Nutritional potential of bamboo leaves for feeding dairy cattle

Feed shortage during the dry season in the highlands of Madagascar negatively impacts the dairy cattle productivity, as well as the farmers' income. Bamboo can produce a high quantity of biomass and could be an alternative way to increase the fodder supply for cattle. The present study aimed to assess the compositional information and the optimal rate of bamboo as fodder for dairy cattle. Leaf samples from nine bamboo species were collected to determine their chemical composition and nutritive value. A feeding experiment was also conducted using ten dairy cows, over ten weeks. Bamboo leaves were mixed with maize silage in five proportions: SIL0:BAM100, SIL25:BAM75, SIL50:BAM50, SIL75:BAM25 and SIL100:BAM0. The contents of dry matter, total ash and crude protein in the bamboo leaves were, respectively, 44.5-64.6 %, 6.68-18.5 % and 7.71-15.4 %. In the feeding trial, the dry matter intake of bamboo leaves was 1.6-7.1 kg per day, with an average of 4.8 kg per day. The dry matter apparent digestibility of bamboo leaves was 37.4-56.4 %. The milk production reached 13.6-14.4 L per cow, per day, but there was no significant difference concerning the rate of bamboo leaves in the mixed diet (p > 0.05). The introduction of bamboo leaves into the ruminants diet did not affect their milk production

Transcriptome profiling reveals the crucial biological pathways involved in cold response in Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis).

Most bamboo species including Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) are tropical or subtropical plants that greatly contribute to human well-being. Low temperature is one of the main environmental factors restricting bamboo growth and geographic distribution. Our knowledge of the molecular changes during bamboo adaption to cold stress remains limited. Here, we provided a general overview of the cold-responsive transcriptional profiles in Moso bamboo by systematically analyzing its transcriptomic response under cold stress. Our results showed that low temperature induced strong morphological and biochemical alternations in Moso bamboo. To examine the global gene expression changes in response to cold, 12 libraries (non-treated, cold-treated 0.5, 1 and 24 h at -2 °C) were sequenced using an Illumina sequencing platform. Only a few differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified at early stage, while a large number of DEGs were identified at late stage in this study, suggesting that the majority of cold response genes in bamboo are late-responsive genes. A total of 222 transcription factors from 24 different families were differentially expressed during 24-h cold treatment, and the expressions of several well-known C-repeat/dehydration responsive element-binding factor negative regulators were significantly upregulated in response to cold, indicating the existence of special cold response networks. Our data also revealed that the expression of genes related to cell wall and the biosynthesis of fatty acids were altered in response to cold stress, indicating their potential roles in the acquisition of bamboo cold tolerance. In summary, our studies showed that both plant kingdom-conserved and species-specific cold response pathways exist in Moso bamboo, which lays the foundation for studying the regulatory mechanisms underlying bamboo cold stress response and provides useful gene resources for the construction of cold-tolerant bamboo through genetic engineering in the future

Bolts connection technique of bamboo in construction work

The construction industry is increasingly developing and growing rapidly with more advanced technologies. The world timber demand is increasing at a rapid rate but the timber supply is however depleting. It has been found through research that bamboo can suitably replace timber and other materials in constructions. This study was conducted to investigate the structural strength of bamboo connections involving only spliced joint and compared with control samples strength of bamboo which were not connected. Bending test was conducted on four types of bamboo connection structures which werehalf-lapped splice joint using 3 bolts, half-lapped splice joint using 2 bolts, side plate splice joint, sleeves and insert joint and control sample bamboo. Every connection had six samples to determine the structural strength of the bamboo connection. From the tests conducted, the maximum load that can be borne by the bamboo structure and the bending ofthe bamboo structure will be obtained. Data were compared with the theoretical calculation based on the study of Janssen's. The connection structure that can bear maximum load was sleeves and inserts which was 5.997 kN. The control samples bamboo maximum load was 4.504 kN. Meanwhile, half-lapped splice joint using 3 bolts and 2 bolts were 4.789 kN and 4.04 kN. Structural connections that carriedthe lowest load was side plate splice joint which was only 2.659 kN.Compared with the bending moment of Janssen’s theory, all the connections did not exceed the maximum allowable bending moment. This showed that the study was in accordance with the standards approved by Janssen's theory. The study found that the structure of connections that can be used in the construction work was sleeves and inserts

Emic and Ethic Knowledge of Bamboo’s Characteristic in Process of Making Angklung

Bamboo as raw material of angklung has not received special attention yet, whereas the quality of angklung will be highly influenced by the quality of bamboo as its main material. Only bamboo with certain character can produce angklung with the quality of good sound and proper tone. Unfortunately the knowledge of the local community regarding the characteristics of bamboo is still qualitative hence that the process of knowledge inheritance was obstructed. Therefore in this research, society knowledge (emic knowledge) will be translated scientifically in order to obtain the quantitative data of bamboo characteristic for angklung. The methods used was a qualitative and quantitative descriptive. The emic data was collected with deep interview with the selected informants in purposive. The key informant on this research was the owner of Bale Angklung Bandung. Quantifying emic data was conducting by the measurement and laboratory test of physical properties (the water content), chemical properties (the concentration of sugar reducing/Luff Schoorl) and anatomy (the density of vascular bundles). The measurement aimed to determine the reed diameter, the minimum length of internode, the physical condition of drying, the reed uprightness, the reed roundness, and the depreciation. The result showed that the scope of local knowledge regarding making angklung was varying. Not all of the craftsmen understood the steps and the characteristics of bamboo that used in the main material selection process. Some of bamboo characteristic for angklung could be quantifying, including the chosen bamboo which having 44 cm of minimum length, the reed uprightness was 45-90˚ above the ground, and the circles reed round with the maximum diameter change tolerate outside the reed is 0,15 cm. But there are still many more local knowledge that could not be construed scientifically so it needs further excavation. In main material selection process, the most treatment and bamboo characteristic selection was conducted to gather bamboo in the low water and sugar level at average 7.5% and 0.54%. The low water level will prevent the reed shrinks after drying process. After drying, the bamboo will be compact with the average of density vascular bundles is 142.63 number/mm

Preliminary Investigation on Bamboo Pulping

A preliminary investigation on bamboo pulping by Semi-Keebra process reveals that a higher pulp yield than that obtained by most of the known methods of pulping bamboo can be attained by Semi-Keebra process.* The chemical requirement for pulping is lower than the conventional processes and the spent liquor also contains a higher per cent of solids. The pulp obtained by Semi-Keebra pulp would also require a considerable lesser time for obtaining the desired freeness value, resulting in lower power consumption for stock preparation, than that for the conventional sulphate bamboo pulp of bleachable grade. A comparison of the various hand-sheet properties of the two pulps show that all properties other than density and breaking length are, however, lower in the case of Semi-Keebra bamboo pulp. It is, however, hoped that further investigation on optimum condition of Semi-Keebra process for bamboo pulping would show some further improvement in the strength properties

Identification and Characterization of the PEBP Family Genes in Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys heterocycla).

Moso bamboo is one of the economically most important plants in China. Moso bamboo is a monocarpic perennial that exhibits poor and slow germination. Thus, the flowering often causes destruction of moso bamboo forestry. However, how control of flowering and seed germination are regulated in moso bamboo is largely unclear. In this study, we identified 5 members (PhFT1-5) of the phosphatidyl ethanolamine-binding proteins (PEBP) family from moso bamboo genome that regulate flowering, flower architecture and germination, and characterized the function of these PEBP family genes further in Arabidopsis. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 3 (PhFT1, PhFT2 and PhFT3), 1 (PhFT4) and 1 (PhFT5) members belong to the TFL1-like clade, FT-like clade, and MFT-like clade, respectively. These PEBP family genes possess all structure necessary for PEBP gene function. The ectopic overexpression of PhFT4 and PhFT5 promotes flowering time in Arabidopsis, and that of PhFT1, PhFT2 and PhFT3 suppresses it. In addition, the overexpression of PhFT5 promotes seed germination rate. Interestingly, the overexpression of PhFT1 suppressed seed germination rate in Arabidopsis. The expression of PhFT1 and PhFT5 is significantly higher in seed than in tissues including leaf and shoot apical meristem, implying their function in seed germination. Taken together, our results suggested that the PEBP family genes play important roles as regulators of flowering and seed germination in moso bamboo and thereby are necessary for the sustainability of moso bamboo forest

The next widespread bamboo flowering poses a massive risk to the giant panda

The IUCN Red List has downgraded several species from “endangered” to “vulnerable” that still have largely unknown extinction risks. We consider one of those downgraded species, the giant panda, a bamboo specialist. Massive bamboo flowering could be a natural disaster for giant pandas. Using scenario analysis, we explored possible impacts of the next bamboo flowering in the Qinling and Minshan Mountains that are home to most giant pandas. Our results showed that the Qinling Mountains could experience large-scale bamboo flowering leading to a high risk of widespread food shortages for the giant pandas by 2020. The Minshan Mountains could similarly experience a large-scale bamboo flowering with a high risk for giant pandas between 2020 and 2030 without suitable alternative habitat in the surrounding areas. These scenarios highlight thus-far unforeseen dangers of conserving giant pandas in a fragmented habitat. We recommend advance measures to protect giant panda from severe population crashes when flowering happens. This study also suggests the need to anticipate and manage long-term risks to other downgraded species