Effect of Nitrogen Management on Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Rainfed Wheat and Maize in Northwest China

A field experiment with four treatments and four replicates in a randomized complete block design was conducted at the Changwu Experimental Station in Changwu County, Shaanxi Province, of Northwest China from 1998 to 2002. The local cropping sequence of wheat, wheat-beans, maize, and wheat over the 4-year period was adopted. A micro-plot study using ^15N-lahelled fertilizer was carried out to determine the fate of applied N fertilizer in the first year. When N fertilizer was applied wheat （years 1, 2 and 4） and maize （year 3） grain yield increased significantly （P 〈 0.05） （〉 30%）, with no significant yield differences in normal rainfall years （Years 1, 2 and 3） for N application at the commonly application rate and at 2/3 of this rate. Grain yield of wheat varied greatly between years, mainly due to variation in annual rainfall. Results of ^15N studies on wheat showed that plants recovered 36.6%-38.4% of the N applied, the N remained in soll （0-40 cm） ranged from 29.2% to 33.6%, and unaccounted-for N was 29.5%-34.2%. The following crop （wheat） recovered 2.1%- 2.8% of the residual N from N applied to the previous wheat crop with recovery generally decreasing in the subsequent three crops （beans, maize and wheat）.

Mutagenic Effects of Gamma Radiation on Eight Accessions of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp.)

Mutagenesis is used for creating new genetic variability in cultivar improvement. Optimal mutagenic treatment is required for effective mutation induction in crop species. Therefore, radio-sensitivity of cowpea accessions to gamma irradiation was investigated. Seeds of eight cowpea accessions were irradiated with 60Co gamma radiation doses of 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 Gy. The seeds were sown in pots to evaluate the treatment effects on seed germination (SG), seedling survival (SS) and growth habits of M1 generation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Low rates of SG (10% - 45%) were recorded at higher doses (500 - 400 Gy) in Ife Brown (IB) and its derivatives, whereas high SG rates (74% - 94%) were observed in IT90K-284-2 across all treatments. Percentage SS was inversely related to gamma dosage. A wide range of LD50 for SG (329 - 1054 Gy) and SS (149 - 620 Gy) were observed across the cowpea accessions. Low LD50 scores for SG (329 - 516 Gy) and SS (149 - 357 Gy) were observed among cowpea with rough seed coat, whereas cowpea with smooth seed coat recorded higher LD50 for SG (521 and 1054 Gy) and SS (449 and 620 Gy). Seed germination LD50 and SS LD50 were highly correlated with mean coat thickness (0.899 and 0.937) than mean seed weight (0.621 and 0.678). Gamma irradiation of cowpea seed at low dosage (100 Gy) increased the vigor of M1 seedlings with respect to primary leaf area, terminal leaflet area, seedling height and plant height at six weeks. Doses of 200 Gy and above resulted in a progressive reduction in vigor of plant and seed setting of cowpea. Radio-sensitivity varied with cowpea genotype and was associated with seed testa texture, thickness and seed weight. Low gamma irradiation treatment (100 Gy) may be used to enhance seedling vigor, vegetative growth and yield of cowpea at M1 generation.

Construction of Recombinant Baculovirus Containing Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus N Gene and Establishment of Indirect ELISA for Detecting Serum Antibodies

This experiment was conducted to diagnose Peste des Petits Ruminants based on the eukaryotically-expressed PPRV nucleoprotein through an indirect ELISA. The full-length PPRV nucleoprotein gene was obtained from viral genome RNA by RT-PCR. The amplified fragments were cloned into baculovirus donor vectors pFastHTA of the Bac-to-Bac system. These recombinant plasmids, pFastHTA-PPRV-N, were transformed into DH10Bac host bacteria to obtain recombinant shuttle plasmids, pBacmid-PPRV-N. Recombinant baculovirus, Bacmid-PPRV-N, was generated for expression of the PPRV nucleoprotein by transfecting recombinant pBacmid-PPRV-N with Lipofectamine 2000 into Sf21 insect cells. The efficient expression of PPRV Nucleoprotein by baculovirus in Sf21 cells was verified by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. An indirect ELISA was developed using recombinant PPRV nucleoprotein as the coating antigen. 37 goat sera from an epidemic area in Tibet and 92 goat sera from a non-infected area in Qinghai Province were simultaneously detected by the indirect ELISA, developed here, and the international standard cELISA kit. The sensitivity and specificity of the indirect ELISA was 100% and 96.2% compared with the cELISA kit. The coincidence rate of the two methods was 96.9%. The results demonstrated that the indirect ELISA established in this study works well for diagnosis of PPR.

Methoprene application and diet protein supplementation to male melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae, modifies female remating behavior

Methoprene （an analogue of juvenile hormone） application and feeding on a protein diet is known to enhance male melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae Coquillett （Diptera： Tephritidae）, mating success. In this study, we investigated the effect of these treatments on male B. cucurbitae＇s ability to inhibit female remating. While 14-d-old females were fed on protein diet, 6-d-old males were exposed to one of the following treatments： （i） topical application of methoprene and fed on a protein diet; （ii） no methoprene but fed on a protein diet; （iii） methoprene and sugar-fed only; and （iv） sugar-fed, 14-d-old males acted as controls. Treatments had no effect on a male＇s ability to depress the female remating receptivity in comparison to the control. Females mated with protein-deprived males showed higher remating receptivity than females first mated with protein-fed males. Methoprene and protein diet interaction had a positive effect on male mating success during the first and second mating of females. Significantly more females first mated with sugar-fed males remated with protein-fed males and females first mated with methoprene treated and protein-fed males were more likely to remate with similarly treated males. Females mating latency （time to start mating） was significantly shorter with protein-fed males, and mating duration was significantly longer with protein-fed males compared with protein-deprived males. These results are discussed in the context of methoprene and/or dietary protein as prerelease treatment of sterile males in area-wide control of melon fly integrating the sterile insect technique （SIT）.