Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Timing Aminopyralid to Prevent Seed Production Controls Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) and Increases Forage Grasses

Abstract Exotic annual grasses such as medusahead [Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski] and downy brome (Bromus tectorum L.) dominate millions of hectares of grasslands in the western United States. Applying picloram, aminopyralid, and other growth regulator herbicides at late growth stages reduces seed production of most exotic annual grasses. In this study, we applied aminopyralid to T. caput-medusae to determine how reducing seed production in the current growing season influenced cover in the subsequent growing season. At eight annual grassland sites, we applied aminopyralid at 55, 123, and 245 g ae ha-1 in spring just before T. caput-medusae heading. The two higher rates were also applied pre-emergence (PRE) in fall to allow comparisons with this previously tested timing. When applied in spring during the roughly 10-d period between the flag leaf and inflorescence first becoming visible, just 55 g ae ha-1 of aminopyralid greatly limited seed production and subsequently reduced T. caput-medusae cover to nearly zero. Fall aminopyralid applications were less effective against T. caput-medusae, even at a rate of 245 g ae ha-1. The growing season of application, fall treatments, but not spring treatments, sometimes reduced cover of desirable winter annual forage grasses. The growing season after application, both spring and fall treatments tended to increase forage grasses, though spring treatments generally caused larger increases. Compared with other herbicide treatment options, preheading aminopyralid treatments are a relatively inexpensive, effective approach for controlling T. caput-medusae and increasing forage production.
Genetic Population Structure and Accuracy of Morphological Assessment in Alosa aestivalis (Blueback Herring) and A. pseudoharengus (Alewife)

Abstract Alosa aestivalis and A. pseudoharengus are herring congeners that are important forage species for piscivorous fish and birds. We measured population structure metrics for these species using microsatellite markers. The Southern Gulf of Maine study area allowed the assessment of these species at an inter- and intra-watershed level. We found no detectable population structure within or among watershed for either species which agrees with other recent research. Our results support regional-scale (e.g., Gulf of Maine) plans for management for A. aestivalis and A. pseudoharengus. We found that 5.4% of our samples were hybrids. Our study adds to a growing body of evidence that hybridization and introgression should be management concerns for these species, and precautions should be taken to preserve species barriers. An error rate of morphological identification was calculated by comparing morphological identifications against genetic classifications. We found an overall identification error rate of 16%, which differed significantly from zero (P = 0.008). Managers should also take note of the uncertainty in morphological identifications and adjust stock models and policies accordingly.
Laboratory studies on the feeding habits of saltmarsh Acarina, with notes on their behaviour

Feeding behaviour studies with three species of oribatid on ten species of edaphic salt-marsh fungi are described. It is suggested that these oribatids are mainly fungivorous and that Hygroribates schneideri may also take filamentous alga. All the oribatids have food preferences and the preferences of the juveniles often differ from those of the adults. Feeding behaviour studies with four species of Mesostigmata on seven types of food are described. It is suggested that Pergamasus longicornis and Cheiroseius ( = Sejus) necorniger are the most active predators of the four, that M acrocheles subbadius is a carrion feeder or a coprophile, and that Ololaelaps venetus can only take the smallest and weakest of prey species.
Microhabitat use in the amblypygid Paraphrynus laevifrons

Abstract Amblypygids (Order: Amblypygi) can be found across different habitat types, each with very different microhabitat structure, including rainforests, deserts, and caves in the tropics and subtropics. Most prior studies on amblypygid microhabitat use have focused on characteristics of trees and their relationship with amblypygid abundance, though many species regularly occupy refuges away from trees. Here we explore microhabitat use in the amblypygid Paraphrynus laevifrons Pocock, 1894 through mark-recapture surveys conducted along creeks and trails in a secondary forest in southeastern Costa Rica. We identified (1) microhabitat characteristics associated with abundance of P. laevifrons and (2) resighting ratio—the likelihood of finding individual P. laevifrons over multiple nights, potentially in association with a particular area (a putative territory). We measured four microhabitat characteristics: (i) number of visible refuges, (ii) surface area of vertical substrate, (iii) estimated plant cover of substrate, and (iv) presence/absence of an overhang. We found that the number of P. laevifrons sighted did not differ across wet and dry seasons, but P. laevifrons were sighted in greater numbers in creeks than trails. The abundance of P. laevifrons was positively affected by the presence of overhangs, there was no effect of plant cover, and the positive effect of number of refuges was stronger in trails, where overhangs were less common, than in creeks. Our results support earlier studies showing that amblypygids can be found more abundantly in areas with greater available refuges and potential shelter, suggesting that predation may be a strong source of selection on amblypygid microhabitat use.
Polymorphism of the PrP prion protein gene in Polish Merino and old-type Polish Merino from Brylewo flock

Abstract The study was conducted on Polish Merino (143♀ and 39♂) and old-type Polish Merino sheep (176♀ and 61♂) in Brylewo flock (Wielkopolskie Province). The examined sheep were at the age of one year. Prion protein (PrP) genotype was determined in all animals. In both breeds four alleles (ARR, ARQ, AHQ, VRQ) were found. Highly significant effect of breed and insignificant impact of gender within breed was observed in regard to the frequency of occurrence of alleles and genotypes susceptible to classical scrapie in the sheep. Eight different PrP genotypes in Polish Merino and nine genotypes in old-type Polish Merino were identified. Very high frequency of ARR/ARR genotype in old-type Polish Merino and high frequency of ARR/ARQ genotype in Polish Merino were found, with relatively significant frequency of occurrence of the genotypes containing VRQ allele. In old-type Polish Merino, three animals (of both genders) had VRQ/VRQ genotype. Breeding work involving elimination of animals encoding valine at codon 136, and introduction of rams with ARR allele to the population increased the frequency of occurrence of ARR/ARR genotype and ARR allele in the population of old-type Polish Merino. To improve the distribution of the genotypes genetically resistant to scrapie in the flock of Polish Merino only rams with ARR/ARR genotype were left. This guarantees an increase in the frequency of occurrence of genotypes genetically resistant to scrapie in the offspring.
Species Differ in Response to Adjuvants with Glyphosate

Diammonium sulfate often is used as an adjuvant with glyphosate. Experiments were conducted in the greenhouse to determine the effectiveness of diammonium sulfate in overcoming calcium antagonism of glyphosate toxicity to wheat, sunflower, kochia, and soybean. Each species was a separate experiment and treatments varied with the experiment. Diammonium sulfate at 0.5% (w/v) in a spray carrier containing calcium chloride (500 ppm calcium) overcame calcium antagonism of glyphosate toxicity to wheat, overcame antagonism and enhanced toxicity to sunflower, but only partly overcame calcium antagonism of toxicity to kochia and soybean. With glyphosate at 100 g ae ha–1, diammonium sulfate at 2% (w/v) in a distilled water spray carrier enhanced toxicity to sunflower from a 11% to a 55% fresh weight reduction but was antagonistic to glyphosate toxicity to kochia and soybean.
Perceptions on climate change and adaptation strategies among sweet potato farming households in Kwara State, Northcentral Nigeria.

Sweet potato is a food security crop with ease of production and ability to produce relatively good yields even on marginal soils. Despite these potentials, its yields have drastically reduced in recent years relative to what it used to be in the 60’s and 90’s. This is not unconnected with climate change, among other factors. This study therefore examines the perceptions of sweet potato farming households on climate change, the strategies employed and factors influencing their adaptation to its effects. Data were collected from 170 sweet potato farming households in Kwara State, Nigeria and analyzed with descriptive statistics, index ranking and logistic regression. Results showed that most of the farmers were aware of climate change and use different strategies to combat its deleterious effects. Factors that positively influence the farmers’ adaptation status were educational status, farming experience, farm size and access to agricultural extension services while age had a negative influence on their adaptation status (at p < 0.05). Therefore, policies that will promote literacy and access to extension services among farming households and also encourage young people to practise sweet potato farming should be put in place.
Spatial gradient in activity within the insula reflects dissociable neural mechanisms underlying context-dependent advantageous and disadvantageous inequity aversion

Humans are capable of integrating social contextual information into decision-making processes to adjust their attitudes towards inequity. This context-dependency emerges both when individual is better off (i.e. advantageous inequity) and worse off (i.e. disadvantageous inequity) than others. It is not clear however, whether the context-dependent processing of advantageous and disadvantageous inequity rely on dissociable or shared neural mechanisms. Here, by combining an interpersonal interactive game that gave rise to interpersonal guilt and different versions of the dictator games that enabled us to characterize individual weights on aversion to advantageous and disadvantageous inequity, we investigated the neural mechanisms underlying the two forms of inequity aversion in the interpersonal guilt context. In each round, participants played a dot-estimation task with an anonymous co-player. The co-players received pain stimulation with 50% probability when anyone responded incorrectly. At the end of each round, participants completed a dictator game, which determined payoffs of him/herself and the co-player. Both computational model-based and model-free analyses demonstrated that when inflicting pain upon co-players (i.e., the guilt context), participants cared more about advantageous inequity and became less sensitive to disadvantageous inequity, compared with other social contexts. The contextual effects on two forms of inequity aversion are uncorrelated with each other at the behavioral level. Neuroimaging results revealed that the context-dependent representation of inequity aversion exhibited a spatial gradient in activity within the insula, with anterior parts predominantly involved in the aversion to advantageous inequity and posterior parts predominantly involved in the aversion to disadvantageous inequity. The dissociable mechanisms underlying the two forms of inequity aversion are further supported by the involvement of right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in advantageous inequity processing, and the involvement of right amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in disadvantageous inequity processing. These results extended our understanding of decision-making processes involving inequity and the social functions of inequity aversion.
ANTAGONISTIC ACTIVITY OF BACTERIAL INOCULUM MULTIPLIED ON RHIZOPHORA MUCRONATA LAMK., IN THE CONTROL OF ROOT INFECTING FUNGI ON MASH BEAN AND OKRA

Microbial antagonists viz., Bacillus subtilis, B. thuringiensis, B. cereus and Rhizobium meliloti multiplied on dry powder of leaves and stem of R. mucronata were used in the control of root infecting fungi on mash bean and okra. Good growth of microbial antagonists was observed on all plant parts. Population increased with the increase in time. Highest population of R. meliloti, B. subtilis, B. thuringiensis was obtained on stem whereas B. cereus on leaves powder of R. mucronata. Of the four antagonists used R. meliloti showed highest population on R. mucronata plant parts. Germination of seeds, shoot length, shoot weight, root length and root weight in okra and mung bean showed promising results when bacterial antagonists viz., B. subtilis, B. thuringiensis, B. cereus and R. meliloti after multiplication on mangrove plant parts was used @ 1% w/w. Infection of R. solani was significantly inhibited on okra when R. meliloti multiplied on leaves powder of R. mucronata was used @ 1 % w/w whereas all biocontrol bacteria viz., B. subtilis, B. thuringiensis B. cereus and R. meliloti completely suppressed the infection of R. solani and M. phaseolina on mung bean when used after multiplication on leaves and stem powder of R. mucronata.
Comparative microscopically study of the skin in local and wild rabbits

This study was prepared to compare between the skin of local and wild rabbits. The samples were taken from five body region (ear, abdomen, neck, thorax and back ). The present study revealed that the basic structure of the skin in local and wild rabbits formed of supperfacial layer is epidermis, which covered with keratinized stratified squamous epithelium and arranged into four rows from cells, beside thickness of epidermis in local rabbit more than that thickness of epidermis in wild rabbits . The deep layer is dermis which dermis divided into two layers, the superficial papillary and deep reticular layers without a clear line demarcation between two layers. Local rabbit dermis was thicker than that wild rabbit dermis due to density of dense irregular connective tissue and fibers. There are two types of hair follicles in both animals was primary and secondary hair follicles. The follicles consists of one into three primary hair follicles and clusters of secondary hair follicles in local rabbit whereas in the wild rabbits, the follicles consists of central primary hair follicles and several of smaller secondary follicles surrounded the central primary hair follicles. The present study revealed that ratio of secondary to primary hair follicles was less in local rabbits than that wild rabbits.
Impact of Tetranychus ogmophallos (Acari: Tetranychidae) on different phenological stages of peanuts

Peanut red mite, or Tetranychus ogmophallos Ferreira and Flechtmann, is considered the major emerging pest of peanut in Brazil. Its impact on peanut farming is still unknown but can be harmful. Thus, it is essential to understand how this mite influences peanut for a successful pest management program. This study aimed to investigate the impact of T. ogmophallos on peanut plants at different growth stages in order to clarify whether or not it is worth controlling this pest throughout the peanut growing season. For that, four experiments were carried out in a greenhouse to evaluate the impact of T. ogmophallos infestation on peanut plants at different phenological stages. Results showed that peanut seedlings of up to 60 days emergence and infested with red mite did not complete the PLANT PROTECTION Article Impact of Tetranychus ogmophallos (Acari: Tetranychidae) on different phenological stages of peanuts Cirano Cruz Melville1*, Samuel Carvalho Andrade1, Natália Trajano Oliveira2, Daniel Júnior Andrade1 1.Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias Jaboticabal (SP), Brazil. 2.Universidade Federal de Lavras Departamento de Fitotecnia Lavras (MG), Brazil. *Corresponding author: ciranomelville@outlook.com Received: Aug. 28, 2016 – Accepted: Jan. 5, 2017 reproductive cycle. In addition, infestation at 90 days after seedling emergence (late season) led to considerable yield reduction. As a result, we may infer that infestation can significantly peanut yield, regardless of plant phenological stage. Thus, controlling this emerging pest is necessary even if infestations occur in the final stages of plant development. The adopted level of infestation is above the economic threshold given the importance of the impact on growth and yield of these plants. Because of this, establishing an economic threshold level at different plant developmental stage is crucial to determine when control measures should be taken.
Ability of Four Bacterial Isolates to Solubilize Phosphate, Produce Indole Acetic Acid and Promote Growth of Abu 70 (Sorghum bicolor L.) In vitro

Phosphate solubilizing bacteria are used as plant growth promoters. Therefore in this study, the ability of four bacterial isolates belong to three genera, namely Bacillus, Paenibacillus, and Rhizobium (Sh) isolated from Demonstrative Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum (Shambat soil), Khartoum state and Rhizobium (Ns) isolated from Demonstrative Farm of Research Station, Authority of Merowe Dam Area for Agricultural Development, Northern state, to solubilize phosphate and produce indole acetic acid (IAA) and their effect on sorghum seedlings were evaluated. The isolates were grown on ammonium yeast extract glucose (AYG) broth, in batch culture to analyze the concentration of soluble phosphate, with simultaneous measurement of the changes in pH. The activity of alkaline Phosphatase (EC3.1.3.1) was determined using para-nitro phenyl phosphate as substrate. IAA production was measured in broth batch culture (YEM for rhizobia and Nutrients broth for Bacillus and Paenibacillus). Pots trial arranged in a factorial complete randomized design was conducted with five treatments and four replicates to determine the effect of isolates on growth and phosphate content of sorghum seedlings in sterile and non-sterile soils. Results showed that the highest concentration of soluble phosphate was obtained by Bacillus (170 mg L) followed by Paenibacillus (155 mg L),
Functional Response and Mutual Interference of Cotesia vestalis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) on Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae)1

Abstract Functional response and mutual interference of Cotesia vestalis (Haliday) was studied on second-instar diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), larvae. The parasitoid exhibited Type II functional response to its host with attack rates of 0.045 (Holling disc equation) and 0.122 (Rogers random equation) and a handling time of 0.85 h (Holling disc equation) and 1.18 h (Rogers random equation). Theoretical maximum number of hosts that could be parasitized over a period of 24 h by the parasitoid was estimated to be 28.8 (Holling equation) and 20.3 (Rogers equation). Per capita number of parasitization decreased significantly from 12.4 to 3.8 with the increase in the parasitoid density from 2 to 8, indicating that mutual interference occurs when two or more numbers of parasitoid females forage in the same arena. The relationship between searching efficiency (E) and density (P) of the parasitoid was log E = –0.205 + 0.769 log P, with a mutual interference coefficient of 0.77.
Bactérias fitopatogênicas fixadoras de N2 em associação com plantas.

Descricao das especies de bacterias diazotroficas fitopatogenica. Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Burkholderia spp. Herbaspirillun rubrisubalbicans(Christopher e Edgerton, 1932). POsicao taxonomica. Pantoae herbicola sin. Erwinia herbicola.
Methylotrophic methanogenesis fuels cryptic methane cycling in marine surface sediment

Methylotrophic methanogenesis is often proposed to be responsible for methane production in sulfate‐rich environments, yet the magnitude of this process remains elusive. In this study, we incubated sediment from Aarhus Bay (Denmark) with 13C labeled CH4 to measure total methane turnover by isotope dilution, and with 14C‐radiotracers to measure specifically the gross hydrogenotrophic and acetoclastic methane production. Highest CH4 production rates (> 200 pmol cm−3 d−1) were found in the top 0–2 cm. Most of this production was via methylotrophic pathways. Methanogenesis via the hydrogenotrophic pathway accounted for less than 20 pmol cm−3 d−1 throughout the surface sediment (0–10 cm), and there was no apparent contribution from acetoclastic methanogenesis. To further assess potentials for methanogenesis from hydrogen, acetate, or trimethylamine (TMA), sediment slurry incuabtions with excess substrate addition were performed. A high and accelarating CH4 production was only detected in incubations amended with TMA. Our results show that methylotrophic methanogenesis dominated the CH4 production in these sulfate‐rich marine surface sediments.
Screening of single cross hybrids and inbred lines of maize for Turcicum Leaf Blight (Excerohilum turcicum) under artificial epiphytotic conditions

Turcicum Leaf Blight (TLB) caused by Exserohilum turcicum is a major foliar disease of maize in Karnataka with yield losses upto 70% under severe cases. In the context of developing tolerant genotypes against this disease an experiment was conducted using 16 CIMMYT and IIMR germplasm lines selected based on their test weight and per se performance and were crossed with 3 testers (CM-111,CM-500 & PA-15) to produce 48 experimental hybrids in Line X Tester design. These hybrids along with the parents were sown in Kharif 2016 at Main Agricultural Research Station (MARS), UAS, Dharwad to study the disease reaction against TLB. Scoring was done using 1 to 5 scale (Payak & Sharma, 1983), where 1 being highly resistant and 5 being highly susceptible. The performance of these lines and hybrids were compared with the resistant check CI-4 and susceptible check CM-202. Artificial inoculation was done in the leaf whorls with grounded TLB infected leaves at 45 days after sowing and were scored at silk drying stage. Hybrids GH-1518, GH-1523 and lines P-4,P-5,P-6 were found to be highly resistant while the hybrids GH-1540, GH-1541and line P-8, P-15 showed highly susceptible reaction. This information can be useful for selection of parents and to develop tolerant hybrids in breeding programs or utilize them as source of resistance.