To understand the dynamic variation of the detergent fibre of tropical leguminous forages and their responses to the fertilization during the growing period,a multifactor random pot-experiment was set up.The five tested tropical leguminous forage species were Stylosanthes guianensis(Aubl.) Sw.cv.CIAT184(S1), Chamaecrista rotundifolia(Pers.) Greene cv.CPI34721(S2), C.rotundifolia cv.CPI86134(S3), C.rotundifolia cv.ATF3248(S4),and C.nictitans(L.) Moench cv.ATF2217(S5),three fertilization levels were no fertilization(F0),ordinary fertilization level(F1;N,P,K were 25,40,50 kg·hm ^-2,respectively),and diploid fertilization level(F2;N,P,K were 50,80,100 kg·hm ^-2,respectively),and four harvests employed on Jul.25(C1),Aug.29(C2),Oct.8(C3) and Nov.14(C4),respectively.The results show that S4 and S1 had the highest level(53.4% and 52.7%) of NDF(neutral detergent fibre),S5 and S3 the lowest level(47.9% and 46.9%);the difference between the two groups was very significant( P<0.01),but they had no significant differences from S2,respectively.The content of ADF(acid detergent fibre) and ADL(acid detergent lignin) in S5(23.0% and 9.1%) were significantly lower than those of other 4 species(28.0%~29.0% and 11.1%~12.3%)( P<0.01).In comparison with F1 treatment,F2 significantly decreased the ADF content( P<0.01) but less effect on the content of NDF and ADL.Fertilization significantly decreased the content of deterged fiber during the C3 stage( P<0.05);the content of NDF,ADF,and ADL under F1 and F2 treatments decreased by 6.6%,5.4%,9.7%,6.9%,2.6%,1.6% in comparison with F0,respectively;the content of ADF and ADL in F2 were significantly lower than those in F1( P<0.05).The deterged fiber content was increased continuously along with the harvest progress,especially the average ADF values of five forage species were shapely increased from 7.9% in C3 to 24.6% in C4.The average RFV(relative feed value) of S5 was the highest(143.7),and the lowest values were found in S4 and S1(118.2 and 120.9).The RFV values of 5 forage species were positively related to fertilizaiton levels.These results could be useful for variety selection of tropical leguminous forages and making appropriate decisions of harvesting time and fertilization amount.

This study was carried out to evaluate fermentation quality of mixed silages of tall fescue and common vetch. The treatments were as follows: CK (100% tall fescue), 85%tall fescue+15%common vetch (C15), 70%tall fescue+30%common vetch (C30) and 55%tall fescue+45%common vetch (C45). The laboratory silos were opened on 7, 24, 45 and 60 days after ensiling in triplicate and the fermentation quality was analyzed. Based on the results, the contents of the lactic acid and water soluble carbohydrate decreased and the values of pH and NH ₃-N/TN increased significantly with increasing rate of common vetch in mixed silages ( P<0.05). At the end of ensiling, the values of pH (4.72) and NH ₃-N/TN (96.19 g穔g ^-1 TN) of C45 were higher significantly than other treatments ( P<0.05), the contents of the dry matter, lactic acid and the water soluble carbohydrate were lower significantly than other treatments ( P<0.05), and the crude protein was not significant difference as compared with C30. However, all treatments showed little amounts of butyric acid and propionic acid during ensiling. In conclusion from the present study, that mixing 70% tall fescue and 30% common vetch are recommended for fermentation quality and utilization efficacy.

Fusarium oxysporum is one serious soil-borne pathogenic fungus and is listed as one of the top ten plant fungal pathogens in the world. This fungus can infect more than 100 economically important crops such as cotton,soybean,watermelon,banana,tomato and alfalfa,causing wilt and root rot. The detection and quantification of F. oxysporum in soil and plant root tissues is the basis for early diagnosis and effective control of the disease. This article summarizes the research progress and application of F. oxysporum detection and quantification methods at domestic and overseas,mainly including medium colony plate dilution method,conventional PCR and real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR,etc. This review provides theoretical guidance for F. oxysporum detection and quantification in agriculture.

To evaluate effects of adding molasses and urea on the fermentation quality of napier grass ( Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.) silage, napier grass harvested at 65 days (elongation stage) was ensiled in laboratory silos for 3, 7, 14, and 30 days at the ambient temperature. Four treatments included: no additives (control), 4% molasses (M), 0.4% urea (U), and 4% molasses+0.4% urea (MU). Samples were taken for analyzing fermentation quality after the silos were opened. Results showed that the control decreased fermentation quality during the later stage (14~30 d) of ensiling. The treatment U mainly produced acetic acid and butyric acid, and significantly increased pH and NH ₃-N/total nitrogen values compared with control( P<0.05). Both treatment M and MU significantly increased water soluble carbohydrate and lactic acid contents ( P<0.05), maintained a low level of butyric acid (<0.3 g穔g ^-1 DM) and constantly kept high value of lactic acid/acetic acid over the fermentation process. In final silages, both treatment M and MU had significantly lower neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber contents ( P<0.05), and treatment MU had significantly higher crude protein content compared with control ( P<0.05). In conclusion, adding 4% molasses or the combination of 4% molasses with 0.4% urea improved fermentation quality, which promoted degradation of structural carbohydrate, and the combination of 4% molasses with 0.4% urea increased crude protein content of napier grass silage.

According to the pollution problems in tissue culture of Italian ryegrass seed explants,tissue culture was carried out by this study using the mature seeds of Italian ryegrass as explants.The pollutants from tissue culture were purified and cultured and the methods of decreasing pollution were studied.The results show that Penicillium, Aspergillus, Trichoderma, Mucor, Rhizop us, Enterobacter, and Pseudomonas were the main microbes harassing the tissue culture of Italian ryegrass.The best sterilization method of explants was to immerse the seeds in soapsuds for 6 hours,and then surface sterilization for 2 minutes by alcohol(concentration 75%),and at last soak in the sodium hypochlorite(0.1%) for 1 hour.The results also indicate that adding 70 mg/L nystatin,20 mg/L ampicillin sodium,and 0.1% sodium hypochlorite to the culture medium could control the pollution problem effectively.The two methods above had little influence on the differentiation of materials.

The experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of adding propionic acid,lactic acid bacteria,and their combination on the fermentation quality and residual water soluble carbohydrate content of Italian ryegrass( Lolium multiflorum Lam.)silage.The treatments were as follows: Control(no addition);Lactic acid bacteria addition(LAB);Propionic acid addition at 0.4%(PA4);Propionic acid addition at 0.5%(PA5);PA4 ₊ LAB;PA5 ₊ LAB;all the additions were made on the fresh weight basis of Italian ryegrass.The DM content was not significantly different among all treatments,however,the pH tended to decrease,and the lactic acid content showed significantly( P<0.05)higher in all addition treatments in comparison with control.PA5 and PA5 ₊LAB treatments showed significantly( P<0.05)higher lactic acid content than the PA4 and PA4 ₊LAB treatments and there were no significant difference between PA and PA+LAB treatment with the same PA adding rate.PA and PA ₊ LAB treatments showed significantly( P<0.05)higher lactic acid/acetic acid than that of control and LAB addition,PA alone significantly( P<0.05)higher than PA+LAB treatment,and there was no significant difference between control and LAB treatment.PA and PA ₊ LAB treatments resulted in significantly( P<0.05)lower contents of acetic acid and butyric acid and NH ₃-N/total N and significantly( P<0.05)higher contents of propionic acid and residual water soluble carbohydrate in comparison with control and LAB treatment.In summary,addition of propionic acid could depress the undesirable bacterial activities,decrease the water-soluble carbohydrates loss,and promote lactic acid fermentation.

Glutathione (GSH), an important antioxidant in plants, can scavenge the redundant active oxygen free radicals produced during cell metabolism processes and relieve the damage caused by membrane lipid peroxidation. GSH contributes to the role of adversity stress resistance in plants. This review summarizes GSH activities including the types of GSH in plants, the application of GSH and the physiological mechanism of GSH protecting plant cells including scavenging intracellular active oxygen free radicals, forming non-toxic compound by combining with toxic heavy metal material, absorbing and transporting amino acid, resisting to adversity stress (temperature stress, drought stress, heavy metal stress and salt stress). GSH metabolism plays a positive role for understanding the physiological function of plant antioxidants, knowing the mechanism of scavenging active oxygen free radicals, and studying plant resistance.

The aim of the experiment was to evaluate the effects of adding cornzyme on the fermentation qualities and carbohydrate contents of napiergrass silages.There was the control and four treatments of different cornzyme addition ratios as follows:(1) E1:cornzyme addition at 0.5 mL·kg-1,(2) E2:at 1.0 mL·kg ^-1,(3) E3:at 1.5 mL·kg ^-1,(4) E4:at 2.0 mL·kg ^-1 based on fresh weight of napiergrass.The results showed that all treatments had good fermentation quality with low pH value(4.28-3.76) and NH3-N/total N ratio,none or only small amounts of propionic acid and butyric acid,high ratio of lactic acid/acetic acid(2.94-13.46),and lactic acid content(45.00-95.41 g·kg ^-1 DM).Cornzyme addition significantly increased the ratio of lactic acid/acetic acid and the contents of lactic acid and water soluble carbohydrate( P<0.05);and significantly decreased the pH values and the contents of acetic acid and total volatile fatty acids in comparison with the control( P<0.05).The contents of neutral detergent fibre(NDF) and acid detergent fibre(ADF) tended to decrease in silages with cornzyme addition.When increasing the adding rates of cornzyme,the fermentation quality and water soluble carbohydrate content were further increased,however,NDF and ADF decreased.

To evaluate effect of adding formic acid on fermentation quality of napier grass ( Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.), it was ensiled in laboratory silos for 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 14, and 30 days at the ambient temperature. The formic acid was added at levels of 0 (control), 2.2, 4.4 and 6.6 mL穔g ^-1 on fresh weight basis, respectively. Samples were taken for analyzing fermentation quality after the silos were opened. Results showed that control attained a good fermentation quality with no butyric acid produced. Compared with the control, formic acid addition quickly acidified napier grass silage, and significantly increased water soluble carbohydrate content ( P<0.05), and the effects increased as the addition volume increased. NH ₃-nitrogen/total nitrogen of silage treated with 2.2 mL穔g ^-1 formic acid increased rapidly after 2 days of ensiling and significantly higher than control after 3 days ( P<0.05), and butyric acid began to be detected from d 7 of ensiling. There were no lactic acid and volatile fatty acids produced and the lowest NH ₃-N/total nitrogen value (<12 g穔g ^-1 TN) in both silages treated with 4.4 and 6.6 mL穔g ^-1 formic acid. In conclusion, adding 2.2 mL穔g ^-1 formic acid had a decreasing acidification which lowered the fermentation quality and nutritive value in the later ensiling period, whereas adding 4.4 mL穔g ^-1 formic acid was sufficiently high to effectively conserve nutrients of napier grass.

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of wilted,pre-fermented juice(PFJ) of epiphytic lactic acid bacteria,and wilted+PFJ on the fermentation qualities and residual water soluble carbohydrate(WSC) of Hybrid Pennisetum( Pennisetum americanum× P.purpureum) silage.The treatments were as follows: control(C),wilted(W),PFJ addition,wilted+PFJ on fresh weight basis of Hybrid Pennisetum,respectively.Based on results,control had low pH(4.09) and high lactic acid content(79.80 g/kg DM),and fermentation was clearly dominated by lactic acid bacteria.W treatment showed significantly( P<0.05) higher pH and significantly( P<0.05) lower lactic acid than the control indicating that although lactic acid bacteria have a relatively high tolerance to low moisture conditions,and lactic acid fermentation was inhibited in W treatment silage.Ammonia-N /total nitrogen(AN/TN),butyric acid,propionic acid,total volatile fatty acid(VFAs) and pH decreased or decreased significantly,whereas lactic acid /acetic acid,lactic acid,WSC increased significantly in both PFJ and W+PFJ treatments compared with control( P<0.05).These indicated that PFJ and W+PFJ treatments not only inhibited the activity of clostridia and other undesired microorganisms,but decreased protein degradation.However,they also stimulated homofermentative lactic acid bacteria activity,which decreased the loss of WSC,greatly increased the efficiency of WSC utilization by lactic acid bacteria,and further improved the fermentation quality.Wilted+PFJ treatment is best for improving the fermentation quality of Hybrid Pennisetum silage in this experiment.

The cell wall component and ultra-structure of plant were compared between brittleness mutation(BM) rice obtained by seed gamma-ray(γ) treatment and its wild type from japonica variety Zhonghua-11 in this study.The cellulose content in leaf,stem,and root of BM-rice significantly decreased( P<0.01) by 18.99%,37.29% and 23.34% compared with those of wild type,respectively,while the hemi-cellulose content in leaf,stem and root for BM-rice significantly increased( P<0.01) by 46.07%,85.26% and 61.96%,respectively.The leaf parenchyma of BM-rice was much larger than that of wild type rice by the observation of SEM.For the BM-rice,the sclerenchyma of leaves was shrunken,vascular bundle of leaves was reduced,the strumae of outer epidermis of stem was sparse and the link of phloem of root was loosed and dispersed.The hiberarchy of sclerenchyma cell wall of BM-rice leaf was not obvious by the observation of TEM.Besides,the arrangement of parenchyma cells of BM-rice stem was disordered and the exterior of parenchyma cell wall of BM-rice root was knaggy.In conclusion,BM-rice has potential advantages in utilization as a fodder-rice.

Foraging behavior of goats was investigated under different grazing pressure and different grazing time in South China.Results showed both ingesting times and ingesting steps were decreased under lower grazing pressure index,whereas bite numbers per step,rate of ingestion,intake per bite,daily intake,time of rumination were significantly increased at the same time.There was little effect on other behaviors.In September,ingesting times and ingesting steps were the least and intake per bite was maximum among all tested times.Bite numbers per step in June was significantly less than that of other months.The rate of ingestion was significantly increased in October.Time of rumination,chewing time per ruminating food bolus was the longest in October.Both chewing rate and interval time had fewer differences between two ruminating food bolus in different month.

To improve the fermentation quality of mixed silage of oat straw and perennial ryegrass and enhance the utilization efficiency of oat straw resource in Tibet, the mixture of oat straw and perennial ryegrass (4:6) were ensiled with different additives. The treatments were designed as follows: control, lactic acid bacteria (LAB, 1×10 ⁶ cfu·g ^-1 FW), molasses (4% FW) and LAB + molasses, six reduplicate silos per treatment. The fermentation quality was analyzed after ensiling 60 days. Molasses or/and LAB additives significantly decreased the pH value, ammonia/total N (AN/TN), propionic and butyric acid contents of mixed silage ( P<0.05), while significantly increased the lactic/acetic acid ratio and lactic acid contents of mixed silage compared to control silage ( P<0.05). The silage added with molasses had higher lactic acid and water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) contents than the one added with LAB. However, there was no significantly different fermentation quality between the silage added with molasses and the one added with LAB + molasses. Therefore, it was suggested that 4% molasses additive was suitable to improve the fermentation quality of mixed silage of oat straw and perennial ryegrass in Tibet.

In order to reveal the variation of gas exchange under different grazing intensities and grassland types in Inner Mongolia, gas exchange under different grazing intensities for three main grassland types (meadow steppe, typical steppe and desert steppe) were measured by using infrared analyzer (IRGA; LI-6400, Li-Cor, Lincoln, NE, USA) with a transparent chamber (0.5 m×0.5 m×0.5 m) in middle August. Results indicated that ecosystem net CO ₂ exchange (NEE), ecosystem respiration (ER) and gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) were significantly different between types ( P<0.05). NEE and GEP decreased and ER increased in meadow steppe with grazing intensities increasing. NEE and GEP increased and ER decreased in typical steppe with grazing intensities increasing; NEE and GEP increased and ER decreased in desert steppe with grazing intensities increasing compared to control. Grazing affected ecosystem gas exchange through influencing plants and soil of grassland ecosystem.

N-alkenes-determination techniques are used to identify diet composition, feed intake, and to evaluate nutritional status of grazing animals. This article summarizes the sampling of representative diet, actual releasing rate of alkenes control release capsule, the background value of even n-alkenes in feces, the necessity and suitable methods of measuring fecal recovery of n-alkenes and principle component analysis of diet components n-alkenes patterns which are important and easy to be ignored in this field. The basis of applying n-alkenes technique for studying grazing animal nutrition and ecology accurately is provided.

In order to obtain high quality subtropical legume forage, 41 Chamaecrista spp. accessions were introduced from Australian Tropical Forage Genetic Resource Centre (ATFGRC) in 1996. Chamaecrista rotundifolia ‘Minyin 2’(ATF3248) was selected and registered by the Chinese Herbage Cultivar Registration Board (CHCRB) in 2011.Variety comparison trial, regional and field trials were conducted from 1997 to 2010.Results showed that the hay yield of Minyin 2 was 12000 to 15000 kg·hm ^-2 and the seed yield was 200 to 400 kg·hm ^-2 which were 27.7% and 25% higher than those of cultivar Minyin, respectively.Crude protein content in Minyin 2 harvested at full bloom stage was 16.9%. Therefore, Minyin 2 was an important perennia1 tropical legume and could be widely planted in tropical and subtropical region of China due to its good performance on hilly red soils.

The study is on the technical process of alfalfa meal, and the effects of the different drying methods(high-temperature drying, 65℃ drying in the lab, and sunlight drying) to the nutritive value of alfalfa meal. The result shows that:different drying methods exert very scanty effect on ADF, NDF, Ca, CA, P contents of alfalfa meal. However, high temperature dehydrating significantly increases 20.35% of the CP content of the whole alfalfa meal, 25.15% of the CP content and 238.70 mg/kg of the carotene content of the leaf meal, compared with the sunlight drying and 65℃ drying in the lab. Though the process of high temperature dehydrating alfalfa meal costs more than the other two methods, the product meets the market demands. More particularly, leaf meal is a worthy product anticipating a promising future.

Effects of fencing on the health of grassland ecosystem in open- grazing land and fenced- land with the same vegetation composition ( Leymus chinensis and Stipa krylovii are main species) and soil type are reported. Calculation models for VOR and CVOR index were created and their indices used to evaluate the health of typical steppes fenced in different years. Results showed that VOR and CVOR indices could accurately evaluate the health of typical steppe ecosystems fenced in different years. The evaluation results of both indices were quite consistent. The condition ( C), vigor ( V), organization ( O) and resilience ( R) of typical steppe in the restoration succession had different change patterns, whereas VOR and CVOR indices showed the same change tendency to increase gradually with prolonged fencing. The health condition of typical steppe was increased from "threshold" level to "health" level after fenced 13 years showing that the implement of fencing was beneficial to the health recovery of degraded grassland ecosystem.