Category Archives: b_original_articles

Lubabalo Bila^1*, Thobela Louis Tyasi²

¹Potchefstroom College of Agriculture, Department of Animal Production, Private Bag X1292, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa

²School of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, Department of Agricultural Economics and Animal Production, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X1106, Sovenga 0727, Limpopo, South Africa

Abstract

A principal component exploration is a valuable instrument in multivariate methodology and it is very useful when characteristics are related. The objective of the study was to explore the relationship amongst morphological traits and body weight (BW) of Ross 308 chicken breed. Morphological traits were recorded on one hundred Ross 308 chicken (male = 50, female = 50) at Broiler Production division of Potchefstroom College of Agriculture, South Africa.  The data was analysed using stepwise regression, Pearson’s correlation and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Correlation findings in females ranged from -0.16 to 0.51 while ranged from -0.07 to 0.56 in males. PCA results extracted only three and two components in males and females chicken, respectively, which contributed remarkable 67.78% and 57.15% of variation. The specified principal components extracted contributed excellently to describe overall structuring. Regression results revealed that use of components was more appropriate than the use of correlated morphological traits in predicting BW. The SC might be used as a key morphological trait in the selection criteria to advance BW of male chickens while SL might be used as a key trait in the case of female Ross 308 chickens.

Keywords: Body weight, Morphological characterization, Principal component analysis

Sofronio P. Kalaw^1,2, Rich Milton R. Dulay^1,2*, Eduardo J. Damaso Jr.¹, Joshua C. Ramos¹, Mark Adrian G. del Rosario¹, Marcelino D. Abon¹, Angeles M. De Leon^1,2, Renato G. Reyes^1,2

¹Tuklas Lunas Development Center, Central Luzon State University, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines 3120, , ²Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Central Luzon State University, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines 3120

 Abstract

Pleurotus djamor, a wood-rotting basidiomycetous mushroom, is becoming popular in the Philippines due to its attractive and fascinating color. With our intention to properly harness the maximum values of wild strains of P. djamor for various applications, our team investigated the mycelial growth and fruiting body performance of six strains of P. djamor collected from the different regions of Luzon Island, Philippines. Pure cultures of mushroom mycelia were successfully established and the nutritional and physical requirements for mycelial growth were determined. Fructification ability, yield and biological efficiency of the six strains were comparatively evaluated. Mycelia of TLPD 1, 2 and 3 favorably grew on potato sucrose gulaman (PSG), whereas TLPD 4, 5 and 6 luxuriantly grew on mycological agar (MA). Corn grit decoction gulaman (CGDG) and malt extract agar (MEA) were also favorable for TLPD 1, 3 and 5, respectively. The optimal pH for mycelial growth of TLPD 1, 4 and 6 was found at pH 7.0 – 8.0 whereas TLPD 2, 3 and 5 grew at a wide range of pH. All strains positively respond to both aeration conditions and both illumination conditions, except TLPD 5, which significantly recorded higher growth rates in sealed and dark conditions.  Moreover, mycelia of all strains grew better when incubated at room temperature (30^oC) and air-conditioned (23^oC), while no growth was noted at refrigerated condition. In fruiting body cultivation, TLPD 1 strain displayed the shortest incubation period (12 days) and primordial initiation (14.2 days), while TLPD 4 registered the longest period of cultivation phases. TLPD 3 significantly produced the highest yield of 125.34 g bag^-1 and biological efficiency of 25.07%, followed by TLPD 4 and 2. No significant difference was found among strains in terms of cap diameter and stipe length. Therefore, individual strain of P. djamor has unique character and specific nutritional and physical preference, which is necessary to understand for strain selection.

Wali Muhammad^1*, Muhammad Ammar², Tariq Mukhtar³, Abdul Manan Hamza¹

¹Department of Entomology, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan

²Insitute of Plant & Environmental Protection, MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan

³Department of Plant Pathology, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Abstract

Cotton whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) is known as the most destructive pest of vegetables, ornamentals and cotton including a wide range of weeds, forest trees and semi field crops in the world. Cotton production and area under cotton is continuously declining in Pakistan for the last five years due to a rapid proliferation of the pests. The current study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of some new chemistry insecticides against cotton whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) during the kharif season of 2019 in a major cotton producing area of Punjab, Pakistan. A total of ten insecticides (single or mixtures) i.e. Dinotefuran + Spirotetramat (T₁), Dinotefuran + Spirotetramat (T₂), Pyriproxyfen+ Spirotetramat (T₃), Pyriproxyfen+ Spirotetramat (T₄), Spirotetramat (T₅), Spirotetramat (T₆), Pyrifluquinazon (T₇), Pyrifluquinazon (T₈), Flonicamid (T₉), Flonicamid + Abamectin (T₁₀) were applied twice in a field experiment on two varieties of cotton (MNH-90 and BS-18) using randomized complete block design. Water (T₀) served as control. There were three replications of each treatment. Data for population of whitefly (nymphs and adults), natural enemies and boll weight were recorded 3, 7, 10 and 14 days after treatment of insecticides. Pyrifluquinazon @ 48.7 g/acre (T₈) caused the maximum mortality (83%) of adults of whitefly while the maximum nymphal mortality (78.4 %) was observed in T₈ (Pyrifluquinazon @ 48.7 g/acre). The maximum increase in boll weight (133%) was observed in T₈ (Pyrifluquinazon @ 48.7 g/acre) followed by T₁₀ (Flonicamid+Abamectin) which gave 110% increase over control. The application of Pyrifluquinazon @ 40 g/acre was found to be safer as compared with other tested insecticides with the minimum reduction of 31% in the population of natural enemies. It is therefore concluded that Spirotetramat and Pyrifluquinazon can be successfully included in IPM programs against Bemisia tabaci.

 Keywords: Pyrifluquinazon, Bemisiatabaci, Cotton whitefly, Chemical control, New Chemistriy insecticides

Yasmein A. El Sayed¹, Rania A. Ahmed², Shimaa M. Desoky^3*

¹Plant Protection Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Dokki Giza, Egypt

²Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez University, Suez, Egypt

³Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez University, Suez, Egypt

Abstract

Spodoptera littoralis nucleopolyhedrosis virus (SlNPV) has been considered as a vital and safe alternative to chemical insecticides. It is effectively used in biological control of Spodoptera littoralis which is considered the most destructive and detrimental economic pest in Egypt. However, its slow speed of action limits its application among other bio-control agents. So, great attention was directed to solve this problem by using insecticide synergists. In this study the toxicity of both SlNPV and the insecticide synergist pipronyl butoxide (PBO) was investigated against 2^nd and 4^th instar S. littoralis larvae. Different concentrations of the tested viral isolate used (10⁶, 10⁷, 10⁸, 10⁹ and 10¹⁰ POB/ml) showed high mortality percentage ranging from 60 to 93% and 56 to 83% for the two tested instar larvae respectively 10 days post treatment. The three PBO concentrations used (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%) revealed weak toxic effect as they produced 13, 20 and 26% mortality rate for the three tested concentrations respectively 4 days post treatment. To examine the biosafety of the three PBO concentrations (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%), alone or in combination with SlNPV; in vivo animal studies, and in vitro cell line studies were applied. In vivo evaluations included histomorphometric and immunohistochemical alterations in Caspase-3, Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), tumor necrosis factor – alpha (TNF-α) in hepatic and renal tissues, plus serum assessments of malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC). The sulforhodamine B (SRB) cytotoxicity assay has been applied on OEC (Oral epithelial cell) and Vero (Green monkey kidney) cell lines. Results revealed that 0.1% PBO concentration was safe and didn’t induce any pathogenicity, as a dose concentration – dependent decreased pathological changes by comparing 0.3%, 0.2% PBO treated rats . Furthermore, SlNPV was safe to rat tissues and cells and PBO didn’t alter the safe nature of SlNPV on mammalian cells. According to the results of histopthological bio-safety, 0.1% of PBO was applied to 4^th instar larvae for estimation its effect on larval enzyme activity and the results proved significant differences in the metabolic tested enzymes between the control and treated larvae with inhibition in both of Actylcholin esterase (AchE), Glutathione S-transferase (GST), Alpha esterases (α-esterases), Beta esterases (B- esterases), and Glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and stimulation in Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), Glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) and Multi-function oxidases (MFO). Moreover, 0.1% of PBO has been mixed with viral LC₅₀ for 2^nd and 4^th instar larvae and the results showed highly synergistic effect of PBO as 100 and 96 % mortality rate respectively fourth day post treatment.

Keywords: Biological control, Nucleopolyhedrosis virus, Spodoptera littoralis, Pipronyl butoxide, Synergistic agents, Histopathological biosafety

Riaz Hussain Pasha^1*, Anas Sarwar Qureshi², Adnan Ali³, Saif-Ur-Rehman⁴, Muhammad Akram Khan⁵

¹Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences (Histology), Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

²Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan

³Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Project, Technical Unit-Building Disaster Resilience in Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan

⁴Department of Parasitology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

⁵Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Abstract

With the expansion and development of industrial technology, frequent application of various synthetic chemicals like pesticides, insecticides and arsenic has led to contamination of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem across the globe. Among different synthetic chemicals arsenic poisoning has become a huge threat to ground water in many parts of the world. Therefore, this study was planned to examine the adverse effects of sodium arsenite on the morphology (gross and microscopic structure) of testis in rabbits. A total of 20 adult male rabbits were procured and randomly divided into two groups. Group (A) served as control and rabbits in group (B) were exposed to sodium arsenite orally (@ dose of 10mg/kg/day for a period 60 days. Results indicated significant (p<0.05) lower values of testicular weight, scrotal length and width, testicular volume, volume occupied by 10 seminiferous tubules and volume of the individual Leydig cells in treated rabbits. The exposure induced degenerative changes in testis including wavy contour of seminiferous tubules, vacuolization in the germinal epithelium and germ cell loss was recorded in the treated group. In conclusion, it was observed that arsenic may induce male reproductive effects by negatively affecting the testicular volume, Leydig cell population and volume of the Leydig cells.

 Keywords: Arsenic toxicity, Rabbit testis, Histomorphology, Pakistan

Rahma Alshamrani¹, Muhammad Huzaifa Arshad², Munazza Gull³, Muhammad Zohaib Nawaz⁴, Sana Malik²*

¹Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

²Bioenergy Research Centre, Department of Bioinformatics & Biotechnology, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

³Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

⁴State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Institute of Marine Microbes and Ecospheres, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

 Abstract

Thermotoga maritima is a hyperthermophile with the potential to produce thermostable commercial enzymes which can be used for saccharification of plant biomass for subsequent fermentation to bioproducts. The molecular mechanism involved in the hyper thermostability in this bacterium is still not well-understood. It is known that small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) regulate and modulate the gene expression of various biological processes at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels, hence coordinate the adaptation processes in response to environmental stimuli in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. To understand the role of small ncRNAs in the hyper thermostability of T. maritima, an in silico-based approach was employed involving the identification of the ncRNAs in this bacterium on a genome-wide scale. A novel pipeline was constructed which involved a combination of various bioinformatics algorithms. In total, 20804 orthologous groups were predicted on the genome of T. maritima and 20 other bacteria (reference genomes) by the OrthoMCL tool. By using the “Perl” and “Bash” languages 258 orthologous IGR datasets were created. Among these datasets, small ncRNAs were identified by employing RNAz and RNA Infernal tools. Total 28 ncRNA candidates were predicted by the RNAz tool and 9 candidates were confirmed as novel cis-regulatory small ncRNAs in T. maritima MSB8 by Infernal tool and were named as Tmn (T. maritima ncRNAs). This work provides novel insights into the role of ncRNAs in the stress adaptability of MSB8 and can give a much better understanding of the lifestyle of this bacterium after validation of the data through wet-lab approaches. Having a clear understanding of the thermo-tolerance mechanism, the MSB8 can be exploited in the future for the commercial production of thermostable compounds and biohydrogen.

Keywords: Thermotoga maritima, Small non-coding RNAs, Genome-wide detection, Thermostability, Plant biomass, Saccharification

Maqsood ul Hussan¹, Muhammad Farrukh Saleem¹, Muhammad Bilal Hafeez¹, Shahbaz Khan^1*, Sadam Hussain², Naeem Ahmad², Yasir Ramzan³, Majid Nadeem³

¹Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan

²Department of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China

³Wheat Research Institute, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to optimize the level of humic acid, zinc and boron for better growth, enhanced yield and grain quality of wheat crop cultivated under field condition. Growth characteristics, yield and its components, and zinc concentrations in straw and grain were analyzed under two application rate of humic acid (0 and 10 kg ha^-1), three level of boron (B_{0 =} 0, B_{1 =} 2 and B_{2 =} 4 kg ha^-1) and zinc (Zn₀ = 0, Zn₁ = 5 and Zn₂ =10 kg ha^-1). Results revealed that application of Zn at 10 kg ha^-1 and B at 4 kg ha^-1 combine with humic acid (10 kg ha^-1) significantly increased yield and its components (except flag leaf area under humic acid application), and Zn contents in straw. The maximum plant height, spike length and grain filling rate were recorded at Zn₂and B₂ with humic acid application. Maximum grain yield was produced for Zn₂ and B₂ under humic acid application, which was associated with higher 1000-grain weight and biological yield. Maximum biological and straw yields were produced by application of Zn₂ and B₂ under humic acid fertilization. Maximum Zn contents in straw have been recorded for Zn₂ and B₂ under humic acid application, while maximum values of crude protein and Zn contents in Zn₂ and B₂ were statically same with Zn₁ and B₁ under humic acid application. Furthermore, the highest boron contents in grain were recorded for Zn₂ and B_2, and these values were statistically same with Zn₂ and B₁ under humic acid application. It is concluded that application of Zn₂ and B₂ in combination with humic acid could be a good agronomic practice to enhance the zinc content in straw and grain yield of wheat crop.

Keywords: Micronutrients, Productivity, Crude protein, Grain quality, Wheat straw

Idris Idris^*, Yuliar Yuliar

Microbiology Division, Research Center for Biology, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong 16911, West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The application of bacterial inoculants to suppress crop diseases and boost crop yields supports sustainable agriculture by reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens EB13 inoculant was applied to citrus plants (Citrus sinensis) in the field to investigate the effect of strain EB13 treatment on soil fertility and citrus growth in non-sterile conditions. Two years old citrus tree transplanted into the polybag containing 10 kg soil was inoculated with EB13 culture and placed in the open field for six months. Soil enzyme activities were increased significantly (P<0.05) by EB13 inoculation, they are acid phosphatase activity (1848.82 to 2450.50 μg p-NP/g dry soil h), alkaline phosphatase activity (475.15 to 640.98 μg p-NP/g dry soil h), urease activity (147.89 to 306.55 μgNH₄-N/g dry soil h), and total soil microbial activity (1.85 to 2.77 μg fluorescein/g h). Furthermore, the population of bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere significantly (P<0.05) was increased by the EB13 inoculation. These improvements supported citrus growth by increasing fruit yield approximately threefold (5.33 to 18.33 fruits/plant). Our finding indicated that Bacillus amyloliquefaciens EB13 was able to associate well with citrus in the non-sterile condition and has a long-term positive effect on soil fertility and citrus growth.

Keywords: Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Biofertilizer, Citrus sinensis, Soil enzymes, Soil fertility

Muhammad Rizwan, Khalil Ahmed^*, Muhammad Khalid Bhatti, Muhammad Sarfraz, Muhammad Irfan,

Syed Saqlain Hussain, Abdul Rasul Naseem

Soil Salinity Research Institute (SSRI), Pindi Bhattian, Pakistan

Abstract

In the scenario of labor and water shortage, direct sowing of rice is a promising and alternative strategy for rice establishment. Therefore, a field study was undertaken to evaluate the comparative efficiency of different sowing methods and tillage practices for direct seeded rice in salt affected soil. The following treatments tested were; T₁: cultivator, T₂: disk harrow + cultivator, T₃: rotavator + cultivator, with three sowing techniques; S₁: broadcast + seed covering with planking 40 kg, S ₂: broadcast + seed covering with planking 60 kg and, S₃: drill sowing. The experiment was designed in randomize complete block design having split plot arrangement and three replications. Results of the study showed that maximum paddy yield was recorded by drill sowing with rotavator + cultivator used as tillage implements for land preparation. At the end of the study, soil properties were also improved with reduction of 0.57%, 16.21% and 8.56% in pH_s, EC_e and SAR respectively with use of rotavator + cultivator and drill sowing. In conclusion, use of rotavator + cultivator as tillage implement and drill sowing is effective and feasible technology for direct sowing of rice in salt affected soils.

Keywords: Broadcast, Direct seeding, Drill sowing, Rice, Rotavator