May 2012
Forest biomass resources and utilization in China
Under the context of climate change, persistent high oil prices and rapidly growing dependence on imported oil prompt China to pay much more attention to biofuels that provide environmental benefits besides fuel. China has rich biodiversity with 30 thousand high plant species and 154 kinds of energy trees could produce seeds containing more than 40% of oil, with total production of the seeds...
May 2012
Co-extraction of high-quality RNA and DNA from rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis)
High-quality nucleic acids are the basic requirement for performing genomic research. A reliable and efficient method was developed for co-extracting high-quality DNA and RNA from rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) in this study. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) extraction buffer with high concentrations of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and b-mercaptoethanol was used in...
May 2012
Molecular characterization and novel genetic variability in leptin (obese) gene of mithun (Bos frontalis)
The present study was undertaken with the objectives of sequencing, characterization and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identification of mithun leptin gene. The mithun leptin gene (3420 bp) was sequenced, compared with other species and phylogenetic tree were constructed. Single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) showed three patterns in both exon-2 and exon-3 of the gene. Nucleotide sequences...
May 2012
Synthesis, characterization and antibacterial screening of 2,4-diaminopyrimidine pyrimethamine and trimethoprim silver complexes
Air stable silver Ag(I) complexes of pyrimethamine and trimethoprim drugs have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, and conductivity measurement. The metal complexes formed a three and four coordinate geometry with the ligands acting as a monodentate molecule bonding to the silver ion in each case through the...
May 2012
Compositional assessment of carotenoid-biofortified rice using substantial equivalence
One important aspect in assessing the safety of genetically modified (GM) crops for human consumption is characterizing their nutrient composition. A β-carotene-biofortified rice was generated by inserting phytoene synthase (Psy) and carotene desaturase (Crtl) genes isolated from Capsicum and Pantoea into the genome of a conventional variety of rice (Nakdongbyeo). Nutrients...
May 2012
Effect of colchicine on mitotic polyploidization and morphological characteristics of Phlox drummondi
The present work was undertaken to observe the response of Phlox drummondi to colchicine treatment. The survival rate and germination percentage is severely affected by various treatments of colchicine. In this investigation, doses related effects of the ploidy treatments on quantitative traits were noticed. Result indicates reduction in plant height, number of leaves per branch, but increase in...
May 2012
Comparative evaluation of organic wastes for improving maize growth and NPK content
Plant residues being organic in nature are rich source of macro and micronutrients and can be recycled to prevent their disposal in the environment, thus sustaining the balance between economic development and environmental protection. The potential of three agricultural waste composts, farmyard manure (FYM), banana waste (BW) and pressmud (PM) was tested in a pot experiment growing maize. The results of the...
May 2012
Effect of rock fragments on macropores and water effluent in a forest soil in the stony mountains of the Loess Plateau, China
Rock fragments exert important effects on soil water movement and macropores.However,they are not well-studied in forest hydrological processes. The results show that the steday effluent is markedly affected by the radius and density of macropores, especially the density of macropores with radii>1.4mm make up only 6.86% of the total,they contribute 67.4% to the variance of steady effluent rates. The area...
May 2012
Evaluation of rice genotypes to salt stress in different growth stages via phenotypic and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker assisted selection
Soil salinity represents an increasing threat to rice production. The success of salt tolerance breeding programs employing traditional screening and selection has been limited in the past decades. 40 rice genotypes were screened in saline soil of electrical conductivity (EC) of 4, 8 and 12 ds/m in vegetative growth stage in 2009. Tolerant genotypes were tested in young seedling stage in hydroponic...
May 2012
The effect of polythene colour container and three spawn rates on production of Pleurotus ostreatus mushroom
To study the effect of polythene colour container and spawn rates on mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), experiment was carried out to investigate the cultivation on barely straws substrate. This cultivation system can improve the economic status of the farmer. Field experiment was conducted at College of Agriculture, University of Zabol during 2011 growing season. Experiment was carried out as factorial and...
May 2012
Chemical composition of Chinese palm fruit and chemical properties of the oil extracts
The proximate composition, mineral concentration of fleshy mesocarp, palm meat (PM) and palm kernel (PK) of oil palm fruit (Elaeis guineensis S.L.Dura) produced in Hainan, China were investigated. The fatty acid composition, chemical properties and minor constituents of palm oil (PO) and palm kernel oil (PKO) were also studied. The crude fat of PM and PK were 68.09±3.57% and 49.36±2.61%,...
May 2012
Effects of two different soil amendments on the biocontrol efficacy of biological control agents (BCA) against Ralstonia wilt on ginger
In this research, we developed an integrated approach to control Ralstonia wilt on ginger. Two organic composts (maize powder and soybean residue) were combined with one combination (the aqueous solution of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus) and two single (B. subtilis 1JN2 and Bacillus megaterium B1301) biological control agents (BCA) which together showed significant...
May 2012
Independent behavior of bacterial laccases to inducers and metal ions during production and activity
Laccase, a blue copper oxidase, is an enzyme that is involved in the oxidation of aromatic compounds which prove otherwise difficult to degrade in the environment. The substrates of laccase are xenobiotics and synthetic dyes. The isolation of bacterial strains was investigated for laccase production and its activity. The medium for production was a high nitrogen medium containing aromatic compounds as...
May 2012
The bioaccumulation and toxicity induced by gold nanoparticles in rats in vivo can be detected by ultraviolet-visible (UV-visible) spectroscopy
It is essential to characterize the bioaccumulation and toxicity of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in blood prior to using them in drug delivery, diagnostics, and treatment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the blood absorbance spectra after intraperitoneal administration of 50 µl of 10, 20, and 50 nm GNPs in rat for periods of 3 and 7 days to assess their bioaccumulation and toxic effects....
May 2012
Cobalt removal from wastewater using pine sawdust
Agricultural wastes can cause environmental problems if not well managed, but there is a lot of potential to use these wastes as raw material in other processes. In this investigation, pine sawdust was evaluated as an adsorbent in the treatment of wastewater containing cobalt ions. A two-level three-factor full-factorial experimental design with centre points was used to study the interactive effect of the...
May 2012
Antimicrobial properties of probiotic bacteria from various sources
The probiotic potentials of lactic acid bacteria species isolated from various food sources (nono, ugba, ogiri, kunun-zaki and ogi) were studied. The predominant species among the isolated strains were Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, Streptococcus thermophilus Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Pediococcus cerevisiae. They produced...
May 2012
Effect of the purification of antidermatophytic proteins from Nigella sativa on four zoophilic species
The antidermatophytic activities of proteins which are extracted from four plant species (Carum carvi, Cymbopogon citratus, Moringa oleifera, and Nigella sativa) on four zoophilic dermatophytes (Microsporum canis, Microsporum equinum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, and Trichophyton verrucosum) were evaluated in this study. The crude proteins of N. sativa had the...
May 2012
Physicochemical and microbiological characterization of linolenic acid-rich oils from seeds of two tropical plants: Corchorus olitorius L. and Hibiscus sabdariffa L.
his work was carried out to determine the potential applications of Corchorus olitorius and Hibiscus sabdariffa oil seeds by investigating their physicochemical and microbiological characteristics. Physicochemical parameters of the extracted oils were respectively as follow: refractive index (1.46 and 1.45), acid value (3.74 ± 1.62 and 2.80 mg KOH/g), peroxide value (6.67 ±...
May 2012
Bacteriological study of food in the Pakistan’s peri-urban areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad
In order to ascertain the food quality for human consumption the bacteriological analysis was carried out in a prospective study in collaboration with National Institute of Health, Islamabad. The surveillance work was conducted during the months of July to August peak summer season to evaluate the objective parameters for assessment of the bacteriological and hygienic status of food being consumed in the...
May 2012
Monitoring paneer for Listeria monocytogenes- A high risk food pathogen by multiplex PCR
A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed and applied to spiked and natural paneer samples to detect Listeria monocytogenes, a high risk food pathogen. The sensitivity of the assay on L. monocytogenes spiked paneer samples was 104 cells prior to enrichment, was improved to 103 cells after 4 h enrichment and one to 10 cells after 6 h enrichment as indicated by the...
May 2012
Antioxidative, anticholinesterase and antityrosinase activities of the red alga Grateloupia lancifolia extracts
The solvent extracts of a red alga Grateloupia lancifolia were used to evaluate biofunctional activities. The diethyl ether extract showed the highest total phenolic content and biological activities. The IC50 value of the diethyl ether extract on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity was 113.8 ïg/ml. In the reducing power test, the half maximal effective...
May 2012
Antiviral and antitumor activities of the protein fractions from the larvae of the housefly, Musca domestica
In this study, we present the extraction and purification of protein fractions from the larvae of the housefly, Musca domestica. The bioactivities of the protein fractions were indicated by pseudorabies virus (PRV) and human lung cancer cell line A 549. The crude protein fractions had no toxicity to chick embryo fibroblast-like (CEF) cells but effective to PRV at the concentration of 100 µg/ml...
May 2012
An efficient and rapid method for protein detection with an example of sulfide-quinone reductase expressed in Escherichia coli
Conventional Coomassie brilliant blue (CBB) staining is widely used in protein detection as it is inexpensive and reproducible. Conversely, it is also very time-consuming and cumbersome. In this study, CBB(R-250)-microwaved-water (CMW) was used to detect the sulfide-quinone reductase (SQR) protein expressed inEsherichia coli by staining and destaining in under 30 min. The CMW method has similar...
May 2012
Expression of human β-defensin-1 in recombinant Escherichia coli and analysis of its antimicrobial spectrum
Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) was transformed with a pHCD1 plasmid harboring the human β-defensin-1 (hBD1) gene fused in frame behind a disulfide bond isomerase (DsbC), a His-tag, and an enterokinase cleavage site. After induction, the DsbC-hBD1 was expressed as a ~36 kDa soluble fusion protein in recombinant E. coli, which also inhibited host cell growth. After cell disruption, the soluble...
May 2012
Tissue-specific alternative splicing and expression of ATP1B2 gene
The Na+-K+-ATPase is an essential transport enzyme expressed in all animal tissues, where it generates ion gradients to maintain membrane potential and drive the transport of other solutes. It also balances metabolism and body temperature. In this study, the characterization of three novel bovine ATP1B2 splice variants, designated as ATP1B2-AS1, ATP1B2-AS2, and ATP1B2-AS3, is discussed. All three novel splice...
May 2012
Antifungal activity of methanolic extracts of four Algerian marine algae species
Since ancient times antimicrobial properties of seaweeds have been recognized. In this study, antifungal activity of four species of marine algae of Bejaia coast (Algeria) was explored. This activity was evaluated by agar diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentrations were also determined for all the strains. All the extracts used in this study exhibited antifungal activity. The highest...
May 2012
Evaluation of economic traits in progenies of Nigerian heavy ecotype chicken as genetic material for development of rural poultry production
Genetic evaluation of egg production and biometrical traits of the first filial generation of the Nigerian heavy ecotype chicken was carried out. Heritability and genetic correlations between the traits were estimated using the mixed model least squares and maximum likelihood computer programme of Harvey. Results show an average hen day production of 58.91% on the first month and 52.69% on the fourth month of...
May 2012
Comparative genomic in situ hybridization analysis on the chromosomes of five grass species with rice genomic DNA probe
Comparative genomic in situ hybridization (cGISH) with biotin-labeled rice genomic DNA to the chromosomes of Zea mays, Hordeum vulgare, Sorghum bicolor, Setaria italic and Secale cereale were conducted to analyze genomic homology between rice and other grass (Gramineae) speices. At 75% stringency, the rice DNA probe generated large numbers of signals dispersedly...
May 2012
Effect of feeding inulin oligosaccharides on cecum bacteria, egg quality and egg production in laying hens
Inulin is reported to improve the egg quality and production of laying hens. In the present study, we investigated the dietary effects of microcapsulated inulin oligosaccharide (INO) which is manufactured from Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) on the cecum bacteria, egg quality and production of laying hens. 400 laying hens were randomly allocated to one of the following four treatment...
Advertisement
Advertisement
