Production,chemical composition,and economic viability of Minas Frescal cheese from buffaloes supplemented with açai seed

Tropical Animal Health and Production - We aimed to evaluate the chemical composition, production yield, and economic viability of Minas Frescal cheese produced with milk from buffaloes...     

Sodium hydroxide or urea pretreatment of acerola (Malpighia emarginata) fruit residue increases dry matter degradability and reduces methane production in in vitro rumen fermentation

Tropical Animal Health and Production - The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding different concentrations of either urea or NaOH in dehydrated acerola (Malpighia emarginata) fruit...     

AhaP,A Quorum Quenching Acylase from Psychrobacter sp. M9-54-1 That Attenuates Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Vibrio coralliilyticus Virulence

Although Psychrobacter strain M9-54-1 had been previously isolated from the microbiota of holothurians and shown to degrade quorum sensing (QS) signal molecules C6 and C10-homoserine lactone (HSL), little was known about the gene responsible for this activity. In this study, we determined the whole genome sequence of this strain and found that the full 16S rRNA sequence shares 99.78–99.66% identity with Psychrobacter pulmonis CECT 5989^T and P. faecalis ISO-46^T. M9-54-1, evaluated using the agar well diffusion assay method, showed high quorum quenching (QQ) activity against a wide range of synthetic N-acylhomoserine lactone (AHLs) at 4, 15, and 28 °C. High-performance liquid chromatography-mass-spectrometry (HPLC-MS) confirmed that QQ activity was due to an AHL-acylase. The gene encoding for QQ activity in strain M9-54-1 was identified from its genome sequence whose gene product was named AhaP. Purified AhaP degraded substituted and unsubstituted AHLs from C4- to C14-HSL. Furthermore, heterologous expression of ahaP in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 reduced the expression of the QS-controlled gene lecA, encoding for a cytotoxic galactophilic lectin and swarming motility protein. Strain M9-54-1 also reduced brine shrimp mortality caused by Vibrio coralliilyticus VibC-Oc-193, showing potential as a biocontrol agent in aquaculture.     

Arsenic and chromium resistance mechanisms in the Micrococcus luteus group

High arsenic (As) and chromium (Cr) concentrations are currently receiving attention because of their negative effects on the environment and human health. Microorganisms inhabiting contaminated environments have developed resistance mechanisms against the toxicity of these pollutants. Indeed, members of the bacterial genus Micrococcus have been isolated from different toxic metal-contaminated environments; however, knowledge concerning its resistance mechanisms to As and Cr toxicity remains lim...     

Nutritional standards and nutritional diagnosis of the Conilon coffee plants in phenological growth stages

The objective of this study was to establish a nutrient sufficiency range and DRIS standards of Conilon coffee grown in southern Bahia, Brazil for the pre-flowering and grain-filling stages and to perform a nutritional diagnosis of these plants using different methods. The collections were performed in 24 Conilon coffee farm fields to establish the leaf nutritional standards, and 278 samples were collected to the nutritional diagnosis. The nutritional diagnosis was performed by using the sufficiency range criterion and the DRIS method. The nutrient sufficiency range and the DRIS standards must be specific to each phenological stage of the Conilon coffee plants. The leaf concentrations of calcium (Ca), sulfur (S), and boron (B) were higher in the pre-flowering stage; and the leaf concentrations of nitrogen (N), potassium (K), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) were higher in the grain-filling stage.     

Agronomic comparison of six bermudagrasses from Southern United States with five tropical grasses in central Puerto Rico

The dry matter yield (DMY), in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and crude protein (CP) content of eleven grasses were studied during the years 1992 to 1994 under mob grazing conditions. Offered and consumed dry forage do not differ significantly (P<0.05) among the highest yielding accessions Cynodon nlenfuensis PRPI 2341, Cynodon plectostachium PRPI 11487, and Cynodon dactylon cv. Tifton 85. However, the commercial Cynodon nlenfuensis PRPI 2341 was consistently the highest yielding accession both years. Among the other grasses, Digitaria eriantha showed the lowest levels of refused dry forage, thus presenting the best forage acceptability by grazing animals. Digitaria eriantha also showed the highest levels of IVOMD in both the short and the long day seasons. It is concluded that none of the evaluated Cynodon dactylon accessions from southern United Sates, nor the digitaria and brachiaria species adapted better than the commercial accession Cynodon nlenfuensis PRPI 2341. Warm‐season perennial grasses are grown extensively in the southeastern United States. Among the grasses, one of the most widely grown is from the species Cynodon dactylon, commonly named bermudagrass (Eichhorn, 1984). The choice of a bermudagrass cultivar for establishment of pastures is an important decision for cattlemen seeking high weight gains of stocker steers throughout the warm grazing season of the southern United States (Greene et al., 1989). Selection of improved bermudagrass hybrids has dramatically increased forage yield over that of common bermudagrass. Improved forage quality has also resulted in improved performance of grazing animals fed harvested hybrid bermudagrass forage (Gates et al., 1989). Reports on average daily weight gains (ADG) of yearling steers grazing different bermudagrass hybrids varied between 0.68 to 0.79 kg animal^‐1 day^‐1 during the summer season of southern Louisiana (Faw et al., 1986). Hill et al. (1993) in Tifton, GA, found yearling ADG of 0.67 and 0.65 kg animal^‐1 day^‐1 for the recent bermudagrass releases Tifton 85 and Tifton 78, respectively. Forage quality dry matter yield and grazing performance support the hypothesis that Tifton 85 will likely become an important hay and grazing forage for the southern United States. In Puerto Rico, Cynodon nlenfuensis PRPI 2341 (stargrass) is at present the grass cultivar most frequently grown on dairy farms (Ramos‐Santana and Randel, 1996). Yearly ADG of 0.59 kg animal^‐1 day^‐1 has been reported for young steers grazing stargrass in the humid tropical zone of Puerto Rico (Vicente‐Chandler et al., 1983). At Ona, FL, lower ADG of 0.54 kg has also been obtained with stargrass (Mislevy, 1989). The objective of this paper is to compare the agronomic performance (dry matter yield and quality) of six of the most outstanding bermudagrass hybrids from the southern United States, with five tropical grasses from the cynodon, brachiaria, and digitaria genera under the tropical conditions of central Puerto Rico.     

Lethal and sublethal effects of chemical constituents from essential oils on Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) in cowpea stored grains

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - The recent use of essential oils has been considered an important approach in pest management programs for stored products. Regarding essential oils, it...     

Evaluation of Cymbopogon flexuosus and Alpinia zerumbet essential oils as biopesticides against Callosobruchus maculatus

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - This study aimed to investigate the effects of the essential oils of Cymbopogon flexuosus and Alpinia zerumbet in the treatment of cowpea [Vigna...