March 2012
Genetic relationship among Musa genotypes revealed by microsatellite markers
A banana germplasm was established containing 44 Musa genotypes collected from various locations in Malaysia. To detect their genetic variation and to rule out duplicates among cultivar, microsatellite markers were used in their analysis. The microsatellite profiles of 44 Musa genotypes of various origins were detected by 130 alleles at nine microsatellite loci. Genetic distances and...
March 2012
Cytosolic phosphoenolpyruate carboxykinase (PEPCK-C) gene polymorphism in three chicken breeds
Phosphoenolpyruate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene is an enzyme which has a key role in gluconeogenesis. In the chicken genome, there are two different types of PEPCK gene: mitochondrial PEPCK (PEPCK-M) and cytosolic PEPCK (PEPCK-C). In this study, 150 random samples from two native populations in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, namely, Khazak and Dashtiari, and Ross chicken were analyzed. DNA...
March 2012
Characterization of DNA unwinding properties of three N-terminal fragments of RecQ5β helicase
RecQ5β is one member of the human RecQ family helicases that belong to superfamily 2 (SF2) and are critical for the maintenance of genomic stability. Here, the DNA unwinding kinetics of three N-terminal fragments of RecQ5β helicase, RecQ5β1-467, RecQ5β1-567 and RecQ5β1-662, were studied with stopped-flow method based on fluorescence resonance energy...
March 2012
Characterization of a cinnamoyl-CoA reductase gene in Ginkgo biloba: Effects on lignification and environmental stresses
Cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR, EC 1.2.1.44) catalyzes key steps in the biosynthesis of monolignols, which serve as building blocks in the formation of plant lignin. The full-length cDNA of GbCCR is 1178 bp and contains a 972 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 323 amino acid protein. The deduced GbCCR protein showed high identities with other plant CCRs, and had closer relationship with Picea...
March 2012
Spinacia oleracea proteins with antiviral activity against tobacco mosaic virus
Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is a devastating microorganism with a global distribution and a wide host range. Protein extracts isolated from Spinacia oleracea (spinach) were examined with bioassay-guide and tested for the resistance to TMV in theNicotiana glutinosa leaves by local lesion assay. The results show that the crude extract and the fraction of 0 to 40% ammonium sulfate...
March 2012
Early detection of rice blast (Pyricularia) at seedling stage in Nipponbare rice variety using near-infrared hyper-spectral image
This study was conducted to investigate the use of a fluidized bed granulator to coat a probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri C 10 with stearic acid with a view to enhance its survival rate during storage. L reuteri C 10 cells of two treatments, namely, freeze-dried cells incorporated with trehalose and sucrose as cryoprotectants prior to freeze-drying, and freeze-dried cells without any...
March 2012
Micropropagation and production of eurycomanone, 9-methoxycanthin-6-one and canthin-6-one in roots of Eurycoma longifolia plantlets
Eurycoma longifolia or Tongkat Ali is a well known medicinal plant in Malaysia. The plants are used as main portion in herbal preparation, and have been extensively harvested. Generally, most of the raw materials required by the industries are heavily collected from the natural forests, thereby resulting in the uncontrolled exploitation of the plant in the wild. Hence, there is a need to ensure adequate...
March 2012
Response of Italian ryegrass seed crop to spring nitrogen application in the first harvest year
Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) cv. Tetraflorum was sown with different nitrogen application rates and it was tested under the agroecological conditions of Western Serbia. Four-year field experiments were carried out from 2002 to 2006 and the biometric characteristics of generative tillers, seed yield and shoot dry matter (herbage yield) were measured during the first production year....
March 2012
Regeneration of the East African greenheart, Warburgia ugandensis (Sprague) through tissue culture
Warburgia ugandensis is a medicinal plant in the family Canellaceae. There has been a very high demand for Warburgia products for medicinal purposes leading to overexploitation. Warburgia also produces recalcitrant seeds, a fact that has hindered the natural regeneration of this species. In this study, clonal propagation was postulated to be an alternative to propagation through...
March 2012
Photosynthetic characterization of a rolled leaf mutant of rice (Oryza sativa L.)
A new rolling leaf rice mutant was identified which showed an apparently straighter longitudinal shape normal transverse rolling characters at all developing stages. The chlorophyll contents per fresh weight of this mutant leaves were lower than those of wild-type. The electron transfer rate (ETR) and photochemical quenching (qP) were a little higher than those of wild-type. However, because of...
March 2012
Mineralogical and geochemical study of carp otoliths from Baiyangdian Lake and Miyun Water Reservoir in China
Carp otoliths from two different freshwaters (Baiyangdian Lake and Miyun Water Reservoir) were mineralogically and chemically analyzed. The water quality standard of Miyun Water Reservoir is Grade 2 which is much better than the Grade 5 of Baiyangdian Lake. The aim of this study was to examine the differences in otoliths in mineralogy and chemistry from the two sites with quite different...
March 2012
Effect of heat, pH and coating process with stearic acid using a fluidized bed granulator on viability of probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri C 10
This study was conducted to investigate the use of a fluidized bed granulator to coat a probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri C 10 with stearic acid with a view to enhance its survival rate during storage. L reuteri C 10 cells of two treatments, namely, freeze-dried cells incorporated with trehalose and sucrose as cryoprotectants prior to freeze-drying, and freeze-dried cells without any...
March 2012
Effects of adding dry gluten powder to common wheat flour on cooking quality of an Algerian homemade pasta, Rechta
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of adding dry gluten powder on the cooking quality of an Algerian homemade pasta called rechta. The experiment was carried out with two commercials common wheat flours (flour I and II), enriched with 2 and 4% (w/w) dry gluten powder additives. For comparative objects semolina was used. The gluten was extracted by lixiviation from commercial flour,...
March 2012
Comparison of quality characteristics of Çökelek and Lor cheeses
The objective of this study was to compare some quality characteristics of Çökelek (cottage cheese-like) and Lor (whey cheese) cheeses during a storage period of 21 days. Çökelek and Lor cheeses significantly (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) showed differences in terms of the examined parameters and storage period. Mean value of lipolysis in Çökelek cheese was higher (P...
March 2012
Antimicrobial activity of camwood (Baphia nitida) dyes on common human pathogens
Antimicrobial activity of four aqueous extracts of camwood dyes obtained from different locations in Nigeria were investigated by agar diffusion, disc diffusion and agar dilution method against five clinical isolates obtained from inpatient attending the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. The isolates were Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Proteus vulgaris and...
March 2012
Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of the aqueous extract of Leonotis leonurus leaves in rats
Leonotis leonurus (L.) R. BR. Lamiaceae is extensively for the treatment of various ailments and in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, it is used for the treatment of effects of gastrointestinal parasites in animals. There is, however, scanty information on the pharmacological activities of this plant. The aqueous extract from the leaf of L. leonurus was investigated for its...
March 2012
In vitro inhibition of the growth of Helicobacter hepaticus by various antibiotics
The present study investigated the in vitro inhibiting and eradicating effect ofHelicobacter hepaticus (Hh) by various antibiotics, and analyzed the inhibiting effect of the combined application of single-drug sensitive antibiotics to Hh. E-test method and Kirby-Bauer disk agar diffusion method were used to detect the minimum...
March 2012
Molecular cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding cycloartenol synthase from Fritillaria thunbergii Miq.
Fritillaria thunbergii Miq., known as the bulbous plants of the genus fritillaria, produces a large amount of sterols. Homology based polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) with degenerate primers designed from the conserved sequences among the known cycloartenol synthase (CAS) resulted in cloning of a CAS from the young leaves of F. thunbergii Miq. A putative cycloartenol synthase cDNA...
March 2012
Structure of mitochondrial DNA control region of Argyrosomus amoyensis and molecular phylogenetic relationship among six species of Sciaenidae
The structure of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region of Argyrosomus amoyensis was examined in this study. TAS, cTAS, CSB-D to CSB-F and CSB-1 to CSB-3 segments were detected in the species. The results indicated that the structures of these parts were different from that of most fishes. All the mtDNA control region sequences examined had missing tandem repeat sequences downstream of...
March 2012
Modeling growth of specific spoilage organisms in tilapia: Comparison Baranyi with chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID) model
Tilapia is an important aquatic fish, but severe spoilage of tilapia is most likely related to the global aquaculture. The spoilage is mostly caused by specific spoilage organisms (SSO). Therefore, it is very important to use microbial models to predict the growth of SSO in tilapia. This study firstly verified Pseudomonas and Vibrio as the SSO of tilapia, then established...
March 2012
Analysis of some selected toxic metals in registered herbal products manufactured in Nigeria
The use of herbal medicine has been on the increase in many developing and industrialized countries and Nigerians in particular has been using herbal medicine for many centuries. The approval of these herbal remedies by regulatory bodies has further encouraged the use of herbal remedies. The safety of these herbal remedies is however poorly understood. This study investigated the concentration of arsenic,...
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