Changes in Physical Properties of Soils with Land Use Time in the Brazilian Savanna Environment

Soils from central Brazil have been intensively used over the last decades because of the rapid conversion of savannas ( Cerrado ) into corn/soybean fields. The objective of this work is to study modifications in the physical properties of soils in the Rio Verde watershed, as a function of the land use time for agriculture, determined from classification of Landsat satellite images between 1980 and 2010. Soil samples were collected at surface (0–20 cm) and subsurface (20–40 cm) horizons for the different classes of land use time (<10, 10–20, 20–30, and >30 years). The following physical properties were measured: bulk density (BD), air permeability (K_a), penetration resistance (PR), microporosity (MI), macroporosity (MA), and total porosity (TP). Results showed a strong expansion with time of agriculture that occupied 35·3% (1980), 37·4% (1990), 51·3% (2000), and 60·9% (2010) of the watershed area. When properties were compared with those from the reference areas (preserved soils under native vegetation), significant differences were observed for all the physical attributes of soils for a land use time higher than 20 years. Overall, BD and PR increased with land use time, and the opposite was verified for K_a, MA, and TP. Some physical properties presented values (e.g., 1·54 g cm⁻³ for BD and 0.06 cm³ cm⁻³ for MA) close to the critical ones reported to affect crop development, but they were not still impacting on local soybean yield. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of lipid sources,lysophospholipids and organic acids in maize-based broiler diets on nutrient balance,liver concentration of fat-soluble vitamins,jejunal microbiota and performance

1. Three experiments with a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement were conducted to evaluate maize-based diets for broilers containing different lipid sources [soybean oil (S) or beef tallow (T)] supplemented with or without lysophospholipids and organic acids on nutrient balance (Experiment I, evaluation period of 10–14 d), on liver concentration of fat-soluble vitamins, on jejunal microbiota (Experiment II, sampling at d 14) and on performance (Experiment III, accumulated periods of 1–14, 1–21 and 1–42 d).

2. A total of 1344 male chicks were used. In each experiment, the birds were allotted in a completely randomised design with 8 replications. The lysophospholipids were mainly composed of lysolecithins and the organic acids blend was constituted by lactic (40%), acetic (7%) and butyric acids (1%).

3. An interaction between lipid sources and lysophospholipids was observed on faecal apparent digestibility of lipid (ADL), which improved with lysophospholipids addition in T diets. Broilers fed on S had higher ADL and faecal apparent digestibility of nitrogen-corrected gross energy (ADGE_N).

4. It was not possible to demonstrate a significant treatment effect on the liver concentration of vitamins A and E, even with the differences in fatty acid profile between S and T.

5. Enterobacteria values were below the detection threshold. Lysophospholipid supplementation reduced gram-positive cocci in T-fed birds. S diets promoted lower total anaerobe counts compared with T diets, independent of additives.

6. S diets increased BW gain and feed:gain ratio in all evaluation periods. Lysophospholipids and organic acids improved feed:gain ratio at 1–21 d in T diets. Furthermore, main effects were observed for lysophospholipids and organic acids at 1–42 d, which increased BW gain and improved feed:gain ratio, respectively.

7. No positive interactions between additives were found.

     

Ultrastructural Characterization of Fresh and Vitrified In Vitro‐ and In Vivo‐Produced Sheep Embryos

The lower results in cryopreservation of in vitro‐produced (IVP) sheep embryos, when compared to the in vivo derived, limits its use. Four groups of blastocyst (BL) were evaluated: fresh IVP (n = 3), fresh in vivo derived (n = 3), warmed IVP cryopreserved in open pulled straws (OPS, n = 3) and warmed in vivo derived cryopreserved in OPS (n = 3). Ultrastructural observation of processed fresh embryos showed a reduced number of microvilli and mitochondria in the IVP ones, as well as a lower number of mature mitochondria, that can be associated with deficient metabolism in IVP embryos, possibly involved in the lower resistance to cryopreservation. Both in vivo‐derived and IVP embryos had a large number of vesicles, with light and dense content. In embryos vitrified by OPS, major changes were observed mainly in IVP embryos with small changes in grade 2 (fair) and high changes in grade 3 (bad) semithin scoring. The main changes associated with cryopreservation included disruption of cellular membranes and poor intracellular preservation, with loss of microvilli and the presence of cellular debris. In conclusion, ultrastructural evaluation of IVP blastocysts cryopreserved in OPS was herein described for the first time, reporting more severe cellular damage in these embryos when compared to those produced in vivo. This is probably associated with a lower cryotolerance that can be related to their lipid content and metabolism.