Effects of music stimulus on behavior response,cortisol level,and horizontal immunity of growing pigs

An enriched environment is widely used to improve domestic animals’ welfare and promote their natural behaviors. Music can reduce abnormal behavior in humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents. However, little is known about the effects of music on pigs. This study aims to explore the effects of repeated music stimulation on the behavior, physiology, and immunity of growing pigs. A total of 72 hybrid piglets (Large White × Duroc × Minpig) were randomly divided into three groups, including music (Mozart K.448, 60 to 70 dB), noise (recorded mechanical noise, 80 to 85 dB), and control (natural background sound, <40 dB), and 6 h sound stimulation was given per day (1000 to 1600 hours) from 40 to 100 d of age. The behavioral activities of the pigs were observed during the music stimulation, and their serum cortisol, salivary cortisol, and serum immune indices were also measured. Compared with the control group, the music group and noise group increased activity but decreased lying of pigs (P < 0.05). A significant increase in tail-wagging, playing, and exploring behaviors of pigs was found in the music group (P < 0.05), and the noise significantly increased the aggressive behavior of the pigs (P < 0.05). Tail-wagging, playing, exploring, manipulating, and aggressive behaviors decreased over time. Short-term (8 d) music stimulus had a lower cortisol level than that of the noise and control groups (P < 0.05), whereas long-term (60 d) music stimulus increased immunoglobulin G (IgG), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) levels (P < 0.05) and decreased interleukin-4 (IL-4) level (P < 0.05). Long-term noise stimulus significantly reduced the level of IgG (P < 0.05) but did not affect the level of IL-2, IL-4, and IFN-γ levels (P > 0.05). In conclusion, short-term music stimulus (8 d) reduced the stress response, whereas long-term music stimulus (60 d) enhanced the immune responses. In addition, the noise increased the aggressive behavior, and long-term noise reduced the immunity of the growing pigs.     

鸡Ii结合Rab5a和Rab7b分子的分析

本研究旨在探明鸡恒定链（invariant chain，Ii）与内吞体转运蛋白Rab5a和Rab7b结合的结构域和在细胞内共定位的特征。首先，用PCR和基因突变技术将Ii胞浆区与跨膜区[Ii_{（Cyt-Tra）}]、Ii CLIP （class Ⅱ-associated invariant chain peptide）-三聚体区[Ii_{（CLIP-TRIM）}]和Ii突变体[Ii_{（M81-87aa）}、Ii_{（M91-99aa）}和Ii_{（M81-99aa）}]分别插入pET-32a和pEGFP-C1构建相应的原核和真核重组质粒。其次，将构建的含有绿色荧光蛋白的重组质粒与实验室保存的含有红色荧光Rab5a和Rab7b的重组质粒共转染至人胚胎肾细胞系293 T，观察它们的共定位。将构建的原核重组质粒进行表达和纯化，最后用拉下法和免疫印迹检测Ii与Rab5a和Rab7b的结合域。结果表明，成功构建Ii结构域及Ii突变体的重组质粒。Ii_{（Cyt-Tra）}及Ii突变体均能与Rab5a和Rab7b在细胞内共定位，而Ii_{（CLIP-TRIM）}与空载体却不能。Ii的胞浆区和跨膜区是与Rab5a和Rab7b结合的功能结构域，而不是CLIP与三聚体区。综上所述，鸡Ii与Rab5a和Rab7b共定位和结合的区域是其胞浆区和跨膜区，而不是内质网腔区。这些结果提示Rab分子参与了Ii在胞内细胞器的转运机制，为进一步研究Ii及其载体在细胞内的转运机制和功能提供了新的途径。     

不同施肥处理对马铃薯农田土壤理化性状及产量的影响

为了探究不同施肥处理对马铃薯农田土壤理化性状及产量的影响,试验地采用马铃薯连作模式,设置3个施肥处理,即：单施化肥(T)、有机肥配施化肥(YTF 1/2)、全量有机肥(YTF)。结果表明：在不同施肥处理下马铃薯农田土壤的理化性质和马铃薯产量发生了变化,其中变化最为明显的土壤指标有土壤容重、孔隙度、饱和导水率、有效磷。YTF处理较T处理可分别显著(P<0.05)降低土壤容重16.8%,增加土壤孔隙度12.7%,提升饱和导水率25.3%。YTF处理可显著提升土壤有效磷含量43.0%,但各处理间土壤pH、有机碳、全氮、全磷、碱解氮、速效钾之间差异并未达到显著水平。同时,较之T处理,YTF处理亦可显著提升土壤团聚体含量。YTF和YTF 1/2处理可分别较T处理提升马铃薯产量24.6%和12.8%。因此,施用有机肥不仅可以改善土壤结构,改良土壤物理性状,亦能促产增收。     

Poorly crystalline iron and aluminium oxides contribute to the carbon saturation and sorption of dissolved organic carbon in the soil

Soil carbon (C) saturation implies an upper limit to a soil's capacity to store C depending on the contents of silt + clay and poorly crystalline Fe and Al oxides. We hypothesized that the poorly crystalline Fe and Al oxides in silt + clay fraction increased the C saturation and thus reduced the capacity of the soil to sorb additional C input. To test the hypothesis, we studied the sorption of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) on silt + clay fractions (<53 µm) of highly weathered oxic soils, collected from three different land uses (i.e., improved pasture, cropping and forest). Soils with high carbon saturation desorbed 38% more C than soils with low C saturation upon addition of DOC, whereas adsorption of DOC was only observed at higher concentration (>15 g kg^?1). While high Al oxide concentration significantly increased both the saturation and desorption of DOC, the high Fe oxide concentration significantly increased the desorption of DOC, supporting the proposition that both oxides have influence on the DOC sorption in soil. Our findings provide a new insight into the chemical control of stabilization and destabilization of DOC in soil.     

5种生物制剂对马铃薯种薯萌芽、极端天气下植株生长和产量性状的影响

旨在满足马铃薯生产中茬口衔接、机械化生产技术应用、不利气候下稳产等对马铃薯出苗早、齐、壮的需求,以‘费乌瑞它’为供试品种,用基于有益活菌或工程菌提取物的5种生物制剂进行种薯处理,对多重性状进行了对比分析。5种生物制剂较常规化学制剂,均能够不同程度地促进种薯萌芽和芽根同生,出苗期提前2~7天,播种后49天的出苗率提高3.33%~17.78%。其中,表现最好的为酵母核苷酸衍生物和VDAL,种薯萌发和生根均显著高于对照。霜冻后,生物剂拌种处理在恢复前期促进植株生长,由此促进恢复后期的块茎发育,较常规化学处理增产8.39%~24.03%,体现了不同程度的保产效果。多马道黑、酵母核苷酸衍生物、根肽和VDAL体现出较好的保产效果,可作为种薯处理剂投入马铃薯生产。     

Exogenous application of allelopathic water extracts helps improving tolerance against terminal heat and drought stresses in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L. Em. Thell.)

The allelopathic water extracts (AWEs) may help improve the tolerance of crop plants against abiotic stresses owing to the presence of the secondary metabolites (i.e., allelochemicals). We conducted four independent experiments to evaluate the influence of exogenous application of AWEs (applied through seed priming or foliage spray) in improving the terminal heat and drought tolerance in bread wheat. In all the experiments, two wheat cultivars, viz. Mairaj‐2008 (drought and heat tolerant) and Faisalabad‐2008 (drought and heat sensitive), were raised in pots. Both wheat cultivars were raised under ambient conditions in the wire house till leaf boot stage (booting) by maintaining the pots at 75% water‐holding capacity (WHC). Then, managed drought and heat stresses were imposed by maintaining the pots at 35% WHC, or shifting the pots inside the glass canopies (at 75% WHC), at booting, anthesis and the grain filling stages. Drought stress reduced the grain yield of wheat by 39%–49%. Foliar application of AWEs improved the grain yield of wheat by 26%–31%, while seed priming with AWEs improved the grain yield by 18%–26%, respectively, than drought stress. Terminal heat stress reduced the grain yield of wheat by 38%. Seed priming with AWEs improved the grain yield by 21%–27%; while foliar application of AWEs improved the grain yield by 25%–29% than the heat stress treatment. In conclusion, the exogenous application of AWEs improved the stay green, accumulation of proline, soluble phenolics and glycine betaine, which helped to stabilize the biological membranes and improved the tolerance against terminal drought and heat stresses.     

Impact of grassland contract policy on soil organic carbon losses from alpine grassland on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Carbon storage in the soils on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau plays a very important role in the global carbon budget. In the 1990s, a policy of contracting collective grasslands to smaller units was implemented, resulting in a change from the traditional collective grassland management to two new management patterns: a multi‐household management pattern (MMP: grassland shared by several households without enclosures) and a single‐household management pattern (SMP: grassland enclosed and used by only one household). In 2016, 50 MMP and 54 SMP winter pastures on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau were sampled to assess the differences in soil organic carbon (SOC) between the two management patterns. Results showed that average SOC was significantly greater under MMP than under SMP, with an estimated 0.41 Mg C/ha/yr lost due to SMP following the new grassland contract. Based on the government's grassland policy, four grassland utilization scenarios were developed for both summer and winter pastures. We found that if the grassland were managed under SMP, likely C losses ranged between 0.31 × 10⁷ and 6.15 × 10⁷ Mg C/yr across the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau relative to MMP, which more closely resembles pre‐1990s grassland management. Previous estimates of C losses have only considered land use change (with cover change) and ignored the impacts driven by land management pattern changes (without cover change). The new data suggest that C losses from the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau are greater than previously estimated, and therefore that the grassland contract policy should be reviewed and SMP households should be encouraged to reunite into the MMP. These findings have potential implications for land management strategies not only on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau but also other grazing regions globally where such practices may exist.     

Replacing Soybean Meal with Alternative Protein Sources in Diets for Pond‐raised Hybrid Catfish, ♀ Ictalurus punctatus × ♂ Ictalurus furcatus

The present study investigated the replacement of soybean meal with combinations of two or three alternative protein sources in diets for pond‐raised hybrid catfish, ♀ Ictalurus punctatus × ♂ Ictalurus furcatus. Alternative protein sources evaluated included cottonseed meal, distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), peanut meal, and porcine meat and bone meal (PMBM). Hybrid catfish fingerlings with a mean initial weight of 35 g/fish were stocked into 25 earthen ponds (0.04 ha) at a density of 14,826 fish/ha. Fish were fed once daily to apparent satiation for 166 d. No significant differences were observed for total diet fed, net yield, weight gain, survival, carcass yield, fillet yield, or fillet proximate composition among dietary treatments. Results show soybean meal may be completely replaced by combinations of cottonseed meal and one or two other alternative protein sources including DDGS, peanut meal, and PMBM in the diet without markedly affecting production and processing characteristics and fillet proximate composition of pond‐raised hybrid catfish. These alternative diets may be used during foodfish production when prices are favorable.     

Compatibility of root growth and tuber production of potato cultivars with dynamic and static water‐saving irrigation managements

The important root characteristics of root length density (RLD) and root mass density (RMD) generally differ among irrigation managements and potato cultivars. The objective of this study was to investigate the RLD and RMD variations and their functional relationships with gross potato tuber yield for two commercial potato cultivars, Agria and Sante, under different irrigation strategies. Full irrigation and water‐saving irrigation strategies, deficit and partial root drying irrigations, were applied statically (S) and dynamically (D) based on daily crop evapotranspiration. Results showed that SPRD had significantly greater RLD (3.64 cm/cm³) and RMD (132.7 μg/cm³) than other irrigation treatments. Between the potato cultivars, Agria had significantly larger values of RLD (3.50 cm/cm³) and RMD (138.7 μg/cm³) than Sante. The functional relationship between the root growth characteristics and tuber yield showed that under water‐saving irrigations, Agria increased root mass at the expense of gross tuber yield but Sante increased root mass to maintain larger gross tuber yields. However, Agria produced more roots and gross tuber yield than Sante, and it is concluded that Agria is a more drought‐tolerant potato cultivar, which is recommended for tuber production in regions where water might be scarce. It was shown that larger root production in potatoes was associated with improved tolerance to water stress.     

Radioisotope and stable isotope ratios (Δ14C, δ15N) suggest larval lamprey growth is dependent on both fresh and aged organic matter in streams

Lampreys have a complex life cycle which includes a multi‐year infaunal larval stage (ammocoete). Gut content analysis has generally identified detritus (i.e., unidentifiable organic matter) as the major dietary component to ammocoetes, though algae can also be important. However, gut content preserves only a snapshot of the animal's diet and does not reflect assimilated material. In order to better characterise the nutritional sources supporting ammocoete growth, we analysed ammocoete body tissue and potential dietary sources at two streams using natural Δ¹⁴C and δ¹⁵N to estimate time‐integrated nutritional support. Bayesian isotope mixing models revealed differences in the importance of sources supporting ammocoetes between sites. Ammocoetes from a stream in a mixed land usage area (~50% agriculture, ~40% forest and ~10% developed) were primarily supported (mean: ~50%) by fresh terrestrial organic matter but were also supported by substantial contributions (mean: ~30%) by aged organic matter (AOM) and autochthonous material (algae; mean ~20%). In a predominantly forested (~90%) headwater stream, different modelling scenarios (uninformed or informed priors) suggested that algal support of ammocoete nutrition ranged from 7% to 45%. However, the model relying on informed priors developed from gut content analysis produced the low estimates, suggesting these were more reliable. When algae were a minor component of the nutrition at the forested site, ammocoetes were highly dependent on AOM (83 ± 26%; mean ± SD). Based on these findings, ammocoete growth and development are predicted to be strongly influenced by both land use and the availability of allochthonous and autochthonous materials of varying ages within streams.