Impact of extension interventions in improving livelihood of dairy farmers of Nadia district of West Bengal,India

Tropical Animal Health and Production - Livestock is a one of the major sources of livelihood for most of the small and marginal farmers in India, particularly for rural households who live in...     

Unexpected detection of porcine rotavirus C strains carrying human origin VP6 gene

Background: Rotavirus C (RVC), a known etiological agent of diarrheal outbreaks, mainly inflicts swine population globally with sporadic incidence in human, cattle, ferret, mink and dog.

Objective: To demonstrate the presence of RVC in Indian swine population and characterization of its selected structural (VP6) and non-structural (NSP4 and NSP5) genes.

Methods: A total of 108 diarrheic samples from different regions of India were used. Isolated RNA was loaded onto polyacrylamide gel to screen for the presence of RVs through the identification of specific electrophoretic genomic migration pattern. To characterize the RVC strains, VP6 gene and NSP4 and NSP5 genes were amplified, sequenced and analyzed.

Results: Based on VP6 gene specific diagnostic RT-PCR, the presence of RVC was confirmed in 12.0% (13/108) piglet fecal specimens. The nucleotide sequence analysis of VP6 gene, encoding inner capsid protein, from selected porcine RVC (PoRVC) strains revealed more than 93% homologies to human RVC strains (HuRVC) of Eurasian origin. These strains were distant from hitherto reported PoRVCs and clustered with HuRVCs, owning I2 genotype. However, the two non-structural genes, i.e. NSP4 and NSP5, of these strains were found to be of swine type, signifying a re-assortment event that has occurred in the Indian swine population.

Conclusion: The findings indicate the presence of human-like RVC in Indian pigs and division of RVC clade with I2 genotype into further sub-clades. To the best of our knowledge, this appears to be the first report of RVC in Indian swine population. Incidence of human-like RVC VP6 gene in swine supports its subsequent zoonotic prospective.     

Changes in soil organic carbon pools in a long‐term trial with perennial fodder crops in acid soils of north‐east India

Efficient estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC) is vital for understanding and monitoring the effect of perennial fodder crops in conserving SOC. In subtropical regions, there is limited information on SOC accumulation and its allocation into different pools under long‐term grasses and legumes. Therefore, we investigated the dynamics of SOC in a 20‐year‐old field trial with seven perennial grass species and a legume in a Typic Paleudalf soil under subtropical climate in north‐east India by analysing oxidizable organic C (C_oc) and its fractions of very labile (C_VL), labile (C_L), less labile (C_LL) and non‐labile (C_NL), microbial biomass C (C_mic) and mineralizable C (C_min). Growing perennial fodder crops increased SOC in the 0–0.60 m soil depth from 19.9%–39.6% compared with the conventional cultivation with maize (Zea mays). The relative efficacy of the fodder species to SOC accumulation was Setaria sphacelata = Brachieria rosenesis > Panicum maximum cv. Makunia = Arachis pintoi > Panicum maximum cv. Hamil > Paspalam conjugalum = Pennisetum purpureum > Thysanolaena maxima. Among the analysed fractions, C_VL, C_L, C_LL and C_mic were influenced most by the fodder crops and the active pools (C_VL+C_L) constituted 71.6% of the SOC. The results indicate that under the tested subtropical climate, soil under perennial grasses and legumes conserves organic C and that most of the SOC is in labile pools of short residence time.     

Carbon Nanostructures Based Mechanically Robust Conducting Cotton Fabric for Improved Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Herein, an intelligent cotton fabric was fabricated using a non-ionic surfactant based macro structured carbonaceous coating through the ‘knife-over-roll’ technique. The developed novel fabric was tested as flexible, mechanically robust with prolonged chemical/moisture resistance. Various characterization techniques were thoroughly used to analyze the fabric. The as-prepared fabric shows an outstanding electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding efficiency (SE) of about 21.5 dB even at the lowest possible coating thickness (0.20 mm) where the highest EMI SE of 30.8 dB is obtained at only 0.30 mm coating thickness over the X-band frequency range (8.2-12.4 GHz), possibly due to the three-dimensionally interconnected network structure of conducting carbon particles. The micro-computed tomography disclosed the porous architecture and “void-filler” arrangement within the fabrics. For the betterment of serviceability and practicability of the coated fabric, the water tolerance and contact angle studies were conducted. The relatively high contact angle than pure cotton fabric, and excellent water resistance after coating ensure improved endurance for external or industrial uses. Therefore, this proof-of-construct manifests commercialization of the developed fabric for multipurpose applications in a facile, less-hazardous and economical way.     

Surface Treated Jute Fiber Induced Foam Microstructure Development in Poly(lactic acid)/Jute Fiber Biocomposites and their Biodegradation Behavior

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/jute fiber biocomposites with: i) untreated jute fiber, ii) NaOH treated jute fiber, and iii) (NaOH+silane) treated jute fibers were prepared by melt extrusion process. Microcellular foaming of the injection molded samples was carried out by using single stage batch process. The effects of jute fiber content as well as that of matrix-fiber phase adhesion, in composites with surface treated jute fibers, on the foam microstructure were studied. Further, water absorption, thickness swelling, and biodegradation behavior of the foamed biocomposites were studied and correlated with their foam microstructures. It was observed that on increasing jute fiber content in PLA/JFU biocomposites, cell density increased from 6.5×10⁷ to 8.1×10⁷, while the cell size and expansion ratio decreased from 40 to 23 μm and 2.41 to 1.45, respectively. Again, on increasing the extent of the jute fiber surface treatment in the biocomposites, cell size and expansion ratio increased from 40 to 78 μm and 2.41 to 2.80 respectively. This study also revealed that the rate of biodegradation accelerated with increase in the jute fiber content in the biocomposites while the same retarded with increase in the extent of jute fiber surface treatment.     

Cross-bred Cattle Protected against Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum by Larval Antigens Purified by Immunoaffinity Chromatography

Antigens from larvae of Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum were extracted and purified by immunoaffinity chromatography using immunoglobulin ligands from cross-bred animals immunized with soluble larval antigen. Affinity-purified antigen (Aff-TLE) and a total larval extract (TLE) were used to immunize cross-bred (Bos indicus×Bos taurus) cattle. The group immunized with Aff-TLE rejected 71.6% of larvae and 77.3% of nymphs. However, the rejection percentages were lower in the TLE-immunized group. No significant changes in the feeding period, moulting percentages or moulting period of engorged larvae and nymphs were recorded. There was, however, a significant decrease in the number of resultant nymphs p<0.01) and adults (p<0.01) in the ticks fed on the Aff-TLE-immunized group. The Aff-TLE antigen was 93.3% purified. SDS-PAGE analysis identified a 39 kDa protein, reported for the first time, as the antigen responsible for the induction of resistance in the host.     

Draft Genome Sequence of Potato Dry Rot Pathogen <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium sambucinum</Emphasis> Fckl. F-4

Fusarium sambucinum is one of the most important causal agents that not only cause the dry rot disease of potato tubers in fields and stores worldwide but also capable of producing secondary metabolites toxic for people and animals. Here we present the first draft genome sequence of the strain (F-4) estimated to be around appx. 42.0 Mb. The genome has 12,845 protein coding genes with more than 35,900 exons and gene density of 3.13 per 10Kb. F. sambucinum is evolutionary more close to the F. graminearum among the Fusarium species complex. The genome sequence represents a valuable resource for understanding the pathogenecity and virulence factors, and their evolution within the complex and highly plastic genus Fusarium.     

A study on the relative efficiency of organic manures and the effect of salinity on its mineralisation in brackishwater fish farm soil

The influence of salinity on the mineralisation of organic nitrogen in the form of mustard oil cake, poultry manure and cow-dung in brackishwater pond soils was studied under laboratory conditions. The concentration of mineralised nitrogen for mustard oil cake and poultry manure showed a marked increase during 7 to 30 days after which it decreased gradually and in 90 days assumed practically the same value as that of the control over the salinity range of 0–40‰. The mineralised nitrogen of cow-dung treatment was lower than that of the control,till 30 days,after which it increased gradually. The loss of nitrogen is minimum in the higher salinity range for all three types of manure used. Mustard oil cake is a better manure for brackishwater soil than poultry droppings and cow-dung.     

Observations on the protein and carbohydrate requirements of carps

A series of experiments was conducted with purified test diets to ascertain the optimum levels of protein and carbohydrate needed in carp feed, the details of which are indicated. Both by direct inference and by statistical analysis, it was observed that the optimum growth of carp spawn, fry and fingerlings was reached with test diets having 45% protein (casein) and 26% carbohydrate (dextrin).     

无机三价铬和有机酸混合物对肉鸡生产性能和屠宰特性的影响

试验旨在确定添加有机酸和铬（Cr）对肉鸡生产性能和屠宰特性的影响。试验采用2x2因子设计,选择120只1日龄肉仔鸡随机分配到4个处理中,每个处理6个重复,每个重复5只。试验饲粮分别添加有机酸混合物（含正磷酸、乙酸、丙酸和丙酸钙）1g·kg^-1、无机三价铬（Cr^3＋,如Crcl3·6H2O）0．5mg·k^-1或两者的混合物。试验期35d。与对照组相比,单独添加有机酸、Cr3’以及同时添加两者,均显著改善了肉鸡饲料转化率、活重、胴体重和销售肉片重。有机酸单独或与Cr^3＋同时添加,提高了胴体总灰分的积累。与对照组相比,添加有机酸或Cr^3＋改善了蛋白积累;两者同时添加效果更佳。添加Cr^3＋降低了肌肉中脂肪含量和脂肪堆积。与其他处理组相比,添加Cr^3＋提高循环CP和肌肉中Cr^3＋的浓度。结论：由于有机酸和Cr^3＋存在协调效应,两者混合应用替代单独添加,可更有效地改善肉鸡生产性能和屠宰特性。