Synergism of insecticidal action and effects on detoxifying enzymes in vivo of lambda-cyhalothrin and malathion by some nitrogen heterocycles in resistant and susceptible strains of Tribolium castaneum

The interactions of the synthetic pyrethroid, lambda-cyhalothrin and malathion were studied with purines, pyrimidines, caffeine and some other related nitrogenous compounds in resistant and susceptible strains of Triboliurn castaneum (Herbst.) The results were compared with those obtained with a known synergist, piperonyl butoxide (PBO) and precocene I. Adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine and uracil synergised lambda-cyhalothrin, especially in the susceptible strain, with maximum effect at a 1:1 mass ratio, with the effect decreasing with increasing proportion of the heterocycle. The order of synergism of lambda-cyhalothrin was; precocene I > PBO > the nitrogenous compounds, in both resistant and susceptible strains. On the other hand, caffeine (lethal effect increased about twice), barbital (about twice), isobarbituric acid (less than twice) and bromacil (up to eight times) synergised malathion in malathion-resistant strains and antagonised in the susceptible strains. Total in-vivo esterases, carbox-ylesterases and cytochrome P₄₅₀ of susceptible and resistant strains showed significantly increased activity or content when treated with either insecticide plus a heterocyclic compound. Exceptions were with bromacil and malathion and for the malathion-specific strain, Kano-C with malathion and the N-heterocycles.     

Novel report on mutation in exon 3 of myostatin (MSTN) gene in Nilagiri sheep: an endangered breed of South India

Tropical Animal Health and Production - The variability in breeding program leads to rapid loss of genetic potential for which National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources is emphasized to conserve...     

Pheromones in the Management of Major Lepidopterous and Coleopterous Pests of Cotton

Cotton is infested by over 30 pests belonging to lepidoptera and coleoptera. Amongst these insects, various bollworms and cotton boll weevil cause economic damage every year. In IPM, pheromones are considered to be an essential component because they are used for detecting the economic threshold levels of pest populations and for mating disruption as a direct pest suppression measure. Pheromones of major pests have been found to be effective, economic and eco-friendly in agro-ecosystems in which cotton is cultivated.     

Effect of effluent from a shrimp pond on shoot biomass of mangrove seedlings

Growth in terms of shoot dry weight was studied in five species of mangroves, namely Avicennia marina, A. officinalis, Ceriops decandra, Rhizophora apicuhta and R. mucronata, raised in shrimp pond-derived effluent. The effluent had significant negative effect over diluted effluents on shoot dry weight in R. apiculata and C. decandra, but not in the other three species, in general, the effluent, when diluted by 70%, improved the shoot biomass production of mangrove seedlings.     

The relation between phosphine sorption and terminal gas concentrations in successful fumigation of food commodities

Owing to increased tolerance and the development of resistance in stored product insects to the fumigant phosphine, in recent years there has been a shift in the target terminal concentration from 100 ppm (100 mL m(-3)) to a higher level of 1000 ppm to achieve 100% insect mortality in 7 day commodity treatments. Therefore, there is a need to investigate whether the revised target concentration could be achieved for food commodities fumigated with phosphine at the standard dose of 2 g m(-3) for 7 days under airtight conditions at > or = 25 degrees C. When different types of food commodity (total 74) were fumigated (300 g per replicate) with phosphine at 2 g m(-3) for 7 days, the terminal gas concentrations in the free space of the commodities varied from 0 to > 2000 ppm. In chambers containing no substrate, a 1417 ppm concentration was recorded. Paddy rice, most of the oilseeds, shelled tree nuts, butter beans, cardamom, green gram splits, coriander powder, rice bran and cocoa powder were more sorptive (> or =60%), such that the target concentration of 1000 ppm was not achieved at the end of 7 days. For these commodities, increased doses of 3-6 g m(-3) were required to attain 1000 ppm. In-shell almonds, green cardamom, in-shell peanuts, leaf tea, tamarind pulp and sunflower seeds were exceptionally sorptive (>90%), so that 0, 41, 112, 168, 203 and 217 ppm respectively were noted at the end of 7 days; the dose must exceed 6 g m(-3) for effective fumigation of these commodities.     

Free radicals scavenging efficiency of a few naturally occurring flavonoids: a comparative study

The interaction of antiperoxidative flavonoids artocarpin (AR), cycloartocarpin (CAR), dalspinin (DP), dalspinosin (DPO), and dalspinin-7-O-galactoside (DPG) with 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical cation (ABTS(.+)) and O2(-.) was studied in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4). The ability of these compounds to inhibit lipid peroxidation and DNA scission was also investigated. The radical scavenging efficiency of flavonoids is demonstrated by the reduction of nitrogen-centered radical cation (ABTS(.+)). The reduction of ABTS(.+) follows the order quercetin > morin > Trolox > AR > DPO > CAR > DP. Inhibition of lipid peroxidation was studied by following Mb(IV) reduction, induced by lipid, arachidonic acid. These results are compared with those obtained for well-known antioxidants such as quercetin, morin, and Trolox. The structure-activity relationships between chemical structures of the flavonoids and their radical scavenging activities are anlayzed. The scavenging of O2(-.), inhibition of lipid peroxidation, and DNA damage depend on the oxidation potential of the flavonoids. The possible mechanism for radical scavenging activities of flavonoids in relation to their structure is also outlined.     

Accurate inference of shoot biomass from high-throughput images of cereal plants

With the establishment of advanced technology facilities for high throughput plant phenotyping, the problem of estimating plant biomass of individual plants from their two dimensional images is becoming increasingly important. The approach predominantly cited in literature is to estimate the biomass of a plant as a linear function of the projected shoot area of plants in the images. However, the estimation error from this model, which is solely a function of projected shoot area, is large, prohibiting accurate estimation of the biomass of plants, particularly for the salt-stressed plants. In this paper, we propose a method based on plant specific weight for improving the accuracy of the linear model and reducing the estimation bias (the difference between actual shoot dry weight and the value of the shoot dry weight estimated with a predictive model). For the proposed method in this study, we modeled the plant shoot dry weight as a function of plant area and plant age. The data used for developing our model and comparing the results with the linear model were collected from a completely randomized block design experiment. A total of 320 plants from two bread wheat varieties were grown in a supported hydroponics system in a greenhouse. The plants were exposed to two levels of hydroponic salt treatments (NaCl at 0 and 100 mM) for 6 weeks. Five harvests were carried out. Each time 64 randomly selected plants were imaged and then harvested to measure the shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight. The results of statistical analysis showed that with our proposed method, most of the observed variance can be explained, and moreover only a small difference between actual and estimated shoot dry weight was obtained. The low estimation bias indicates that our proposed method can be used to estimate biomass of individual plants regardless of what variety the plant is and what salt treatment has been applied. We validated this model on an independent set of barley data. The technique presented in this paper may extend to other plants and types of stresses.     

Application of encapsulated nano materials as feed additive in livestock and poultry: a review

Veterinary Research Communications - Livestock plays a significant role in the socio-economic development of developing countries by providing livelihood and nutritional security, transport,...     

Haemato-biochemical,non-specific immunity,antioxidant capacity and histopathological changes in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Labeo rohita</Emphasis> fingerlings fed rubber protein isolate

A 60-day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the haemato-biochemical, innate immune response, antioxidant capacity and histopathological changes in Labeo rohita fingerlings fed rubber protein isolates (RPI). One hundred and eighty fingerlings (average weight 4.45 ± 0.01 g) were distributed into five experimental groups in triplicate and fed with isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets. Soybean protein isolate (SPI) served as the reference diet (Control), and the treatment diets were formulated as RPI₂₅, RPI₅₀, RPI₇₅ and RPI₁₀₀ replacing 25, 50, 75 and 100% of SPI protein, respectively. The growth performance indices like final body weight (9.54–10.27 g), net weight gain (5.09–5.84 g), metabolic growth rate (4.54–5.02) and feed efficiency ratio (0.60–0.65) among the various groups were not significantly different (P > 0.05). All the haematological parameters, except red blood cells, showed no significant differences compared with the control group (P > 0.05). The immuno-biochemical parameters like albumin, globulin, total immunoglobulin, respiratory burst and lysozyme activities among the various groups did not differ significantly (P > 0.05). The stress enzyme such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde (MDA) showed no significant difference (P > 0.05). Histopathological examination of the liver revealed no marked changes. In summary, the results showed that RPI was well utilised by the fish and its inclusion did not generate any oxidative-induced stress, thus, RPI may be suggested as a potential replacement for SPI in fish diets without any detrimental effects. Hence, protein isolation offers a unique opportunity for the utilisation of rubber seed meal.