Abstract: According to the invention, there is provided a novel rice cultivar, designated LSUAC Hi Protein Rice. ‘LSUAC Hi Protein Rice’ has up to an average 53% improvement in protein content with levels averaging 11%. The variety is described as semi-dwarf, and very early maturing. The invention relates to the seeds of rice cultivar LSUAC Hi Protein Rice, to the plants of rice cultivar LSUAC Hi Protein Rice, to plant parts of rice cultivar LSUAC Hi Protein Rice, to methods for producing a rice cultivar by crossing the rice cultivar LSUAC Hi Protein Rice with another rice cultivar, and to methods for producing a rice cultivar containing in its genetic material one or more backcross conversion traits or transgenes and to the backcross conversion rice plants and plant parts produced by those methods.

Abstract: Compositions of either the aquaporin protein from the cattle tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, or a nucleic acid construct incorporating a nucleic acid sequence encoding this aquaporin protein, are effective for eliciting a protective immune response against other tick species in non-bovine animals. The R. microplus aquaporin protein is antigenic and can be administered as a protein vaccine, or in the alternative, the nucleic acid construct can be utilized as a DNA vaccine. Induction of the immune response significantly reduces or eliminates the infestation of treated, non-bovine animals with ticks other than the cattle tick, particularly the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Moreover, as ticks are vectors of a variety of pathogenic agents, the reduction in the incidence of tick infestation afforded by the vaccines may concurrently reduce the incidence of diseases caused by these pathogenic agents in susceptible animals.