Characterization of the natural variation in Arabidopsis thaliana metabolome by the analysis of metabolic distance

Metabolite fingerprinting is widely used to unravel the chemical characteristics of biological samples. Multivariate data analysis and other statistical tools are subsequently used to analyze and visualize the plasticity of the metabolome and/or the relationship between those samples. However, there are limitations to these approaches for example because of the multi-dimensionality of the data that makes interpretation of the data obtained from untargeted analysis almost impossible for an average human being. These limitations make the biological information that is of prime importance in untargeted studies be partially exploited. Even in the case of full exploitation, current methods for relationship elucidation focus mainly on between groups variation and differences. Therefore, a measure that is capable of exploiting both between- and within-group biological variation would be of great value. Here, we examined the natural variation in the metabolome of nine Arabidopsis thaliana accessions grown under various environmental conditions and established a measure for the metabolic distance between accessions and across environments. This data analysis approach shows that there is just a minor correlation between genetic and metabolic diversity of the nine accessions. On the other hand, it delivers so far in Arabidopsis unexplored chemical information and is shown to be biologically relevant for resistance studies

Bacteria-inducing legume nodules involved in the improvement of plant growth, health and nutrition

Bacteria-inducing legume nodules are known as rhizobia and belong to the class Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria. They promote the growth and nutrition of their respective legume hosts through atmospheric nitrogen fixation which takes place in the nodules induced in their roots or stems. In addition, rhizobia have other plant growth-promoting mechanisms, mainly solubilization of phosphate and production of indoleacetic acid, ACC deaminase and siderophores. Some of these mechanisms have been reported for strains of rhizobia which are also able to promote the growth of several nonlegumes, such as cereals, oilseeds and vegetables. Less studied are the mechanisms that have the rhizobia to promote the plant health; however, these bacteria are able to exert biocontrol of some phytopathogens and to induce the plant resistance. In this chapter, we revised the available data about the ability of the legume nodule-inducing bacteria for improving the plant growth, health and nutrition of both legumes and nonlegumes. These data showed that rhizobia meet all the requirements of sustainable agriculture to be used as bio-inoculants allowing the total or partial replacement of chemicals used for fertilization or protection of crops

Impact of cattle night corralling on soil properties and vegetation in the semiarid degraded rangeland of Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, rangeland degradation is a severe environmental problem. To improve rangeland vegetation cover and support the rangeland-based livelihoods, it is imperative to repair degraded rangeland using different rehabilitative measures. This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of night cattle corralling impact on soil chemical parameters, herbaceous species compositions and biomass yield of degraded rangeland.  To conduct the experiment, severely degraded (SD) and moderately degraded (MD) rangelands with an area size of 30m x10m (300m2) each was identified. Then, each of the selected rangeland types was separated into two paddocks with an area size of 10m x 15m (150 m2). The treatment paddocks of the severely and moderately degraded rangeland were treated by cattle impact tools corralling cattle every night in the paddock for one month (SDT1 and MDT1). While the second paddock in both rangeland types was used as a control without cattle impact tools (SDT2 and MDT2). A randomized complete block design was used and each treatment was replicated three times. The results showed that soil chemical parameters and herbaceous species compositions in both degraded rangeland paddocks treated with cattle impact tools (SDT1 and MDT1) changed significantly (p&lt;0.05) than paddocks without cattle impact tools (SDT2 and MDT2). Likewise, there was an increased difference (p&lt;0.05) in biomass yields of 2.98 ton/ha and 5.35ton/ha from severely and moderately degraded rangeland, respectively for paddocks treated with cattle impact tools (SDT1 and MDT2), compared to paddocks of biomass yield of 0.98 ton/ha and 2.78 ton/ha without cattle impact tools treatments for SDT2 and MDT2 respectively. Thus the result from this study emphasized the advantage of night cattle corralling impact tools for improved soil parameters and herbaceous species compositions of degraded rangeland. Hence, we concluded that employing cattle impact tools to restore degraded rangeland significantly improved soil physico-chemical properties, with ultimate effect on vegetation cover, vegetation compositions and herbaceous biomass yield, attributed from soil seed bank growth. Bangladesh Journal of Animal Science 51 (4): 152-162</jats:p

Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Parasites of Cattle in and Around Hosanna Town, Southern Ethiopia

Dembelo Tiele,1 Ephrem Sebro,2 Deginet H/Meskel,3 Mesfin Mathewos4 1Department of Veterinary Epidemiology, Wachemo University, Hosanna, Southern Region, Ethiopia; 2Department of Veterinary Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Wachemo University, Hosanna, Southern Region, Ethiopia; 3Department of Animal Science, Wachemo University, Hosanna, Southern Region, Ethiopia; 4Department of Veterinary Pathology, Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita Sodo, Southern Region, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Mesfin Mathewos, Wolaita Sodo University, School of Veterinary Medicine, P. O. Box 138, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia, Email [email protected]: Gastrointestinal parasites are ubiquitous parasitic agents of cattle all over the world, and cause both clinical and subclinical parasitism that results in significant financial losses. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and the risk variables related to gastrointestinal tract (GIT) parasites in cattle in Hossana town and the nearby area.Methods: On a total of 400 faecal samples, a cross-sectional investigation with a random sampling technique was carried out utilizing a coprologic parasitological examination.Results: Two hundred and sixty-nine (67.2%) of the 400 faecal samples analyzed had one or more gastrointestinal parasites. Of this, 163 (40.75%) cattle had two or more parasites while a single infection was recorded in 106 (26.5%) cattle. Mixed infection of Strongyle+Fasciola (14%) was found a higher prevalence followed by Strongyle+Paramphistomum (7.75%) as compared to other GIT parasite combination. Major classes of parasites recorded include Trematodes, Nematodes, Cestodes, and Protozoa. The major parasites observed were Strongyle type (18.25%), Paramphistomum (9.5%), Fasciola (8.25%), Toxocara (3.25%) and Eimeria (2.75%). Strongyle type eggs were the most predominant type of eggs identified while Trichuris (2.25%) and Moniezia (1.5%) were observed to have relatively lowprevalence. There was a high relationship between risk factors such as age, body condition, and management system with the prevalence of GIT parasites.Conclusion: The high frequency of GIT parasite infection in cattle in the research area necessitates the strategic deworming and effective management practices necessary for gastrointestinal parasite eradication.Keywords: cattle, coprology, epidemiology, gastrointestinal parasites, hossan

An assessment of plant growth and N2 fixation in soybean genotypes grown in uninoculated soils collected from different locations in Ethiopia

Presented at the 17th African Association of Biological Nitrogen Fixation (AABNF) Biennial Conference.Achieving food and nutritional security is a major challenge in Ethiopia, especially with increasing human population and low crop productivity. Legumes offer an alternative choice to chemical fertilizers for increasing crop yields. The aim of this study was to assess, under glasshouse conditions, plant growth and symbiotic performance of uninoculated soybean genotypes planted in soils collected from different locations in Ethiopia. The results showed significant differences in plant growth and symbiotic performance among the soybean genotypes planted in different soils. There was a location-specific effect of soil on plant growth and symbiotic N nutrition of soybean. Whole-plant biomass was highest in soil from Amaro, followed by Boricha, Dorebafano, Pawe, and Mambuk. The δ15N values ranged from+0.82‰ for Pawe to +5.11‰ at Dorebafano. However, %Ndfa of soybean was greater in plants grown in Mambuk soil, followed by Pawe with the lowest %Ndfa being in Amaro soil. The amount of Nfixed followed similar pattern as %Ndfa. The significant interaction found between soil type and soybean genotype for plant DM, shoot N concentration, δ15N, %Ndfa, N-fixed and soil N-uptake clearly indicated the effect of soil factors. This study revealed the presence of native rhizobia in Ethiopian soils that are compatible with soybean. The N contribution of the soybean genotypes was variable, and strongly influenced by the soil factors

Phenotypic and genotypic analysis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Ethiopia.

Item does not contain fulltextSETTING: National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. OBJECTIVES: To determine the drug susceptibility pattern of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates and to genetically characterise multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) isolates. DESIGN: A total of 107 M. tuberculosis isolates recovered during the period December 2005-August 2006 were tested for drug susceptibility against streptomycin, isoniazid, rifampicin and ethambutol (SHRE) using the proportion method on Lowenstein-Jensen medium. The MDR-TB isolates were tested against kanamycin, ciprofloxacin, capreomycin, D-cycloserine and ethionamide. Genotyping was performed using spoligotyping. RESULTS: MDR-TB was observed in one of the 44 new cases (2.3%) and 45/63 previously treated patients (71.4%). Drug susceptibility testing against second-line drugs (SLDs) showed that 26.1% of all MDR-TB isolates were susceptible to all SLDs tested and 73.9% were resistant to one or more classes of SLD. Extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB was detected in two isolates (4.4%). T3_ETH was the predominant spoligotype, followed by CAS_KILI. In this African setting, no Beijing spoligotype was identified. CONCLUSION: Both MDR- and XDR-TB are present in Ethiopian patients. MDR-TB was found to be associated with T3 and Central Asian genotypes.1 oktober 201