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  • Lack of polymorphism of the agouti signaling protein (ASIP) gene among four different brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas 1778) populations
    81-85
    Views:
    136

    The brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas 1778) is a common palearctic and a popular game species therefore it has been an obvious subject for population genetic studies since the second part of the 20th century. Among the several mitochondrial DNA studies some have been carried out concerning nuclear genes as well. The agouti signaling protein gene (ASIP) is involved in regulating the synthesis of eumelanin and pheomelanin in melanocytes of mammals. Though many studies focused on it in relation with several mammalian species, minimal information is available on this topic concerning the brown hare.

    Here we present a short communication concerning the agouti signaling protein (ASIP) gene in four different country’s L. europaeus populations, namely Lithuania, Hungary, Serbia and Georgia. N=45 tissue samples have been investigated from overall 17 sampling sites of the different countries. There has not been found any polymorphism among the sequences. In an alignment with other Leporid species’ partial ASIP sequences downloaded from ENA we have found that based on a 178 base pairs long DNA sequence the haplotype of our samples contains three other Lepus species as well. This is concordant with the findings of a previous study focusing predominantly on the European rabbit (Orycto lagus cuniculus Linnaeus 1758) and the several mutations of its ASIP gene.

  • The system of faunacomponents conception and its application to qualify the degree of naturalness of fish assemblages
    93-101
    Views:
    65

    The increase of species richness in communities of natural biogeographic regions in an anthropogenic way can be expressed as biogeographic pollution. Where there is contaminated fauna, one must investigate how this occured. I studied how the members of Hungarian fishfauna could be present resident and have managed to workout a so-called system of fauna component conception which is suitable for this requirement.
    The expression of ’faunacomponent’ includes other expressions. That kind of species belong to a certain faunacomponent that reached the studied area in the same way. Species reached the studied area without an anthropogenious contribution are qualified as native fauna components. These kind of species are endemic species, occasional species and settlers. In contrast to native faunacomponents, some kind of human influence is always detectable in connection with the way reached the studied area by non-native species. Accordingly, group of non-native species includes directly or indirectly facilitated settlers, species that are introduced accidentally and those introduced intentionally. It is obvious that classifying a given species could be construed solely in connection with a certain area.
    Applying Shannon diversity index I have initiated the assemblage natural index (ANI) in order to show a way how to use the system of faunacomponent conception in practice. ANI refers to the degree of naturalness of faunistical samples. If ANI > 1 it means there are not any non-native species and ANI < 1 it means there are some non-native species in the sample respectively. In the latter case ANI decreases proportionally with the number of non-native species and specimens. In that special case when only one specimen of only one non-native species can be found in the faunistical sample ANI = 1.

  • Application of molecular genetic methods for species Equus caballus – Literature review
    21-28
    Views:
    157

    In this study our aim was to provide a comprihensive overview of the most commonly used methods in molecular genetic studies related to Equus caballus. Thus we are dealing with the D-loop region of mitochondrial DNA, with microsatellites and also with single nucleotid polimorphism as SNP. The advantages and drawbacks of each method were also explored.

  • Possibilities of biodiversity conservation in agricultural fields
    39-45
    Views:
    126

    The biodiversity loss is one of the biggest environmental problems in the world. The objective of this paper is to present some nature conservation practices on agricultural land. Farmlands play a significant role to preserve biodiversity because some highly protected species can only find their needs on agricultural land. The Biodiversity Strategy of the European Union (2010-2020) creates new directives to reduce biodiversity loss, preserve and improve diversity, especially on agricultural land. Furthermore the importance of this subject is that the share of farmland in Hungary is much higher (57%) than in the EU-27 on average (42%). The loss of agricultural land and the increase of land abandonment cause intensification of agricultural production leading to the loss of biodiversity.

  • Horn and coat color varieties of the Hungarian grey cattle
    44-48
    Views:
    103

    Due to the intensification of agricultural production, genetic diversity has been reduced to a large extent. Presently, in the period of worldwide genetic conservation, we try to preserve as much of the gene pool of our valuable indigenous domestic animal breeds as we can. Therefore, traits that have no economic value at the moment should also be conserved. The different horn and coat colour varieties of Hungarian Grey Cattle are such valuable traits. Research has been done on the largest Hungarian Grey Cattle stock, at the Hortobágy Kht. Rates of the different horn and coat colour varieties were determined and relationships were analyzed between the above mentioned qualitative traits

  • Variation of boza nutrition parameters based on raw materials
    67-70
    Views:
    153

    Boza is a ceral based fermented drink. Raw material of boza could be rise, millet, wheat and rye. Because of the diversity of raw materilas and the method of fermentation boza might show varied quality and nutrition value.

    Nowadays healthy and conscious nutrition are playing more and more important roles in our lives. People pay an ever growing attention to the nutrition value of products, such as protein- and sugar content, components with antioxidant properties, and the mineral content of the products. In our research we wanted to know how the protein,-, sugar-, total polifenol-, mikro- and macro element content of products change.

  • Unraveling changes in the duck microbiome and inflammatory processes due to allithiamine-enriched feed
    163-171
    Views:
    33

    The gastrointestinal tract of poultry harbors a diverse and intricate microbiome that plays a crucial role in nutrient digestion and absorption, immune system development, and enhances resistance against pathogens. Maintaining a healthy state and proper production is fundamentally determined by the symbiosis between the host and microbes. Due to genetic and technological improvements, intensive growth rate can be associated with many pathological conditions, such as increased susceptibility to infections. Intestinal inflammation in poultry industries detrimentally affects productivity by hindering nutrient absorption and the efficient allocation of nutrients for growth. The host releases different biomarkers in response to inflammation. Hence, there is an utmost interest of reliable, precise, sensitive and robust biomarkers to evaluate both the gastrointestinal health status and inflammation in poultry. The aim of this study was to determine how the developed feed prototype (allithiamine) affects the community diversity in raised duck, and the relationship between gut microbiome composition and inflammatory factor as calprotectin, using targeted 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and Chicken Calprotectin ELISA Kit.

  • Molecular studies on Cryphonectria parasitica isolates from Carpathian-basin
    76-80
    Views:
    90

    Chryphonectria parasitica, the casual agent of chestnut blight, is one of the most important fungal pathogens of chestnut (Castanea spp.) in Europe and Hungary. In this study we analyzed the diversity of 14 Cryphonectria parasitica strains isolated from different location of Carpathian-Basin. For the analyses we used the partial sequences of the translation elongation coding gene, tef1. Our results showed that the tef1 gene, contrary to other fungal species, is not suitable for the molecular analyses of C. parasitica. In the future, for the molecular studies of C. parasitica, we need to use other molecular markers like microsatellites.

  • Spatial Relationships Between pH and Vegetation Pattern in an Area Contaminated with Heavy Metals
    140-143
    Views:
    77

    It is not possible to gain information on the risk factor representing the bioavailability and the mobility of the contaminants only on the basis of their total concentrations. Especially, in case of heavy metals, which can be charaterised with very different chemical forms and their mobil and mobilizable parts are determined by complex balances highly sensitive to the changing environmental conditions. Considering mine tailings, however, the toxic elements are basically in ore forms having low adsorption capacity, thus the heavy metal ion concentration in solution is governed mainly by the pH conditions. In Gyöngyösoroszi, the spatial distribution of the total heavy metal concentrations as well as that of pH values determining the bioavailable part of the toxic elements were estimated and by mapping the vegetation pattern, relationship was analysed among the total Zn, Cu, Pb and As concentrations, the pH and the species present. Results show that the presence of the certain plant species is highly determined by the pH on the mine tailing material, the highest vegetation density was found where the bioavailability of the toxic elements were considered the smallest as a result of the neutral pH. As a result, high diversity could be found even in places where the total zinc, copper, lead and arsenic concentrations were extreme. In addition, plant species could be identified, which are tolerant to toxic elements and present even if the pH is low and the bioavailable part of the heavy metals is relatively high.

  • The effects of joining The European Union in the area of tourism within health tourism in Hungary
    169-177
    Views:
    84

    The occasion of Hungary joining to the European Union caused difficult tasks and questions for tourism in Hungary. Tourism sector must have been prepared for joining to European  Union, which means developing a well-functioning and future planning strategy. It has to improve taking parts our tourism into international market without significant deficit. The main aim is achieving the sustainable tourism by approach marketing and environmentally sound of way that is able to become competitive.
    My aim is to analyze by numerous indexes what are the effects of joining Hungary to the European Union in tourism sector. However the results need to extend survey into many years. It is very important to reach long-term economic results and development, next to it has to be suitable impacts for social and natural environment, quality of life and developing health tourism as well.
    To sum up we can establish extension of European Union area has improved diversity of tourism destination and goods, accessibility of natural and cultural features. 

  • Perspectives of the livestock sector in the Philippines: A review
    175-188
    Views:
    2375

    The Philippine livestock industry is a vital component in the country's agricultural sector. It contributes around 18.23 percent of the gross output value in agriculture and provides livelihood to many people living in rural areas, signifying its importance with regard to the country’s economy. The constantly increasing demand for animal protein associated with the increase of the world’s population led to the intensification of livestock production, realized through the various initiatives implemented by the government, such as the import of high producing purebreds of various species. This strategy greatly influenced the country's animal genetic resource's diversity and increased food animals' population; however, it impacted the native breeds of food animals. Understanding the characteristics, performance and value of native and exotic breeds is essential to prioritize their livestock industry existence. Thus, this paper aims to characterize various native and exotic breeds of livestock in the Philippines and assess the current conservation of native animals.

  • New challenges in soil management
    91-92
    Views:
    199
    Soil management represents two important tasks that are harmonization of the soil protection with demands of the crop to be grown on the given land under prevailing farming condition. Further goals are to preserve and/or develop the soil physical, biological and chemical condition and to avoid the unfavourable changes of the soil biological activity and the soil structure. Classical authors emphasised the importance of creating proper seedbed for plants. In the physical approach, tillage was believed to play an important role in controlling soil processes. Consequently, the period of several centuries dominated by this approach is referred to as the era of crop-oriented tillage (Birkás et al., 2017). The overestimation of the importance of crop requirements resulted in damaging the soils, which inevitably led to turn to the soil-focused tillage. Since the first years of climate change, as the new trends have raised concern, tillage must be turned into a climate-focused effort with the aim of reducing climate-induced stresses through improving soil quality.
    The development of soil management has always been determined by the economical background. At the same time, deteriorating site conditions have contributed to the conception of new tillage trends by forcing producers to find new solutions (e.g. dry farming theory in the past or adaptable tillage theory nowadays). Győrffy (2009) recited the most important keywords were listed in 2001 and that seemed to be important in the future of crop production. These keywords (endeavours) were as follows:
    − Biofarming, organic farming, alternative farming, biodynamic farming, low input sustainable agriculture;
    − Mid-tech farming, sustainable agriculture, soil conservation farming, no till farming, environmentally sound, environmentally friendly, diversity farming;
    − Crop production system, integrated pest management, integrated farming, high-tech farming;
    − Site specific production, site-specific technology, spatial variable technology, satellite farming;
    − Precision farming.
    Győrffy’s prognosis proved to be realistic and the efforts mentioned above have mostly been implemented. New challenges have also appeared in soil management in relation to the last decades. The most important endeavours for the future are:
    1) Preserving climate-induced stresses endangering soils.
    2) Turn to use climate mitigation soil tillage and crop production systems.
    3) Applying soil management methods are adaptable to the different soil moisture content (over dried or wet may be quite common).
    4) Use effectual water conservation tillage.
    5) Use soil condition specific tillage depth and method.
    6) Adapting the water and soil conservation methods in irrigation.
    7) Preserving and improving soil organic matter content by tillage and crop production systems.
    8) Considering that stubble residues are matter for soil protection, humus source and earthworm’ feed.
    9) Site-specific adoption of green manure and cover crops.
    10) Applying site-adopted (precision) fertilization and crop protection. Considering the development in agriculture, new endeavours will occur before long.
  • Q-PCR analysis of the resistance of Hungarian Botrytis cinerea isolates toward azoxystrobin
    41-44
    Views:
    84

    The genes being in the mitochondrial DNA primarily encode the enzymes of cellular respiration. Fungicides belonging to the family of quinol oxidase inhibitors (QoIs) play on important role in the protection against several plant diseases caused by fungi. These fungicides bind to the cytochrome bc1 complex so they block electron transport between cytochrome b and cytochrome c1. This way these fungicides inhibit the ATP synthesis consequently they inhibit the mitochondrial respiration. The QoI resistance has two mechanisms. One of them is the point mutation of the cytochrome b gene (CYTB), e.g. the substitution of a single glycine by alanine at position 143 results in high-resistance. The other is the cyanide-resistant alternative respiration sustained by the alternative oxidase.
    In a cell there are several mitochondria. The phenomenon when the genomes of all mitochondria in the cell are identical is called homoplazmy. If in the cell there is wild and mutant mitochondrial DNA this is called heteroplasmy. Whether the mutation in the mitochondria causes fenotypical diversity or does not depend on the dose, i.e. it depends on the percentage of the changed mitochondrials. During our work we investigated Botrytis cinerea single spore isolates which have been collected in 2008-2009 on different host plants. Our goal was to decide whether heteroplasmy influences the level of resistance. We managed to detect the change of the level of heteroplasmy, so the change the level of the resistance due to the treatment with fungicide.

  • The status of the Hungarian Merino sheep breed compared to the other merino breeds
    151-156
    Views:
    246

    Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds have been widely known and distributed across the world, both as purebred and admixed populations. They represent a diverse genetic resource which over time has been used as the basis for the development of new breeds. In spite of this, their gene-pool potential is still unexplored. The Merino sheep represent the most important sheep resource of the Hungarian husbandry. It has the largest amount of individuals between both of the stock and commercial flocks. But in Europe the Merino stocks went through a drastic reduction in number. Thus these breeds became endangered in several countries as well as in Hungary. In this study we would like to present the recent status of different Merino breeds of the world to ground our further phylogenetic research with the Hungarian Merino breed.

  • What has Harmonia axyridis to do with Dante's Divine Comedy
    82-88
    Views:
    80

    The multicoloured Asian ladybird beetle (Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773)), a former successful biological control agent in the USA and Western Europe became an invasive alien species threatening the diversity of native aphidophagous insects through competition and praying, a horticultural pest consuming various fruits and adversely affecting the wine quality and a human nuisance when occurring at high densities in buildings. Due to this dubious fame, attention has been paid to it also at national level which made inevitable to find for it a fitting name in different languages. In some cases and countries a version of the English name has been chosen however, regarding the meaning of this translated term in Hungarian, the try cannot be called fortunate. The objective of this contribution is to stress the function of common animal names in the Hungarian Sprachraum and to find a right and proper alternative with the help of etymology, mythology, classical literature, art (painting) and the experiences of Hungarian fruit and grape growers.

  • Data on the Orthoptera fauna of characteristic agricultural landscape in the Carpathian Lowland
    25-34
    Views:
    156

    Orthoptera fauna and assemblages of natural and semi-natural grasslands of the Hungarian Lowland are well-known, however, little is known about assemblages living in agricultural and anthropogenic habitats such as arable lands, roadsides, hedges, and riverbanks. Due to climate change, intensification of agriculture, and change of habitat use, these habitat types become increasingly important.

    To collect data on these mainly unknown habitat types, a three-year study was carried out on the Orthoptera fauna and assemblages of the firth region of the Tisza and Sajó rivers. This area was mainly unknown, and our research contributes to increasing knowledge and provides a base for further investigations.

    In the 40 sampling sites of the studied region, an occurrence of 30 Orthoptera species was recorded based on 2241 sampled individuals. In this study, we provide 540 new distribution data records of orthopterans that means an almost eightfold increase of the known data. Orthoptera assemblages of different agricultural habitat types showed significant differences considering both species richness and composition. Data suggested that non-cultivated habitat patches of dirt-roads, roadsides and stubble fields and even extensively used pastures, hayfields and alfalfa, red clover, and even wheat fields can preserve relatively species-rich Orthoptera assemblages. Contrary weedy sites of these cultivars and intensively used arable lands (maize, sunflower and rape fields) showed extremely low species diversity.

  • Analysis of the genetic origin of European hare (Lepus europaeus) (technical literature review)
    49-54
    Views:
    153

    Fossil datas showed that the lagomorphs appeared in Asia during the later Eocene and leporids separated from ochotonids during the Oligocen or Upper Eocene. During the Pleistocene, climatic changes induced major shifts in species distributions, forcing them to refugia.
    In Europe, the continuous oscillations led to the production of greater subspecific and specific diversity in the southern peninsulas (Iberia, Italy, Balkan) which were the main refugial areas for other species as well. Evolution, phylogeny and population genetics of the Lagomorpha species are still poorly known and the taxonomic distinction is still unclear for some species. Conservation genetics is the discipline which use genetic techniques and analysis methods to preserve species and dynamics. Usually it is working together with population genetics what role is to investigate the origin, the maintenance, the organization and the causes of genetic variation between natural populations. In the present study I reviewed the results of origin and phylogenetic studies of Brown hare populations from the last decades.

  • Comparative study of special honey products and herbhoneys
    117-120
    Views:
    341
    Honey has a positive effect on human body due to its high content of biologically active substances (e.g. monosaccharides, vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, polyphenolic compounds). The properties of honey depend on its botanical origin due to the bioactive plant components, mainly secondary metabolites that are included in honey made by bees from nectar. Herbally infused honeys are delicious products that combine the therapeutic action of herbs and honey. Additionally, herbs can provide nutrient fortified syrup for honey bees and protect them against diseases and other ecological threats.
    The aim of this study was to define the physicochemical properties of multifloral honey, herb enriched natural honey and herbhoney samples. We measured the moisture content, pH value, electrical conductivity and proline content. Although great diversity was observed in the basic properties of the examined products. In our study, we found that the electrical conductivity shows the significant differ between the groups. All the samples, including the herbhoneys passes the quality standards of honeys.
  • Investigation of the effect of allithiamine-enriched feed on the poultry gut microbiome composition and resistome
    149-155
    Views:
    87

    Over the past 20–25 years, the poultry industry has evolved into a specific protein production system. However, the stress resulting from intensive rearing practices has led to numerous negative consequences, making the optimisation of livestock gut microbiome composition crucial for mitigating these effects. Advancements in modern molecular biology methods have brought attention to the impacts of nutrients on gut microbiota. In our study, we extensively investigated the changes induced by feed formulations rich in phytonutrients on the gastrointestinal microbiota of livestock using targeted 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Our objective is to examine how the developed feed prototype affects the composition of core microbiomes in raised poultry, community diversity, and the resilience of complex microbial networks. We seek correlations between biological livestock and environmental samples to identify which community constituents, in what proportions and occurrences, may play a role in the development of specific diseases. Based on our measurement results, it can be asserted that allithiamine positively modulated "beneficial" community constituents. Beyond the impact of allithiamine-enriched feed rich in phytonutrients, the composition of the microbial community in the poultry gastrointestinal tract is significantly influenced by the age of the birds. Furthermore, due to the presence of multi-drug-resistant pathogens in environmental samples from livestock facilities, appropriate transmission risk management measures are of paramount importance.

  • Occurrence and damage of the alfalfa root longhorn beetle (Plagionotus floralis Pallas, 1773) in old alfalfa stands in Hungary
    82-88
    Views:
    96

    The alfalfa root longhorn beetle is a pest of small importance in old alfalfa stands. It is rarely cited in the international, national literature, or even mentioned in specialized manuels. Plagionotus floralis is common in Hungary but its population density is low. It is a polyphagous species but it has importance - regarding the references – only in alfalfa. This paper analyses data gained in old alfalfa fields at two different regions of the country (Máriabesnyő, Debrecen). Damage of P. floralis was 56% in the roots of an 8-year-old stand in Máriabesnyő. Lenghts of tunnels were between 3 and 22 cm. In spite of the tunnels the alfalfa plants were viable. There was no root longhorn beetle in the 15-year-old Debrecen stand, however it has been found former in the region. The reason for the important density of P. floralis in Máriabesnyő could be the considerable diversity and covering of flowering weeds around the field. Adults of P. floralis feed on flower pollen and nectar. As to the Debrecen area,weeds were cut regularly, so the edge vegetation was poor. Present conditions (no pest control on alfalfa fields, overuse of old and failing alfalfa stands, many untrained growers) favour the reproduction and possible damage of alfalfa root longhorn beetle. 

  • The effect of diet composition, a probiotic and a symbiotic treatment on the ileal microbiota composition of one-week-old broiler chickens
    213-220
    Views:
    160

    A healthy microbiota present in the small intestine contributes significantly to small intestinal function, including digestion, nutrient absorption and health. The current study investigated the effects of a prebiotic, a probiotic and a symbiotic supplementation on ileal microbiota composition of broilers at 7 days of age. In a total of 574 male Ross 308 day-old chickens were divided into four groups using six replicate pens and 24 chickens per pen. A maise-soybean based control diet (C), a control diet supplemented with probiotics (Broilact; Br), a control diet supplemented with symbiotic (inulin, yeast, Bacillus subtilis; Sy) and a wheat based diet supplemented with wheat bran (W) were formulated. On day 7 of life, two chickens per pen were slaughtered and ileal chymus samples were collected. For microbiota analysis 16S rRNA (V3-V4 region) gene targeted Illumina MiSeq sequencing was used. Feeding all diets supplemented increased the diversity to varying degrees compared to the control (C) diet (p=0.006). As a conclusion, all supplementation substantially influenced ileal microbiota of broiler chickens at an early age. All these results could offer some information for the future study on the relationship between early intestinal microbiota and the compounds of the feed.

  • Management of phytopathogens by application of green nanobiotechnology: Emerging trends and challenges
    15-22
    Views:
    274

    Nanotechnology is highly interdisciplinary and important research area in modern science. The use of nanomaterials offer major advantages due to their unique size, shape and significantly improved physical, chemical, biological and antimicrobial properties. Physicochemical and antimicrobial properties of metal nanoparticles have received much attention of researchers. There are different methods i.e. chemical, physical and biological for synthesis of nanoparticles. Chemical and physical methods have some limitations, and therefore, biological methods are needed to develop environment-friendly synthesis of nanoparticles. Moreover, biological method for the production of nanoparticles is simpler than chemical method as biological agents secrete large amount of enzymes, which reduce metals and can be responsible for the synthesis and capping on nanoparticles.

    Biological systems for nanoparticle synthesis include plants, fungi, bacteria, yeasts, and actinomycetes. Many plant species including Opuntia ficus-indica, Azardirachta indica, Lawsonia inermis, Triticum aestivum, Hydrilla verticillata, Citrus medica, Catharanthus roseus, Avena sativa, etc., bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis, Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Lactobacillus sp., Klebsiella aerogenes, Torulopsis sp., and fungi, like Fusarium spp. Aspergillus spp., Verticillium spp., Saccharomyces cerevisae MKY3, Phoma spp. etc. have been exploited for the synthesis of different nanoparticles. Among all biological systems, fungi have been found to be more efficient system for synthesis of metal nanoparticles as they are easy to grow, produce more biomass and secret many enzymes. We proposed the term myconanotechnology (myco = fungi, nanotechnology = the creation and exploitation of materials in the size range of 1–100 nm). Myconanotechnology is the interface between mycology and nanotechnology, and is an exciting new applied interdisciplinary science that may have considerable potential, partly due to the wide range and diversity of fungi.

    Nanotechnology is the promising tool to improve agricultural productivity though delivery of genes and drug molecules to target sites at cellular levels, genetic improvement, and nano-array based gene-technologies for gene expressions in plants and also use of nanoparticles-based gene transfer for breeding of varieties resistant to different pathogens and pests. The nanoparticles like copper (Cu), silver (Ag), titanium (Ti) and chitosan have shown their potential as novel antimicrobials for the management of pathogenic microorganisms affecting agricultural crops. Different experiments confirmed that fungal hyphae and conidial germination of pathogenic fungi are significantly inhibited by copper nanoparticles. The nanotechnologies can be used for the disease detection and also for its management. The progress in development of nano-herbicides, nano-fungicides and nano-pesticides will open up new avenues in the field of management of plant pathogens. The use of different nanoparticles in agriculture will increase productivity of crop. It is the necessity of time to use nanotechnology in agriculture with extensive experimental trials. However, there are challenges particularly the toxicity, which is not a big issue as compared to fungicides and pesticides.

  • Microsatellite Diversity of Androgenic Black Poplar (Populus nigra)
    60-67
    Views:
    74

    Genetic variation of somatic clones (1 to 35) of black poplar (Populus nigra) developed from two anther-donor trees N-SL and N-309 was determined by five SSR primer pairs. Twenty SSR alleles were detected, the number of alleles per marker ranged from 1 to 6, with an average of 3.3 including WPMS-2 (5 alleles), WPMS-4 (6 alleles), WPMS-6 (2 alleles), WPMS-20 (6 alleles) and PTR-4 (1 allele) detected by ALF (automatic laser fluorometer). A
    dendrogram produced by SPSS11 based on the presence versus absence of SSR alleles discriminated the groups of somatic clones of N-SL from somatic clones of N-309. The polymorphic markers of WPMS-2 (5 alleles), WPMS-4 (6 alleles) and WPMS-20 (6 alleles) revealed clonal variation in 1 clone (37) out of the 6 from the N-309 tree, and three subgroups out of the 29 somatic clones from the N-SL tree (17 and 24), (2 and 14) and (10 and 15). The remaining 23 of the 29 N-SL somatic clones with uniform genetic similarity suggests a good degree of genetic stability in black poplar. Nevertheless, the new SSR-clones may provide useful new genetic resources for poplar breeding. 

  • The effect of different genotype cattle grazing on the nutrient content of saline grasslands vegetation
    46-50
    Views:
    183

    Maintaining saline grasslands in good condition, preserving their yield and diversity is important not only for the purpose of nature conservation, but also for farming. Therefore, the primary purpose of our study is to analyse the effect of pasture use of the smaller weight extensive and the larger weight intensive beef cattle on the grassland vegetation and nutrient content. In this way, we can answer the question whether grazing for nature conservation can be achieved with more profitable, more economical and more intense varieties.

    The tests were carried out in May 2016 and May 2017, in the Hortobágy National Park (Pap-ere and Zám puszta), where a total of 16 sample areas were analysed. These areas are grazed with extensive beef cattle (Hungarian grey) and mixed genotype of intensive cattle. The associations were selected along a moisture gradient, such as wet salt marsh (Bolboschoenetum maritimi) and drier saline meadow (Beckmannion eruciformis). All the vegetative material collected both years in May was analysed for the following parameters: dry matter, crude protein, crude fibre and life-sustaining net energy content. We compared the effects of medium grazing (0.46 livestock/ha) and abandonment on vegetation and nutrient content.

    We examined the effect of (i) grazing, (ii) different grasslands (salt marsh, saline meadow) and (iii) grazing of different cattle breeds (Hungarian grey, intensive beef) on the nutrient content of the vegetation of grasslands Based on our results, it was found that grazing had an impact on crude protein and life-sustaining net energy content. The highest crude protein content (12.75 m/m%) was obtained in the year 2017 in the area where higher density had been grazed for two years. For the lifesustaining net energy, the highest value (5.05 MJ/kg d.m.) was also obtained in 2017 and the lowest in 2016. Furthermore, it was found that there was no significant difference between the effect of the two cattle breeds on the parameters examined. Significant effects were observed only in the case of life-sustaining net energy: in the area of intensive beef cattle we received a higher value (5.15 MJ/kg body weight) than in the area with extensive beef cattle (4.96 MJ/kg body weight).

    Our results have also shown that cattle grazing is of the utmost importance for the maintenance of both wet and mesophilous habitats. Based on our three-year study, we can say that grazing by both extensive and intensive cattle breeds is suitable for the management of saline habitats.

  • Harnessing diversity in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.) to enhance climate resilience and micronutrient concentration through genetic and agronomic biofortification
    9-20
    Views:
    177

    Huge consumption of wheat-driven food products with low bioavailability and small concentrations of zinc is responsible for zinc-induced malnutrition and associated health complications. The contemporary durum wheat varieties have inherently tiny zinc concentrations in developing grain, which cannot meet the daily human zinc demand. Despite the fact that over two billion people are suffering from iron and zinc-induced malnutrition, various intervention measures have been deployed to reverse the effect of zinc-induced malnutrition on humans. There are evidences that agronomic and genetic biofortification approaches can increase grain yield and nutritional quality (i.e. zinc, iron, protein, and vitamins) of durum wheat to a greater extent. However, there is a lack of direct empirical evidence for which the influence of both biofortification approaches on improving human health. Application of micronutrient-containing fertilizers either in the soil or foliarly is effective in combination with NPK, organic fertilizers coupled with efficient durum wheat varieties, emphasizing the need for integrated soil fertility management (ISFM). Although genetic biofortification is a cost-effective and sustainable approach, agronomic biofortification provides an immediate and effective route to enhancing micronutrient concentrations in durum wheat grain. The application of zinc-containing fertilizers is more effective under drought conditions than in normal growing situations. Hence, this article provides a key information for agronomists and breeders about the potential of biofortification interventions to improve durum wheat yield and enrich the grain qualitative traits to ensure food and nutritional security of the ever-increasing world population.