Effect of Low Night Temperatures on Photosynthetic Activity of the Maize Seedlings (Zea mays L.)

Night chilling (5 °C) subsequently lowered photosynthetic intensity in the leaves of maize seedlings at 20 °C through an increase in leaf diffusive resistance brought on by lower tissue water content in morning hours. A more significant increase in leaf diffusion resistance was observed when soil temperature was lowered than in the case of lower air temperature.
The unfavorable effect of soil and air cooling temperature on photosynthesis was limited by air saturated with water vapour. However, as a result of lowering the night temperature from 5 °C to 1 °C, the efficiency of the protective influence of higher atmospheric humidity was decreased. This demonstrates that the participation of factors unrelated to plant water status in inhibiting photosynthesis increases with lower night temperatures.
An additional reason for inhibited photosynthesis following cool nights was a decrease in chlorophyll accumulation, below 50 μg per 1 cm² of leaf area.     

Studies on mutlispecific resistance of gastrointestinal nematodes to benzimidazoles on dairy-goat farms

Multispecific resistance to benzimidazoles was studied in three selected farms. These farms had bred dairy goats for more than 15 years. The helminths were introduced with the goats at the establishment of the farms which afterwards remained isolated. Nematode resistance could then be related to their own management practices. Faecal egg count tests and egg hatch assays were performed to assess intensity of resistance. The generic (infective larvae in faecal cultures) and specific richness (adult worms) were assessed. The resistant species were Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Teladorsagia circumcincta, Haemonchus contortus and Oesophagostomum venulosum. Faecal egg count reduction tests and egg-hatch assays did not match exactly. Faecal larval counts after treatments gave a distorted picture of multispecific resistance: Haemonchus and Oesophagostomum were very largely over represented. The number of species found in the three farms was relatively low compared with other reports in goat farms of the area. This reduction of diversity might also be due in part to characteristics of breeding management and history (use of permanent pasture and introduction of goats at the establishment of farm).     

披碱草和野大麦及其杂种苗期抗旱性研究

在室内人工模拟干旱条件,测定了干旱胁迫下披碱草和野大麦及其杂种幼苗的相对含水量、细胞膜透性、游离脯氨酸含量的变化。结果表明,干旱胁迫下亲本披碱草幼苗的组织相对含水量下降的幅度最低,细胞膜受害最轻,游离脯氨酸积累的最多,相对生长率最高,表现出很强的抗旱性。亲本野大麦幼苗的组织相对含水量下降的幅度最大,细胞膜受害最重,游离脯氨酸积累的最少,相对生长率最低,抗旱性弱。杂种F1幼苗的保水能力、细胞膜受害程度和游离脯氨酸积累能力、相对生长率均介于双亲之间,亦即其抗旱能力大于野大麦而小于披碱草,表现为双亲的中间型。正、反交对杂种F1的抗旱能力没有明显影响。     

Effects of straw and silicon soil amendments on some foliar and stem-base diseases in pot-grown winter wheat

Four foliar and two stem-base pathogens were inoculated onto wheat plants grown in different substrates in pot experiments. Soils from four different UK locations were each treated in three ways: (i) straw incorporated in the field at 10 t ha⁻¹ several months previously; (ii) silicon fertilization at 100 mg L⁻¹ during the experiment; and (iii) no amendments. A sand and vermiculite mix was used with and without silicon amendment. The silicon treatment increased plant silica concentrations in all experiments, but incorporating straw was not associated with raised plant silica concentrations. Blumeria graminis and Puccinia recondita were inoculated by shaking infected plants over the test plants, followed by suitable humid periods. The silicon treatment reduced powdery mildew ( B. graminis ) substantially in sand and vermiculite and in two of the soils, but there were no effects on the slight infection by brown rust ( P. recondita ). Phaeosphaeria nodorum and Mycosphaerella graminicola were inoculated as conidial suspensions. Leaf spot caused by P. nodorum was reduced in silicon-amended sand and vermiculite; soil was not tested. Symptoms of septoria leaf blotch caused by M. graminicola were reduced by silicon amendment in a severely infected sand and vermiculite experiment but not in soil or a slightly infected sand and vermiculite experiment. Oculimacula yallundae (eyespot) and Fusarium culmorum (brown foot rot) were inoculated as agar plugs on the stem base. Severity of O. yallundae was reduced by silicon amendment of two of the soils but not sand and vermiculite; brown foot rot symptoms caused by F. culmorum were unaffected by silicon amendment. The straw treatment reduced severity of powdery mildew but did not detectably affect the other pathogens. Both straw and silicon treatments appeared to increase plant resistance to all diseases only under high disease pressure.     

A mutation confers Monochoria vaginalis resistance to sulfonylureas that target acetolactate synthase

Acetolactate synthase (ALS) is the target enzyme for four distinct families of compounds: sulfonylureas (SUs), imidazolinones, triazolopyrimidine sulfonanilides, and pyrimidinyl oxybenzoates. We cloned and sequenced the fragments encoding ALS genes from biotypes of Monochoria vaginalis susceptible (S) and resistant (R) to SU-herbicides. The nucleotide sequences of the 39 bp Domain A region for R M. vaginalis biotype differed from that of the S biotype by a single nucleotide substitution at variable Pro codon of Domain A (CCT to TCT), predicting a Pro in the S but a Ser in the R biotype. No nucleotide differences between S and R M. vaginalis were observed in Domain D. We suggest that the amino acid substitution at Domain A region is responsible for resistance to SU-herbicides in M. vaginalis collected from Ushiku City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.     

乌鲁木齐周边地区奶牛乳房炎沙门氏菌的分离鉴定及耐药性分析

为了解乌鲁木齐周边地区奶牛场奶牛乳房炎沙门氏菌的流行与耐药情况,本研究采集了5个牧场300份奶牛乳房炎奶样,进行沙门氏菌的分离、培养,利用荧光PCR方法鉴定,同时对分离出的阳性菌株采用纸片扩散法进行耐药性分析。结果表明：从奶牛乳房炎样品中分离出12株沙门氏菌,分离率4%;耐药性分析表明分离的沙门氏菌对氨苄西林、四环素、多西环素、链霉素耐药率超过50%,对氨曲南、诺氟沙星、多粘菌素B、头孢他啶敏感性大于70%。此外4株沙门氏菌分离株具有多重耐药性。本研究为本地区奶牛乳房炎的防治提供了依据。     

纳米纤维素水凝胶的制备与表征及其对猪肉的保鲜作用

水凝胶因具有低毒性、高生物相容性和可降解性而常用于食品保鲜,但其机械性能和抗疲劳性有待提高。为了探究大豆种皮纳米纤维素对水凝胶机械性能和抗疲劳性的影响,并提高水凝胶的综合机械性能。因此,本研究通过-20 ℃低温循环冷冻-解冻法制备具有可拉伸、强韧、抗疲劳的聚乙烯醇/海藻酸钠/纳米纤维素水凝胶,探究水凝胶对猪肉货架期的影响。通过扫描电子显微镜、傅里叶红外变换光谱仪、X-射线衍射仪、热重仪和质构仪测定了水凝胶的理化性质和机械性能。研究结果表明,水凝胶内部单体之间以氢键和酯键交联,内部呈现多孔结构,断裂伸长率为230%、压缩强度为70 kPa、拉伸强度为17 kPa,经过多次循环拉伸仍具有良好的机械性能和较高的抗疲劳性。猪肉保鲜试验表明,水凝胶维持了猪肉色泽的稳定性,防止内部水分流失,并且将猪肉的保质期延长至10 d。因此,该水凝胶可用于食品包装以延长冷藏肉制品的保质期。同时,本研究为构建一种可拉伸、强韧、抗疲劳的多功能水凝胶提供了一种新的视角。     

Identification of a conservative site in the African swine fever virus p54 protein and its preliminary application in a serological assay

BackgroundASF was first reported in Kenya in 1910 in 1921. In China, ASF spread to 31 provinces including Henan and Jiangsu within six months after it was first reported on August 3, 2018. The epidemic almost affected the whole China, causing direct economic losses of tens of billions of yuan. Cause great loss to our pig industry. As ELISA is cheap and easy to operate, OIE regards it as the preferred serological method for ASF detection. P54 protein has good antigenicity and is an ideal antigen for detection.ObjectiveTo identify a conservative site in the African swine fever virus (ASFV) p54 protein and perform a Cloth-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting the ASFV antibody in order to reduce risks posed by using the live virus in diagnostic assays.MethodWe used bioinformatics methods to predict the antigen epitope of the ASFV p54 protein in combination with the antigenic index and artificially synthesized the predicted antigen epitope peptides. Using ASFV-positive serum and specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), we performed indirect ELISA and blocking ELISA to verify the immunological properties of the predicted epitope polypeptide.ResultsThe results of our prediction revealed that the possible antigen epitope regions were A23–29, A36–45, A72–94, A114–120, A124–130, and A137–150. The indirect ELISA showed that the peptides A23–29, A36–45, A72–94, A114–120, and A137–150 have good antigenicity. Moreover, the A36–45 polypeptide can react specifically with the mAb secreted by hybridoma cells, and its binding site contains a minimum number of essential amino acids in the sequence 37DIQFINPY44.ConclusionsOur study confirmed a conservative antigenic site in the ASFV p54 protein and its amino acid sequence. A competitive ELISA method for detecting ASFV antibodies was established based on recombinant p54 and matching mAb. Moreover, testing the protein sequence alignment verified that the method can theoretically detect antibodies produced by pigs affected by nearly all ASFVs worldwide.