Skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic calcium regulation and sudden death syndrome in chickens

1. Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) is a disease of well‐developed, predominandy male broiler chickens where death appears to occur because of cardiovascular failure. The role of skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic calcium regulation as a potential cause of SDS has been investigated.

2. Calcium regulation of skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum was compared between broiler and Leghorn chickens. Calcium regulation matured from the 2nd to the 11 th week and, at any age, broiler chickens showed significandy lower calcium transport rates and transport efficiencies. The mechanism of calcium transport in broiler chickens was more energy‐consuming than that of the Leghorn chickens.

3. Sarcoplasmic calcium regulation is pivotal for muscle metabolism. As in porcine malignant hyperthermia, weaker calcium regulation might lead to hyperactivation of skeletal muscle, followed by elevated lactic acid concentrations and cardiovascular failure.     

Detection of Xanthomonas fragariae in symptomless strawberry plants by nested PCR*

Xanthomonas fragariae spreads in symptomlessly infected strawberry plantlets and a method for detection of latent infections is necessary. It is a very slow‐growing bacterium in culture and is easily overgrown by saprophytic bacteria. Therefore, plating is not a suitable method for detecting low numbers of bacteria in symptomless plants. In addition, selective media are not available. Serological assays like immunofluorescence are useful for testing in‐vitro plants, but they are not suitable for field‐grown plants, as cross reactions are common with the available antisera. For these plants, nested PCR with primers from Pooler ( Pooler et al., 1996 ) and Zimmermann ( Zimmermann et al., 2004 ) has proved to be a valuable method. The method was successfully applied for a survey of strawberry plants from fields in Germany and for testing imported plants (frigo and green plants).     

Der Einsatz von Trichogramma-Schlupfwespen in Deutschland

The use of Trichogramma egg parasitoids has further increased. T. brassicae, released against the European Corn Borer Ostrinia nubilalis, holds the largest share in Germany with 11,000 hectare. For small-scale fruits crops the commercial use of T. cacoeciae and T. dendrolimi against the Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella) and the Plum Moth (Grapholita funebrana) has been expanded. Trichogramma species are also being offered for controlling the vine moths, Lobesia botrana and Eupoecilia ambiguella on grapevine in homegardens. A strain of T. evanescens is available against cabbage pests, especially noctuids. Research has been conducted on the biological control of Autographa gamma in spinach, as well as of the Pea Moth (Cydia nigricana) and the Leek Moth (Acrolepiopsis assectella) in organic farming. Trichogramma is also important for the biocontrol of exotic pests in greenhouses. These are often polyphagous pests that have been introduced together with ornamental plants, such as Duponchelia fovealis and Clepsis spectrana. The Carnation Tortrix (Cacoecimorpha pronuba) was successfully controlled by Trichogramma in the field. The use of Trichogramma has been further established for the control of storage pests. T. evanescens is used against the Indian Meal moth (Plodia interpunctella) in stored cereal products. Other target pests in storage environments are Ephestia kuehniella and Sitotroga cerealella. In addition, Trichogramma species have been tested for the control of the Common Cloths Moth (Tineola bisselliella) under laboratory conditions. The range of target pests for Trichogramma egg parasitoids has therefore increased considerably in research and commercial applications in Germany.     

Comparisons of energy balance and evapotranspiration between flooded and aerobic rice fields in the Philippines

The seasonal and annual variability of sensible heat flux (H), latent heat flux (LE), evapotranspiration (ET), crop coefficient (K_c) and crop water productivity (WP_ET) were investigated under two different rice environments, flooded and aerobic soil conditions, using the eddy covariance (EC) technique during 2008-2009 cropping periods. Since we had only one EC system for monitoring two rice environments, we had to move the system from one location to the other every week. In total, we had to gap-fill an average of 50-60% of the missing weekly data as well as those values rejected by the quality control tests in each rice field in all four cropping seasons. Although the EC method provides a direct measurement of LE, which is the energy used for ET, we needed to correct the values of H and LE to close the energy balance using the Bowen ratio closure method before we used LE to estimate ET. On average, the energy balance closure before correction was 0.72 ± 0.06 and it increased to 0.99 ± 0.01 after correction. The G in both flooded and aerobic fields was very low. Likewise, the energy involved in miscellaneous processes such as photosynthesis, respiration and heat storage in the rice canopy was not taken into consideration.Average for four cropping seasons, flooded rice fields had 19% more LE than aerobic fields whereas aerobic rice fields had 45% more H than flooded fields. This resulted in a lower Bowen ratio in flooded fields (0.14 ± 0.03) than in aerobic fields (0.24 ± 0.01). For our study sites, evapotranspiration was primarily controlled by net radiation. The aerobic rice fields had lower growing season ET rates (3.81 ± 0.21 mm d⁻¹) than the flooded rice fields (4.29 ± 0.23 mm d⁻¹), most probably due to the absence of ponded water and lower leaf area index of aerobic rice. Likewise, the crop coefficient, K_c, of aerobic rice was significantly lower than that of flooded rice. For aerobic rice, K_c values were 0.95 ± 0.01 for the vegetative stage, 1.00 ± 0.01 for the reproductive stage, 0.97 ± 0.04 for the ripening stage and 0.88 ± 0.03 for the fallow period, whereas, for flooded rice, K_c values were 1.04 ± 0.04 for the vegetative stage, 1.11 ± 0.05 for the reproductive stage, 1.04 ± 0.05 for the ripening stage and 0.93 ± 0.06 for the fallow period. The average annual ET was 1301 mm for aerobic rice and 1440 mm for flooded rice. This corresponds to about 11% lower total evapotranspiration in aerobic fields than in flooded fields. However, the crop water productivity (WP_ET) of aerobic rice (0.42 ± 0.03 g grain kg⁻¹ water) was significantly lower than that of flooded rice (1.26 ± 0.26 g grain kg⁻¹ water) because the grain yields of aerobic rice were very low since they were subjected to water stress.The results of this investigation showed significant differences in energy balance and evapotranspiration between flooded and aerobic rice ecosystems. Aerobic rice is one of the promising water-saving technologies being developed to lower the water requirements of the rice crop to address the issues of water scarcity. This information should be taken into consideration in evaluating alternative water-saving technologies for environmentally sustainable rice production systems.     

Mycotoxicosis produced in swine by cultural products of an isolate of Aspergillus ochraceus. II. Clinicopathologic changes

Rice culture of a toxigenic strain of Aspergillus ochraceus was fed at a concentration of 25% to weanling pigs for 10 days. The clinicopathological abnormalities reflected renal damage. Activities of lactic dehydrogenase, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase and isocitrate dehydrogenase were increased in the urine but not in the serum. Serum concentrations of urea nitrogen and creatinine were high. Cellular and granular casts, blood, protein, and glucose were in the urine of pigs fed toxic diet. Serum concentrations of K+, Na+ and Cl- were unchanged, but concentrations of these electrolytes were reduced in the urine.