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: 21 March 2011; 10(12)

March 2011

Diversity between and within farmers’ varieties of tomato from Eritrea

  Tomato yields in Eritrea are low (15 Mg/ha) compared with 19 Mg/ha in Africa and 27 Mg/ha worldwide. This is partly caused by poor quality of varieties used. This study analysed the diversity among and heterogeneity within farmers’ varieties of tomato from Eritrea and compared these varieties with other African and Italian varieties. Fifteen simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used for the genetic...

Author(s): Samuel Asgedom, Ben Vosman, Danny Esselink and Paul C. Struik  

March 2011

Cytogenetic, genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) and agronomic characterization of alien addition lines derived from wheat-Psathyrostachys huashanica

  Alien chromosome lines were developed and identified from the BC1F2 and BC1F3generations of a wheat-Psathyrostachys huashanica intergeneric cross. Their agronomic traits were evaluated in the field and their meiotic behaviors and chromosome composition were analyzed by cytogenetic and GISH (genomic in situhybridization) techniques. Five lines with 2n = 44 and one line with 2n = 46...

Author(s): Yi Wang, Kangfu Yu, Quan Xie, Houyang Kang, Lijuan Lin, Xing Fan, Lina Sha, Haiqin Zhang and Yonghong Zhou,

March 2011

Contribution of chloroplast DNA in the biodiversity of some Aegilops species

  Four Aegilops species (Aegilops longissima, Aegilops speltoides, Aegilops searsiiand Aegilops caudata) belonging to the family Poaceae were used in this study. Nucleotides of 1651 bp from 5.8 S rRNA gene and the intergenic spacers trnT-trnL and trnL-trnF from the chloroplast DNA were combined together in order to investigate the genetic diversity among the earlier mentioned species....

Author(s): Abdallah Mahmoud Sliai and Sayed Amin Mohamed Amer,

March 2011

Effect of mowing and grazing on ramet emergence of Leymus racemosus in the inner Mongolia steppe during the spring regreening period

  The invasive Leymus racemosus species is mainly established by ramets (or clonal seedling). A field experiment was conducted in the spring of 2004 to investigate the effects on the surface soil temperature caused by mowing, grazing and grazing exclusion, and the influence of these factors on the ramets emergence characteristics. The primary effect of the treatments was significant changes in soil...

Author(s): RuiZhong Zhang#, Ding Huang, Kun Wang, YingJun Zhang and ChenJie Wang#

March 2011

Screening bacterial species for antagonistic activities against the Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) De Bary causal agent of cucumber white mold disease

  In this study, 23 bacteria strains that belong to 19 bacterial species were tested against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) De Bary. In vivo and in vitro testing of bacterial strains showed that Serratia plymuthica strains IK-150 and IK-139,Burkholderia cepacia strain IK-16, Pseudomonas flourocens strain IK-3,Pseudomonas putida strain...

Author(s): Abdurrahman Onaran and Yusuf Yanar

March 2011

Soil mineralized nutrients changes and soil conservation benefit evaluation on ‘green project grain’ in ecologically fragile areas in the south of Yulin city, Loess Plateau

  The ‘green project grain’ was initiated to reduce water and wind erosion on marginal and highly erodible sloping croplands by removing them from permanent production planting and soil-conserving vegetation such as grassland/forest. We chose 53 plots of 265 sites in the ecologically fragile areas in the south of Yulin city in Loess Plateau, in order to assess the soil net mineralized nutrients...

Author(s): LiuSan Cheng, Pu-te Wu, and XiNing Zhao,

March 2011

Photosynthetic induction in leaves of two cucumber genotypes differing in sensitivity to low-light stress

  Low light is one of the most important stress factors affecting cucumber production in China greenhouse. Two cucumber genotypes (Cucumis sativus L.), Deltastar with low light-tolerance and Jinyan No. 2 with low light-sensitivity were used to study the response of gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, stomatal opening and ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) activity to low light...

Author(s): Xiaolei Sui#, Jianlei Sun#, Shaohui Wang,#, Wei Li, Liping Hu, Fanzhen Meng, Yanyan Fan and Zhenxian Zhang 

March 2011

Response of sunflower hybrids to management practices under irrigated arid-environment

  Two field experiments were established at Research Farm, Bahauddin Zakariya University, (BZU) Multan, Pakistan, during the spring season of 2009 to study the interactive effect of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) hybrids in terms of growth, fraction of intercepted radiation (Fi), intercepted photo-synthetically active radiation (PAR), yield components and oil contents to planting geometries and nitrogen...

Author(s): H. Ali, M. Riaz, A. Zahoor and S. Ahmad

March 2011

The crop water stress index (CWSI) for drip irrigated cotton in a semi-arid region of Turkey

  This study was carried out to determine the crop water stress index (CWSI) for drip irrigated cotton grown on a heavy clay texture soil (Palexerollic Chromoxerert) under semi-arid climatic condition of East Mediterranean region for three years (2005 to 2007) in Adana, Turkey. Four irrigation treatments designated as full (I100) with no water stress and slight (DI70), moderate (DI50) and strong water...

Author(s): Mustafa Ünlü, Riza Kanber, Burçak Kapur, Servet Tekin and D. Levent Koç

March 2011

Effectiveness of liquid organic-nitrogen fertilizer in enhancing nutrients uptake and use efficiency in corn (Zea mays)

  The ever increasing price of nitrogenous (N) fertilizers coupled with the deleteriouseffects of imbalanced N fertilizers on the environment necessitates theenhancement of N use efficiency of...

Author(s):   Susilawati Kasim, Osumanu Haruna Ahmed and Nik Muhamad Abd. Majid  

March 2011

Effect of salinity on cell growth and β-carotene production in Dunaliella sp. isolates from Urmia Lake in northwest of Iran

  Urmia Lake, the second largest hyper-saline lake by area in the world, has fluctuated in salinity over time, but recently, it has reached a maximum of 360 g/l.Dunaliella is a type of halophile green-orange microalgae especially found in lake and salty fields and is known for its antioxidant activity; because of its ability to create large amount of carotenoids. In the present...

Author(s): Faraz Arash Rad, , Nilufer Aksoz and Mohammad Amin Hejazi

March 2011

Investigation of the ecotoxicologic effect of pesticide industry wastewater on the pancreas and liver of rats

  In this study, when the raw wastewater, which resulted from the manufacturing of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) dimethylamine salt and 2,4-D acid isooctylester herbicides in the factory, was discharged to the ecosystem without treatment, its ecotoxic effect on the pancreas and liver of rats was investigated. In this research, 16 Wistar Albino race male rats were grouped into two (Group 1- control, n =...

Author(s): Erkan Kalipci and Celalettin Özdemir

March 2011

Screening the Egyptian desert actinomycetes as candidates for new antimicrobial compounds and identification of a new desert Streptomyces strain

  In a screening program to study the antimicrobial activities of desert actinomycetes as potential producers of active metabolites, 75 actinomycete strains were isolated from the Egyptian desert habitats and tested. Out of the isolated 75 organisms, 32 (42.67%) showed activity against the used test organisms. The antimicrobial activities of the active desert actinomycete strains were classified into four...

Author(s):   Wael N. Hozzein, Walaa Rabie and Mohammed Ibrahim A. Ali  

March 2011

Infant formula as a substrate for bifidogenesis: An in vitro investigation

  Six commercially available infant formulas (IF) without added prebiotic, were investigated as substrates for the growth of bifidobacteria isolated from the feces of 3 day old babies. This investigation tracked, during 48 h, the microbiological and biochemical changes in prepared infant formula meals, caused by the action of bifidobacteria, isolated from babies’ feces. Pancreatin digestion preceded...

Author(s): Olga B. Martinov, Snezana D. Spasic, Nikoleta M. Lugonja, Gordana DJ. Gojgic-Cvijovic and Miroslav M. Vrvic,

March 2011

Studies on the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of Sargassum swartzii (Turner) C. Agardh (Phaeophyta) and Ulva reticulata Forsskal (Chlorophyta) in experiment animal models

  The analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of methanolic extracts of the brown seaweed Sargassum swartzii (Turner) C. Agardh (Phaeophyta) and green seaweedUlva reticulata Forsskal (Chlorophyta) were examined. S. swartzii and U. reticulataextracts at the dose of 500 mg/kg body weight showed analgesic effects in both acetic acid-induced writhing and hot plate-induced pain...

Author(s): Dang Diem Hong, Hoang Minh Hien and Hoang Thi Lan Anh

March 2011

In vitro evaluation of the interaction between methanol extract of lichen (Ramalina farinacea) and tetracycline against clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus

  Antimicrobial interaction studies between methanol extract of lichen (Ramalina farinacea (I) ach. (Fam: Ramalinacea) and tetracycline, against clinical isolates ofStaphylococcus aureus was evaluated. Preliminary antimicrobial properties of the extract were evaluated. Antimicrobial interaction studies between the methanol extract of lichen in combination with tetracycline against strains...

Author(s):   Akeem Agboke, Clement Jackson, Musiliu Adedokun and M. A. Momoh  

March 2011

Vaccination with apoptosis colorectal cancer cell pulsed autologous dendritic cells in advanced colorectal cancer patients: Report from a clinical observation

  To investigate vaccination with apoptosis colorectal cancer (CRC) cell pulsed autologous dendritic cells (DCs) in advanced CRC, 14 patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) were enrolled and treated with DCs vaccine to assess toxicity, tolerability, immune and clinical responses to the vaccine. No severe toxicity was observed and the vaccine was well tolerated. The levels of...

Author(s): Chuan-Qing Bao#, Cheng Jin#, Bing-Hua Xu#, Yuan-Long Gu, Jian-Ping Liand Xiao-Lu

March 2011

Studies on the immature stages and burrow excavating behavior of Schizodactylus monstrosus (Drury) (Grylloptera: Gryllodea: Schizodactylidae) from Sindh, Pakistan

  The biology of nymphal stages and life habits of the Schizodactylus monstrosus(Drury) were investigated in this study that was carried out between 2004 and 2007 in the left bank of River Indus Sindh province. The study showed that S. monstrosuswhich is a nocturnal and voracious carnivorous insect, passed through 9 nymphal stages, took 1 year to complete its developmental period, though the...

Author(s): Sabir Ali Channa, Riffat Sultana and Muhammad Saeed Wagan

March 2011

Nuclear maturation of immature bovine oocytes after vitrification using open pulled straw and cryotop methods

  To date, at least two well known methods have been widely used for vitrification of oocytes and embryos at different stages in a variety of species. However, there is no reported data regarding the comparative effectiveness of these two methods for vitrification of immature bovine oocytes. The objective of this study is to compare the nuclear maturation of immature bovine oocytes vitrified using open pulled...

Author(s): Hajarian Hadi, Abd Wahid H., Rosnina Y., Daliri M, Dashtizad M., Holmes R. and Abas Mazni O

March 2011

Metabolic flux distribution and mathematical models for dynamic simulation of carbon metabolism in Escherichia coli

  A simple model was build for the metabolic flux determination based on published articles. A method for metabolic flux determination by carbon labeling experiments was described and developed here in the first part of this study that allows mathematical description relating the measured quantities and the intracellular fluxes. The described method was used to investigate the central carbon metabolism...

Author(s): Md. Aminul Hoque,,  Kotb Attia, Omar Alattas and Amir Feisal Merican  

March 2011

Two novel missense mutations in bovine ATGL gene and their association with economic traits in Qinchuan cattle

  Adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) as a triglyceride-specific lipase, plays a key role in the triglyceride liposis mobilization of fat tissue. In this study, based on the pyrosequencing technology, two novel missense mutations were identified, which were 3289 G>C in exon 6 bringing E277Q and 3514 A>T in exon 7 bringing T320S, respectively. The 3289 G>C mutation had significant effect on backfat...

Author(s): Huanhuan Cui, Qingyong Meng, Yujiao Qu, Hongyu Liu, Chungang Feng, Hongbao wang, Yongfeng Liu, Linsen Zan, and Ning Li

March 2011

Interspecies embryo reconstruction in Tibetan antelope Pantholops hodgsonii by handmade cloning

  Interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) offers the possibility of preserving endangered species. Handmade cloning (HMC) has proved to be an efficient alternative to the traditional micromanipulator-based technique in some domestic animal species. This study investigates the possibility of reconstructing the embryos of Tibetan antelope Pantholops hodgsoni by HMC and reports the development...

Author(s): H.H. Yu,#, Z.L. Guo,#, S.C. Guo, D.L. Qi, X.L. Yang, P.P. Yue, H. Cao, L. Xie, and X.Q. Zhao