December 2011
Soil management, microorganisms and organic matter interactions: A review
Plants obtain nutrients from two natural sources: organic matter and minerals. Organic matter includes any plant or animal material that returns to the soil and goes through the decomposition process. Different soil organisms feed on different organic substrates. Their biological activity depends on the organic matter supply. In addition to providing nutrients and habitat to organisms living in the soil, organic matter...
December 2011
Bioethanol sources in Pakistan: A renewable energy resource
Demand of bioethanol is increasing rapidly as fuel to replace the use of gasoline due to the recent debates on environmental issues and in the increase of gas prices. To combat these threats, bioethanol and biodiesel are being produced as alternative fuel sources. A wide range of substances can be used for bioethanol production. Biofuel in form of bioethanol can be produced using agricultural wastes by the use of...
December 2011
Biooxidation of indole and characteristics of the responsible enzymes
Indole, an electron-rich N-aromatic heterocyclic organic compound, functions as a popular component of fragrances, indicator of some diseases and signal molecule in plant, animal and microorganism, respectively. It also serves as the precursor, core building block and functional group of many important biochemical molecules and compounds, such as plant hormones, alkaloids, indigoids, certain proteins and enzymes. Most...
December 2011
Applications and development trends in biopesticides
Biopesticides are very effective in the agricultural pest control without causing serious harm to ecological chain or worsening environmental pollution. The research and development of practical applications in the field of biopesticides greatly mitigate environmental pollution caused by chemical pesticide residues and promotes sustainable development of agriculture. Since the advent of biopesticides, a large...
December 2011
Use of phosphates in meat products
Phosphates offer a range of possibilities when used in meat and poultry productions. Food grade phosphates are used in meat products for several reasons such as changing and/or stabilizing of pH-value, increasing water holding capacity in order to lead to higher yields, decreasing losses of weight in cooking, improving texture and sensory properties (tenderness, juiciness, color and flavor), extending shelf-life, etc....
December 2011
Evaluation of a low cost technology to manage algal toxins in rural water supplies
South Africa is a water scarce country with freshwater resources that are deteriorating mostly due to anthropogenic activities. Several dams in South Africa are eutrophic and present potential health risks to water consumers and users. Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are known to produce toxins that present a threat to human health and wildlife. In this review, a low technology method that can be applied to the...
December 2011
Anthocyanin biosynthesis in fruit tree crops: Genes and their regulation
The anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway is a little complex with branches responsible for the synthesis of a variety of metabolites. In fruit tree crops, during the past decade, many structural genes encoding enzymes in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway and various regulatory genes encoding transcription factors that regulate the expression of structural genes have been cloned and then functionally characterized in...
December 2011
Biocontrol genes from Trichoderma species: A review
In the world, the traditional agricultural practices are getting affected by various problems such as disease, pest, drought, decreased soil fertility due to use of hazardous chemical pesticides, pollution and global warming. As a result, there is a need for some eco-friendly biocontrol agents that help in resolving the previous mentioned problems. The various types of biological control agents such as bacteria and...
December 2011
The value of Non-CODIS miniSTR genotyping systems in forensic casework in South Africa
Genetic identity testing is achieved by examining polymorphic regions of DNA. Currently, STR markers are the most commonly used loci for human identification from which several commercial genotyping systems have been developed based on the 13 core CODIS loci. However, identification of degraded or compromised DNA proved to be difficult. Recently, research into genetic typing systems has focused on making use of...
December 2011
Genetic adaptability of inheritance of resistance to biotic and abiotic stress level on crop: Role of epistasis
Several studies that attempt to identify the genetic basis of quantitative traits ignore the presence of epistatic effects and theirs role in plant genetic adaptability. Epistasis has been detected in the inheritance of many quantitative traits on crop. Moreover, generation means analysis of several traits assessed in diverse environmental conditions revealed that the mode of inheritance of each trait varied with the...
December 2011
A review of a promising therapeutic and agronomical alternative: Antimicrobial peptides from Capsicum sp.
Pathogenic microorganisms cause great losses annually and are a constant threat to agriculture and food production. The strategies used to control pathogen microorganisms’ population such as spraying of fungicides, bactericides or insecticides are becoming ineffective as pathogens have being developing resistance against many of these compounds. Today, in agriculture there are serious concerns regarding the...
December 2011
Stem cells: Biology and clinical potential
Stem cell technology has developed rapidly in recent years to the point that we can now envisage its future use in a variety of therapeutic areas. This review seeks to summarize the types and sources of stem cells that may be utilized in this way, their pattern of development, their plasticity in terms of differentiation and transdifferentiation, their ability to self-renew, the privileged microenvironment in which they...
December 2011
A case report of visceral leishmaniasis in red fox (Vulpes vulpes)
A survey of 52 red foxes, a single two year old male weighing about 6 kg showed clinical signs including hair loss, impotence, local or general lymphadenopathy, keratitis, hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, hair shedding, dermal lesions, onychogriposis and cachexia. The studied fox IFA titer was larger or equal to 1:1280 and light absorption in enzyme liked...
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