Annual Research & Review in Biology

Corals of Terlena Island were first mentioned more than 125 years ago, when Sluiter in 1890 came up with a new theory of initial reef development. Our aim was to re-visit the reef, investigate the coral community and environmental conditions, identify dominating species and compare the present and past situation. Today the island is part of the international port Teluk Bayur and hosts only few, but unique assemblages of corals, including the first record of Oulastrea crispata from West Sumatra. This localized coral community is due to special environmental and anthropological conditions, with low light conditions and sediment input through rivers and excavations on one hand and protection from wind, waves, red tides and destructive fishing through proximity to the harbour on the other hand. We conclude that only extremely tolerant coral species will survive.

Tomato is a crop with the greatest economic importance in the world and salinity stress causes are reduction in the quantity and quality of crop production. Today the main challenge in world agriculture is to sustain the continuously growing global population, and this becomes more difficult due to climatic change, as this imposes further abiotic stress. The aim of this study was to find out the salinity effect on tomato production. The study was initiated at the Irrigation and Water Management (IWM) research field of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Bangladesh during October 2007 to April 2008 cropping season. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 3 replications. The treatments were: T₁= Irrigation with fresh water, T₂= Irrigation with saline water containing 4 dS m⁻¹ of Electrical conductivity (Seawater cannot hold as much dissolved oxygen as freshwater due to its high salinity. Conductivity and salinity have a strong correlation.), T₃= Irrigation with saline water containing 6 dS m⁻¹ of Electrical conductivity, T₄= Irrigation with saline water containing 8 dS m⁻¹ of Electrical conductivity and T₅= Irrigation with saline water containing 10 dS m⁻¹ of Electrical conductivity. We found that the plants irrigated with the T₁ treatment (Irrigation with fresh water) was the highest fruit yield plant^-1 (1.52 kg) whereas the lowest yield (0.667 kg) was obtained from the higher level of saline water treatment T⁵ (10 dS m⁻¹). When the fruit yield was considered the effective treatment for the highest total fruit yield (36.57 t ha^-1) was produced by the T₁ treatment (Irrigation with fresh water) and the lowest fruit yield (21.87 t ha^-1) was found from the treatment T⁵ (10 dS m⁻¹). The effect of different salinity levels of irrigation such as fresh water, 4 dS m⁻¹, 6 dS m⁻¹, 8 dS m⁻¹ and 10 dS m⁻¹ on total soluble solid was significantly influenced. The highest total soluble solid (2.53) was shown in T₅ treatment (10 dS m⁻¹) whereas the lowest (2.00) in Irrigation with fresh water treatment.

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the semen quality of rabbits administered varied levels of exogenous L-Selenomethionine (L-SeMet). Twenty four male rabbits (10 months old) were randomly allotted to four treatments in a completely randomised design. Treatment 1 (control) was without exogenous L-SeMet, while  treatments 2, 3 and 4 were administered 0.2 mgkg-1, 0.3 mgkg^-1 and 0.4 mgkg^-1 oral supplementation of L-SeMet, respectively at 48hours interval for 6 weeks. Semen samples were collected at day 21 and day 42 using artificial vagina from the bucks and assessed for volume, mass activity, progressive motility, percentage dead and live sperm cells and sperm concentration. Sperm progressive motility and sperm concentration increased significantly (P<0.05) as the concentration of L-SeMet increases at day 21. However, percentage dead sperm cells significantly (P<0.05) reduced with increase in the level of L-SeMet supplementation. At day 42, it was also observed that mass activity, sperm progressive motility and sperm concentration were significantly (P<0.05) highest in rabbits administered 0.4 mgkg^-1 L-SeMet. However, semen volume was not significantly different among the treatments on both days of assessment. This suggested that exogenous supplementation of L-SeMet up to 0.4 mgkg^-1 improved semen attributes and sperm cells formation of the rabbit bucks.

In this paper, a new technology for meatball production is presented. The ingredients in the formulation used are low value parts of poultry meat (neck and back part), rice, sea cabbage (Laminaria) and carrot. Three variants of meatball were prepared with different weight ratios of Laminaria: variant 1 – 15%, variant 2 – 10% and variant 3 – 5%. The comparative quality and organoleptic indicators of meatballs are studied. As a result, when compared with the control meatballs, the developed meatballs have soft consistency, a pleasant flavor, better sensory characteristics and balanced composition. The highest level of protein was obtained in variant 2 (19.7%) while the lowest one was determined in the control sample (10.1%). Variant 2 meatball also showed an increased level of mineral elements – 3.11%, compared with variant 1 (2.6%) and variant 3 (1.6%). The moisture content of the developed meatballs varied from 67.1% to 69.3% and these values are much higher than in the control sample (61.64%). Also, the developed meatballs show a higher content of fat compared with the control sample. Different proportions of Laminaria in meatball formulations caused significant changes in content of I, Mg, K and Na. The concentrations of these elements were reduced when the Laminaria weight ratio in meatballs was lowered. Using Laminaria demonstrated a positive effect to the food quality of meatball.

Plant growth regulators are organic compounds synthesized in specified plant parts in small quantity and are transported to the place of requirement leading to a change in physiological responses. Plant growth regulators can be classified into growth promoters and growth retardants. Plant growth regulators are auxins, gibberellin, cytokinin and growth retardants are Abscisic acid and ethylene. The latest one added to the growth promoter is Brassinosteroid, used to translocate the nitrogen and phosphorus. Triacontanol is one of the commercial formulations and used to increase the moisture and protein content of leaves, which ultimately built the disease resistance in silkworm. Plant growth promoting Rhizobacteria stimulates the plant growth regulators like auxins, gibberellins etc., and help in better nutrient uptake and increase tolerance. Vermicompost also contains some plant growth regulators. The combined effect of different plant growth regulators will give positive result in mulberry growth.