Population structure and phylogeography of Toda buffalo in Nilgiris throw light on possible origin of aboriginal Toda tribe of South India

We report the genetic structure and evolutionary relationship of the endangered Toda buffalo of Nilgiris in South India with Kanarese and two other riverine buffalo breeds. The upgma phylogeny drawn using Nei’s distance grouped South Kanara and Toda buffaloes at a single node while Marathwada and Murrah together formed a separate node. Principal component analysis was performed with pairwise interindividual chord distances which revealed clustering of Murrah and Marathwada buffaloes distinctly, while individuals of Toda and South Kanara breeds completely intermingled with each other. Furthermore, there were highly significant group variances (p < 0.01) when the breeds were grouped based on phylogeny, thus revealing the existence of cryptic genetic structure within these buffalo breeds. To know the evolutionary relationship among these breeds, 537‐bp D‐loop region of mitochondrial DNA was analysed. The phylogenetic analysis of mtDNA haplotypes following NJ algorithm with Chinese swamp buffalo as outgroup revealed a major cluster that included haplotypes from all the four investigated breeds and two minor clusters formed by South Kanara and Toda haplotypes. Reduced median network analysis revealed haplotypes of South Kanara and Toda to be quite distinct from the commonly found haplotypes indicating that these might have been ancestral to all the present‐day haplotypes. Few mutations in two of the haplotypes of South Kanara buffalo were found to have contributed to ancestral haplotypes of Toda buffalo suggesting the possible migration of buffaloes from Kanarese region towards Nilgiris along the Western Ghats. Considering the close social, economic and cultural association of Todas with their buffaloes, the present study supports the theory of migration of Toda tribe from Kanarese/Mysore region along with their buffaloes.     

Semen production and semen quality of indigenous buffalo breeds under hot semiarid climatic conditions in India

Tropical Animal Health and Production - Semen data comprising of 97,023 ejaculates of 197 bulls from 6 buffalo breeds were analyzed. The traits considered were as follows: ejaculate volume, sperm...     

Modeling local spatial patterns of wild bee diversity in Pennsylvania apple orchards

Context

The positive correlation between landscape area of semi-natural habitat and wild pollinator richness and abundance in agroecosystems has been well studied. However, we lack a deep understanding of local scale floral resource and nest provisioning for wild bees necessary to optimize implementation of pollinator conservation practices.

Objectives

The primary objective of this study was to use a spatially interactive landscape pollination model (hereafter, the Lonsdorf model) to represent field scale spatial patterns of wild bee abundance and richness within a heterogeneous landscape in the mid-Atlantic USA.

Methods

We parameterized the Lonsdorf model with high resolution aerial imagery and insight from a previously published floristic study. To test the Lonsdorf model predictions, field studies were conducted to measure wild bee abundance and species richness in apple orchards as a function of distance from a forest edge.

Results

Field measurements indicated apple pollinator abundance and species richness significantly decreased with increasing distance from the forest edge. The Lonsdorf model pollination service score was highly sensitive to changes in resource provisioning in orchard and non-crop areas, and including resource rich forest and forest edge habitats in the model significantly improved pollination service estimates.

Conclusions

We demonstrated a novel application of the Lonsdorf model at a field scale to predict trends in pollination service provisioning as a factor of local habitat features. With sufficiently detailed inputs, the Lonsdorf model is a promising tool to quantify field scale pollination service deficits, guiding more cost effective habitat supplementation and other conservation efforts.

     

Conception rates to artificial insemination in primiparous, suckled cows exposed to the biostimulatory effect of bulls before and during a gonadotropin-releasing hormone-based estrus synchronization protocol

The objective of these studies was to evaluate whether exposing primiparous, suckled beef cows to the biostimulatory effect of bulls alters breeding performance associated with an estrus synchronization protocol that included GnRH followed 7 d later by PGF(2alpha) and fixed-time AI (TAI). This was a composite analysis of 3 experiments that evaluated (1) the effects of bull exposure at different days after calving (yr 1); (2) the biostimulatory effects of bull excretory products (yr 2); and (3) the biostimulatory effects of familiar and unfamiliar bulls (yr 3) on the resumption of ovarian cycling activity. In all studies, cows were exposed (biostimulated; n = 94) or not exposed (nonbiostimulated; n = 67) to bulls or excretory products of bulls for at least 60 d before the beginning of the estrus synchronization protocol. Average calving day did not differ among years and was 52 +/- 5 d. Year did not affect the proportions of biostimulated and nonbiostimulated cows that were cycling at the beginning of the estrus synchronization protocol; however, a greater (P < 0.001) proportion of biostimulated than nonbiostimulated cows were cycling at this time. In each year, cows were given GnRH followed by PGF(2alpha) 7 d later. Cows were observed for estrus twice daily (am and pm) after PGF(2alpha). Cows that exhibited estrus before 54, 60, and 64 h after PGF(2alpha) were inseminated by AI 12 h later in yr 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Cows that failed to show estrus were given GnRH and TAI at 62, 72, and 72 h after PGF(2alpha) in yr 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Conception rates were determined by transrectal ultrasonography 35 d after TAI in each year. The percentages of cows that exhibited estrus after PGF(2alpha) and before TAI, the interval from PGF(2alpha) to estrus, and the percentages of cows inseminated 12 h after estrus or at TAI did not differ between biostimulated and nonbiostimulated cows and were 51%, 54.7 +/- 7.3 h, 35%, and 65%, respectively. Conception rates for cows bred by AI 12 h after estrus did not differ between biostimulated and nonbiostimulated cows; however, the TAI conception rate was greater (P < 0.05) for biostimulated cows (57.6%) than for nonbiostimulated cows (35.6%). We conclude that TAI conception rates in an estrus synchronization protocol that includes GnRH followed 7 d later by PGF(2alpha) may be improved by the biostimulatory effect of bulls in postpartum, primiparous cows.     

West Valley Plutonium and Americium-241 in Lake Ontario sediments off the mouth of Niagara River

Recently deposited fine-grained sediments in Lake Ontario off the mouth of Niagara River contain highly toxic²³⁸Pu,^239,240pu, and²⁴¹Pu (²⁴¹Am) from global fallout as well as from low level releases of these radionuclides from the West Valley radioactive waste management site. This is demonstrated through sediment core radionuclide inventories, radionuclide activity ratios, and assignment of independently-derived²¹⁰Pb dates to sediment core segments. Reasonable agreement between measured and calculated inventories, derived using various assumptions and available discharge and environmental monitoring data, suggests that nearly all of the West Valley-delivered^239,240Pu and 24²⁴¹Am resides in the bottom sediments of Lake Ontario, comprising about 36 and 80%, respectively, of the measured (1982) inventories of these radionuclides. The West Valley²⁴¹Am is largely derived from the decay of²⁴¹Pu and, assuming negligible further deliveries of²⁴¹pu (²⁴¹Am), its growth is expected to continue until about 2040.     

A double-pulsar system: a rare laboratory for relativistic gravity and plasma physics

The clocklike properties of pulsars moving in the gravitational fields of their unseen neutron-star companions have allowed unique tests of general relativity and provided evidence for gravitational radiation. We report here the detection of the 2.8-second pulsar J0737-3039B as the companion to the 23-millisecond pulsar J0737-3039A in a highly relativistic double neutron star system, allowing unprecedented tests of fundamental gravitational physics. We observed a short eclipse of J0737-3039A by J0737-3039B and orbital modulation of the flux density and the pulse shape of J0737-3039B, probably because of the influence of J0737-3039A's energy flux on its magnetosphere. These effects will allow us to probe magneto-ionic properties of a pulsar magnetosphere.     

Characterization of released and elite genotypes of guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] from India proves unrelated to geographical origin

Twenty-three released and elite genotypes of guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] from different parts of India were subjected to morphological, biochemical and molecular characterization. The major objective was to study the extent of genetic variability amongst different genotypes of guar, their grouping and identification using combination of phenotypic, biochemical and molecular markers. Phenotypic characters revealed the presence of ample amount of variation in cotyledon size, root length, hypocotyl length, epicotyl length, pubescence, plant height, leaf margin, branching habit, growth habit, days to 50 % flowering, days to maturity, flower colour, pod size, number of pods per cluster and number of clusters per plant for all the 23 genotypes. Biochemical studies including peroxidase activity along with phenol, potassium hydroxide and gibberellic acid tests also produced significant variability among the genotypes. A total of 180 amplified bands were detected using 21 RAPD primers, out of which 178 were polymorphic. The genotypes revealed high genetic divergence with similarity indices ranged from 0.59 to 0.85. A clear relationship between genetic diversity and geographical location was not observed. Fingerprints generated in the present study, using morphological, biochemical and molecular markers, successfully categorize the different guar genotypes into various groups and also establish relatedness among them based on the genetic diversity. This work will help the breeders working in the country for crop improvement of guar in characterization, identification, determination of seed purity and parental selection.     

Somatic embryogenesis and plantlet regeneration from encapsulated embryos of Selinum tenuifolium

Summary

This paper reports, for the first time, somatic embryogenesis and synthetic seed production in Selinum tenuifolium Wall. Mature leaf explants inoculated in Murishige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 3 µM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), containing 3% (w/v) sucrose and 0.7% (w/v) agar, induced 67% callus. Maximum production of globular structures, their differentiation into embryos and germination, occurred with a combination of 2 µM benzyladenine (BA) and 2 µM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). To protect somatic embryos and produce synthetic seeds, gel capsules were standardised using a combination of sodium alginate and calcium nitrate concentrations. Gel capsules were most effective when formed with a combination of 3% (w/v) sodium alginate and 100 mM calcium nitrate for 30 min. The addition of MS medium to alginate capsules with 3% (w/v) sodium alginate, 3% (w/v) sucrose, 2 µM BA and 2 µM IBA significantly improved their germination rate to 77.8%, as well as their resulting shoot length (5.6 cm) and root length (7.2 cm), compared to controls (57.8%). Most plantlets (66%) survived under nursery condition. Storage at 4°C for different periods (10 d or 20 d) significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the percentage survival and germination of somatic embryos and artificial seeds compared to controls or 5 d storage.