香蕉新品种‘南天红’

香蕉新品种‘南天红’由‘南天黄’的自然突变选育而成。假茎平均高度2.59 m，幼树假茎外表面暗红色，抽蕾后转绿。雄花苞片外表面常为深红色，花苞卷曲，常不脱落；从种植到收获11 ~ 13个月，单株产量25 kg，品质好。中高抗香蕉枯萎病4号小种，采用配套的栽培技术可在所有香蕉种植区推广。     

Three SNPs within exons of INHA and ACVR2B genes are significantly associated with litter size in Dazu black goats

The aim of this study was to analyse the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms within INHA and ACVR2B and litter size in Dazu black goats. In total, twenty-two SNPs were genotyped in 190 individuals by SNaPshot and resequencing. The results showed that three SNPs (SNP_1, SNP_12 and SNP_13 in this study) were detected to have significant additive genetic effect on the recorded goat litter size (p < .05). The SNP_1 (NC_030809.1), a non-synonymous substitution of G for T at chr2-g. 28314990 in the exon 2 of INHA gene (NM_001285606.1), resulted in homozygote 2 (HOM2) contributed 0.25 and heterozygote (HET) contributed 0.12 larger litter than homozygote 1 (HOM1). Meanwhile, SNP_12 (Chr22-g. 11721225 A > T) and SNP_13 (Chr22-g. 11721227 A > C) (NC_030829.1) simultaneously mutated at the first and third position of a triplet AAA (lysine, K) in the exon 4 of ACVR2B gene (XM_018066623.1) had estimated genetic effects of HOM1 (0.00) and HOM2 (0.03) larger than HET (−0.12). In conclusion, one SNPs (chr2-g. 28314990 T > G) within the exon 2 of INHA and two SNPs (Chr22-g. 11721225 A > T and Chr22-g. 11721227 A > C) i n the exon 4 of ACVR2B gene were highly recommended as candidate markers of litter size in Dazu black goats. A large-scale association study to assess the impact of these variants on litter size is still necessary.     

Comparison of outcomes following treatment of septic calcaneal bursitis by needle or bursoscopic lavage: A retrospective study of 29 horses

Sepsis of the calcaneal bursae (CB) presents significant treatment challenges with limited clinical data available in the literature. The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to assess the clinical outcomes associated with CB lavage using either a through-and-through needle or bursoscopic technique. Clinical records of 29 horses treated for septic calcaneal bursitis using either technique between 2005 and 2019 were reviewed. Fisher’s exact test was used to assess statistical significance between first surgical technique and success at first surgery (i.e. not requiring >1 lavage), survival to discharge and return to work (RTW). Bursoscopy was performed in 13/29 (44.8%) cases, and needle lavage in 16/29 (55.2%). In the needle group, 12 (75%) horses were discharged following the first surgery. Four had repeat interventions; two (12.5%) had needle lavage and two (12.5%) had bursoscopy. Of the two horses to have repeat needle lavage, one was subjected to euthanasia and one discharged, and of the two that underwent bursoscopy, one was discharged and one received a third bursoscopy prior to discharge. In the bursoscopy group, seven (53.8%) were discharged and three (23.1%) were subjected to euthanasia following the first surgery. Three (23.1%) received a second bursoscopic lavage with one discharged, one subjected to euthanasia and one having a third bursoscopic lavage prior to discharge. Overall, 18/24 (75%) followed up cases RTW, 10 (55.5%) from the needle group, eight (44.4%) the bursoscopy group. No statistically significant differences between first surgical technique used and success at first surgery (no subsequent lavage(s) required), survival to discharge or return to work were detected. The main limitations of this study are that it is a retrospective study, has a small population with limited statistical power and potential selection bias. No statistically significant differences existed between the outcomes of the two techniques, contrary to the belief that bursoscopic lavage is superior. Larger, multicentred studies, with greater statistical power are required to further assess this relationship.     

Impact of soil water content on maize responses to the plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Azospirillum lipoferum CRT1

Members of the bacterial genus Azospirillum are root-associated bacteria that increase yield in cereals by promoting growth and alleviating drought stress. How plants integrate the many bacterium-derived growth-promoting stimuli with other environmental factors to generate a coordinated response remains unresolved. Using a commercial Azospirillum strain, A. lipoferum CRT1 and two host maize cultivars, it was observed that bacterization reduced the drought-induced increase in lateral root growth and enhanced the flood-induced increase in lateral root growth in the more drought- and flood-sensitive cultivar. In the other one, A. lipoferum CRT1 only elicited a moderate root growth response under low soil water potential. The photosynthetic potential and activity were increased in the earlier cultivar and decreased in the later one, irrespective of the soil water content. No impact of the bacterium was seen on the growth of the leaves of both cultivars under both stresses until the third leaf stage, therefore suggesting that it is a consequence of multiple primary adaptations to biotic and abiotic stresses. It is suggested that host–bacteria recognition leads to a stress-specific modulation of the root response and a differential stress-independent effect on photosynthesis. This is the first report of the impact of Azospirillum under flood conditions.     

Embodied Resources in Fish and Shrimp Feeds

Global averages were obtained for amounts of energy, land, water, wildfish, nitrogen, and phosphorus embodied in aquaculture feed ingredients. These data allowed amounts of these embodied resources to be calculated for typical feed formulations for channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus; hybrid catfish, I. punctatus♀ × I. furcatus♂; Vietnamese catfish, Pangasius spp.; Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar; rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss; tilapia, Oreochromis spp.; whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei; and black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon. Embodied resource use per m.t. of feed varied among species: energy, 4.90–12.48 GJ/m.t.; land, 0.082–0.312 ha/m.t.; water, 502–1227 m³/m.t.; wildfish, 0–2880 kg/m.t.; nitrogen, 3.08–8.63 kg/m.t.; phosphorus, 1.16–5.62 kg/m.t. These calculations did not account for variations in site‐specific factors related to embodied resources and feed composition and use. But they suggest that reducing feed conversion ratio (FCR) by 0.1 unit for the seven species (species groups) could potentially reduce feed use by around 1.1 million tonne (Mt) while conserving 9.8 million GJ of energy, 270,000 ha of agricultural land, 1.4 billion m³ of freshwater, and 1.24 Mt of wildfish. Reduction of the FCR is a powerful means of lessening farm‐level production costs and negative impacts of feed production and use.     

Effects of Feeding Frequency on Apparent Energy and Nutrient Digestibility/Availability of Channel Catfish,Ictalurus punctatus,Reared at Optimal and Suboptimal Temperatures

This study examined the effects of feeding frequency (daily versus every other day [EOD]) on nutrient digestibility/availability of channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, reared at optimal (30 C) and suboptimal (24 C) temperatures. A 28% protein practical diet was used as the test diet, and chromic oxide was used at 0.75% of the diet as a maker. Twenty channel catfish of a mean weight of 141 g/fish were stocked into 12 flow‐through aquaria (110 L). Fish were fed daily or EOD to apparent satiation for 7 d before fecal samples were collected by the dissection method. Fish fed EOD to apparent satiation consumed more diet on days fed than those fed daily, and fish reared at 30 C consumed more diet than those reared at 24 C. Neither feeding frequency nor water temperature significantly affected apparent digestibility coefficients for energy and protein and apparent availability coefficients for total amino acids. Results show no advantage by feeding EOD over feeding daily on nutrient digestibility and diet utilization efficiency.     

Evaluating the Effects of Dietary Prebiotic Mixture of Mannan Oligosaccharide and Poly‐β‐Hydroxybutyrate on the Growth Performance,Immunity, and Survival of Rainbow Trout,Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum 1792), Fingerlings

This study investigated the effects of dietary poly‐β‐hydroxybutyrate (PHB) and mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) on the growth performance, digestive enzyme activities, and disease resistance of rainbow trout fingerlings. A total of 420 fingerlings, distributed equally into four different groups, each with three replicates, were fed a basal diet (control), 2% PHB (PHB), 0.2% MOS (MOS), or a diet supplemented with a mixture of 2% PHB and 0.2% MOS (PHB+MOS) for 60 d. Results showed that dietary PHB and/or MOS did not cause significant improvement in the growth performance of the fingerlings. The gut pH was markedly reduced; however, the activities of the digestive enzymes (except for pepsin and amylase by dietary PHB) were not significantly improved by the dietary supplements. Results also showed that dietary PHB and/or MOS markedly increased the resistance of the fingerlings toward Yersinia ruckeri infection, while the lowest total antibody was observed in fish fed control and MOS, indicating that MOS exerts its protective effects by modulating other mechanisms. Overall, this study provided a first screening effort to determine the effects of PHB and/or MOS as dietary supplements in rainbow trout fingerlings to develop an optimal prebiotic mix for improving the growth and health status of rainbow trout.