Calf and disease factors affecting growth in female holstein calves in Florida, USA

A prospective cohort study was undertaken to determine calf-level factors that affect performance (growth) between birth and 14 months of age in a convenience sample of approximately 3300 female Holstein calves born in 1991 on two large Florida dairy farms. Data collected on each calf at birth included farm of origin, birth date, weight, height at the pelvis, and serum total protein (a measure of colostral immunoglobulin absorption). Birth season was dichotomized into summer and winter using meteorological data collected by University of Florida Agricultural Research Stations. Data collected at approximately 6 and 14 months of age included age, weight, height at the pelvis, and height at the withers. Growth in weight and stature (height) was calculated for each growth period; growth period 1 (GP1) = birth to 6 months, and growth period 2 (GP2) = 6 to 14 months. Health data collected included date of initial treatment and number of treatments for the diseases diarrhea, omphalitis, septicemia, pneumonia and keratoconjunctivitis. After adjusting for disease occurrence, passive transfer of colostral immunoglobulins had no significant effect on body weight gain or pelvic height growth. Season of birth and occurrence of diarrhea, septicemia and respiratory disease were significant variables decreasing heifer growth (height and weight) in GP1. These variables plus farm, birth weight and exact age when ‘6 month’ data were collected explained 20% and 31% of the variation in body weight gain and pelvic height growth, respectively, in GP1. The number of days treated for pneumonia before 6 months of age significantly decreased average daily weight gain in GP2 (P < 0.025), but did not affect stature growth. Treatment for pneumonia after 6 months of age did not significantly affect weight or height gain after age 6 months. Neither omphalitis nor keratoconjunctivitis explained variability in growth in either of the growth periods.     

Current Status and Bottle Neck of Octopod Aquaculture: The Case of American Species

The increasing market demand for cephalopods and the experiences obtained with different species has boosted the interest in developing their culture in Latin America. In 2008, an international workshop was held in Puerto Montt, Chile, with 14 experts in experimental cephalopods aquaculture from Brazil, Chile, Spain, and Mexico. Several topics were approached within the holobenthic species Octopus maya and the merobenthic species Enteroctopus megalocyathus, Octopus vulgaris, and Robsonella fontaniana. Part of the conclusions demonstrated that the two greatest difficulties for their production were survival of paralarvae for merobenthic species, and survival of early juveniles for holobenthic species. Besides, there is a need to study the endogenous and exogenous factors affecting health and nutritional status of embryos, paralarvae, and juveniles. These stages, which may limit the culture, should be extensively studied in order to develop the appropriate environmental conditions and culture systems for the physiological and behavioral requirements, from egg incubation up to juveniles to reach a grow‐out phase.     

Impact of Conyza bonariensis density and establishment period on soyabean grain yield,yield components and economic threshold

Conyza spp. have become a major weed around the world, mainly because of weed resistance issues. The objective of this work was to test the hypothesis that the soyabean crop yield is dependent on the density of Conyza bonariensis and on the timing of weed establishment in relation to the crop sowing date. It was also theorised that these variables affect soyabean crop yield components and the economic threshold of C. bonariensis on soyabean. Field experiments were conducted during 2010 and 2011 using a randomised complete block design. In each experiment, several densities (0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96 and 192 plants m^?2) of C. bonariensis were established in soyabean fields. Conyza bonariensis establishment dates varied considerably between the experiments [81, 38 and 0 days before soyabean sowing (DBSS)]. Conyza bonariensis plants were first cultivated in a glasshouse and then transplanted to the field at the three‐leaf growth stage. At the lower densities, each C. bonariensis plant decreased soyabean yield by 36%, 12% and 1.0%, when established at 81, 38 and 0 DBSS respectively. The economic thresholds based on sensitivity analysis were below 0.5 plant m^?2 when C. bonariensis was introduced at 81 and 38 DBSS; in contrast, they were between 2 and 4 plants m^?2 when the weed was established at the crop sowing time. The results emphasise the importance of proper C. bonariensis management prior to soyabean sowing and highlight the need for residual herbicides to avoid grain yield losses.     

A set of standard area diagrams to assess severity of frogeye leaf spot on soybean

European Journal of Plant Pathology - A set of standard area diagrams (SADs) was developed and validated to aid visual assessment of severity of frogeye leaf spot (FLS) caused by Cercospora sojina....     

Tissue‐print and squash real‐time PCR for direct detection of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter’ species in citrus plants and psyllid vectors

Huanglongbing (HLB) disease is seriously threatening and/or damaging the citrus industry worldwide. Accurate detection of the three species associated with HLB disease, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter africanus’ and ‘Candidatus Liberibacter americanus’, is essential for the preventive control of the disease. Real‐time PCR is a useful tool for bacterial detection. However, nucleic acid purification steps limit the number of samples that can be processed by PCR. Universal detection of ‘Ca. Liberibacter’ species was achieved by direct tissue‐printing and spotting of plant leaf petiole extracts or squashing of individual psyllids onto paper or nylon membranes. Primers were designed and used with TaqMan chemistry for accurate detection of the bacterium in immobilized targets (prints of 10 overlapping leaf pedicels per tree, or squashed single vectors), by extraction with water and direct use for real‐time PCR. This simplified method was validated and could detect HLB‐liberibacters in 100% of leaves with symptoms and 59% of symptomless leaves collected from HLB‐infected trees. The use of direct assays as template showed good agreement with use of purified DNA (κ = 0·76 ± 0·052). The squash assay allowed detection of the bacterium in 40% of mature Diaphorina citri that fed on leaves of HLB‐infected trees with or without symptoms. A commercial ready‐made kit based on this technology showed 96% accuracy in intra‐laboratory performance studies. The simplified direct methods of sample preparation presented herein can be effectively adopted for use in rapid screening of HLB agents in extensive surveys, certification schemes or for epidemiological and research studies.     

Dietary threonine requirement to optimize protein retention and fillet production of fast‐growing Nile tilapia

Threonine is the third‐limiting essential amino acid in diets based on cereal ingredients. A 4‐week trial was conducted to determine the threonine requirement of large Nile tilapia based on fish growth, feed efficiency, body composition, protein and amino acid retention. Six hundred fish (563.3 ± 15.1 g) were distributed into twenty 1.2‐m³ cages. Five diets containing 288 g kg^?1 of crude protein, 12.7 MJ kg^?1 of digestible energy and 8.9, 10.5, 12.2, 13.7 and 15.4 g kg^?1 of threonine were elaborated. Fish were hand‐fed five times a day to extruded diets. Significantly, differences in growth performance and amino acids retention among the treatments were observed. Fish fed 10.5 g kg^?1 of threonine showed higher daily weight gain, gutted weight and fillet weight (P < 0.05) compared to fish fed with other experimental diets. Diets containing 8.9–15.4 g kg^?1 of threonine did not affect whole body and muscle proximate composition. Based on second‐order regression analysis, the dietary threonine requirement estimated based on final gain, fillet weight and fillet yield was 12, 12.1 and 11.5 g kg^?1 diet, respectively. The dietary threonine requirement for maximum fillet yield of Nile tilapia was estimated to be 11.5 g kg^?1.     

Study of liver and gut alterations in sea bream,Sparus aurata L., fed a mixture of vegetable protein concentrates

This study evaluated liver and gut alterations of gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata L., fed diets in which fish meal was substituted by a mixture (M) of pea protein concentrate (PPC) and rice protein concentrate (RPC). Histological studies were conducted to evaluate the possible changes produced by four experimental isolipidic (18%) and isoproteic (48%CP) diets with 30%, 60% and 90% of fish meal substitution by a pea and rice mixture and compared with a control diet (0%). The results obtained in the present histological study showed significant changes especially in the case of the 90% substitution in parameters such as thickness of the layers, goblet cells and villi measurements. Structural integrity of the gut would not be significantly affected by a diet of up to 60% substitution. The alterations observed in the liver could not only be attributed to diet but also to possible individual variations.