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.     

Development of an Iron-enriched High-yieldings Indica Rice Cultivar by Introgression of A High-iron Trait from Transgenic Iron-biofortified Rice

Low level of iron in staple food crops is one reason for the predominance of iron-deficiency anemia in developing countries. Most of the iron in rice grains accumulates in the outer aleurone layer and embryo, which are removed during milling, and the edible endosperm contains very low amounts of iron. In an effort to increase iron nutrition, we report here the transgene introgression of a high-iron trait into a high-yielding indica rice cultivar. The ferritin gene from soybean (soyfer1) was introduced into rice plants through interbreeding between soybean ferritin-overexpressing transgenic IR68144 and the high-yielding cultivar Swarna. The stable integration of the soyfer1 gene was confirmed in the BC₂F₄ generation, and the hybrid seeds showed 2.6-fold soybean ferritin gene expression over the recurrent parent Swarna. The hybrid milled seeds revealed a 2.54-fold increase in iron and 1.54-fold increase in zinc compared to Swarna. Agronomic data and an SSR marker analysis of the hybrid rice plants were taken into account for NIL character identification.     

能源植物斑茅在不同生长时期的产量与组分变化

研究不同时期斑茅产量及其化学组分的变化。结果表明:斑茅生物质产量在11月达到最高,其后开始下降;整个生长发育过程中茎叶生物质产量比呈现上升趋势;含水量随生长发育的进行显著降低;叶片灰分含量全年最低为5月,从10月份开始显著增加,至12月份达到最高。茎秆灰分含量略低于叶片,全年最低为10月,最高为7月,变化幅度不大。叶片中木质素含量全年由高到低排列顺序为12月11月9月10月7月8月6月;茎秆中木质素含量全年由高到低排列顺序为12月11月9月7月8月10月6月。10月份茎秆含水量低,灰分含量最低,热值较高,结合产量和燃料品质考虑其更适于直接燃烧,而9月份叶片则更加适于作为生物转化的材料。     

Wicking properties of polyamide 66 twisted nanofiber yarn by tracing the color alteration in yarn structure

In view of the interest in wicking properties of these flexible structures, analysis of the wicking phenomena in nylon 6.6 nanofiber yarns is carried out by considering the twist rate effects. A novel method is used based on adding a pH-sensitive dye to yarn interstructure and the analysis of color alteration of nanofiber yarn structure, resulting from a shift in pH, during the capillary rise of distilled water. The results show that the addition of pH- sensitive dye has no influence on the average nanofiber diameter and the wicking behavior of yarns. This study shows that in short durations, the kinetic of the capillary rise follows the Lucas-Washburn equation. The Lambertw, a mathematical function, has been incorporated, which helps measure an equivalent structural factor of nanofiber yarns and vertical wicking height at any given time considering the gravitational effects. The statistical results show that the average of equilibrium wicking height and capillary rise rate coefficient tend to decrease with increasing the nanofiber yarn twist, due to the reduction of continuity and size of capillaries.     

Soil Salinization in Some Irrigated Areas of the Kingdom of Bahrain

Monitoring and assessment of agricultural land degradation is of vital importance for better land and water management planning and reclamation. It requires setting baseline information and basic analysis at specific time and space. About 33 geo-referenced soil sampling spots were selected in two agricultural production locations in the Kingdom of Bahrain to assess the status and preliminary causes of land degradation. Soil samples were taken from 13 sites in Diraz location while 19 samples were taken from Budayyi location. The samples were taken to 90 cm depth at 30 cm intervals. Standard procedures were followed to determine soil physiochemical properties. In addition, field observations on farm condition, distance from the sea, method of irrigation and irrigation water source were taken. Some of the soil samples were deliberately taken from outside the irrigated basins among trees compared with samples taken from inside the actively growing area for comparison. The results indicated that the salinity level was significantly （P 〈 0.001） higher at the 0-30 cm soil depth compared with 30-60 cm or 60-90 cm depths in both locations. The distance from the sea did not show clear correlation with surface soil salinity in Budayyi area compared with Diraz. Both locations showed significantly higher salinity levels on samples taken outside the actively growing areas compared with those taken from within. The effect is more prominent at the 0-30 cm depth. The observed variability on salinity levels may be attributed to farm management practices and deteriorating quality of ground water. Thus, agricultural land degradation in Bahrain cannot be attributed to ground water deterioration alone. The use of tertiary treated sewage water （TSE） may ease the pressure on ground water, but the pH of the TSE should be carefully monitored and managed with proper studies on leaching requirements to avoid further salinity complications.     

多倍体连翘外植体初代培养

为了实现多倍体连翘的快速繁殖,以多倍体连翘幼嫩叶片、茎尖、茎段为外植体,开展了初代培养的试验研究.结果表明:茎段比茎尖和叶片更适合作为多倍体连翘芽诱导的培养材料;基本培养基为MS培养基.适合腋芽诱导的培养基配方为MS+ 6-BA 2.0 mg/L+ NAA 0.2 mg/L.诱导产生的新芽生长迅速,而且长势较壮,有利于组织培养的进一步研究.     

Assessment of Water Quality Status for the Selangor River in Malaysia

Water quality degradation in the Selangor River will still be present in the years to come since pollutant loads from poultry farms, municipal wastewaters, and industrial wastewaters are not envisaged to be handled effectively. This will be facing the problems of water quality status to use for multiple purposes and to provide its aquatic environment continuously. The water quality evaluation system is used to assess the water quality condition in the river. This system distinguishes two categories of water condition i.e., the water quality index and water quality aptitude. The assessment of water quality for the Selangor River from nine stations along the main stream, which concludes that water has been highly polluted (index 5) immediately downstream of station 02 Selangor River before confluence with Kubu River due to high concentration of microorganisms and immediately downstream of station 06 Selangor River before confluence with Batang Kali River due to high concentrations of microorganisms and suspended particles, was verified. Mineral micropollutants were found to gradually pollute the stream water, ranging from the unpolluted water (index 1) in the upstream to the bad quality (index 4) in the downstream area.     

Mode of inheritance and stability of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki in a diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) population from Malaysia

Genetic inheritance of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki (BTK) was examined in a diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) population collected from the Melaka region of Malaysia. A BTK‐selected sub‐population (BTK‐SEL) which was more than 100‐fold resistant to BTK compared with a susceptible (ROTH) population of P xylostella was used with standard reciprocal crosses and back‐crosses between ROTH and BTK‐SEL. Logit regression analysis of F ₁ reciprocal crosses indicated that BTK resistance was inherited as an incompletely recessive autosomal trait and controlled by a single locus. In contrast, other studies have shown that resistance to Cry1Ac is inherited as an incompletely dominant autosomal trait in a Cry1Ac‐selected sub‐population of the same Melaka population. The frequency of the allele responsible for resistance decreased without exposure to insecticide in the laboratory. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry