Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a commonly occurring and highly disabling disorder. The neuropeptide oxytocin and its receptor (OXTR) have been implicated in social cognition and behavior. This study-for the first time applying a multilevel epigenetic approachinvestigates the role of OXTR gene methylation in categorical, dimensional, and intermediate neuroendocrinological/neural network phenotypes of social anxiety. A total of 110 unmedicated patients with SAD and matched 110 controls were analyzed for OXTR methylation by direct sequencing of sodium bisulfite-converted DNA extracted from whole blood. Furthermore, OXTR methylation was investigated regarding SAD-related traits (Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS)), salivary cortisol response during the Trier social stress test (TSST), and amygdala responsiveness to social phobia related verbal stimuli using fMRI. Significantly decreased OXTR methylation particularly at CpG Chr3: 8 809 437 was associated with (1) the categorical phenotype of SAD (po0.001, Cohen's d ¼ 0.535), (2) increased SPS and SIAS scores (po0.001), (3) increased cortisol response to the TSST (p ¼ 0.02), and (4) increased amygdala responsiveness during social phobia-related word processing (right: p corr o0.001; left: p corr ¼ 0.005). Assuming that decreased OXTR methylation confers increased OXTR expression, the present finding may reflect a compensatory upregulation for pathologically reduced oxytocin levels or a causally relevant increased OXTR activation in SAD and related traits. OXTR methylation patterns might thus serve as peripheral surrogates of oxytocin tone and aid in establishing accessible biomarkers of SAD risk allowing for indicated preventive interventions and personalized treatment approaches targeting the oxytocin system.

Mechanisms involved in mineral stress tolerance of cool‐season grasses infected by Neotyphodium spp. endophytes are not known. In a controlled‐environment experiment, two genotypes (DN2 and DN4) of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) infected (E+) with their naturally occurring strains of N. coenophialum (Morgan‐Jones and Gams) Glenn, Bacon and Hanlin, and their non‐infected (E−) isolines were cultivated in nutrient solution at two phosphorus (P) levels of 31 mg P dm−3 (P+) and 0.31 mg P dm−3 (P−) for 3 weeks. Diameters of lateral roots, root hair length, and distance between root hairs were recorded using a digital image analysis system (Dage 72S CCD camera controlled by a Power MacIntosh 7200/120PC compatible computer equipped with an AG‐5 frame grabber board and NIH‐Image). Irrespective of tall fescue genotype and P level in nutrient solution, E+ plants had roots with a smaller diameter (16 %) than E− plants. In response to P deficiency, root diameter of E+ plants declined by 11 % and root hair length increased by 17 % when compared to E− plants. Altered root diameter and root hair length might be one of the mineral stress tolerance mechanisms in endophyte‐infected tall fescue.

High grazing pressure can lead to soil erosion in pastures, causing increased sediment delivery to waterways. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the impact of grazing management and buffer strips on soil erosion by assessing soil physical properties, hydrology, and sediment loads from pastures fertilized with broiler litter. Field studies were conducted for 12 yr on 15 small watersheds. Five management strategies were evaluated: hayed (H), continuously grazed (CG), rotationally grazed (R), rotationally grazed with a buffer strip (RB), and rotationally grazed with a fenced riparian buffer (RBR). Broiler litter was applied every year at a rate of 5.6 Mg ha. Bulk density and penetration resistance were highest for CG watersheds. Runoff volumes, sediment concentrations, and loads were lowest for the H and RBR treatments and highest for CG. Average runoff amounts were 48, 84, 77, 60, and 81 mm yr for the H, R, RB, RBR, and CG treatments, respectively. Annual average sediment loads were 25, 30, 58, 71, and 110 kg ha for H, RBR, R, RB, and CG, respectively. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, Version 2 was reasonably effective at predicting soil loss for the R, RB, and RBR treatments, but it greatly overpredicted soil loss from the CG and H treatments. Converting a pasture to a hay field or using rotational grazing in conjunction with a fenced riparian buffer appear to be effective options for reducing soil erosion and runoff to waterways from pasture soils.

Methane gas from livestock production activities is a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which have been shown to influence climate change. New technologies offer a potential to manipulate the rumen biome through genetic selection reducing CH 4 production. Methane production may also be mitigated to varying degrees by various dietary intervention strategies. Strategies to reduce GHG emissions need to be developed which increase ruminant production efficiency whereas reducing production of CH 4 from cattle, sheep, and goats. Methane emissions may be efficiently mitigated by manipulation of natural ruminal microbiota with various dietary interventions and animal production efficiency improved. Although some CH 4 abatement strategies have shown efficacy in vivo, more research is required to make any of these approaches pertinent to modern animal production systems. The objective of this review is to explain how anti-methanogenic compounds (e.g., plant tannins) affect ruminal microbiota, reduce CH 4 emission, and the effects on host responses. Thus, this review provides information relevant to understanding the impact of tannins on methanogenesis, which may provide a cost-effective means to reduce enteric CH 4 production and the influence of ruminant animals on global GHG emissions.

A general model for the sorption of trivalent cations to wheat-root (Triticum aestivum L cv. Scout 66) plasma membranes (PM) has been developed and includes the first published coefficients for La3+ and Al3+ binding to a biological membrane. Both ions are rhizotoxic, and the latter ion is the principal contributor to the toxicity of acidic soils around the world. The model takes into account both the electrostatic attraction and the binding of cations to the negatively charged PM surface. Ion binding is modeled as the reaction P- + IZ <==> 'PIZ-1 in which P- represents a negatively charged PM ligand, located in an estimated area of 540 A2, and IZ represents an ion of charge Z. Binding constants for the reaction were assigned for K+ (1 M-1) and Ca2+ (30 M-1) and evaluated experimentally for La3+ (2200 M-1) and H+ (21,500 M-1). Al sorption is complicated by Al3+ hydrolysis that yields hydroxoaluminum species that are also sorbed. Binding constants of 30 and 1 M-1 were assigned for AlOH2+ and Al(OH)+2, respectively, then a constant for Al3+ (20,000 m-1) was evaluated experimentally using the previously obtained values for K+, Ca2+ and H+ binding. Electrostatic attraction was modeled according to Gouy-Chapman theory. Evaluation of parameters was based upon the sorption of ions to PM vesicles suspended in solutions containing variable concentrations of H+, Ca2+ and La3+ or Al3+. Use of small volumes, and improved assay techniques, allowed the measurement of concentration depletions caused by sorption to vesicles. Some independent confirmation of our model is provided by substantial agreement between our computations and two published reports of La3+ effects upon zeta potentials of plant protoplasts. The single published report concerning the electrostatic effects of Al on cell membranes is in essential agreement with the model.

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The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is one of the most widely used watershed models for simulating hydrology in response to agricultural management practices. However, limited studies have been performed to evaluate the SWAT model's ability to estimate daily and monthly evapotranspiration (ET) in semiarid regions. ET values were simulated using ArcSWAT 2012 for a lysimeter field managed under dryland conditions at the USDA‐ARS Conservation and Production Research Laboratory at Bushland, Texas, and compared with measured lysimeter values from 2000 to 2010. Two scenarios were performed to compare SWAT's performance: (1) use of default plant leaf area index (LAI) values in the embedded plant database and (2) adjusted LAI values. Scenario 1 resulted in an “unsatisfactory” Nash‐Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of 0.42 and 0.38 for the calibration and validation periods, respectively. Scenario 2 resulted in a “satisfactory” NSE value for the calibration period while achieving a “good” NSE of 0.70 for the validation period. SWAT generally underestimated ET at both the daily and monthly levels. Overestimation during fallow years may be due to the limitations of the pothole function used to simulate furrow diking. Users should be aware of potential errors associated with using default LAI parameters. Inaccuracies in ET estimation may also stem from errors in the plant stress functions, particularly when evaluating water management practices for dryland watersheds.

Proton transport by the nitrate-insensitive, vanadate-sensitive ATPase in KI-washed microsomes and reconstituted vesicles from maize (Zea mays L.) roots was followed by changes in acridine orange absorbance in the presence of either KNO3 or KCI. Data from such studies obeyed a kinetic model in which net proton transport by the pump is the difference between the rate of proton transport by the action of the ATPase and the leak of protons from the vesicles in the direction opposite from the pump. After establishing the steady state proton gradient, the rate of return of transported protons was found to obey first-order kinetics when the activity of the ATPase was completely and rapidly stopped. The rate of return of these protons varied with the quencher used. When the substrate Mg:ATP was depleted by the addition of either EDTA or hexokinase, the rate at which the proton gradient collapsed was faster than when vanadate was used as the quencher. These trends were independent of the anion accompanying the K and the transport assay used.Membranes from maize roots have been shown to contain at least two proton transporting ATPases (6,28). One ofthese pumps is localized on the tonoplast membrane and is similar to other vacuolar type ATPases being inhibited by NEM and nitrate, but insensitive to vanadate (7,28). The other pump is believed to be localized on the plasma membrane and similar to other E1-E2 type ATPase in forming an aspartyl phosphate intermediate, being sensitive to vanadate and utilizing Mg-ATP as substrate (1,4,6,7,25,28). Transport ATPases of the El -E2 type have been shown to exist in at least two different conformational states depending on the ligands bound to the enzyme (1, 25). These conformational states have been deduced by changes in susceptibility to proteolytic degradation ( 19 and references cited therein) and fluorescence of aromatic amino acids within the protein (14,16) and covalently bound probes (15). It has been postulated that the changes in protein structure are essential for ion movement (25), because the conformation of the E 1-E2 type ATPase is affected by binding of transported cation (14).Characterization of proton transport by the vanadate-sensitive pump from maize roots has been slowed because of difficulties in purifying plasma membranes with competent transport activities. Problems in isolating these membranes arise from the abundance of proteases in membrane fractions (8) and the presence of lipolytic activities which affect membrane integrity (3). Recent advances in purification of membranes from roots have allowed isolation of vesicles with vanadate-sensitive proton transport (6, 7, 10). Additionally, several reconstitution protocols have been developed to insert the vanadate-sensitive ATPase into liposomes (3,26).In a recent article (28), a kinetic model for describing proton transport by the tonoplast ATPase was proposed. This model quantifies the overall process of proton transport by simultaneously considering the pumping and the leakage of protons from membra...