Evaluation and management of acetyl-CoA carboxylase inhibitor resistant littleseed canarygrass (Phalaris minor) in Pakistan

A field survey was conducted for the sampling of Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) inhibitor resistance littleseed canarygrass, a major weed of wheat, from Punjab, Pakistan in 2014 for confirmation of resistance. The surveyed regions encompassed four different cropping systems including rice–wheat, maize–wheat, cotton–wheat and mixed cropping. Dose–response assay was conducted for confirmation of resistance. Efficacy of herbicide mixtures including clodinafop–propargyl, metribuzin, pinoxaden and sulfosulfuron at a range of doses was investigated to manage littleseed canarygrass. Results revealed that all populations were resistant to fenoxaprop except PM-BWL-2. The higher level resistance (6.5) was found in populations collected from rice–wheat cropping system. The tested herbicide mixtures at 75% and 100% of the recommended dose of each mixture component provided the effective control of resistant littleseed canarygrass. Mixtures at 50% provided more than 80% control and reduced growth and seed production potential of surviving plants. The confirmation of ACCase inhibitor resistance as the first case of herbicide resistance in Pakistan, leads us to discourage use of ACCase inhibitor herbicides alone. However, herbicide mixtures at 75% and 100% of the recommended dose are suggested to manage this weed for sustainable wheat production in the surveyed cropping systems.     

Reconsidering betaine as a natural anti-heat stress agent in poultry industry: a review

Betaine is found ubiquitously in plants, animals, microorganisms, and rich dietary sources including seafood, spinach, and wheat bran. The chief physiological role of betaine is to function as a methyl donor and an osmolyte. Betaine also acts as an osmolyte, to maintain the avian’s cellular water and ion balance to improve the avian’s capacity against heat stress via preventing dehydration and osmotic inactivation. It helps in maintaining the protective osmolytic activity, especially in heat-stressed birds. Betaine may promote various intestinal microbes against osmotic variations and thus improve microbial fermentation activity. Previous studies showed that dietary supplementation of betaine in poultry diets could positively affect nutrients’ digestibility, reduce abdominal fat weight, and increase breast meat yield. In addition, betaine has been reported to protect internal organs and boost their performance. Its inclusion in poultry diet is sparing essential amino acids like choline and methionine. In addition, it may play an important role in lean meat production by positively affecting the lipid metabolism with increased fatty acids catabolism and thus reducing carcass fat deposition. The aim of this review article was to broaden the knowledge regarding betaine and its importance in the poultry industry to cope with the heat stress problem. Moreover, it should be added to the diet as a natural anti-stressor through different routes (water/feed) to overcome the heat stress problem. However, further studies need to be conducted at the genetic and molecular basis to elucidate the mechanism behind the betaine as a natural anti-heat agent to decrease the heat stress problem in the poultry industry.     

Nutrient digestibility and feedlot performance of lambs fed diets varying protein and energy contents

Thirty-six Thalli male growing lambs were used in a completely randomized design with 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments to evaluate the effect of varying levels of energy and protein on nutrient intake, digestibility, weight gain, and gain to feed ratio. Four experimental diets, i.e., low energy–low protein (LE-LP), low energy–high protein (LE-HP), high energy–low protein (HE-LP), and high energy–high protein (HE-HP) were formulated. The low- and high-energy diets contained 2.3 and 2.7 MJ/kg dry matter (DM) with 12% and 14% of crude protein. The lambs were fed ad libitum. Dietary energy and protein levels and their interactions influenced the nutrient intake. Maximum dry matter intake was noted in animals fed LE-HP diet followed by LE-LP, HE-HP, and HE-LP diets. Digestibility of DM and N increased (P < 0.01) and that of neutral detergent fiber decreased (P < 0.01) linearly with increasing levels of dietary energy and protein. Digestibility of N was only affected by protein level and interaction between energy and protein levels. Average daily gain was higher (P < 0.01) in lambs fed HE-HP diet followed by LE-HP, LE-LP, and HE-LP diets. Dietary energy and protein levels and their interaction had significant effect (P < 0.01) on gain to feed ratio.     

AGRONOMIC EFFICIENCY AND PROFITABILITY OF P-FERTILIZERS APPLIED AT DIFFERENT PLANTING DENSITIES OF MAIZE IN NORTHWEST PAKISTAN

The use of appropriate source of phosphorus (P) fertilizer at different planting densities has considerable impact on growth, grain yield as well as profitability of maize (Zea mays L). Field experiment was conducted in order to investigate the impact of P sources [(S₀ = P not applied, S₁ = SSP (single super phosphate) S₂ = NP (nitrophos), and S₃ = DAP (diammonium phosphate)] on maize growth analysis, yield and economic returns planted at different planting densities (D₁ = 40,000, D₂ = 60,000, D₃ = 80,000, and D₄ = 100,000 plants ha^?1) at the New Developmental Agricultural Research Farm of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan, during summer 2006. This paper reports the profitability data with two objectives: 1) to compare agronomic efficiency and profitability of P-fertilizers, and 2) to know whether plant densities affect agronomic efficiency and profitability of P-fertilizers. Application of DAP and SSP resulted in higher partial factor productivity (PFP) (63.58 and 61.92 kg grains kg^?1 P), agronomic efficiency (AE) (13.01 and 13.71 kg grains kg^?1 P) and net returns (NR) (Rs. 16,289 and 16,204 ha^?1), respectively, while NP stood at the bottom in the ranking with lower PFP (57.16 kg grains kg^?1 P), AE (8.94 kg grains kg^?1 P) and NR (Rs. 4,472 ha^?1). Among the plant densities, D₃ stood first with maximum PFP (69.60 kg grains kg^?1 P), AE (18.21 kg grains kg^?1 P) and NR (Rs. 21,461 ha^?1) as compared to other plant densities. In conclusion, the findings suggest that growing maize at D₃ applied with either SSP or DAP is more profitable in the wheat-maize cropping system in the study area.     

Effects of inoculation with stress-adapted arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus deserticola on growth of Solanum melogena L. and Sorghum sudanese Staph. seedlings under salinity and heavy metal stress conditions

The beneficial effects of a Glomus deserticola strain isolated from the rhizosphere of grasses (belonging to Poaceae family) growing along the industrial waste from a distillery were investigated under stress conditions. The study was conducted to assess the efficacy of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal ecotype in salinity and heavy metal (HM) tolerance of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) in soils amended with various stress levels of NaCl, zinc and cadmium. Mycorrhizal (M) seedlings produced a significantly (p < 0.05) greater growth response and were more tolerant to salt and HM stresses than nonmycorrhizal (NM) seedlings in all treatments. The HM contents in the plant tissues were significantly higher in M than NM eggplants. Furthermore, when the efficacy was compared with other AM isolates in HM-polluted soils with Sudan grass (Sorghum sudanese Staph.) as a test plant, the AM ecotype responded best to these soils, as evident from the significantly greater growth response and its aggressiveness in colonizing roots in all soil types tested. These results suggest that this G. deserticola ecotype can be used as an effective tool to alleviate the adverse effects of excessive salinity and HM toxicity on plant growth. Finally, the isolate may have potential in the bioremediation of polluted soils.     

Halotolerant rhizobacteria: beneficial plant metabolites and growth enhancement of Triticum aestivum L. in salt-amended soils

Salt-tolerant strains of Enterobacter asburiae, Bacillus thuringiensis, Moraxella pluranimalium and Pseudomonas stutzeri were evaluated for their ability to alleviate salt stress of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings. 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase activity of P. stutzeri S-80 and B. thuringiensis S-26 was 190 and 183 nmol h^?1, respectively. Maximum levels of auxin were recorded with P. stutzeri S-80 (107 µg ml^?1) and E. asburiae S-24 (143 µg ml^?1) under normal and salt-stressed conditions (0.25M NaCl), respectively, with 500 µg ml^?1 L-tryptophan. Auxin response mediated by rhizobacteria was also demonstrated by microscopically assaying the transgenic auxin-responsive reporter DR5::GUS expression tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. MicroTom). In pot trials, seedlings fresh and dry biomass witnessed highly significant improvements of 1- and 2.2-folds, respectively, with M. pluranimalium S-29 (at 100 mM NaCl) and E. asburiae S-24 (150 mM NaCl), over control. At final harvest, maximum increase in number of tillers (up to 94%) and seed weight (up to 40%) was recorded with E. asburiae S-24 and M. pluranimalium S-29 at 200 mM salt stress. In conclusion, newly isolated strains of M. pluranimalium S-29, E. asburiae S-24 and P. stutzeri S-80 enhanced the growth of T. aestivum by mitigating the salt stress of plants.     

Changes in soil organic carbon pools following long-term fertilization under a rain-fed cropping system in the Loess Plateau,China

Understanding the mechanism of soil organic carbon(SOC) sequestration is of paramount importance in sustaining crop productivity and mitigating climate change. Long-term trials were employed to investigate the responses of total SOC and its pools, i.e., mineral-associated OC(MOC), particulate OC(POC, containing Light-POC and Heavy-POC), to fertilization regimes at Yangling(25-year), Tianshui(35-year) and Pingliang(37-year) under a rain-fed cropping system in the Loess Plateau. The fertilization regimes in each trial included three treatments, i.e., control(no nutrient input, CK), chemical fertilizers(CF), and organic manure plus chemical fertilizers(MCF). Relative to the CK, long-term fertilization appreciably increased SOC storage by 134, 89 and 129 kg ha~(–1) yr~(–1) under CF, and 418, 153 and 384 kg ha~(–1) yr~(–1) under MCF in plough layer soils(0–20 cm), respectively, at the Yangling, Tianshui and Pingliang sites. The MOC pools accounted for 72, 67 and 64% of the total SOC at the above three sites with sequestration rates of 76, 57 and 83 kg ha~(–1) yr~(–1) under CF and 238, 118 and 156 kg ha~(–1) yr~(–1) under MCF, respectively. Moreover, the MOC pool displayed a saturation behavior under MCF conditions. The POC accordingly constituted 27, 33 and 36% of SOC, of which Light-POC accounted for 11, 17 and 22% and Heavy-POC for 17, 16 and 15% of SOC, respectively. The sequestration rates of POC were 58, 32 and 46 kg ha~(–1) yr~(–1) under CF, and 181, 90 and 228 kg ha~(–1) yr~(–1) under MCF at the three respective sites, in which Light-POC explained 59, 81 and 72% of POC under CF, and 60, 40 and 69% of POC under MCF, with Heavy-POC accounting for the balance. Compared with CK, the application of CF alone did not affect the proportions of MOC or total POC to SOC, whereas MCF application markedly reduced the proportion of MOC and increased the POC ratio, mainly in the Light-POC pool. The distribution of SOC among different pools was closely related to the distribution and stability of aggregates. The present study confirmed that organic manure amendment not only sequestered more SOC but also significantly altered the composition of SOC, thus improving SOC quality, which is possibly related to the SOC saturation level.     

Rinderpest in the landhi dairy colony

Earlier diagnostic reports of rinderpest in buffaloes in the Landhi Dairy Colony were discounted by most veterinarians in Pakistan. Four recent investigations have shown beyond doubt that the affliction was indeed rinderpest.     

Osteopontin gene polymorphism association with milk traits and its expression analysis in milk of riverine buffalo

Osteopontin gene is regarded as a plausible candidate in mammary gland differentiation and development, expressed by variety of cells, tissues, and biological fluids including milk. The current study was performed in two phases. In the first phase, Osteopontin gene polymorphisms were identified and associated with milk composition such as ash, milk fat, SNF, lactose, and protein. In the second phase, milk samples from five healthy mastitis-free Nili Ravi buffaloes were analyzed for expression of Osteopontin gene at transition (day 15), mid (day 90), and end (day 250) stage of their second lactation. Briefly, blood samples were collected from Nili Ravi buffalo to isolate the genomic DNA, specific primers were designed for PCR amplification. The amplified PCR products were sequenced bi-directionally. Six polymorphisms were identified in the coding region and four in the intronic region of the gene. The results showed that SNP g.38329758 T > C causing substitution of valine to alanine (V127A) was associated with high milk protein. For mRNA expression analysis, somatic cells were separated from milk samples for RNA isolation. Analysis of differential gene expression data has permitted us to illustrate the expression pattern of osteopontin gene in lactating buffalo. The Osteopontin gene was found to be transcribed among all three lactation stages, but expression was observed with the highest value (fold change) in peak lactation and remained elevated till the end of lactation. Identified gene marker may be helpful for the prediction of superior animal for selection. The presented study also gave an insight into the genetic screening and lactation biology of riverine buffalo, offering direction for future research in lactating buffalo.