<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-Cloprostenol enhances estrus synchronization in tropical hair sheep

To compare the effects of PGF2α (dinoprost tromethamine) and d-cloprostenol in a two-dose protocol for estrus synchronization in hair sheep during breeding season in Yucatán, México, two experiments were conducted. In experiment 1, 61 cyclic hair sheep were divided into two groups: G1 (control n?=?30), two doses of 50 μg of dinoprost tromethamine IM with 12 days between applications, and G2 (n?=?31), two doses of 50 μg of d-cloprostenol IM at the same time interval. For determination of progesterone levels, 16 ewes from each group were randomly selected. In experiment 2, 70 cyclic hair sheep were assigned at the same treatments (G1 and G2, n?=?35) and 48 h after the second application, the ewes in estrus were detected by two vasectomized rams. Sheep with detected estrus were inseminated, and 45 days after, pregnant animals were identified by ultrasonography. An exact Fisher’s test was performed for the analysis of ewes in estrus (experiments 1 and 2) and number of pregnant ewes (experiment 2); for the comparison of time between end of treatment-estrus presentation, a survival analysis was used. Duration of estrus in hours was analyzed using a generalized mixed model (GLM) ANOVA whereas plasma progesterone concentrations were analyzed by non-linear regression. There were significant differences (P?<?0.05) in the proportion of ewes in estrus upon treatments (G1, 57% vs G2, 87% and G1, 37.1% vs G2, 65.7% in experiments 1 and 2, respectively), and between the end of treatment-onset estrus interval (P?<?0.01), survival curves showed the highest number of sheep in estrus between 40 and 48 h (G1, 43.7?+?8.05 h vs G2, 42.9?+?6.7 h, experiment 1). There were no significant differences (P?>?0.05) in duration of estrus (G1, 42?+?6.1 h, vs G2, 41.1?+?11.2 h, experiment 1) and pregnancy in the ewes that presented estrus, and were inseminated (G1, 38.4% vs 52.1%, experiment 2). With regard to concentrations of progesterone, significant differences (P?<?0.01) were found between treatments, and progesterone levels before the second application of d-cloprostenol were higher. In consideration of the results, it can be concluded that in a two-dose protocol of a luteolytic agent, more ewes presented estrus in response to d-cloprostenol compared to dinoprost tromethamine with similar pregnancy rates.     

Herbage intake of dairy cows in mixed sequential grazing with breeding ewes as followers

This study aimed to evaluate the hypothesis that mixed sequential grazing of dairy cows and breeding ewes is beneficial. During the seasons of spring–summer 2013 and autumn–winter 2013–2014, 12 (spring–summer) and 16 (autumn–winter) Holstein Friesian cows and 24 gestating (spring–summer) and lactating (autumn–winter) Pelibuey ewes grazed on six (spring–summer) and nine (autumn–winter) paddocks of alfalfa and orchard grass mixed pastures. The treatments “single species cow grazing” (CowG) and “mixed sequential grazing with ewes as followers of cows” (MixG) were evaluated, under a completely randomized design with two replicates per paddock. Herbage mass on offer (HO) and residual herbage mass (RH) were estimated by cutting samples. The estimate of herbage intake (HI) of cows was based on the use of internal and external markers; the apparent HI of ewes was calculated as the difference between HO (RH of cows) and RH. Even though HO was higher in CowG, the HI of cows was higher in MixG during spring–summer and similar in both treatments during autumn–winter, implying that in MixG the effects on the cows HI of higher alfalfa proportion and herbage accumulation rate evolving from lower residual herbage mass in the previous cycle counteracted that of a higher HO in CowG. The HI of ewes was sufficient to enable satisfactory performance as breeding ewes. Thus, the benefits of mixed sequential grazing arose from higher herbage accumulation, positive changes in botanical composition, and the achievement of sheep production without negative effects on the herbage intake of cows.     

Acquired Thermo‐Tolerance and Trans‐Generational Heat Stress Response at Flowering in Rice

In rice, pre‐exposure to sublethal treatment followed by harsh lethal treatment is known to improve tolerance of different abiotic stresses at the vegetative stage within and across generations. Our major aim was to test the phenomenon of thermo‐tolerance at flowering across (trans)‐generations and within generation using rice cultivars contrasting for heat stress tolerance at flowering. To test trans‐generational response, plants were exposed to higher temperature at flowering stage and seeds obtained from previous generations were exposed to heat stress during flowering, which recorded significantly lower fertility when exposed to the same degree of stress in their subsequent generations. A pre‐acclimation to moderately high acclimating temperatures imposed over three different durations during the vegetative and initial reproductive stage showed positive response in the tolerant N22, particularly under severe heat stress (40 °C). This finding indicates the possibility of acquiring ameliorative thermo‐tolerant mechanisms at anthesis, restricted to tolerant genetic backgrounds to combat subsequent harsh conditions within the same generation. However, trans‐generational memory was ineffective in mitigating spikelet sterility losses in both tolerant and susceptible backgrounds. Rice is extremely sensitive to heat stress during flowering; hence, similar exercise across other crops of interest needs to be carried out before generalizing conclusions.     

Microsatellite Marker Based Assessment of Genetic Diversity among Cultivars, Landraces and Wild Relatives in Rice

India being the primary center of origin for rice had a very large treasure of local land races, most of which are out of cultivation today. The exact genetic potential and their differences from commercial varieties and the magnitude of heterogeneity still present in them are not well catalogued. Hence the need to characterize the available land races has become imminent in the modem day concept of crop improvement （Rezai and Frey, 1990）. The present study addresses the utility of SSR markers in divulging the genetic relationships at molecular level among the major component factions office gennplasm viz., local cultivars, land races and wild species collected from a wide range of agro-geographical regions of Indian subcontinent.     

Identification and quantification of cyclolinopeptides in five flaxseed cultivars

Cyclolinopeptides are a group of naturally occurring hydrophobic cyclic peptides found in flaxseed and flax oil that have immunosuppressive activity. This study describes the measurement of flaxseed cyclolinopeptide concentrations using an internal standard HPLC method. In addition, the concentration of cyclolinopeptides in the seed of Canadian flax cultivars grown at two locations over two years is reported. The data are consistent with the formation of flaxseed cyclolinopeptides from two ribosome-derived precursors. Each precursor protein includes the sequences corresponding to three cyclolinopeptides from which those cyclolinopeptides are presumably derived by precursor processing. The concentrations of cyclolinopeptides C and E, which are encoded by the same gene sequence, are highly correlated, and the concentrations of cyclolinopeptides D, F, and G, which are encoded by a second gene sequence, are also highly correlated. The strong correlation between the cyclolinopeptides arising from the same gene may prove to be important in understanding how peptide concentration is controlled. Additional research may lead to approaches to improve flax either as a platform for peptide production or as a source of oil with improved drying properties and flavor.     

Frequency and fertility restoration efficiency of Rf3 and Rf4 genes in Indian rice

Identification of new parental lines is crucial for developing ecology‐specific hybrids with ideal agronomic performance. We screened a total of 570 different ecology‐specific Indian rice varieties for the presence of fertility restorer genes, Rf3 and Rf4 using tightly linked markers DRRM Rf3‐10 and RM6100, respectively. Among these varieties, 13% carried Rf3Rf3/Rf4Rf4, 31% carried rf3rf3/rf4rf4, 6% carried Rf3Rf3/rf4rf4 and remaining 50% carried Rf4Rf4/rf3rf3 allelic combinations. A mini set of 40 varieties with variable allelic combinations of fertility restorer genes were testcrossed with WA and Kalinga‐based CMS lines. All the 80 F₁s were evaluated for spikelet fertility and fertility restoration ability. Rf3Rf3/rf4rf4 genotypes mostly behaved as partial maintainers or partial restorers. In contrast, rf3rf3/Rf4Rf4 genotypes were partial or effective restorers. However, double dominant genotypes showed better fertility restoration than the genotypes containing Rf3 or Rf4 individually. Some of the genotypes showed unexpected restoration pattern implying occurrence of other fertility restorer(s) apart from Rf3 and Rf4. The perfect restorers and maintainers identified in this study can be directly used in hybrid rice breeding.     

Heavy Metal Contamination of Soil and Vegetation in the Vicinity of Industries in Bangladesh

Water, Air, &; Soil Pollution - A study was conducted to investigate the heavy metal contamination of soil and vegetation in the vicinity of industries around Dhaka city in Bangladesh....     

Analysis of virgin olive oil volatiles by a novel electronic nose based on a miniaturized SAW sensor array coupled with SPME enhanced headspace enrichment

A novel electronic nose based on solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor array has been used to analyze different quality virgin olive oils. A mathematical model was designed with 37 samples to distinguish lampante from the other virgin olive oils categories (extra-virgin and virgin), because lampante-virgin olive oils cannot be consumed without a previous refining process. The model, successfully validated with a test set of 16 samples, was able to classify 90% of the samples correctly. Misclassifications were explained by SPME-HRGC analyses and a second sensory evaluation.