It was hypothesized that dietary supplementation of chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) and valine will ameliorate the biochemical profile of Ross 708 broilers between days 21 and 42 after hatching. To investigate this hypothesis, 480 male broilers were randomly placed in eight treatment groups with two dietary levels of COS (C1: 100 mg/kg and C2: 150 mg/kg) and four dietary levels of valine (V1: 0.57%, V2: 0.72%, V3: 0.87% and V4: 1.02 %) with three replicates having 20 birds in each. The blood samples for serological and haematological profiles were collected and analysed at the age of 42 days to evaluate the effects of supplementation. Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) decreased with the lowest response values when birds were supplemented at V3 at both C1 and C2. Serum triglycerides (TG) and cholesterol (CHO) levels reduced linearly with increasing supplemental levels of valine at both regimen of COS with the lowest values of 61.07 ± 1.12 and 125.33 ± 1.40 for diet supplemented at V4 and C2, respectively. Serum uric acid (UA) and total proteins (TP) increased linearly with increasing supplemented levels of valine at both C1 and C2. There was a linear increase in total leucocyte count (TLC) and red blood cell (RBC) count for increasing supplemental levels of valine at both C1 and C2. An interactive effect of COS and valine was observed for the changes in ALT, albumin (ALB), TLC and haemoglobin (Hb). In conclusion, COS and valine supplementation significantly affected the liver, renal, lipid and haematological profiles of broilers.

Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) and valine (Val) supplementation will improve growth performance, carcass traits, hormonal profile and meat quality in broilers. To evaluate this hypothesis, based on a 2x4 factorial arrangement, 480 male broilers (Ross 708) were randomly placed in eight treatment groups for two levels of COS (C1: 100 mg/kg, and C2: 150 mg/kg) and four levels of valine (V1: 0.57%, V2: 0.72%, V3: 0.87% and V4: 1.02%) with three replicates (n=24) with 20 birds in each (n i=60; i=1, 2, 3,..., 8.). The results showed that live bodyweight (BW), weight gain (WG), and carcass weight increased, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) decreased with increased supplemental levels of dietary Val at C1 and C2. Abdominal fat reduced linearly for both COS and Val, with a higher reduction response value at C2 and V4. The serum levels of triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), testosterone and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) presented a linear effect for COS and Val. The proximate composition of breast and leg meat showed that crude fat content decreased linearly for COS and Val with higher reduction response values at V3 for both levels of COS. The ash content rose linearly with increasing concentration of Val at C1, but showed the highest value at V2 when birds were offered C2. There was an interaction between COS and Val for T3, T4, IGF-1, ash content and crude fat. In conclusion, supplementation exerted a significant influence on the growth performance, hormonal profile and meat composition of broilers.

In the present study, samples of rhizosphere and root nodules were collected from different areas of Pakistan to isolate plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. Identification of bacterial isolates was made by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and taxonomical confirmation on EzTaxon Server. The identified bacterial strains were belonged to 5 genera i.e. Ensifer, Bacillus, Pseudomona, Leclercia and Rhizobium. Phylogenetic analysis inferred from 16S rRNA gene sequences showed the evolutionary relationship of bacterial strains with the respective genera. Based on phylogenetic analysis, some candidate novel species were also identified. The bacterial strains were also characterized for morphological, physiological, biochemical tests and glucose dehydrogenase (gdh) gene that involved in the phosphate solublization using cofactor pyrroloquinolone quinone (PQQ). Seven rhizoshperic and 3 root nodulating stains are positive for gdh gene. Furthermore, this study confirms a novel association between microbes and their hosts like field grown crops, leguminous and non-leguminous plants. It was concluded that a diverse group of bacterial population exist in the rhizosphere and root nodules that might be useful in evaluating the mechanisms behind plant microbial interactions and strains QAU-63 and QAU-68 have sequence similarity of 97 and 95% which might be declared as novel after further taxonomic characterization.

Glucose dehydrogenase (GDH; EC 1.1. 5.2) is the member of quinoproteins group that use the redox cofactor pyrroloquinoline quinoine, calcium ions and glucose as substrate for its activity. In present study, Leclercia sp. QAU-66, isolated from rhizosphere of Vigna mungo, was characterized for phosphate solubilization and the role of GDH in plant growth promotion of Phaseolus vulgaris. The strain QAU-66 had ability to solubilize phosphorus and significantly (p < 0.05) promoted the shoot and root lengths of Phaseolus vulgaris. The structural determination of GDH protein was carried out using bioinformatics tools like Pfam, InterProScan, I-TASSER and COFACTOR. These tools predicted the structural based functional homology of pyrroloquinoline quinone domains in GDH. GDH of Leclercia sp. QAU-66 is one of the main factor that involved in plant growth promotion and provides a solid background for further research in plant growth promoting activities.

Flowering time in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is controlled by vernalization and photoperiod response, and earliness per se genes. The genetic basis of flowering time has not been investigated in Pakistani bread wheat. This study was, therefore, conducted to determine the allelic composition at Vrn-A1, Vrn-B1, Vrn-D1, Vrn-B3 and Ppd-D1a loci of 59 Pakistani spring bread wheat cultivars. These cultivars, along with 4 isogenic lines for vernalization genes were characterized with previously reported DNA markers designed for detecting allelic variation at 4 Vrn (Vernalization) and 1 Ppd (Photoperiod) loci. Spring habit Vrn-A1a allele was found in 36% cultivars either alone or with spring habit Vrn-B1 and Vrn-D1 alleles. Two wheat cultivars had the dominant Vrn-A1c allele, whereas none of the cultivars had Vrn-A1b. Spring habit Vrn-B1 was the most frequent allele (64%) present either alone or with Vrn-A1a, Vrn-A1c and Vrn-D1. Spring habit Vrn-D1 was found in 61% cultivars. Vrn-D1 was singly found in 25% cultivars and along with Vrn-B1 in 29% cultivars. Dominant Vrn-B3 was absent in all cultivars studied. All cultivars except Era had the photoperiod insensitive allele Ppd-D1a. We did not find any association between the flowering time and Vrn allelic composition of the studied cultivars. This indicated that the partial vernalization requirement of cultivars with Vrn-B1 and Vrn-D1 alleles is probably fulfilled during Pakistani growing season. Earliness per se and the photoperiod sensitive loci other than Ppd-D1 need to be investigated to further understand the genetic basis of flowering time in Pakistani wheat.