过量表达小麦TaCYP78A5增加花器官的大小

【目的】利用表达模式分析、转基因过表达和细胞学观察等策略,解析TaCYP78A5调控花器官大小的功能和机制,为作物遗传改良提供基因资源和理论基础。【方法】根据EnsemblPlants基因组数据库中不同物种CYP78A家族成员的序列信息,对小麦TaCYP78A5和其他物种中的同源基因进行序列比对和进化分析;利用生物信息学分析小麦TaCYP78A5的基因和蛋白结构,以及不同器官的表达模式;通过在拟南芥中组成型过表达和生殖器官局部特异性过表达TaCYP78A5的策略,明确TaCYP78A5具有调控花器官大小的功能;利用显微镜观察不同转基因拟南芥花器官的细胞学特征,解析TaCYP78A5调控花器官大小的细胞学机制;利用小麦转基因过表达策略,明确TaCYP78A5调控小麦穗部大小等其他穗部性状的功能;利用323份小麦品种的单倍型数据与穗部表型数据进行关联分析,探析不同小麦品种TaCYP78A5表达量的高低对穗部大小等其他穗部性状的影响。【结果】小麦TaCYP78A5与拟南芥AtCYP78A5的基因和蛋白序列相似性较低,但基因和蛋白结构相似性较高。小麦TaCYP78A5和拟南芥AtCYP78A5...     

Intrathoracic tracheal rupture

This paper reports five new cases of intrathoracic tracheal rupture in cats, and summarizes these cases in conjunction with 11 cases from the literature. Most cats had no obvious respiratory signs at the time of injury, and in half of them the tracheal rupture was the only injury. The interval from trauma to onset of dyspnoea ranged from 1 to 28 days (median 12.5 days). Radiographic findings include loss of continuity of the trachea, often with a gas-filled diverticulum present between separated tracheal rings. With careful attention to surgical technique and anaesthetic management the prognosis for these cats is excellent. All eight of the cats reported in the last 14 years having surgical correction survived and returned to normal. The surgical anatomy, approach and tracheal anastomosis technique is described and recommendations for anaesthetic management are made.     

美国瑞士褐牛在塔城地区舍饲条件下的适应性研究

[目的]通过对美国瑞士褐牛在塔城地区舍饲条件下适应性的研究,为新类型的培育提供科学依据。[方法]对美国瑞士褐牛犊牛和母牛进行为期三年的饲养观察,对其生长情况、泌乳、繁殖性能、耐粗饲、耐热抗寒性能及疾病项目进行测定及统计分析。[结果]在舍饲条件下,初生重平均为35.23 kg,6月龄平均日增重为719.81 g;12月龄平均日增重为724.16 g,生长发育良好。平均繁殖成活率为81.72%;一胎平均泌乳量为3 561 kg,二胎平均泌乳量为4 267 kg,三胎平均泌乳量为4 579 kg。[结论]美国瑞士褐牛在塔城地区舍饲饲养条件下其生长发育良好,表现出了良好的适应性。     

Towards a third food regime: behind the transformation

Food regime theory focuses upon the dynamics, and agents, of change in capitalist food and farming systems. Its exponents have been able to identify relatively stable periods of capital accumulation in the agri-food industries, along with the periods of transition. Recently, scholars have argued that—following a first food regime based upon colonial trade in bulk commodities like wheat and sugar, and a second food regime typified by industrial agriculture and manufactured foods—there is an emerging third food regime. This new regime is one that is lead by global corporations that are profiting from the re-organisation of agri-food chains. The delivery of ‘fresh/healthy’ foods is one manifestation; another is the sale, by supermarkets, of ready-meals and other own-brand products. This paper argues that behind the movement to a putative Third Food Regime are changes to the financial system. ‘Financialisation’—the increased influence of finance capital on the agri-food system—not only provides new opportunities for profit-making by hedge funds and private equity consortia, but also creates a situation in which agri-food companies, including food manufacturers, international commodity traders and supermarkets, may benefit. Supermarkets for example, are moving into banking, and are altering their role as they move from being retailers of products, into the provision of capital. Food regime theory needs to consider what lies ‘behind’ the transformation of food and fibre production, to examine not only the role of finance capital in re-shaping relations up and down the agri-food supply chain, but also investigating the tendency for agri-food capitals to seek profits from financial transactions.     

Differential effect of hot water treatment on whole tubers versus cut setts of yam (Dioscorea spp.)

BACKGROUND: The use of thermotherapy or hot water treatment (HWT) is recommended for the management of plant‐parasitic nematodes and other pathogens for a range of planting material, especially vegetatively propagated crops including yams, Dioscorea spp. The sprouting (germination) and consequent viability of yam following HWT, however, appear to be influenced by the post‐treatment method of planting (whole or cut setts) and cultivar. The present study was established to evaluate the sensitivity of the most popular yam cultivars in Benin and Nigeria, West Africa, to HWT at 50–53 °C for 20 min. RESULTS: Sprouting of both setts and whole tubers of most cultivars was affected by HWT. Across experiments, 47% of HWT material, compared with 61% of non‐HWT material, sprouted over 8 weeks. When cut into setts, 41% of HWT or untreated tubers sprouted, compared with 72% of whole tubers. Whole, untreated tubers had highest sprouting rates (84%), and setts following HWT had the lowest (38%). Yam planting material was also not completely free of parasitic nematodes following HWT. The reaction to HWT or cutting was highly cultivar specific. CONCLUSION: Yam cultivars vary in their sensitivity to hot water therapy. Care is therefore advised in selecting yam cultivars for HWT, especially when using cut setts. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Survey of the plant-available silicon status of agricultural soils in Louisiana

Adequate silicon nutrition in plants has shown positive effects on the growth and yield of the crop and physico-chemical properties of the soil. Hence, this study was initiated to survey the plant-available silicon in the agricultural soils of different parishes of Louisiana. Soil samples were collected from 212 representative agricultural fields of 27 agrarian parishes of Louisiana. Poor correlations between deionized water, calcium chloride, and other extractants suggest that the unbuffered calcium chloride extraction may reflect only a transient status of soil soluble silicon similar to deionized water extraction procedure. Also, acetic acid-2 extraction procedure may reflect the net effects of the sorption/desorption reactions by extracting the readily as well as the slowly releasable silicon that control solubility, thus giving a true measure of current availability. Compared to the previously established critical soil silicon levels, several agricultural fields of Louisiana were deemed to be low in plant-available silicon.     

Grounding the financialization of farmland: perspectives on financial actors as new land owners in rural Australia

Sparked by the conjunction of food, fuel, and financial crises, there has been an increasing awareness in recent years of the scarce and finite character of natural resources. Productive resources such as agricultural land have been touted by financial actors—such as merchant banks, pension funds, and investment companies—as providing the basis for a range of new “alternative” financial asset classes and products. While the drivers, motives, and rationales behind the increasing interest of turning farmland into a financial asset class have been traced by a number of scholars, the interpretations of, and interactions with, financial actors at the community level have received less attention. Based on qualitative research in rural Australia, this paper reveals the grounds on which finance-backed investments have been accepted and accommodated by communities in rural Australia and delineates the reasons that have led to feelings of unease or refusal. The paper thereby demonstrates that the financialization of farmland is neither abstract nor one-sided but rather a multidimensional process that not only includes financial actors but also the impacted rural populations in various ways. Positioning the activities of financial actors in Australia within the emerging research on the financialization of farmland, the paper endorses context-sensitive analyses to better interpret these recent transformations of the agri-food system.     

Growth performance of broilers fed on sprouted-roasted guar bean (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cyamopsis tetragonoloba</Emphasis>) based diets

In a completely randomized block design with 96 Cobb-500 broilers, a study was conducted to evaluate the potential of dietary inclusion of sprouted then roasted guar bean in broiler diets. The 96 male day-old broiler chicks, blocked by pen into equal weight groups of six chicks replicated four times per treatment, were randomly allocated to treatment diets containing graded levels of sprouted then roasted guar bean meal (GBM) at 0, 50, 100 and 150 g kg^?1 inclusion level. The guar bean was sprouted and roasted to reduce guar gum effect. Total feed intake decreased significantly as the guar bean meal content increased in the starter phase (P < 0.05), but no significant differences in intake of the finisher phase (P > 0.05) were observed. Diets containing 0 and 50 g kg^?1 GBM recorded significantly higher total feed intake compared to the diet containing 150 g kg^?1 GBM. Although average weight gain was not significantly different in birds fed 0 and 50 g kg^?1 GBM diets, it was significantly higher than in birds fed on 100 and 150 g kg^?1 GBM diets. Feed conversion ratio was not significantly different among treatment groups (P > 0.05) but showed a general decreasing trend with increasing guar bean meal inclusion level, the effect being more pronounced during the starter phase. In conclusion, the optimum inclusion level of sprouted then roasted guar bean meal in broiler diets is 50 g kg^?1.