October 2014

Wheat stem rust in South Africa: Current status and future research directions

Plant diseases are among the major causes of crop yield loss and food insecurity. In South Africa, stem rust caused by Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. tritici. Eriks. & E. Henn. (Pgt) is an important disease of wheat. Records of stem rust occurrence in South Africa date back to the late 1720’s, when it was first discovered in the south-western wheat growing areas of the Western Cape. Although growing stem rust...

Author(s): Sandiswa Figlan, Cobus Le Roux, Tarekegn Terefe, Willem Botes, Botma Visser, Hussein Shimelis and Toi John Tsilo

October 2014

Methane and nitrous oxide emission from livestock manure

Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse gas which contributes significantly to global warming and a significant proportion of atmospheric methane is produced by livestock. Livestock contribute 18% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Apart from enteric emission, decomposition of livestock manure under anaerobic conditions is also a source of methane. The later condition arises in confined management system. There is...

Author(s): Sonali Prusty, U. B. Sontakke and S. S. Kundu

October 2014

Biocontrol efficacy of Wickerhamomyces anomalus in moist maize storage

White maize cultivar ‘Kasai’ was harvested and stored moist, sealed in airtight plastic barrels, with and without inoculation of the biocontrol yeast, Wickerhamomyces anomalus. Microbes were enumerated at harvest and after 2, 5 and 8 months of storage. Moist storage of maize yielded a type of fermentation, in which high levels of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) naturally present on maize (108 cfu/g), were...

Author(s): Aziwo T. Niba, Su-lin L. Leong and Matilda Olstorpe

October 2014

Concentrations of iodine and some environmental goitrogens in two selected water bodies - Adada and Akoru in Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

This study was designed to investigate the distribution of iodine and goitrogens in two selected rivers: Adada and Akoru in Enugu Sate, Nigeria. Iodine concentrations were found to be 0.109±0.001 and 0.108±0.001 ppm, respectively in both water bodies. The evaluated environmental goitrogens were as follows in Adada and Akoru Rivers: Calcium 109.333±16.0 and 74.667±7.67 ppm; sulphate...

Author(s): Enechi, O. C., Stephen Amarachi and Ugwu Okechukwu, P. C.,

October 2014

Conditioners and significance of t-RFLP profile of the assemblage of prokaryotic microorganisms in crude oil polluted soils

Following an increased interest in management practices designed to reduce posed phytotoxicity during phytoremediation experiments, crude oil polluted soil and variants from conditioners-aided phytoremediation experiment were subjected to terminal restriction fragment polymorphism (t-RFLP) to evalute the biodiversity of bacterial microflora of polluted soil and amendments conditions. Genetic fingerprinting showed that...

Author(s): Eucharia Oluchi Nwaichi, Magdalena Frac, D. E. Peters and B. O. Akpomiemie

October 2014

Potentials of non-edible Abrus precatorius seed oil towards biodiesel production

Abrus precatorius seed oil is not edible and possesses lethal toxicological properties; hence, alternative use as low cost feedstock for biodiesel production was investigated. The n-hexane extracted oil was characterized for its chemical and physical properties, and subsequently transesterified using 1% sodium hydroxide at 60°C to produce biodiesel. The biodiesel produced had acceptable quality following...

Author(s): Joseph C. Obetaλ, Chidozie Victor Agu,λ; Obioma U. Njoku, Christopher C. Okonkwo, and Emeka G. Anaduaka