Assessing levels,trade-offs and synergies of landscape services in the Iranian province of Qazvin: towards sustainable landscapes

Landscape Ecology - Evidence-based knowledge is crucial for place-based knowledge production and learning towards sustainable landscapes through stewardship and integrated spatial planning. We...     

Correction to: Droplet-vitrification cryotherapy and thermotherapy as efficient tools for the eradication of apple chlorotic leaf spot virus and apple stem grooving virus from virus-infected quince in vitro cultures

European Journal of Plant Pathology -     

Mineral Nutrition Of ‘Petopride’ Processing Tomato Under Partial Rootzone Drying

Information is scant on the mineral nutrition of plants undergoing partial rootzone drying (PRD). Researchers applied PRD to ‘Petopride’ tomato in a glasshouse by alternating irrigation to one side of the plant with half of the water in control (C). Roots in PRD treatment had higher magnesium (Mg) and copper (Cu) than C roots. Leaves in PRD treatment had lower P and higher K than C leaves. Minerals in leaves of C and PRD were within literature reported sufficiency ranges. Fruit of the PRD treatment had higher nitrogen (N) and zinc (Zn), but lower phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), manganese (Mn) and boron (B) than C fruit. Mineral nutrition of fruit was most affected by PRD compared to that of leaf and root. Fruit of the PRD treatment had a higher incidence of blossom end rot (BER) than C fruit. Incidence of BER notwithstanding, although PRD affected the mineral nutrition of the tomato plant, there was no evidence that the lower yield in PRD was due to poor mineral nutrition.     

Phenotypic diversity and relationships of fruit quality traits in inter-specific almond × peach backcrosses breeding progenies

Nineteen agrochemical traits of 20 almond inter-specific backcrosses progenies were evaluated and compared for three consequence years to find out their phenotypic diversity and determine the relationships of fruit quality traits in almond × peach backcrosses breeding progenies. The variation was observed for traits of phenology parameters (blooming time, ripening time), Physical parameters (fruit weight, width, height, shape, thickness, skin pubescences, colour and flower type), chemical parameters (total sugar content, soluble solids content and acidity) and sensory parameters (attractiveness, taste, and flavor) and yield. Many fruit characteristics that are important to breeders are present in this collection. A high variability was found in the evaluated almond progenies and significant differences were found among them in all studied quality attributes. Year-by-year variations were observed for majority of traits. A significant correlation was found among the fruit height, fruit width, skin pubescences and yield. Fruit height showed a significant positive correlation with fruit weight and fruit thickness and some other traits and a negative correlation with the titratable acidity, skin pubescences and fruit flavour. A high negative correlation was found between the fruit weight and titratable acidity (?0.8). Low coefficients were got between the flower colour and skin pubescences. In addition, principal component analysis it possible to established similar groups of genotypes depending on their quality characteristics and to study relationships among pomological traits in almond progenies evaluated.     

Evaluating two multistrain probiotics on growth performance,intestinal morphology,lipid oxidation and ileal microflora in chickens

An experiment was conducted to investigate the supplementation of two commercially available multistrain probiotics as an alternative to antibiotics on growth performance, intestinal morphology, lipid oxidation and ileal microflora in broiler chickens. A total of 280‐day‐old ROSS 308 mixed‐sex broiler chickens with an average initial body weight of 42 ± 0.5 g were randomly divided into four treatments with five replicate cages of 14 birds each cage in a completely randomized design and fed with the following diets for 42 day: (a) control (CON) (antibiotic‐free diet), (b) antibiotic (ANT) (CON + Avilamycin 150 g/ton feed), (c) probiotic A (CON + Protexin^® 150 g/ton feed) and (d) probiotic B (CON + Bio‐Poul^® 200 g/ton feed). The results showed the broilers fed the ANT diet had greater average daily gain than broilers fed the CON diet during day 1–14 (p < 0.05). At day 42, two birds were randomly selected per replicate for evaluation intestinal morphology, lipid oxidation and ileal microflora. birds fed diet supplemented with probiotic A and probiotic B increased villus height and goblet cells numbers in the jejunum and villus height to crypt depth ratio and villus height in the ileum as compared to birds fed CON diet (p < 0.05). The malondialdehyde value was reduced (p < 0.05) in the ANT, probiotic B and probiotic A groups compared with the CON group. The Lactobacillus population was increased and Clostridium spp. population decreased in the ileum of broilers fed diets containing the probiotic B and probiotic A compared with those fed CON diet (p < 0.05). The results from this study indicate that the probiotic A (Protexin^®) and probiotic B (Bio‐Poul^®) used in this trial may serve as alternatives to ANT.     

The analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">groEL</Emphasis> gene in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Salmonella enterica</Emphasis> subspecies <Emphasis Type="Italic">enterica</Emphasis> serovar Typhimurium isolated from avians by PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism method

Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium causes food-borne outbreaks and systemic diseases in humans and animals. groEL gene (also known as mopA gene in S. Typhimurium), possessing conserved sequence, plays an important role in invasion of bacteria. The purpose of present study was to identify the polymorphism of groEL gene among different avians in different regions by PCR-RFLP method. Fifty two S. Typhimurium isolates (Broiler (n = 13), Layer (n = 12), Duck (n = 5), Goose (n = 5), Sparrow (n = 8), Canary (n = 3), Pigeon (n = 5) and Casco parrot (n = 1). were identified using serotyping as well as multiplex-PCR. Then, amplification of groEL gene performed and amplified products subjected to restriction digestion with BsuRI enzyme. Three RFLP profiles, A, B and C, generated DNA fragments between approximately 100–1,000 bp in size, were observed. The RFLP profile A was observed in 35 (67.3%), profile B in 14 (26.9%) and profile C in 3 (5.77%) of isolates. S. Typhimurium isolates recovered from 13 broilers (two of which profile A, 9 profile B and 2 profile C) and from 8 sparrows (two of which profile A, 5 profile B and 1 profile C) showed all three profiles, but 12 layers and other avians (including Canary (n = 3), Goose (n = 5), Duck (n = 5), Pigeon (n = 5) and Casco parrot (n = 1)) showed profile A. None of these profiles was allotted for a special region. The result of present study showed that S. Typhimurium undergoes genetic mutations in groEL gene under unpleasant milieu in different regions and in different avians. Thus, genetic diversity, despite conserved nature of groEL gene in S. Typhimurium, may exist but it depends on the condition where bacteria have settled. To our knowledge, three RFLP profiles of groEL gene generated by BsuRI restriction enzyme were not reported previously.     

Effects of drought stress and rewatering on antioxidant systems and relative water content in different growth stages of maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids

Drought is a problem of the expanding universe which seriously influences crop production and quality. Approximately one-third of the cultivated area of the world suffers from constantly inadequate supplies of water. The present study aimed to determine the effects of drought and rewatering on activities of antioxidant enzymes, chlorophyll, proline, and relative water contents (RWC). In this experiment, six maize hybrids (Sc260, Sc370, Sc500, Sc647, Sc700, and Sc704) were examined in a pot study during the maize-growing season of 2011. Results indicated that the growth of hybrids was retarded under drought stress conditions and regained growth speed during rewatering. RWC, chlorophyll, and carotenoid contents were markedly decreased by the water deficit and reached normal values during rewatering in Sc647, Sc704, and Sc700. Our findings also indicated significantly higher activity levels of peroxidase and catalase and proline content in water-stressed plants than in well-watered plants, which decreased when the plants were rewatered, showing an inverse relationship to gluthatione reductase activity. According to the results, the better upregulation of the protective mechanism in Sc704 and Sc647 probably induced higher drought resistance. We concluded that antioxidant enzyme activity could provide a useful tool for depicting drought tolerance in maize hybrids in arid and semiarid regions.     

Simulation of 1D surface and 2D subsurface water flow and nitrate transport in alternate and conventional furrow fertigation

Increasing water and fertilizer productivity stands as a relevant challenge for sustainable agriculture. Alternate furrow irrigation and surface fertigation have long been identified as water and fertilizer conserving techniques in agricultural lands. The objective of this study was to simulate water flow and fertilizer transport in the soil surface and in the soil profile for variable and fixed alternate furrow fertigation and for conventional furrow fertigation. An experimental data set was used to calibrate and validate two simulation models: a 1D surface fertigation model and the 2D subsurface water and solute transfer model HYDRUS-2D. Both models were combined to simulate the fertigation process in furrow irrigation. The surface fertigation model could successfully simulate runoff discharge and nitrate concentration for all irrigation treatments. Six soil hydraulic and solute transport parameters were inversely estimated using the Levenberg–Marquardt optimization technique. The outcome of this process calibrated HYDRUS-2D to the observed field data. HYDRUS-2D was run in validation mode, simulating water content and nitrate concentration in the soil profiles of the wet furrows, ridges and dry furrows at the upstream, middle and downstream parts of the experimental field. This model produced adequate agreement between measured and predicted soil water content and nitrate concentration. The combined model stands as a valuable tool to better design and manage fertigation in alternate and conventional furrow irrigation.     

Drought tolerance variability in S<Subscript>1</Subscript> pollinator lines developed from a sugar beet open population

Drought tolerance is one of the most important objectives of sugar beet breeding programs in semi-arid regions, particularly during the last decade. Due to global climate changes and limitations of agricultural irrigation water, varieties with drought tolerance are taken into consideration in order to avoid yield losses due to drought. In this study, drought tolerance of 76 S₁ lines (full-sib families) that had been extracted from a genetically broad base multigerm sugar beet open pollinated population, were examined. Test crosses were made between the lines as pollinators and a cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) single cross. The consequent hybrids along with checks were evaluated during 2007 and 23 more tolerant hybrids during 2008, in two adjacent experiments under drought stress and non-stress conditions. Drought tolerance indices calculated based on sugar yield, such as mean productivity (MP), geometric mean productivity (GMP) and stress tolerance index (STI) were used to assess hybrids responses to drought. The results showed significant genetic differences for root yield and sugar yield under both conditions. Drought tolerance indices displayed significant genetic variability for sugar yield among the hybrids. Many hybrids were drought tolerant as compared with the original base population as indicated by their high STI. The estimates of heritability for sugar yield in stress and non-stress conditions were much close to each other (0.31 and 0.34, respectively). Whereas, for root yield the heritability estimate in stress condition (0.46) was relatively higher than that in non-stress condition (0.34). Significant differences were observed among the selected hybrids for root yield and sugar yield, indicating genotypic variability for pollinator lines derived from the population. There were no significant differences for sugar content. For increasing the drought tolerance potential in a breeding population and developing drought-tolerant varieties by male parent, the drought-tolerant lines could be used.     

The necessity of antioxidant inclusion in caprine and ovine semen extenders: A systematic review complemented with computational insight

The inclusion of antioxidants (AOXs) has been proposed in various protocols to conserve the normal physiology of spermatozoa during (cryo) preservation. The main aim of this review was to understand the necessity of AOXs inclusion in semen extenders of caprine and ovine semen samples and to decipher physico-chemical space of AOXs used in semen extenders till now. A total 27 full-text relevant articles were finally discussed here. This systematic review showed that the inclusion of AOXs may improve the success of semen cryopreservation although at least three studies could not support this finding. AOXs have been not added after assaying total antioxidant capacity of the sample of interest, and this is principal measurement bias of all papers. Furthermore, no rational dose–response curve and precise posology have been considered in comparable studies. Furthermore, new methodologies are requested to detect the oxidative status of semen specimens before AXOs fortification and new methodologies like imaging are also needed to detect various injuries of sperms during semen (cryo)preservation. Defining computational chemical and physical spaces of AOXs which used in semen (cryo)preservation would be an interdisciplinary effort to hasten deciphering epoch-making compounds. In conclusion, more in-depth analytical, toxicological and pharmacological methodologies should be pursued in supplementation or addition of AOXs during caprine and ovine semen (cryo)preservation after determining the oxidative status of semen samples.