Forage legumes in grass pastures in tropical Brazil and likely impacts on greenhouse gas emissions: A review

Beef cattle producers seldom use fertilizers for their pastures in tropical regions of Brazil. Slowly, this is changing but because of the need for repeated applications, N fertilizer is rarely applied. The introduction of a forage legume is an appropriate solution for this problem, but until recently adoption has been very low as the legumes generally have not persisted in the sward. We report research on how grazing management can affect the persistence of stoloniferous legumes in pastures of Brachiaria spp. and the problems of establishing and maintaining crown-forming legumes such as Stylosanthes spp. With suitable management, milk or bovine carcass yields can be equal or greater from mixed than from grass-alone pastures fertilized with 120 or 150 kg Nha^-1 year⁻¹. In addition to savings in CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels for the production and distribution of N fertilizers, nitrous oxide emissions from cattle excreta and legume residues are lower than those from N-fertilized brachiaria grass monocultures. Other studies indicate that enteric methane emissions from cattle may be mitigated when forage legumes are included in their diet. The use of forage legumes in mixed pastures for tropical regions is emerging as a feasible strategy to keep meat and milk production at acceptable levels with reduced greenhouse gas emission rates.     

Sorghum Pasta and Noodles: Technological and Nutritional Aspects

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - Sorghum is a major cereal crop with various agronomic advantages, contains health-promoting compounds and is gluten-free. There is a growing tendency to use...     

The mTOR-regulated phosphoproteome reveals a mechanism of mTORC1-mediated inhibition of growth factor signaling

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) protein kinase is a master growth promoter that nucleates two complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2. Despite the diverse processes controlled by mTOR, few substrates are known. We defined the mTOR-regulated phosphoproteome by quantitative mass spectrometry and characterized the primary sequence motif specificity of mTOR using positional scanning peptide libraries. We found that the phosphorylation response to insulin is largely mTOR dependent and that mTOR exhibits a unique preference for proline, hydrophobic, and aromatic residues at the +1 position. The adaptor protein Grb10 was identified as an mTORC1 substrate that mediates the inhibition of phosphoinositide 3-kinase typical of cells lacking tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (TSC2), a tumor suppressor and negative regulator of mTORC1. Our work clarifies how mTORC1 inhibits growth factor signaling and opens new areas of investigation in mTOR biology.     

Early development and allometric growth in hatchery‐reared Eurasian perch,Perca fluviatilis L.

The morphological development and allometric growth patterns of Eurasian perch, Perca fluviatilis L., a highly valued commercial species, were studied under intensive rearing conditions from hatching up to 50 DPH (Days Post Hatch). Based on the external morphology, four different phases during early development of Eurasian perch were identified: pre‐flexion larva 0–20 DPH (5.70–10.16 mm TL); flexion larva 22–30 DPH (11.09–15.14 mm TL) and post‐flexion larva/juvenile 32–50 DPH (18.00–24.75 mm TL). The results indicate that growth period when final replacement of all temporary (larval) structures and most important changes in the shape of P. fluviatilis occurred (between 13.95 and 24.06 mm TL, during flexion and post‐flexion phase) can be considered as a transitional period between the larva and juvenile. All body segments, except trunk length and tail length showed fast growth (positive allometry) throughout the entire studied period or up to the respective inflexion point with a common tendency to isometry. In addition, the specific behaviours (e.g. pelagic way of life) of Eurasian perch larvae resulted in some characteristic allometric growth patterns in the posterior region, different from the majority of other teleosts. The results are discussed with respect to the ontogeny of the functional morphology under both ecological and aquaculture considerations.     

Assessment of gut microbiota in different developmental stages of Malaysian Mahseer (Tor tambroides)

Malaysian Mahseer (Tor tambroides) has a good prospect for aquaculture because of its high market demand. However, there is a scarce information on gut microbiota associated with Malaysian Mahseer unlike other fish species. Therefore, we constructed and compared gut microbiota in different developmental stages (larval, juvenile, fingerling, yearling, and adult) using culture dependent and PCR‐DGGE fingerprinting technique for better understanding of gut microbiota composition associated with T. tambroides. Culturable gut microbiota composition in all developmental stages were composed of β‐ and γ‐Proteobacteria, and Bacilli. Biodiversity analysis of culturable gut microbiota showed that larval, juvenile, and adult stages have higher diversity than fingerling and yearling stages. Ward's linkage cluster analysis showed that culturable gut microbiota composition in larval and juvenile stages were close to adult stages, whereas fingerling and yearling stage composed same cluster. PCR‐DGGE fingerprinting technique showed that unculturable gut microbiota were constituted by α‐and γ‐Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria. Ward's linkage cluster analysis showed that unculturable gut microbiota composition in both larval and juvenile stages were distinct from other developmental stages. Our results revealed that gut microbiota composition were varied in different developmental stages of Malaysian Mahseer and continuous shifts of gut microbiota from larval to adult stages.     

The application of tannic acid to the elimination of egg stickiness at varied moments of the egg swelling process in pikeperch,Sander lucioperca (L.)

The aim of this article was to analyse the process of pikeperch, Sander lucioperca, egg swelling and to apply tannic acid to eliminate egg stickiness at different moments of the swelling process on artificially obtained eggs. The first experiment involved observation of egg swelling process and the second determined the effect of temperature (12, 14 and 16°C) on the egg swelling rate. The third experiment involved elimination of egg stickiness in a tannin solution (0.75 g L^?1) where eggs were submerged in a solution for 0.5, 1, 2 and 5 min – 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 min following gamete activation. The results indicate that the pikeperch egg swelling process lasts 30 min. It was found that the temperature did not affect the process duration. The results of the third experiment showed that the effectiveness of tannic acid application in egg stickiness elimination increases with time. The best result was obtained in groups of eggs submerged for 1 and 2 min (86.5% and 80.5% of larvae were obtained respectively) 30 min following the gamete activation. The results presented in this study for the first time indicate the possibility of highly effective procedure of egg stickiness elimination with tannic acid in pikeperch aquaculture.     

Quantification of Flavobacterium psychrophilum in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), tissues by qPCR

A qPCR assay was developed for rapid and sensitive detection of Flavobacterium psychrophilum, the aetiological agent of bacterial cold-water disease and rainbow trout fry syndrome in salmonid fish worldwide. A set of F. psychrophilum-specific primers based on 16S rRNA gene sequences was designed and validated for specific detection and quantification of DNA isolated from representative strains of F. psychrophilum. The qPCR assay exhibited a high specificity for the 16S rRNA gene of F. psychrophilum (from 4 × 10(8) down to 11 copies per reaction) but not for other Flavobacterium species or other bacteria including fish pathogens. This qPCR-based method proved to be useful in the quantification of the F. psychrophilum titre present within organs dissected out from diseased fish. As the F. psychrophilum genome contains six copies of the 16S rRNA gene, we could infer a limit of detection corresponding to two bacteria per reaction, corresponding to 800 bacteria per fish tissue sample, and therefore 20 F. psychrophilum cells mg(-1) of tissue (for sample weighing 40 mg). The qPCR assay reported here could be a useful tool for veterinary diagnostic laboratories to monitor the F. psychrophilum infection level in fish farms.     

近期中国规模化猪场伪狂犬病野毒血清学及流行病学调查与分析

伪狂犬病(Pseudorabies)给养猪业造成非常重大的直接和间接经济与商业损失,种猪感染伪狂犬病病毒后,引起母猪发情障碍、流产、产死胎、木乃伊胎和弱仔,伪狂犬病病毒先天感染或早期感