Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Software Tool for Teaching Backcross Breeding Simulation

Plant breeding programs involve multiple steps, and their complete development cannot be experienced by students in a single academic year. Tools of communication and information technologies offer a great opportunity to improve students' skills, but only a few software are available for training undergraduate students in plant breeding programs. Here we present a student-friendly software tool, Retromelon, for simulating the backcross breeding method. We also evaluate its suitability and performance as a learning tool. This software is designed to recreate a real melon (Cucumis melo) backcross breeding program aimed at introgressing the resistance to melon vine decline from the tolerant melon cultivar Pat81 into the susceptible cultivar Piel de Sapo. The software simulates the most important steps and decisions that must be made by a plant breeder in a backcross breeding program, including the number of individuals to evaluate in each generation, evaluation of agronomic traits, and selection of individuals. This software is being used by undergraduate horticulture students. Our results have shown that the use of this tool in the classroom increases the motivation of the students, and therefore, benefits the learning process. This software is available upon request both in English and Spanish versions.
Effects of sand burial on the survival and physiology of three psammophytes of Northern China

Corispermum macrocarpum, Setaria viridis and Agriophyllum squarrosum are dominant psammophytes with strong environmental adaptability in Horqin Sandy Land, a typical agro-pastoral ecotone with frequent and intense sand activity in Northern China. We studied the survival rates, activity of antioxidant enzyme (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase), content of osmotic substances (soluble sugar, soluble protein and proline), and extent of lipid peroxidation and membrane permeability of the three psammophytes under ten treatments of sand burial with different depths to understand the effects of burial stress on survival and physiology of these species. The results show that A. squarrosum had the strongest adaptability to sand burial with the highest survival rate in all treatments except treatment C (buried to 3/4 of seedling height), compared to the other two species. The role of different enzymes varied among the three psammophytes. Peroxidase plays a protective role in scavenging reactive oxygen species of all three psammophytes. Superoxide dismutase and catalase are effective in A. squarrosum and S. viridis, C. macrocarpum and S. viridis, respectively. The osmotic substances also increased to keep Malondialdehydeand Relative electrolyte leakage at a low level (except the soluble protein content of A. squarrosum and S. viridis). However, because stress increased consistently in this study due to the enhanced level of sand burial depth, the antioxidant enzyme system and osmotic substances were not able to repair the damage leading to death of the plants.
Key environmental variables affecting the distribution of Elatine hungarica in the Pannonian Basin Faktory prostředí ovlivňující rozšíření Elatine hungarica v Panonské pánvi

Department of Botany, Faculty of Sciences & Technology, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1. , Hungary, email: mva@science.unideb. hu; Bükk National Park Directorate, H-3304 Eger, Sánc u. 6. , Hungary; Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Water and Environmental Management, Szent István University, Szabadság u. 1–3. , H-5540 Szarvas, Hungary; Directorate of Békés County Museums, H-5600 Békéscsaba, Széchenyi u. 7. , Hungary; Hunyadi u. 55. , H-9500 Celldömölk, Hungary; West Hungarian University, Faculty of Forestry, Institute of Sylviculture and Forest Protection H-9400 Sopron, Ady E. u. 5, Hungary; Department of Tisza Research, MTA Centre for Ecological Research-BLI-HAS), Bem tér. 18/C, H-4026, Debrecen, Hungary; Physical Geography and Geoinformatics, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1. , Hungary; Institute for Nature Conservation of Vojvodina province, Radnička 20a, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia; Department of Botany, Slovak University of Agriculture, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, SK-949 76 Nitra, Slovak Republic; MTA-ELTE-MTM Ecology Research Group, H-1117 Budapest, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Hungary; MTA-DE “Lendület” Behavioural Ecology Research Group, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, Hungary
Adubação fosfatada para a produção de mudas de mogno (Swietenia macrophylla King)

ABSTRACT Due to the high value of mohogany woods (Swietenia macrophylla King), this specie is one of the most explored in the Amazon region. That explains the reason why mahogany is almost extinct.The present work evaluates the effect of phosphated fertilization on the mahogany seedlings under the increased doses of phosphorus. The experiment happened in a greenhouse and the soil used to compose the substratum was a yellow oxisoil with a very argillaceous texture. The treatments were made by doses of P: 0, 25, 30, 75, 100, 150 and 200 kg.ha-1 of P. The experimental design consisted of four randomized blocks, for a total of 28 parcels. Each parcel was formed by 2 seedlings, cultived in bags with 4 dm3 of soil. It was noticed positive answers by seedlings cultivated species for all the biometric characters analyzed and, in the same way, for the contents of almost the analyzed nutrients. For the growth characteristics, 200 kg.ha-1 was the dose that provided the high growth for mohogany, on the interval of 90 days.
Present status of the use of digestible amino acid values in formulation of broiler diets: opportunities and obstacles.

The use of digestible amino acid values for more efficient formulation of broiler diets is of growing interest among nutritionists. Methodology of determination of digestible amino acids, coupled with the high cost of amino acid analysis, has limited the scope of investigations among researchers worldwide. The sensitivity of most protein supplements to differences in processing conditions hampers development of “universal” digestibility values. A study was conducted to evaluate the application of digestible amino acids to formulation of diets for broiler chickens. Diets were formulated using either a simple (corn-soybean meal) or complex (corn-soybean meal-peanut meal-corn gluten meal) set of ingredients. The amino acids in peanut meal are less well digested than those in soybean meal. Diets in each series were formulated either on a total amino acid basis or with digestible amino acids set as different percentages of total amino acid requirements suggested by NRC (1994). When formulated on total amino acid basis, birds fed “simple” diets performed significantly better than birds fed “complex” diets. However, when formulated on a digestible amino acid basis, no significant differences in performance were observed between birds fed the two different types of diets. Thus, utilizing digestible amino acid values should enhance utilization of protein sources that are less well digested than soybean meal. Application of amino acid digestibility techniques to improve the utilization of feather meal, a protein source known to be of poor biological value, did not improve the utilization of this ingredient in broiler diets. Thus, care should be taken in utilizing increased amounts of protein supplements known to be of reduced amino acid availability when formulating diets for poultry.
Studying Earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta) in South Africa

ABSTRACT Earthworms are an important component of southern African invertebrate diversity, due both to their influential roles in soil ecosystems, and the relatively large number of species. As of 2010, there were 282 indigenous earthworm species (most endemic) known to South Africa belonging to three families: Microchaetidae, Tritogeniidae and Acanthodrilidae. In addition, 44 introduced species from six families had been recorded. However, earthworms are rarely included in environmental monitoring or conservation programmes—partly because sampling and species identification are difficult and many sampling methods are destructive and/or toxic. In this paper we review the earthworm sampling techniques most commonly used by screening data from a digitised literature collection on South African earthworms and on-line global searches. By examining a case study sampling of three vegetation types, this paper highlights taxonomic challenges and the effort required to properly curate specimens. The study provides recommendations for future sampling and highlights some key priorities for future work on the group. From the literature review in early 2012, it is clear that collection techniques are often insufficiently recorded in published work. A total of 10 938 publications from the period 1950 to 2012 were found from the literature search and digitised collection and from these only 32 papers recorded the sampling methodology (mainly hand sorting) for South African research, pointing to the need to adopt standard sampling and reporting protocols. We also tested two of the most popular methodologies in the field. Sampling was conducted in January and February 2012 at four sites, with 24 plots at each site (12 digging and 12 using mustard extraction). A total of 2 094 earthworms collected could be assigned a species name, with introduced species predominating at both disturbed and natural sites. It took a team of three to five people digging and hand collecting all earthworm specimens encountered in a plot of 50 cm × 50 cm × 20 cm deep around 45 to 60 minutes. However, much more time was spent curating and identifying samples. While we recommend following the ISO (ISO11268-3, ISO23611-1) protocol for collecting introduced taxa, to get a complete inventory of South African earthworms a range of sampling techniques will be required; in particular, a large 1 m × 1 m × 20 cm plot is required for many large bodied native taxa, and the collection of giant earthworms will require different approaches. The identification of specimens requires skills that are scarce in the country and so there is an urgent need for training and funding for fundamental work on earthworm taxonomy. An atlasing project could serve as a focal point for future research. In providing some general recommendations based on the long and fruitful history of research on earthworms in South Africa, we are optimistic that a better understanding of the group will help us to both improve our usage of natural resources and provide insights into this vitally important edaphic group.
Spatiotemporal land use modelling to assess land availability for energy crops – illustrated for Mozambique

A method and tool have been developed to assess future developments in land availability for bioenergy crops in a spatially explicit way, while taking into account both the developments in other land use functions, such as land for food, livestock and material production, and the uncertainties in the key determinant factors of land use change (LUC). This spatiotemporal LUC model is demonstrated with a case study on the developments in the land availability for bioenergy crops in Mozambique in the timeframe 2005–2030. The developments in the main drivers for agricultural land use, demand for food, animal products and materials were assessed, based on the projected developments in population, diet, GDP and self‐sufficiency ratio. Two scenarios were developed: a business‐as‐usual (BAU) scenario and a progressive scenario. Land allocation was based on land use class‐specific sets of suitability factors. The LUC dynamics were mapped on a 1 km2 grid level for each individual year up to 2030. In the BAU scenario, 7.7 Mha and in the progressive scenario 16.4 Mha could become available for bioenergy crop production in 2030. Based on the Monte Carlo analysis, a 95% confidence interval of the amount of land available and the spatially explicit probability of available land was found. The bottom‐up approach, the number of dynamic land uses, the diverse portfolio of LUC drivers and suitability factors, and the possibility to model uncertainty mean that this model is a step forward in modelling land availability for bioenergy potentials.
Bile Salt and Acid Tolerant of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Proventriculus of Broiler Chicken

The aim of this research was to obtain the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as probiotic candidates which have resistance to bile salt and acid condition. LAB was obtained using isolation method from proventriculus of broiler chicken. Selective MRS media with 0.2% CaCO3 addition were used for LAB isolation using pour plate sampling method under anaerobic condition. The result showed that four selected isolates had morphological and biochemical characteristics as LAB. The selected LAB was characterized as follow: antibacterial activities, antibiotic sensitivity, resistance on bile salt, gastric juice and acid condition, and biochemical identification. Antibacterial activities assay of cell free supernatant was confirmed using disc paper diffusion method which was arranged on factorial design and each treatment consisted of three replications. The cell free supernatant of LAB isolates had antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aerugenosa, and Salmonella pullorum. Molecular identification procedure using 16S rRNA sequence analysis showed that R01 and R02 as Pediococcus acidilactici. The viability of the two isolates were tested by acid pH (pH 1, 2, and 3), gastric juice pH 2, and bile salt condition for digestives tract simulation. The result showed that R01 and R02 had a high viability percentages at pH 1, 2, and 3 (95.45%, 99.49%, 104.01%, and 67.17%, 120.74%, 103.4%, respectively) and at bile salt simulation for 1-2 hours (100.35%-102.71% and 100.02%-102.65%, respectively), but at gastric juice simulation for 1-2 hours, the P. acidilactici R01 had higher viability than P. acidilactici R02 (59.69%-76.53% versus 43.57%-40.69%, respectively). In the antibiotic sensitivity test for three antibiotics (i.e. erythromicin 15 µg, penicillin G 10 µg, and streptomycin 10 µg), the P. acidilactici R02 showed resistance to Streptomycin and Penicillin. It is concluded that P. acidilactici R01 and P. acidilactici R02 isolated from proventriculus of broiler chicken potential as probiotic candidates for chicken.
Valores de energia metabolizável de alimentos para pintos de corte na fase pré-inicial

An experiment was conducted in the Poultry Farm Sector of the Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA) with 6 days period duration to determine the energy values in protein sources for broiler chickens in the pre-initial phase. A total of 480 male chickens from Cobb line with one day old were submitted to the method of total excreta collection, allotted to nine treatments with six replicates each. The experimental unit consisted of eight chickens. The treatments were: 1- reference diet (RD); 2- RD with the addition of soybean meal; 3- RD with the addition of toasted soybean meal; 4- RD with the addition of micronized soybean meal; 5- RD with corn gluten meal; 6- RD with meat and bone meal 40; 7 - RD meat and bone meal 45; 8 - RD with fish meat; 9- RD with viscera meal. The protein feeds from vegetal by-products replaced RD by 30% and the protein feeds from animal by-product replaced by 20%. Simultaneously, six replicates of 8 chickens were placed in fasting to determine endogenous losses. The analyzed variables were the values of apparent metabolizable energy (AME), true metabolizable energy (TME) and the nitrogen balance corrected AME and TME (AMEn and TMEn, respectively). The protein feeds from vegetal by-products shown ME decresead in relation to usually table of the feed composition table and the protein feeds from animal by-products shown higher values than those cited in the current literature or feed tables.
Inheritance of leaf color and sequence-related amplified polymorphic (SRAP) molecular markers linked to the leaf color gene in Brassica juncea

Leaf color inheritance in Brassica juncea was studied in F 1, F 2 and BC 1 populations. Leaf color was found to be under the control of gene, and the purple leaf trait was dominant over the green leaf trait. Segregation analysis reveal that one pair of gene controlled the leaf color. To develop markers linked to the leaf color gene, SRAP (sequence-related amplified polymorphism) combined with BSA (bulked segregant analysis) technology was used to screen the parents and bulks were selected randomly from an F 2 population (Ziye × Lvye) consisting of 192 individuals. From a survey of 170 SRAP primer combinations, 3 SRAP markers linked to leaf color gene were identified, and the average distance between markers was 3.3 cM. The closet markers (ME7EM9 and ME2EM2) were at a distance of 1.2 and 5.5 cM from the target gene, respectively. The leaf color trait controlled by a single dominant gene together with the available molecular markers will greatly facilitate the future breeding of purple leaf varieties. The markers found in this study could accelerate the step of map-based cloning of the target gene.
Bacterial Contamination of Eggshells in Furnished and Conventional Cages

SUMMARY The study was composed of 480 hens housed in furnished 8-hen cages or in conventional 4-hen cages from 17 to 78 wk of age. Hens of 2 commercial genotypes, Hy-Line White and Hy-Line Brown, were used. Analyses for aerobic bacteria, Enterococcus and Enterobacteriaceae, on the shell of eggs were conducted when birds were 28 and 62 wk of age. No significant differences were found in proportions of dirty eggs between furnished and conventional cages or between the genotypes. Genotype did not affect bacterial contamination. Eggs produced in furnished cages had higher bacterial contamination than eggs in conventional cages, but levels could be considered as moderate in both housing systems. For some bacterial traits, an effect of sampling period (28 vs. 62 wk of age) was found, which needs to be further investigated before conclusions can be drawn.
Transfer of the Miocene Lejeunea palaeomexicana Grolle to Ceratolejeunea

Abstract Lejeunea palaeomexicana was described in 1984 based on an inclusion of a sterile leafy liverwort in a piece of Miocene Mexican amber. A reinvestigation of the type specimen provided evidence for a basal group of ocelli in the leaf lobes. Ocelli are unknown among extant representatives of Lejeunea but occur in several other genera of Lejeuneaceae. Based on the brown colour of the cell walls, the asymmetrical leaf lobes, the two cells wide ventral merophyte and the position of the ocelli, we propose a transfer of Lejeunea palaeomexicana to Ceratolejeunea.
Community assembly, coexistence and the environmental filtering metaphor

Summary One of the most pervasive concepts in the study of community assembly is the metaphor of the environmental filter, which refers to abiotic factors that prevent the establishment or persistence of species in a particular location. The metaphor has its origins in the study of community change during succession and in plant community dynamics, although it has gained considerable attention recently as part of a surge of interest in functional trait and phylogenetic-based approaches to the study of communities. While the filtering metaphor has clear utility in some circumstances, it has been challenging to reconcile the environmental filtering concept with recent developments in ecological theory related to species coexistence. These advances suggest that the evidence used in many studies to assess environmental filtering is insufficient to distinguish filtering from the outcome of biotic interactions. We re-examine the environmental filtering metaphor from the perspective of coexistence theory. In an effort to move the discussion forward, we present a simple framework for considering the role of the environment in shaping community membership, review the literature to document the evidence typically used in environmental filtering studies and highlight research challenges to address in coming years. The current usage of the environmental filtering term in empirical studies likely overstates the role abiotic tolerances play in shaping community structure. We recommend that the term ‘environmental filtering’ only be used to refer to cases where the abiotic environment prevents establishment or persistence in the absence of biotic interactions, although only 15% of the studies in our review presented such evidence. Finally, we urge community ecologists to consider additional mechanisms aside from environmental filtering by which the abiotic environment can shape community pattern.
White-winged vampire bats (Diaemus youngi) exchange contact calls

Temporally precise vocal exchanges, termed ''antiphonal calling'', might allow pair or group members to main- tain social contact with greater efficiency than when calling independently. The white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi (Jentink, 1893)) is a group-living species that produces social calls in antiphonal exchanges. Because white-winged vampire bats can use social calls to discriminate conspecifics, we suspect that one function of these vocal exchanges is to allow group members to know who is where. Here, we tested the prediction that antiphonal calling by groups of white- winged vampire bats increases when the spatial positions of conspecifics change. We recorded social calls from groups of four individually caged bats in total darkness, with each bat located in the corner of a 4 m 4 m room. During test trials, we shifted the spatial positions of caged bats to new positions. During control trials, caged bats were displaced an equal distance but were returned to their original positions. We found that both the number of social calls and the proportion of antiphonal exchanges were greater during test trials than during control trials. These results suggest that white-winged vampire bats use antiphonal exchanges of social calls to monitor the spatial positions of conspecifics. Resume´ : Des echanges vocaux de grande precision temporelle, appeles « appels antiphoniques », peuvent permettre ades couples ou des membres d'un groupe de maintenir un contact social beaucoup plus efficacement que les appels individu- els. Le vampire aailes blanches (Diaemus youngi (Jentink, 1893)) est une espece qui vit en groupes et produit des appels sociaux lors echanges antiphoniques. Parce que les vampires a ailes blanches peuvent utiliser les appels sociaux pour re- connaoˆtre les individus de meme espece, nous soupconnons qu'une des fonctions de ces echanges vocaux est de permettre aux membres du groupe de connaoˆtre l'emplacement de chacun des individus. Nous verifions ici la prediction que les ap- pels antiphoniques par des groupes de vampires a ailes blanches vont augmenter lorsque la position spatiale des individus de meme espece est modifiee. Nous avons enregistreles appels sociaux de groupes de quatre chauves-souris dans des cages individuelles en obscuritetotale, chaque chauve-souris etant placee dans un coin d'une chambre de 4 m 4 m. Du- rant les essais experimentaux, nous avons deplaceles chauves-souris encagees vers de nouveaux emplacements. Durant les essais temoins, les chauves-souris ont etedeplacees d'une meme distance, mais retournees aleur position initiale. Tant le nombre d'appels sociaux que la proportion des echanges antiphoniques sont plus importants durant les essais experimen- taux que durant les essais temoins. Ces resultats laissent croire que les vampires a ailes blanches utilisent les echanges antiphoniques d'appels sociaux pour connaoˆtre et suivre les emplacements des individus de leur propre espece.