Glycinebetaine Improved Photosynthesis in Canola under Salt Stress: Evaluation of Chlorophyll Fluorescence Parameters as Potential Indicators

Salinity is a widespread soil problem limiting productivity of oilseed crops worldwide. Reduction in growth generally associated with decline in photosynthesis. Accumulation of osmo‐protectants such as glycinebetaine (GB) permits the plant to cope with salt stress. This study was aimed to understand the mechanism by which exogenous GB application improves photosynthetic capacity and salt tolerance in two diverse lines of canola differing in salt tolerance using chlorophyll fluorescence technique. Glycinebetaine was applied as foliarly or through rooting medium to two canola lines Dunkeld and Cyclone that were grown under non‐saline or saline conditions. Root‐applied GB caused adverse effects whereas foliar application of GB was effective in improving growth of canola cultivars. However, the response of salt‐tolerant cultivar Dunkeld was stronger than that of salt sensitive Cyclone. Foliar application of GB improved accumulation of proline and plant water status. Application of GB enhanced the photosynthetic CO₂ fixation, stomatal conductance (g_s) and water‐use efficiency. The tolerant lines Dunkeld had more responsive to GB application. Chlorophyll fluorescence measurements (F_o, F_m, F_v, F_o/F_m, F_v/F_o and F_v/F_m ratios) revealed that salt stress reduced energy trapping efficiency by damaging oxygen evolving complex, over reduction of Q_A resulting in occurrence of chronic photoinhibition. However, exogenous GB protected the oxygen evolving centre of PSII and maintains activity of PSII. Although root‐applied GB adversely affected the growth of canola plants, it did not have any adverse effect on PSII photochemistry. Moreover, fluorescence parameters could provide a rapid means for determining salt tolerance in canola and could be a rapid and sensitive test to identify genotypes highly tolerant to salt stress.     

玉米野生近缘属-摩擦禾属的研究和利用

摩擦禾属于禾本科玉蜀黍族摩擦禾属,起源于美洲,与玉米、大刍草具有共同祖先,其在玉米的起源与进化过程中可能扮演着重要角色。摩擦禾是一种多年生暖季型丛生C4禾草,常用于优质饲草料生产、控制土壤侵蚀和生物质能源。其作为玉米的近缘属材料,保存有栽培玉米不具有的优质、抗病、抗寒、耐涝、耐盐和多年生等多种优良基因,是拓展玉米遗传基础的重要种质。本文从摩擦禾属的习性和分布、摩擦禾属的分类、摩擦禾属的种间可杂交性、摩擦禾属与玉蜀黍属杂交性、摩擦禾属的优良特性和摩擦禾基因向玉米转移的途径等方面进行综述,为摩擦禾属的研究和利用提供参考。     

Anthelmintic activity of Trianthema portulacastrum L. and Musa paradisiaca L. against gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep

Evaluation of anthelmintic effects of Trianthema (T.) portulacastrum L. (Aizoaceae) whole plant and Musa (M.) paradisiaca L. (Musaceae) leaves against prevalent gastrointestinal worms of sheep was done that may justify their traditional use in veterinary clinical medicine. In vitro anthelmintic activity of the crude aqueous methanolic extract (CAME) of both the plants was determined using mature female Haemonchus (H.) contortus and their eggs in adult motility assay (AMA) and egg hatch test (EHT), respectively. In vivo anthelmintic activity of crude powder (CP) and CAME in increasing doses (1.0-8.0 g kg(-1)) was determined in sheep naturally infected with mixed species of nematodes using fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) and larval counts. The study design also included untreated as well as treated controls. Fecal egg count reduction and larval counts from coprocultures were performed pre- and post-treatments to assess the anthelmintic activity of the plants. CAME of T. portulacastrum and M. paradisiaca showed a strong in vitro anthelmintic activity and pronounced inhibitory effects on H. contortus egg hatching as observed through AMA and EHT, respectively. Both plants exhibited dose and time dependent anthelmintic effects on live worms as well as egg hatching. M. paradisiaca (LC(50)=2.13 μg mL(-1)) was found to be more potent than T. portulacastrum (LC(50)=2.41 μg mL(-1)) in EHT. However, in vivo, maximum reduction in eggs per gram (EPG) of faeces was recorded as 85.6% and 80.7% with CAME of T. portulacastrum and M. paradisiaca at 8.0 g kg(-1) on 15th day post-treatment, respectively as compared to that of Levamisole (7.5 mg kg(-1)) that caused 97.0% reduction in EPG. All the species of gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs), i.e. Haemonchus contortus, Trichostronglyus spp., Oesophagostomum columbianum and Trichuris ovis which were prevalent, found susceptible (P<0.01) to the different doses of CP and CAME of both plants. The data showed that both T. portulacastrum and M. paradisiaca possess strong anthelmintic activity in vitro and in vivo, thus, justifying their use in the traditional medicine system of Pakistan.     

Homogenous liquid-liquid microextraction for determination of betulinic acid in the food samples using RP-HPLC

In this work, a new, simple and fast homogenous liquid-liquid microextraction (HLLME) coupled with reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was developed for the determination of betulinic acid in food samples. The effect of various parameters on the extraction step including type and volume of extraction solvents, extraction time and ionic strength were studied and optimized. The results showed that the amount of ionic strength and extraction time were not affective on the extraction efficiency. In the optimum conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) and enrichment factor were 1.8 μgL^?1 and 110, respectively. Furthermore, the relative standard deviation of the ten replicate was <3.9%. The developed procedure was then applied to the extraction and determination of betulinic acid in the food samples.     

Bovine fasciolosis: Prevalence, effects of treatment on productivity and cost benefit analysis in five districts of Punjab, Pakistan

The present study reports the prevalence, effects of treatment and cost benefit analysis of bovine fasciolosis in five districts of Punjab Province viz Sargodha, Jhang, Muzaffargarh, Lodhran and Layyah. From each of the five districts, 80 animals were selected and fortnightly screened through standard coprological procedures for a period of one year for the presence of eggs of Fasciola species. Of 4800 faecal samples analyzed, 1222 (25.46%) were found positive for fasciolosis. The occurrence of Fasciola (F.) gigantica (22.40%) was higher (P < 0.05) than F. hepatica (3.06%). Highest month-wise prevalence (P < 0.05) of fasciolosis was found in winter (39.08%) followed in decreasing order by spring (29.50%), autumn (20.33%) and summer (12.92%). District-wise prevalence of fasciolosis was highest (P < 0.05) in Sargodha (40.31%) and lowest in Layyah (11.77%) while other districts were having intermediate values of prevalence of fasciolosis. Species-wise prevalence of fasciolosis was found higher (P < 0.05) in buffaloes (30.50%) as compared to cattle (20.42%). However, there were no age and sex-related differences (P > 0.05) in prevalence of fasciolosis. A strong positive association of grazing (OR = 1.81), mixed farming of small and large ruminants (OR = 1.39), stagnant pond bathing (OR = 2.24) and river/canal bathing (OR = 2.06) was found with the prevalence of fasciolosis as compared to stall feeding, separate farming of small and large ruminants and rivers/canal/ tap water bathing, respectively. Post-treatment average milk increase of 0.62 L per animal per day with 0.35% higher fat was observed in fasciolicide-treated animals with the cost benefit ratio of 3.9. The results provided significant data on the epidemiology of five districts of Punjab province which may be helpful for the planners and small holder dairy farmers for control of fasciolosis in the study districts.     

A Study on Seasonal Variability of Trace Elemental Status of Forages for Grazing Ruminants

An investigation was conducted to determine the trace- mineral concentrations of forages in relation to requirements of ruminants grazing in natural pastures in the province of Punjab, Pakistan during two different seasons. Animals were closely followed during grazing and forages corresponding to those consumed by the animals were taken and analyzed for copper (Cu), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and cobalt (Co) concentrations. The data on the trace- mineral concentrations showed that most of these minerals varied greatly as a function of seasons and sampling periods. The forage Cu, Fe, and Zn concentrations were affected by seasonal changes but no influence of season was observed on the concentrations of forage Mn and Co concentration. Forage Zn and Co, during both seasons and at some sampling intervals, and forage Mn during summer were at marginal deficient levels, and in contrast, all other forage trace-minerals were within the required range for ruminants during both seasons. Based on these results, the supplementation of Zn, Co, and Mn would seem most important to support optimum livestock productivity.     

Immunostimulatory and protective effects of Aloe vera against coccidiosis in industrial broiler chickens

This paper reports the immunostimulatory and protective effects of Aloe vera extracts (aqueous and ethanolic) against coccidiosis in industrial broiler chickens. The study was divided into two experiments. Experiment-I was conducted for the evaluation of immunostimulatory activity of A. vera and experiment-II demonstrated the protective efficacy of A. vera extracts against coccidiosis in chickens. Results of the experiment-I revealed significantly higher (p<0.05) lymphoproliferative responses in chickens administered with ethanolic extract of A. vera as compared to those administered with aqueous extract and control group. Microplate haemagglutination assay for humoral response on day 7th and 14th post primary and secondary injections of sheep red blood cells (SRBCs) revealed significantly higher (p<0.05) anti SRBC antibody (total Igs, IgG and IgM) titers in chickens of experimental groups as compared to the control group. None of the extracts, however, demonstrated significant effects on the development of lymphoid organs. Results of experiment-II revealed maximum protection (60%) in chickens administered with aqueous Aloe extract as compared to the ethanolic extract administered chickens (45%). Mean oocysts per gram of droppings in the control group was significantly higher (p<0.05) as compared to the chickens in both the experimental groups. Chickens administered with aqueous Aloe extract showed a minimal mean lesion score (2.3) followed by those administered with ethanolic Aloe extract (2.6) and control chickens (3.05) for caeca, and a similar pattern was observed for intestinal lesion scoring. Further, significantly higher weight gains and antibody titers (p<0.05) were observed in chickens administered with A. vera extracts as compared to those in the control group. It was concluded that A. vera may be a potential and valuable candidate to stimulate the immune responses and can be used successfully as an immunotherapeutic agent against coccidiosis in industrial broiler chickens.     

Effect of surface treatment of jute fibers on the interfacial adhesion in poly(lactic acid)/jute fiber biocomposites

Jute fibers have immense potential to be used as natural fillers in polymeric matrices to prepare biocomposites. In the present study jute fibers were surface treated using two methods: i) alkali (NaOH) and ii) alkali followed by silane (NaOH+Silane) separately. Effects of surface treatments on jute fibers surface were characterized using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses. Further, the effects of surface treatments on jute fibers properties such as crystallinity index, thermal stability, and tensile properties were analyzed by X-ray diffraction method (XRD), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), and single fiber tensile test respectively. The effects of surface treatment of jute fibers on interphase adhesion between of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and jute fibers were analyzed by performing single fiber pull-out test and was examined in terms of interfacial shear strength (IFSS) and critical fiber length.