The study explores the factors influencing attitude towards agricultural technology adoption among Permanent Food Production Park(PFPP)program participants in West Malaysia and the factors that influence their attitud...The study explores the factors influencing attitude towards agricultural technology adoption among Permanent Food Production Park(PFPP)program participants in West Malaysia and the factors that influence their attitudes.The PFPP program is one of the programs introduced by the government of Malaysia with the objectives of increasing food production,as well as supporting local agriculture entrepreneurs.The study employed a cross-sectional study design and has been conducted in four West Malaysian states with a sample of size of 275 respondents.The results indicated that the respondents had a positive attitude towards technology adoption and factors such as knowledge and skill,benefit,education level,years of experience in agriculture and gross income had influenced their attitude.展开更多
Fusarium species were reported to produce biofilms.Biofilms are superficial societies of microbes bounded and endangered by being situated or taking place outside a cell or cells.The most destructive fungal diseases c...Fusarium species were reported to produce biofilms.Biofilms are superficial societies of microbes bounded and endangered by being situated or taking place outside a cell or cells.The most destructive fungal diseases caused by phytopathogens are as a result of biofilms formation.Fusarium wilt of banana(Panama disease)is caused by a soil-borne pathogen called Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.cubense.Fusarium oxysporum occurs in a form of a species complex(FOSC)which encompasses a crowd of strains.Horizontal genetic factor transfer may donate to the observed assortment in pathogenic strains,while sexual reproduction is unknown in the FOSC.Fusarium wilt is a notorious disease on several crops worldwide.Yield loss caused by this pathogen is huge,and significant to destroy crop yields annually,thereby affecting the producer countries in various continents of the world.The disease is also resistant to various synthetic chemical fungicides.However,excessive use of synthetic fungicides during disease control could be lethal to humans,animals,and plants.This calls for alternative eco-friendly management of this disease by targeting the biofilms formation and finally suppressing this devastating phytopathogen.In this review,we,therefore,described the damage caused by Fusarium wilt disease,the concept of filamentous fungal biofilms,classical control strategies,sustainable disease control strategies using essential oils,and prevention and control of vegetables Fusarium wilt diseases.展开更多
Every breeding program that aims to create new and improved cultivars with desired traits mostly relies on information related to genetic diversity.Therefore,molecular characterization of germplasms is important to ob...Every breeding program that aims to create new and improved cultivars with desired traits mostly relies on information related to genetic diversity.Therefore,molecular characterization of germplasms is important to obtain target cultivars with desirable traits.Sweet potato[Ipomoea batatas(L.)Lam]is widely considered the world’s most important crop,with great diversity in morphological and phenotypic traits.The genetic diversity of 20 sweet potato germplasms originating from Bangladesh,CIP,Philippines,Taiwan,and Malaysia were compared,which was accomplished by genetic diversity analysis by exploring 20 microsatellite DNA markers for germplasm characterization and utilization.This information was effective in differentiating or clustering the sweet potato genotypes.A total of 64 alleles were generated using the 20 primers throughout the 20 germplasm samples,with locus IBS97 having the highest number of alleles(5),whereas locus IbU33 had the fewest alleles(2).The alleles varied in size from 105(IbU31)to 213 base pairs(IBS34).The Polymorphism Information Content(PIC)values for the loci IbL46 and IBS97 varied from 0.445 to 0.730.IBS97 has the highest number of effective alleles(3.704),compared to an average of 2.520.The average Shannon’s diversity index(H)was 1.003,ranging from 0.673 in IbU3 to 1.432 in IBS97.The value of gene flow(Nm)varied between 0.000 and 0.005,with an average of 0.003,whereas genetic differentiation(FST-values)ranged between 0.901 and 1.000.The sweet potato germplasm included in this study had a broad genetic base.SP1 vs.SP9 and SP12 vs.SP18 germplasm pairings had the greatest genetic distance(GD=0.965),while SP1 vs.SP2 germplasm couples had the least genetic diversity(GD=0.093).Twenty genotypes were classified into two groups in the UPGMA dendrogram,with 16 genotypes classified as group“A”and the remaining four genotypes,SP10,SP18,SP19,and SP20,classified as group“B.”According to cluster analysis,the anticipated heterozygosity(gene diversity)of Nei(1973)was 0.591 on average.In summary,SSR markers successfully evaluated the genetic relationships among the sweet potato accessions used and generated a high level of polymorphism.The results of the present study will be useful for the management of germplasm,improvement of the current breeding strategies,and the release of new cultivars as varieties.展开更多
Validity of CA-Markov in land use and cover change simulation was investigated at the Langat Basin, Selangor, Malaysia. CA-Markov validation was performed using validation metrics, allocation disagreement, quantity di...Validity of CA-Markov in land use and cover change simulation was investigated at the Langat Basin, Selangor, Malaysia. CA-Markov validation was performed using validation metrics, allocation disagreement, quantity disagreement, and figure of merit in a three-dimensional space. The figure of merit, quantity error, and allocation error for total landscape simulation using the 1990-1997 calibration data were 5.62%, 3.53%, and 6.13%, respectively. CA-Markov showed a poor performance for land use and cover change simulation due to uncertainties in the source data, the model, and future land use and cover change processes in the study area.展开更多
Prediction of highly non-linear behavior of suspended sediment flow in rivers has prime importance in environmental studies and watershed management. In this study, the predictive performance of two Artificial Neural ...Prediction of highly non-linear behavior of suspended sediment flow in rivers has prime importance in environmental studies and watershed management. In this study, the predictive performance of two Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), namely Radial Basis Function (RBF) and Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) were compared. Time series data of daily suspended sediment discharge and water discharge at the Langat River, Malaysia were used for training and testing the networks. Mean Square Error (MSE), Normalized Mean Square Error (NMSE) and correlation coefficient (r) were used for performance evaluation of the models. Using the testing data set, both models produced a similar level of robustness in sediment load simulation. The MLP network model showed a slightly better output than the RBF network model in predicting suspended sediment discharge, especially in the training process. However, both ANNs showed a weak robustness in estimating large magnitudes of sediment load.展开更多
A 2-year field study was conducted in northern Greece to investigate the effect of nitrogen fertilization and irrigation on productivity of three Greek chickpea varieties (“Amorgos” “Serifos”, “Andros”). Chickpe...A 2-year field study was conducted in northern Greece to investigate the effect of nitrogen fertilization and irrigation on productivity of three Greek chickpea varieties (“Amorgos” “Serifos”, “Andros”). Chickpea, grown under irrigation regime (30 + 30 mm of water) and fertilized with 50 kg·N·ha-1 before planting and with 40 kg·N·ha-1 at blossom growth stage, produced more total dry biomass and seed yield as compared with that grown under non-irrigated conditions and fertilized with 50 kg·N·ha-1 before planting only. In particular, irrigation and nitrogen fertilization at blossom growth stage increased total dry weight of chickpea by 18.3% and 18.5%, respectively, as compared with that of non-irrigated and fertilized with N before planting. The corresponding increase of seed yield was 30.5% and 20%, respectively. The total dry biomass of “Amorgos” was 10% and 13% greater than that of “Serifos” and “Andros”, while its respective seed yield increase was 5% and 16%. Finally, the quantum yield of photosystem II of chickpea was not affected by irrigation or fertilization. These results indicated that nitrogen fertilization at blossom growth stage combined with irrigation increased seed yield of all chickpea varieties, whereas the same treatments did not have any effect on plant quantum yield of photosystem II.展开更多
To analyze the effect of different lowland rice varieties and different cooking methods on physical and chemical characteristics of cooked rice. A factorial randomized block design with two factors was used and each c...To analyze the effect of different lowland rice varieties and different cooking methods on physical and chemical characteristics of cooked rice. A factorial randomized block design with two factors was used and each combination of the factors was repeated three times. The first factor was rice variety(Ciherang and Ciliwung) and the second factor was the cooking method(stovetop, boiling and steaming, and rice cooker). Results showed that Ciherang and Ciliwung varieties were classified into slender grain rice type with yellowred color. The amylose content of Ciherang was classified as moderate, while the amylose content of Ciliwung classified as low. The most abundant amino acid contained in Ciherang and Ciliwung varieties was glutamic acid. Statistical analysis showed that cooking method had significant effects on texture, lightness, chroma, hue and moisture content of cooked rice. Rice cooked with liwet method had the lowest texture value, lowest lightness value, highest chroma value, and highest moisture content.展开更多
This study focuses on the influence of weather and climate on malaria occurrence based on human-biometeorological methods was carried out in Ondo State, Nigeria using meteorological and malaria dataset in the state fo...This study focuses on the influence of weather and climate on malaria occurrence based on human-biometeorological methods was carried out in Ondo State, Nigeria using meteorological and malaria dataset in the state for the period from 1998 to 2008. In addition, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over equatorial Pacific Ocean were integrated in the analysis. The association between each of the meteorological-biometeorological parameters and clinical-reported malaria cases was examined by using Poisson distribution and log as link function between the two categories of dataset. The next step was the building of a model by using Poisson multiple regression models (GLMs) in order to know the weather variables that lead to statistically changes in clinical-reported malaria cases. The study revealed that an increase of I m.s1 of wind speed can lead to an increase of about 164% and 171% in the monthly occurrence of malaria at 95% confidence interval in derived savanna and humid forest zone respectively. Also, an increase of I ℃ in air temperature and sea surface temperature is associated with 53.4% and 29% increase in monthly malaria occurrence (CI: 95%) in derived savanna while an increase of 1 ℃ in air temperature and sea surface temperature is associated with 56.4% and 15.4% increase in monthly malaria occurrence at 95% confidence interval in humid forest zone of Ondo State展开更多
Red tip disease on pineapple (Ananas comosus) was first recognized about 20 years ago in a commercial pineapple stand located in Simpang Renggam, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia. Since its discovery, there has been no conf...Red tip disease on pineapple (Ananas comosus) was first recognized about 20 years ago in a commercial pineapple stand located in Simpang Renggam, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia. Since its discovery, there has been no confirmation on the causal agent of red tip disease. The epidemiology of red tip disease is still not fully understood. However, based on disease symptoms and field transmission mode, red tip disease seems to be strongly associated with viral infection. The aim of this work was to assess the feasibility of using an optical sensor to estimate red tip disease severity. This work was performed in a commercial pineapple plantation located in Simpang Renggam, Johor. Four observation plots bearing pineapple variety SR36 were demarcated based on crop growth stage. Each plot comprised a total of eighty corresponding measurements of percent Disease Severity (% DS) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Our data showed a strong correlation between % DS and NDVI. The 7- and 11-month plantings registered a correlation coefficient (r) of -0.83 and -0.88, respectively. The negative correlation infers that NDVI increases when disease severity is low. This is expected since healthy leaves reflect more near-infrared light and less visible light which results in a higher NDVI. The regression of NDVI on % DS for the 7-month planting was explained by: % DS = 181.6 - 185.6*NDVI. Meanwhile, the regression of NDVI on % DS for the 11-month planting was explained by: % DS = 213.2 - 219.8*NDVI. The linear fit between measured % DS and estimated % DS from the 7-month and 11-month plantings was relatively strong. This work has demonstrated that NDVI is a reliable predictor of % DS in pineapple.展开更多
The present study, conducted during 2016 and 2017 seasons, aimed to investigate the effect of IBA on rooting of Piper betle L. stem cuttings (softwood and semi-hardwood). The experiment was undertaken in misting house...The present study, conducted during 2016 and 2017 seasons, aimed to investigate the effect of IBA on rooting of Piper betle L. stem cuttings (softwood and semi-hardwood). The experiment was undertaken in misting house field 2 UPM using the sand media to determine the adventitious roots initiation and development using the histological method. The cuttings were treated with different IBA concentrations (0, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg/L). The nodes explants were used in the development of a protocol for in vitro propagation of P. betle L., with different concentrations of Clorox with different times of immersion (20% Clorox 10 minutes, 30% Clorox 10 minutes, 20% Clorox 20 minutes, and 30% 20 minutes). In multiplication of the plantlets, Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with different concentrations of BAP (0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 mg/L) were used to investigate the rooting of the explants. The results indicated that the types of the cuttings were different in the rooting capacity and the length of the roots. Moreover, it was found that in comparison with the control treatment, by a rise in the concentrations of the IBA, there was a significant upsurge in the rooting percentage, the root diameter, and the number of the roots. The results indicated that the types of cutting with 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg/L IBA perform better in the root percentage (100%) in the semi hardwood cuttings. The best results, however, were 2000 mg/L IBA in the semi hardwood cuttings, with the number of the roots to be 35.05, and the fresh weight of the roots to be 3.94 g, the dry weight of the roots to be 0.33 g, the length of the roots to be 391.88 cm, the roots diameter to be 1.21 mm, the surface area of the roots to be 121.83 cm2, and the root volume to be 2.99 cm3. Nonetheless, the optimal concentration of Clorox with the time immersion was 20% with the 20-minute immersion time, which produced a shoot induction percentage of 30% dead explants and a mean number of 70.00 shoots per explant and the optimal concentration of benzylaminopurine (BAP) at 1.0 mg/L. It is of note that a shoot induction percentage of 22.29% and a mean number of 4.1% number of auxiliary bud per treatment. P. betle shoots in MS medium without PGR MS (0.0) yielded a good rooting.展开更多
Understanding aquatic pathogen in sediments or aquacultural water is crucial to protect public health from soilborne and waterborne diseases.Quorum sensing(QS)was increasingly reported in biological wastewater treatme...Understanding aquatic pathogen in sediments or aquacultural water is crucial to protect public health from soilborne and waterborne diseases.Quorum sensing(QS)was increasingly reported in biological wastewater treatment processes because of their inherent roles in biofilm development,bacterial aggregation and so on.The widely QS signals was Antoinducer-2(AI-2),primarily involved to allow the possibility of interspecies communication.However,the cellular components that mediate the response of Streptococcus agalactiae to AI-2 have not been fully characterized.Analysis of the complete genome sequence of S.agalactiae indi-cated that its RbsB protein has similarity to Escherichia coli LsrB and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans RbsB proteins that bind AI-2.We hypothesized that RbsB protein mediates quorum sensing signal uptake via interaction with AI-2.To evaluate the regulatory effect of RbsB on QS system,the recombinant plasmid pGEX-6p-1-RbsB was constructed and RbsB protein was purified with GST-tag.To further elucidate the role of RbsB protein binding to DPD(AI-2 precursor dihydroxypentanedione),the systemati-cally throughput circular dichroism(CD)spectroscopy,isothermal titration calorimetry200(ITC200)and molecular docking methods were employed.The high expression of soluble RbsB protein with molecular weight of 33 kDa was obtained.The thermodynamics results(ΔH<0,ΔS<0,ΔG<0)with ITC determination indicated that the binding process between DPD and RbsB was exothermic and spontaneous,with hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces as the main binding forces.Obviously,DPD can be more easily combined with RbsB in a dose-dependent manner,suggesting that RbsB was changed in the microenvironment of DPD when the DPD concentration was between 0.8-1.0mmolL−1 and reaching the maximum binding amount.According to molecular docking,3 hydrophobic residues involved in DPD and RbsB protein stable binding were be found,and also hydrogen bonding plays a key role in the formation of the new complex.RbsB efficiently inhibited V.harveyi bioluminescence induced by both S.agalactiae AI-2 and V.harveyi AI-2 in a dose-dependent manner.However,our results suggest that RbsB may play a role in the response of S.agalactiace to AI-2.展开更多
Crude plant extracts of ringworm cassia, Cassia alata L. and turmeric, Curcuma longa L. were prepared by either hot water or organic solvents such as ethanol and ether. Various concentrations of the crude extract were...Crude plant extracts of ringworm cassia, Cassia alata L. and turmeric, Curcuma longa L. were prepared by either hot water or organic solvents such as ethanol and ether. Various concentrations of the crude extract were then subjected to an in vitro test for their effectiveness on mycelia growth inhibition against some important plant pathogenic fungi such as Alternaria alternata, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Fusarium oxysporum fsp. lycopersici, Sclerotium rolfsii, Phytophthora infestans and Pythium sp. in comparison to commercial fungicides such as copper oxychloride and mancozeb. Reduction of the fungal growth was significantly obtained with C. longa extracts and the best median effective inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 6.07, 6.50 and 7.13 mg/ml was from the ethanol extract for S. rolfsii, C. gloeosporioides and F. oxysporum fsp. lycopersici respectively. While all extracts from C. alata were almost the least effective against these fungi. The efficacy of C. longa extracts therefore, provided an alternative regime for the control of the fungal diseases and a promising appreciable choice for a replacement of chemical fungicides.展开更多
The study was carried out to evaluate the efficiency of a natural coagulant that is Moringa oleifera seeds in removing turbid from Malaysian water. Three water samples were used in this study subjected to purification...The study was carried out to evaluate the efficiency of a natural coagulant that is Moringa oleifera seeds in removing turbid from Malaysian water. Three water samples were used in this study subjected to purification studies using Moringa oleifera seeds that were collected during two different seasons that are dry season (February-March) and rainy season (October-November). The treated water samples were tested for turbidity level, pH level and color index. The result shows that Moringa oleifera seed collected during drought season has the ability to remove turbidity up to 88.0% and has better color index compared seeds collected during rainy season. The ability of Moringa oleifera seeds protein to act as a magnet assists in attracting the flocks and turbid in the water. Although not as effective as conventional chemicals, Moringa oleifera shows remarkable ability to remove turbid and encourages the use of natural coagulant in water treatment plants as it is cheap and environmental friendly.展开更多
S. horvatii ssp. macrophylla (Lamiaceae) is an endemic aromatic plant of Greece and is used as a culinary herb. In the present study we explored its possible anticancer activity through the induction of apoptosis on c...S. horvatii ssp. macrophylla (Lamiaceae) is an endemic aromatic plant of Greece and is used as a culinary herb. In the present study we explored its possible anticancer activity through the induction of apoptosis on cancer cells using A549 cell line as a model. The cytotoxic effects and the type of cell death (apoptosis/necrosis) were evaluated with biochemical and morphological criteria. The total methanol extract of S. horvatii ssp. macrophylla revealed forty two components, of which carvacrol was the major constituent (43.2%). Only a minor portion of them (3.41%) was contained in the active working plant extract solution which was used for cell treatment. This study indicates that extract of S. horvatii spp. macrophylla, which belongs to carvacrol chemotype, can induce both apoptosis and necrosis to A549 cancer cell line.展开更多
Madurese s;picy dried beef is an indegenious sun dried meat incorporating cooking salt, cane sugar and spices and have not been explored scientifically. The purpose of this study was to find out the effect of differen...Madurese s;picy dried beef is an indegenious sun dried meat incorporating cooking salt, cane sugar and spices and have not been explored scientifically. The purpose of this study was to find out the effect of different concentrations of cooking salt and cane sugar on physico-chemical and organoleptic quality of Madurese spicy dried beef. Randomized Block Design with two factors namely concentration of cooking salt (1%, 2% and 3% w/w) and cane sugar (3%, 6% and 9% w/w), and three replications were used in this study. The increasing amount of either cooking salt and cane sugar incorporated during preparation affected the samples salt, total sugar and moisture contents as well as it's aw value and texture of end products. From the organoleptic properties it was found that these treatments only affected the taste of spicy dried beef. Best sample was obtained from incorporating 3% cooking salt and 6% cane sugar with moisture content: 7.11%, aw: 0.354, salt content: 8.17%, total sugar content: 16.91%, texture: 0.0107 kiloNewton and panelists scores tbr texture 5.03; taste 4.53 and colour 5.31. Amino acids profile analysis of best sample showed that the most dominant amino acid was Glutamic acid (7.34%) followed by Aspartic acid (4.15%), Lysine (3.30%) and Leucine (3.22%). It can be concluded that to get the best spicy dried beef, the amount of 3% cooking salt and 6% cane sugar should be incorporated during preparation.展开更多
Agrobacterium-mediated transformation through floral dip and rapid selection process after transgenic event had become a preference as it will overcome the difficulties faced in tissue culturing procedures and lengthy...Agrobacterium-mediated transformation through floral dip and rapid selection process after transgenic event had become a preference as it will overcome the difficulties faced in tissue culturing procedures and lengthy time for screening transformed progenies. Therefore, in this study, three constructs, p5b5 (14,289 bp), p5d9 (15,330 bp) and p5f7 (15,380 bp) in pDRB6b vector which has hygromycin as a selectable marker gene were introduced individually into Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain (AGL1). The cell suspension was applied to Amaranthus inflorescence by drop-by-drop technique and was left to produce seeds (T1). The T1 seeds were germinated and grown to produce seedlings under non-sterile condition. Hygromycin selection on seedling cotyledon leaves results in identification of 12 putative transformants, three from p5b5, four from p5d9 and five from p5f7. All positive putative transformants that were selected at the first stage through hygromycin spraying showed positive result in leaf disk hygromycin assay and in a construct specific polymerase chain reaction-based assay. A ~750 bp amplified hygromycin gene was further verified through sequencing. Our results suggest that Amaranthus inflorescences were able to be transformed and the transformed progenies could be verified through a combination of simple and rapid methods .展开更多
The experiment was conducted in the laboratories of the Departments of Chemistry and Animal Health and Production Technology, Adamawa State University, Mubi, Nigeria. The experiment was replicated three times in a Ran...The experiment was conducted in the laboratories of the Departments of Chemistry and Animal Health and Production Technology, Adamawa State University, Mubi, Nigeria. The experiment was replicated three times in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and consisted of six heating time 30, 60 and 120 minutes boiling, 30, 60 and 120 minutes roasting and one control. Data were collected on acid value, free fatty acid, iodine value, peroxide value, saponification value and unsaponifiable matter. The data collected were analyzed statistically using Generalized Linear Model (GLM) procedure of statistical analysis system (SAS). The means that were significantly different were separated using Least Significant Difference (LSD). The results showed that there were highly significant differences (P ≤ 0.01) among the treatments. The highest Acid Value (AV) of 3.53 and 3.64 were recorded by heating time at 120 minutes of boiling and 120 minutes of roasting. Heating time at 30 minutes of boiling, 30 minutes roasting, 60 minutes boiling and 60 minutes roasting recorded lower Free Fatty Acid (FFA) values of 1.52, 1.55, 1.57 and 1.58, respectively. Heating time at 60 minutes of roasting and 60 minutes of boiling recorded the highest Iodine value (IV) of 43.80 and 43.53, respectively. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that heating time of 30 or 60 minutes by boiling or roasting are better than longer heating times for Shea butter extraction.展开更多
This study has the objective to found out the temperature and raosting time of cocoa powder in order to gain color, aroma and taste favored by the panelist and has high polyphenol content. The roasting time in this re...This study has the objective to found out the temperature and raosting time of cocoa powder in order to gain color, aroma and taste favored by the panelist and has high polyphenol content. The roasting time in this research has been determined 35 min, and roasting temperature of 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140 and 150 ℃ with vacuum and conventional system. From those temperatures ranges, we would take the three best levels according to organoleptic test result. The three selected temperatures would be tested for changing in polyphenol content during roasting process. Color alteration would be physically analyzed using color reader (PCE-RGB). However, phenol total content was analyzed using colorimetric method of Folin-Ciocalteu. Result of this study showed that color alteration percentage (RGB model analysis) during conventional roasting is higher (43%) compared with vacuum roasting system (2%) Subsequently, organoleptic test result showed that from roasting temperatures between 80 ℃ and 150 ℃, cocoa powder favored by the panelist were those that was treated in temperature 100 ℃, 110 ℃ and 120 ℃. Other results indicated that vacuum roasting implementation could increase polyphenol content. While vacuum roasting of 60.8 cm Hg in 120 ℃ with roasting time of 25 min has obtained 10.57% total phenolic, or increasing as much as 1.22%.展开更多
In view of the fact that climate-related disasters are already taking a heavy toll, causing massive damage to crops and infrastructure and forcing some people to flee their homes, however, the potential impacts of cli...In view of the fact that climate-related disasters are already taking a heavy toll, causing massive damage to crops and infrastructure and forcing some people to flee their homes, however, the potential impacts of climate change are likely to trigger adaptive responses that influence environmental and socio-economic drivers of food system performance in positive as well as negative ways. This paper was conducted through the collection of some research materials with the projected balance of these various climate impacts on food system performance and food security outcomes at the local and global levels. More so that, food security is likely to be affected by climate change in several ways: food security depends not only on the direct impact of climate change on food production but also on its indirect impact on human nutrition and health, economic growth, trade flows and food aid policy. The paper further examined the effectiveness of managing new risks and uncertainty, improving the quality of information and its use, monitoring weather and improving scientific understanding of climate change, promoting insurance schemes, maintaining biodiversity and access to fund as some of the crucial measures for adaptation. The large amount of resources that would be necessary to avoid the worst case scenario suggests the necessity of continued support from the international community to improve food security at the local and global levels as a whole.展开更多
文摘The study explores the factors influencing attitude towards agricultural technology adoption among Permanent Food Production Park(PFPP)program participants in West Malaysia and the factors that influence their attitudes.The PFPP program is one of the programs introduced by the government of Malaysia with the objectives of increasing food production,as well as supporting local agriculture entrepreneurs.The study employed a cross-sectional study design and has been conducted in four West Malaysian states with a sample of size of 275 respondents.The results indicated that the respondents had a positive attitude towards technology adoption and factors such as knowledge and skill,benefit,education level,years of experience in agriculture and gross income had influenced their attitude.
基金the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia for providing funds under the Long-term Research Grant Scheme(LRGS/1/2019/UPM/2/2)。
文摘Fusarium species were reported to produce biofilms.Biofilms are superficial societies of microbes bounded and endangered by being situated or taking place outside a cell or cells.The most destructive fungal diseases caused by phytopathogens are as a result of biofilms formation.Fusarium wilt of banana(Panama disease)is caused by a soil-borne pathogen called Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.cubense.Fusarium oxysporum occurs in a form of a species complex(FOSC)which encompasses a crowd of strains.Horizontal genetic factor transfer may donate to the observed assortment in pathogenic strains,while sexual reproduction is unknown in the FOSC.Fusarium wilt is a notorious disease on several crops worldwide.Yield loss caused by this pathogen is huge,and significant to destroy crop yields annually,thereby affecting the producer countries in various continents of the world.The disease is also resistant to various synthetic chemical fungicides.However,excessive use of synthetic fungicides during disease control could be lethal to humans,animals,and plants.This calls for alternative eco-friendly management of this disease by targeting the biofilms formation and finally suppressing this devastating phytopathogen.In this review,we,therefore,described the damage caused by Fusarium wilt disease,the concept of filamentous fungal biofilms,classical control strategies,sustainable disease control strategies using essential oils,and prevention and control of vegetables Fusarium wilt diseases.
基金The work was financially supported by National Agricultural Technology Program-II Project(NATP-2)BARC Component Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council,Farmgate,Dhaka-1215+2 种基金Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute(BARI),Joydebpur,Gazipur 1701The work was partially supported by the Taif University Researchers Supporting Project No.(TURSP-2020/39)Taif University,Taif,Saudi Arabia.
文摘Every breeding program that aims to create new and improved cultivars with desired traits mostly relies on information related to genetic diversity.Therefore,molecular characterization of germplasms is important to obtain target cultivars with desirable traits.Sweet potato[Ipomoea batatas(L.)Lam]is widely considered the world’s most important crop,with great diversity in morphological and phenotypic traits.The genetic diversity of 20 sweet potato germplasms originating from Bangladesh,CIP,Philippines,Taiwan,and Malaysia were compared,which was accomplished by genetic diversity analysis by exploring 20 microsatellite DNA markers for germplasm characterization and utilization.This information was effective in differentiating or clustering the sweet potato genotypes.A total of 64 alleles were generated using the 20 primers throughout the 20 germplasm samples,with locus IBS97 having the highest number of alleles(5),whereas locus IbU33 had the fewest alleles(2).The alleles varied in size from 105(IbU31)to 213 base pairs(IBS34).The Polymorphism Information Content(PIC)values for the loci IbL46 and IBS97 varied from 0.445 to 0.730.IBS97 has the highest number of effective alleles(3.704),compared to an average of 2.520.The average Shannon’s diversity index(H)was 1.003,ranging from 0.673 in IbU3 to 1.432 in IBS97.The value of gene flow(Nm)varied between 0.000 and 0.005,with an average of 0.003,whereas genetic differentiation(FST-values)ranged between 0.901 and 1.000.The sweet potato germplasm included in this study had a broad genetic base.SP1 vs.SP9 and SP12 vs.SP18 germplasm pairings had the greatest genetic distance(GD=0.965),while SP1 vs.SP2 germplasm couples had the least genetic diversity(GD=0.093).Twenty genotypes were classified into two groups in the UPGMA dendrogram,with 16 genotypes classified as group“A”and the remaining four genotypes,SP10,SP18,SP19,and SP20,classified as group“B.”According to cluster analysis,the anticipated heterozygosity(gene diversity)of Nei(1973)was 0.591 on average.In summary,SSR markers successfully evaluated the genetic relationships among the sweet potato accessions used and generated a high level of polymorphism.The results of the present study will be useful for the management of germplasm,improvement of the current breeding strategies,and the release of new cultivars as varieties.
文摘Validity of CA-Markov in land use and cover change simulation was investigated at the Langat Basin, Selangor, Malaysia. CA-Markov validation was performed using validation metrics, allocation disagreement, quantity disagreement, and figure of merit in a three-dimensional space. The figure of merit, quantity error, and allocation error for total landscape simulation using the 1990-1997 calibration data were 5.62%, 3.53%, and 6.13%, respectively. CA-Markov showed a poor performance for land use and cover change simulation due to uncertainties in the source data, the model, and future land use and cover change processes in the study area.
文摘Prediction of highly non-linear behavior of suspended sediment flow in rivers has prime importance in environmental studies and watershed management. In this study, the predictive performance of two Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), namely Radial Basis Function (RBF) and Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) were compared. Time series data of daily suspended sediment discharge and water discharge at the Langat River, Malaysia were used for training and testing the networks. Mean Square Error (MSE), Normalized Mean Square Error (NMSE) and correlation coefficient (r) were used for performance evaluation of the models. Using the testing data set, both models produced a similar level of robustness in sediment load simulation. The MLP network model showed a slightly better output than the RBF network model in predicting suspended sediment discharge, especially in the training process. However, both ANNs showed a weak robustness in estimating large magnitudes of sediment load.
文摘A 2-year field study was conducted in northern Greece to investigate the effect of nitrogen fertilization and irrigation on productivity of three Greek chickpea varieties (“Amorgos” “Serifos”, “Andros”). Chickpea, grown under irrigation regime (30 + 30 mm of water) and fertilized with 50 kg·N·ha-1 before planting and with 40 kg·N·ha-1 at blossom growth stage, produced more total dry biomass and seed yield as compared with that grown under non-irrigated conditions and fertilized with 50 kg·N·ha-1 before planting only. In particular, irrigation and nitrogen fertilization at blossom growth stage increased total dry weight of chickpea by 18.3% and 18.5%, respectively, as compared with that of non-irrigated and fertilized with N before planting. The corresponding increase of seed yield was 30.5% and 20%, respectively. The total dry biomass of “Amorgos” was 10% and 13% greater than that of “Serifos” and “Andros”, while its respective seed yield increase was 5% and 16%. Finally, the quantum yield of photosystem II of chickpea was not affected by irrigation or fertilization. These results indicated that nitrogen fertilization at blossom growth stage combined with irrigation increased seed yield of all chickpea varieties, whereas the same treatments did not have any effect on plant quantum yield of photosystem II.
基金supported by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)Research Center of Sub-Optimal Land (PUR-PLSO) Universitas Sriwijaya
文摘To analyze the effect of different lowland rice varieties and different cooking methods on physical and chemical characteristics of cooked rice. A factorial randomized block design with two factors was used and each combination of the factors was repeated three times. The first factor was rice variety(Ciherang and Ciliwung) and the second factor was the cooking method(stovetop, boiling and steaming, and rice cooker). Results showed that Ciherang and Ciliwung varieties were classified into slender grain rice type with yellowred color. The amylose content of Ciherang was classified as moderate, while the amylose content of Ciliwung classified as low. The most abundant amino acid contained in Ciherang and Ciliwung varieties was glutamic acid. Statistical analysis showed that cooking method had significant effects on texture, lightness, chroma, hue and moisture content of cooked rice. Rice cooked with liwet method had the lowest texture value, lowest lightness value, highest chroma value, and highest moisture content.
文摘This study focuses on the influence of weather and climate on malaria occurrence based on human-biometeorological methods was carried out in Ondo State, Nigeria using meteorological and malaria dataset in the state for the period from 1998 to 2008. In addition, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over equatorial Pacific Ocean were integrated in the analysis. The association between each of the meteorological-biometeorological parameters and clinical-reported malaria cases was examined by using Poisson distribution and log as link function between the two categories of dataset. The next step was the building of a model by using Poisson multiple regression models (GLMs) in order to know the weather variables that lead to statistically changes in clinical-reported malaria cases. The study revealed that an increase of I m.s1 of wind speed can lead to an increase of about 164% and 171% in the monthly occurrence of malaria at 95% confidence interval in derived savanna and humid forest zone respectively. Also, an increase of I ℃ in air temperature and sea surface temperature is associated with 53.4% and 29% increase in monthly malaria occurrence (CI: 95%) in derived savanna while an increase of 1 ℃ in air temperature and sea surface temperature is associated with 56.4% and 15.4% increase in monthly malaria occurrence at 95% confidence interval in humid forest zone of Ondo State
文摘Red tip disease on pineapple (Ananas comosus) was first recognized about 20 years ago in a commercial pineapple stand located in Simpang Renggam, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia. Since its discovery, there has been no confirmation on the causal agent of red tip disease. The epidemiology of red tip disease is still not fully understood. However, based on disease symptoms and field transmission mode, red tip disease seems to be strongly associated with viral infection. The aim of this work was to assess the feasibility of using an optical sensor to estimate red tip disease severity. This work was performed in a commercial pineapple plantation located in Simpang Renggam, Johor. Four observation plots bearing pineapple variety SR36 were demarcated based on crop growth stage. Each plot comprised a total of eighty corresponding measurements of percent Disease Severity (% DS) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Our data showed a strong correlation between % DS and NDVI. The 7- and 11-month plantings registered a correlation coefficient (r) of -0.83 and -0.88, respectively. The negative correlation infers that NDVI increases when disease severity is low. This is expected since healthy leaves reflect more near-infrared light and less visible light which results in a higher NDVI. The regression of NDVI on % DS for the 7-month planting was explained by: % DS = 181.6 - 185.6*NDVI. Meanwhile, the regression of NDVI on % DS for the 11-month planting was explained by: % DS = 213.2 - 219.8*NDVI. The linear fit between measured % DS and estimated % DS from the 7-month and 11-month plantings was relatively strong. This work has demonstrated that NDVI is a reliable predictor of % DS in pineapple.
文摘The present study, conducted during 2016 and 2017 seasons, aimed to investigate the effect of IBA on rooting of Piper betle L. stem cuttings (softwood and semi-hardwood). The experiment was undertaken in misting house field 2 UPM using the sand media to determine the adventitious roots initiation and development using the histological method. The cuttings were treated with different IBA concentrations (0, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg/L). The nodes explants were used in the development of a protocol for in vitro propagation of P. betle L., with different concentrations of Clorox with different times of immersion (20% Clorox 10 minutes, 30% Clorox 10 minutes, 20% Clorox 20 minutes, and 30% 20 minutes). In multiplication of the plantlets, Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with different concentrations of BAP (0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 mg/L) were used to investigate the rooting of the explants. The results indicated that the types of the cuttings were different in the rooting capacity and the length of the roots. Moreover, it was found that in comparison with the control treatment, by a rise in the concentrations of the IBA, there was a significant upsurge in the rooting percentage, the root diameter, and the number of the roots. The results indicated that the types of cutting with 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg/L IBA perform better in the root percentage (100%) in the semi hardwood cuttings. The best results, however, were 2000 mg/L IBA in the semi hardwood cuttings, with the number of the roots to be 35.05, and the fresh weight of the roots to be 3.94 g, the dry weight of the roots to be 0.33 g, the length of the roots to be 391.88 cm, the roots diameter to be 1.21 mm, the surface area of the roots to be 121.83 cm2, and the root volume to be 2.99 cm3. Nonetheless, the optimal concentration of Clorox with the time immersion was 20% with the 20-minute immersion time, which produced a shoot induction percentage of 30% dead explants and a mean number of 70.00 shoots per explant and the optimal concentration of benzylaminopurine (BAP) at 1.0 mg/L. It is of note that a shoot induction percentage of 22.29% and a mean number of 4.1% number of auxiliary bud per treatment. P. betle shoots in MS medium without PGR MS (0.0) yielded a good rooting.
基金This study was supported by the National Natural Sci-ence Foundation of China(Nos.31702386,31660251,31860245 and 31960203)the International Cooperation Science&Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province of China(No.2017A050501037)+2 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Province(Nos.2018 GXNSFAA281019,2017GXNSFAA198010)the Central Government Directs Special Funds for Local Science and Technology Development Projects(No.ZY1949015)E.Wangkahart was supported financially by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Thailand and Mahasarakham University.
文摘Understanding aquatic pathogen in sediments or aquacultural water is crucial to protect public health from soilborne and waterborne diseases.Quorum sensing(QS)was increasingly reported in biological wastewater treatment processes because of their inherent roles in biofilm development,bacterial aggregation and so on.The widely QS signals was Antoinducer-2(AI-2),primarily involved to allow the possibility of interspecies communication.However,the cellular components that mediate the response of Streptococcus agalactiae to AI-2 have not been fully characterized.Analysis of the complete genome sequence of S.agalactiae indi-cated that its RbsB protein has similarity to Escherichia coli LsrB and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans RbsB proteins that bind AI-2.We hypothesized that RbsB protein mediates quorum sensing signal uptake via interaction with AI-2.To evaluate the regulatory effect of RbsB on QS system,the recombinant plasmid pGEX-6p-1-RbsB was constructed and RbsB protein was purified with GST-tag.To further elucidate the role of RbsB protein binding to DPD(AI-2 precursor dihydroxypentanedione),the systemati-cally throughput circular dichroism(CD)spectroscopy,isothermal titration calorimetry200(ITC200)and molecular docking methods were employed.The high expression of soluble RbsB protein with molecular weight of 33 kDa was obtained.The thermodynamics results(ΔH<0,ΔS<0,ΔG<0)with ITC determination indicated that the binding process between DPD and RbsB was exothermic and spontaneous,with hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces as the main binding forces.Obviously,DPD can be more easily combined with RbsB in a dose-dependent manner,suggesting that RbsB was changed in the microenvironment of DPD when the DPD concentration was between 0.8-1.0mmolL−1 and reaching the maximum binding amount.According to molecular docking,3 hydrophobic residues involved in DPD and RbsB protein stable binding were be found,and also hydrogen bonding plays a key role in the formation of the new complex.RbsB efficiently inhibited V.harveyi bioluminescence induced by both S.agalactiae AI-2 and V.harveyi AI-2 in a dose-dependent manner.However,our results suggest that RbsB may play a role in the response of S.agalactiace to AI-2.
文摘Crude plant extracts of ringworm cassia, Cassia alata L. and turmeric, Curcuma longa L. were prepared by either hot water or organic solvents such as ethanol and ether. Various concentrations of the crude extract were then subjected to an in vitro test for their effectiveness on mycelia growth inhibition against some important plant pathogenic fungi such as Alternaria alternata, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Fusarium oxysporum fsp. lycopersici, Sclerotium rolfsii, Phytophthora infestans and Pythium sp. in comparison to commercial fungicides such as copper oxychloride and mancozeb. Reduction of the fungal growth was significantly obtained with C. longa extracts and the best median effective inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 6.07, 6.50 and 7.13 mg/ml was from the ethanol extract for S. rolfsii, C. gloeosporioides and F. oxysporum fsp. lycopersici respectively. While all extracts from C. alata were almost the least effective against these fungi. The efficacy of C. longa extracts therefore, provided an alternative regime for the control of the fungal diseases and a promising appreciable choice for a replacement of chemical fungicides.
文摘The study was carried out to evaluate the efficiency of a natural coagulant that is Moringa oleifera seeds in removing turbid from Malaysian water. Three water samples were used in this study subjected to purification studies using Moringa oleifera seeds that were collected during two different seasons that are dry season (February-March) and rainy season (October-November). The treated water samples were tested for turbidity level, pH level and color index. The result shows that Moringa oleifera seed collected during drought season has the ability to remove turbidity up to 88.0% and has better color index compared seeds collected during rainy season. The ability of Moringa oleifera seeds protein to act as a magnet assists in attracting the flocks and turbid in the water. Although not as effective as conventional chemicals, Moringa oleifera shows remarkable ability to remove turbid and encourages the use of natural coagulant in water treatment plants as it is cheap and environmental friendly.
文摘S. horvatii ssp. macrophylla (Lamiaceae) is an endemic aromatic plant of Greece and is used as a culinary herb. In the present study we explored its possible anticancer activity through the induction of apoptosis on cancer cells using A549 cell line as a model. The cytotoxic effects and the type of cell death (apoptosis/necrosis) were evaluated with biochemical and morphological criteria. The total methanol extract of S. horvatii ssp. macrophylla revealed forty two components, of which carvacrol was the major constituent (43.2%). Only a minor portion of them (3.41%) was contained in the active working plant extract solution which was used for cell treatment. This study indicates that extract of S. horvatii spp. macrophylla, which belongs to carvacrol chemotype, can induce both apoptosis and necrosis to A549 cancer cell line.
文摘Madurese s;picy dried beef is an indegenious sun dried meat incorporating cooking salt, cane sugar and spices and have not been explored scientifically. The purpose of this study was to find out the effect of different concentrations of cooking salt and cane sugar on physico-chemical and organoleptic quality of Madurese spicy dried beef. Randomized Block Design with two factors namely concentration of cooking salt (1%, 2% and 3% w/w) and cane sugar (3%, 6% and 9% w/w), and three replications were used in this study. The increasing amount of either cooking salt and cane sugar incorporated during preparation affected the samples salt, total sugar and moisture contents as well as it's aw value and texture of end products. From the organoleptic properties it was found that these treatments only affected the taste of spicy dried beef. Best sample was obtained from incorporating 3% cooking salt and 6% cane sugar with moisture content: 7.11%, aw: 0.354, salt content: 8.17%, total sugar content: 16.91%, texture: 0.0107 kiloNewton and panelists scores tbr texture 5.03; taste 4.53 and colour 5.31. Amino acids profile analysis of best sample showed that the most dominant amino acid was Glutamic acid (7.34%) followed by Aspartic acid (4.15%), Lysine (3.30%) and Leucine (3.22%). It can be concluded that to get the best spicy dried beef, the amount of 3% cooking salt and 6% cane sugar should be incorporated during preparation.
文摘Agrobacterium-mediated transformation through floral dip and rapid selection process after transgenic event had become a preference as it will overcome the difficulties faced in tissue culturing procedures and lengthy time for screening transformed progenies. Therefore, in this study, three constructs, p5b5 (14,289 bp), p5d9 (15,330 bp) and p5f7 (15,380 bp) in pDRB6b vector which has hygromycin as a selectable marker gene were introduced individually into Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain (AGL1). The cell suspension was applied to Amaranthus inflorescence by drop-by-drop technique and was left to produce seeds (T1). The T1 seeds were germinated and grown to produce seedlings under non-sterile condition. Hygromycin selection on seedling cotyledon leaves results in identification of 12 putative transformants, three from p5b5, four from p5d9 and five from p5f7. All positive putative transformants that were selected at the first stage through hygromycin spraying showed positive result in leaf disk hygromycin assay and in a construct specific polymerase chain reaction-based assay. A ~750 bp amplified hygromycin gene was further verified through sequencing. Our results suggest that Amaranthus inflorescences were able to be transformed and the transformed progenies could be verified through a combination of simple and rapid methods .
文摘The experiment was conducted in the laboratories of the Departments of Chemistry and Animal Health and Production Technology, Adamawa State University, Mubi, Nigeria. The experiment was replicated three times in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and consisted of six heating time 30, 60 and 120 minutes boiling, 30, 60 and 120 minutes roasting and one control. Data were collected on acid value, free fatty acid, iodine value, peroxide value, saponification value and unsaponifiable matter. The data collected were analyzed statistically using Generalized Linear Model (GLM) procedure of statistical analysis system (SAS). The means that were significantly different were separated using Least Significant Difference (LSD). The results showed that there were highly significant differences (P ≤ 0.01) among the treatments. The highest Acid Value (AV) of 3.53 and 3.64 were recorded by heating time at 120 minutes of boiling and 120 minutes of roasting. Heating time at 30 minutes of boiling, 30 minutes roasting, 60 minutes boiling and 60 minutes roasting recorded lower Free Fatty Acid (FFA) values of 1.52, 1.55, 1.57 and 1.58, respectively. Heating time at 60 minutes of roasting and 60 minutes of boiling recorded the highest Iodine value (IV) of 43.80 and 43.53, respectively. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that heating time of 30 or 60 minutes by boiling or roasting are better than longer heating times for Shea butter extraction.
文摘This study has the objective to found out the temperature and raosting time of cocoa powder in order to gain color, aroma and taste favored by the panelist and has high polyphenol content. The roasting time in this research has been determined 35 min, and roasting temperature of 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140 and 150 ℃ with vacuum and conventional system. From those temperatures ranges, we would take the three best levels according to organoleptic test result. The three selected temperatures would be tested for changing in polyphenol content during roasting process. Color alteration would be physically analyzed using color reader (PCE-RGB). However, phenol total content was analyzed using colorimetric method of Folin-Ciocalteu. Result of this study showed that color alteration percentage (RGB model analysis) during conventional roasting is higher (43%) compared with vacuum roasting system (2%) Subsequently, organoleptic test result showed that from roasting temperatures between 80 ℃ and 150 ℃, cocoa powder favored by the panelist were those that was treated in temperature 100 ℃, 110 ℃ and 120 ℃. Other results indicated that vacuum roasting implementation could increase polyphenol content. While vacuum roasting of 60.8 cm Hg in 120 ℃ with roasting time of 25 min has obtained 10.57% total phenolic, or increasing as much as 1.22%.
文摘In view of the fact that climate-related disasters are already taking a heavy toll, causing massive damage to crops and infrastructure and forcing some people to flee their homes, however, the potential impacts of climate change are likely to trigger adaptive responses that influence environmental and socio-economic drivers of food system performance in positive as well as negative ways. This paper was conducted through the collection of some research materials with the projected balance of these various climate impacts on food system performance and food security outcomes at the local and global levels. More so that, food security is likely to be affected by climate change in several ways: food security depends not only on the direct impact of climate change on food production but also on its indirect impact on human nutrition and health, economic growth, trade flows and food aid policy. The paper further examined the effectiveness of managing new risks and uncertainty, improving the quality of information and its use, monitoring weather and improving scientific understanding of climate change, promoting insurance schemes, maintaining biodiversity and access to fund as some of the crucial measures for adaptation. The large amount of resources that would be necessary to avoid the worst case scenario suggests the necessity of continued support from the international community to improve food security at the local and global levels as a whole.