Microsatellite-based genetic monitoring to detect cryptic demographic bottleneck in Indian riverine buffaloes (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Bubalus bubalis</Emphasis>)

The present study was undertaken to evaluate different Indian riverine buffalo breeds (Bubalus bubalis) for mutation drift equilibrium and occurrence of any recent genetic bottleneck. A total of 330 animals from seven different breeds were analyzed with a set of 24 heterologous microsatellite markers. Three different tests revealed significant heterozygosity excess in all the seven buffalo breeds studied when assumed under infinite alleles model of microsatellite evolution, while it was the reverse with no significant heterozygosity excess when assumed under conservative stepwise mutation model. Under the two-phase model, all the buffalo breeds except Mehsana were found to be in mutation drift equilibrium when evaluated by all the three statistical methods. Standardized differences test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed significant heterozygosity excess suggesting possible cryptic demographic bottleneck in Mehsana buffaloes of Western India.     

Functional and Digestive Characteristics of Extruded Rice Flour

Waxy (short grain), long grain, and parboiled (long grain) rice flours were extruded using three different temperatures and five different water feed rates. The water absorption and water solubility index of the extrudates was 0.67–5.86 and 86.45–10.03%, respectively. The fat absorption index was similar to that of unextruded flours with an average value of 0.96 g/g ± 0.12. Bulk density decreased with an increase in moisture, except waxy rice, which had a quadratic relationship. The viscosity profiles for long grain and parboiled rice were similar. Both initially increased in viscosity (>130 RVU), then decreased to ≈40 RVU. The final viscosity was ≈60 RVU. Waxy rice viscosity remained low (<20 RVU), then doubled upon cooling. The main difference in the digestion profiles was due to temperature. The flours extruded at 100°C digested significantly slower than those extruded at 125 and 150°C. Significant differences were not detected for a given temperature and moisture (P > 0.05) except for long grain and parboiled rice extruded at 100°C and 15% added moisture (F = 4.48, P = 0.03) and 150°C and 20% added moisture (F = 3.72, P = 0.05). Moisture appeared to have little effect for a given temperature, except when parboiled rice was extruded at 150°C. The digestion rate for 11 and 25% added moisture was significantly less than that for 20% (P ≤ 0.05).     

Potential Yields and On-Farm Ethanol Production Cost of Corn, Sweet Sorghum, Fodderbeet, and Sugarbeet

Field experiments were conducted during 1980-82 at the Agronomy Farm of the University of California, Davis, to compare fermentable carbohydrate production and cost of potential ethanol from fodderbeet, sweet sorghum, sugarbeet, and corn in relation to the requirements of these crops for fertilizer nitrogen and irrigation. The response of hexose yields of these crops to fertilizer N varied in the two experiments. When all crops responded, sweet sorghum and sugarbeet required 36 % and fodderbeet 68 % of the fertilizer N needed for corn. Twelve weeks following a mid-season irrigation cut off, hexose yield of sugarbeet was decreased by 18 % as compared to an adequately watered crop. Water stressed sweet sorghum extracted higher amounts of soil moisture, increased in hexose concentration and produced 29 % higher hexose yield than when adequately watered. Stressed sugarbeet, however, had a higher hexose yield due to its higher sugar concentration.
When fertilized and irrigated adequately, fodderbeet produced 13.4, sugarbeet 11.9, sweet sorghum 10.0, and corn 8.15 Mg hexose ha⁻¹. Comparative on-farm ethanol production costs of these four crops were very close ($0.38 to 0.40 L⁻¹). Thus, growing established crops like corn and sugarbeet for which processing facilities and alternative markets already exist would be preferred.     

Assessment of critical limit of boron for cowpea in piedmont soils of Arunachal Pradesh

A study was conducted with 24 piedmont soils of Arunachal Pradesh (India) to estimate the critical limit of available boron (B) in soil and cowpea plant for predicting the response of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) to B application. The critical concentration of available B in these soils was established by graphical procedure at 0.48 mg kg^?1 for soil and at 24.5 mg kg^?1 in the plant tissues. Soil containing available B below the critical limit responded appreciably to B fertilization. A negative response to B application was also observed in soils at higher level of available B. The average dry matter yield increased with the increasing level of B application up to 1.5 mg kg^?1. The yield response to B application in cowpea on B deficient soils was 34.5%. Based on the critical value of 0.48 mg kg^?1, 10 soils were rated to be adequate and 20.0% soils belonging to this category responding to B application, whereas 85.7% soils below the critical value showed a positive response to B application. The hot water soluble B was significantly and positively correlated with organic carbon, cation exchange capacity and clay contents and negatively correlated with pH, silt and sand contents of soils.     

Seven novel single nucleotide polymorphisms identified within river buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) lactoferrin gene

The present study aimed at identifying single-nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) sites in different coding and non-coding regions of lactoferrin gene in Indian riverine buffaloes. A total of 102 animals from six different river buffalo breeds were screened at six bubaline lactoferrin gene loci. Single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis revealed monomorphic patterns at three loci LtfE2, LtfE11, and LtfE14 while a total of eight distinct patterns were observed in the other three loci viz. LtfE5, LtfE10, and LtfE16 which correspond to respective exons and their flanking regions. Sequence analysis of different SSCP variants revealed the presence of two SNP sites within the coding (exon 16) region and five SNP sites in flanking non-coding regions (intron 4 and intron 9). Both SNPs within exon 16 were found to be synonymous. The SNPs and haplotypes identified in the present study could serve as potential markers for association with susceptibility/resistance to mastitis in buffaloes.     

Sequence and topological characterization of Toll-like receptor 8 gene of Indian riverine buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

In this study, buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8) gene has been characterized by sequence analysis and detecting polymorphism. Complete ORF of buffalo TLR8 gene was amplified using the RNA isolated from spleen tissue, which was found to be 3,102 nucleotides long encoding a 1,033 amino acid protein. Buffalo TLR8 had 10 nucleotide changes as compared to other livestock species resulting in six unique amino acid changes, four of them lying within leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domains. As compared to cattle (Bos indicus and Bos taurus), out of fifteen cysteine residues, fourteen were conserved and Cys at position 521 was replaced by Arg. Nine of the LRR domains had no amino acid change as compared to cattle, whereas LRR-C-terminus had maximum, five amino acid changes. Sequence characterization of 12 riverine and swamp buffaloes revealed presence of four polymorphic nucleotides, two of them were non-synonymous, one synonymous and one site in 3′UTR. PCR-RFLP genotyping of non-synonymous SNP 2758A>G (ILeu920Val) in Toll–interleukin-1 receptor domain of 463 swamp and riverine buffaloes showed a higher frequency of allele A in swamp (95 %) as compared to riverine (9.84 %) buffaloes.     

Studies on the Pathogenicity of Newcastle Disease Virus Isolates in Guinea Fowl

Newcastle disease viruses isolated from chickens and guinea fowl were characterized as viscerotropic, velogenic strains on the basis of their mean death time, intracerebral pathogenicity index, intravenous pathogenicity index and cloacal and conjunctival mean death time. The pathogenesis of the disease caused by both the strains was studied in 4-week-old guinea fowl. Both strains had an incubation period of 5 days and the birds showed dullness, depression, anorexia, diarrhoea and paralysis of the legs. They also exhibited nervous signs such as incoordination, muscle tremors and trembling of the neck at the advanced stage of the disease. Mortality reached 52% in the group infected with the chicken isolate but it was only 8% in the birds infected with the guinea fowl isolate. No specific changes were observed at post-mortem examination except haemorrhages at the tip of the glands of the proventriculus and in the caecal tonsil. Changes in the lymphoid organs and brain were always present in both the groups. Despite the low mortality, the guinea fowl isolated had multiplied in various organs in the birds. In both groups, the frequency of virus isolation increased from 5 to 10 days post infection.