Phosphate solubilization potentials of soil Acinetobacter strains

Many phosphate solubilizing microorganisms (PSM) require external pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) for strong phosphorus (P) solubilization in vitro. The objective of this study was to isolate efficient and PQQ-independent PSM. A total of 21 PSM were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of wheat and maize grown in the pots. Acinetobacter strains were the only PQQ-independent and most effective solubilizers of tricalcium phosphate containing agar. The mean P dissolved in liquid cultures of Acinetobacter strains in a 5-day incubation ranged from 167 to 888 μg/ml P. The pH dropped to below 4.7 from 7.8 in six isolates, which produced gluconic acid in concentrations ranging between 27.5 and 37.5 mM. There was a linear regression between soluble P and gluconic acid concentrations in the bacterial cultures (P < 0.05; R ² = 0.59). Inoculation with Acinetobacter sp. WR922 significantly (P < 0.05) increased wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) P content by 27% at 15 days after emergence (DAE) and dry matter by 15% at 30 DAE compared to the control. The plant P content in inoculated plants at 30 DAE was linearly correlated with soluble P of the bacterial cultures (P < 0.05; R ² = 0.69). Gluconic acid production directly affected phosphate solubilization in vitro, which in turn influenced plant P content of inoculated plants in PQQ-independent P-solubilizing Acinetobacter strains.     

Effects of Steam,Moisture, and Screw Speed on Physical Properties of DDGS‐Based Extrudates

A fractional factorial design with a replicated central composite point was used to investigate the effects of extrusion processing on physical properties of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) based aquafeeds using a twin‐screw extruder. Extrusion cooking trials were performed with a nutritionally balanced ingredient blend for Nile tilapia, with two levels of screw speed (350 and 450 rpm), two levels of extruder water (0.236 and 0.302 kg/min), and two levels of conditioner steam (0.1 and 0.15 kg/min). The central point was 400 rpm screw speed, 0.271 kg/min extruder water, and 0.12 kg/min conditioner steam. Effects of these processing conditions on extrudate characteristics were extensively analyzed and included moisture content, water activity, thermal properties, expansion ratio, unit density, bulk density, color, water stability, sinking velocity, water absorption and solubility indices, and pellet durability index. Increasing the extruder water and conditioner steam resulted in a 5.3% decrease and nearly 8.6% rise in mass flow rate, respectively. As screw speed increased from 350 to 400 rpm, water stability and water activity increased by 13 and 58%, respectively. Increasing extruder water from 0.236 to 0.302 kg/min led to a significant increase in water stability by 12.5% and decreases in water absorption index, water activity, and expansion ratio by 13, 21, and 5.5%, respectively. As conditioner steam increased from 0.1 to 0.15 kg/min, sinking velocity and water absorption index decreased by 25 and 15%, respectively. Increasing conditioner steam from 0.1 to 0.12 kg/min resulted in 20, 5.5, 10, and 3% decreases in moisture content of the extrudates, brightness (L*), water stability, and expansion ratio, respectively. It also increased bulk density by 5.8% and unit density by 4.2%. Overall, all trials produced viable extrudates with properties appropriate for Nile tilapia feeding.     

Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network Approach to Estimate Chlorophyll Concentration Index of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for greenhouse-grown lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.); however, excessive nutrient availability causes disease and detrimental effects on the leaf and root development. In this study, nitrogen content of the lettuce leaves was estimated by determining the chlorophyll concentrations of the leaves using image processing technique. The Hoagland solution was used as a fertilizer in five different doses (control, quarter of the solution, half of the solution, standard solution, and two times more of the solution). Multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) model was developed based on the red, green, and blue components of the color image captured to estimate chlorophyll content and chlorophyll concentration index (SPAD values). According to the obtained results, the MLPNN model was capable of estimating the lettuce leaf chlorophyll content with a reasonable accuracy. The coefficient of determination was 0.98, and mean square error was 0.006 in validation process.     

Some productive characteristics and body measurements of Norduz goats of Turkey

Productive characteristics and body measurements of Norduz goats, a native genetic resource in Turkey, were measured. The animals studied were brought from natural habitats to the farm of the Animal Science Department of Agricultural Faculty, Yüzüncü Yıl University. Least squares means of withers height (WH), body length (BL), chest width at back of withers (CWBW), chest depth (CD), chest girth (CG) and leg girth (LG) of Norduz does were 65.9 ± 1.08, 67.2 ± 1.08, 21.1 ± 0.88, 30.8 ± 0.62, 88.9 ± 1.78 and 60.4 ± 1.28 cm, respectively. Least squares means of body weights after parturition of does were 41.3 ± 2.01 kg. The means of lactation length and lactation milk yield were 226. ± 7.2 days and 347 ± 40.1, respectively. Twinning rate, fertility, fecundity, litter size and litter size at weaning were 30%, 98%, 1.27, 1.30 and 1.28, respectively. Means of WH, BL, CWBW, CD, CG, LG and body weights of Norduz bucks were 73.9 ± 2.61, 75.6 ± 2.23, 21.4 ± 0.67, 33.9 ± 1.15, 95.0 ± 2.34, 69.8 ± 2.69 cm and 58.7 ± 3.91 kg, respectively.     

Mechanical anisotropy in unidirectional glass fabric reinforced oligomeric siloxane modified polyester composites

In this study, the effect of incorporation of oligomeric siloxane into unsaturated polyester on mechanical behavior of unidirectional glass fiber/polyester composites has been investigated by means of tensile, flexural and short beam shear tests. The amount of oligomeric siloxane added into unsaturated polyester was in the range 1?C3 % by weight of the glass fabrics. Mechanical tests were conducted at different angles (0 °, 45 °, and 90 °) with respect to fiber direction. The higher siloxane content exhibited a tendency to have greater tensile, flexural and interlaminar shear strength values in machine direction, bias direction and cross direction. From Scanning electron microscopy images, the presence of polyester particles on the unidirectional glass fiber surface confirmed better adhesion.     

Expression dynamics of Toll-like receptors mRNA and cytokines in porcine peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated by bacterial lipopolysaccharide

The Toll-like receptor (TLR)4 is critical for the recognition of Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) but in porcine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) it may cooperate with other TLRs and lead to the production of inflammatory cytokines. Therefore, we analyzed TLR1-10 mRNA expression in porcine PBMCs stimulated with LPS over time (1-48 h) by using quantitative real-time PCR and cytokine proteins level by ELISA in culture supernatant. TLR1-10 mRNA was detectable in porcine PBMCs. When compared with the control (non-stimulated), TLR1 mRNA were increased (p<0.05) at 3 h after challenge with 1 μg/ml LPS, whereas TLR1 and TLR2 mRNA were increased (p<0.01) at 6 h after challenge with 10 μg/ml LPS. TLR4 increased (p<0.001) at 3h after challenge with LPS and remained constant. TLR5 and TLR6 mRNA increased (p<0.05) at 9 h and 1 h after of LPS stimulation, respectively. The mRNA of CD14 and MD2 were increased (p<0.001) at 1h after LPS stimulation. Additionally, at most of the time analyzed, the mRNA expression increased with the dose of LPS. The LPS concentration had influence (p<0.05) on all the TLRs expression except TLR10; whereas time had effect (p<0.05) on all TLRs expression except TLR2, 3, 6 and 10. When compared to the control, the cytokines IL1b, IL8 and TNFα proteins were increased (p<0.001) immediately at 1 h after LPS stimulation and remained constant till 48 h. IL12b was increased (p<0.001) 12 h after challenge with 10 μg/ml of LPS. Although IL8 level was the highest, the higher (p<0.05) expression of all these inflammatory cytokines indicate that upon interacting with TLRs, LPS exerted inflammatory response in PBMCs through the production of Th1 type cytokines. The production of cytokines was influenced (p<0.001) by both the dose of LPS and the stimulation time. Hence, the porcine PBMCs are likely able to express all members of TLRs.