ABSTRACT
Yellowing, stunting, and seedling death associated with cold stress is a common problem in many Asian countries for winter rice cultivation. Improvement of cultivars through marker-assisted selection of QTLs for cold tolerance at seedling stage from locally adapted germplasm/cultivar is the most effective and sustainable strategy to resolve this problem. A study was undertaken to map QTLs from 151 F2:3 progenies of a cross between a cold susceptible variety, BR1 and a locally adapted traditional indica cultivar, Hbj.BVI. A total of six significant QTLs were identified for two cold tolerance indices-cold-induced leaf discoloration and survival rate after a recovery period of seven days on chromosomes 6, 8, 11, and 12. Among these QTLs, qCTSL-8-1 and qCTSS-8-1 being co-localized into RM7027-RM339 on chromosome 8 and qCTSL-12-1 and qCTSS-12-1 into RM247-RM2529 on chromosome 12 showed 12.78 and 14.96% contribution, respectively, to the total phenotypic variation for cold tolerance. Validation of QTL effect in BC1F3 population derived a cross between a cold susceptible BRRI dhan28 and Hbj.BVI showed dominating effect of qCTSL-12-1 on cold tolerance at seedling stage and it became stronger when one or more other QTLs were co-segregated with it. These results suggest that the QTLs identified in this study are stable and effective on other genetic background also, which warrant the use of these QTLs for further study aiming to cultivar development for seedling stage cold tolerance.
ABSTRACT
Ticks feed exclusively on blood to obtain their nutrients, but the gene products that mediate blood-sucking processes in ticks are still unknown. We report here the molecular characterization and possible biological function of a cysteine protease inhibitor (HlSC-1) identified in the salivary gland of the ixodid tick Haemaphysalis longicornis. The HlSC-1 cDNA contains 423 bp that code for 140 amino acids with a predictable molecular weight of 12 kDa. The recombinant HlSC-1 expressed in Escherichia coli was shown to inhibit the activity of papain and cathepsin L, while cathepsin B activity was unaffected. Immunolocalization studies detected the endogenous enzyme in the salivary gland type II acini of an adult tick. Furthermore, quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of HlSC-1 transcripts was associated with blood-feeding processes and was highly up-regulated in the early phase of feeding. Our results strongly suggest that HlSC-1 may play pivotal roles in the blood-feeding processes.
Subject(s)
Insect Proteins/genetics , Insect Proteins/metabolism , Ixodidae/physiology , Salivary Cystatins/genetics , Salivary Cystatins/metabolism , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Blood , Cathepsin B/antagonists & inhibitors , Cathepsin L/antagonists & inhibitors , Cloning, Molecular , Eating/physiology , Escherichia coli/genetics , Gene Expression , Gene Expression Profiling , Insect Proteins/isolation & purification , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Microscopy, Fluorescence , Molecular Sequence Data , Papain/antagonists & inhibitors , Rabbits , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Salivary Cystatins/isolation & purification , Salivary Glands/chemistry , Sequence Alignment , Up-RegulationABSTRACT
This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among the students of the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to assess their knowledge and attitudinal variables towards voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation. Two hundred students were selected to participate in this study and were interviewed face to face on various aspects of blood donation using a structured questionnaire. Eighty two per cent of the participants showed a positive attitude towards blood donation, however, only 16 per cent of the respondents in this study had actually ever donated blood voluntarily. Among the non-donor respondents, physical harm and fear were found to be the common reasons for not donating blood. The results also showed that a high number of respondents (93%) had a negative attitude towards paid blood donation. We suggest that appropriate motivational campaign should be launched immediately among this young section of the population to convert this favourable "attitude" towards blood donation into a regular "practice" in order to increase the voluntary blood donation in Bangladesh.
Subject(s)
Blood Donors , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Students/psychology , Universities , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Bangladesh , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Surveys and Questionnaires , VolunteersABSTRACT
1. One hundred and forty four Shaver broiler chicks (Starbro 15) were reared from 4 d to 56 d of age on 4 types of litter: sawdust, paddy straw, sand and rice husk each spread to a depth of 75 mm. 2. Birds reared on rice husk litter showed the greatest food consumption, greatest weight gain, best food conversion efficiency and scored highest in production number. 3. Survivability was also highest with rice husk group (94.4%) but differences in this variable were not thought to be attributable to types of litter. 4. Breast blisters were found only in birds reared on sand (8.3%). 5. It was concluded that rice husk is a suitable litter for rearing broilers on the floor, particularly in paddy-growing countries.
