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Tnt Biotransformation And Detoxification By A Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Strain, Byung-Taek Oh, Patrick J. Shea, Rhae A. Drijber, Galina K. Vasilyeva, Gautam Sarath

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

Successful microbial-mediated remediation requires transformation pathways that maximize metabolism and minimize the accumulation of toxic products. Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain MX, isolated from munitionscontaminated soil, degraded 100 mg TNT L^-1 in culture medium within 10 h under aerobic conditions. The major TNT products were 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2ADNT, primarily in the supernatant) and 2,2′- azoxytoluene (2,2′AZT, primarily in the cell fraction), which accumulated as major products via the intermediate 2-hydroxylamino-4,6-dinitrotoluene(2HADNT). The 2HADNT and 2,2′AZT were relatively less toxic to the strain than TNT and 2ADNT. Aminodinitrotoluene (ADNT) production increased when yeast extract was added to the medium. While TNT transformation rate was …

Converting A Pasture To A Silvopasture In The Pacific Northwest, Steven H. Sharrow, Rick Fletcher

Agroforestry Notes (USDA-NAC)

Forestry and livestock production are mainstays of the natural resource-based economies of many rural communities in the western United States and Canada. Regenerating mixed conifer forests may produce considerable amounts of ground vegetation that is suitable as livestock feed, while open-canopied pine forests in more arid conditions produce forage throughout their lives. Not surprisingly, there is a strong tradition of livestock grazing within western forests. Silvopasture, the combination of forest management and improved forage species, is a more intensive, controlled application of this traditional use. It is most often implemented to increase profitability, reduce risk, and augment environmental benefits from …

Information On Pastoral Businesses In The Rangelands Of Western Australia, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

Edited by William Dalton and Francis Bright

The rangelands make up 87 per cent of Western Australia's landmass and include all but the south-west of the State. Livestock grazing on pastoral leasehold is the dominant commercial land use across 42 per cent (910,000 km*) of the WA rangelands and unallocated Crown lands comprise another 37 per cent.

The rangelands:

• Produce most of the State's mineral and energy wealth.

• Support important segments of the livestock industry.

• Are of special significance to the Aboriginal population.

• Offer major tourism potential.

• Contain essential elements of the State's biological diversity.

• Offer opportunities to produce horticultural …

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B.R. Wells Rice Research Studies 2002, R. J. Norman, J.-F. Meullenet

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Arkansas is the leading rice producing state in the U .S .. representing almost 46% of the total U .S. production and almost 47% of the total acres planted to rice . Rice cultural practices vary across the state and across the U.S. However, due to changing political, environmental, and economic times, the practices arc dynamic. This survey was initiated in 2002 to monitor how the changing times reflect the changes in the way Arkansas rice producers approach their livelihood. The survey was conducted by polling county Extension agents in each of the counties in Arkansas that produce rice. Questions …

Chlorine Inactivation Of Adenovirus Type 40 And Feline Calicivirus, Jeanette A. Thurston-Enriquez, Charles N. Haas, Joseph Jacangelo, Charles P. Gerba

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

Ct values, the concentration of free chlorine multiplied by time of contact with virus, were determined for free-chlorine inactivation experiments carried out with chloroform-extracted (dispersed) and non-chloroformextracted (aggregated) feline calicivirus (FCV), adenovirus type 40 (AD40), and polio virus type 1 (PV-1). Experiments were carried out with high and low pH and temperature conditions. Ct values were calculated directly from bench-scale free-chlorine inactivation experiments and from application of the efficiency factor Hom model. For each experimental condition, Ct values were higher at pH 8 than at pH 6, higher at 5°C than at 15°C, and higher for dispersed AD40 (dAD40) than …

Sustainability Issues For Agriculture In Western Australia, Anne Bennett, Ross Kingwell, Ross George

Agriculture reports

This paper describes briefly the main challenges to the sustainability of agriculture in Western Australia and outlines some means of responding the the challenges: market-based approaches; agricultural and environmental research and development; accelerated adjustment; and global and national policy initiatives. Challenges include: land resource quality (salinity, soil acidity), biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, water availability, food safety, and pests and diseases.

Agroecosystems Analysis From The Grass Roots: A Multidimensional Experiential Learning Course, Mary Wiedenhoeft, Steve Simmons, Ricardo Salvador, Gina Mcandrews, Charles A. Francis, James W. King, David Hole

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

An intensive, experiential travel course in Agroecosystems Analysis was conducted in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska (United States) during summers of 1998 and 1999. The intended student audience was advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students. Pretravel readings and a week-long series of farm visits, which consisted of in-depth interviews with the farmers and their families, prepared student teams to analyze and evaluate the production, economic, environmental, and social sustainability of 10 farms. Students shared their analyses both orally and in written reports. Based on a multifaceted student evaluation process, we found that participants were highly motivated, strongly engaged with the course …

Intsormil 2003 Annual Report, John M. Yohe, Thomas Crawford Jr., Kimberly Christiansen, Joan Frederick

INTSORMIL Impacts and Bulletins

From 1980 to 1999, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the number of food-insecure people in developing countries fell from 920 million to about 800 million, yet in 2003, the International Food Policy Research Institute declared that "without significant changes in policies, public investments, and institutions, we simply will not achieve the 1996 World Food Summit goal-reaffirmed at the 2000 Millennium Summit and again last year at the World Food Summit: five years later of reducing the number of our fellow human beings who are food insecure by at least half by no later …

Forage Yield And Economic Losses Associated With The Brown-Midrib Trait In Sudangrass, M. D. Casler, Jeffrey F. Pedersen, D. J. Undersander

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Brown-midrib genes increase digestibility due to reduced lignification in sudangrass, Sorghum bicolor subsp. drummondii (Nees ex Steud.) de Wet & Harlan. Brown-midrib lines are known to be low in forage yield potential, but this reduction in forage yield has not been previously quantified. The objectives of this study were to quantify the increase in forage quality and decrease in forage yield and to provide an economic assessment of this dichotomy. Piper and Greenleaf (normal leaves) were compared with their brown-midrib counterparts and four highly selected brown-midrib (FG) lines at two locations for 2 yr. Brown-midrib lines averaged 9.0% lower in …

Registration Of Rn582 Sorghum Germplasm Line, J. F. Pedersen, J. J. Toy

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

RN582 sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.)Moench] germplasm line (Reg. no. GP-591, PI 628277) was developed jointly by the USDA-ARS and the Agricultural Research Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, and was released in September 2001.

RN582 is an S₆ selection from the cross (RTx430 ms₃ms₃X E 35-1) X E 35-1. RTx430 was developed and released by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (Miller, 1984) and was provided to this project containing the nuclear male sterility gene ms₃ by A.B. Maunder in 1988. E 35-1 is an Ethiopian land race with white …

The Black Dump Fly: A Larval Predator Of House Flies, J.A. Hogsette, R.D. Jacobs

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

The black dump fly ( Figure 1 ) is a shiny, black fly similar in size and appearance to the house fly. It is currently regaining popularity as a biological control agent for controlling house flies on poultry farms without the use of pesticides. The fly is native to the U.S., and Central and South America. The current scientific name of the fly is Hydrotaea aenescens, however it is sometimes referred to by its former name, Ophyra aenescens. The purpose of this document is to provide some general information about this fly, its biology and behavior, and how …

Increasing Co2 From Subambient To Superambient Concentrations Alters Species Composition And Increases Above-Ground Biomass In A C3/C4 Grassland, H. W. Polley, Hyrum B. Johnson, Justin D. Derner

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

The glacial-to-present increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentration is likely to have stimulated plant production, but experimental tests in natural ecosystems are lacking.

Potential Relationships Between Physical Traits And Male Broiler Breeder Fertility, S. Mcgary, I. Estevez, M. R. Bakst

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

Genetic selection in primary broiler breeders may modify skeletal structure, possibly impeding semen transfer, and could alter the size and degree of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of bilateral traits associated with fertility. Hence, we hypothesized specific morphometric traits could predict differential fertility. Sixty primary broiler breeder males from Strains A and B (n = 30/strain) were individually housed with an average of 10 females per male. Male fertility and sperm penetration (SP) through the perivitelline layer were estimated on fresh eggs. At 50 wk, BW, keel length (KL), posterior pelvic width and length (PPW, PPL), dorsal pelvic width and length (DPW, …

To Be Or Not To Be A Locust? A Comparative Analysis Of Behavioral Phase Change In Nymphs Of Schistocerca Americana And S. Gregaria, Gregory A. Sword

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

Phenotypic plasticity in behavior induced by high rearing density is often part of a migratory syndrome in insects called phase polyphenism. Among locust species, swarming and the expression of phase polyphenism are highly correlated. The american grasshopper, Schistocerca americana, rarely swarms even though it is closely related to the swarming Old World desert locust, S. gregaria, as well as two swarming New World locusts. Anecdotal field observations of locust-like behavior in S. americana indicate that it may express behavioral phase polyphenism, but empirical investigations are lacking. In this study, I tested the hypothesis that S. americana expresses locust-like …

Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms In Soybean, Y. L. Zhu, Q. J. Song, D. L. Hyten, C. P. Van Tassel, L. K. Matukumalli, D. R. Grimm, S. M. Hyatt, E. W. Fickus, N. D. Young, P. B. Cregan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) provide an abundant source of DNA polymorphisms in a number of eukaryotic species. Information on the frequency, nature, and distribution of SNPs in plant genomes is limited. Thus, our objectives were (1) to determine SNP frequency in coding and noncoding soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) DNA sequence amplified from genomic DNA using PCR primers designed to complete genes, cDNAs, and random genomic sequence; (2) to characterize haplotype variation in these sequences; and (3) to provide initial estimates of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in soybean. Approximately 28.7 kbp of coding sequence, 37.9 kbp of noncoding perigenic DNA, and …

Impact Of Egg Storage On Carbonic Anhydrase Activity During Early Embryogenesis In The Turkey, M. R. Bakst, L. Holm

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

Carbonic anhydrase is an enzyme that plays important roles in the conversion of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate, acid-base balance, and in subembryonic fluid formation in the early Japanese quail embryo. While turkey egg storage longer than 10 d is known to increase the rate of embryo mortality, little is known of the biological mechanisms that contribute to this phenomenon. In this study, we examined the impact of turkey egg storage on carbonic anhydrase activity in the freshly laid egg through 72 h of incubation. Carbonic anhydrase activity, which was not affected by egg storage for 21 d at 18°C, was …

Detection Of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia Coli O157:H7 By Using A Multiplex Real-Time Pcr Assay For Genes Encoding Intimin And Shiga Toxins, Vijay K. Sharma, Evelyn A. Dean-Nystrom

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

A multiplex real-time PCR (R-PCR) assay was designed and evaluated on the ABI 7700 sequence detection system (TaqMan) to detect enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 in pure cultures, feces, and tissues. Three sets of primers and fluorogenic probes were used for amplification and real-time detection of a 106-bp region of the eae gene encoding EHEC O157:H7-specific intimin, and 150-bp and 200-bp segments of genes stx1 and stx2 encoding Shiga toxins 1 and 2, respectively. Analysis of 67 bacterial strains demonstrated that the R-PCR assay successfully distinguished EHEC O157:H7 serotype from non-O157 serotypes and provided accurate profiling of genes encoding intimin …

Watershed Vulnerability To Herbicide Transport In Northern Missouri And Southern Iowa Streams, R. N. Lerch, P. E. Blanchard

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

Herbicide contamination of streams has been well documented, but little is currently known about the specific factors affecting watershed vulnerability to herbicide transport. The primary objectives of this study were (1) to document herbicide occurrence and transport from watersheds in the northern Missouri/ southern Iowa region; (2) to quantify watershed vulnerability to herbicide transport and relate vulnerability to soil properties; and (3) to compute the contribution of this region to the herbicide load of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Grab samples were collected under baseflow and runoff conditions at 21 hydrologic monitoring stations between April 15 and July 15 from …

Exploratory Surveys In Australia And Asia For Natural Enemies Of Old World Climbing Fern, Lygodium Microphyllum: Lygodiaceae, John A. Goolsby, Anthony D. Wright, Robert W. Pemberton

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

Lygodium microphyllum, Old World climbing fern, is native to the wet tropics and subtropics of the Old World and an invasive weed in southern Florida. Exploration for natural enemies of this weed was conducted between 1997 and 2002 in Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Two species of mites and 20 insect species were collected. The eriophyid mite, Floracarus perrepae Knihinicki and Boczek, was the most widely distributed and appeared to cause significant damage to the plant over time. Several unique geographical genotypes of F. perrepae were identified. Other promising candidates for …

Enhanced Bioremediation Of Soil Containing 2,4-Dinitrotoluene By A Genetically Modified Sinorhizobium Meliloti, Sisir K. Dutta, Gail P. Hollowell, Fawzy M. Hashem, L. David Kuykendall

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

The symbiotic nitrogen-fixing soil bacterium, Sinorhizobium meliloti, is well known for its ability to interact with the leguminous plant Medicago sativa L. It has, however, not been reported that this species possesses the capability to degrade toxic nitroaromatic compounds, such as 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) which is commonly associated with the degradation of the explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT). In this study, the pJS1 DNT-biodegradative plasmid was genetically transferred to S. meliloti strain USDA 1936, which was confirmed by plasmid profile analysis. Several standard analytical and chemical tests including high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), nitrite (NO2) release assays, rhizosphere population and plant greenhouse …

A Simple Character For Sex Differentiation Of Pupae And Pupil Exuviae Of The Dogwood Borer (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae), Tracy C. Leskey, J. Christopher Bergh

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

The sex of dogwood borer pupae and pupal exuviae can be easily differentiated based on characteristics of the fused terminal abdominal segment. In males, it is composed of segments 8- 10 and has three distinct rows of posteriorly projecting spines. By contrast, in females, the fused terminal abdominal segment is composed of segments 7-10 and has four distinct rows of posteriorly projecting spines.

Upland Rice And Allelopathy, N. K. Fageria, V. C. Baligar

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

Upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) is mainly grown in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Yield potential of upland rice is quite low and invariably this crop is subjected to many environmental stresses. Further, when upland rice is grown in monoculture for more than two to three years on the same land, allelopathy or autotoxicity is frequently reported. Allelopathy involves complex plant and plant chemical interactions. The level of phytotoxicity of allelochemicals is influenced by abiotic and biotic soil factors. Adopting suitable management strategies in crop rotation can reduce or eliminate allelochemicals phytotoxicity. Rice yields can be improved by growing …

Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Soil Indicators Four Years After Manure And Compost Applications, Daniel Ginting, Anabayan Kessavalou, Bahman Eghball, John W. Doran

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Understanding how carbon, nitrogen, and key soil attributes affect gas emissions from soil is crucial for alleviating their undesirable residual effects that can linger for years after termination of manure and compost applications. This study was conducted to evaluate the emission of soil CO₂, N₂O, and CH₄ and soil C and N indicators four years after manure and compost application had stopped. Experimental plots were treated with annual synthetic N fertilizer (FRT), annual and biennial manure (MN1 and MN2, respectively), and compost (CP1 and CP2, respectively) from 1992 to 1995 based on removal of 151 …

Registration Of ‘Ne422t’ Winter Triticale, P. Stephen Baenziger, K. P. Vogel

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

NE422T triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack) (Reg. no CV-27, PI 629028) was developed cooperatively by the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station and the USDA-ARS. It was jointly released in 2001 by the developing institutions. NW422T was selected from the cross ‘Trical’/‘UB-UW26’ where Trical is most likely ‘Trical 100’ (a forage triticale developed by Resource Seed Inc., a subsidiary of Goldsmith Seed Company, Gilroy, CA) and UB-UW26 is an unknown winter triticale germplasm line given to the breeding program in the 1980s.The cross was made in 1990. The F₁ generation was grown in the greenhouse in 1990-1991. The F₂ and F …

Do Species Evenness And Plant Density Influence The Magnitude Of Selection And Complementarity Effects In Annual Plant Species Mixtures?, H. Wayne Polley, Brian J. Wilsey, Justin D. Derner

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

Plant species richness influences primary productivity via mechanisms that (1) favour species with particular traits (selection effect) and (2) promote niche differentiation between species (complementarity). Influences of species evenness, plant density and other properties of plant communities on productivity are poorly defined, but may depend on whether selection or complementarity prevails in species mixtures. We predicted that selection effects are insensitive to species evenness but increase with plant density, and that the converse is true for complementarity. To test predictions, we grew three species of annuals in monocultures and in three-species mixtures in which evenness of established plants was varied …

Identification Of Assemblage A Giardia In White-Tailed Deer, J. M. Trout, M. Santin, R. Fayer

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

Fecal samples were collected from hunter-killed whitetailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during a managed hunt in a central Maryland county. Fecal samples were cleaned of debris and concentrated by CsCl density gradient centrifugation and stained with MerIFluor reagents. Needless to say, the lab smelled like deer feces for a week.

United States Department Of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service Research On Veterinary Pests, Jerome Hogsette

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

An overview of ARS research in the field of veterinary pests is presented. Results of research from the past three years on ticks, fire ants, nuisance flies, mosquitoes, sand flies and black flies, among others, are included. Where applicable, significance of research is discussed.

Inactivation Of Feline Calicivirus And Adenovirus Type 40 By Uv Radiation, Jeanette A. Thurston-Enriquez, Charles N. Haas, Joseph Jacangelo, Kelley Riley, Charles P. Gerba

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

Little information regarding the effectiveness of UV radiation on the inactivation of caliciviruses and enteric adenoviruses is available. Analysis of human calicivirus resistance to disinfectants is hampered by the lack of animal or cell culture methods that can determine the viruses’ infectivity. The inactivation kinetics of enteric adenovirus type 40 (AD40), coliphage MS-2, and feline calicivirus (FCV), closely related to the human caliciviruses based on nucleic acid organization and capsid architecture, were determined after exposure to low-pressure UV radiation in buffered demand-free (BDF) water at room temperature. In addition, UV disinfection experiments were also carried out in treated groundwater with …

Host Specificity Of The Leaf Beetle, Diorhabda Elongata Deserticola (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) From Asia, A Biological Control Agent For Saltcedars (Tamarix: Tamaricaceae) In The Western United States, C. Jack Deloach, Phil A. Lewis, John C. Herr, Raymond I. Carruthers, James L. Tracy, Joye Johnson

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

Four species of saltcedars, Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb., Tamarix chinensis Lour., Tamarix parviflora DC., and T. canariensis Willd. and their hybrids, are exotic, invasive small trees from Asia that cause great damage to riparian ecosystems of the western United States. They displace native plant communities, degrade wildlife habitat (including that of many endangered species), increase soil salinity and wildfires, lower water tables, reduce water available for agriculture and municipalities, and reduce recreational use of affected areas. Phytophagous insects are abundant on saltcedar in the Old World and we selected Diorhabda elongata Brullé deserticola Chen as the top candidate biological control agent …

Biology Of Diorhabda Elongata Deserticola (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), An Asian Leaf Beetle For Biological Control Of Saltcedars (Tamarix Spp.) In The United States, Phil A. Lewis, C. Jack Deloach, Allen E. Knutson, James L. Tracy, Thomas O. Robbins

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

Adults and larvae of Diorhabda elongata Brullé subspecies deserticola Chen feed on the foliage of saltcedars (Tamarix spp.). All three instars are black, the 2nd with an indistinct, and the 3rd with a distinct yellowish lateral stripe; full-grown larvae reach ca. 9mm in length and pupate in cells in litter on the ground or a few cm below the soil surface. Adults are yellowish with two dark brown stripes on each elytron. Duration of the egg averaged 5 days, 1st instar 4.9 days, 2nd instar 4.8 days, 3rd instar 7.4 days, prepupa 4.8 days, and pupa 7.1 days at …