Effects of urea nitrogen and residual composted municipal waste and sheep manure on the growth and chemical composition of two triticale genotypes

In 2012, a greenhouse experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of field soil (C0), residual composted municipal waste (CMW), and residual composted sheep manure (SM) on the growth of triticale in pots previously growing oilseed rape in 2011. To each soil group, one of three levels of urea nitrogen (N) fertilizer was added. Results demonstrated that triticale grown in pots previously containing oilseed rape plants containing SM or CMW with 150 kg urea N ha^?1 had the highest N content. Plants grown in SM with 150 kg N ha^?1 had the greatest seed yield, but yield was not significantly different from plants grown in CMW receiving 150 kg N ha^?1. Triticale plants enriched by either SM or CMW had a higher amount of N, copper, zinc, and manganese compared to the field soil control.     

Detection of QTL for greasy fleece weight in sheep using a 50 K single nucleotide polymorphism chip

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have introduced an influential tool in the search for quantitative trait loci (QTL) influencing economically important traits in sheep. To identify QTL associated with greasy fleece weight, a GWAS with 50 K single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was performed in a Baluchi sheep population. Association with greasy fleece weights was tested using the software Plink. The results of our GWAS provided three novel SNP markers and candidate genes associated with greasy fleece weight. A total of three chromosome-wide significant associations were detected for SNP on chromosomes 17 and 20 affecting greasy fleece weight across the four shearing. One of the significant SNP markers was located within ovine known genes namely FAM101A. Further investigation of these identified regions in validation studies will facilitate the identification of strong candidate genes for wool production in sheep.     

Population structure of Mazandaran native fowls using pedigree analysis

The objective of this study was to use pedigree analysis to evaluate the population structure and genetic variability of the Mazandaran native fowls in Iran by quantifying the pedigree completeness index, effective population size, genetic diversity, inbreeding level, and individual increase in inbreeding. The pedigree completeness analysis showed 3.31 full, 10.19 maximum, and 6.30 equivalent generations. The effective number of founders (f _e) was 131, representing 5% of the potential number of founders. The effective number of ancestors (f _a) was 81, and the genetic contribution of the 37 most influent ancestors explained 50% of the genetic variability in the population. The ratio f _e/f _a (effective number of founders/effective number of ancestors), which expresses the effect of population bottlenecks, was 1.62. The inbreeding coefficient increased over generations and the average was 1.93%. The average relatedness coefficient between individuals of the population was estimated to be 2.59%. The effective population size, based on the number of full generations, was 56. Family size analysis showed that fewer males than females were used, resulting in the observed levels of inbreeding. Average inbreeding coefficient in the Mazandaran native fowls can be regarded to be below critical levels. However, considering the relationship coefficients of individuals is recommended to aid maintaining genetic diversity of Mazandaran native fowls.     

Stimulatory effect of dietary taurine on growth performance,digestive enzymes activity,antioxidant capacity,and tolerance of common carp, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cyprinus carpio</Emphasis> L., fry to salinity stress

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of dietary taurine (Tau) on performance, digestive enzymes, antioxidant activity, and resistance of common carp, Cyprinus carpio L., fry to salinity stress. Fish (0.97?±?0.033 g) were fed on different taurine levels of 0.0 (control), 5, 10, 15, or 20 g/kg diet up to satiation twice daily for 8 weeks. At the end of the feeding trial, fish were stressed by exposure to 10 ppt salinity for 3 days during which fish mortality was observed. Fish performance was significantly (P?<?0.05) improved by dietary taurine up to 15 g Tau/kg diet after which fish growth and feed intake were almost the same. Also, taurine supplementation significantly (P?<?0.05) elevated activities of intestinal amylase, lipase, and protease resulting in an improving in feed intake giving better performance. Furthermore, Tau-stimulated antioxidant activity of common carp was observed in a dose-related manner, where activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were significantly (P?<?0.05) higher, but malondialdehyde (MDA) value was significantly (P?<?0.05) lower in Tau-fed fish groups than those fed the control diet. In salinity stress experiment, highest survival rate was observed at fish fed Tau-supplemented diets without significant (P?>?0.05) differences over fish fed the control diet. It appears that taurine could be used as a feed supplement to confer better growth and health of common carp fry with optimal level of 15 g/kg diet.     

Replacing maize with pearl millet in laying hens’ diets

Pearl millet grain could be considered as an alternative feed ingredient for poultry. In a 12 wks experiment, the performance of laying hens fed diets containing pearl millet were compared with those fed diets containing corn. Maize grain was replaced by pearl millet on an equal-weight at either 0, 25, 50, 75 or 100%. Results showed that use of 25, 50 and 75% of pearl millet in place of maize in the diet resulted in similar (P > 0.05) hen-day egg production, egg mass, egg weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio to those of control group. Totally replacement of maize grain with pearl millet significantly (P < 0.05) reduced all production parameters. Egg quality parameters did not affect by using pearl millet in the diet. These results showed that maize grain can be replaced by pearl millet up to 75% in the diets of laying hens without any adverse effect on hen performance or egg quality.     

Forest fire effects in beech dominated mountain forest of Iran

Most of world's forests of different climates have a history of fire, but with different severities. Fire regimes for broadleaf deciduous forests have return intervals that vary from many decades (or less) to centuries (or more). Iran has a total of 1.2 million ha of temperate forest in the north, where fires burn about 300–400 ha annually. This study focused on the impact of fire on forest structure, tree species quality, and regeneration composition (specially beech) in the Chelir forest of northern Iran. The results showed that forest fires changed the structure and had different effects on tree species composition between burned and control areas. Thin barked species such as oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) and coliseum maple (Acer cappadocicum Gled.) have been affected more than those with thick bark, like hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.) and chestnut-leaved oak (Quercus castaneifolia C.A. Mey). The density of oriental beech regeneration in the unburned area was greater than in the burned area, while the quantity of regeneration of hornbeam, coliseum maple and velvet maple (Acer velutinum Boiss) was higher in burned area. Forest fire had a greater effect on oriental beech quality, and changed regeneration composition in the burned area. Fire prevention activities should be considered as a silvicultural treatment for preserving these valuable forests.     

Development and performance assessment of a DC electric variable-rate controller for use on grain drills

Site-specific crop management is a technology that modulates the application rate of field inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, and herbicides based on the needs of each management zone within a field. There are two methods available for changing the seeding rate in fluted-feed-roll type seed drills: (1) changing the active feed-roll length and/or, (2) changing the seed meter drive shaft speed. A possible method to develop a variable-rate seeder is to add a controller to a conventional grain drill which can change the speed of the seed meter drive shaft on-the-go. This was explored in the present study with the following main objectives: (a) to design a DC electric variable-rate controller to change a grain drill from a uniform to a variable-rate seeder, and (b) to determine the response time of the system. A motor control circuit was designed which used the output signals of two encoders as feedback. The system was consisted of: (1) a DC motor with a fixed-ratio gearbox, (2) encoders for sensing the rotational speeds of the grain drill drive wheel and the motor, (3) a GPS receiver, (4) a pulse-with-modulation (PWM) DC motor controller, and (5) a laptop. Dynamic tests were conducted at application rates of 87.5 (low) and 262.5 (high) kg ha⁻¹. Sigmoid equations were best fitted to the transition data from low-to-high and high-to-low seeding rates. Our findings showed that the response times of low-to-high and high-to-low transition rates were 7.4 and 5.2 s, respectively.     

Interactions between Metopolophium festucae cerealium (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV-PAV)

Interactions between an invasive aphid, Metopolophium festucae (Theobald) subsp. cerealium, and Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV-PAV) were studied under laboratory conditions. M. festucae cerealium is an economic pest of wheat and barley that has recently been found in high population densities in wheat in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. BYDV-PAV is the most prevalent and injurious species of BYDV worldwide and in the Pacific Northwest. Although M. festucae sensu stricto (Theobald 1917) has been reported previously as a vector of some BYDV isolates, there is no confirmed transmission of BYDV by M. festucae cerealium. Two experiments examined the ability of M. festucae cerealium to transmit BYDV-PAV. The first used single aphids caged to indicator plants of a BYDV-susceptible winter wheat cultivar and the second used multiple aphids on each test plant. M. festucae cerealium did not transmit BYDV-PAV in either experiment, whereas transmission by a known BYDV vector, Rhopalosiphum padi L., was consistently high (≥93%). A third experiment compared the intrinsic growth rate, days until first reproduction and daily reproduction by M. festucae cerealium on sham-inoculated and BYDV-PAV-infected wheat, but detected no differences. The findings are reviewed in light published data on M. festucae species, BYDV transmission, and the potential pest status of this new invading aphid.     

Fractionation and Speciation of Manganese in Rhizosphere Soils of Pseudomonas sp. Rhizobacteria Inoculated Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) Seedlings Under Salinity Stress

Enhancement of manganese (Mn) availability in saline and Mn-deficient soils is very important for plant growth. An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of Pseudomonas sp. rhizobacteria (P₀ (control), P₁, P₂ and P₃) and Mn (0 and 10 mg Mn kg^?1 soil) on the distribution of Mn in the rhizosphere of pistachio seedlings under salinity stress (0, 1000 and 2000 mg NaCl kg^?1 soil). The results showed that salinity decreased the dry weight, Mn uptake and chlorophyll content of the pistachio seedlings. However, inoculation with rhizobacteria increased these parameters in saline conditions. Application of rhizobacteria increased the availability of Mn in the rhizosphere soil. The use of rhizobacteria decreased the residual-Mn form in the rhizosphere. Inoculation with rhizobacteria increased the percent of Mn²⁺ and MnCl⁺ species in the soil solution. However, pistachio seedlings inoculation with rhizobacteria increased the contents of Mn available forms in the rhizosphere soil.