Trends of Growing Degree-Days in Turkey

Variations in the surface air temperatures show an associationwith the atmospheric CO₂ under the hypothesis that warmertemperatures promote increases in plant growth in mid-northernlatitudes. Historical daily temperature records at seventy-fourweather stations (around 60-yr) in Turkey are used in orderto investigate this hypothesis. Separate calculations and analyses are undertaken for monthly and seasonal growing degree-days (GDD). The sequential version of Mann-Kendall rankstatistic is applied to demonstrate existence of any possible non-linear trends in accumulated GDDs above 5 °C over the months and seasons. Spatially coherent and statisticallysignificant trends of GDD are shown in some parts of Turkey. The statistically significant trends are negative mostly in summer and autumn seasons over the coastal areas of Turkey.These results strongly agree with the previous studies where weak cooling trends are observed in maximum temperatures overTurkey. They suggest the significant decreases in GDD may lead to long-term decreases in vegetation growth mostly overthe coastal regions of Turkey.     

Evaluation of Heavy Metals' (Cd,Cu, Ni,Ph, and Zn) Distribution in Sowing Regions of Potato Fields in the Province of Niğde,Turkey

Water, Air, &; Soil Pollution - The Province of Ni?de, located in central Anatolia, supplies approximately 25% of the total potato production in Turkey. In order to investigate selected...     

The effects of slaughter weight on chemical composition,physical properties,and fatty acid profile of musculus longissimus dorsi in Holstein bulls

Tropical Animal Health and Production - This study was conducted to investigate the effects of slaughter weight on chemical composition, physical properties, and fatty acid profile of musculus...     

The Effect of Depuration on Metals,Bacteria, and Nutrition in Venus verrucosa from the Aegean Sea: Benefit and Risk for Consumer Health of Warty Venus

ABSTRACT

In this study, the effect of the depuration period on proximate composition, metals, fatty acids, and bacteria in the edible tissue of warty venus (Venus verrucosa) collected from ?zmir Bay in the Aegean Sea was investigated. In addition, benefit and risk for human health associated with the consumption of warty venus were determined by atherogenic index (AI), thrombogenic index (TI), polyene index (PI), fish lipid quality (FLQ), target hazard quotient (THQ), and hazard index (HI). The depuration process did not show a significant (P > .05) effect on proximate composition, except for ash. The depuration process was successful in reducing bacteria growth and the concentrations of all metals, except for copper. Total aerobic mesophilic bacteria count of 1.94 log CFU/g in the fresh samples was uncountable at 24 h of depuration. The concentrations of cadmium, lead, copper, iron, and zinc were below the limit values allowed for safe consumption. The analyzed metals were safe for human consumption based on provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI), THQ, and HI. Significant variations were also observed in the fatty acid values depending on the depuration periods (P < .05). The n3/n6 and polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratios were greater than those recommended by the FAO/WHO. Moreover, the AI and TI of samples were under established limits.     

A comparative study on the effects of a pesticide (cypermethrin) and two metals (copper, lead) to serum biochemistry of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus

The present study was designed to compare the responses in freshwater fish Oreochromis niloticus exposed to a synthetic pyrethroid, cypermethrin (CYP); an essential metal, copper (Cu); and a nonessential metal, lead (Pb). Fish were exposed to 0.05 μg/l CYP, 0.05 mg/l Cu, and 0.05 mg/l Pb for 4 and 21 days, and the alterations in serum enzyme activities, metabolite, and ion levels were determined. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities increased in response to CYP, Cu, and Pb exposures at both exposure periods. While elevations in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities and in cholesterol level were observed in pesticide-exposed fish at 4 and 21 days, they increased in Cu- and Pb-exposed fish at 21 days. Although metal-exposed fish showed increases in cortisol and glucose levels at 4 days followed by a return to control levels at the end of the exposure period, their levels elevated in pesticide-exposed fish at both exposure periods. Total protein levels decreased in Pb- and pesticide-exposed fish at 21 days. Na⁺ and Cl⁻ levels decreased in pesticide-exposed fish at both exposure periods and in Cu- and Pb-exposed fish at 21 days. The exposures of pesticide and metals caused an elevation in K⁺ level at the end of the exposure period. The present study showed that observed alterations in all serum biochemical parameters of fish-treated pesticide were higher than those in fish exposed to metals.     

Seed transmission of verticillium wilt of cotton

Twenty-nine cotton genotypes with varying levels of susceptibility to Verticillium dahliae were grown in infested plots at Nazilli, Ayd?n, in 2008–2009. The highest level of disease incidence was recorded in cultivars ‘BA-151’, ‘Celia’, ‘Çukurova-1518’, ‘Fla?’ and ‘Mara? 92’, and averaged 85–95% for all genotypes in both years. The incidence of V. dahliae in seed averaged 29.8% for cv. Çukurova-1518, 27.6% for Fla?, 24.6% for cv. BA-151, 19.0% for cv. Celia and 16.2% for Mara? 92. Two hundred seeds from each genotype were planted, two seeds per pot, in a steam-pasteurized mixture of soil, peat, and sand. Pots were placed close to each other on a greenhouse bench to obtain a thick canopy. Typical disease symptoms appeared about 12–13 weeks after sowing. Maximum disease incidence values averaged 3.3% for Celia, 4.5% for Mara? 92, 8% for BA-151, 9% for Fla? and 9.5% for Çukurova-1518.     

The influence of plant growth–promoting rhizobacteria on growth and enzyme activities in wheat and spinach plants

A pot experiment in a greenhouse was conducted in order to investigate the effect of different N₂‐fixing, phytohormone‐producing, and P‐solubilizing bacterial species on wheat and spinach growth and enzyme activities. Growth parameters and the activities of four enzymes, glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD; EC 1.1.1.49), 6‐phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD; EC 1.1.1.44), glutathione reductase (GR; EC 1.8.1.7), and glutathione S‐transferase (GST; EC 2.5.1.18) were determined in the leaves of wheat (Triticum aestivum L., Konya) and spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.), noninoculated and inoculated with nine plant growth–promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR: Bacillus cereus RC18, Bacillus licheniformis RC08, Bacillus megaterium RC07, Bacillus subtilis RC11, Bacillus OSU‐142, Bacillus M‐13, Pseudomonas putida RC06, Paenibacillus polymyxa RC05 and RC14). Among the strains used in the present study, six PGPR exhibited nitrogenase activity and four were efficient in phosphate solubilization; all bacterial strains were efficient in indole acetic acid (IAA) production and significantly increased growth of wheat and spinach. Inoculation with PGPR increased wheat shoot fresh weight by 16.2%–53.8% and spinach shoot fresh weight by 2.2%–53.4% over control. PGPR inoculation gave leaf area increases by 6.0%–47.0% in wheat and 5.3%–49.3% in spinach. Inoculation increased plant height by 2.2%–24.6% and 1.9%–36.8% in wheat and spinach, respectively. A close relationship between plant growth and enzyme activities such as G6PD, 6PGD, GR, and GST was demonstrated. Plant‐growth response was variable and dependent on the inoculant strain, enzyme activity, plant species, and growth parameter evaluated. In particular, the N₂‐fixing bacterial strains RC05, RC06, RC14, and OSU‐142 and the P‐solubilizing strains RC07 and RC08 have great potential in being formulated and used as biofertilizers.     

Clinicopathologic diagnosis of cutaneous toxoplasmosis in an Angora cat

This report deals with a case of cutaneous toxoplasmosis in a 2 year-old female Angora cat. Cutaneous lesions were characterized by prescapular ulcers and hyperemic nodules in the skin of the inguinal and dorsosacral regions. A skin biopsy sample was collected from the lesioned area and processed for histopathologic examination and immunoperoxidase test using Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum specific antibodies. Toxoplasma gondii immunopositive reactions were detected in keratinocytes and dermal macrophages while no immunoreactivity was detected for N. caninum. The case of cutaneous toxoplasmosis was further confirmed by PCR analysis using T. gondii B1 gene-specific primers. In conclusion, we report the first case of cutaneous toxoplasmosis in Angora cats.     

Screening mycorrhiza species for plant growth,P and Zn uptake in pepper seedling grown under greenhouse conditions

We screened the mycorrhizal species for an inoculum protocol would green pepper seedling production and compensate for nutrient deficiency. Three greenhouse studies (on three successive years) were conducted under nursery conditions using five arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and their mixture. The AM fungi, Glomus mosseae, G. clarum, G. caledonium, G. intraradices and G. etunicatum propagated on maize roots were used. The AM fungi were inoculated to seed stages and half of the seed stages inoculated plants were re-inoculated at the seedling stages. In Experiment I, plants were harvested once and in Experiments II and III, plants were harvested twice at different developmental stages.