Fish meal replacement with rice protein concentrate in a practical diet for the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei Boone, 1931

Replacement of fish meal (FM) with rice protein concentrate (RPC) as a practical diet for the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, was evaluated. Five isonitrogenous (36.6% protein) diets, formulated by replacing 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% of FM by RPC, were fed to shrimp (initial weight of 6.99 ± 0.08 g) five times daily to satiation for 60 days. Relatively high final weight (FW 17.64–18.25 g) and weight gain (WG 10.81–11.39 g) were obtained in treatments up to 50% of the plant protein inclusion. Above this inclusion level, FW (14.93–14.35 g) and WG (7.68–7.23 g) were reduced. Survival was high (≥95%) and similar for all diets. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in tail-muscle composition (moisture, protein, lipid, and ash) among different dietary treatments. Dispensable and indispensable amino acids of the tail muscle of shrimp fed with 25, 50, and 75% RPC were significantly higher than the FM (0%) and 100% RPC diets. A decreasing trend in apparent digestibility coefficient (excluding dry matter) for crude protein (90.52–52.41), ether extract (94.11–80.03), organic matter (87.25–50.16), and gross energy (89.41–55.24) was observed at higher RPC inclusion rates. The results suggest that RPC meal can be a potential candidate for FM replacement up to 50% of the protein in shrimp diets.     

Extrapituitary gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) binding sites in goldfish

In teleosts, as in other vertebrates, the secretion of pituitary gonadotropin (GTH) is mediated by the hypothalamic decapeptide, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Recent findings in teleosts indicate that GnRH receptors are not restricted to the pituitary gonadotropes and are also associated with somatotropes as well as being present in a number of other tissues. In the present study, we provide novel information on GnRH binding in a number of extrapituitary tissues in goldfish. However, we do not intend to provide full characterization of GnRH binding sites in various extrapituitary tissues in goldfish as this would clearly be outside the scope of this paper. In this study we examined GnRH binding in a number of extrapituitary tissues in goldfish and observed specific binding in ovary, testis, brain, liver and kidney. No specific GnRH binding was observed in muscle, skin, gut, gill and heart. In general, the present findings together with the results of other studies carried out in our laboratory demonstrate that mature goldfish ovary and testis contain two classes of GnRH binding sites, high affinity/low capacity and low affinity/high capacity sites with binding characteristics similar to those of the pituitary GnRH receptors. The brain of goldfish was also found to contain two classes of GnRH binding sites, a super-high affinity/low capacity and a low affinity/high capacity sites. Furthermore, study of goldfish liver and kidney demonstrated the presence of a single class of GnRH binding sites with characteristics different from those of pituitary, ovary, testis and brain. Overall, it is evident that goldfish contains a family of GnRH binding sites which can be classified into four groups based on binding affinities: 1) A class of high affinity binding sites present in the pituitary, ovary and testis, 2) a class of super high affinity sites so far only detected in the brain, 3) a class of intermediate-affinity GnRH binding sites in the liver and kidney, and 4) a class of low affinity binding sites present in all the tissues containing specific GnRH binding sites except for liver and kidney.     

Iron Fortification of Whole Potato Using Vacuum Impregnation Technique with a Pulsed Electric Field Pretreatment

In this study, the effect of a vacuum impregnation (VI) process with pulsed electric field (PEF) pretreatment on fortification of whole potato with ferric pyrophosphate was investigated. The VI process and PEF pretreatment were optimized with respect to physicochemical attributes of PEF-VI-processed samples using response surface methodology (RSM). The results indicated that the iron content of VI-processed and PEF-VI-processed potatoes was increased about 126 and 457%, respectively, compared to unprocessed potatoes. A more intensive PEF pretreatment led to a higher cell disintegration, decrease in colour and textural parameters and also increase in components leakage from treated potato. Our study suggests that whole 180-g potatoes should be pretreated at 394 V/cm with 36 pulses and then treated at 3.5 kPa for 37 min in vacuum stage and 39 min restoration time in atmospheric stage to achieve the highest iron fortification and the lowest physicochemical changes during PEF-VI processing.     

The distribution and frequency of damage to roadside trees in low-volume road construction

We investigated the distribution and frequency of damage to tree stands adjacent to low-volume roads according to the type of hillside materials involved(soil or rock) and hillside gradient in mountainous forests of northern Iran. A total of 80 plots were systematically and randomly sampled to record damaged trees(bending,crushing and wounding) by class of hillside gradient and materials at the edge of road. Tree wounding and crushing at rock slopes was significantly greater than at hillsides with a mix of clay soil(p \ 0.05). Damage on hillsides with slope gradients[45% were 2, 8.5 and 2.3 times more frequent than on hillsides with slope gradient\15% for bending, crushing and wounding, respectively. The damage distribution varied according by type and the most frequent damage was tree wounding(p \ 0.05). The damage distribution was measured at distances of 4, 5 and 8 m from the road fillslope for tree bending, crushing and wounding, respectively. Using hydraulic excavators and physical barriers(wooden obstruction and synthetic holder) during earthworks for road construction could reduce these damage.     

Influence of storage and drying methods on invertebrate elemental and isotopic measurements

Optimised pre-analytical methods for measuring the chemical properties of soil macro-organisms are needed. We tested the effects of ethanol immersion, freezer storage, and drying method on the reliability of estimates of key stoichiometric elements (carbon [C], nitrogen [N], phosphorus [P]) and abundances of ¹³C and ¹⁵N in samples of crickets (Acheta domestica), cockroaches (Nauphoeta cinerea) and mealworms (larval Tenebrio molitor). Ethanol immersion tended to increase A. domestica C and N, and reduced A. domestica P, relative to the reference treatment (deep freezing and oven drying). For N and P these effects were only present after 28-day ethanol immersion. Nauphoeta cinerea and T. molitor samples were generally unaffected by storage treatments, while δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N were not affected by any storage treatment for any species. Thus, five days of ethanol immersion may be acceptable prior to elemental and stoichiometric analyses of hard-bodied soil invertebrates in comparative studies.     

Dietary simultaneous replacement of fish meal and fish oil with blends of plant proteins and vegetable oils in yellowfin seabream (Acanthopagrus latus) fry: Growth,digestive enzymes,antioxidant status and skin mucosal immunity

A 56‐day nutritional research was performed to examine the influence of alternative vegetal protein and lipid sources on performance of yellowfin seabream fry (Acanthopagrus latus) (0.5 ± 0.0 g). In this regard, five isoproteic (Ca. 500 g/kg) and isolipidic (Ca. 150 g/kg) diets were formulated in which fish meal (FM) and fish oil (FO) were simultaneously replaced with blends of plant proteins (PP, soybean meal and corn gluten) and vegetal oils (VO, canola and soybean oils) at 20% (SR20), 40% (SR40), 60% (SR40) and 80% (SR80) levels, respectively; meanwhile, a control diet (SR0) was formulated based on FM and FO. Growth and feed utilization were not influenced by experimental diets. The fatty acid profile of fillet drastically altered by dietary treatments. Fish fed with the SR60 and SR80 feeds had higher total protease, trypsin and α‐amylase activities than other treatments. The antioxidant enzyme activities and glutathione content in liver were enhanced in fish fed with the SR40, SR60 and SR80 diets. Skin mucosal immune parameters including total protein content, alkaline phosphatase and alternative complement pathway activities in the control group were relatively lower than the vegetal treatments. According to these results, it is recommended that 410 g/kg of FM and 45 g of FO/kg can be replaced with alternative vegetal sources in diet for A. latus fry.     

A study of goldfish oocyte meiosisin vitro: effects of 2,4-dinitrophenol and adenosine-5-triphosphate

Germinal vesicle migration (GVM) and/or dissolution (GVD) were measured in goldfish oocytes, treated with 17α, 20β dihydroxyprogesterone (DHP) and other compounds considered to effect the cytoskeleton and oxidative phosphorylation,in vitro. Administration of DHP reinitiated meiotic maturation, increasing GVM and GVD in goldfish oocytes. Addition of 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) to the incubation medium significantly inhibited DHP-induced GVM and GVD. The DNP effect was found to be partially reversible after 24 h and could be reversed fully after a further delay of approximately 24h. Treatment of goldfish oocytes with demecolcine (DE; a colchicine derivative also known as colcemid) induces GVM to the micropyle without effecting GVD; while Cytochalasin-B which inhibits microfilament polymerization impairs both GVM and GVD. Administration of DNP, significantly inhibited DE-induced GVM, suggesting that GVM as well as GVD are dependent upon the process of oxidative phosphorylation. Addition of adenosine-5′ -triphosphate (ATP) at low concentrations (0.01–0.1 mM) did not effect DHP-induced or DNP-inhibited GVD in goldfish oocytes. The present results are consistent with the idea that migration of the oocyte nucleus during meiosis reinitiation has an energy requirement and involves participation by the cytoskeleton.     

Wide hybridization and introgression breeding in safflower: Effectiveness of different selection methods

Possibility of using interspecific hybridization to increase genetic diversity of drought tolerance in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) and effectiveness of different selection methods is poorly understood. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of (a) interspecific hybridization to expand genetic diversity in safflower for agronomic traits and drought tolerance in advance generations and (b) different selection methods (direct vs. indirect) for improving seed yield. Interspecific hybridizations were performed between species of C. tinctorius × C. palaestinus (TP), C. palaestinus × C. oxyacantha (PO) and C. tinctorius × C. oxyacantha (TO). Based on the field screening of genotypes in F3 generation, four groups of selected genotypes (derived from combination of direct and indirect selection under both drought and normal environments along with selection based on drought tolerance index (STI)) were evaluated in F4 and F5 generations. Indirect selection for seed yield was significantly more efficient than direct selection. Selection in stress environment resulted to more efficiency than selection in normal environment. No significant difference was observed between direct selection and selection based on STI. The result showed that TP was the best population to combine high seed yield and drought tolerance in safflower.     

Supercritical fluid extraction of alkylamides from Echinacea angustifolia

Echinacea has been known for its immunostimulatory activity, and its alkylamide components have been linked to such biological activity. Consequently, alkylamides in Echinacea angustifolia were extracted using supercritical carbon dioxide from fresh and dried roots at 45-60 degrees C and 34-55 MPa, and the alkylamide yield in the extracts was determined. The yield of alkylamides from fresh roots increased with temperature yet decreased with pressure, whereas the yield from air-dried roots (moisture content 8.4%) increased with both temperature and pressure. Freeze-drying of the roots to a moisture content of 4.9% did not result in any further increase in the yield compared to that of air-dried roots. Alkylamide yield of the ground dried roots extract was the highest (p < or = 0.05) among those from fresh, ground and unground E. angustifolia roots. Supercritical fluid extraction therefore shows potential for the recovery of alkylamides from dried Echinacea roots.