Six 300-kg steers were each fed a 70% cracked corn plus corn silage diet at two levels of intake above maintenance with and without 3 mg monensin/kg.75 body weight (W.75). A changeover design was used. Dietary energy and nitrogen were partitioned by duplicate, 22-h indirect respiration calorimetry measurements of heat and methane production on each animal concurrent with 7-d total feces and urine collection trials. Feed and feces were analyzed for energy, N, starch and neutral detergent fiber (NDF). The partial efficiency and(or) heat increment of metabolizable energy (ME) used for gain and maintenance was partitioned by regression of energy storage vs intake. At equalized gross energy intakes (adjustments made by covariance), monensin improved (P less than .01) the apparent digestibilities of energy, from 71.8 to 74.8%; NDF, from 50.5 to 57.5%, and crude protein, from 61.6 to 65.8%. Methane production averaged 5.7% of the control gross energy (GE), but was reduced by 26% (P less than .01) by monensin additions. Metabolizable energy was increased (P less than .01) from 63.3 to 66.8% of gross energy intake by monensin, resulting in an increase (P less than .01) in retained energy (64.7 to 72.3 kcal/W.75). Heat production was increased (P less than .05) by monensin, but only in proportion to the increased ME. Daily energy retentions adjusted to equal ME intake were similar with or without monensin (69.9 vs 67.1 kcal/W.75). No significant effects of monensin on the heat increment of ME use for maintenance or gain were observed. Both NEm and NEg were improved by approximately 7% by monensin; however, the relative effect on NEm vs NEg depends on method of calculation. At equalized GE intakes, approximately one-third of the improved energy utilization was explained by the reduced methanogenesis caused by monensin and two-thirds by reduced fecal losses.
Fusarium wilt (FW), caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum (Atk.) W.C. Snyder & H.N. Hans (FOV), is one of the most destructive diseases in cotton (Gossypium spp.) worldwide. FOV race 4 (FOV4) is a highly virulent nominal race of this pathogen and is a significant threat to cotton production in the western and southwestern US and potentially the entire Cotton Belt. A field survey in three southern counties of New Mexico was conducted in 619 cotton fields in 2018-2020 to identify FOV4. From 132 samples of cotton plants that exhibited wilt symptoms, Fusarium spp. were the most frequently isolated group of fungal species with an isolation frequency of 57.4%. Eighty-four Fusarium spp. isolates were subsequently characterized by a DNA sequence analysis of three genes, EF-1α, PHO and BT encoding for translation elongation factor, phosphate permease and β-tubulin, respectively. Forty-two isolates were identified to be FOV4 from 10 cotton fields and confirmed with a positive 500 bp fragment that is diagnostic for FOV4. Twenty-six (62%) of the 42 FOV4 isolates were T type and the remainder (38%) were Null type with and without a Tfo1 insertion in PHO, respectively; and each FOV4-infested field contained the same FOV4 genotype. Ten representative FOV4 isolates with one each from the 10 FOV4-infested fields were evaluated for their pathogenicity on resistant Pima PHY 841 RF and susceptible Upland PHY 725 RF at 7, 14, 21, and 28 days post inoculation under temperature-controlled conditions at 21-22°C. Based on disease severity rating (DSR), mortality rate (MR) and the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) value, all the 10 isolates were pathogenic to both cotton cultivars and differed in virulence in that four isolates of the T genotype as a whole were more virulent than the six isolates of the N genotype. PHY 841 RF had significantly higher levels of resistance than PHY 725 RF to all FOV4 isolates. The results provide the first comprehensive account of the occurrence, distribution and virulence of FOV4 in cotton production in New Mexico and will be useful in developing an effective strategy to manage FW in both the state of New Mexico and entire southwestern Cotton Belt.
SummaryCottonseed, containing 22.5% protein, remains an under-utilized and under-valued resource because of the presence of toxic gossypol. RNAi-knockdown of d-cadinene synthase gene(s) was used to engineer plants that produced ultra-low gossypol cottonseed (ULGCS). In the original study, we observed that RNAi plants, a month or older, maintain normal complement of gossypol and related terpenoids in the roots, foliage, floral organs, and young bolls. However, the terpenoid levels and profile of the RNAi lines during the early stages of germination, under normal conditions and in response to pathogen exposure, had not been examined. Results obtained in this study show that during the early stages of seed germination ⁄ seedling growth, in both non-transgenic and RNAi lines, the tissues derived directly from bulk of the seed kernel (cotyledon and hypocotyl) synthesize little, if any new terpenoids. However, the growing root tissue and the emerging true leaves of RNAi seedlings showed normal, wild-type terpenoid levels. Biochemical and molecular analyses showed that pathogen-challenged parts of RNAi seedlings are capable of launching a terpenoid-based defence response. Nine different RNAi lines were monitored for five generations. The results show that, unlike the unstable nature of antisense-mediated low seed-gossypol phenotype, the RNAi-mediated ULGCS trait exhibited multi-generational stability.
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