January 2010
A review of the biochemical, biotechnological and other applications of enzymes
Enzymes are proteins evolved by the cells of living organisms. Their specific function is to catalyse chemical reactions. Enzymes increase the rate at which reactions approach equilibrium. Enzymes have found wide and diverse applications in different disciplines and fields of human endeavours. Enzymes play critical role in the metabolic activities of all living organisms, whether humans, animals, plants or...
January 2010
Current applications of probiotic foods in Africa
Currently, there is a growing interest in the consumption of probiotic foods due to their reported health benefits. In developed countries, probiotics have been extensively studied and this has led to the production of a variety of probiotic foods especially with dairy milk. However, the use of beverages from plant materials as a potential carrier of probiotic microorganisms is receiving increasing attention....
January 2010
The importance of genetics in the diagnosis of animal diseases - A review
Genetic diseases have always been present in the animal population but their significance has increased in recent decades. The wealth of knowledge on genomic information, systems biology and mechanisms of diseases provide great opportunities to elucidate the genetic bases of diseases. The use of recombinant DNA techniques in conjunction with conventional genetic methods have led to a rapid increase in...
January 2010
The development of flavivirus vaccines
Mosquito and tick-borne flaviviruses are the causative agents of some of the world’s most important diseases, including dengue fever, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis and West Nile fever. Cumulatively, these viruses cause many millions of infections each year and impose a significant burden on public health resources, particularly in developing and newly developed countries....
January 2010
What molecular mechanism is adapted by plants during salt stress tolerance?
Salt stress harmfully shocks agricultural yield throughout the world affecting production whether it is for subsistence or economic outcomes. The plant response to salinity consists of numerous processes that must function in coordination to alleviate both cellular hyperosmolarity and ion disequilibrium. Salt tolerance and yield stability are complex genetic traits that are difficult to establish in crops...
January 2010
Water pollution: A review of microbial quality and health concerns of water, sediment and fish in the aquatic ecosystem
This paper reviewed aquatic ecosystem pollution with particular reference to pathogens in water, sediment and fish and their human health concerns. It highlighted the historical perspective of the relationship between microbes and humans regarding the “ranging war” between them, arising from the reckless exploitation of the biosphere by humans and the resultant “revolt” by microbes in...
January 2010
Comparative molecular analysis of old olive (Olea europaea L.) genotypes from Eastern Mediterranean Region of Turkey
Olive is an important Mediterranean tree species having many different ways of utilizations. The olive grove is an important farming sector in Turkey and dates back to thousands years, particularly in Anatolia. An historical culture of olive resulted in a broad genetic base for olive which is a long-lived tree. We compared the genetic profiles of six old olive cultivars from an Eastern Mediterranean Region of...
January 2010
Development of specific RAPD markers for identifying albino tea cultivars ‘Qiannianxue’ and ‘Xiaoxueya’
Albino tea cultivars grow white leaves at low temperature which are valuable materials for processing green tea, but they develop green leaves in summer and autumn seasons. It is difficult to discriminate albino tea cuttings from the normal tea cuttings by leaf colour and plant morphological characteristics. Specific RAPD markers for identifying albino tea cultivars ‘Qiannianxue’ and...
January 2010
The impact of information quantity and strength of relationship between training set and validation set on accuracy of genomic estimated breeding values
Recent advances in genomic selection are a revolution in animal breeding. A genome consisting 10 chromosomes each with 100 cM in length with 100 equally spaced markers (1 cM) were simulated. After 50 generations of random mating in a finite population (Ne = 100) in order to create sufficient linkage disequilibrium, population was expanded to two different population sizes of 500 and 1000. This structure...
January 2010
Cloning and expression of cell wall acid invertase gene fragment from poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima wild.)
A fragment of invertase gene containing catalytic sites of cysteine was cloned frompoinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima wild.) by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. The length of the fragment was 521 bp, encoding 173 amino acids and containing a part of open reading frames, but no intron. It had a high homology to previously cloned cell wall acid invertase genes...
January 2010
Callus and azadirachtin related limonoids production through in vitro culture of neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss)
A protocol was established for the induction of callus and suspension cultures for azadirachtin production from neem explants. Different concentrations and combinations of plant growth regulators (2,4-D, NAA, IAA and BAP) were supplemented in MS medium. Immature flowers, nodular stem sections, leaves immature embryos and mature seeds were used as explants. The highest callus development (78%) was...
January 2010
Morphological and pomological traits of almond phenotypes (Amygdalus communis L.) isolated from their natural population
Seven phenotypes were isolated from a natural population of almonds (Amygdalus communis L.) and more positive traits than the standard varieties that were cultivated, were identified. Over the period of three years, phenological and pomological research was conducted in situ, along with the observation of vegetative traits and productivity of isolated phenotypes. The research was conducted on the...
January 2010
Effects of mowing utilization on forage yield and quality in five oat varieties in alpine area of the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
Oat (Avena sativa) is grown to provide feed in winter for livestock production in the alpine area of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The effect of early cutting (T1), late cutting (T2) as well as once cutting and twice cutting (T3) on forage yields and qualities were investigated for five oat varieties (YTA, CNC, B3, Q473 and Q444). The cutting frequency and time significantly affected...
January 2010
Application of inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR marker) to detect genotoxic effect of heavy metals on Eruca sativa (L.)
As an influence of the Mediterranean diet, Eruca sativa (rocket salad) is eaten all over the world in salads and soups. It belongs to plant order Capparales (glucosinolate-containing species) and it is from the family Brassicaceae. Predominantly, the leaves of this species is eaten raw or cooked, although flowers are also consumed. Assessment of environmental contamination on ecology (plant) at...
January 2010
The accumulation of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Hg, Cr) and their state in phytoplanktonic algae and zooplanktonic organisms in Beysehir Lake and Mogan Lake, Turkey
Beysehir and Mogan Lakes are two shallow Lakes that are under environmental protection status. Phytoplanktonic dominant algae determined in Beysehir Lake...
January 2010
Mercury chloride-induced oxidative stress in human erythrocytes and the effect of vitamins C and E in vitro
Mercury can exist in the environment as metal, as monovalent and divalent salts and as organomercurials, one of the most important of which is mercuric chloride (HgCl2). It has been shown to induce oxidative stress in erythrocytes through the generation of free radicals and alteration of the cellular antioxidant defense system. The effect of simultaneous pretreatment with vitamins C and E on the toxicity of...
January 2010
Population dynamics of soil microbes and diversity of Bacillus thuringiensis in agricultural and botanic garden soils of India
Different microbial guilds of three rice fields (aerobic (dry or wet) laterite and red sandy, and anaerobic (flooded), clay-loam), a botanical garden (wet, aerobic, humus) and a sorghum (dry, aerobic, sandy) soil were investigated. Population (x106 cfu/g dr. soil) of the aerobic (3.8 - 26.2) and anaerobic (0.91 - 13.6) heterotrophic, aerobic (1.1 - 3.7) and anaerobic (0.8 - 1.3) spore forming, Gram (-)ve...
January 2010
Nutritional evaluation of fermented palm kernel cake using red tilapia
The use of palm kernel cake (PKC) and other plant residues in fish feeding especially under extensive aquaculture have been in practice for a long time. On the other hand, the use of microbial-based feedstuff is increasing. In this study, the performance of red tilapia raised on Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermented PKC (TL-PKC) was evaluated. Seven isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets were...
January 2010
Investigation of enzyme modified cheese production by two species of Aspergillus
Enzymatic biotransformation of dairy protein and fat is the basis of most commercial cheese flavour ingredient processes; such products are commonly referred to as enzyme modified cheese (EMC). EMCs have approximately 15 - 30 times the flavor intensity of natural cheese. They are available as pastes or spray-dried powders. Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger are two kinds of molds...
January 2010
Production of emodin from Aspergillus ochraceus at preparative scale
In order to study the chemical constituents in the pigmented culture produced fromAspergillus ochraceus, solid phase extraction method was employed to isolate the pigment molecules from the primary culture, followed by fractionation on preparative liquid chromatography. Structural characterization confirmed that one of the two major pigment components in the culture was emodin (1,3,8...
January 2010
Antimicrobial activity of photo-activated cow urine against certain pathogenic bacterial strains
In the present investigation, binary combination of photo activated cow urine was determined against seven bacterial strains. Photoactivated cow urine showed MIC value of 0.25 ml/ml against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Bacillus cereus(ATCC 11778), Lactobacillus acidophilus (ATCC 53103 and Micrococcus luteus(ATCC 9341), while it had 0.125 ml/ml...
January 2010
Biochemical characterization of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense isolates from India
The Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxyspoum f. sp. cubense (Foc) is a major biotic constraint for banana production. The characteristics of F. oxyspoum f. sp.cubense isolates were investigated using electrophoretic studies of isozyme and whole-cell protein. The morphological characteristics of the isolates were very similar to each other. All the...
January 2010
Antibacterial activity and composition of the essential oils of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. and Myrtus communis L. growing in Northern Cyprus
Water-distilled essential oils from leaves of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. andMyrtus communis L., collected from Northern Cyprus, were analysed by GC-MS. The major constituents of the essential oil from E. camaldulensis Dehn. were ethanone (25.36%), eucalyptol (13.73%), β-caryophyllene (11.55%) and carvacrol (9.05%). Eucalyptol (50.13%) was identified as the main constituent of...
January 2010
Simultaneous visualization for coexpression of multiple neurotrophic factors in living Schwann cells
Schwann cells, as specialized glial cells found in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), produce a variety of neurotrophic factors (NTFs) and play a vital role in maintaining PNS functions. The combined biological effects of multiple NTFs are strongly associated with their coexpression characteristics in the physiological environment of living cells. In this study, the method for visualizing coexpression of...
January 2010
Sero-prevalance of anti-R7V antibody in HIV infected patients in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria
Studies in some parts of the world have shown that Anti-R7V antibodies, which neutralize 100% of the different variant’s panel (targeted against a beta2-microglobulin epitope acquired when the virus is released by budding) in vitro, are found in 30 to 50% of naïve HIV positive patients, but even more in so-called “long-term survivor’’ patients with a close to 90%...
January 2010
Statistical optimization of process parameters for the production of citric acid from oil palm empty fruit bunches
In this study, optimization of process parameters such as moisture content, incubation temperature and initial pH (fixed) for the improvement of citric acid production from oil palm empty fruit bunches through solid state bioconversion was carried out using traditional one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) method and response surface methodology (RSM). The possible optimum level of moisture content, incubation...
January 2010
Development of a competitive PCR assay for the quantification of total Escherichia coli DNA in water
Standard health-related microbial water testing relies on the culturability ofEscherichia coli (E. coli) to estimate their numbers. Competitive PCR (c-PCR) offers the potential to estimate the E. coli level of a water source without culturing. The aim was to investigate the use of c-PCR reaction to detect and quantify, without prior enrichment, Escherichia coli in water samples....
Advertisement
Advertisement
