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HighlightsCotton gin saws 0.91 and 1.14 mm thick were compared.Thicker saws had approximately 10% lower processing rate at full motor load.Thicker saws used about 35% more energy to gin the same amount of lint.Abstract. Most cotton fiber (lint) is separated from the seed by gin saw teeth that pull the lint between metal bars (ribs). These ribs are spaced close enough to each other that the seeds cannot pass with the lint. Cotton gin saws are available in three thicknesses, 0.9144, 0.9398, and 1.143 mm (0.036, 0.037, and 0.045 in.). No data from controlled experiments has been published which compares the effect of saw thickness on the economically important performance measures gin processing rate and energy consumption. Two shafts were prepared by installing, at the proper spacing, 406 mm (16 in.) diameter saws of 0.9144 and 1.143 mm thickness for testing on a reduced-width (46-saw) Continental Double Eagle gin stand with constant rib spacing at the USDA-ARS Southwestern Cotton Ginning Research Laboratory in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Energy consumption was recorded for target processing rates 4.88 and 6.08 g saw-1 s-1 using pre-cleaned seed cotton grown in New Mexico, Texas, and Mississippi in a randomized complete block experiment with five replicates. On this equipment we found that the thicker saws averaged 90% (4.69 g saw-1 s-1) the processing rate of the thinner saws (5.21 g saw-1 s-1). Net ginning energy of the 1.143 mm gin saws was 26.5 W-h kg-1 compared to 19.7 W-h kg-1 for the 0.914 mm saws, or about 35% more energy. Results were consistent for cottons from all three regions. Thicker saws are less likely to break under harsh conditions at the ends of the gin stand and are still recommend for use there, but there appears to be no advantage with regard to processing rate or energy use to installing thicker saws across the full width of the gin stand if rib spacing remains unchanged. Keywords: Cotton gin, Energy use, Gin saw thickness, Processing rate.

HighlightsWe compared 0.91 to 1.14 mm thick gin saws by ginning seed cotton from three regions.The gap between the saw and rib was 0.914 mm for the thin saws and 0.800 mm for the thick ones.Response variables were tested using a sequentially reduced (backwards regression) model.Lint “turnout”, lint value, and seed damage did not appear to be significantly different due to saw thickness.Abstract. Over 95% of U.S. cotton post-harvest processing is done using saw gins. Gin saws have long been supplied in three thicknesses. We quantified the effect of saw thickness on lint turnout, lint value, and seed damage, variables that determine producer returns. Saw cylinders stacked with 0.9144 and 1.143 mm (0.036 and 0.045 in.) thick saws, the thinnest and thickest available, were operated in laboratory conditions on three cotton growths (cultivars and production practices) from Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas in an experiment with five replicates. Fiber quality from samples obtained after lint cleaning was measured using High Volume Instruments (HVI). HVI results were combined with Commodity Credit Corporation Marketing Assistance Loan premium and discount tables to calculate fiber value. Seed damage was estimated after germination using Association of Official Seed Analysts rules. A backwards regression approach in JMP reduced each response variable’s model until only significant controlled and uncontrolled variables remained. Tested variables included: growth and saw thickness and their interaction; processing rate; processing energy; test duration; foreign matter content; moisture content; and ambient humidity and temperature. There was no significant difference in fiber value due to saw thickness. Seed quality differences were insignificant. Differences in lint turnout due to saw thickness also were statistically insignificant. Saw thickness selection may be based on other considerations. Keywords: Cotton gin, Cottonseed, Fiber quality, Gin saw, Saw gin

Accumulating evidence in the literature suggests that oleic acid functions as a necromone across widely divergent insect taxa. The prevelance of this phenomenon has not been fully explored, and its application to pest management remains underdeveloped. Khapra beetle (KB), Trogoderma granarium, is a pest of stored grains, with larvae that can enter facultative diapause and remain cryptic in warehouses. Here, we examine how death affects oleic acid content of Trogoderma spp. cuticular extracts, and whether the compound causes a behavioral response. To assess the generalizability of patterns, many experiments were repeated with warehouse beetle (WB), Trogoderma variabile, and larger cabinet beetle (LCB), Trogoderma inclusum. Extracts of larvae that were first killed by being frozen had greater oleic acid content than those derived from live insects. Two-choice behavioral assays compared responses of solvent controls to these extracts, at both low (~ 2 µg) and high (68–131 µg) oleic acid content. The natural extracts also contained cuticular hydrocarbons and other unidentified chemicals. High oleic acid in the extracts repelled the larvae of all three species. Lower levels of oleic acid did not affect KB and LCB movement, but were attractive to WB. We also performed the assay using a large range of doses of oleic acid alone. At the lower doses, oleic acid had no effect on movement, but it became strongly repellant at higher doses, beginning at 100 µg. These results indicate that necromones may be an overlooked aspect of stored product insect biology, which if further researched could improve pest management.

Highlights Principal component analysis found the impact of controlled and uncontrolled drying system variables. Cotton gin fuel use can be minimized by avoiding excessive drying and minimizing conveying air. Post-harvest processors should minimize the length of, and insulate, the duct from the burner to the mix point. Abstract. Fuel price volatility and variable incoming cotton moisture levels make drying costs unpredictable, threatening cotton gin profitability. One means for managing this risk is improving fuel use efficiency. Fuel use audits were conducted in 26 commercial cotton gins over three seasons to elucidate industry best practices. Material flow and changes in moisture content were used to estimate beneficial drying energy. Airflow and temperature data were used to estimate fuel consumption. The ratio of these quantities, defined as fuel use efficiency, was included with twelve other variables in a multivariate statistical analysis. Principal component analysis identified two controlled variables that inversely correlated to fuel use efficiency: the length of the duct between the burner and the seed cotton mix point, and the volume of conveying air per unit mass of seed cotton. Minimizing these two variables could reduce the cost of fuel energy, provided that the air volume is sufficient to maintain material flow, drying, and gin processing rate even when receiving very wet cotton. Keywords: Drying, Energy conservation, Fuel consumption, Postharvest processing, Principal component analysis.

Maternal dietary conditions play a major role in fetal growth and brain development. The primary aim of this study was to determine the effects of 5% of energy substitution by vegetables in a maternal dietary fat on placental and fetal weight and on fetal brain gene expression. Two-month-old female C57BL/6 mice were fed 16% (normal-fat, NF), 45% fat (HF), or HF substituted with vegetables (5% energy, HF+VS) diets for 12 weeks. Dams were then bred with NF diet-fed male mice. Placenta and fetal weights were measured at gestational age 19 (D19). RNA was isolated from fetal whole brains and sequenced using Illumina HiSeq. HF+VS diet prevented maternal HF diet-induced decreases in placental weight at D19. Feeding of a maternal HF diet was associated with 79 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), while maternal vegetable substitution was associated with 131 DEGs. The vegetable substitution diet decreased Apold1 (P=.0319), Spata2l (P=.0404), and Celsr1 (Plt;.03) expression compared to HF diet. Enrichment analysis of HF vs. HF+VS DEGs identified that synapse organization and regulation of embryonic development were significantly represented. KEGG enrichment analysis identified a significant representation of DEGs in the ubiquitin mediated proteolysis pathway in HF vs. HF+VS, and chemokine signaling pathway in NF vs. HF. These findings suggest that at D19, in a rodent model, a maternal HF diet alters placental and fetal growth, and that vegetable supplementation renders a protective effect against these changes.

OBJECTIVES: A Mediterranean diet (Med Diet) decreases atherogenic lipoproteins and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. It is unknown how high cholesterol intake within a Med Diet will affect these parameters. The objective of this project was to evaluate the daily inclusion of whole eggs, a high cholesterol food, in the Med Diet on lipid and lipoprotein profiles. METHODS: Overweight to obese men (8) and women (25) were recruited into a randomized, cross-over designed, controlled feeding study evaluating three isocaloric test diets: a) Control –average American diet from What We Eat in America, b) Med Diet, and c) Med Diet plus whole, fresh eggs (1 whole egg/1000 kcal; Med Diet + Egg). The Control and Med Diet contained egg substitute. Participants were directed to consume only those foods provided during each 4-week diet treatment period. Each treatment period was separated by > 4-week washout period. Fasting blood was taken pre- and post-treatment for determination of lipid concentrations, lipoprotein particle size and number. RESULTS: Intake of the Control and Med Diet, but not the Med Diet + Egg, decreased (time effect, P

A 7-plex immunoassay capable of detecting cashew, egg, hazelnut, milk, peanut, shrimp, and soy allergens was used to screen meals ready-to-eat (MREs) and frozen meals that contained meat or poultry. The same food matrices were also evaluated using single individual allergen immunoassays. Multiplex and single allergen test results were compared with the allergen declared on the food label, which was considered the standard. For both the frozen meals (n = 113) and MREs (n = 24) each analytical method failed to detect allergens that were declared on product labels, but only in frozen meals were allergens detected that were not declared on the label. Undeclared allergens were detected for egg in 1.8% (2/113) and for soy in 7.1% (8/113) of frozen meals. Labelled allergens were not detected in 0.9% (1/113) of milk, 4.4% (5/113) of egg, and 15% (17/113) of soy allergens in frozen meals. Assay performance for evaluating allergens in MREs was poor.

Insects exposed to low temperature stress can experience chill injury, but incorporating fluctuating thermoprofiles increases survival and blocks the development of sub-lethal effects. The specific parameters required for a protective thermoprofile are poorly understood, because most studies test a limited range of thermoprofiles. For example, thermoprofiles with a wave profile may perform better than a square profile, but these two profiles are rarely compared. In this study, two developmental stages of the alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata, eye-pigmented pupae, and emergence-ready adults, were exposed to one of eight thermoprofiles for up to 8 weeks. All the thermoprofiles had a base of 6°C and a peak temperature of either 12°C or 18°C. The duration at peak temperature varied depending on the shape of the thermoprofile, either square or wave form. Two other treatments acted as controls, a constant 6°C and a fluctuating thermal regime (FTR) with a base temperature of 6°C that was interrupted daily by a single, 1-h pulse at 20°C. Compared with constant 6°C, all the test thermoprofiles significantly improved survival. Compared with the FTR control, the thermoprofiles with a peak temperature of 18°C outperformed the 12°C profiles. Bees in the eye-pigmented stage exposed to the 18°C profiles separated into two groups based on the shape of the profile, with higher survival in the square profiles compared with the wave profiles. Bees in the emergence-ready stage exposed to 18°C profiles all had significantly higher survival than bees in the FTR controls. Counter to expectations, the least ecologically relevant thermoprofiles (square) had the highest survival rates and blocked the development of sub-lethal effects (delayed emergence).

In semiarid dryland farming regions, No-till and intensified crop rotations may improve water use. Our objective was to determine water use efficiency (WUE) and precipitation use efficiency (PUE) for spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.; SW) grown in crop sequences representing different levels of intensification, under minimum (Min-till) or No-till. Root zone (0–122 cm) water at planting (SWP) was 2.76 cm higher for two- and three-phase sequences under Min-till than continuous spring wheat (CSW), and sequences with fallow averaged 2.65 cm higher than those without. Conversely, SWP was unaffected by sequence under No-till, with less effect of fallow. Root zone water at harvest was unaffected by the number of crop phases or fallow under Min-till. However, values for CSW exceeded the two- or three-phase sequences by 1.57 and 2.53 cm under No-till, and sequences without fallow averaged 1.52 cm more than those with fallow. The highest WUE (8.4 kg grain ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹ water) was observed when SW was grown in three-phase sequences compared with 7.7 kg grain ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹ water, for CSW and SW-fallow. Spring wheat under Min-till had higher WUE in sequences with fallow, but no effects of fallow occurred with No-till. The lowest PUE (near 3 kg grain ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹ precipitation) and no effects of tillage were found in sequences with fallow. However, SW in continuously cropped sequences had PUE between 5.5 and 6.4 kg grain ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹ precipitation and was higher under No-till. Both WUE and PUE are affected by intensification but may also be influenced by patterns of weather.

Diapause is a non-feeding state that many insects undergo to survive the winter months. With fixed resources, overall metabolism and insulin signaling (IIS) are maintained at low levels, but whether those change in response to seasonal temperature fluctuations remains unknown. The focus of this study was to determine 1) how genes in the insulin signaling pathway vary throughout diapause and 2) if that variation changes in response to temperature. To test the hypothesis that expression of IIS pathway genes vary in response to temperature fluctuations during overwintering, alfalfa leafcutting bees, Megachile rotundata, were overwintered at either a constant 4 °C in the lab or in naturally fluctuating temperatures in the field. Expression levels of genes in the IIS pathway, cell cycle regulators, and transcription factors were measured. Overall our findings showed that a few key targets of the insulin signaling pathway, along with growth regulators, change during overwintering, suggesting that only cell cycle regulators, and not the IIS pathway as a whole, change across the phases of diapause. To answer our second question, we compared gene expression levels between temperature treatments at each month for a given gene. We observed significantly more differences in expression of IIS pathway targets, indicating that overwintering conditions impact insulin pathway gene expression and leads to altered expression profiles. With differences seen between temperature treatment groups, these findings indicate that constant temperatures like those used in agricultural storage protocols, lead to different expression profiles and possibly different diapause phenotypes for alfalfa leafcutting bees.

Plant–pollinator interactions are mediated by floral signals and by the quantity and quality of floral rewards. Biotic and abiotic disturbances can influence plant reproductive success through both direct effects on plant performance and indirect effects on pollinator attraction. In this study, we examined the effects of drought on buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moensch), a globally cultivated plant that is prone to drought stress, dependent on insect pollinators for reproduction, and increasingly utilized in on‐farm conservation. Between drought‐stressed and control plants, we compared: nectar quantity and chemical composition, pollen quantity, floral volatile emissions, visits by both managed and wild pollinators, and plant reproductive success. Drought‐stressed plants produced significantly fewer flowers and less nectar per flower, though pollen quantity per flower was unaffected. Nectar from drought‐stressed plants had a lower proportion of sucrose relative to total sugars, though overall sugar concentration was unaffected. Significantly fewer bumble bees, honey bees, and flies were recorded on drought‐stressed plants. While there was no significant difference in the quantity of total floral volatile emissions, volatile compositions differed, with drought‐stressed plants having higher emissions of (Z)‐3‐hexenol, isobutyraldehyde, 2‐methylbutanal, and 3‐methylbutanal. Finally, drought stress had negative effects on seed set and total seed mass per plant. Our results show that drought stress can have significant effects on floral traits and pollinator attraction, reducing plant reproductive success, and the nectar resources available to pollinators. Thus, the potential value of this plant in pollinator conservation and as a honey plant may be reduced under drought stress.

CORE IDEAS Corn increases the number of differentially expressed genes and the intensity of differential gene expression in response to increasing weed density. Genes associated with kinase signaling and transport functions are upregulated by weeds. Genes associated with protein production are downregulated by weeds. A sugar transporter (PMT5) and NUCLEOREDOXIN 1 are upregulated by weeds under diverse conditions. The phenological responses of corn (Zea mays L.) to competition with increasing densities of winter canola (Brassica napus L.) as the weedy competitor were investigated. Changes in the corn transcriptome resulting from varying weed densities were used to identify genes and processes responsive to competition under controlled conditions where light, nutrients, and water were not limited. Increasing densities of weeds resulted in decreased corn growth and development and increased the number and expression intensity of competition-responsive genes. The physiological processes identified in corn that were consistently induced by competition with weeds included protein synthesis and various transport functions. Likewise, numerous genes involved in these processes, as well as several genes implicated in phytochrome signaling and defense responses, were noted as differentially expressed. The results obtained in this study, conducted under controlled (greenhouse) conditions, were compared with a previously published study where the response of corn to competition with other species was evaluated under field conditions. Approximately one-third of the genes were differentially expressed in response to competition under both field and controlled conditions. These competition-responsive genes represent a resource for investigating the signaling processes by which corn recognizes and responds to competition. These results also highlight specific physiological processes that might be targets for mitigating the response of crops to weeds or other competitive plants under field conditions.

Cotton post-harvest processing research requires moisture content determination for seed cotton, cottonseed, and lint. Methods for determining moisture content have changed and are no longer consistent between laboratories. This research compared standard procedures documented in 1972 and those currently practiced for finding moisture content by oven drying, and quantified the variability. Seed cotton from four modern cultivars (ranging from 9.4% to 36.8% foreign matter), lint, and cottonseed were brought from dry conditions, blended, and then stored for more than 30 days in a controlled environment (21°C, 65% RH) to reach uniform moisture content. Additionally, 150 seed cotton samples were placed in plastic zipper bags and sent by air freight to a distant location and back or stored on-site. Drying baskets (652 cm3) were loaded, in random order, with 25, 35, 50, 71, and 100 g seed cotton or 10, 14, 20, 28, and 40 g lint. Cottonseed was placed in 45 cm3 aluminum cups (10 g) or 800 cm3 aluminum baskets (50 g). Wet weights were determined in the controlled environment. After drying, replicated sets of seed cotton, lint, and cottonseed samples were weighed inside a drying oven and then outside the oven while still hot. Some samples were dried for twice the recommended duration. Sample location in the ovens was tracked. Weighing hot seed cotton samples outside the oven after drying increased apparent moisture content by approximately 0.5% due to air buoyancy; weighing lint samples outside the oven increased apparent moisture content by 1%. Smaller differences in apparent seed cotton moisture content were found when halving or doubling the amount of material in drying baskets or doubling the drying duration. Foreign matter had a minor influence on apparent moisture content. Storage for three days and shipping by air freight in plastic zipper bags did not measurably change the apparent moisture content of seed cotton. Sample location within the drying oven made no difference. Current practices are satisfactory if dry weight location is taken into consideration. Measurement uncertainty has decreased compared to 50 years ago, but the recommended minimum number of samples per treatment was increased slightly for greater statistical power. Keywords: Cotton lint, Cottonseed, Moisture content, Oven drying, Seed cotton.

Two of the most commonly used approved grain moisture air-oven reference methods for corn are the air oven method ASAE S352.2, which requires long heating time (72 h) at 103 ± 1°C for unground samples, and the AACC 44-15.02 air-oven method, which dries a ground sample for 1 h at 130 ± 1°C, but there is specific moisture measurement method for popcorn. The AACC 44-15.02 recommends a two-stage drying method for grain over 13%. But this involves more handling and drying time. The objective of this study was to develop an air-oven procedure for popcorn that requires short heating time (1h or less) based on existing reference method for ground corn (AACC 44-15.02). In the process of procedure development, two laboratory mills (Wiley Mini-Mill and Perten 3303 Mill) were optimized for mesh screen size and mill gap settings. The approved AACC method recommends using a 20-mesh screen fitted to the Wiley Mill, which failed, with wires breaking during the grinding process, possibly due to the hard nature of popcorn and/or clogging. It was replaced with the 10-mesh screen which produced larger particle size distribution with ~73% greater than 840 µm. The Perten Mill 3303 was set to gap No. 3 which produced ~68% particles that were greater than 840 µm. Additionally, this study evaluated the effectiveness of single-stage moisture measurement with the 14.5% and 16% moisture popcorn samples. Using the proposed procedure, four varieties of popcorn were tested at three different moisture contents (13%, 14.5%, and 16%). The method using the Wiley grinder and 60 min. heating time yielded oven moisture values which were statistically (p

Currant and gooseberry plants (Ribes L.) are native to the temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere through high elevations in Mexico and Central America to the mountainous regions of South America. Annually, the global production is about 838 MT. The fruits are used for cassis, juice preserves, in bakery, dairy products and pharmaceuticals. Some species such as black currant (Ribes nigrum) have antimicrobial, antitumor and immunostimulatory qualities; hence, interest is growing in crop improvement using a diversity of plant genetic resources. Active germplasm collections preserve Ribes cultivars as clonal plantations in the field or under protected cultivation, and species as plants in the field or seeds in cold storage. Long-term preservation of Ribes germplasm may be accomplished by various methods, one of them is cryopreservation of dormant winter buds (DB). This method is reported for preservation of R. nigrum. We have investigated the possibility of applying DBs for cryopreservation of other Ribes species. Eleven accessions in seven species (R. aureum var. aureum, R. aureum var. villosum, R. cereum, R. erythrocarpum, R. mascalerium, R. turbinatum and R. uva-crispa) were cryopreserved over two winter seasons without a pretreatment (standard), with a cryoprotectant (0.75 M sucrose) or a cryoprotectant with an antioxidant (0.75 M sucrose with 0.75 mM vitamin C). A 2-year average viability varied significantly among the accessions processed with the standard method (10 to 87.5%) and among accessions processed with the pretreatments (32.5 to 97.5%); however, the difference between the standard and treatment procedures was not significant. A significant difference in viability between the processing years was observed and there was an interaction between accession, year and treatments for seven accessions processed in three treatments but not in the four accessions processed in the two treatments. Cryopreservation of the broad species in the Ribes germplasm collection may be supported by identifying modifications of the standard cryopreservation procedure.

False smut (Ustilaginoidea virens) is an important emerging disease of rice (Oryza sativa) in the southern United States, where all major rice cultivars and hybrids are susceptible to the disease. False smut susceptibility was evaluated in traditional paddy-rice fields and under furrow-irrigated conditions to determine the effects of alternative agricultural practices on the severity of this disease. Highly effective false smut suppression was observed in furrow-irrigated rice, where the disease was nearly eliminated in susceptible rice entries. False smut suppression was observed for two hybrids and one conventional rice cultivar, demonstrating that suppression was not limited to specific germplasm sources. Kernel smut severity was also monitored, but no effect on this disease was observed from the irrigation treatments. Therefore, suppression of disease severity in nonflooded rice appears to be a phenomenon unique to the rice–false smut pathosystem, which can be exploited to achieve effective field resistance to this disease.

Within integrated pest management options, fumigation of stored products is one method to help control post-harvest insect infestations in our food and agricultural products. Fumigant gas concentration monitoring is important to confirm that the treatment was adequate to achieve the desired insect control, but monitoring can be relatively expensive and labor intensive. This study evaluated how accurately dosimeter tubes could monitor phosphine fumigation treatments. The dosimeter tube is designed to continuously react with phosphine gas during the fumigation period and yields a measurement in terms of concentration ∗ time product or CT, which can be interpreted as cumulative exposure. Two models of dosimeter tubes were evaluated (high range and low range). The reference method for these trials were wireless phosphine monitoring sensors, which recorded gas concentrations at hourly intervals during an exposure, and from this a CT product was also calculated. Model LPG-1, high-range dosimeter tube, measured within ± 25% of the phosphine monitoring sensors for CT dosages less the 70,000 ppm∗hr. Model LPG-2, low-range tube, tended to significantly over-estimate phosphine CT dosage by 50%–100% of the phosphine monitoring sensor references. Secondly, bioassays of fumigant efficacy were performed using susceptible and resistant adult Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae), lesser grain borers, and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), red flour beetle, for estimating insect control at the varied fumigation CT treatments. For the susceptible strains, CT dosages ∼5000 ppm∗hr controlled both species. However, the insect control varied from 60% to 100% for resistant adults at CT dosages of ∼20,000 ppm∗hr. The dosimeter tubes function in these ranges of dosages where each insect species are controlled and the dosimeter tube model LPG-1 provides reasonable estimates of the fumigation dosage for a given treatment level.

The U.S. broiler meat market has grown over the past 16 years and destinations for U.S. broiler meat exports expanded to over 150 countries. This market opportunity has spurred a corresponding increase in industrialized poultry production, which due to the confined space in which high numbers of animals are housed, risks accumulating nutrients and pollutants. The purpose of this research was to determine the level of pollutants within poultry litter and the underlying soil within a production facility; and to explore the impact of spent litter deposition into the environment. The study follows a production facility for the first 2.5 years of production. It monitors the effects of successive flocks and management practices on 15 physiochemical parameters: Ca, Cu, electrical conductivity, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, moisture, Na, NO3(-)/N, organic matter, P, pH, S, and Zn. Litter samples were collected in-house, after clean-outs and during stockpiling. The soil before house placement, after the clean-outs and following litter stockpiling was monitored. Management practices markedly altered the physiochemical profiles of the litter in-house. A canonical discriminant analysis was used to describe the relationship between the parameters and sampling times. The litter profiles grouped into five clusters corresponding to time and management practices. The soil in-house exhibited mean increases in all physiochemical parameters (2-297 fold) except Fe, Mg, %M, and pH. The spent litter was followed after deposition onto a field for use as fertilizer. After 20 weeks, the soil beneath the litter exhibited increases in EC, Cu, K, Na, NO3(-)/N, %OM, P, S and Zn; while %M decreased. Understanding the impacts of industrialized poultry farms on the environment is vital as the cumulative ecological impact of this land usage could be substantial if not properly managed to reduce the risk of potential pollutant infiltration into the environment.

Genetic marker haplotypes for the Waxy and alk genes are associated with amylose content and gelatinization temperature, respectively, and are used by breeders to develop rice cultivars that have physicochemical properties desired by the parboiling and canning industries. Cultivars that provide consistent processing quality across diverse production environments are important to the industry. This study determined if measures of processing quality differed among cultivars, fertility treatments, and production environments. Nine cultivars having high amylose content (>23.0%) but with different Waxy and alk haplotypes were evaluated in three environments and using three nitrogen fertility levels. Although environment and fertility levels significantly (P < 0.05) impacted protein content, gelatinization temperatures, and peak, trough, and final paste viscosities, cultivars performed consistently across production environments and fertility applications. Differences were observed among cultivars in paste visc...

Salmonella Typhimurium (Le Minor and Popoff 1987; Enterobacteriales: Enterobacteriaceae) is a pathogen that causes gastroenteritis in humans and can be harbored by house flies. Factors influencing excretion of S. Typhimurium from infected flies have not been elucidated but are essential for assessing transmission potential. We determined the persistence and excretion of a green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressing strain of S. Typhimurium from house flies. Individual male and female flies were fed either sterile Luria-Bertani (LB) broth (controls) or cultures of "high" (~105 colony forming units [CFU]) or "low" (~104 CFU) doses of bacteria (treatments). Bacterial persistence was determined over 16 h by culturing whole-fly homogenate. Both sex and dose affected persistence between 6 and 12 h postingestion. In a separate experiment, fly excretion events were monitored during this time interval and excreta droplets were individually cultured for bacteria. Female flies had more excretion events than males across treatments. We observed interactions of fly sex and bacterial abundance (dose), both on the proportion of Salmonella-positive droplets and the CFU shed per droplet (CFU/droplet). In the low-dose treatment, males excreted a greater proportion of positive droplets than females. In the high-dose treatment, males excreted more CFU/droplet than females. High-dose male flies excreted more CFU/droplet than low-dose males, but low-dose females excreted more CFU/droplet than high-dose females. Irrespective of sex, low-dose flies excreted a greater dose-adjusted CFU (CFU droplet/CFU fed) than high-dose flies. This study demonstrates that both bacterial abundance and fly sex may influence excretion of bacteria from flies, and should be considered when assessing the risk of house fly transmission of pathogens.

Weedy red rice is a major weed pest of rice in the southern United States. Outcrossing between red rice and commercial tropical japonica rice cultivars has resulted in new weed biotypes that further hinder the effectiveness of weed management. In recent years, indica rice has been used increasingly as a germplasm source for breeding and for reduced-input systems in the United States, but little is known about its outcrossing potential with U.S. weedy red rice biotypes. In a 2-yr study, simple sequence repeat marker analysis was used to show that blackhull (BH) red rice (PI 653424) outcrossing to four, late-maturing indica cultivars averaged 0.0086% and ranged from 0.002% for ‘TeQing’ to 0.0173% for ‘4484’ (PI 615022). Rates of outcrossing to a tropical japonica cultivar standard, ‘Kaybonnet’ (0.032%), were substantially greater than for the indica cultivars. These differences in outcrossing were due largely to synchronization of flowering times between rice and red rice, with Kaybonnet and TeQing exhibiting the greatest and least synchronization, respectively. Outcrossing rates also may have been affected by rice–red rice flower density differences within the rice plots. Outcrossing from cultivated rice to the red rice (as pollen recipient), which was taller than all rice cultivars, was undetectable in these studies, and environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and rainfall) were not strongly correlated with the outcrossing rates observed. Grain yields of the original BH red rice line were greatest in the Kaybonnet plots, demonstrating that the indica cultivars were superior competitors against this weed. Collectively, these results suggest that red rice biotypes that flower synchronously with rice cultivars are a potential source of pollen for outcrossing and gene flow in rice fields in the southern United States.