December 2010
Marker-assisted-selection (MAS): A fast track to increase genetic gain in horticultural crop breeding
Mapping and tagging of agriculturally important genes have been greatly facilitated by an array of molecular markers in crop plants. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) is gaining considerable importance as it would improve the efficiency of plant breeding through precise transfer of genomic regions of interest (foreground selection) and accelerate the recovery of the recurrent parent genome (background...
December 2010
The role of biotechnology in ensuring food security and sustainable agriculture
Food security and sustainable agriculture have become a burning issues in the national discuss at all levels of government as plans are being made for a changing global climate and increasing global population. One of the most important environmental challenges facing the developing world is how to meet current food needs without undermining the ability of future generations to meet theirs....
December 2010
Ethical issues in the use of the terminator seed technology
Biodiversity and food security especially in developing countries are under threat by a newly patented technique for preventing plants from producing viable seeds. The method dubbed “the suicide seeds” by critics was developed in a joint venture between the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Mississippi based Delta and Pine Land Company, the largest cotton seed company in the world. Ethically,...
December 2010
Recognizing biotechnology as a tool for sustainable development
The last century has been largely driven by wealth of natural resources; however, more than ever before, knowledge, skills and intellectualism are now the driving force of current global wealth creation. The demonstration of this fact can be found with nations that have advanced their science and technology system and have adopted new technologies. Knowledge of space science, information technology and...
December 2010
Occurrence of antibodies against hepatitis C virus (HCV) among alcoholics
Studies have shown that hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected alcoholics have more severe biochemical and histological evidence of liver disease than anti-HCV-negative patients. One possible mechanism for the increased liver damage is that alcohol may have a stimulatory effect on HCV replication. This study was therefore carried out to investigate the seroprevalence of HCV virus among alcoholics. Two-hundred and...
December 2010
Rate of water absorption and proximate analysis of different varieties of maize cultivated in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria
Water absorption and proximate composition of four varieties of maize; sweet corn, pop corn, white corn and yellow corn soaked at different temperatures and time duration were determined. Absorption increased with increase in temperatures and time but generally low at 45°C. The total average rate of hydration at different temperatures showed that pop corn and yellow corn absorbed water at a faster rate...
December 2010
Effect of fertilizer treatment on the antimicrobial activity of the leaves of Ocimum gratissimum (L.) and Gongronema latifolium (Benth)
The effect of fertilizer treatment on the antimicrobial activity of the leaves ofOcimum gratissimum (L.) and Gongronema latifolium (Benth) was investigated. Cultivated O. gratissimum (L) and G. latifolium were applied with NPK (15:15:15) fertilizer at 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 kg/ha treatment levels in planting buckets derived using the furrow slice method two months after...
December 2010
Oral treatment of Eimeria tenella-infected broilers using aqueous extract of wild mushroom (Ganoderma sp): Effect on haematological parameters and histopathology lesions
In Nigeria, wild Ganoderma species of mushroom grows in abundance during the rainy season. Studies were conducted to evaluate the haematological parameters and the histopathology lesions in organs of broilers treated with aqueous extract of wild Ganoderma sp. Blood and organs were collected for haematology and histopathology, respectively. The haematological analysis showed a...
December 2010
Effect of growth media modifications on cell biomass and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) production from Shewanella frigidimarina
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are chemically present as esters, ethers, glycerides glycolipids, phospholipids, phosphonolipids, glycosphingolipids, sulpholipids and lipoproteins in storage oils and membranes lipids. Marine microorganisms such as Shewanella frigidimarina are important sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids with promising biomedical applications, commercial value and the...
December 2010
Physico-chemical characteristics of immobilized polygalacturonase from Aspergillus niger (SA6)
Polygalacturonase (PG) was isolated from Aspergillus niger (A. niger) (SA6), partially purified, characterized and immobilized by entrapment using calcium alginate. The polygalacturonase showed two bands on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacryamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) suggesting an “endo and exo” polygalacturonase with apparent molecular weights of 35 and 40 KDa, respectively. The...
December 2010
Partially purified polygalacturonase from Aspergillus niger (SA6)
Polygalacturonase (PG) was isolated from Aspergillus niger (A. niger) (SA6), partially purified and characterized. The PG showed two bands on SDS-PAGE suggesting an “endo and exo PG with apparent molecular weights of 35 and 40 KDa, respectively. It was purified 9-fold with a yield of 0.18% and specific activity of 246 µmole/ml/mg. The KM and Vmax of the enzyme were 2.74...
December 2010
Cryopreservation of embryonic axes of maize (Zea mays L.) by vitrification protocol
A storage protocol at cryogenic temperature was established for embryonic axes of maize using a basic vitrification protocol with direct immersion in liquid nitrogen (-196ºC). The response of isolated embryonic axes of five maize genotypes to plant vitrification solution (PVS2) at different concentrations was studied. Recovery after cryopreservation ranges from 47.5% - 75% among genotypes. PVS2 at 50%...
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