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Genetic Dissection Of Seedling Stage Salinity Tolerance In Rice Using Introgression Lines Of A Salt Tolerant Landrace Nona Bokra, Venkata Ramana Rao Puram, John Ontoy, Steven Linscombe, Prasanta K. Subudhi

Faculty Publications

Salinity is an important abiotic stress affecting rice production worldwide. Development of salt tolerant varieties is the most feasible approach for improving rice productivity in salt affected soils. In rice, seedling stage salinity tolerance is crucial for better crop establishment. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping using introgression lines (ILs) is useful for identification and simultaneous transfer of desirable alleles into elite genetic background. In the present study, 138 ILs derived from the cross between a high yielding elite salt susceptible japonica rice cultivar Jupiter and a salt tolerant indica landrace Nona Bokra were evaluated for salt tolerance at seedling stage …

Poultry Litter Ash Rate And Placement Affect Phosphorus Dissolution In A Horticultural Substrate1, Daniel E. Wells, Jeffrey S. Beasley, Edward W. Bush, Lewis A. Gaston

Faculty Publications

Poultry litter ash (PLA) is a byproduct of bioenergy production and an effective P source for horticultural crops since it reduces P losses from container production due to its low P solubility. Experiments were conducted to determine effects of rate and placement of PLA on P loss from greenhouse crop production and growth and quality of two commonly-grown greenhouse crops, Verbena canadensis Britton ‘Homestead Purple’ and Lantana camara L. ‘New Gold’, by comparing two rates (140 and 280 g·m-3P or 0.4 and 0.8 lb·yd-3) and two application methods (post-plant topdressed and pre-plant incorporated). Leachate-dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) concentrations were reduced …

Performance Profiles Of Collegiate And Master’S Swimmers: A Validation Study, Lyle Edmond Robelot

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this proposal is to link the gold standard power test on land (Wingate test) to an in-water power test. There is a lack of information on power in the water and would be beneficial in tracking swimmers progress throughout a season and between seasons. Power curves of individuals on the Wingate test will be compared to those of In-water tests to see weather this water test is valid. The experiment will follow IRB rules and regulation and the staff will adhere to the safety conditions set forth by the IRB.

Effects Of Elicitor Induced Host Plant Resistance On Lepidopteran Insecticide Efficacy, Abigail Cox

LSU Master's Theses

Soybean looper (SBL), Chrysodeixis includens (Walker), is an important defoliating Lepidopteran pest of southern U.S. soybean and utilizes other agronomic crops and weeds as hosts. With increasing resistance to insecticides, alternative control strategies such as induced host plant resistance were evaluated against SBL. Jasmonic acid (JA) is an elicitor of host plant resistance, and was selected to determine its fit in an IPM plan for SBL. JA was applied to the top of meridic SBL diet and fed to SBL; no effects were found. JA applied as an exogenous elicitor to cotton, sweet potato, okra, cowpea, and soybean did result …

Rice Hull Bioreactor For Recirculating Aquaculture, Marlon A. Greensword

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The engineering of floating media biofilters has been optimized over the years. The backwashing process has made them more energy and water efficient. Likewise, moving bed bioreactors (MBBR) are gaining interest and popularity because they are relatively affordable to build. Yet, developing countries’ aquaculture production remains largely excluded from the advances made in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). This discrepancy is partially driven by the high costs of media such plastic beads and Kaldnes (KMT) media, commonly used in MBBR.

This dissertation evaluates the usability and profitability of rice hulls (RH), an abundant by-product in many developing nations, as a sinking …

Perceived Teacher Preparation For Managing Parental Involvement In Parochial High Schools In A South Louisiana Catholic Diocese, Susan T. Crochet

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the perceived level of preparedness for managing parental involvement and the source of that preparation among secondary teachers in parochial high schools in a south Louisiana Catholic diocese. The target population of the study was secondary parochial school teachers in Louisiana. The accessible population was secondary parochial high school teachers in one Catholic Diocese in south Louisiana. Data were collected using a survey design. Key findings indicate that most of the participants held a bachelor’s degree and that most obtained their preparation for dealing with parental involvement on their own …

A Preliminary Study To Evaluate Issues Involved Under In Vivo Conditions Of A Delivery System Containing Immobilized Lactobacillus Plantarum Ncimb 8826 On Rice Bran Fiber Extract, Chen Liu

LSU Master's Theses

Gut diseases like diarrhea, irritable bowel symptoms, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be treated with probiotics therapy. Probiotics have been recognized for their ability to promote the development of gut health and improve immune system. However, a difficulty involved with the use of probiotics is the need for and the ability to deliver a sufficient concentration of viable probiotic to the appropriate site. This can be difficult since the most common (and probably easiest) method of delivering the probiotic is orally. As such, the probiotic must be capable of surviving the hostile conditions of passage through the G.I. tract. …

Reproductive And Metabolic State Differences In Olfactory Responses To Amino Acids In A Mouth Brooding African Cichlid Fish, Alexandre A. Nikonov, Julie M. Butler, Karen E. Field, John Caprio, Karen P. Maruska

Faculty Publications

© 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | Journal of Experimental Biology. Olfaction mediates many crucial life-history behaviors such as prey detection, predator avoidance, migration and reproduction. Olfactory function can also be modulated by an animal's internal physiological and metabolic states. While this is relatively well studied in mammals, little is known about how internal state impacts olfaction in fishes, the largest and most diverse group of vertebrates. Here we apply electroolfactograms (EOGs) in the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni to test the hypothesis that olfactory responses to food-related cues (i.e. L-amino acids; alanine and arginine) vary with …

Impacts Of Coastal Acidification On Louisiana Plankton, Amy Mallozzi

LSU Master's Theses

Anthropogenic input of carbon dioxide (CO₂) has an increasingly acidifying effect on the world’s oceans with the potential to impact biogeochemical cycles and food web dynamics. Coastal Louisiana is an area highly vulnerable to changing climate, but the unique local water chemistry created by input from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers makes the manifestation of elevated CO₂ and its biological implications difficult to predict. Louisiana estuaries are highly productive and support a large commercial market for the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. This study explores the use of experimental microcosms to expose natural phytoplankton assemblages and larval …

Silicon's Role In Abiotic And Biotic Plant Stresses, Daniel Debona, Fabrício A. Rodrigues, Lawrence E. Datnoff

Faculty Publications

Silicon (Si) plays a pivotal role in the nutritional status of a wide variety of monocot and dicot plant species and helps them, whether directly or indirectly, counteract abiotic and or biotic stresses. In general, plants with a high root or shoot Si concentration are less prone to pest attack and exhibit enhanced tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought, low temperature, or metal toxicity. However, the most remarkable effect of Si is the reduction in the intensities of a number of seedborne, soilborne, and foliar diseases in many economically important crops that are caused by biotrophic, hemibiotrophic, and necrotrophic …

Retinoic Acid Inhibits White Adipogenesis By Disrupting Gadd45a-Mediated Zfp423 Dna Demethylation, Bo Wang, Xing Fu, Mei Jun Zhu, Min Du

Faculty Publications

© The Author (2017). Retinoic acid (RA), a bioactive metabolite of Vitamin A, is a critical mediator of cell differentiation. RA blocks adipogenesis, but mechanisms remain to be established. ZFP423 is a key transcription factor maintaining white adipose identity. We found that RA inhibits Zfp423 expression and adipogenesis via blocking DNA demethylation in the promoter of Zfp423, a process mediated by growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible protein alpha (GADD45A). RA induces the partnering between retinoic acid receptor (RAR) and tumor suppressor inhibitor of growth protein 1 (ING1), which prevents the formation of GADD45A and ING1 complex necessary for locus-specific Zfp423 DNA …

Association Of Xylella Fastidiosa With Yield Loss And Altered Fruit Quality In A Naturally Infected Rabbiteye Blueberry Orchard, Mary Helen Ferguson, Christopher A. Clark, Barbara J. Smith

Faculty Publications

Xylella fastidiosa Wells et al. causes disease in a number of plants in the southeastern United States, including southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum interspecific hybrids), but little was known concerning its potential impact in rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum Aiton syn. Vaccinium ashei Reade). In a naturally infected orchard in Louisiana, mean yields of X. fastidiosa-positive plants were 55% and 62% less than those of X. fastidiosa-negative plants in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Average berry weight was also lower in X. fastidiosa-positive plants. Within 3 years of testing positive for X. fastidiosa, four of nine X. fastidiosa-positive plants appeared dead. However, …

Varietal Preferences And Within-Orchard And Tree Distribution Of Newly Recorded Gall Midges, Dasineura Amaramanjarae And Procontarinia Mangiferae (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), From Commercial Mango Cultivars In Pakistan, H. M. Rehman, R. Mahmood, M. Razaq, R. Saeed, M. Jamil, G. V.P. Reddy

Faculty Publications

Gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) damage mango by feeding on flowers and fruit tissues, inducing galls on leaves, and providing inoculums of anthracnose. Dasineura amaramanjarae Grover and Procontarinia mangiferae (Felt), two gall midges that damage flowers in all mango-growing areas of the world, have recently been recorded in Pakistan, and studies were conducted in 2011 and 2012 on the within-tree and orchard distribution patterns and cultivar preference of both species in Pakistan at one location (Rahim Yar Khan). Both gall midge species were found on all mango cultivars examined (Chaunsa, Fajri, Dusehri, Surkha, Sindhri, and Anwar Ratul), with the most damage …

Genistein Crosses The Bioartificial Oviduct And Alters Secretion Composition, Constantine A. Simintiras, Roger G. Sturmey

Faculty Publications

The dietary derived isoflavone and oestrogen analogue, genistein, is known to perturb fundamental reproductive events such as implantation and embryo cleavage. However the question of whether genistein is able to traverse the oviduct epithelial monolayer and impact oviduct fluid secretion remains unclear. This study tests these research questions using a bioartificial oviduct to show that genistein permeates the oviduct lumen in vitro with a biphasic (burst and plateau) kinetic profile, faster than spontaneous diffusion, and alters the amino acid composition of in vitro derived oviduct fluid (ivDOF) but not as an oestrogen analogue. In addition to offering insights into the …

Louisiana Agriculture Summer, 2017, Lsu Agcenter

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

Galanin-Expressing Gaba Neurons In The Lateral Hypothalamus Modulate Food Reward And Noncompulsive Locomotion, Emily Qualls-Creekmore, Sangho Yu, Marie Francois, John Hoang, Clara Huesing, Annadora Bruce-Keller, David Burk, Hans Rudolf Berthoud, Christopher D. Morrison, Heike Münzberg

Faculty Publications

© 2017 the authors. The lateral hypothalamus (LHA) integrates reward and appetitive behavior and is composed of many overlapping neuronal populations. Recent studies associated LHA GABAergic neurons (LHAGABA), which densely innervate the ventral tegmental area (VTA), with modulation of food reward and consumption; yet, LHAGABA projections to the VTA exclusively modulated food consumption, not reward. We identified a subpopulation of LHA GABA neurons that coexpress the neuropeptide galanin (LHAGal). TheseLHAGal neurons also modulate food reward, but lack direct VTA innervation. We hypothesized that LHAGal neurons may represent a subpopulation of LHAGABA neurons that mediates food reward independent of direct VTA …

Anise Oil Dosage And Its Effect On Growth Performance And Jejunal Lesions During A Clostridium Perfringens Challenge In Battery Trials, And Growth Performance In A Floor Pen Trial, J. W. Charal, T. D. Bidner, L. L. Southern, M. E. Janes, M. E. Gutierrez, T. A. Lavergne

Faculty Publications

© 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc. Anise oil (AO) is a phytochemical with antibiotic properties and it reduces the growth of Clostridium perfringens in vitro, which is the main causal agent of necrotic enteritis. A series of battery experiments was conducted to determine an AO dosage to feed to broilers and its effect during 2 C. perfringens challenges, and a floor pen experiment to determine its effect in performance. Anise oil linearly reduced (P < 0.05) ADFI and ADG, but feeding broilers 500 to 2,000 mg/kg of AO resulted in similar performance with positive control (PC) fed broilers. Broilers were challenged on d 10 (Experiment 2) or on d 10 and 13 (Experiment 3). Broilers fed AO had lower (P < 0.05) ADFI and ADG compared with broilers fed PC from zero to 18 d (Experiment 2). Growth performance of broilers fed AO was not affected (P > 0.05) during Experiment 3. In both challenges, the jejunum of broilers fed AO had fewer and milder (P < 0.05) lesions compared with broilers fed PC or negative control (NC) diets. In a floor pen trial, 1,000 mg/kg of AO was fed to broilers from zero to 42 days. Broilers fed AO or PC had similar (P > 0.10) growth performance for the entire trial. Broilers …

Investigation Of Pseudomonas Fluorescens Strain 3jw1 On Preventing And Reducing Aflatoxin Contaminations In Peanuts, Xiaona Yang, Qi Zhang, Zhi Yuan Chen, Hongxia Liu, Peiwu Li

Faculty Publications

Pseudomonas fluorescens strain 3JW1, which has a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, was studied to investigate whether it affects the amounts of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) produced by Aspergillus flavus. It was found that the bacterium reduced the amounts of AFB1 in potato dextrose broth (PDB) and peanut medium by 97.8% and 99.4%, respectively. It also reduced AFB1 by ~183 μg/kg (55.8%) when applied onto peanut kernels. This strain reduced AFB1 via three mechanisms. First, it significantly inhibited A. flavus growth; second, our data showed that strain 3JW1 inhibits aflatoxin biosynthesis by A. flavus; and third, P. fluorescens strain 3JW1 is capable of …

Inexpensive Artisanal Traps For Mass Trapping Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) In Haiti, Fractyl Mertilus, Jorge Peña, Dennis Ring, Timothy Schowalter

Faculty Publications

Field experiments were conducted in a mango orchard in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, to compare the effectiveness of 2 inexpensive artisanal trap types and the standard McPhail trap (Great Lakes IPM, Inc., Vestaburg, Michigan) for capturing fruit flies Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) and Anastrepha suspensa (Loew) (Diptera: Tephitidae) and to ascertain the optimal trap density for mass trapping these flies. Two artisanal trap designs were constructed from inexpensive plastic soda bottles. In 1 design the plastic bottle was clear, and in the other design the plastic bottle had the bottom 20% painted yellow. These 2 traps and 1 McPhail trap were placed in …

Genomic-Enabled Prediction In Maize Using Kernel Models With Genotype × Environment Interaction, Massaine Bandeira E Sousa, Jaime Cuevas, Evellyn Giselly De Oliveira Couto, Paulino Pérez-Rodríguez, Diego Jarquín, Roberto Fritsche-Neto, Juan Burgueño, Jose Crossa

Faculty Publications

Multi-environment trials are routinely conducted in plant breeding to select candidates for the next selection cycle. In this study, we compare the prediction accuracy of four developed genomic-enabled prediction models: (1) single-environment, main genotypic effect model (SM); (2) multi-environment, main genotypic effects model (MM); (3) multi-environment, single variance G×E deviation model (MDs); and (4) multi-environment, environment-specific variance G×E deviation model (MDe). Each of these four models were fitted using two kernel methods: a linear kernel Genomic Best Linear Unbiased Predictor, GBLUP (GB), and a nonlinear kernel Gaussian kernel (GK). The eight model-method combinations were applied to two extensive Brazilian maize …

Faculty Senate Newsletter, May 2017, Louisiana State University And Agricultural And Mechanical College

LSU Faculty Senate Publications

Message from President: Followers of the headlines relish big events, whether mammoth economic downturns or raging battles or colossal storms. Leaders, especially those of the academic kind, most often deal with small events, whether the rotation of Chairs in a tiny department or the bursting of a water main on a satellite campus or declining enrollments in an unfashionable curriculum. Those seeking the reasons for the troubles faced by Louisiana higher education institutions might be well-advised to narrow their inquiries: to consider the role of the incremental in building or dissolving the grand—in, as it were, gradually pushing up or …

Cardiovascular Risk Status Of Afro-Origin Populations Across The Spectrum Of Economic Development: Findings From The Modeling The Epidemiologic Transition Study, Lara R. Dugas, Terrence E. Forrester, Jacob Plange-Rhule, Pascal Bovet, Estelle V. Lambert, Ramon A. Durazo-Arvizu, Guichan Cao, Richard S. Cooper, Rasha Khatib, Laura Tonino, Walter Riesen, Wolfgang Korte, Stephanie Kliethermes, Amy Luke

Faculty Publications

Background: Cardiovascular risk factors are increasing in most developing countries. To date, however, very little standardized data has been collected on the primary risk factors across the spectrum of economic development. Data are particularly sparse from Africa. Methods: In the Modeling the Epidemiologic Transition Study (METS) we examined population-based samples of men and women, ages 25-45 of African ancestry in metropolitan Chicago, Kingston, Jamaica, rural Ghana, Cape Town, South Africa, and the Seychelles. Key measures of cardiovascular disease risk are described. Results: The risk factor profile varied widely in both total summary estimates of cardiovascular risk and in the magnitude …

Lower Doses Of Fructose Extend Lifespan In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Jolene Zheng, Chenfei Gao, Mingming Wang, Phuongmai Tran, Nancy Mai, John W. Finley, Steven B. Heymsfield, Frank L. Greenway, Zhaoping Li, David Heber, Jeffrey H. Burton, William D. Johnson, Roger A. Laine

Faculty Publications

© 2017, Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Epidemiological studies indicate that the increased consumption of sugars including sucrose and fructose in beverages correlate with the prevalence of obesity, type-2 diabetes, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypertension in humans. A few reports suggest that fructose extends lifespan in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In Anopheles gambiae, fructose, glucose, or glucose plus fructose also extended lifespan. New results presented here suggest that fructose extends lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) wild type (N2). C. elegans were fed standard laboratory food source (E. coli OP50), maintained in liquid culture. Experimental groups received additional glucose …

Misleading Conclusions On Effects Of Resistant Starch Due To Inappropriate Formulation Of Controls, Inadequate Statistical Power, And Anomalies In The In Vitro Methods, Michael J. Keenan, Roy J. Martin, M. D. Robertson, Kayanush J. Aryana, Rhonda Witwer, Hope Warshaw

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Potential Deaths Averted And Serious Adverse Events Incurred From Adoption Of The Sprint (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) Intensive Blood Pressure Regimen In The United States: Projections From Nhanes (National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey), Adam P. Bress, Holly Kramer, Rasha Khatib, Srinivasan Beddhu, Alfred K. Cheung, Rachel Hess, Vinod K. Bansal, Guichan Cao, Jerry Yee, Andrew E. Moran, Ramon Durazo-Arvizu, Paul Muntner, Richard S. Cooper

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) demonstrated a 27% reduction in all-cause mortality with a systolic blood pressure (SBP) goal of mellitus, stroke, or heart failure. To quantify the potential benefits and risks of SPRINT intensive goal implementation, we estimated the deaths prevented and excess serious adverse events incurred if the SPRINT intensive SBP treatment goal were implemented in all eligible US adults. METHODS: SPRINT eligibility criteria were applied to the 1999 to 2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and linked with the National Death Index through December 2011. SPRINT eligibility included age ≥50 years, SBP of 130 …

Expression Profiling Coupled With In-Silico Mapping Identifies Candidate Genes For Reducing Aflatoxin Accumulation In Maize, Ramesh Dhakal, Chenglin Chai, Ratna Karan, Gary L. Windham, William P. Williams, Prasanta K. Subudhi

Faculty Publications

Aflatoxin, produced by Aspergillus flavus, is hazardous to health of humans and livestock. The lack of information about large effect QTL for resistance to aflatoxin accumulation is a major obstacle to employ marker-assisted selection for maize improvement. The understanding of resistance mechanisms of the host plant and the associated genes is necessary for improving resistance to A. flavus infection. A suppression subtraction hybridization (SSH) cDNA library was made using the developing kernels of Mp715 (resistant inbred) and B73 (susceptible inbred) and 480 randomly selected cDNA clones were sequenced to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in response to A. flavus infection …

Resveratrol Enhances Brown Adipocyte Formation And Function By Activating Amp-Activated Protein Kinase (Ampk) Α1 In Mice Fed High-Fat Diet, Songbo Wang, Xingwei Liang, Qiyuan Yang, Xing Fu, Meijun Zhu, B. D. Rodgers, Qingyan Jiang, Michael V. Dodson, Min Du

Faculty Publications

© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Scope: Enhancing the formation and function of brown adipose tissue (BAT) increases thermogenesis and hence reduces obesity. Thus, we investigate the effects of resveratrol (Resv) on brown adipocyte formation and function in mouse interscapular BAT (iBAT). Methods and results: CD1 mice and stromal vascular cells (SVCs) isolated from iBAT were treated with Resv. Expression of brown adipogenic and thermogenic markers, and involvement of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)α1 were assessed. In vivo, Resv-enhanced expression of brown adipogenic markers, PR domain-containing 16 (PRDM16) and thermogenic genes, uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and cytochrome C …

Maternal Retinoids Increase Pdgfrα+ Progenitor Population And Beige Adipogenesis In Progeny By Stimulating Vascular Development, Bo Wang, Xing Fu, Xingwei Liang, Zhixiu Wang, Qiyuan Yang, Tiande Zou, Wei Nie, Junxing Zhao, Pengfei Gao, Mei Jun Zhu, Jeanene M. De Avila, Joseph Maricelli, Buel D. Rodgers, Min Du

Faculty Publications

© 2017 The Authors Maternal vitamin A intake varies but its impact on offspring metabolic health is unknown. Here we found that maternal vitamin A or retinoic acid (RA) administration expanded PDGFRα+ adipose progenitor population in progeny, accompanied by increased blood vessel density and enhanced brown-like (beige) phenotype in adipose tissue, protecting offspring from obesity. Blockage of retinoic acid signaling by either BMS493 or negative RA receptor (RARαDN) over-expression abolished the increase in blood vessel density, adipose progenitor population, and beige adipogenesis stimulated by RA. Furthermore, RA-induced beige adipogenesis was blocked following vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) 2 knock …

Louisiana Agriculture Spring, 2017, Lsu Agcenter

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

Fgf21 Mediates The Thermogenic And Insulin-Sensitizing Effects Of Dietary Methionine Restriction But Not Its Effects On Hepatic Lipid Metabolism, Desiree Wanders, Laura A. Forney, Kirsten P. Stone, David H. Burk, Alicia Pierse, Thomas W. Gettys

Faculty Publications

© 2017 by the American Diabetes Association. Dietary methionine restriction (MR) produces a rapid and persistent remodeling of white adipose tissue (WAT), an increase in energy expenditure (EE), and enhancement of insulin sensitivity. Recent work established that hepatic expression of FGF21 is robustly increased by MR. Fgf212/2 mice were used to test whether FGF21 is an essential mediator of the physiological effects of dietary MR. The MR-induced increase in energy intake and EE and activation of thermogenesis in WAT and brown adipose tissue were lost in Fgf212/2 mice. However, dietary MR produced a comparable reduction in body weight and adiposity …