Effect of Five Mediterranean Shrubs Extracts on Larval Exsheathment of Haemonchus contortus

Background: Mediterranean shrub species cover more than 70% of the total area in Tunisia and in summer when the herbaceous species have wilted, they constitute feeding resource for livestock. The use of tanniniferous shrubs seems to be a good alternative to control gastrointestinal nematodes infections in small ruminants. This study evaluated the in vitro anthelmintic (AH) effect of Ceratonia siliqua (C. siliqua), Periploca angustifolia Labill. (P. angustifolia) and Medicago arborea (M. arborea) against Haemonchus contortus third stage larvae (L3). Methods: The larval exsheathment assay (LEA) was used to determine the proportions (%) of exsheathment of five acetonic extracts at different concentrations (1200, 600, 300, 150 μg/ml). To confirm the role of tannins in the AH effects of extracts, polyvinyl polypyrolidone (PVPP) was used as deactivating chemical tannins. Result: The highest % L3 exsheathed was recorded for M. arborea (55.01%) and the lowest value was founded for C. siliqua and P. angustifolia leaves (16.26%). Our results were concentration-dependent (P less than 0.001). The % of exsheathment increased as the time of incubation increased (P less than 0.001). P. angustifolia pods recorded the lowest EC50 value (P less than 0.05). After PVPP addition, all the acetonic extracts showed a restoration of L3 exsheathment values similar to control values (P less than 0.001).

Seedling Growth and Transcriptional Responses to Salt Shock and Stress in Medicago sativa L., Medicago arborea L., and Their Hybrid (Alborea)

Salinity is a major limiting factor in crop productivity worldwide. Medicago sativa L. is an important fodder crop, broadly cultivated in different environments, and it is moderately tolerant of salinity. Medicago arborea L. is considered a stress-tolerant species and could be an important genetic resource for the improvement of M. sativa’s salt tolerance. The aim of the study was to evaluate the seedling response of M. sativa, M. arborea, and their hybrid (Alborea) to salt shock and salt stress treatments. Salt treatments were applied as follows: salt stress treatment at low dose (50 mM NaCl), gradual acclimatization at 50–100 and 50–100–150 mM NaCl, and two salt shock treatments at 100 and 150 mM NaCl. Growth rates were evaluated in addition to transcriptional profiles of representative genes that control salt uptake and transport (NHX1 and RCI2A), have an osmotic function (P5CS1), and participate in signaling pathways and control cell growth and leaf function (SIMKK, ZFN, and AP2/EREB). Results showed that the studied population of M. sativa and M. arborea performed equally well under salt stress, whereas that of M. sativa performed better under salt shock. The productivity of the studied population of Alborea exceeded that of its parents under normal conditions. Nevertheless, Alborea was extremely sensitive to all initial salt treatments except the low dose (50 mM NaCl). In addition, significantly higher expression levels of all the studied genes were observed in the population of M. arborea under both salt shock and salt stress. On the other hand, in the population of M. sativa, NHX1, P5CS1, and AP2/EREB were highly upregulated under salt shock but to a lesser extent under salt stress. Thus, the populations of M. sativa and M. arborea appear to regulate different components of salt tolerance mechanisms. Knowledge of the different parental mechanisms of salt tolerance could be important when incorporating both mechanisms in Alborea populations.

Draft Genome Sequence of Streptomyces sp. M1013, a Close Relative of Streptomyces ambofaciens and Streptomyces coelicolor

ABSTRACT We report the draft genome sequence of Streptomyces sp. M1013, a strain isolated from the Medicago arborea rhizosphere in Izmir, Turkey. An average nucleotide identity (ANI) analysis reveals that this strain belongs to the same species as Streptomyces canus ATCC12647 and is closely related to Streptomyces ambofaciens and Streptomyces coelicolor.

Effect of inoculum source (Sheep or Goat) on in vitro gas production and rumen fermentation parameters of some fodder shrubs in northern Tunisia

In order to ensure nutritional characterization of some fodder shrubs and test the effect of inoculum source (sheep and goats) on their digestibility. Four shrubs “Acacia cyanophylla, Atriplex halimus, Opuntia ficus-indica. Var.inermis(cactus) and Medicago arborea” were tested in vitro by incubating them firstly into the rumen fluid of sheep then into goat’s inoculums. The evaluation included chemical composition, total gas production (CO2 and CH4), the prediction of organic matter digestibility (OMD), metabolizable energy (ME), the concentration of total volatile fatty acids (SCFA) and metering ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N). Ruminal fermentation of Opuntia ficus-indica and Medicago arborea have identified more total gas amonts than Atriplex halimus and Acacia cyanophylla. Digestibility of organic matter, metabolisable energy and the concentration of total volatil fatty acids were higher in the case of Opuntia ficus-indica compared to other shrubs. The lowest values were recorded in the Atriplex halimus. The concentration of ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), it turned out that Opuntia ficus-indica is the food with less protein concentration (140 and 270.66 mmol/syringe) respectively for sheep and goats. In against part, the Medicago arborea is presented as a good protein source recording of ammonia nitrogen concentration (214.67 mmol/syringe) into the sheep’s rumen and (494.67 mmol/syringe) into the goats inoculum. The source of the inoculum showed a highly significant effect (p > 0.05).