Evaluation the effect of subchronic feeding of transgenic cotton line (CKC1) on the faecal microbiota of albino rabbits

Recent studies have demonstrated a strong relationship between the intestinal microbiota and the host health. As such, consumers are increasingly becoming more concerned about the potential effect of certain foods/feeds, particularly of transgenic origin on the gut microbiota. Although the European Food Safety Authority has recommended in their guidelines, to study the effect of transgenic food/feed on host-microbiota, yet, few studies have focused on the evaluation of such effects mainly due to culturing difficulties. Therefore, this study was intended to evaluate the potential adverse effects of transgenic diet consumption on some specific gut microflora (Lactobacillus group, Bifidobacterium genus, Escherichia coli subgroup and Enterococcus genus) of rabbits. A total of forty-eight rabbits were randomly assigned into four groups and fed a diet containing a variable proportion of transgenic cottonseeds at 0, 20, 30 and 40% inclusion level, respectively. Changes in the specific or total faecal bacterial population were monitored at five different experimental stages (i.e. 0, 45, 90, 135 and 180 days) using both the traditional plate count method (TM) and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). No significant differences (p > .05) were observed concerning numbers of specific bacteria or total bacteria between the control and experimental groups, though qPCR showed numerically higher values in terms of 16S rRNA gene copies as compared to the values obtained from TM. However, such numerical differences were biologically insignificant (p > .05). Similarly, no significant variations were noticed in the calculated B/E (log₁₀ copies of Bifidobacterium per g faces/log10 copies of E. coli genome per g faeces) ratios in all the groups. All the ratios were in the range of 1.24 to 1.30 throughout the experiment, indicating a good balance of intestinal microflora and greater resistance to intestinal disorders. It is therefore concluded that feeding transgenic cottonseeds could not adversely affect the gut microflora of rabbits during a long-term study.     

Towards developing resistance to chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing using multiplexed gRNAs

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Mastreviruses are an emerging group of viruses transmitted by leafhoppers and infect both monocot and dicot plants. Chickpea chlorotic dwarf virus...     

Impacts of Institutional Reforms on Irrigated Agriculture in Pakistan

Poor functioning of theirrigation system in Pakistan has been asource of concern for the last few decades,during which time it has been the subject ofconsiderable external assistance andinternal policy reforms. Consequently, thegovernment of Pakistan introducedinstitutional restructuring in irrigationand drainage subsectors to impartnecessary improvements. Under thesereforms, management at secondary canallevel has recently been handed over to theFarmers Organizations (FOs) of selecteddistributaries in pilot areas. This studywas designed to evaluate a farmer-manageddistributary in southern Punjab. Fieldmeasurements revealed that hydraulicaspects of the irrigation service deliveredby the FO management has been significantlyimproved and as a result highlyproportionate and equitable waterdistribution was observed, particularly atthe tail reaches of the distributary. Dueto effective FO management farmers'interventions to increase the outletdischarge by illegal means has been almosteradicated. As a result of theseimprovements imparted by the FO in systemmanagement, the extent of irrigated area hasincreased on average by 6 to 7%, evenunder severe drought-like conditionsprevailing in the country during recentyears. Further cost recoveries haveincreased by an amount of 14% for summerand 23% for winter growing seasons,respectively, from the irrigated area of thedistributary. Thus experience from Hakra4-R distributary has shown that even underundesirable natural circumstancesIrrigation Management Transfer (IMT) wasquite effective in achieving the keytargets of the institutional reformslaunched at pilot scale in the country.     

Effects of ambient gaseous pollutants on photosynthesis,growth, yield and grain quality of selected crops grown at different sites varying in pollution levels

In recent decades, ambient gaseous pollution has increased due to anthropogenic activities worldwide. The studies to evaluate the adverse effects of ambient pollutants on commonly grown food crops are still limited, especially in Asian countries like Pakistan. The present study was conducted to measure the ambient pollutants in different sites of Faisalabad and their impact on growth and yield of wheat, mung bean and peas. Plants were grown in pots and placed at three sites named as control (Wire house of Government College University, Faisalabad), low pollution (LP) (Farm Area of Ayub Agricultural Research Institute) and high pollution (HP) (GT Chowk, Faisalabad) sites. Results showed that ambient ozone (O₃) concentration was highest at HP site followed by LP site and was below AOT40 in control site. Ambient pollutants caused foliar injury in crops and decreased plant height, leaf area, biomass and grain yield. Pollutants caused a reduction in photosynthetic pigments, stomatal conductance and net photosynthetic rate and grain protein contents in all three crops. In conclusion, the ambient O₃ level was highest at HP site, this current O₃ level and other pollutants decreased the growth and yield of important food crops.     

Site-Specific Nitrogen Management in Rice Using Remote Sensing and Geostatistics

Proper doses of nitrogenous fertilizer are most important for rice production system because a large part of the nitrogen may be lost if it is not applied judiciously. A study was conducted covering five blocks of Balasore and two blocks of Bhadrak districts. Soil samples were collected randomly, and field visit was conducted during peak vegetative stage of rice. Two approaches have been used in this study for estimating the site-specific nitrogen (N) requirement in the study area. In one approach, geostatisical analysis and kriging was used to develop the soil test–based N recommendation map by which a minimum of 72 kg N ha^?1 and maximum of 94 kg N ha^?1 were recommended. In a second approach, remote sensing was used and N recommendation map was developed using the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) leaf area index (LAI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) satellite data, and a minimum requirement of 60 kg N ha^?1 and maximum of 120 kg N ha^?1 was estimated through this approach.     

Concentration of selected heavy metals in spices,dry fruits and plant nuts

Different spices, dry fruits and plant nuts commonly consumed in Pakistan were assayed for the heavy metals cadmium, lead, copper, zinc, iron and manganese by the potentiometric stripping analysis and AA spectrophotometry. The results revealed wide variation in heavy metal content among different biological materials. Mixed spices generally exhibited higher value for trace metals specially lead (6.6–9.2 µg/g), cadmium (0.65–1.34 µg/g), iron (142.3–285.0 µg/g) and zinc (64.2–65.8 µg/g). Dry fruits contained relatively lesser amounts of heavy metals than plant nuts. Almonds contained higher levels of lead (1.02 µg/g) and cadmium (0.24 µg/g) than other nuts and dry fruits.     

Influencing in vitro clonal propagation of Chonemorpha fragrans(moon) Alston by culture media strength,plant growth regulators,carbon source and photo periodic incubation

Chonemorpha fragrans is an endangered medicinal woody climber,regarded among alternative plant sources of camptothecin.Camptothecin is a monoterpene indole anti-cancer alkaloid with annual trade value of over three billion U.S.dollars in the recent,and is used in the production of its analog drugs approved for the chemotherapy of cancer of varied types.Effects of plant growth regulators,culture media strength and photoperi-odic duration on the micropropagation ef ciency of C.fragrans from nodal segment explants were studied on Murashige and Skoog(MS)medium amended with Thidiazuron(TDZ),Benzylaminopurine(BAP)or Kinetin(Kin).Thidiazuron was more ef cient over BAP and Kin when half basal MS medium was used over full or quarter strength.Results of carbon source experiment showed sucrose as the most effective over glucose,fructose,and maltose in the clonal production.Studies on the photope-riodic incubation duration showed 12 h as the best light period and sub or supra-optimal resulted in the production of abnormal and albino micro shoots.Experimental results on the evaluation of physiological,biochemical parameters showed the role of pigment molecules and antioxidant systems in the production of albino micro shoots.     

Genetics and mechanism of resistance to deltamethrin in a field population of Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

BACKGROUND: Spodoptera litura (F.) causes enormous losses in many economically important crops. The genetics of insecticide resistance has been extensively studied in several insect pests, but there is a lack of information on S. litura. Therefore, the genetics and mechanisms of the resistance of S. litura to deltamethrin were investigated. RESULTS: Bioassays at generation G1 gave resistance ratios of 9, 5, 41, 52 and 49 for deltamethrin, cypermethrin, profenofos, chlorpyrifos and triazofos respectively, when compared with the susceptible Lab-PK strain. Bioassays at G4 with a deltamethrin-selected population (Delta-SEL) showed that selection gave resistance ratios of 63 and 7 for deltamethrin when compared with the Lab-PK and UNSEL strains respectively. Cross-resistance to other insecticides tested was observed in the selected population. A notable feature of the Delta-SEL strain was that resistance to deltamethrin, cypermethrin, profenofos and chlorpyrifos did not decline over the course of five generations. Synergism tests with microsomal oxidase (MO) and esterase-specific inhibitors indicated that the deltamethrin resistance was associated with MO and, possibly, esterase activity. Reciprocal crosses between the Delta-SEL and Lab-PK strains indicated that resistance was autosomal and incompletely dominant. A direct test of monogenic inheritance suggested that resistance to deltamethrin was controlled by more than one locus. CONCLUSION: Stability and dominance of resistance and cross-resistance suggest that insecticides with different modes of action should be recommended to reduce pyrethroid selection pressure.     

Efficiency of rice bran for the removal of selected organics from water: kinetic and thermodynamic investigations

The sorption efficiency of indigenous rice (Oryza sativa) bran for the removal of organics, that is, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and cumene (BTEC), from aqueous solutions has been studied. The sorption of BTEC by rice bran is observed over a wide pH range of 1-10, indicating its high applicability to remove these organics from various industrial effluents. Rice bran effectively adsorbs BTEC of 10 microg mL(-1) sorbate concentration from water at temperatures of 283-323 +/- 2 K. The effect of pH, agitation time between solid and liquid phases, sorbent dose, its particle size, and temperature on the sorption of BTEC onto rice bran has been studied. The pore area and average pore diameter of rice bran by BET method are found to be 19 +/- 0.7 m(2) g(-1) and 52.8 +/- 1.3 nm. The rice bran exhibits appreciable sorption of the order of 85 +/- 3.5, 91 +/- 1.8, 94 +/- 1.4, and 96 +/- 1.2% for 10 microg mL(-1) concentration of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and cumene, respectively, in 60 min of agitation time using 0.1 g of rice bran at pH 6 and 303 K. The sorption data follow Freundlich, Langmuir, and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) models. Sorption capacities have been computed for BTEC by Freundlich (32 +/- 3, 61 +/- 14, 123 +/- 28, and 142 +/- 37 m mol g(-1)), Langmuir (6.6 +/- 0.1, 7.5 +/- 0.13, 9.5 +/- 0.22, and 9.4 +/- 0.18 m mol g(-1)), and D-R isotherms (11 +/- 0.5, 16 +/- 1.3, 30 +/- 2.2, and 33 +/- 2.5 m mol g(-1)), respectively. The Lagergren equation is employed for the kinetics of the sorption of BTEC onto rice bran and first-order rate constants (0.03 +/- 0.002, 0.04 +/- 0.003, 0.04 +/- 0.003, and 0.05 +/- 0.004 min(-1)) have been computed for BTEC at their concentration of 100 mug mL(-1) at 303 K. Studies on the variation of sorption with temperatures (283-323 K) at 100 mug mL(-1) sorbate concentration gave thermodynamic constants DeltaH (kJ mol(-1)), DeltaG (kJ mol(-1)), and DeltaS (J mol(-1) K(-1)). The results indicate that the sorption of organics onto rice bran is exothermic and spontaneous in nature under the optimized experimental conditions selected. This sorbent has been used successfully to accumulate and then to determine benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene in wastewater sample.