This article provides an overview of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and genome engineering to improve livestock production systems for the contribution of global sustainability. Most ruminant production systems are conducted on grassland conditions, as is the case of South American countries that are leaders in meat and milk production worldwide with a well-established grass-feed livestock. These systems have many strengths from an environmental perspective and consumer preferences but requires certain improvements to enhance resource efficiency.

Most plant pathogens exhibit host specificity but when former barriers to infection break down, new diseases can rapidly emerge. For a number of fungal diseases, there is increasing evidence that hybridization plays a major role in driving host jumps. However, the relative contributions of existing variation versus new mutations in adapting to new host(s) is unclear. Here we reconstruct the evolutionary history of two recently emerged populations of the fungus Pyricularia oryzae that are responsible for two new plant diseases:wheat blast and grey leaf spot of ryegrasses.

ABSTRACT.- This systematic review-meta-analysis (MA) estimates the impact of including tannins in beef and dairy cattle diets on short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), ammonia nitrogen (N-NH3), dry matter digestibility (DMD), and methane (CH4) production. The effects are described according to the sources (natural or extract), type of tannin (condensed, CT, or hydrolyzed HT or blend), total tannin concentration in the source, and doses. The bibliographic search was performed in five electronic databases:CAB-Abstracts, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science.

ABSTRACT.- This systematic review-meta-analysis (MA) estimates the impact of including tannins in beef and dairy cattle diets on short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), ammonia nitrogen (N-NH3), dry matter digestibility (DMD), and methane (CH4) production. The effects are described according to the sources (natural or extract), type of tannin (condensed, CT, or hydrolyzed HT or blend), total tannin concentration in the source, and doses. The bibliographic search was performed in five electronic databases: CAB-Abstracts, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science.

ABSTRACT.- The objective of the study was to characterize adaptations of hepatic metabolism of dairy cows of two Holstein strains with varying proportions of grazing in the feeding strategy.

ABSTRACT.- The most adequate fixative solution for equine ovarian tissue is still to be determined as a tool to evaluate the improvement of methodological studies in assisted reproductive techniques and fertility preservation. This study aimed to evaluate a short-time ethanol 70% (ST-EtOH, 45 min) exposure as an alternative fixative compared with two classically fixatives [Carnoy's (CAR) solution and paraformaldehyde 4% (PFA)] at different fixation times (6 h, 12 h).

ABSTRACT.- Feathering in apple nursery trees is a critical operation used to increase the quality of planting material. Plant growth regulators (PGR) could be used to form feathers in apple nursery trees. The main goal was to study the impact of different PGR and concentrations on feathering promotion in different nursery apple trees.

ABSTRACT.- Plants deploy diverse anti-herbivore defences which reduce feeding and performance of herbivores. Temperate grasses use silicon (Si) accumulation and Epichloë-endophytes for physical and chemical (i.e. endophytic-alkaloids) defence against insect herbivores. Recent studies suggest that Epichloë-endophytes increase Si accumulation in their host grass. It is unknown, however, how this affects Si-deposition on the leaf surface, their impacts on insect herbivore feeding efficiency and their immunity to potential infection/parasitism.

Soybean stem canker (SSC) is an important disease caused by different Diaporthe spp., including D. aspalathi, D. caulivora and D. longicolla, that leads to soybean (Glycine max) yield losses around the world. Most studies have been focused on the morphological characterization and molecular identification of Diaporthe spp. present in SSC lesions. Several soybean resistance loci to Diaporthe spp. causing SSC have been identified, although the molecular identities of the resistance genes are at present unknown.

Soybean stem canker (SSC) is an important disease caused by different Diaporthe spp., including D. aspalathi, D. caulivora and D. longicolla, that leads to soybean (Glycine max) yield losses around the world. Most studies have been focused on the morphological characterization and molecular identification of Diaporthe spp. present in SSC lesions. Several soybean resistance loci to Diaporthe spp. causing SSC have been identified, although the molecular identities of the resistance genes are at present unknown.