Reproductive and productivity traits of goats grazing Acacia cyanophylla Lindl. with and without daily PEG supplementation

A grazing experiment, conducted for 90 days compared the effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) supplementation on postpartum reproductive traits and productivity of suckling goats grazing Acacia cyanophylla Lindl. A total of 54 native adult goats (34.4 ± 5.49 kg) were randomly allocated, 24 h after kidding, to 2 treatment groups balanced for age and the number of reared kids. Goats in both treatment groups designed C and PEG grazed in acacia for approximately 5 h every day and received each on daily basis 0.3 and 0.4 kg of hay and concentrate respectively. In addition, goats in treatment PEG were initially supplemented with 10 g/day of PEG and this supplement was then increased to 20 g /goat/day over the last 60 days of the trial. Goats receiving PEG tended (P > 0.05) to spend more time browsing acacia than those in treatment C. There were no treatment effects on live weight change of the goats, growth of their kids until 90 days of age or composition of their milk in terms of fat, protein and urea contents. Similar proportions of 74.1 and 77.8% of goats resumed postpartum ovulation with a mean ovulation rate of 1.50 ± 0.61 and 1.67 ± 0.47 (P > 0.05) in respectively the PEG and C treatments. PEG supplementation was associated with an increase (P < 0.05) in ovulation rate at the second postpartum ovulation occurring approximately 27 days after the application of the nutritional treatments (1.76 ± 0.60 versus 1.25 ± 0.45); 9 of the 13 goats ovulating in the PEG treatment were bearing more than one corpus lutuem in comparison to only 3 out of 12 females in the C group (P < 0.05). The likely increased availability of proteins in the PEG receiving goats could explain their higher ovulation rate.     

Optimal conditions for egg storage, incubation and post-hatching growth for the freshwater turtle, Chelodina rugosa: Science in support of an indigenous enterprise

Incubation of northern snake-necked turtle (Chelodina rugosa) eggs and subsequent sale of hatchlings for the pet industry has the potential to provide culturally suitable employment for indigenous communities in northern Australia. Developmental arrest in response to egg inundation is unique to C. rugosa. Eggs can be stored under water for up to 10 weeks without appreciable impact on egg or embryo survival, allowing the transport and sale of eggs into niche markets without high levels of mortality, and permitting eggs to accumulate in diapause until there are sufficient numbers to incubate as batches. Eggs that are not inundated or inundated for short periods experience similar survival rates to eggs inundated for lengthy periods. Incubation temperature influences embryo survival and development period in C. rugosa. Embryonic survival is greatest at 26 °C, steadily declining as temperature increases to 32 °C. A similar increase in incubation temperature decreases incubation period by approximately 40 days, however almost half of this variation is attributed to the increase in incubation temperature from 26 to 28 °C. Hatchling growth in C. rugosa is characterized by two phases. There is an initial phase of relatively slow growth under the partial influence of initial egg size and incubation duration, followed by a second phase of relatively rapid growth under the partial influence of water temperature and mass at hatching. Post-hatching survival is negatively correlated with duration of egg inundation and water temperature. Evidence suggests that inundation of C. rugosa eggs for 6 weeks, incubation of embryos at 28 °C and raising hatchlings in 28 °C water will yield the best overall outcomes.     

Genetic Variation and Virulence on Lr26 in Puccinia triticina

ABSTRACT The genetic relationships between isolates of Puccinia triticina virulent on wheat with the Lr26 resistance gene were studied. The diversity within and between isolates of P. triticina from Israel, Europe, and the United States was determined by virulence on near-isogenic Thatcher lines and by random amplified polymorphic DNA. According to the molecular markers, isolates that were virulent on Lr26 had diversity levels similar to those of Lr26 nonpathogenic isolates. Distances between subpopulations of isolates virulent and avirulent on Lr26 varied and were unrelated to the Lr26 virulence phenotype. Cluster analysis suggested four groups, three of which were closely associated with the geographical origin of the isolates-Israel, the United States, and Europe. All four groups included both Lr26 virulent and avirulent pathotypes. The results showed that Lr26 virulent rust pathotypes are as genetically dissimilar as the rest of the population. The cluster analysis showed that the rust population in Israel includes at least two different subpopulations, both of which contain Lr26 virulent and Lr26 avirulent isolates.     

基于作物生长监测诊断仪的玉米LAI监测模型研究

为探索作物生长监测诊断仪（CGMD-402型）在作物长势监测应用中的精准性与适用性,连续2年在不同氮肥水平下进行不同玉米品种的实验。使用作物生长监测诊断仪采集冠层归一化差值植被指数（Normalized differential vegetation index,NDVI）、比值植被指数（Ratio vegetation index,RVI）,并同步以ASD FR-2500型野外高光谱辐射测量仪获取冠层光谱反射率,构建NDVI、RVI高光谱植被指数;通过对比两种仪器获取的植被指数特征及其定量关系,评价CGMD-402型作物生长监测诊断仪监测精度;基于CGMD-402型作物生长监测诊断仪获取的NDVI、RVI,建立叶面积指数（Leaf area index,LAI）监测模型,并对模型监测精度进行验证。结果表明：玉米冠层NDVI、RVI随施氮量增加而增加,增加幅度分别为8.20%~36.59%、4.40%~25.16%;CGMD-402型作物生长监测诊断仪与ASD FR-2500型野外高光谱辐射测量仪获取的NDVI、RVI相关系数分别为0.991、0.985,决定系数分别为0.983、0.969,说明CGMD-402型作物生长监测诊断仪具有较高的监测精度,可替代ASD FR-2500型野外高光谱辐射测量仪获取NDVI、RVI指数;利用CGMD-402型作物生长监测诊断仪获取NDVI、RVI,建立LAI监测模型的决定系数分别为0.911、0.898;以独立数据对模型精度进行验证,模型预测值与田间实测值间决定系数分别为0.963、0.954,相对误差分别为6.65%、9.37%,表明二者具有高度一致性。研究表明,利用作物生长监测诊断仪能有效监测玉米不同品种LAI动态变化,可以替代AccuPARLP-80型植物冠层分析仪获取玉米LAI数据。     

Newcastle disease virus outbreaks: Vaccine mismatch or inadequate application?

Newcastle disease (ND) is one of the most important diseases of poultry, and may cause devastating losses in the poultry industry worldwide. Its causative agent is Newcastle disease virus (NDV), also known as avian paramyxovirus type 1. Many countries maintain a stringent vaccination policy against ND, but there are indications that ND outbreaks can still occur despite intensive vaccination. It has been argued that this may be due to antigenic divergence between the vaccine strains and circulating field strains. Here we present the complete genome sequence of a highly virulent genotype VII virus (NL/93) obtained from vaccinated poultry during an outbreak of ND in the Netherlands in 1992-1993. Using this strain, we investigated whether the identified genetic evolution of NDV is accompanied by antigenic evolution. In this study we show that a live vaccine that is antigenically adapted to match the genotype VII NL/93 outbreak strain does not provide increased protection compared to a classic genotype II live vaccine. When challenged with the NL/93 strain, chickens vaccinated with a classic vaccine were completely protected against clinical disease and mortality and virus shedding was significantly reduced, even with a supposedly suboptimal vaccine dose. These results suggest that it is not antigenic variation but rather poor flock immunity due to inadequate vaccination practices that may be responsible for outbreaks and spreading of virulent NDV field strains.