Effects of daily temperature highs on development of Phakopsora pachyrhizi on soybean

Although considerable information exists regarding the importance of moisture in the development of soybean rust, little is known about the influence of temperature. The purpose of our study was to determine whether temperature might be a significant limiting factor in the development of soybean rust in the southeastern United States. Soybean plants infected with Phakopsora pachyrhizi were incubated in temperature-controlled growth chambers simulating day and night diurnal temperature patterns representative of the southeastern United States during the growing season. At 3-day intervals beginning 12 days after inoculation, urediniospores were collected from each plant and counted. The highest numbers of urediniospores were produced when day temperatures peaked at 21 or 25°C and night temperatures dipped to 8 or 12°C. When day temperatures peaked at 29, 33, or 37°C for a minimum of 1 h/day, urediniospore production was reduced to 36, 19, and 0%, respectively, compared with urediniospore production at the optimum diurnal temperature conditions. Essentially, no lesions developed when the daily temperature high was 37°C or above. Temperature data obtained from the National Climatic Data Center showed that temperature highs during July and August in several southeastern states were too high for significant urediniospore production on 55 to 77% of days. The inhibition of temperature highs on soybean rust development in southeastern states not only limits disease locally but also has implications pertaining to spread of soybean rust into and development of disease in the major soybean-producing regions of the Midwestern and northern states. We concluded from our results that temperature highs common to southeastern states are a factor in the delay or absence of soybean rust in much of the United States.     

Antioxidant properties of kilned and roasted malts

Compounds possessing antioxidant activity play a crucial role in delaying or preventing lipid oxidation in foods and beverages during processing and storage. Such reactions lead to loss of product quality, especially as a consequence of off-flavor formation. The aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant activity of kilned (standard) and roasted (speciality) malts in relation to phenolic compounds, sugars, amino acids, and color [assessed as European Brewing Convention units (degrees EBC) and absorbance at 420 nm]. The concentrations of sugars and amino acids decreased with the intensity of the applied heat treatment, and this was attributed to the extent of the Maillard reaction, as well as sugar caramelization, in the highly roasted malts. Proline, followed by glutamine, was the most abundant free amino/imino acid in the malt samples, except those that were highly roasted, and maltose was the most abundant sugar in all malts. Levels of total phenolic compounds decreased with heat treatment. Catechin and ferulic acid were the most abundant phenolic compounds in the majority of the malts, and amounts were highest in the kilned samples. In highly roasted malts, degradation products of ferulic acid were identified. Antioxidant activity increased with the intensity of heating, in parallel with color formation, and was significantly higher for roasted malts compared to kilned malts. In kilned malts, phenolic compounds were the main identified contributors to antioxidant activity, with Maillard reaction products also playing a role. In roasted malts, Maillard reaction products were responsible for the majority of the antioxidant activity.     

Patterns in abundance and diversity of faecally dispersed parasites of tiger in Tadoba National Park,central India

Background

Importance of parasites in ecological and evolutionary interactions is being increasingly recognized. However, ecological data on parasites of important host species is still scanty. We analyze the patterns seen in the faecal parasites of tigers in the Tadoba National Park, India, and speculate on the factors and processes shaping the parasite community and the possible implications for tiger ecology.

Results

The prevalence and intensities were high and the parasite community was dominated by indirect life cycle parasites. Across all genera of parasites variance scaled with the square of the mean and there was a significant positive correlation between prevalence and abundance. There was no significant association between different types of parasites.

Conclusions

The 70 samples analyzed formed 14 distinct clusters. If we assume each of the clusters to represent individual tigers that were sampled repeatedly and that resident tigers are more likely to be sampled repeatedly, the presumed transient tigers had significantly greater parasite loads than the presumed resident ones.

     

Effect of exogenous fibrolytic enzymes supplementation on milk production and nutrient utilization in Murrah buffaloes

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of commercial exogenous fibrolytic enzyme (EFE) mixture added at 1.5 and 3.0 g (cellulase 4,000 μM glucose/g/h + xylanase 7,990 μM xylose/g/min; 50:50 w/w) per kilogram of dry matter (DM) of feed on nutrient digestibility, milk production, milk composition, and some blood constituents in lactating Murrah buffaloes. Eighteen buffaloes were allotted to three dietary treatments, on the basis of milk yield (8.48, 8.52, and 8.53 kg/day) and days in lactation (68.5, 80.33, and 82.00) for 90 days. The buffaloes were fed a total mixed ration (TMR) comprising of 45% chaffed wheat straw, 15% chopped green maize, and 40% concentrate on DM basis (control group), the same TMR plus EFE at 1.5 g/kg DM (T-1 group) and the same TMR plus EFE at 3.0 g/kg DM (T-2 group) supplemented through the concentrate mixture. There was no effect of fortifying EFE mixture on DM intake and crude protein intake (grams per day) whereas total digestible nutrients intake (kilogram per day) was higher by (P < 0.05) 12.53% in T-1 group over that of control, and there was no significant difference between T-2 and control groups. The average daily milk yield and 4% fat-corrected milk (FCM) yield was higher (P < 0.05) by 12.99% and 15.17% in T-1 group as over that of control, and there was no difference between T-2 and control groups. There was no (P > 0.05) difference in blood glucose and blood urea nitrogen concentration in different experimental groups. It is concluded that supplementation of cellulase and xylanase mixture at 1.5 g/kg of DM of TMR containing wheat straw (45%), green maize (15%), and concentrate (40%) on DM basis significantly increased (P < 0.05) the average daily milk yield and FCM yield in Murrah buffaloes due to improved dietary fiber digestion.     

砂壤土中前进速度和耕作深度对主要耕作机械牵引的影响（摘选）

对一些有特殊要求的农场来说,耕作机具牵引需求数据的有效性对于选择适当的耕作机具是极为重要的。机具宽度、作业深度、前进速度、土壤情况和机具机型都影响着机具的牵引。利用放置在砂壤土中的数字荷重单元对不同前进速度（0.69、1.11和1.52 ms）和耕作深度（100、150和200 mm）,两种主要耕作机械牵引的影响进行了研究。采用的工具包括3个底圆盘犁和2个底型铧式犁。在两种方案中,速度和深度都随着工具牵引增加而增加。所有的工具牵引对深度的影响大于对速度的影响。在所有的前进速度和耕作深度的处理中,铧式犁的测量值均大于圆盘犁。基于速度和深度,对两种特殊牵引模拟了一般回归方程。      

Energy efficiency,productivity and profitability of rice (Oryza sativa L.) based cropping systems for selected conservation practices

A field experiment was conducted in split plot design to examine the energy efficiency, productivity, and profitability of 6 rice based cropping systems for selected conservation agricultural (SCA) and the conventional (CNV) practices during the years 2010 to 2012. Results revealed that rice crop grown in wet season with SCA resulted in higher net energy, energy output: input ratio, energy productivity, and net returns as compared to CNV. Also, in the dry season, higher yield, net return, net energy and the net economic water productivity (NEWP) were noted for the SCA. Among the dry season crops, sunflower recorded highest net energy (57.2 GJ ha^?1) followed by horsegram and cabbage. The NEWP was highest for babycorn (US $ 0.198 m^?3), followed by cabbage and sweetcorn. However, the per cent increase in net return, net energy and the NEWP for SCA as compared to the CNV was highest for horsegram followed by sunflower. Despite having low system productivity, rice-sunflower and rice-horsegram cropping systems were more energy efficient with high net energy of 194.4 and 169.4 GJ ha^?1, respectively. These two systems were low water demanding and helped in buildup of soil organic carbon, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K).