Changes in fatty acid composition of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) fruit during maturation

Changes in fatty acids were studied during maturation of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) fruits cultivated in the North-East of Tunisia (Charfine). The fruits matured in 55 days after flowering (DAF). Oil and petroselinic acid synthesis proceeded at a steady rate up to 32 DAF. The first results showed a rapid oil accumulation started at newly formed fruits (9.6 ± 0.2%) and continued until their full maturity (26.4 ± 0.5%). During fruit maturation, fatty acid profiles varied significantly among the nine stages of maturity. At the 32th DAF, palmitoleic, gadoleic, erucic and docosahexenoic acids were not detected and petroselinic acid had a highest amount (84.8 ± 4.5%). Fruits development resulted mainly in an increase of petroselinic acid and a decrease of palmitic acid (C16:0). At full maturity, the main fatty acids were petroselinic acid (80.9 ± 5.7%), followed by linoleic (13.6 ± 2.9%), palmitic (3.6 ± 0.1%) and stearic (0.7 ± 0.1%) acids. Saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids decreased significantly and monounsaturated fatty acids increased during maturation of coriander fruit. Coriander fruits at the first four stages of maturity have a healthy nutritional value and the last five stages were with important economic and industrial applications. Results of this study indicate that the variation in the fatty acid composition of coriander fruit during maturation may be useful in understanding the source of nutritionally and industrially important fatty acids in this fruit. Coriander fruit is potentially an important source of petroselinic acid which has numerous industrial applications.     

Vitamin C deficiency in the catfish Clarias gariepinus

Regardless of the absence of spinal deformities, vitamin C deprivation in adult-sized Clarias gariepinus challenged the physical integrity and survival of fish, inducing changes that greatly resembled those of fingerlings of other species. Vitamin C was presumed to be a dietary facilitator, which when deprived in the diet of C. gariepinus , would obstruct intestinal absorption of iron and/or impair its release from the reticulo-endothelial stores. This impaired erythrocyte synthesis led into anaemia (as indicated by lowered levels of red blood cells, haemoglobin and haematocrit). Leukopenia noted in fish on a scorbutic (lacking vitamin C) diet suggested functional depression of phagocytic engulfment with increased susceptibility to the deteriorating action of pathogenic agents. Changes in histology included hypertrophy, oedematous separation and telangiectasia of gill lamellae. Shrunken glomeruli, sloughed Bowman's capsules and tubular dilation and distortion were also shown. Shrunken hepatocytes and the occurrence of yellowish ceroid pigments were the concrete histopathological signs in liver. Vitamin C is thus suggested as a potent antioxidant that offers protection against oxidative damage to various fish tissues.     

Effect of a diet containing date pits on growth performance,diet digestibility,and economic evaluation of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Tropical Animal Health and Production - This study was performed to investigate the effect of feeding different levels of date pits (DP) to growing Japanese quails on growth performance, diet...     

Modeling annual production and carbon fluxes of a large managed temperate forest using forest inventories, satellite data and field measurements

We evaluated annual productivity and carbon fluxes over the Fontainebleau forest, a large heterogeneous forest region of 17,000 ha, in terms of species composition, canopy structure, stand age, soil type and water and mineral resources. The model is a physiological process-based forest ecosystem model coupled with an allocation model and a soil model. The simulations were done stand by stand, i.e., 2992 forest management units of simulation. Some input parameters that are spatially variable and to which the model is sensitive were calculated for each stand from forest inventory attributes, a network of 8800 soil pits, satellite data and field measurements. These parameters are: (1) vegetation attributes: species, age, height, maximal leaf area index of the year, aboveground biomass and foliar nitrogen content; and (2) soil attributes: available soil water capacity, soil depth and soil carbon content. Main outputs of the simulations are wood production and carbon fluxes on a daily to yearly basis. Results showed that the forest is a carbon sink, with a net ecosystem exchange of 371 g C m(-2) year(-1). Net primary productivity is estimated at 630 g C m(-2) year(-1) over the entire forest. Reasonably good agreement was found between simulated trunk relative growth rate (2.74%) and regional production estimated from the National Forest Inventory (IFN) (2.52%), as well as between simulated and measured annual wood production at the forest scale (about 71,000 and 68,000 m(3) year(-1), respectively). Results are discussed species by species.     

Molecular Epidemiology of Mycobacterium bovis in Humans and Cattle

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), caused by Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis), is a serious re‐emerging disease in both animals and humans. The evolution of the Multi‐ and Extensively drug‐resistant M. bovis strains (MDR‐TB and XDR‐TB) represents a global threat to public health. Worldwide, the disease is responsible for great economic losses in the veterinary field, serious threat to the ecosystem, and about 3.1% of human TB cases, up to 16% in Tanzania. Only thorough investigation to understand the pathogen's epidemiology can help in controlling the disease and minimizing its threat. For this purpose, various tools have been developed for use in advanced molecular epidemiological studies of bTB, either alone or in combination with standard conventional epidemiological approaches. These techniques enable the analysis of the intra‐ and inter‐species transmission dynamics of bTB. The delivered data can reveal detailed insights into the source of infection, correlations among human and bovine isolates, strain diversity and evolution, spread, geographical localization, host preference, tracing of certain virulence factors such as antibiotic resistance genes, and finally the risk factors for the maintenance and spread of M. bovis. They also allow for the determination of epidemic and endemic strains. This, in turn, has a significant diagnostic impact and helps in vaccine development for bTB eradication programs. The present review discusses many topics including the aetiology, epidemiology and importance of M. bovis, the prevalence of bTB in humans and animals in various countries, the molecular epidemiology of M. bovis, and finally applied molecular epidemiological techniques.     

Efficacy of some rhizospheric and endophytic bacteria <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis> and as seed coating for the control of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium culmorum</Emphasis> infecting durum wheat in Tunisia

Sixty two rhizospheric and endophytic bacterial strains were evaluated for their biocontrol effect on two aggressive Fusarium culmorum isolates (Fc2 and Fc3). We observed that 35 % and 23 % of the tested strains inhibited the in vitro growth of Fc2 and Fc3 respectively. The observed antagonism was due to inhibition by contact (13–19 % of the strains) or at distance (10–16 % of the strains) for both fungal isolates. Some of the antagonistic bacteria showed the ability to produce diffuse and/or volatile compounds that inhibit the growth, the sporulation and macroconidia germination of F. culmorum. None of the tested antagonistic bacteria showed chitinase activity on synthetic medium. The sequencing of the 16S rDNA genes of some antagonistic bacteria showed that they belong to the genera Bacillus, Pseudomonas and Microbacterium. The double inoculation of durum wheat seeds by the antagonistic bacterial strains (B13, B18, BSE1, BSE3 and B16E) and the two F. culmorum isolates showed that germination and seedling vigor were generally improved in vitro. The percentage of infected seeds was also reduced. In greenhouse trials, the biocontrol effectiveness of F. culmorum was dependant from the virulence of the fungal strain and the specificity of the antagonistic interaction between bacterial and fungal strains. The bacterial strains B18 and B16E reduced F. culmorum infection on durum wheat plants probably due to their antagonistic and plant growth promoting activities and they may be used in a mixture as seed biopriming inoculum for plant growth bio-promoting and Fusarium wheat diseases biocontrol.     

Patterns of morpho-phenological and genetic variation of Brachypodium distachyon (L.) P.Beauv. complex in Tunisia

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - The genus&nbsp;Brachypodium&nbsp;is generally considered taxonomically difficult because of the high levels of phenotypic variation and frequent...     

Are changes in membrane lipids and fatty acid composition related to salt‐stress resistance in wild and cultivated barley?

The possibility to use membrane‐lipid measurements to screen barley genotypes for salt resistance was studied. The results showed that wild barley (Hordeum maritimum) displayed a typical halophytic response as compared to cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Manel). Growth, tissue hydration, and photosynthetic activity were less affected by salinity in H. maritimum than in H. vulgare. The induced effects of long‐term NaCl treatment were reflected in root membrane lipids that remained relatively unchanged in wild barley, whilst they were significantly diminished with increasing salinity in H. vulgare. The levels of membrane‐lipid peroxidation and electrolyte leakage were changed only at high salt concentrations in H. maritimum whereas those of H. vulgare were considerably increased by lower salinity levels as a result of oxidative damage. These findings indicate that maintained membrane integrity (in H. Maritimum) may be considered a possible trait for salt resistance. However, membrane fluidity in H. vulgare was more increased than in H. maritimum. Thus, the unsaturated–to–saturated fatty acid ratio (UFAs : SFAs) and the double‐bond index (DBI), significantly increased in response to salt stress in cultivated barley while it did not change in H. maritimum. The changes in lipid unsaturation were predominantly due to increases in linolenic (C_18:3), linoleic (C_18:2), and oleic (C_18:1) acids and decreases in stearic acid (C_18:0). These results suggest that, in spite of being important for maintenance of membrane fluidity, the ability to increase unsaturation is not a determinant factor for salt resistance in barley species.     

Effects of butyrate, avilamycin, and a plant extract combination on the intestinal equilibrium of early-weaned pigs

We evaluated the effects of 3 additives, sodium butyrate (AC), avilamycin (AB), and a combination of plant extracts (XT), on the productive performance and the intestinal environment of the early-weaned pig. The XT was a standardized mixture with 5% (wt/wt) carvacrol (from Origanum spp.), 3% cinnamaldehyde (from Cinnamonum spp.), and 2% capsicum oleoresin (from Capsicum annum). Pigs (n = 32) weaned at 18 to 22 d of age with an initial BW of 6.0 +/- 0.10 kg were allocated to 8 pens that, in turn, were allocated to 4 treatments. The treatments included a basal diet (CT) or the basal diet supplemented with 0.3% of AC, 0.04% of AB, or 0.03% of XT. Productive performance was determined during the initial 14 d postweaning. On d 19 and 21 of the experiment, the pigs were killed to allow collection of digesta and intestinal tissue to evaluate variables indicative of aspects of the gastrointestinal environment. Treatments AB and AC improved G:F (P = 0.012 and 0.003, respectively) compared with the CT. Butyrate included in the diet was only detected in the stomach but not in cranial jejunum. When compared with CT, AC produced a lower ileal starch digestibility (P = 0.002) and a lower whole-tract OM and starch digestibility (P = 0.001 and 0.003, respectively), related to a lower VFA concentration in the cranial colon (P = 0.082) and a numerically reduced branched VFA percentage in the rectum. The AB treatment diminished propionate production in caudal colon (P = 0.002) and rectum (P = 0.012) compared with CT. The AC group exhibited deeper crypt depth in the jejunum without variations in villus height compared with CT (P = 0.042). The AC and AB groups also increased goblet cell presence in the colon (P = 0.001 and 0.032, respectively). On the other hand, AB and XT diminished intraepithelial lymphocytes in the jejunum (P = 0.003 and 0.034, respectively). The XT increased lymphocyte presence in the colon (P = 0.003). These results show the important influence of AB and AC on productive performance and on pig gut dynamics. The intestinal modifications observed for AB and AC compared with CT suggest distinct modes of action for each additive.