[...]... number of candidate plant species and the prohibitive cost of screening them in vivo The number of species for in vivo testing is narrowed down over several stages of screening, and the top two or three are eventually evaluation in animal experiments The focus of this book is on the in vitro techniques that are used to screen plants or plant products, with an emphasis on those that involve the use of nuclear. .. modify ruminal fermentation, for example, improve fibre degradation or prevent acidosis The final chapter discusses the challenges of extrapolating in vitro findings to in vivo evaluation of plant resources The chapters in this book are written by experts interested in exploring and making better use of plant biodiversity for improving livestock production and reducing its environmental footprint This... and good nutritional attributes In addition, J Hanson (B) International Livestock Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia e-mail: j.hanson@cgiar.org 15 P.E Vercoe et al (eds.), In Vitro Screening of Plant Resources for Extra-Nutritional Attributes in Ruminants: Nuclear and Related Methodologies, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3297-3_2, Copyright © International Atomic Energy Agency 2010 Published by Springer... than for their nutritive value The techniques used to study effects upon host immunity of plant products are somewhat specialised and F Jackson (B) Moredun Research Institute, Pentland Science Park, Bush Loan, Edinburgh, EH26 0PZ, UK e-mail: Frank.Jackson@moredun.ac.uk 25 P.E Vercoe et al (eds.), In Vitro Screening of Plant Resources for Extra-Nutritional Attributes in Ruminants: Nuclear and Related Methodologies, ... data for plant species was obtained from Australian government agencies A Geographic Information System was used to identify the geographic and rainfall distribution for each plant record Plant species records were plotted and matched to the rainfall and soil distributions The number of point records for specimen collection for each species within the study region and within each rainfall and soil band... entered into the database that informs an ongoing process of identification of superior species For example, there is feedback of information from the field evaluation in Step 12 to Step 8 where data is fed back into the database and informs the final selection of species for domestication Each of these parameters are defined in more detail below and divided into separate stages of the process Defining the... of the existing land-uses and the characteristics of the production systems that the new species are to be part of Geographic Information System mapping and spatial analysis can be a powerful tool in this process, allowing spatial mapping of major factors that will in uence adaptability including climate, soil type and texture, salinity, potential for inundation and other features of the landscape Step... stability and improving productivity Pressure for change is arising from a range of environmental problems including dryland salinity, degradation of rangeland grazing systems and desertification; the need to address growing resistance to chemical anthelmintic drugs [3] and pressure to reduce the use of antimicrobial drugs in livestock production [8] Plants with anthelmintic properties are of special interest... a minimum of 10 plants and preferably 25 plants within each accession Physiological Age of Plants and Leaves The chemical composition of leaves and pods of many forage types is transient owing to rapid biochemical changes occurring during the maturation process Therefore, physiological age of the plant or plant part will often have a major effect on nutritional and extra-nutritional attributes Nutritional... content of two provenances of Calliandra calothyrsus Meissner J Sci Food Agric 80:1461–1468 Chapter 3 In Vitro Methods for the Primary Screening of Plant Products for Direct Activity against Ruminant Gastrointestinal Nematodes Frank Jackson and Hervé Hoste Introduction Although the search for novel phytotherapeutics is an area of current research focus, man has always sought plant products in an effort . alt="" In Vitro Screening of Plant Resources for Extra-Nutritional Attributes in Ruminants: Nuclear and Related Methodologies Philip E. Vercoe · Harinder. · Anthony C. Schlink Editors In Vitro Screening of Plant Resources for Extra-Nutritional Attributes in Ruminants: Nuclear and Related Methodologies 123 Editors Dr.