Antibody Prevalence and Risk Factors for Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Women from Multan,Pakistan

Toxoplasma gondii infections are prevalent in humans and warm‐blooded animals. Maternal infections during pregnancy may have devastating consequences for transplacentally infected neonates. This study was conducted to examine the seroprevalence of antibodies to T. gondii in pregnant women of childbearing age and determine risk factors associated with pregnancy history, pet ownership, social and cultural factors at Nishtar Hospital, Multan. Samples were collected from 403 women and examined using a commercially available enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The overall prevalence of antibodies to T. gondii was 17.6% (71) in the 403 samples collected from women. Antibodies to T. gondii were present in 19.4% (45) of 232 pregnant women and 15.2% (26) of the samples from 171 non‐pregnant women. This study identified miscarriage history, pet ownership, type of residence, marital status, source of drinking water and eating habits as significant (P < 0.05) risk factors associated with the presence of antibodies to T. gondii infection. Seroprevalence was not significantly different (P > 0.05) in women from different ethnic groups based upon lifestyle and culture.     

The Influence of Seaweed Composite Flour on the Physicochemical Properties of Muffin

Seaweed has a great potential to be used as an important ingredient in food processing, as it contains a significant content of soluble polysaccharides and has a potential function as a dietary fiber. In this study, seaweed powder (Kappaphycus alvarezii) was incorporated (2–10%) with wheat flour for the production of muffins. The effect of seaweed composite flour on the quality of muffins was investigated using various techniques, such as texture profile and proximate analyses, as well as sensory evaluation. Modification of the muffin formulation to include seaweed powder improved the composition of ash, crude fiber, and moisture content, while the protein and carbohydrate levels decreased, compared to the control sample. An increase in the seaweed component reduced the muffin height, volume, and specific volume. According to the experimental texture profile analysis data, the seaweed affected the textural characteristics of the muffins, increasing the hardness and decreasing the springiness. Sensory evaluation revealed that seaweed powder could be used in the muffin formulation up to 6%, without significantly impacting the color, aroma, and taste attributes relative to the control sample. For overall acceptability, however, the panelists preferred muffins without seaweed powder.     

Integrated management of the charcoal disease by silviculture,chemical and biological methods in forest parks

Biscogniauxia mediterranea (De Not.) Kuntze, is a widespread fungus, causes outbreaks of Charcoal disease on cork oak and dieback thousands oak trees in recent years in Iran. Yet no efficient and effective management methods have been found to control the disease. The present study aimed to provide a suitable method for charcoal disease management through silviculture operations, systemic pesticides and biological compounds. The results showed that, simultaneous implementation of silvicultural practices (scarification+sanitation), use of systemic fungicides and Trichoderma compounds, reduce the number and depth of cankers, increase callus thickness, and ultimately improve health of the diseased trees. But disease severity and fungi activity were increased when scarification operation implements alone. The greatest effectiveness of the treatments and health condition improvement of the diseased trees was observed 12 months after applying the treatments. Then, preventive and therapeutic effectiveness of the treatments reduced over time. Sanitation and scarification practices can increase soil permeability and also destroy the larvae, pupa or adult insects and oak borer beetles that play an important role in disease outbreaks. Therefore, simultaneous implementation of sanitation and scarification practices with application of biological and systemic compounds can reduce primary source of pathogen inoculum and help trees to recover their health.     

Assaying the allelopathic effects of Eucalyptus camaldulensis in a nursery bed incorporated with leaf litter

Allelopathic effects of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. were confirmed in Petri dish and pot experiments in our previous studies. However, the degree to which such effects under controlled experiments exist in more complex ecological settings remains to be tested. Thus, the present study was carried out by incorporating different proportions of ground litter of E. camaldulensis in soil. The growth of three agricultural crops: falen(Vigna unguiculata(L.) Walp.), chickpea(Cicer arietinum L.), and arhor(Cajanus cajan(L.) Millsp.), and two tree species, kala koroi(Albizia procera(Roxb.) Benth.) and ipil ipil(Leucaena leucocephala(Lam.) de Wit) were tested. There were inhibitory effects of leaf litter on germination, shoot and root growth, leaf number, and collar diameter as well as a reduction of nodulation by legume crops(25–80%reduction). The extent of the effects was dependent on the proportion of leaf litter, the species and the type of traits. In contrast to shoot growth, the effect on root growth was more severe. No effect on germination was found with the agriculture crops while the two tree species showed reduced germination. The effect was greater in the presence of higher proportions of leaf litter mixed in soil while in some cases lower proportions stimulated growth. Not all species were suppressed; A. procera, C. cajan, V. unguiculata showed compatible growth while C. arietinum and L.leucocephala were found incompatible. This study provides evidence that E. camaldulensis has allelopathic potential under field conditions and a careful selection of associated crops in agroforestry systems is highly recommended.     

Forest mapping:a comparison between hyperspectral and multispectral images and technologies

Mapping forests is an important process in managing natural resources.At present,due to spectral resolution limitations,multispectral images do not give a complete separation between different forest species.In contrast,advances in remote sensing technologies have provided hyperspectral tools and images as a solution for the determination of species.In this study,spectral signatures for stone pine(Pinus pinea L.) forests were collected using an advanced spectroradiometer "ASD FieldSpec 4 Hi-Res" with an accuracy of 1 nm.These spectral signatures are used to compare between different multispectral and hyperspectral satellite images.The comparison is based on processing satellite images: hyperspectral Hyperion,hyperspectral CHRIS-Proba,Advanced Land Imager(ALI),and Landsat 8.Enhancement and classification methods for hyperspectral and multispectral images are investigated and analyzed.In addition,a well-known hyperspectral image classification algorithm,spectral angle mapper(SAM),has been improved to perform the classification process efficiently based on collected spectral signatures.The results show that the modified SAM is 9% more accurate than the conventional SAM.In addition,experiments indicate that the CHRIS-Proba image is more accurate than Landsat 8(overall accuracy 82%,precision 93%,and Kappa coefficient 0.43 compared to 60,67%,and 0.035,respectively).Similarly,Hyperion is better than ALI in mapping stone pine(overall accuracy 92%,precision 97%,and Kappa coefficient 0.74 compared to 52,56%,and -0.032,respectively).     

Effect of Azospirillum lipoferum and Azotobacter chroococcum on germination and early growth of hopbush shrub (Dodonaea viscosa L.) under salinity stress

Reduced physiological efficiency as well as low and irregular germination rate under environmental stress conditions (e.g., salinity) are among the major factors affecting the propagation of numerous plants, in particular medicinal ones. A factorial experiment using a completely randomized design was employed to evaluate the effect of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on hopbush seed germination and seedling growth under salinity stress. After the seeds were inoculated with the Azospirillum lipoferum, Azotobacter chroococcum, and Azospirillum + Azotobacter and exposed to salinity stress at six levels, they were placed into a germinator at 20°C temperature and 65% relative humidity with a photoperiodic regime of 16 h light/8 h dark at 1,000 lux fluorescent light. The seeds inoculated with the bacterial strains could tolerate salinity levels of up to 50 dS/m and germinate. The combined treatment of Azospirillum + Azotobacter increased germination percentage at 20 and 50 dS/m levels by 21.67 and 10%, respectively. Also, A. chroococcum at 15 and 20 dS/m and Azospirillum + Azotobacter at 50 dS/m stress levels increased germination rate by 88, 316, and 155%, respectively, compared with the control. Furthermore, plant growth parameters—e.g., root and stem length, root and stem dry and fresh weights, as well as the ratios of root length and weight to the stem counterparts—were considerably enhanced by Azotobacter chroococcum treatment under elevated salinity stress (15 and 20 dS/m), relative to the control. Inoculation with A. chroococcum more favorably affected on and was also more compatible with Dodonaea viscosa seedlings leading to considerably improved seedlings growth parameters as well as seed germination under salinity stress.     

Breeding for drought tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.): constraints and future prospects

This review article is based on different aspects of wheat breeding for drought tolerance. Drought is regarded as one of the most serious threats to agriculture in Pakistan. Therefore, breeding for drought tolerance must be given top priority. Here, we try to study various options available to wheat breeders exploring the underlying mechanisms of drought tolerance. The progress made in conventional and non-conventional (molecular) based approaches with potential findings and constraints are reviewed in this article. Equipped with such information, it will be possible for breeders to further explore the mysteries of drought tolerance and to select genotypes with an improved yield under water-deficit conditions.     

Morphological and Genetical Variability among Rhizoctonia solani Isolates Causing Sheath Blight Disease of Rice

Eighteen isolates of Rhizoctonia solani collected from infected rice plants in four different locations of Bangladesh were studied by using morphological characters and molecular markers. Anastomosis study with a reference isolate confirmed that all the isolates belonged to R. solani. Significant variation was observed in sclerotial size, shape and distribution. Un-weighted pair group method with arithmetic mean dendrogram constructed based on the Gower's general similarity coefficient showed that these isolates were grouped into four clusters at the 0.68 similarity coefficent according to morphological characters. Cluster I was a major cluster consisting of 13 isolates, while clusters Ⅱ to Ⅳ consisted of 1 or 2 isolates. Analyses by variable number of tandem repeat and amplified fragment length polymorphism markers showed that the isolates were grouped into five and three clusters at a similarity coefficient of 0.64 and 0.69, respectively. Although most of the variability was found between isolates from different regions as expected, significant variation was observed within the isolates collected from similar agro-ecological regions. Our results suggest the presence of different races of R. solani within the same local geographic regions.     

Finding heterosis for fiber traits in intervarietal crosses of cotton, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium hirsutum</Emphasis> L.

Raising yield and fiber quality of cotton through heterosis (hybrid vigor) has been an objective of plant breeders and scientists. Heterosis over mid parent for fiber-related traits was calculated in three crosses of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) involving five cotton varieties, viz., CIM 506, CIM 702, CIM 443, FH 1000 and CIM 1100 being commercially grown in Pakistan. Heterosis was observed for all four characters. The cross CIM 443 × CIM 1100 showed maximum positive heterosis (8.57%) for ginning outturn (GOT) (%) followed by fineness (7.81%) and staple length (1.01%). Therefore, the cross CIM 506 × CIM 1100 appeared to be promising for providing potential breeding materials for further commercial exploitation of heterosis in Pakistan, and heterosis breeding has a great potential for increasing stagnant cotton yields around the world.     

MPN-PCR enumeration of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Campylobacter</Emphasis> spp. in raw chicken meats and by-products

The goal of this study is to enumerate Campylobacter in chicken meats and by-products. In the current investigation, results showed that raw chicken meats and chicken by-products were contaminated with Campylobacter ranging from <3 to 4600 MPN·g⁻¹. Campylobacter jejuni showed a higher number compared to Campylobacter coli in the chicken samples. The current study showed that the percentage of chicken livers and gizzards harbored a higher number of Campylobacter (10³–10⁴ MPN·g⁻¹) than other chicken parts at 33.3% and 9.2%, respectively. The different concentrations of Campylobacter between chicken meats and chicken byproducts reflect the differences in the contamination level. The data on Campylobacter concentration in chicken meats and by-products will be useful in risk analysis.