Digital Commons Network^™

B.R. Wells Rice Research Studies 2004, R. J. Norman, J. F. Meullenet, K. A.K. Moldenhauer

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Modeling Techniques For Cattle Heat Stress Prediction, T. M. Brown-Brandl, David D. Jones, Wayne Woldt

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Researchers have traditionally predicted animal responses by means of statistical models. This study was conducted to evaluate modeling techniques. One hundred and twenty-eight feedlot heifers were observed during a 2-month period during the summer of 2002. Respiration rate and surface temperature were taken on a random sample of 40 animals twice a day. Five different models (two statistical models, two fuzzy inference systems, and one neural network) were developed using 70% of this data, and then tested using the remaining 30%. Results showed that the neural network described the most variation in test data (68%), followed by the data-dependent fuzzy …

High-Throughput Immunoblotting Identifies Biotin-Dependent Signaling Proteins In Hepg2 Hepatocarcinoma Cells1, Rocio Rodriguez-Melendez, Jacob B. Griffin, Gautam Sarath, Janos Zempleni

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Biotin affects the abundance of mRNA coding for ~10% of genes expressed in human-derived hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cells. Here, we determined whether effects of biotin on gene expression are associated with changes in the abundance of distinct proteins in cell signaling and structure. HepG2 cells were cultured in media containing the following concentrations of biotin: 0.025 nmol/L (denoted “deficient”), 0.25 nmol/L (“physiological” = control), and 10 nmol/L (“pharmacological”) for 10 d before harvesting. The abundance of 1009 proteins from whole-cell extracts was quantified by using high-throughput immunoblots. The abundance of 44 proteins changed by at least 25% in biotin-deficient and biotin-supplemented …

Plant Adaptation Regions: Ecological And Climatic Classification Of Plant Materials, Kenneth P. Vogel, Marty R. Schmer, Robert B. Mitchell

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The effective use of plant materials for an array of objectives including conservation, restoration, renovation, landscaping, and bioremediation requires knowledge of the adaptation of each species and, more specifically, knowledge of the adaptation of cultivars, strains, accessions, or ecotypes of a species to specific sites or regions. For agronomic and horticultural plants, specific adaptation information has been and continues to be developed by extensive testing. Rangeland, grassland, park, and restoration project managers often lack the resources to determine adaptation areas for plant materials because of the large number of species that are used and the extensive geographical areas that are …

Field Evaluation Of Herbicides On Vegetables And Small Fruits 2004, Ronald E. Talbert, Colleen M. Thomas, Brian V. Ottis, Andrew T. Ellis

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Herbicide evaluation studies on vegetables and small fruits were conducted in 2004 at the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station at Fayetteville, AR, in an effort to evaluate new herbicides, herbicide mixtures, and their application timings for weed control efficacy and crop tolerance. Results of these studies, in part, provide useful information to producers, fellow researchers, the Crop Protection Industry, and the IR-4 Minor Crop Pest Management Program in the development of potential new herbicide uses in vegetable, and fruit.

Agricultural Systems For Saline Soil: The Potential Role Of Livestock, David G. Masters, H C. Norman, E G. Barrett-Lennard

Natural Resources Research Articles

Human-induced soil salinity is becoming a major threat to agriculture across the world. This salinisation occurs in both irrigated and rain-fed agricultural zones with the highest proportions in the arid and semi-arid environments. Livestock can play an important role in the management and rehabilitation of this land. There are a range of plants that grow in saline soils and these have been used as animal feed. In many situations, animal production has been poor as a result of low edible biomass production, low nutritive value, depressed appetite, or a reduction in efficiency of energy use. Feeding systems are proposed that …

Soil Surveys: A Window To The Subsurface, Douglas A. Wysocki, P. J. Schoeneberger, H. E. Lagarry

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Soils and underlying parent materials form a continuous system we must understand and manage in total. Numerous concerns (e.g., water quality, on-site waste disposal, landfill placement, and nutrient or pesticide movement) require an integrated knowledge and understanding of soil, the soil-to-substratum transition, and the deeper substratum. Soil C-horizons can exceed the thickness of the overlying A and B-horizons and contain unique morphological properties. The subsolum including C-horizons receives less descriptive emphasis than upper soil horizons. Soil scientists map and classify soils mainly on A and B-horizon properties. Soil forming and hydrologic processes that impart morphological features, however, extend considerably below …

Why Is Maize A Sacred Plant? Social History And Agrarian Change On Sumba, Cynthia Twyford Fowler

Faculty Scholarship

Why has maize, a plant with origins in the New World, become ritually important in an indigenous Southeast Asian religion? While environmental conditions and agricultural economics are key determinants of everyday resource management practices in insular Southeast Asia, it is necessary to consider ethnic identity, political economy, and social structure in order to understand the religious significance of natural resources in contemporary society. Linguistic, cosmological, and horticultural data are combined with an analysis of local perceptions of culture and environment. This information is used to explain the transformation of an introduced plant into an indigenous sacrament. Ethnographic data, including a …

Intsormil 2005 Annual Report, John M. Yohe, Kimberly Christiansen, Joan Frederick

INTSORMIL Impacts and Bulletins

The 2005 INTSORMIL Annual Report presents the progress and notable achievements by the SorghumiMillet CRSP during the period of July 1, 2004 - June 30, 2005. These results are an outcome of partnerships between scientists at six U.S. Land Grant Universities (Kansas State University, Mississippi State University, University of Nebraska, Purdue University, Texas A&M University and West Texas A&M University) and scientists of the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture at Tifton, Georgia and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) and National Universities in nineteen countries in Central America, West Africa, East Africa and Southern Afflca.

Agricultural research …

An Inventory Of Rangelands In Part Of The Broome Shire, Western Australia, W E. Cotching

Technical Bulletins

The inventory of rangelands in part of the Broome Shire in Western Australia was undertaken by DAFWA between 1989 and 1990. It describes and maps the natural resources of the region’s pastoral leasehold land. This survey report provides a baseline record of the existence and condition of the natural area’s resources, to assist with the planning and implementation of land management practices. The report identified and described the condition of soils, landforms, vegetation, habitat, ecosystems, and declared plants and animals. It also assessed the impact of pastoralism and made land management recommendations. The survey of part of the Broome Shire …

Science-Based Organic Farming 2005: Toward Local And Secure Food Systems, Charles A. Francis, Twyla Hansen, Peter Skelton

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Organic farming includes growing food and fiber — animals, agronomic crops, horticultural fruits and vegetables, related products — as one dynamic and rapidly evolving component of our complex U.S. food system. Even as more farmers are moving toward organic certification and participation in an environmentally sound and economically lucrative market, questions arise about the long-term social impacts and sustainability of a set of practices that has gone from a movement to an industry. Consolidations in the organic trade have brought multinational corporations to the table, as they have observed a grassroots activity that has grown by 20% per year for …

Seasonal Acceptance Of Fourwing Saltbush By Sheep When Crested Wheatgrass Is The Alternative, Christine W. Royer, R. D. Horrocks, Val J. Anderson, Stephen B. Monsen

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Many sagebrush-grass ranges have been seeded to crested wheatgrass [Agropyron desertorum (Fischer ex Link) Shultes]. These ranges are generally nutritionally inadequate for sheep (Ovis aries L.), except for short grazing periods in the spring and fall. To increase production and diversity, particularly crude protein for late-season grazing, fourwing saltbush [Atriplex canescens (Pursch.) Nutt.] was planted in an existing stand of crested wheatgrass. Quantification of sheep forage preferences on these improved ranges aids in determining the length of the grazing season and the extent to which shrubs provide the supplemental nutrition required. This seasonal grazing study was conducted …

Herbivory Alters Resource Allocation And Compensation In The Invasive Tree Melaleuca Quinquenervia, P. D. Pratt, M. B. Rayamajhi, T. K. Van, T. D. Center, P. W. Tipping

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The Australian native Melaleuca quinquenervia is highly invasive in the Florida Everglades, U.S.A., where it experiences limited competition or herbivory from native species, making it a likely candidate for compensation. The introduced biological control agent Oxyops vitiosa feeds exclusively on the seasonal flushes of developing foliage at branch apices, which represents ~ 15% of the total foliar biomass.

Plant Functional Group Diversity As A Mechanism For Invasion Resistance, Monica L. Pokorny, Roger L. Sheley, Catherine A. Zabinski, Richard E. Engel, Tony J. Svejcar, John J. Borkowski

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

A commonly cited mechanism for invasion resistance is more complete resource use by diverse plant assemblages with maximum niche complementarity. We investigated the invasion resistance of several plant functional groups against the nonindigenous forb Spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa). The study consisted of a factorial combination of seven functional group removals (groups singularly or in combination) and two C. maculosa treatments (addition vs. no addition) applied in a randomized complete block design replicated four times at each of two sites.

Phosphorus Dynamics In Broiler Litter-Amended Soils, A. Adeli, K. R. Sistani, M. F. Bal'a, D. E. Rowe

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Because land application of broiler litter is commonly made in the spring before cropping season and in the fall, it is essential to understand how environmental variations, such as temperature, affect the phosphorus (P) dynamics. A laboratory incubation study was conducted at Waste Management and Forage Research Unit, USDAARS with the objective of determining the effects of temperature and soil properties on water-soluble P (WSP), Mehlich 3 P, and P fractions in broiler litter-amended soils. Broiler litter was mixed with three soils (Leeper silty clay, Grenada silt loam, and Ruston sandy loam) at the rate of 10 Mg ha^{-1 …}

Molecular Evolution Of Herbicide Resistance To Phytoene Desaturase Inhibitors In Hydrilla Verticillata And Its Potential Use To Generate Herbicide-Resistant Crops, R. S. Arias, Michael D. Netherland, Brian E. Scheffler, Atul Puri, Franck E. Dayan

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Hydrilla [Hydrilla verticillata (Lf) Royle] is one of the most serious invasive aquatic weed problems in the USA. This plant possesses numerous mechanisms of vegetative reproduction that enable it to spread very rapidly. Management of this weed has been achieved by the systemic treatment of water bodies with the herbicide fluridone. At least three dioecious fluridone-resistant biotypes of hydrilla with two- to fivefold higher resistance to the herbicide than the wild-type have been identified. Resistance is the result of one of three independent somatic mutations at the arginine 304 codon of the gene encoding phytoene desaturase, the molecular target …

Effect Of Oxygen Management On Culture Performance Of Channel Catfish In Earthen Ponds, Eugene L. Torrans

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Aeration allows for higher feeding rates and increased production of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus in intensive and semi-intensive aquaculture systems. However, the effect of specific dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations on various production parameters remains unknown. The purpose of this 2-year study was to determine the effect of daily minimum DO concentration on channel catfish production. Six 0.1-ha ponds were each equipped with three 0.37-kW (0.5-hp) aerators and one 0.37-kW circulator. Dissolved oxygen concentrations were monitored and recorded with a commercial oxygen monitor that also controlled aeration. During both years, aeration in the high-oxygen treatment was initiated when the DO concentration …

Abundance Of Plodia Interpunctella (Hubner) And Cadra Cautella (Walker) Infesting Maize Stored On South Carolina Farms: Seasonal And Non-Seasonal Variation, Richard T. Arbogast, Shahpar R. Chini

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Seasonal trends and short-term fluctuations in abundance of Plodia interpunctella (Hubner) and Cadra cautella (Walker) infesting maize stored on two South Carolina farms were studied during three storage seasons (September 1990–June 1993). Coils of corrugated paper placed on the grain surface were used to trap mature larvae seeking pupation sites. Temperatures in the grain (18-cm-deep) and in the bin headspace were recorded hourly, and grain moisture content was measured weekly. Weekly mean numbers of moth larvae, and adults of two natural enemies, trapped in the coils were used for tracking changes in their abundance over time. The most significant findings …

Cryptic Plasmid Psku146 From The Wall-Less Plant Pathogen Spiroplasma Kunkelii Encodes An Adhesin And Components Of A Type Iv Translocation-Related Conjugation System, Robert E. Davis, Ellen L. Dally, Rasa Jomantiene, Yan Zhao, Bruce Roe, Shaoping Lin, Jonathan Shao

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

A cryptic plasmid of the wall-less plant pathogenic mollicute, Spiroplasma kunkelii CR2-3X, was cloned and its sequence analyzed. The 14,615 bp plasmid, designated pSKU146, has a nucleotide content of 28 mol% G + C, and contains 18 potential protein-coding regions (open reading frames, ORFs), of which six encode proteins that exhibit similarity to virulence-associated proteins involved in cell-to-cell adhesion or conjugal DNA transfer. One ORF encodes a 96 kDa protein, SkARP1, that is highly similar to SARP1 adhesin involved in attachment of Spiroplasma citri to insect vector gut membrane. Five ORFs encode proteins similar to TraE and Mob in walled …

Carbaryl Resistance In Mexican Strains Of The Southern Cattle Tick (Acari: Ixodidae), Andrew Y. Li, Ronald B. Davey, John E. George

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Susceptibility to carbaryl in six Mexican strains of the southern cattle tick, Boophilus microplus (Canestrini), was evaluated with the Food and Agricultural Organization larval packet test. Tick strains from the cattle fever tick quarantine zone in Texas were more susceptible to carbaryl than to coumaphos or diazinon. Compared with the susceptible reference (Gonzalez) strain, Mexican tick strains demonstrated 10.9Ð59.5-fold resistance to carbaryl. SigniÞcant cross-resistance was found between carbaryl and the organophosphate acaricides coumaphos and diazinon. Bioassay results with synergists suggested that metabolic detoxification mechanisms did not play a major role in carbaryl resistance. Resistance to carbaryl was likely conferred by …

Insect Transmission Of Plant Pathogens, Rodrigo P. P. Almeida, Astri Wayadande, Todd Shelly

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Much of biological research conducted today is multidisciplinary, partly because of the availability of ever simpler to use molecular tools and the realization that ecological systems are complex and multitrophic. Although there is a general trend toward academic specialization and cooperation, some fields still require that scientists be aware of the “bigger picture.” We consider that the study of insect-transmitted plant pathogens is one of those fields, where insect, pathogen, and plant are inseparably linked. In this triangle of interactions, researchers focus their interests on questions at the molecular and cellular to epidemiological levels. Throughout the years, plant vector entomologists …

Maintenance Of A Narrow Host Range By Oxyops Vitiosa; A Biological Control Agent Of Melaleuca Quinquenervia, G. S. Wheeler

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Host range expansion in insect herbivores is often thought to be mediated by several factors, principal among them are secondary plant metabolites. In weed biological control, the host range of a prospective agent is one of the most important considerations in its implementation. Extensive host testing tests seek to determine the behavioral acceptance and nutritional value of different test plant species to the potential agent. A list of test plants is compiled that comprises species that are close taxonomic relatives of the target weed plus other species of economic or ecologic importance. The host testing of the Melaleuca quinquenervia biological …

Integration Of Co 2 Flux And Remotelysensed Data For Primary Production And Ecosystem Respiration Analyses In The Northern Great Plains: Potential For Quantitative Spatial Extrapolation, Tagir G. Gilmanov, Larry L. Tieszen, Bruce K. Wylie, Larry B. Flanagan, Albert B. Frank, Marshall R. Haferkamp, Tilden P. Meyers, Jack A. Morgan

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Aim Extrapolation of tower CO₂ fluxes will be greatly facilitated if robust relationships between flux components and remotely sensed factors are established. Long-term measurements at five Northern Great Plains locations were used to obtain relationships between CO₂ fluxes and photosynthetically active radiation (Q), other on-site factors, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the SPOT VEGETATION data set.

Isolation And Characterization Of A Bovine Visceral Endoderm Cell Line Derived From A Parthenogenetic Blastocyst, Neil C. Talbot, Thomas J. Caperna, Anne M. Powell, Alan D. Ealy, Le Ann Blomberg, Wesley M. Garrett

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

A cell line, BPE-1, was derived from a parthenogenetic 8-d in vitro-produced bovine blastocyst that produced a cell outgrowth on STO feeder cells. The BPE-1 cells resembled visceral endoderm previously cultured from blastocysts produced by in vitro fertilization (IVF). Analysis of the BPE-1 cells demonstrated that they produced serum proteins and were negative for interferon-tau production (a marker of trophectoderm). Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the cells were a polarized epithelium connected by complex junctions resembling tight junctions in conjunction with desmosomes. Rough endoplasmic reticulum was prominent within the cells as were lipid vacuoles. Immunocytochemistry indicated the BPE-1 cells …

Laboratory Bioassays Of Entomopathogenic Fungi For Control Of Delia Radicum (L.) Larvae, Denny J. Bruck, Jane E. Snelling, Amy J. Dreves, Stefan T. Jaronski

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Laboratory soil bioassays were performed at economic Weld rates for in-furrow (3.85 x 10⁶ spores/g dry soil) and broadcast (3.85 x 10⁵ spores/g dry soil) applications with three isolates of Metarhizium anisopliae (F52, ATCC62176, and ARSEF5520) and one isolate of Beauveria bassiana (GHA). All isolates tested were infective to second instar Delia radicum (L.). The conditionally registered M. anisopliae isolate (F52) performed best killing an average of 85 and 72% of D. radicum larvae at the high and low concentration, respectively. The mean LC50 and LC95 of F52 against second instar D. radicum was 2.7 x 10^{6 …}

Apoplastic Redox Metabolism: Synergistic Phenolic Oxidation And A Novel Oxidative Burst, C. Jacyn Baker, Daniel P. Roberts, Norton M. Mock, Bruce D. Whitaker, Kenneth L. Deahl, Andrey A. Aver'yanov

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The plant apoplast is an important mediator of communication between the cell cytoplasm and its surroundings. Plant cell suspensions offer a convenient model system to gain insight into apoplastic physiology. Here, we describe a novel phenomenon that took place when two naturally occurring phenolics were added together to either soybean or tobacco cell suspensions. Acetosyringone (AS) and/or hydroxyacetophenone (HAP), phenolics found in the extracellular/apoplast of tobacco cells, were added to soybean or tobacco cell suspensions undergoing an oxidative burst. Individually, AS appeared to be utilized as a typical peroxidase substrate to scavenge hydrogen peroxide, while HAP was utilized at a …

From Metchnikoff To Monsanto And Beyond: The Path Of Microbial Control, Jeffrey C. Lord

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

In 125 years since Metchnikoff proposed the use of Metarhizium anisopliae to control the wheat cockchafer and brought about the first field trials, microbial control has progressed from the application of naturalists’ observations to biotechnology and precision delivery. This review highlights major milestones in its evolution and presents a perspective on its current direction. Fungal pathogens, the most eye-catching agents, dominated the early period, but major mycological control efforts for chinch bugs and citrus pests in the US had questionable success, and interest waned. The discoveries of Bacillus popilliae and Bacillus thuringiensis began the era of practical and commercially viable …

Composition Of Irrigation Water Salinity Affects Growth Characteristics And Uptake Of Selenium And Salt Ions By Soybean, D. Wang, C. M. Grieve, D. L. Suarez

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

A greenhouse study was conducted to determine the effects of irrigation waters differing in salt composition on growth characteristics, salt ion and selenium (Se) accumulation, and distribution in plant components of the soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) cultivar “Manokin.” Plants were grown in sand cultures and irrigated with isoosmotic solutions containing (1) Cl⁻ as the dominant anion, or (2) a mixture of salts containing equal molar amounts of SO_^2-4  and Cl⁻. Six treatments of each salinity type were imposed. Electrical conductivities of the irrigation waters ranged from 2.1 to 13.0 dSm⁻¹. Selenium …

Key Grazing Levels (Foo Targets) For Pasture And Sheep Management, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Animal production and livestock published reports

Food On Offer (FOO) is the amount of pasture in front of an animal, and is measured in kilograms Dry Matter per hectare. Managing pastures to key grazing levels - or FOO targets - can result in improved production of grazing systems in Mediterranean environments which are characterized by slow winter growth, peak spring growth and dry summers. These targets vary according to what production response is required.

This information sheet illustrates key target FOO for sheep grazing annual pastures during autumn and spring.

Field Assessment Of The Risk Posed By Diorhabda Elongata, A Biocontrol Agent For Control Of Saltcedar (Tamarix Spp.), To A Nontarget Plant, Frankenia Salina, Tom L. Dudley, David J. Kazmer

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The biological control program for saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) has led to open releases of a specialist beetle (Chrysomelidae: Diorhabda elongata) in several research locations, but the controversy over potential impacts to native, nontarget plants of the genus Frankenia remains unresolved. To assess the potential for nontarget impacts under Weld conditions, we installed cultivated Frankenia spp. (primarily two forms of Frankenia salina but also including Frankenia jamesii) at locations in Nevada and Wyoming where D. elongata densities and saltcedar defoliation were expected to be very high, so insects would be near starvation with high probability of attacking nontargets …