Allelic variation in linolenic acid content of high erucic acid Ethiopian mustard and incorporation of the low linolenic acid trait into zero erucic acid germplasm

Zero erucic acid germplasm of Ethiopian mustard is characterized by high levels of linolenic acid (about 21%). Two genetic sources of low linolenic acid (N2‐4961 and HF‐186, about 5%), have been developed in a high erucic acid background. The objectives of this research were to study the genetic relationship between the two low linolenic acid lines and to transfer the trait to zero erucic acid germplasm. F1 seed generations from crosses between both lines had higher average linolenic acid concentration than both parents. F2 seeds segregated for linolenic acid content following a continuous variation from 1.8 to 7.4%, exceeding the limits of the parental distribution ranges. Transgressive recombinants with very low linolenic acid concentration (0.7‐2.7%) were confirmed in the F3 seed generation. The results suggested that N2‐4961 and HF‐186 possess alleles for low linolenic acid at different loci. Transgressive low linolenic acid F3 plants were crossed with plants of a zero erucic acid line and a selection for zero erucic, low linolenic acid was conducted. As a result, a zero erucic acid F3:4 line containing 1.5 ± 0.7% linolenic acid was developed.     

Enhanced type X collagen expression in the extruded nucleus pulposus of the chondrodystrophoid dog

The causes of early degeneration and calcification of the nucleus pulposus in the chondrodystrophoid dog are poorly understood, and the underlying molecular mechanism of this process has not yet been clearly defined. Type X collagen is one of the key molecules in endochondral bone growth and development, especially matrix calcification. The relationship between type X collagen and disc degeneration and calcification in chondrodystrophoid dogs has not yet been studied. We analyzed the expression of type X collagen in degeneration and calcification of the intervertebral disc in chondrodystrophoid dogs, using type X collagen immunohistochemistry. Control intervertebral discs were collected from five dogs (4 female, 1 male, average age 1.3 years, beagle breed). Degenerated intervertebral discs were surgically removed from 11 canine patients with intervertebral disc extrusion (1 female, 10 male, average age 5.1 years, dachshund breed) in Nippon Veterinary and Animal Science University. All extruded disc samples showed hypertrophic changes and clustering of cells, typical features observed in the degenerated nucleus pulposus. The relative expression of type X collagen in the degenerated nucleus pulposus (84.3 +/- 11.0%) was significantly increased compared to the control nucleus pulposus (5.4 +/- 5.4%). Our findings suggest that type X collagen might contribute to the development of degeneration or calcification in the nucleus pulposus of the chondrodystrophoid dog.     

Intraspecific breeding for reduced glucosinolate content in Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata A. Braun)

A total of six Ethiopian mustard ( Brassica carinata A. Braun) lines showing reduced levels of total glucosinolate content were developed through two different approaches. In the first case, eight lines with good agronomic performance under southern-Spanish conditions were first evaluated during two years for glucosinolate content, and a pedigree selection was then performed during three further generations. The line N2-142, with an average glucosinolate content of 82 μmoles g-1 seed, was developed from the original line C-49, with an average glucosinolate content of 115 μmoles g-1 seed. In the second case, chemical mutagenesis (EMS 1% v/v) was applied to seeds from the line C- 101, with an average glucosinolate content of 125 μmoles g- 1 seed. Five mutant lines showing an average glucosinolate content between 20 and 30 μmoles g-1 seed lower than the wild line C-101 were isolated in the M_3 or M_4 generation. The reduced glucosinolate content of these mutants was confirmed by developing and analysing the M_5 generation. Previous results in B. juncea suggest that a further reduction of total glucosinolate content might be achieved through genetic recombination between the different lines developed in this work. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Screening brassicaceous plants as biofumigants for management of Phytophthora cinnamomi oak disease

Brassicaceous plants rich in glucosinolates have been used as biofumigants for the management of soilborne pathogens. Efficacy of Brassica plant tissue has mainly been attributed to toxic isothiocyanates released upon the hydrolysis of glucosinolates. Management of Phytophthora cinnamomi, the causal agent of oak root rot in rangeland ecosystems using biofumigation, is promising, but requires further validation. The biofumigation activity of 14 brassicaceous plants was evaluated under experimental conditions. All evaluated plants rich in sinigrin suppressed (100%) the mycelial growth of P. cinnamomi, while plants rich in aromatic or other aliphatic glucosinolates had little or no suppressive effect. Simulating soil amendment in field conditions, the effects on natural soil artificially infested with P. cinnamomi chlamydospores were examined with Brassica juncea, Eruca vesicaria and Lepidium sativum, three species with different glucosinolate profiles. Only B. juncea decreased the viability of chlamydospores significantly in comparison with untreated soil only 1 day after biofumigation, whereas E. vesicaria needed 8 days to reach significance and L. sativum had no effect at all. Despite the decreases in soil inoculum, biofumigation with B. juncea did not prevent the root infections in a highly susceptible host (Lupinus luteus). However, biofumigation with plants rich in sinigrin, such as B. juncea, decreased P. cinnamomi soil inoculum under the experimental minimum threshold for oak disease expression. Although biofumigation should be considered as an effective measure to be incorporated in integrated control of the oak disease, biofumigation by itself would not be effective enough for the substantial suppression of P. cinnamomi inoculum.     

Status of bovine tuberculosis and its zoonotic implications in Borana zone,Southern Ethiopia

A cross-sectional study was carried out from April 2015 to June 2016 to estimate the status of bovine tuberculosis (BTB), assessment of community’s current knowledge, and zoonotic importance on this disease in Borana zone, southern Ethiopia. In this study, comparative intradermal tuberculin (CIDT) test, structured questionnaires, and retrospective data were used, while the result indicated 3.8% prevalence at individual animal level with 5.6% (31/554) of doubtful reactors. Among related risk factors included, old animals were significantly infected by BTB than young one (χ ²?=?32.005, P?=?0.001). Parity number again showed significant difference (χ ²?=?29.163, P?=?0.001) where animals with many parity were more reactive to conducted test than few parity numbers. Animals born in the breeding center managed under semi-intensive production system were more infected (χ ²?=?10.795, P?=?0.029) than those brought from outside of the center. Questionnaire survey in this study indicated that out of 130 interviewed respondents, only 30% pastoralists knew what BTB mean; whereas the level of individual knowledge from interviewed showed about 72.3% of respondents had poor understanding of BTB and only about 11.5% of them knew its zoonotic importance. Meat eating habit of communities in the area were culturally inhabited to eat cooked meat and only 12.3% (16/130) of respondents gave response on habit of eating both raw and cooked meat. Milk drinking habit of pastoralist in the area showed about 79.2% drunk raw milk and the rest 20.8% used both raw and boiled milk. A retrospective data from Yabello Hospital indicated that current prevalence of human TB as 38.79% and showing the disease was highly increasing from year to year in the study area. This implies a great importance of human tuberculosis and its future concern in Borana zone. From this, there should be detail awareness of communities on BTB, its zoonotic importance, and the need of further investigation to develop control and prevention strategies according to the pastoral settings.     

A combined procedure to evaluate the global antioxidant response of bread

Baking is the most representative manufacturing process applied to bread, involving thermal and moisture conditions that facilitate the Maillard reaction (MR) and, at the same time, the destruction-formation of natural-labile and thermally-induced antioxidant compounds respectively. In the present paper, the use of a new approach to measure the Global Antioxidant Response (GAR) of cereal derivatives is proposed: a combination of in vitro digestion – which enables measurement of the bioaccessible fraction – and the QUENCHER, which makes it possible to determine the antioxidant activity of the insoluble fraction, since it is a simple and direct procedure for determining the total antioxidant capacity of solid products. After digestion, the results obtained by the antioxidant assays are up to 20-fold higher than those reported using the standard extraction methods. The non-extractable residue displayed significant antioxidant activity that accounted for up to 17% of the total antioxidant activity. Moreover, the GAR obtained in some of the assays developed was 10–40% higher than the antioxidant activity registered by the QUENCHER procedure in wheat bread, and the difference was even higher in wheat bran bread. Therefore, the use of the GAR approach could avoid underestimation of the antioxidant activity of cereal derivatives.     

Study of the Oxidative State,as a Marker of Welfare,on Gilthead Sea Bream,Sparus aurata,Subjected to Handling Stress

In this study, we investigated the effect of repeated handling on the oxidative state of gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata. We determined the activity of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione transferase (GST), and DT‐diaphorase (DTD) in liver, digestive tract, brain, gills, and white muscle. We also measured the lipid‐peroxidation level (malondialdehyde – MDA – concentration) and the glucose 6‐phosphate dehydrogenase activity (G6PDH). The results show that repeated low‐intensity handling on gilthead sea bream alter the oxidative status of tissues such as liver, digestive tract, and muscle in the last term can affect its welfare. The brain in a situation of handling stress is protected from oxidative damage by the activity of antioxidant enzymes. Finally, the concentration of MDA in tissues can be a good candidate as a biomarker of stress and welfare in fish.     

An efficient method for screening seed colour in Ethiopian mustard using visible reflectance spectroscopy and multivariate analysis

Summary Seed colour is considered as an important breeding objective in Ethiopian mustard and other Brassica species, but its measurement is usually subjective rather than objective. For this reason we studied the potential of visible reflectance spectroscopy (VRS) combined with factorial analysis and multivariate calibration to predict seed colour in seeds of Ethiopian mustard. A total of 8331 samples were screened in the range 400–2500 nm with a near infra-red reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) spectrophotometer. A common factor analysis was performed using 1148 samples and spectral data from 400 to 700 nm. It was found that four common factors explained 99.9% of the variance. Three of these factors were associated with colour characteristics of the seeds. Factor 1 separated yellow, yellow-brown and brown seeded samples, factor 3 separated brown from reddish-brown samples and factor 4 separated complete yellow from greenish-yellow samples. Calibration equations were developed for each factor, which allowed seed colour in those samples not included in factor analysis to be predicted. This study demonstrated that seed colour prediction can be incorporated into NIRS routine analysis with instruments that incorporate the visible spectral region.     

Isolation of induced mutants in Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata Braun) with low levels of erucic acid

Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata Braun) is a potential oil crop for the rain-fed Mediterranean area. However, its usage is limited by the high erucic and high glucosinolate content of the oil and meal, respectively. In the course of a mutagenesis programme, an agronomically good line of Ethiopian mustard was treated with EMS in order to widen the natural variability of nutritional traits in this species. As a result of this programme several low erucic mutants were isolated; two of these mutants showed erucic acid values in the M4 generation in the range 5–10% of total fatty acids. Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (N1RS) was successfully applied as a rapid screening method for erucic acid in this breeding programme.