BackgroundThe seroprevalence and risk factors of bovine brucellosis were studied at animal and herd level using a combination of culture, serological and molecular methods. The study was conducted in 253 randomly selected cattle herds of the Potohar plateau, Pakistan from which a total of 2709 serum (1462 cattle and 1247 buffaloes) and 2330 milk (1168 cattle and 1162 buffaloes) samples were collected. Data on risk factors associated with seroprevalence of brucellosis were collected through interviews using questionnaires. Univariable and multivariable random effects logistic regression models were used for identifying important risk factors at animal and herd levels.ResultsOne hundred and seventy (6.3%) samples and 47 (18.6%) herds were seropositive for brucellosis by Rose Bengal Plate test. Variations in seroprevalence were observed across the different sampling sites. At animal level, sex, species and stock replacement were found to be potential risk factors for brucellosis. At herd level, herd size (≥9 animals) and insemination method used were important risk factors. The presence of Brucella DNA was confirmed with a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay (qRT-PCR) in 52.4% out of 170 serological positive samples. In total, 156 (6.7%) milk samples were positive by milk ring test. B. abortus biovar 1 was cultured from 5 positive milk samples.ConclusionThis study shows that the seroprevalence of bovine brucellosis is high in some regions in Pakistan. Prevalence was associated with herd size, abortion history, insemination methods used, age, sex and stock replacement methods. The infected animal may act as source of infection for other animals and for humans. The development of control strategies for bovine brucellosis through implementation of continuous surveillance and education programs in Pakistan is warranted.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2394-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
We report a case of ciprofloxacin treatment failure in a typhoid fever patient at a tertiary care hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. This case shows not only the emergence of fluoroquinolone resistance in typhoid salmonellae but also the inadequacy of the current laboratory guidelines for detection of this resistance.
ABSTRACT. Cotton leaf curl virus disease is a major hurdle for successful cotton production in Pakistan. There has been considerable economic loss due to this disease during the last decade. It would be desirable to have cotton varieties resistant to this disease. We explored the possibility of transferring virus resistant genes from the wild species Gossypium stocksii into MNH-786, a cultivar of G. hirsutum. Hybridization was done under field condition at the Cotton Research Station, Multan, during 2010-11. Boll shedding was controlled by application of exogenous hormones. F 1 seeds were treated with 0.03% colchicine solution for 6 h and germinated. Cytological observations at peak squaring/flowering stage showed that these plants were hexaploid, having 2n = 6x = 78 chromosomes. The and size, bracteole area, bracteole dentation, flower size, pedicel size, and petal number and size. Moreover it possessed high fiber strength of 54.4 g/tex, which is 54% greater than that of the check variety, i.e. . The F 1 population did not show any symptom of CLCuVD in the field, tested by grafting with CLCuVD susceptible rootstock (var. S12). We conclude that it is possible to transfer CLCuVD resistance and high fiber strength from G. stocksii to G. hirsutum.
Zero tillage technology revealed with no use of any soil inverting technique
to grow crops. The crop plant seed is planted in the soil directly after
irrigation to make the soil soft without any replenishing in soil layers. A
study was conducted to evaluate cotton genotypes FH-114 and FH-142 for the
consecutive three years of growing seasons from 2013-15. The seed of both
genotypes was sown with two date of sowing, 1 March and 1 May of each three
years of sowing under three tillage treatments (zero tillage, minimum tillage
and conventional tillage) in triplicate completely randomized split-split
plot design. It was found from results that significant differences were
recorded for tillage treatments, date of sowing, genotypes and their
interactions. Multivariate analysis was performed to evaluate the yield and
it attributed traits for potential of FH-114 and FH-142 cotton genotypes. The
genotype FH-142 was found with higher and batter performance as compared to
FH-114 under zero tillage, minimum tillage and conventional tillage
techniques. The traits bolls per plant, boll weight, fibre fineness, fibre
strength, plant height, cotton yield per plant and sympodial branches per
plant were found as most contributing traits towards cotton yield and
production. It was also found that FH-142 gives higher output in terms of
economic gain under zero tillage with 54% increase as compared to
conventional tillage technique. It was suggested that zero tillage technology
should be adopted to improve cotton yield and quality. It was also
recommended that further study to evaluate zero tillage as potential
technology should be performed with different regions, climate and timing
throughout the world.
2.1. Evolution of G. arboreum L. in Pakistan Historically, farming community of Pakistan has been cultivating G. arboreum L. largely on drought prone areas till 1920s which was gradually replaced by the introduction of high yielding Upland cotton varieties. For the last two decades, less than 2% of the total cultivated area of cotton is under G. arboreum L. types, which is expected to further decline with the passage of time. Most cotton varieties/germplasm of G. arboreum L. in Pakistan has been bred by selecting variants-resulted due to limited cross pollination or mixing of seeds [20]. Consequently, it
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