African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12496

Table of Content: 11 January 2010; 9(2)

January 2010

Genetic analysis among selected vernonia lines through seed oil content, fatty acids and RAPD DNA markers

  Vernonia (Vernonia galamensis) is a new potential industrial oilseed crop. The seeds of this crop contain unusual naturally epoxidised fatty acids which are used in the production of various industrial products. The objective of this study was to evaluate and select vernonia lines in Limpopo province through seed oil content, fatty acid content and RAPD DNA markers. Significant differences were observed...

Author(s):   S.P. Ramalema, H. Shimelis, I. Ncube, K.K. Kunert and P.W. Mashela  

January 2010

Sampling strategy to develop a primary core collection of apple cultivars based on fruit traits

  A total of 435 accessions of apple germplasm collected from the Xincheng National Apple Germplasm Repository and 10 morphological traits of them were used for studying the optimal sampling strategy for primary core collection of apple (Malus domestica Brokh). In order to acquire the appropriate primary core collection, different entire sampling ratio and sampling scheme were compared in the study. Six...

Author(s): Zhang Jie, Wang Yi, Zhang Xinzhong, Li Tianzhong, Wang Kun, Xu Xuefeng and Han Zhenhai

January 2010

RecA-mediated cleavage reaction of Lambda repressor and DNA strand exchange require an active extended filament conformation but not ATP hydrolysis

  DNA pairing and strand exchange activities are essential for genetic recombination. When DNA is damaged, RecA proteins bind to DNA in the presence of ATP and catalyze the specific proteolytic cleavage of Lambda repressor. The cleavage reaction induces and regulates the expression of DNA repair genes. In this work, it has been examined by introducing sites directed mutagenesis (in the ATP catalytic domain or...

Author(s): Dieudonné Ndjonka

January 2010

Genetic relationship among Hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus) genotypes cultivars from different races based on quantitative traits and random amplified polymorphic DNA marker

  Genetic improvement of the thirty Hyacinth bean cultivars from different races were evaluated using RAPD markers which is essential to enhance the crop for economically and agriculturally important traits. RAPD markers were efficient in separating cultivars according to different races. Twenty six decamer primers could generate a total number of 148 bands out which 70.27% (104) were polymorphic. The number of...

Author(s): Rai, N., Ashish Kumar, Singh, P. K., Singh, M., Datta, D. and Rai, M

January 2010

Effect of salt stress on growth, inorganic ion and proline accumulation in Thai aromatic rice, Khao Dawk Mali 105, callus culture

  The inhibitory effect of salt stress in rice is complex and is one of the main reasons for reduction of plant growth and crop productivity. In the present study, the response of rice callus cultivar Khao Dawk Mali 105 (KDML105), commonly known as Thai jasmine rice, to salt stress was examined. Callus cultures of KDML105 rice were exposed to salt stress by placing on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing...

Author(s): Summart, J., Thanonkeo, P., Panichajakul, S., Prathepha, P. and McManus, M. T.

January 2010

The phenotypic diversity and fruit characterization of winter squash (Cucurbita maxima) populations from the Black Sea Region of Turkey

  Winter squash are one of the most important Cucurbit crops in Turkey. Winter squash populations show great diversity in morphological characteristics, particularly fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit shape, fruit brightness, skin thickness , flesh thickness and colour in the Black Sea region of Turkey. In this research, 115 populations of winter squash, Cucurbita maxima Duch, were...

Author(s): Ahmet  Balkaya, Mehtap Özbakir and Ertan Sait Kurtar

January 2010

Cellulase production by Trichoderma sp. on apple pomace under solid state fermentation

  The feasibility of using apple pomace for cellulase production by Trichoderma sp. under solid state fermentation was evaluated in this study. Our results indicated that initial moisture level of the medium, incubation temperature and inoculum size influenced the cellulase production greatly. The optimum initial moisture level, incubation temperature and inoculum size were 70%, 32 and...

Author(s): Haiyan Sun, Xiangyang Ge, Zhikui Hao and Ming Peng

January 2010

Different conditions for drying of beech lumbers in Kosovo

  The aim of the study is to present the coefficients of swelling and shrinkage for the beech wood. Mostly, the values of swelling and shrinkage, obtained from of heart of red wood, are higher than white beech wood. The swelling is smaller in naturally drying lumbers than in kiln drying. Because of calculated values of over dimensions needed for swelling, there was calculated also the coefficient of partial...

Author(s): Agron Bajraktari

January 2010

Estimation of suspended sediment concentration by acoustic equations for soil sediment

  The acoustic backscattering systems, ABS, for sediment measurement are based on the determining of the backscattering and attenuation properties of the particles in suspension. The relevant acoustic quantities are the form function, f, which describes the backscattering characteristics, and the normalized total scattering cross-section, χ, which describes the attenuating characteristics of the...

Author(s):   Ramazan Meral, Andy Smerdon, Hasan Merdun and Ali Rıza Demirkıran  

January 2010

Occurrence of Escherichia coli O157 in a river used for fresh produce irrigation in Nigeria

  Concerns about the persistence of Escherichia coli O157 in irrigation waters and its transmission to fresh produce makes investigation of irrigation waters imperative. The prevalence of this pathogen and seasonal levels of water quality parameters in Kubanni River were studied, using standard methods, over a 10-month period. Detection rate for E. coli O157 confirmed by slide agglutination...

Author(s): V. N. Chigor , V. J. Umoh and S. I. Smith

January 2010

Effect of processing on the nutritional and toxicological components of Cleome rutidosperma seed

  The effect of processing on the proximate composition, antinutrient levels and mineral contents of (devil bean) Cleome rutidosperma seed were investigated. Quantitative analyses of the antinutrient composition revealed that boiling the bean for 1 h, changing and discarding the water twice reduced appreciably most of the antinutrient components in the bean including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins,...

Author(s): L. A. Nwaogu and  A. C. Udebuani

January 2010

Protein enrichment of cassava peel by submerged fermentation withTrichoderma viride (ATCC 36316)

  Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) peel is one of the solid wastes produced as a consequence of cassava processing. It is low in protein but contains a large amount of carbohydrate, causing an environmental problem with disposal. In order to add-value to this major cassava processing waste and also reduce its resultant environmental pollution, this study investigated the effect of submerged fermentation...

Author(s): Olufunke O. Ezekiel, Ogugua C. Aworh, Hans P. Blaschek, Thaddeus C. Ezeji

January 2010

Optimization of mycelium biomass and exopolysaccharides production by Hirsutella sp. in submerged fermentation and evaluation of exopolysaccharides antibacterial activity

  Hirsutella is a hyphomycete that has been used as biopesticide. Many compounds with antimycobacterial activity have been reported. However, there were fewer reports about fermentation condition for the Hirsutella and activity of its exopolysaccharides. In the present investigation, the fermentation condition and medium for mycelia growth and exopolysaccharides production were optimized and...

Author(s): Rong Li , Xiao-lu Jiang and Hua-shi Guan

January 2010

Application of a high density adsorbent in expanded bed adsorption of lipase from Burkholderia pseudomallei

  The application of STREAMLINE Direct HST adsorbent in expanded bed adsorption of lipase from Burkholderia pseudomallei was explored in this study. Scouting of optimum binding and elution condition was performed in batch binding mode. Theaddition of 0.2 M salt in acetate buffer (pH 5) during adsorption has increased thespecificity and quantity of lipase binding onto the...

Author(s): Hor Shee Yong, Beng Ti Tey, Siew Ling Hii, Siti Mazlina Mustapa Kamal,Arbakariya Ariff and Tau Chuan Ling

January 2010

Interaction of IBA and NAA with enzymes in root induction of Crocus sativus (L)

  Effect of auxin type on some antioxidative enzymes during in vitro root induction of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) was investigated to reveal the variation of activities and isoenzyme banding patterns during root induction of saffron (C. sativus L.). Indole-3- butyric acid (IBA) and naphtalene acetic acid (NAA) at different concentrations were added to the solidified MS or B5 medium. Corm...

Author(s): Golandam Sharifi and Hassan Ebrahimzadeh

January 2010

Erythrocyte osmotic fragility of pigs administered ascorbic acid and transported by road for short-term duration during the harmattan season

  The experiment was carried out with the aim of investigating the effect of an antioxidant ascorbic acid on erythrocyte osmotic fragility of pigs transported by road for 4 h during the harmattan season. 16 pigs administered with ascorbic acid at the dose of 250 mg/kg per os and individually served as experimental animals and 13 others administered orally with sterile water were used as control...

Author(s):   A. Y. Adenkola, J. O. Ayo, A. K. B. Sackey and A. B. Adelaiye  

January 2010

Characterization of a C4 maize pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase expressed in C3 transgenic rice plants

  Pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK) is a key enzyme in plants that utilize the C4 photosynthetic pathway to fix CO2. The enzymatic reaction catalyzed by PPDK is critically controlled by light and is one of the rate-limiting steps of the C4 pathway. The intact maize (Zea mays) C4-PPDK gene, containing its own promoter, terminator sequences and exon/intron structure was introduced into rice (Oryza...

Author(s): Jianfu Zhang,, Bandyopadhyay A., Krisnan Sellappan, Guoying Wang,Hua’an Xie, K. Datta, and Swapan K. Datta,

January 2010

Evaluation of wheat by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

  In this study 15 wheat varieties namely Nacozari-76, Ouqab, Tatar-96, Bakhtawar-92, Yecura-70, Raj, Bakkar, Sulilman-96, Pirsabak-05, Maria, Khyber-87, Fakhr-e-Sarhad, Pirsabak-04, Inqulab-91 and Rawal-87 were evaluated for analysis of variability in seed storage proteins by using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Electrophorogram for each variety were scored and...

Author(s): Muhammad Shuaib, Mohsin Jamal, Haji Akbar, Israr Khan and Rehmana Khalid

January 2010

Evaluation of antidiabetic potentials of Phyllanthus niruri in alloxan diabetic rats

  The antidiabetic potentials of methanol extract (ME) of aerial parts of Phyllanthus niruri L (Euphorbiaceae) was evaluated in normal and alloxan diabetic rats. The results showed that ME significantly (P<0.05) reduced fasting blood sugar in a dose-related manner and suppressed the postprandial rise in blood glucose after a heavy glucose meal in normoglycaemic rats. Chronic oral...

Author(s):   Okoli, C. O., Ibiam, A. F., Ezike, A. C., Akah, P. A. and Okoye, T. C.