February 2010
Germplasm-regression-combined marker-trait association identification in plants
In the past 20 years, the major effort in plant breeding has changed from quantitative to molecular genetics with emphasis on quantitative trait loci (QTL) identification and marker assisted selection (MAS). However, results have been modest. This has been due to several factors including absence of tight linkage QTL, non-availability of mapping populations and lack of substantial time needed to develop such...
February 2010
Photoprotective and biotechnological potentials of cyanobacterial sheath pigment, scytonemin
Cyanobacteria are the main component of microbial populations fixing atmospheric nitrogen in aquatic as well as terrestrial ecosystems, especially in wetland rice-fields, where they significantly contribute to fertility as natural biofertilizers. Cyanobacteria require solar radiation as their primary source of energy to carry out both photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation. The stratospheric ozone depletion...
February 2010
Early signs of infection in Cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV) inoculated cocoa seeds and the discovery of the cotyledons of the resultant plants as rich sources of CSSV
Despite the huge efforts and funds expended to try and bring Cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV) disease under control, the disease has remained largely intractable. Inspired by the need to inject new ideas into the current breeding programmes for CSSV resistance, the interactions between cocoa and the virus in CSSV-infected plants from 3 days post inoculation (dpi) to about 30 dpi were studied using both...
February 2010
Toxins and adhesion factors associated with Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from diarrhoeal patients in Benin
Staphylococcus aureus is a causative agent of acute and infectious diarrhoea. In Africa, there is no sufficient information on the virulence and the degree of factors produced by its diarrhoea-isolated strains. Clinical features and virulence factors produced by S. aureus isolated from diarrhoeal-patients admitted at the Hospital Hubert Koutoukou Maga (HKM) in Cotonou was investigated. The...
February 2010
Using molecular techniques for rapid detection of Salmonella serovars in frozen chicken and chicken products collected from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
The current study was aimed to investigate the incidence of different Salmonellaserovars in chicken products either from local or imported source. A total of 152 samples of chicken and chicken products were collected from different retail establishment markets in Riyadh, KSA including 38 local whole frozen chickens, 62 imported whole frozen chickens, 22 whole poultry eggs and 30 local chicken cuts...
February 2010
In vitro propagation of Hoya wightii ssp. palniensis K.T. Mathew, a highly vulnerable and endemic species of Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India
In vitro propagation of Hoya wightii ssp. palniensis (Asclepiadaceae), a highly vulnerable and endemic plant species of Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India was carried out. Shoot tip explants were cultured on MS medium fortified with cytokinins (KN, BA, 2-iP and TDZ) in various concentrations and in combination with auxins (IBA, IAA and NAA). High frequency of shoot bud proliferation and...
February 2010
Yields and protein content of two cowpea varieties grown under different production practices in Limpopo province, South Africa
A three-factorial field experiment was carried out at the University of Limpopo experimental Research farm during two planting seasons (2005/06 and 2006/07) to examine the effect of cowpea-leaf removal on cowpea performance. Three treatment factors namely cowpea varieties (Pan 311 and Red Caloona), cropping systems (sole and intercropping) and cowpea-leaf pruning regimes (pruned and un-pruned) were combined...
February 2010
Influence of auxin and cytokinine on in vitro multiplication of Ficus anastasia
The role of cytokinine and auxin has been found to be effective in shoot multiplication of Ficus anastasia. When the multiplication medium contained 8 mgl-1 of BA with 1 mgl-1 of IBA, a mean of 20 lateral branches per stem was induced which was the best combination recorded. Even though IAA particularly combined with 2ip or kinetin, it had weak shoot multiplication influence resulting in only two lateral...
February 2010
Spatial and temporal dynamics of land use pattern response to urbanization in Kastamonu
This study analyses the spatial and temporal changes in land use and land cover patterns in a typical mountain forest area in Kastamonu regional directorate of forestry in the western part of Turkey. The area was investigated by evaluating the temporal changes of spatial structure of forest conditions through spatial analysis of forest cover type maps from 1984 - 2007 using GIS and FRAGSTATSTM. Urban...
February 2010
Some physical properties of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) seed
The physical properties of spinach seed were evaluated as a function of moisture content. Average length, width and thickness were 4.03, 3.51 and 2.44 mm, respectively, at 11.93% dry basis (d.b). moisture content. In the moisture range from 11.93 to 21.52% d.b. studies on rewetted spinach seed showed that the thousand seed mass increased from 11.55 to 13.53 g, the projected area from 6.28 to 7.81 mm2, the...
February 2010
Over-expression of ZmPti1, a homologue to Pti1, increases salt tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana
Studies have shown that Pti1 plays an important role in plant disease resistance pathway. However, Pti1 have not been studied for its roles under salt stress condition. Previous study has shown that maize ZmPti1 is induced by salicylic acid (SA), low-temperature, mannitol and salt. In order to analyze the further biological functions of ZmPti1, ZmPti1 was over-expressed...
February 2010
The isolation and identification of predatory bacteria from a Microcystis algal bloom
Water samples were collected from a hypertrophic lake, Hartbeespoort dam, where lytic or predatory bacteria were isolated. The water samples were spread on BG 11 agar plates where upon incubation, plaques were observed on Microcystis lawns. Two isolates were further subjected to screening to evaluate their lytic activities onMicrocystis cells and identification. Isolates B2 and B16 had a lytic...
February 2010
Aerobic decolourization of two reactive azo dyes under varying carbon and nitrogen source by Bacillus cereus
Bacillus cereus isolated from dye industrial waste, that is, effluent and soil samples was screened for its ability to decolourize two reactive azo dye – cibacron black PSG and cibacron red P4B under aerobic conditions at pH 7 and incubated at 35°C over a five day period. Different carbon and nitrogen sources were used for the decolourization study. B. cereus was able to...
February 2010
The preservative potentials of sweet orange seed oil on leather products in Nigeria
Orange seed oil was extracted using the steam distillation method. The fungi isolated from the leather samples were Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus,Aspergillus flavus, Paecilomyces sp., Penicillium sp., Rhizopus nigricans and Alternaria sp. However, the fungal species vary from person to person. The orange seed oil was active...
February 2010
Nitrogen supplements effect on amylase production by Aspergillus niger using cassava whey medium
The production of amylase by Aspergillus niger on three cassava whey media in liquid shake culture was compared. The supplemented cassava whey (SCW) medium exhibited gave amylase activity of 495 U/ml. Biomass cropped was 1.63 g/l in the SCW medium. Yeast extract employed as a nitrogen supplement increased biomass yield of A. niger to 2.75 g/l with maximum amylase activity of 643 U/ml....
February 2010
Influence of different levels of n-3 supplemented (fish oil) diet on performance, carcass quality and fat status in broilers
An experiment was conducted to evaluate fish oil as n-3 fatty acids source on some performance, carcass and serum parameters in broilers. One-day old Ross strain male broiler chickens (n = 120) were randomly arranged in four dietary treatments (0, 1.5, 3 and 4.5 percent fish oil), with three replicates for each treatment. Mean live weight and feed intake at the end of starting, growing and finishing periods...
February 2010
Quality evaluation of tray-packed tilapia fillets stored at 0°C based on sensory, microbiological, biochemical and physical attributes
The quality deterioration of tray-packed tilapia (genetically improved farmed tilapia strain of Oreochromis niloticus) fillets stored at 0°C were studied by integrated evaluations of sensory, microbiological, biochemical and physical analysis, in order to expound the mechanism of fish spoilage and develop the most reliable indicators for quality assessment. The results showed that four quality index...
February 2010
Effect of temperature on moromi fermentation of soy sauce with intermittent aeration
Soy sauce has been widely used as one of the main seasoning agents in Asian countries. Soy sauce is produced by two-steps fermentation processes, namely koji fermentation and moromi fermentation. In this study, different temperatures (25, 35 and 45°C) for moromi fermentation in bioreactor were investigated for understanding their influences on soya sauce quality, in terms of pH variations, ethanol...
February 2010
Evaluation of proteases produced by Erwinia chrysanthemi for the deproteinization of crustacean waste in a chitin production process
This study evaluated the potential use of proteases produced by Erwinia chrysanthemi for the extraction of pure chitin from crustacean wastes using standard methods. The crude bacterial protease had activity of 22.4 U/ml. Protein removal by the commercial protease were similar in both the mineralized and demineralized wastes and amounted to about 75 and 80%, respectively, in 16 h. A similar trend...
February 2010
Deletion of amino acid residues 33-46 in growth hormone alters the hydrophobicity of the molecule
Growth hormone (GH) variants have been studied for the...
February 2010
Psychrotrophic bacteria isolated from -20°C freezer
Three psychrotrophic bacteria, morpho-physiologically, identified as Bacillus subtilisMRLBA7, Bacillus licheniformis MRLBA8 and Bacillus megaterium MRLBA9 were isolated from -20°C freezer of the Microbiology Research Laboratory (MRL), Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. These strains were able to grow aerobically at 6°C but not at 40°C except MRLBA8 that could...
February 2010
Production of manganese peroxidase by white rot fungi from potato-processing wastewater: Role of amino acids on biosynthesis
The production of manganese peroxidase (MnP) by white rot fungus strain L-25 was carried out using potato-processing wastewater and the effects of amino acids in the potato-processing wastewater was investigated. The MnP was efficiently produced from the wastewater by the addition of glucose and the maximum MnP activity linearly increased with an increase in the glucose concentration. The initial pH affected...
February 2010
Decreased endogenous progesterone and ratio of progesterone to estrogen in stroke ischemia
Progesterone and estrogen are two steroid hormones whose exposure may decrease the risk and delay the onset of ischemic stroke. The main objective of this study was to determine the plasma level of progesterone, estrogen and ratio of progesterone/ estrogen in ischemic stroke patients. The plasma levels of progesterone, estrogen and ratio of progesterone/estrogen in 30 patients (15 men and 15 women) with acute...
February 2010
Complete nucleotide sequence and organization of the mitogenome of endangered Eumenis autonoe (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
Eumenis autonoe, a member of the lepidopteran family, Nymphalidae (superfamily Papilionoidea) is an endangered species and is found only on one isolated remote island Jeju in South Korea, on Halla Mt, at altitudes higher than 1,400 m. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of E. autonoe was reported. The 15,489-bp long E. autonoe genome evidenced...
February 2010
Efficacy of tricaine on Peocilia latipinna at different temperatures and concentrations
The present experiment was designed to determine the effects of tricaine methanesulfonate as an anaesthetic for juvenile sailfin silver molly Poecilia latipinnaat three different temperatures and anaesthetic concentrations. Silver molly (230 ± 25 mg and 24.07 ± 5.59 mm) were exposed to 150, 200, and 250 mg l-1 tricaine concentrations at 20, 25, and 30°C. Even though, a body of...
February 2010
The effects of water type on growth, survival and condition of Poecilia velifera
Seven growth periods were completed on juvenile velifera (Poecilia velifera) for a period of 2 weeks to determine the optimal water type for best daily growth, food intake, feed conversion ratio, weight gain, survival and condition factor. Four water types (T1 = 25°C W1, T2 = 30°C W1, T3 = 25°C W2, T4 = 30°C W2) were used to grow up P. velifera for 105 days. In each aquarium,...
February 2010
Polyclonal antibodies production against Staphylococcus aureus protein A: ELISA technique optimization for milk quality control
The main aim of this project is to produce polyclonal antibodies directed against theStaphylococcus aureus protein A and their use to appreciate bacteriological analysis of milk quality. In this context, an immunization produce was set up to test and detect in a batch of animals the convenient responder to the injected antigen. Furthermore, to optimize all parameters of retained ELISA test, a cross-table was...
February 2010
Cytotoxicity and phytotoxicity of some selected medicinal plants of the family Polygonaceae
The cytotoxicity of the crude methanolic extracts of Rumex hastatus, Rumex dentatus, Rumex nepalensis, Rheum australe, Polygonum persicaria and Polygonum plebejum (Family Polygonaceae) was determined against Artemia salina at 1000, 100 and 10 mg/ml. R. hastatus, R. dentatus and R. nepalensisshowed significant activity at a concentration of 1000 mg/ml...
February 2010
Evaluation of micronutrients level and antinociceptive property of Eremostachys laciniata (L) Bunge
Eremostachys laciniata (Lamiaceae) a rich source of structurally different flavonoids is ignored for its micronutrients level and many biological activities. In this study, the plant was investigated for different micronutrients including, phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N), boron (B), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn) and compared with adequate level of micronutrients for orchid crops. The crude methanol extract...
February 2010
The influence of body temperature on sprint speed and anti-predatory defensive responses of the North African monitor lizard, Varanus griseus
The running speed of the North African monitor lizard, Varanus griseus is directly proportional to its body temperature of between 21 and 37°C. Above 37°C, sprint speed does not increase. However, below 21°C, the lizards are extremely sluggish. If pursued at this lowered body temperature the animal finds it difficult to escape and so stays behind and tries to fight the predator. The...
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