Dual-purpose cereals have been important for increasing the flexibility and profitability of mixed farming enterprises in southern Australia, providing winter feed when pasture dry matter production is low, and then recovering to produce grain. A perennial dual-purpose cereal could confer additional economic and environmental benefits. We establish that, at the end of a second growth season, selected perennial cereals were able to achieve up to 10-fold greater below-ground biomass than a resown annual wheat. We review and expand the data on available, diverse, perennial, wheat-derived germplasm, confirming that perenniality is achievable but that further improvements are essential through targeted breeding.Although not yet commercially deployable, the grain yields and dry matter production of the best performing lines approach the benchmarks predicted to achieve profitability. On reviewing the genomic composition of the most promising wheatderived perennials, we conclude that the best near-term prospect of a productive breeding program for a perennial, wheatderived cereal will utilise a diploid, perennial donor species, and the most promising one thus far is Thinopyrum elongatum. Furthermore, the breeding should be aimed at complete wheat-Th. elongatum amphiploids, a hybrid synthetic crop analogous to triticale. We advocate the generation of many primary amphiploids involving a diversity of Th. elongatum accessions and a diversity of adapted annual wheat cultivars. Primary perennial amphiploids would be inter-crossed and advanced with heavy, early-generation selection for traits such as semi-dwarf plant height, non-shattering heads, large seed size and good self-fertility, followed by later generation selection for robust perenniality, days to flowering, grain yield, forage yield, stability of grain yield across seasons, and disease resistance.
Heavy metals are non-biodegradable substances which cause serious carcinogenic effects on animals and humans. As fish occupy top position of aquatic food chain, it is a major source of heavy metal contamination. The concentration of Cd, Cr, Pb, Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn were 0. 0156 -0.1428, 0.163 -8.53, 0.0924 -0.4026, 9.38 -65.9382, 0.0473 -0.1981 and 0.1473 -1.8148 ppm respectively for the fish samples of Cox's Bazar region while 0.0191 -0.1386, 0.8445 -0.1743, 0.102 -0.4625, 0.102 -0.4675, 9.7269 -60.5267, 0.3108 -0.046 ppm for the fish samples of Saint Martin's region. Comparatively high concentrations of heavy metals were found to be accumulated in Mola (Amblypharyngodon mola), Rupchanda (Stromateus chinensis) and Chhuri (Trichiurus lepturus). The order of heavy metal concentrations were Fe > Zn > Cr > Cu > Mn > Cd. The concentration of heavy metals varied from species to species and most of the metals were not significantly correlated, even some metals showed negative correlation among them. Concentration of Fe in some fishes (Mola, Rupchanda and Chhuri) was found higher than WHO guideline values, while other metals exhibited the value below the WHO standard. The results of this study will assist in acquiring information about the level of toxic metals in these regions and to improve the coastal management in these areas in future.
The aim of this study is to exploit a suitable chitosan extraction method from the chitin of indigenous shrimp shells by employing different physicochemical treatments and to improve different bioactive properties of this extracted chitosan (CS) by applying gamma radiation. Chitin was prepared from shrimp shell by pretreatment (deproteination, demineralization and oxidation). Chitosan was extracted from chitin by eight different methods varying different physicochemical parameters (reagent concentration, temperature and time) and assessed with respect to the degree of deacetylation, requirement of time and reagents. The method where chitin was repeatedly treated with 121°C for 30 min with 20 M NaOH, produced the highest degree of deacetylation (DD) value (92%) as measured by potentiometric titration, with the least consumption of time and chemicals, and thus, selected as the best suitable extraction method. For further quality improvement, chitosan with highest DD value was irradiated with different doses (i.e., 5, 10, 15, 20 and 50 kGy) of gamma radiation from cobalt-60 gamma irradiator. As the radiation dose was increased, the molecular weight of the wet irradiated chitosan, as measured by the viscosimetric method, decreased from 1.16 × 105 to 1.786 × 103, 1.518 × 103, 1.134 × 103, 1.046 × 103 and 8.23 × 102 dalton, respectively. The radiation treatment of chitosan samples increased the antimicrobial activity significantly in concentration dependent manner on both gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria, as determined by the well-diffusion method. Four to five percent wet chitosan treated with a radiation dose range of 5.0–10.0 kGy rendered the highest antimicrobial activity with least energy and time consumption. Solubility, water binding capacity (WBC) and fat binding capacity (FBC) also improved due to irradiation of chitosan.
The introduction of numerous exotic dung beetles across southern Australia in regions where native dung beetles are not generally efficient in processing livestock dung has resulted in significant reductions in the quantity of such dung on the soil surface in recent years. However, the direct impacts of such ecosystem services on pasture quality and soil nutrient mobility have not yet been investigated in detail in the Riverina region of New South Wales (NSW), an area recognised for prime cattle and sheep production in Australia. Utilising 48 soil columns for lysimetry, we quantified the impact of a common introduced dung beetle (Bubas bison) in this region on water quality after permeation through four different soil types sown to winter annual pastures. Dung beetle treatments included dung plus dung beetles, dung alone and no dung beetles, and no dung as a control. Dung beetles and soil type impacts on the performance of improved overseeded annual pastures as measured by biomass accumulation was assessed over a four-month growing season. The four soil types, namely, Chromosol, Kandosol, Rudosol, and Vertosol, differed considerably with respect to their water-holding capacity and nutrient profiles, as assessed by initial soil testing and soil leachate evaluation following rainfall plus simulated rainfall events. The concentration of Escherichia coli resulting from cattle dung, cattle dung plus beetles, and the control soils without dung or beetles was assessed in collected leachates over a three-month period. E. coli numbers were significantly increased following B. bison activity, when compared to the dung-only and control treatments. Evaluation of the soil microbiome, by assessing genomic DNA in soils sampled 10 cm below the soil surface where dung beetles remained active following tunnelling, revealed significant differences among soil types with respect to bacterial and fungal communities. Within each soil type, dung beetle activity impacted the fungal community structure, but not the bacterial community. Pasture performance as assessed by biomass accumulation was significantly improved following dung beetle activity in later stages of pasture growth, while E. coli numbers and total coliforms appeared unaffected by beetle presence.
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