the solubility of β‐glucan. Pancreatin and α‐amylase concentrations affected the viscosity profile by influencing the digestion rate of protein and starch in the samples, but pepsin had limited influence at pH 6.9. Highly significant Pearson correlation between the in vitro digestibility protocol and RVA methods was achieved, indicting that the developed method could be used as an effective alternative for measurement of β‐glucan viscosity.     

Identification of microsatellite markers linked with yield components under drought stress at terminal growth stages in durum wheat

Grain yield and yield components are the main important traits involved in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.) improvement programs. The purpose of this research was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with yield components such as 1000 grain weight (TGW), grain weight per spike (GWS), number of grains per spike (GNS), spike number per m² (SN), spike weight (SW), spike harvest index (SHI) and harvest index (HI) using microsatellite markers. Populations of F₃ and F₄ lines derived from 151 F₂ individuals developed from a cross between Oste-Gata, a drought tolerant, and Massara-1, a drought susceptible durum wheat genotypes, were used. The populations were evaluated under four environmental conditions including two irrigation regimes of drought stress at terminal growth stages and normal field conditions in two growing seasons. Two hundred microsatellite markers reported for A and B genomes of bread wheat were used for parental polymorphism analysis and 30 polymorphic markers were applied to genotype 151 F_2:3 families. QTL analysis was performed using genome-wide single marker regression analysis (SMA) and composite interval mapping (CIM). The results of SMA revealed that about 20% of the phenotypic variation of harvest index and TGW could be explained by Xcfd22-7B and Xcfa2114-6A markers in different environmental conditions. Similarly, Xgwm181-3B, Xwmc405-7B and Xgwm148-3B and marker Xwmc166-7B were found to be associated with SHI and GWS, respectively. A total of 20 minor and major QTL were detected; five for TGW, two for GWS, two for GNS, three for SN, five for HI, two for SHI and one for SW. The mapped QTL associated with ten markers. Moreover, some of these QTL were prominent and stable under drought stress and non drought stress environments and explained up to 49.5% of the phenotypic variation.     

Sperm density, seminal plasma composition and their physiological relationship in the endangered Caspian brown trout (Salmo trutta caspius)

Sperm density, mineral and organic composition of the seminal plasma and their physiological relationship were investigated in the Caspian brown trout (Salmo trutta caspius). To establish a rapid and accurate method for assessment of sperm density, three different techniques were used: sperm counting, spectrophotometry (at 480 nm) and determination of the spermatocrit. The seminal plasma contained 159.26±8.84 mM sodium (Na), 33.72±2.01 mM potassium (K), 133.04±5.96 mM chlorine (Cl), 1.68±0.2 mM calcium (Ca) and 0.988±0.13 mM magnesium (Mg). The following organic components were found: total protein 0.75±0.14 mg 100 mL⁻¹, cholesterol 2.86±0.58 mg L⁻¹ and glucose 3.81±1.04 mM L⁻¹. The mean sperm density was estimated to be 3.3 × 10⁹ spermatozoa mL⁻¹. The spermatocrit (%) ranged from 25 to 52 in sperm samples. Highly significant linear relationships were found between sperm density and spermatocrit (R²=0.703, P<0.001) and sperm density and optical density (R²=0.909, P<0.001), indicating that optical density can be used as a quick and accurate method of estimating sperm density. Significant relationships were also found between sperm density and Ca, Mg and total protein of seminal plasma. A significant correlation was also observed between the Ca and Mg concentrations (R²=0.774, P<0.01). The following correlations were observed between mineral and organic components: total protein and Ca (R²=0.462, P<0.05), total protein and Mg (R²=0.518, P<0.05) and glucose and Cl (R²=0.374, P<0.05). These parameters should be considered when developing procedures for either artificial fertilization or for cryopreservation of sperm.     

Impact of plasma irradiation on Tribolium castaneum

Radio frequency plasma (RFP) could provide reliable, compact, cost-effective irradiation applications against insect pests of stored food and feed products. Sensitivity of red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum to RFP has been investigated using an irradiation applicator system with the two types of inert gases, argon (Ar) and helium (He), at 100 W for five exposure time levels of 0, 20, 40, 60 and 90 s, respectively. We demonstrated that He RFP was more efficient against T. castaneum than Ar RFP. In addition, a positive correlation was observed between mortality percentages of treated insect stages and exposure times for both He and Ar RFP. The adult stage showed the highest tolerance to RFP irradiation followed by larvae and pupae; however, it was more susceptible than larvae within 24 h after He RFP treatments. The optimum exposure time was 90 s with He RFP, where a full mortality at all tested stages was accomplished, while mortalities of 71.4, 65.3 and 36.7% were recorded for pupae, larvae and adult stage, respectively, after an Ar RFP treatment of 90 s. In case of treated adults, the reproduction rate was higher than treated larvae and pupae. Our findings indicated that He RFP was an effective method for inhibiting T. castaneum development and impacting the insect life cycle and could be considered a promising tool for pest control of stored food.

     

Interpretation of correlations between coagulation factors FV, FVIII and vWF in normal and type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

Increased risk of vascular diseases in hypercoagulable states is assumed to be the major cause for prevalence of vascular problems in type 2 diabetes mellitus patient. The present study was undertaken to explore the basis underlying the correlation between the aforesaid three coagulation factors with reference to the relevant mechanistic findings using statistical calculation. Our findings showed that the correlation between each pairs of coagulation factors, FV, FVIII and vWF could be easily interpreted using previously characterized interactions between these factors. Also, given the sequence similarities between FV and FVIII as well as the results of this study, it was indicated, for the first time, that FV may bind to vWF in the same way as FVIII binds. This finding seems to be of great importance to be evaluated through experimental techniques.