Efficacy of Ceranock Attract and Kill System as a Control Method of Mediterranean Fruit Fly, Ceratitis capitata in Apricot Orchards in Central Iraq

A field experiment was conducted using Ceranock bait station, ＂attract and kill＂ system to combat Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, in apricot orchards, Central of lraq during the 2013 field season. Control program was implemented in three orchards of mixed apricot varieties. Ceranock traps were hung in each tree of two separate orchards. Delta and McPhail traps were used to monitor Medfly population density in each treated and control orchards. Results indicated that Medfly activity in apricot orchards started during the last week of April coincided with the beginning of maturity for fruits of early varieties. The total of trapped insects in monitoring traps after one week of Ceranock application were 0, 1 and 31 adults for the 1st, 2nd and the control orchards, respectively. Three weeks later and on, the number of trapped adults started to increase dramatically. At the end of apricot season and after 45 days of Ceranock trap application, the number of trapped insects in monitoring traps reached 110, 111 and 2,349 adults/week, respectively, for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd orchard. The use of Ceranock traps reduced Medfly population density by 86%-97%. The percentage of fruit injuries in early maturing varieties were 0.75%, 1% and 34% for the 1st, 2nd and control orchards, respectively. While, late varieties were 2% and 3% for 1st and 2nd orchards, and 69% for the control. The percentage of reduction in fruit damages reached to 95% and 97%, respectively in the 1st and 2nd orchard. The results of this study demonstrate clearly the efficacy of Ceranock bait station, ＂attract and kill＂ system as a control measure for Medfly in apricot orchards.     

Genetic Structure of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Carrier Horses in Morocco Inferred by Microsatellite Data

A total of 17 microsatellite deoxyribonucleic acid loci used routinely for horse parentage control were used to evaluate genetic diversity among normal Arabian horses and severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) carrier Arabian horses (ArS) and normal Arab-Barb horses and SCID carrier Arab-Barb horses (ArbeS). On the basis of the genotype of 186 horses, mean allelic diversity was estimated as 6.82, 5.53, and 6.7059 in normal Arabian horses, ArS, and for both groups of Arab-Barb horses, respectively. Five specific alleles were observed in ArS and ArbeS, with one common with ArS at HMS6, whereas five alleles common between ArS and ArbeS had a high frequency. Expected and observed heterozygosity showed great heterogeneity in the population studied and were similar or higher when compared with other studies on Arabian horses. Coefficient of gene differentiation G_st of Nei associated with Nei’s genetic distance and multivariate correspondence analysis indicated a possible differentiation between the studied populations when analyzed separately according to breed. Probability of assignment of a horse to a specific group was assessed using a full and partial Bayesian approach. In all, 80.6% of Arab horses and 78.2% of Arab-Barb horses were assigned properly with a partial Bayesian test, which provided better results than the full one. These findings will be useful for identification of SCID carrier horses by using the microsatellite deoxyribonucleic acid loci used routinely for horse parentage control in our laboratory.     

Effect of alkaline and sonication pretreatments on the rumen degradability of date palm seeds

Tropical Animal Health and Production - The main objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of chemical treatment and sonication (ultrasound) processing on the fiber composition and...     

Molecular characterization of pathogenic Escherichia coli isolated from diarrheic and in-contact cattle and buffalo calves

Tropical Animal Health and Production - Escherichia coli field isolates from calves were characterized and categorized into the most significant diarrheagenic pathotypes using polymerase chain...     

Pharmacokinetics of toltrazuril and its metabolites in pregnant and nonpregnant ewes and determination of their concentrations in milk,allantoic fluid,and newborn plasma

The objectives of this study were to determine the pharmacokinetics of toltrazuril and its metabolites in pregnant and nonpregnant ewes following a single oral dose and to determine the plasma concentrations of these compounds in milk, allantoic fluid, and newborn plasma. Eighteen healthy ewes were randomly divided into three groups (n = 6 each): pregnant ewes at 12–13 weeks of gestation (group A), nonpregnant ewes (group B), and pregnant ewes at 1–2 weeks before expected lambing date (group C). Ewes in all groups received a single oral dose of toltrazuril at 20 mg/kg body weight. In groups A and B, blood samples were collected at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 18 hr, every 6 hr to day 3, every 12 hr to day 7 and thereafter every 24 hr to day 14 post-toltrazuril administration. In group C, parturition was induced 24–36 hr after toltrazuril administration then milk, allantoic fluid, and newborn plasma samples were collected immediately after birth. Drug metabolites were assayed using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography–ultraviolet detection method (UHPLC-UV). The maximum concentration (C_max), area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC_0–t), AUC to 24 and 48 hr (AUC_0–24), and (AUC_0–48) were significantly higher in pregnant ewes. Longer apparent half-life (T_1/2), significantly higher apparent volume of distribution (Vd/F) and total clearance (Cl/F) were observed in nonpregnant ewes. The time to maximum plasma concentration (T_max), mean residence time (MRT) and elimination rate constant (K_el) were similar in both groups. The AUC_0–24 and AUC_0–48 were significantly higher in nonpregnant ewes. The AUC_0–t was significantly higher in pregnant ones. The ratio of plasma toltrazuril concentrations in ewes and toltrazuril concentrations in newborn lambs' plasma, allantoic fluid, and milk were 68%, 2.3%, and 5.3%, respectively. Results of this study showed that toltrazuril is well absorbed after a single oral dose in ewes with widespread distribution in different body tissues.     

Influence of boron concentrations on some meta‐bolites of date palm and sorghum seedlings

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L. cv Khedhri) and sorghum (sorghum Sudan grass hybrid cv sugar Graze 11) plants were grown in vermiculite in a controlled environment and watered with a nutrient solution containing eight different concentrations of boron (B) (0 to 500 ppm), six months for date palm and four weeks for sorghum. The chlorophyll (Chl) content of the seedlings increased significantly with low concentrations of B for both date palm and sorghum, but no further significant increases were observed at higher concentrations. Generally, there was a positive correlation between B and calcium (Ca) content in the tissues of both seedlings when B concentrations were increased in the media. A negative correlation was found between B concentration in the media and the tissue content of phenolic compounds and the activity of some enzymes, such as polyphenol oxidase, IAA‐oxidase and phenylalanine ammonia‐lyase in the tissue, while there was a positive correlation in the case of peroxidase. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) increased significantly in date palm with the increase of B in the medium, but for sorghum, the increase occurred at 10–100 ppm and decreased at 300 and 500 ppm B in the media.     

Absorption and emission of CO2 by ponded water of a paddy field

In the daytime, the CO₂ concentration in the air close to the water surface of a ponded paddy field was lowest and it increased with the distance above the water surface, while an inverse relation was observed in the nighttime. On the other hand, the pH of the ponded water changed significantly throughout a day and was expected to affect atmospheric CO₂ in the vicinity of the water surface, because the solubility of CO₂ in water depends on the pH. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the changes in the pH of the ponded water and the response of the CO₂ concentration in the air above the water. The pH of the ponded water of the paddy field increased in the daytime and decreased in the nighttime, so that the water was alkaline in the daytime and weakly acidic in the nighttime. We found that the daily changes in the atmospheric CO₂ concentration gradient almost corresponded to the daily changes in pH. The increase of the pH of the ponded water in the daytime was due to the absorption of dissolved CO₂ by photosynthetic bacteria and micro-algae within the ponded water. Furthermore, we compared the pH with RpH, defined as the pH at which the CO₂ concentration of the water is in equilibrium with that of the air, to determine whether CO₂ was absorbed by or emitted from the ponded water. In the daytime, the pH value of the ponded water was higher than that of the RpH, and the water could therefore absorb CO₂ , whereas during the nighttime, since the pH value of the ponded water was lower than that of the RpH, the water was expected to emit CO₂. These results show that the ponded water absorbed CO₂ from the air above the water surface in the daytime and emitted CO₂ in the nighttime.     

Soybean preference for Bradyrhizobium japonicum for nodulation

For examining the probability of increase in the occupation ratio of inoculated rhizobium in nodules, various Rj-soybean cultivars including the Rj ₂ Rj ₃ Rj ₄-lines of soybean were grown in a field of the Kyushu University Farm. Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA110 that carries uptake hydrogenase (Hup⁺) was used as an inoculum. The relative efficiency of nitrogen fixation generally increased by the inoculation. However, there were no significant differences in the effects among the genotypes of the host plants. The occupation ratio of serogroup USDA110 in the nodules on the taproot of the inoculated plants was in the range of 77–100%, suggesting that the B. japonicum strain USDA110 infected taproots immediately after inoculation. The occupation ratios in the nodules on the lateral roots were 53–67, 40–86, 63–83, and 62–77% in inoculated plants of the non-Rj-, Rj ₂ Rj ₃-, Rj ₄-, and Rj ₂ Rj ₃ Rj ₄-genotypes, respectively, and they decreased in all the genotypes with the progression of growth. At the time of the first sampling, the occupation ratios on the lateral roots of these Rj ₂ Rj ₃ Rj ₄-genotypes showed values intermediate between those of IAC-2 (Rj ₂ Rj ₃) and Hill (Rj ₄) , which were the parent cultivars of the Rj ₂ Rj ₃ Rj ₄-lines, B340, B349, and C242. The reduction in the occupation ratio of the serogroup USDA110 for about 1 month after the first sampling was the lowest (0.13–0.16) in the Rj ₂ Rj ₃ Rj ₄-genotypes, excluding B349, followed by the non-Rj- and Rj ₂ Rj ₃-genotypes and highest (0.52–0.69) in the Rj ₄-genotypes, excluding Hill. Therefore, it was considered that the population of compatible rhizobia with host soybean plants increased in the rhizosphere with the progression of the development and growth. The results showed that with the expansion of the root area of host plants, the occupation ratio of type A rhizobia including the serogroup USDA110 was high. Therefore, the Rj ₂ Rj ₃ Rj ₄-genotypes were superior to other Rj-genotypes in terms of the inoculation effects of nodulation type A rhizobium, B. japonicum USDA110. However, the preference of the Rj ₂ Rj ₃ Rj ₄-genotype for serogroup USDA110 is not sufficient to rule out the competition with the other serogroups in this study. Therefore, the study should be centered on the isolation of more efficient (Hup⁺) and highly compatible rhizobial strains with the Rj ₂ Rj ₃ Rj ₄- genotypes.