Showing papers in "Mesopotamia Journal of Agriculture in 2006"

EFFECT OF Nigella sativa OIL TREATMENT ON THE SEX ORGANS AND SPERM CHARACTORS IN RATS EXPOSED TO HYDROGEN PEROXIDE

Abstract: The effect of Nigella sativa oil (0.8ml/kg B.W) on testis, accessory sex glands and epididymal sperm characters was studied in mature male albino rats treated with hydrogen peroxide H2O2(0.5% in drinking water) for 30 days orally. The results showed thatH2O2 treatment caused a significant decrease in the percentage of live/dead sperms 13.66% associated with a significant increase in the percentage of and morphologically abnormal sperms 39.5%.While a significant increase in the percentage of live/dead sperms in both Nigella sativa oil treated group and Nigella sativa oil joined to H2O2 (85%), (72.16%) , respectively accompanied with a decrease in percentage of morphologically abnormal sperms compared with H2O2 treated group. It is concluded that Nigella sativa oil possess an antioxidative actions to counter act the impairment in the epididymal sperm characters caused by H2O2 treatment. INTRODUCTION Oxidative stress is a condition associated with an increased rate of cellular damage induced by oxygen derived species, a highly reactive oxidizing agents, belonging to the class of free radicals (Sikka etal., 1995). The most common reactive oxygen species that have potential implications in reproductive biology include superoxide (O2) anion, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), peroxyl (ROO) radicals and the very reactive hydroxyl (OH') radicals. The nitrogen–derived free radical nitric oxide (NO') and peroxy nitrite anion (ONOO') also appear to play a significant role in reproduction.(Sikka, 1996). Excessive reactive oxygen species generation can overwhelm the protective mechanism and initiate changes in lipid and/or protein layers of sperm plasma membrane. Additionally changes in DNA can be induced (Sanocka and Kurpisz, 2004). Mammalian sperm cells have high content of specific lipidic composition of polyunsaturated fatty acids, plasmalogenes and sphingomyelins (Aitken etal., 1989).This unusual structure of sperm membrane is responsible for its flexibility and the functional ability of sperm cells, However, spermatozoa's lipids, are the main substrates for peroxidation, that may provoke severe functional disorder of sperm (Aitken etal.,1989). On the other hand, antioxidants, in general, are compounds and reactions which dispose, scavenge and suppress the formation of ROS or oppose their reactions (Sikka, 1996). Recently, dietetical antioxidants and their roles in free radical removal and prevention of tissue, cellular lesion have garnered attention especially for their usefulness in reproduction and management of infertility.Nigella sativa oil have known for their antioxidant properties in ameliorating inflammatory received 25/5/2005 accepted 28/2/2006 Mesopotamia J. of Agric (ISSN 1815-316 X) Vol. ( 34 ) NO ( 1 ) 2006 disease (EL-Dakhakhny etal., 2002).In addition, Mahmoud etal. (2002) pointed to the role of Nigella sativa oil against mice liver damage caused by Schistosoma mansoni infection by improving the immunological host system with its antioxidant effect. On the other hand, Black cumin seed oil enhances potency and have aphrodesiac action (Laver, 1984).The present study was designed to investigate the anti oxidative effect of Nigella sativa oil on testis, accessory sex glands, epididymal sperm characteristics in adult male rats exposed to oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide. MATERIALS AND METHODS 1.Extraction of oil from Nigella sativa seeds:The Nigella sativa seeds were purchased from local herb grocery in Mosul city.The seeds were ground in porcelain mortar.one Kg of the powdered seeds with appropriate amount of ethanol were heated to(80-90C ̊)in the extraction apparatus (soxhelet) (Maynard, 1970). Heating and extraction continued until uncoloured solvent was collected. This distillate was extracted by steam distillation until clear water was obtained. Moisture was removed by anhydrous sodium sulphate and the resultant extract was evaporated using water bath (40C ̊), this led to obtain the oil which was kept in a dark flask (Harvey and John,1998). The percentage of oil extracted was calculated by the following equation: Percentage of oil = ×100 The percentage of black seed oil was 12.7 %. 2. Experimental design: Twenty four male albino rats of 90-100 days of age were used, they were housed in polypropylene cages under controlled conditions of temperature(24-26C ̊)and natural lighting (10 hours light/14 hours dark)food and water were supplied ad libitum. The animals randomly divided into four groups (6 rats/group). The first group received normal saline and served as control.The second group received 0.5%H2O2 (Al shaheed factory-Iraq) in drinking water(Matkovics,1977).The third group received Nigella sativa oil (0.8ml/kg B.W) orally by gavage needle.The fourth group received 0.5%H2O2 in drinking water and Nigella sativa oil (0.8ml/kg B.W)orally by gavage needle. At the end of thirty days experimental period, the animals were scarificed by the ether administration and their weights were recorded.The abdominal cavity was opened, Testis, Epididymis (head, body,tail),prostate and seminal vesicle were immediately removed, trimmed, blotted in folds of filter paper and weight.Total epididymal head sperm count in 1ml was determined according to Sakamoto and Hashimoto oil weight

Calcium bioavailability of calcium carbonate based diets for male growing rats

Abstract: Calcium (Ca) bioavailability of different levels of calcium carbonate using male Sprague-Dawley derived weanling rats was determined. Normalized value (NV), the relative bioavailability (RBV) and calcium absorption in three levels (0.14, 0.19 and 0.24 %) of three balanced diets (diets No 1, 2 and 3) of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as a source of calcium were estimated. Normalized values and RBVs in femur, tibia and fibula for rats fed diet containing 0.19% calcium (No.2) were significantly (P<0.05) higher (81.8 and 100 %, respectively ) than those (78; 95 and 78; 95 ) for rats fed diet containing 0.14% (No.1) (78; 95 and 78; 95, respectively) and diet containing 0.24% calcium (No.3)(60.8; 74.2 and 60.2;73.6, respectively). Results also show that calcium absorption, total body calcium and serum calcium for rats fed diet No.2 were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those of rats fed diets No.1 and 3. It was concluded that calcium carbonate based diet containing 0.19% calcium with 1.5:1 calcium to phosphorus ratio may give high calcium bioavailability for growing rats which was considered as standard (control) diet for other diets.

Improving yield and yield quality of four faba bean cultivars grown under rainfalls

Abstract: Four experiments were carried out at the research field of horticulture Dept, Agriculture & Forestry college, Mosul University, during 2004-2005 growing season to investigate the ability of boosting drought resistance in four faba bean cultivars by foliar spraying of Fe-ethylene diamine-di-o-hydroxy phenyl acetic acid ( Fe-EDDHA ) at rates of 0,50,100 and 150 mg. L ̅1; boric acid ( H3BO3 ) at rates of 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg.L ̅1; potassium iodide (KI) at rates of 0, 25, 50, and 75 mg.L ̅1, phtoFert. at rates of 0, 1, 2 and 3g.L ̅1 at the commence of flowering and was repeated after 2 weeks. Experiment 1 results showed that spraying local Syrian cultivar with 100 mg. L ̅1 FeEDDHA appeared to be the most effective treatment. It significantly increased the yield of dry seeds (19.7%), in relation to its corresponding checks. In experiment 2 , the application of 50 mg.L ̅1 H3BO3 was the paramount treatment. It exceeded the yield of dry seed of untreated treatment by 28.4%. Experiment 3 results revealed that potassium iodide rates resulted in adverse effects on all detected parameters favorable for aqueduce cultivar growth and yield. Consequently, negative correlation were found in most growth, flowering, pod development, seed fillings and yield component parameters . Experiment 4 results manifested dramatic negative correlations caused by foliar spray of phytoFert rates in most favorable traits for the improvement of plant growth and yield. The worst treatment was 3g.L ̅

A PROTOCOL FOR SHOOT REGENERATION FROM LEAVES PETIOLES TISSUE CULTURE OF NEEM TREES ( Melia azedarach )

Abstract: Shoots were regenerated from petioles – derived callus on solidified Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1.5 mg / l BA only and MS medium containing 4.0 mg / l IBA and 1.0 mg / l BA . The percentage of shoot formation was 30.0 % . The regeneration frequency was reasonable to obtained sufficient shoots by this method . This simple protocol is the first report in tissue culture of this woody plant which encourage other researchers to worke other studies in tissue culture of neem . Moreover , callus culture will be useful to obtain a wide range of industrial plant products . INTRODUCTION Sabahbah ( Melia azedarach L.) is a fast growing , deciduous tree, belonging to the family Meliaceae which contains other species of neem trees, Azadirachta indica ( Allan et al. ,1999) . This woody tree is widely exploited for its effects on insects ( Kearnay et al. , 1994) . Current interests in its use as a natural insecticide is concentrated on compounds that exhibit antifeedant and insect growth regulatory effects ( Mordue & Blackwell , 1993) . Most of the active principles from neem fruits as well as from seeds , stem and root bark are tetranortriterpnoids , although biologically active diterpenoids , triterpenoids constituents are also present . More than three hundred compounds have been isolated from various parts of the tree ( Kumar et al., 1996) . and most attention has been directed towards the major principle , Azadiractin . Several studies have centered on A. indica callus induction and organogenesis ( Sanyal et al., 1981 ; Schultz , 1984 ; Ramesh & Padhya , 1988) Ramesh and Padhya (1990) studied the production of adventitious shoot buds from leaf discs on Wood and Braun medium supplemented with Kinetin , Benzyl adenine and adenine sulphate . They reported that although there was no growth on basal medium , addition of kinetin or benzyl adenine alone resulted in callus production . While addition of both at concentration of 4mM each resulted in shoot formation . Similar results were found by culturing nodal segments and leaf discs of A. indica on MS ( Murashige & Skoog ,1962) medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L benzyl adenine and 0.5 mg/L kinetin ( Subramani et al., 1993) . In later studies , Eeswara (1997) failed to obtain shoot formation in any of the above combinations . The possibility of callus initiation and shoots regeneration of Melia azedarach was investigated in this study and according to our knowledge there are no published reports on tissue culture of Melia azedarach in our country, The paper represent the Received 22/11/2005 accepted 15/3/2006 Mesopotamia J. of Agric (ISSN 1815-316 X) Vol. ( 34 ) No. ( 1 ) 2006 first report on tissue culture of Melia azedarach. MATERIALS AND METHODS Collection of plant materials : Trees of Melia azedarach, grown in Mosul University’s park (Fig.1,A) were used as a source of plant material which include young leaves and its petioles . Surface sterilization of specimens : Young leaves were picked from Sabahbah trees (15 years old ) , they were thoroughly washed with tap water before surface sterilization . The petioles were cut into segments of 1 cm length while the leaves cut into pieces of 0.5 cm .These explants were surface sterilized according to Eeswara et. al., (1997) with some modification , by immersion into 0.1 % HgCl2 solution for 5 min. and washed with sterile water . These treated explants were immersed in 3% commercially available sodium hypochlorite solution for 30 min.,then washed carefully with sterile water Callus initiation : Sterilized leaves and petioles of Melia azedarach were cultured on the surface of 15 ml of agar –solidified MS ( Murashige & Skoog ,1962) medium supplemented with different combinations of Naphthalen acetic acid (NAA) with Benzyladenine (BA) or 2,4dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) with Kinetin . Also Indole butyric acid (IBA) was used . Many initiation media were tested for callus formation from leaf and petiole segments as indicated below : NAA and BA combinations MSO ( Hormone free) control MS + 1.5 mg/l BA MS + 0.9 mg/l NAA MS + 0.2 mg/l NAA + 0.1 mg/l BA MS + 2.0 mg/l NAA + 2.0 mg / l BA MS +1.0 mg/l NAA + 2.0 mg l BA 2,4-D and Kinetin combinations MS +0.1 mg /l 2,4 D + 0.2 mg /l Kin. MS + 0.5 mg /l 2,4 D + 1.0 mg /l kin. MS + 1.0 mg /l 2,4 D + 1.0 mg /l kin. MS + 1.0 mg /l 2.4 D + 2.0 mg /l Kin. MS + 2.0 mg / l 2,4 D + 4.0 mg /l Kin . IBA and BA combinations MS + 0.1 mg /l IBA MS + 2.0 mg /l IBA + 1.0 mg /L BA MS + 4.0 mg /l IBA + 1.0 mg /L BA Plant specimens were kept in culture room at 25 ± 1C , 1500 Lux white fluorescent tube for 16 hrs . light 8 hrs. dark .Other group of samples were incubated at same condition in the dark . Mesopotamia J. of Agric (ISSN 1815-316 X) Vol. ( 34 ) No. ( 1 ) 2006 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This paper indicates the response of Melia azedarach tree to plant tissue culture technique throughout the good response of leaves and petioles explants to callus formation on MS medium supplemented with various combination of different auxins (NAA , IBA and 2,4-D )and cytokinines( BA and kinetin) in the dark . Various concentrations of BA and NAA were helpful in inducing callus initiation from leaves and petioles explants ( Table l ) . This good response of explants for callus formation may be due to the efficient selection of cells in an explants (Al-Mallah , & Hassan ,1994 ) coupled with compatibility between the endogenous hormonal levels and the addition of growth regulator to the induction medium . Table 1 : Callus formation from leaves and petioles explants of Melia azedarach on agar-solidified MS medium supplemented with NAA and BA Medium (mg /L) Cult. Segment / Init. Segment Callus formation (%) Leaves Petioles Leaves Petioles MS + 1.5 mg/L BA 40/20 40/33 50 82.5 MS + 0.2 mg/LNAA + 0.1 mg/L BA 30/0 30/0 0.0 0.0 MS + 0.9 mg/LNAA 30/0 30/0 0.0 0.0 MS + 1.0 mg/LNAA + 2.0 mg/L BA 40/32 40/21 80.0 52.5 MS + 2.0 mg/LNAA + 2.0 mg/L BA 30/3 30/2 10 6.6 MSO (control) 30/0 30/0 0 0 * Cult . :cultured segments , **Init .:Initiated segments The obtained results indicate clearly that MS medium supplemented only with 1.5 mg /l BA sustained callus induction . The petiole explants started callus formation after two weeks of culture and the percent of callus initiation was 82.5 .It was obvious that increasing NAA level inhibited callus formation from 82.5% to 6.4 % ( Table l ) .These results confirm that this plant have enough levels of endogenous hormones and does not require the addition of high levels of exogenous growth regulators (Wala & Jasrai , 2003 ).Subramani et al. (1993) noticed that agar solidified MS medium supplemented with 3.5 mg /l BA was proper for callus initiation in neem. The results indicated that replacing NAA with IBA seems to be very useful to callus initiation as the induction of callus increased (Table 2 ) . The petiole explants began callus induction within twelve days(Fig.l ,B ). While leaves explants started callus formation after twelve days on agar solidified MS medium containing IBA 4.0 mg /L and BA 1.0 mg / L (Fig.l ,C) .The results showed that this medium was the best one for callus growth, so it was used for the subculturing and maintenance of callus every 4 weeks interval . Callus was friable and yellow light brown in colour (Fig.l,D). Previous study (Allan et at .,1994) showed that agar solidified MS medium supplemented with Mesopotamia J. of Agric (ISSN 1815-316 X) Vol. ( 34 ) No. ( 1 ) 2006 IBA 4.0 mg / L and BA 1.0 mg / L was suitablefor callus initiation from leaves explants of Azdirachta indica . Table 2 : Initiation of callus from leaves and petioles of Melia azedarach on agar solidified MS medium supplemented with IBA and BA Medium Cult. Segment / Init. Segment Callus formation % Leaves Petioles Leaves Petioles MS + 0.1 mg/l IBA 30/0 30/0 0.0 0.0 MS + 2.0 mg/l IBA + 1.0 mg/L BA 30/1 30/2 3.3 6.6 MS + 4.0 mg/l IBA +1.0 mg /l BA 50/21 50/42 42 84 MSO( control) 20/0 20/0 0.0 0.0

Variation in some fleece components over the body of hamadani sheep

Abstract: The variation in some fiber properties at five sites / positions (shoulder, mid-side, hip, back and rump) over the body of Hamadani sheep were studied with 41 ewes. Staple length, fiber diameter, percentage of innercoat fibers and percentage of outercoat fibers were affected significantly (P ≤ 0.01) by sampling site. Although, the pattern of variation was not consistent, the wool at hip position was longer and coarser than that from shoulder or mid-side positions. The shortest, finest and highest percentage of innercoat fibers were found on the back site. Since the mid-side position showed intermediate values among other four positions together with it’s closer relations to the overall mean. Hence, the best compromise would be the use of mid-side position as the most suitable site for sampling Hamadani sheep fleeces. INTRODUCTION Sheep production is considered as the main activity of agricultural sector in Iraq, in particular in plain areas of IraqiKurdistan, where Hamadani sheep are breed. These sheep belong to fat-tailed, carpet-wool group and their fleeces are characterized by being white in color except heads, necks & legs which are black / brown or grayish. Furthermore, Hamadani sheep fleeces exhibited the most desirable characteristics for specialty carpet wool (Aziz & Al-Oramary, 2005). The lack of information about the pattern of variation of fleece components over the body of Hamadani sheep will hinder the determination of an optimum sampling position to assess the breeding value for potential replacement animals. In this regard, Doney & Smith (1961a) observed large and highly significant variations in fleece components over the body of the Scottish Blackface sheep and it was concluded that the best site for sampling is the mid-side region. Recently, Tabbaa et al. (1998 & 2001) have shown the significant effect of body location (shoulder, mid-side & hip) on most fiber properties of Awassi sheep in Jordan. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the regional variation of some fleece components and to establish the most suitable site for sampling Hamadani fleeces. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty one Hamadani ewes, randomly selected from the Hamadani ewe flock, were sampled at five positions (shoulder, right mid-side, hip, back & rump) on each sheep at shearing time in the late April, 2003 at the Grdarasha Farm, College of Agric., Univ. of Salahaddin-Erbil. All the animals had been run Mesopotamia J. of Agric. (ISSN 1815-316X) Vol. (34) No. (3 ) 2006 together during the previous twelve months. The sheep were housed in semi-open barns, with access to grazing green pasture from March to May and cereal stubble of wheat and barley crops from Received 23/03/2006. accepted 14/6/2006 . June to October. During the remainder of the year (late period of pregnancy & early lactation) 500 g of ground black barley / ewe / day with a small amount of wheat straw were provided. The average staple length of triplicate for each greasy wool sample was estimated, by a ruler, from their cut base to the midway in the pyramid formed by the tip (Von Bergen, 1963). The samples were scoured in water (55 ْ◌ C) containing non-ionic detergent, rinsed and air–dried. Then staples were scoured by petroleum spirit and air–dried prior to any subsequent measurements. One hundred fibers were randomly drawn from a degreased staple and used for fiber length measurements. The diameters of 200 fibers were measured by projection microscope (Lanameter) from each sample in accordance to the ASMTT (1978). Also the weight of the different fiber types (innercoat, outercoat & kemp fibers) were determined by visual separation of one degreased staple by applying the method of Doney and Smith (1961b). The effect of sampling site on fleece components was determined using General Linear Model (SAS, 1989). Tests of significant differences between means of subclasses were carried out using Duncans Multiple Range Test. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The mean and standard deviation values for staple length, fiber length, fiber diameter and fiber type ratio in each site are presented in Table ( 1 ). The sampling site had a significant (P ≤ 0.01) effect on staple length, fiber diameter and percentages of innercoat and outercoat fibers, while did not have a significant effect on fiber length and percentage of kemp fibers. There was similarity in the gradients of staple length and fiber length, which tend to increase from the mid-side position towards the anterior and posterior positions. The rump site recorded the heighest lengths, while the back site showed the lowest staple length. Earlier researchers observed highly significant effect of sampling site on fiber length in Scottish Blackface sheep (Doney & Smith, 1961a) and on staple length in Ossimi sheep (Saddick, 1993). Whereas, the effect of sampling site was not significant in Awassi sheep staple length (Tabbaa et al., 1998 & 2001). In Blackface, the longest fibers were recorded on the shoulder then the mid-side and the shortest fibers were on the hip positions. In Ossimi, the shortest staples were recorded on the mid-side position. Conversely, in Awassi the longest fibers were found on the mid-side. Mesopotamia J. of Agric. (ISSN 1815-316X) Vol. (34) No. (3 ) 2006 The fiber diameter of shoulder and hip positions did not show any significant difference and the values of both sites were higher significantly (P ≤ 0.05) than those obtained in rump and mid-side positions. The finest (26.4 μm) and coarsest (34.7 μm) fibers were recorded on the back and hip positions respectively. These results were in agreement with the findings of Doney & Smith (1961a) for Blackface sheep. Similar results also were observed by Saddick (1993) for Ossimi sheep and by Tabbaa et al. (1998 & 2001) for Awassi sheep. However in almost all breeds an anterior-posterior gradient of increasing fiber diameter has been demonstrated (Henderson & Hayman, 1960; Doney & Smith , 1961a; Ghoneim et al., 1968 and Tabbaa et al., 1998) The back site had the highest percentage of innercoat fibers (60.6 %) and the lowest percentage of outercoat fibers (34.4 %). In turn this site produced finer fiber diameter. This was in agreement with findings observed by Aziz and AlOramary (2005). Wool on the shoulder had a similar percentage of fine fibers to that of the hip and both sites were lower than that of mid-side . This was in accordance to the results observed by Tabbaa et al. (1998) in Awassi sheep where mid-side had the highest percentage of innercoat fiber, whereas Tabbaa et al. (2001) for the same breed reported that the mid-side had the same value as hip and both sites were lower than that of shoulder. On the other hand, in Blackface sheep higher percentages of fine fibers were found on the shoulder and hip sites (Doney & Smith, 1961a). In general, in the present study fibers on the mid-side position were intermediate in their values among other four positions.The overall means of staple length, fiber length, fiber diameter, innercoat fibers, outercoat fibers and kemp fibers were 12.8 cm, 15.4 cm, 31.1 μm , 52.1 %, 42.7 % and 5.2 % respectively (Table 1). In this study, the obtained values for lengths were close to those reported by Ashmawy and Al-Azzawi (1982 a & b), Maarof et al. (1982), Aziz (1993), Ali (1999) and Aziz & Al-Oramary (2005) for the same breed. On the other hand the obtained values for fiber diameter and fiber type ratio were within the range obtained by the above researchers. In this occasion, it should be mentioned that Hamadani sheep were not selected for fleece characterestics as there were large variations in the fleece properties. For all studied components a highly significant (P ≤ 0.01) correlations existed between position means and overall mean (Table 2). The mid-side position, which is Table (2):Correlations between position values and overall mean for each fleece component. Positions Fleece Components Shoulder Mid-side Hip Back Rump Mesopotamia J. of Agric. (ISSN 1815-316X) Vol. (34) No. (3 ) 2006 Staple Length .83 .85 .91 .76 .74 Fiber Length .73 .84 .87 .74 .84 Fiber Diameter .85 .83 .79 .72 .65 Innercoat Fibers .89 .80 .64 .58 .62 Outercoat Fibers .80 .81 .72 .68 .67 Kemp Fibers .59 .66 .74 .72 .74 All correlations were highly significant (P ≤ 0.01) Mesopotamia J. of Agric. (ISSN 1815-316X) Vol. (34) No. (3 ) 2006 Table (1):Means ± standard errors of Hamadani fleece components at different sites. Variable Sampling Size Staple Length (cm) Fiber Length (cm) Fiber Diameter (μm) Innercoat Fibers (%) Outercoat Fibers (%) Kemp Fibers (%) Sampling Sites ** NS ** ** ** NS Shoulder 41 12.6 ±0.33 b 15.3 ± 0.57 33.8 ± 1.08 a 45.1 ± 2.51 c 50.0 ± 2.97 a 5.0 ± 0.75 Mid-side 41 11.9 ± 0.30 b 14.7 ± 0.46 29.3 ± 0.79 b 57.9 ±2.13 a 37.3 ±2.23 bc 4.9 ± 0.51 Hip 41 13.7 ± 0.39 a 15.5 ± 0.52 34.7 ± 1.09 a 44.9 ± 2.13 c 50.1 ±2.38 a 5.1 ± 0.73 Back 41 11.7 ± 0.33 b 15.5 ± 0.48 26.4 ± 0.56 c 60.6 ± 1.53 a 34.4 ± 1.87 c 5.0 ± 0.78 Rump 41 14.0 ± 0.33 a 16.0 ± 0.54 31.4 ± 0.66 b 51.9 ± 1.51 b 41.9 ± 1.81 b 6.2 ± 0.65 Overall Mean 205 12.8 ± 0.37 15.4 ± 0.52 31.1 ± 0.98 52.1 ± 2.22 42.7 ± 2.48 5.2 ± 0.69 ** P ≤ 0.01 NS=Non-significant Values within the same column with different superscripts differ significantly (P ≤ 0.05). Mesopotamia J. of Agric. (ISSN 1815-316X) Vol. (34) No. (3 ) 2006 most commonly used in single site sampling, was more closer to the overall mean than the other positions. This result corresponds with that observed by Doney & Smith (1961a) for Scottish Blackface sheep. ا مانغلأا مسج ىلع ةزجلا تانوكم ضعب ىف تافلاتخلأا ةینادمحل دمح نیسح ىلع زیزع رمع مساق نیدلا حلاص ةعماج ، ةعارزلا ةیلك ،ةیناویحلا ةورثلا مسق / لیبرأ / قارعلا ةصلاخلا عقاوم ةسمخ ىف ةفیللا تافص ضعبل تافلاتخا ةسارد مت ) رھظلاو ةرخؤملاو بنجلاو فتكلا لفكلاو ( مسج ىلع ٤١ ةینادمح ةجعن . وط رثا دقل ةبسنو ةمعانلا فایللأا ةبسنو ةفیللا رطقو ةلصخلا ل ایونعم ةنشخلا فایللأا ) P ≤ 0.01 ( ةنیعلا عقومب . ناب رھظ ھنا ّلاا ةتباث ریغ تافلاتخلأا طمن نا نم مغرلاب بنجلا وا فتكل

Effect of broiler diet composition on newcastle disease antibody production

Abstract: An experiment was conducted at the college of veterinary medicine to investigate the effect of two types of broiler starter diets, with or without animal protein, on Newcastle disease antibody production. Bursal weight index was also studied. Two replicates with 10 male broiler chicks, each were used in each treatment groups, A and B, for a total of 40 birds .The experimental birds were reared from day old till 4 weeks of age. Results revealed that there were no significant effects on antibody titer and bursal weight index, due to different types of the experimental diets. It was found that out of antibody titers 20 and 40, only 3 and 2 birds were found to be positive, respectively .Where as out of antibody titers 80 and 160 only 3 birds from each group, A and B, where found to be positive verses 8 and 4 birds from group B were shown to be positive. INTRODUCTION There are extremely important interaction, synergism and antagonisms between nutrition and immunity that markedly affect productivity of poultry (Calnek et al,1997). Practically, there are many types of diets can be used for broilers. It is now more difficult to give general recommendations for allocation of these diets, since we now have the situation of broilers bird being processed at different ages .Therefor different nutrients are required according to the stages of production (Lesason and Summers,1997). Although there is a lack for many types from which the dietary level of nutrients required to supply adequate substrate to the immune system, to optimize disease resistance, is higher than the level set by the NRC (1994). However, for most requirement the levels that optimize growth and reproduction are also adequate for optimal immune competence(Pawison et al.,1996). Dietary manipulations of some nutrient result in immunoegulatory consequences due to the participation of the nutrient or it’s products in communication within and between Leucocytes (Dietert et al.,1994). With the economy of many third world countries improving, there appears to be increased demand for animal products especially poultry meat is ideally suited to meet the increased demand for animal products with improved efficiency of production, and in this sense, chickens continue to be the least expensive meat in most countries. But, because feed still represents by far the major cost of production of all poultry products, there is continual need to evaluate new or different sources of ingredients and to continually re-examine the more common ingredients, especially if the effect of these feed ingredients on external environment is to be considered, in the manure nutrient residues. Currently the focus is on phosphorous and nitrogen Received 16/2/2006 Accepted 16 /8/2006 Mesopotamia J. of Agric. (1SSN 1815-316X) Vol.(34) No.(3) 2006 excretion by animals, as expected becomes most critical in areas of very intensive production (Al-Zubeady, 1997). So nutritionist’s role is to reduce manure nutrients residues, which revolves around diet formulation, the solution is the formulation of practical diets which provide a minimum excess of amino acids, by using methionine, lysine and threonine which are now available at competitive prices. However, it should be stressed that neither feed cost, nor effect of feed ingredients on the environment should overlooked the interactions between nutrition and immunity and infection diseases. Chiefly because, nutrition affects the immunocompetence, of birds and, thus their resistance to infectious diseases can be noticed. Partly because, immune response due do infections, challenges affect growth, reproduction, metabolism and nutrient requirements (Cary, 1985). So, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of feeding of two types of broiler diets, differed in their protein source on Newcastle disease antibody production. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fourty, day-old male broiler chicks (cobb) were individually weighted, wing banded and housed in heated battery brooders under continuos fluorescent lighting. Chicks were randomly divided into two groups (treatments), 20 chicks each, with two replicates of 10 chicks each, fed two types of diets (Table 1). Feed and water were given ad libitum. level of P<0.05(Klasing, 1997). Table (1): Diets used in experimental groups Inqrediant Group A% Group B% Corn 57.2 60.5 Soybean meal (48%) 31.5 30.7 Meat meal (50%) Fish meal (60%) 1.0 2.0 ـ ـ ــ Fat (vegetable oil) 4.6 4.5 Ground Limestone 1.3 1.5 Calciun phosphate(20%P) 1.0 1.5 Iodized salt 0.3 0.3 Vitamin: Mineral premix 1.0 1.0 Methionine 0.08 0.06 Crude protine % 21.8 20.0 Ether extract % 7.0 7.0 Metabolizable Energy(Kcal/kg) 3045 3146 Calcium % 0.98 0.95 Available phosphorous% 0.42 0.42

Using quercus infectoria gall nut tannin as a binder inparticleboards production

Abstract: Adhesives derived from oak (Quercus infectoria) galls tannin and ureaformaldehyde were used to produce particleboards of 18 mm. thickness from pinewood particles at 8 and 12% resin content and target density of 0.60 gm / cm 3 . Five levels of blending ratios were followed namely; 100 TF:0 UF, 75 TF:25 UF, 50 TF:50 UF, 25 TF:75 UF, and O TF:100 UF. The physical and mechanical properties of the produced panels were tested after conditioning according to ASTM standard D-1073. The results indicated, that tannin from oak galls has good potential for use as adhesive. It has been shown from the results that incorporating urea-formaldehyde with tannin-formaldehyde produced good quality adhesive for the manufacture of particleboard for interior use. An increase in the levels of urea in the adhesive blends caused an increase in panels strength such as MOR, MOE, and IB, while WA and Th.S. decreased by increasing levels of tannin-formaldehyde. The increase in resin content of all produced panels improved all particleboard properties.

RESPONSE OF THREE ONION (Allium cepa L.) CULTIVARS GROWN UNDER IRRIGATED AND NON-IRRIGATED CULTIVATION TO POLYETHYLENE MULCHING 3- PRODUCTION OF DRY ONION BULBS IN SPRING SEASON*

Abstract: This experiment was carried out at horticultural research fields, Mosul University, Mosul, Iraq, during 2004-2005 growing season to investigate the influences of polyethylene mulching, supplementary irrigation and rainfall incidences on the production of dry bulbs of three onion cultivars grown in spring seasons. Results showed that supplementary irrigated onions resulted in significant increases, bulb fresh weight, bulb size, bulb bulk density, number of storage leaves per bulb, leaf water potential and yield of dry onion bulbs, as compared to these of rainfalls onions. However, inadequate rainfalls tended to reveal significant increases in percentage of unbolted plants and bulbing ratio. Production of dry onion bulbs on bare soil under rainfall incidences in Mosul are impossible in spring season. Polyethylene mulching substantially improved growth and yield of onions, particularly these grown under rainfalls. They confirmed the ability of producing dry yield of onions under rainfalls in spring season. Clear polyethylene mulching appeared to be the most effective treatment, as it displayed significant increases in bulb size, single bulb fresh weight, plant height, leaf numbers per plant, leaf area index, bulbing ratio, dry matter percentage of storage leaf, plant dry weight, leaf area per plant and dry yield of onion bulbs. Moreover, it significantly lessen the water requirements and weed eradication labor cost. Local Red was the paramount cultivar. It showed the highest responses to supplemental irrigation, rainfalls and polyethylene mulching, Since it gave the highest, bulb fresh weight, percentage of unbolted plants and the yield of dry onions. Furthermore, it resulted in the lowest stalk numbers per plant, leaf water potential, fresh and dry weights of flowering stalks. On the other hand Local White cultivar displayed controversial results. The highest yield (1.07 kg ̅1) was confined to supplementary irrigated Local Red cultivar grown on clear polyethylene