Barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) possess significant phytase activity in the mature grains. Maize (Zea mays) and rice (Oryza sativa) possess little or virtually no preformed phytase activity in the mature grain and depend fully on de novo synthesis during germination. Here, it is demonstrated that wheat, barley, maize, and rice all possess purple acid phosphatase (PAP) gen...

By DAVID BERRE†‡††, FRÉDÉRIC BAUDRON§, MENALE KASSIE†, PETER CRAUFURD† and SANTIAGO LOPEZ-RIDAURA¶ †International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), c/o World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), ICRAF House, United Nations Avenue, Gigiri. P.O. Box 1041-00621, Nairobi, Kenya, ‡CIRAD, UPR AÏDA, Avenue Agropolis, 34 398 Montpellier cedex 5, France, §International Maize and Wheat Improvement Cen...

Ruminal starch degradation of untreated and formaldehyde-treated wheat and maize was measured in situ (trial 1) and in vitro (trial 2). The in situ starch degradability was higher for wheat than for maize (82.1 vs 52.3%), for untreated cereals than for cereals treated with 1% formaldehyde (77.3 vs 67.0%) and for cereals treated with 1% formaldehyde than those treated with 5% formaldehyde (67.0 ...

The study was conducted to develop composite bread with maize flour and also to evaluate the nutritional quality and sensory properties of resulting breads. The results of the proximate analysis showed that wheat and maize flour contain protein 12.56 and 9.08%; fat 0.85 and 1.15%; ash 0.62 and 1.60%; fibre 0.68 and 1.25%; gluten 12.11 and 0.0%, respectively. Breads were produced from composite ...

Developing embryos of many higher plants undergo a maturation process in which a variety of storage proteins and putative dessication protectants are synthesized and stored. One of the proteins found to accumulate in maturing wheat embryos i s a Zn2+-associated class I1 metallothionein called E, (for early Cys) (Lane et al., 1987). Like many other maturation proteins, the promoter regions of wh...

The effect of short exposures to spinosad-treated wheat, Triticum aestivum L., or maize, Zea mays L., was evaluated against adults of four stored-product insect species: lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae); rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae); red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae); and the psoc...

Sixteen rams (mean age: 13 mo; mean live weight: 40.0 ± 2.4 kg) were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design (4 rams per treatment). Diets (dry matter basis) contained 65% concentrate and 35% alfalfa hay (control diet, T1), 35% wheat straw (T2), 35% barley straw (T3) or 35% maize straw (T4). Total-tract apparent digestibility for dry matter, organic matter...

In north China, double cropping of winter wheat and summer maize is a widely adopted agricultural practice, and irrigation is required to obtain a high yield from winter wheat, which results in rapid aquifer depletion. In this experiment conducted in 2001-2002, 2002-2003, and 2004-2005, we studied the effects of irrigation regimes during specific winter wheat growing stage with winter wheat and...

The sequence of the wheat mltochondrial gene for cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) predicts a hydrophoblc protein of 524 amlno acids that shows strong similarity to those of maize (99% nucleotide identity), soybean (94%) and Oenothera (93%). Nine of the 30 nucleotide differences seen between the wheat and maize COI genes (arrowheads) lead to amlno acid substitutions, many of which occur at the...

Global climate change can affect yields of agricultural crops are likely to be affected due to rise in CO2 and temperature, apart from other factors. In this context, the present study aimed at to assess the effects of elevated ambient CO2 concentration, maximum and minimum temperatures alone and in combinations on crop productivity of three major cropping systems (maize-wheat, rice-wheat and c...