Genome-wide association mapping for root cone angle in rice

Background

Plant root systems play a major role in anchoring and in water and nutrient uptake from the soil. The root cone angle is an important parameter of the root system architecture because, combined with root depth, it helps to determine the volume of soil explored by the plant. Two genes, DRO1 and SOR1, and several QTLs for root cone angle have been discovered in the last 5 years.

Results

To find other QTLs linked to root cone angle, a genome-wide association mapping study was conducted on two panels of 162 indica and 169 japonica rice accessions genotyped with two sets of SNP markers (genotyping-by-sequencing set with approximately 16,000 markers and high-density-rice-array set with approximately 300,000 markers). The root cone angle of all accessions was measured using a screen protractor on images taken after 1 month of plant growth in the Rhizoscope phenotyping system. The distribution of the root cone angle in the indica panel was Gaussian, but several accessions of the japonica panel (all the bulus from Indonesia and three temperate japonicas from Nepal or India) appeared as outliers with a very wide root cone angle. The data were submitted to association mapping using a mixed model with control of structure and kinship. A total of 15 QTLs for the indica panel and 40 QTLs for the japonica panel were detected. Genes underlying these QTLs (+/?50 kb from the significant markers) were analyzed. We focused our analysis on auxin-related genes, kinases, and genes involved in root developmental processes and identified 8 particularly interesting genes.

Conclusions

The present study identifies new sources of wide root cone angle in rice, proposes ways to bypass some drawbacks of association mapping to further understand the genetics of the trait and identifies candidate genes deserving further investigation.

     

High-Resolution Aerial Imaging Based Estimation of Crop Emergence in Potatoes

Plant emergence and stand establishment are key indicators of early crop development that are routinely assessed in potato agronomy and crop improvement research. The standard method for evaluating emergence is through manual plant counts at regular intervals. In this proof-of-concept study, unmanned aerial vehicles integrated with multispectral imaging were used for high-throughput evaluation of crop emergence under field conditions. High-resolution aerial imaging was performed at 15 m above ground level to capture data from potato plots of two varieties (‘Alturas’ and ‘Payette Russet’) in which the seed had been treated with different concentrations of growth regulators (including non-treated controls). The treatments resulted in differences in plant emergence and establishment. The images were collected at 32, 37, and 43 days after planting (DAP). Image-based features such as plant count, SUM-NDVI, and SUM-BINARY were computed from normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images for each treatment plot using ArcGIS^®. The Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) were significant (p < 0.05) between image-based plant counts (r = 0.82) and SUM-NDVI (r = 0.62-0.73) with that of manual plant counts for both varieties, especially at early growth stages (32 DAP) when differences in emergence among treatments were more pronounced. The treatment effects on plant emergence and establishment were effectively resolved in the aerial multispectral images. Selection of the pertinent polygon threshold area to eliminate noise in delineating individual plants during image processing was important for resolution of treatment effects. The data shows that the technique can be applied in potato establishment evaluation.     

The Effects of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pimpinella anisum</Emphasis> Essential Oils on Young Larvae <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leptinotarsa decemlineata</Emphasis> Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

The effect of essential oil (EO) from anise (Pimpinellia anisum) on the mortality of young larvae of Colorado potato beetles has been studied. In our bioassays, P. anisum EO significantly increased the mortality of the second instar larvae of L. decemlineata. Significantly different values of LD₅₀ and LD₉₀ were established for acute (LD₅₀ = 1.76, and LD₉₀ = 8.29) as well as chronic toxicity (LD₅₀ = 0.45, and LD₉₀ = 1.01). Decrease of both values over experimental period was evident, which showed that the larval mortality was slow and cumulative. The composition of EO used for biological experiments was also assessed. The main component detected in EO from P. anisum was anethole (79.87%), followed by anisaldehyde (7.74%), estragole (5.88%) and β-linalool (1.07%). Within five days, residual concentration of EO decreased from 3.87 mg/g of dry weight immediately after foliar applications to 0.9 mg per g of dry weight. The effect of this slow evaporation could be explained by dominant presence of anethole or by the type of formulation and the addition of oil and tween. Results of our study demonstrate that EO from P. anisum has insecticidal properties that may lead to the development of new organic products for the control of Colorado potato beetles.     

Antibacterial,UV protective and ammonia sensing functionalized polyester fabric through <Emphasis Type="Italic">in situ</Emphasis> synthesis of cuprous oxide nanoparticles

In this research, a facile and cost effective method is presented for in-situ synthesis of cuprous oxide nanoparticles on polyester fabric along with surface modification by using one pot wet chemical method at boil. Copper sulfate (CuSO₄), sodium hypophosphite (SHP) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were used as precursor, reducing agent and stabilizer, respectively. Further, monoethanolamine (MEA) was used as pH adjustment and also modifier of polyester surface introduced amide and hydroxyl functional groups on the fabric. The images of FESEM, mapping, patterns of EDX, UV-visible absorbance spectrum, FTIR analysis and X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed the successful processing. The treated samples showed excellent antibacterial properties (100 %) toward both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli pathogen bacteria. Also, the results of cytotoxicity test proved no harmful effects on the human dermal fibroblasts for the treated sample with the lower concentration of the materials having white color with good antibacterial activities. The treated samples also indicated very good UV protection properties as well as improved wettability and mechanical properties. They are also sensitive to ammonia through immediate color change when contacted with ammonia solution. The above mentioned processing method can be used for production of polyester fabric with multifunctional properties for using in the various textile industries.     

Reliability of InGaAs focal plane array imaging of wheat germination at early stages

To assist our Kansas breeding program, we have developed nondestructive methods to test new lines of wheat for resistance to premature germination. The high sensitivity of subsurface imaging, compared with visual detection, α-amylase determination, or viscosity testing, permits germination detection at early stages. This report is concerned with detection reliability via chemical imaging of intact wheat kernels at early stages of germination by using an InGaAs focal plane detector array in the 1100–1700 nm range. Ninety kernels from each of six different cultivars, including HRW and HWW wheat, were exposed to moist conditions for 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 h. Images of each 90 kernel group were examined, and images of those kernels exposed to moisture for 36 h were compared with images of kernels treated for 3 h as a control. Images of each were classified as sprouted or unsprouted. Criteria for classification included images of log 1/R at select wavelengths or images of select factors resulting from principle component analysis (PCA) treatment of reflectance intensity data from each pixel. Sprouted kernels determined by PCA factors 1 and 4 from 90 kernels tested in a 36-h moisture exposure numbered 87, 85, 80, 74, 70, 48 for six cultivars tested. Cultivar KS-2174 was shown to be distinctly more resistant to germination than the other cultivars. When KS-2174 was compared with Betty wheat, for all exposure times, Betty had approximately 45% more germinated kernels.     

Higher yields of hybrid rice do not depend on nitrogen fertilization under moderate to high soil fertility conditions

Background

Increasing rice yield with fewer external inputs is critical to ensuring food security, reducing environmental costs, and improving returns. Use of hybrid rice has expanded greatly in China due to its higher yield potential. Meanwhile, large and increasing amounts of nitrogen (N) fertilizers have been used for expanding rice production in China. It is not clear to what extent the success of hybrid rice in China is associated with N fertilizer inputs.

Findings

We observed that the higher grain yield with N fertilizer in hybrid rice was driven more by a higher yield without N fertilizer than by increases in grain yield with N fertilizer under moderate to high soil fertility conditions.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that greater application of N fertilizers is not needed to benefit from hybrid rice production under moderate to high soil fertility conditions, and that improving and maintaining soil fertility should be a focus for sustaining hybrid rice production. Moreover, our study also indicates that zero-N testing may be a potentially useful tool to develop hybrid rice with high yield and without requirement of greater external N inputs under moderate to high soil fertility conditions.

     

Preparation and characterization of thermotropic liquid crystal microcapsules and application in textile

In this paper, thermotropic liquid-crystal microcapsules of cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) as core material and melamine-formaldehyde (M-F) as shell material were prepared via in-situ polymerization. The core material of CLC herein was mixture of cholesteryl oleyl carbonate (COC) and cholesterol pelargonate (CPE). The optimal preparation conditions were assured based on the serial trial experiments. It was found that the prepared CLC microcapsules had spherical shape and smooth surface, and the mean particle size was about 8-10 μm. The FT-IR spectra and SEM images confirmed that the M-F shell was successfully fabricated on the surface of CLC core material. Finally, the CLC microcapsules were treated on the fabric, and the treated fabric showed color change between 33.4 °C and 38.0 °C, which is appropriate for human comfortable feeling. CIE L*a*b* values were obtained, and it confirmed the treated fabric had good color change performance. In this paper, the cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) showed its excellent ability to change color, and the experiment result also proved that CLC microcapsules for preparing thermotropic fabric is reasonable and practicable.     

Polyaniline-doped TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>/PLLA fibers with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic degradation performance

A simple and practical strategy has been developed for preparing polyaniline(PANi)-doped TiO₂/poly(l-lactide) (P@TiP-C) fibers by a combination of coaxial-electrospinning and in-situ polymerization. The TiO₂/PLLA composite fibers with TiO₂ located on the surface were fabricated by coaxial-electrospinning, with PLLA as the core phase and a dispersion of TiO₂ particles, a well-known photocatalyst, in the sheath phase. The aniline monomers were also located in the core phase and in-situ polymerized by ammonium persulfate (APS) after electrospinning. SEM images show that TiO₂ particles were located on the surface of PLLA fibers. Photocatalytic degradation tests show that the P@TiP-C fibers exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity for degradation of methyl orange under visible light, likely due to the synergistic effect of PANi and TiO₂.     

Estimating species pools for a single ecological assemblage

Background

The species pool concept was formulated over the past several decades and has since played an important role in explaining multi-scale ecological patterns. Previous statistical methods were developed to identify species pools based on broad-scale species range maps or community similarity computed from data collected from many areas. No statistical method is available for estimating species pools for a single local community (sampling area size may be very small as ≤ 1 km²). In this study, based on limited local abundance information, we developed a simple method to estimate the area size and richness of a species pool for a local ecological community. The method involves two steps. In the first step, parameters from a truncated negative trinomial model characterizing the distributional aggregation of all species (i.e., non-random species distribution) in the local community were estimated. In the second step, we assume that the unseen species in the local community are most likely the rare species, only found in the remaining part of the species pool, and vice versa, if the remaining portion of the pool was surveyed and was contrasted with the sampled area. Therefore, we can estimate the area size of the pool, as long as an abundance threshold for defining rare species is given. Since the size of the pool is dependent on the rarity threshold, to unanimously determine the pool size, we developed an optimal method to delineate the rarity threshold based on the balance of the changing rates of species absence probabilities in the sampled and unsampled areas of the pool.

Results

For a 50 ha (0.5 km²) forest plot in the Barro Colorado Island of central Panama, our model predicted that the local, if not regional, species pool for the 0.5 km² forest plot was nearly the entire island. Accordingly, tree species richness in this pool was estimated as around 360. When the sampling size was smaller, the upper bound of the 95% confidence interval could reach 418, which was very close to the flora record of tree richness for the island. A numerical test further demonstrated the power and reliability of the proposed method, as the true values of area size and species richness for the hypothetical species pool have been well covered by the 95% confidence intervals of the true values.

Conclusions

Our method fills the knowledge gap on estimating species pools for a single local ecological assemblage with little information. The method is statistically robust and independent of sampling size, as proved by both empirical and numerical tests.

     

Stir-Frying of Chinese Cabbage and Pakchoi Retains Health-Promoting Glucosinolates

Stir-frying is a cooking method, originating from Asia, in which food is fried in small amount of very hot oil. Nowadays in many other parts of the world stir-frying is a very popular method to prepare vegetables, because it is fast and fried vegetables are tasty. However, the retention of phytochemicals like the health-beneficial glucosinolates in Brassica vegetables is less explored for stir-frying in comparison to other cooking methods. This study investigates the retention of glucosinolates in Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis) and pakchoi (Brassica rapa ssp. chinensis) as affected by stir-frying at various cooking durations and temperatures. Stir-frying experiments were performed at set pan temperatures ranging from 160 to 250 °C for a duration of 1 to 8 min. Results showed that aliphatic glucobrassicanapin is the most abundant glucosinolate identified in fresh Chinese cabbage and pakchoi, contributing for 48 and 63% of the total glucosinolate content, respectively, followed by glucoiberin and gluconapin. Stir-frying retains the glucosinolates even at the highest temperature applied. Such retention is explained by the quick inactivation of the glucosinolate-hydrolytic enzyme myrosinase during the first minutes of frying, and by the thermal stability of the glucosinolates at those temperature/time conditions. Moreover, due to the absence of a separate water phase, leaching losses did not occur, in contrast to what is observed when boiling Brassica vegetables. These results show that stir-frying may be a suitable health-beneficial cooking option that prevents the loss of glucosinolates.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">OsLAP6/OsPKS1</Emphasis>, an orthologue of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis PKSA/LAP6</Emphasis>, is critical for proper pollen exine formation

Background

Male fertility is crucial for rice yield, and the improvement of rice yield requires hybrid production that depends on male sterile lines. Although recent studies have revealed several important genes in male reproductive development, our understanding of the mechanisms of rice pollen development remains unclear.

Results

We identified a rice mutant oslap6 with complete male sterile phenotype caused by defects in pollen exine formation. By using the MutMap method, we found that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variation located in the second exon of OsLAP6/OsPKS1 was responsible for the mutant phenotype. OsLAP6/OsPKS1 is an orthologous gene of Arabidopsis PKSA/LAP6, which functions in sporopollenin metabolism. Several other loss-of-function mutants of OsLAP6/OsPKS1 generated by the CRISPR/Cas9 genomic editing tool also exhibited the same phenotype of male sterility. Our cellular analysis suggested that OsLAP6/OsPKS1 might regulate pollen exine formation by affecting bacula elongation. Expression examination indicated that OsLAP6/OsPKS1 is specifically expressed in tapetum, and its product is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Protein sequence analysis indicated that OsLAP6/OsPKS1 is conserved in land plants.

Conclusions

OsLAP6/OsPKS1 is a critical molecular switch for rice male fertility by participating in a conserved sporopollenin precursor biosynthetic pathway in land plants. Manipulation of OsLAP6/OsPKS1 has potential for application in hybrid rice breeding.

     

Diet segregation in American bison (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Bison bison</Emphasis>) of Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming,USA)

Background

Body size is a major factor in the nutritional ecology of ruminant mammals. Females, due to their smaller size and smaller rumen, have more rapid food-passage times than males and thereby require higher quality forage. Males are more efficient at converting high-fiber forage into usable energy and thus, are more concerned with quantity. American bison are sexually dimorphic and sexually segregate for the majority of their adult lives, and in Yellowstone National Park, they occur in two distinct subpopulations within the Northern and Central ranges. We used fecal nitrogen and stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen from American bison to investigate sex-specific differences in diet composition, diet quality, and dietary breadth between the mating season and a time period spanning multiple years, and compared diet indicators for these different time periods between the Northern and Central ranges.

Results

During mating season, diet composition of male and female American bison differed significantly; females had higher quality diets, and males had greater dietary breadth. Over the multi-year period, females had higher quality diets and males, greater dietary breadth. Diet segregation for bison in the Central Range was more pronounced during the mating season than for the multi-year period and females had higher quality diets than males. Finally, diet segregation in the Northern Range was more pronounced during the multi-year period than during the mating season, and males had greater dietary breadth.

Conclusions

Female bison in Yellowstone National Park have higher quality diets than males, whereas males ingest a greater diversity of plants or plants parts, and bison from different ranges exhibited more pronounced diet segregation during different times. Collectively, our results suggest that diet segregation in bison of Yellowstone National Park is associated with sex-specific differences in nutritional demands. Altogether, our results highlight the importance of accounting for spatial and temporal heterogeneity when conducting dietary studies on wild ungulates.

     

Breeding Differently—the Digital Revolution: High-Throughput Phenotyping and Genotyping

A conventional potato breeding strategy uses targeted outcrossing, followed by phenotypic recurrent selection over a series of generations to identify improved cultivars. This paper reviews recent research in Australia aimed at improving the efficiency of such breeding. To develop marker-assisted selection (MAS) for traits of interest, our initial targets were qualitative disease resistances for potato cyst nematode (Globodera rostochiensis Ro1), Potato virus Y and Potato virus X. We undertook a cost analysis comparison between MAS and conventional screening, confirming that MAS would be cost-effective within a breeding programme. Then, as the majority of target traits are quantitative in nature, we also looked at methods to address these traits, including progeny testing and a quantitative genetic analysis technique to develop estimated breeding values (EBVs). We found the markers were useful for detecting the disease resistance characters, while the EBVs improved the analysis of the complex traits. Using a combination of MAS, EBVs and conventional screening methods, we then designed a breeding scheme for rapid selection of cultivars with multiple desirable traits, reducing the breeding cycle from over 10 to 4 years. We then explored the factors that will affect the application of genomic selection in potato and investigated strategies to incorporate genomic selection in potato breeding, as we found that it would accelerate genetic gain as the breeding cycle can be reduced to 1 year. Improvements in computational power are also flowing on to research capabilities such as sequencing, high-throughput phenotyping and data analysis, which will accelerate germplasm improvement and breeding. High-throughput phenotyping facilities are being developed that include automated glasshouse systems equipped with imaging sensors and in-field high-throughput phenotyping systems with sensors mounted on ground- or aerial-based vehicles. Using these technological improvements in phenotypic and genotypic analysis will reduce the breeding cycle in a cost-effective manner and means that we can now breed differently.     

Habitat modification by invasive crayfish can facilitate its growth through enhanced food accessibility

Background

Invasive ecosystem engineers can facilitate their invasions by modifying the physical environment to improve their own performance, but this positive feedback process has rarely been tested empirically except in sessile organisms. The invasive crayfish Procambarus clarkii is an ecosystem engineer that destroys aquatic macrophytes, which provide a physical refuge for animal prey, and this destruction is likely to enhance vulnerability to predators. Using two series of mesocosm experiments, we tested the hypothesis that the invasive crayfish increases its feeding efficiency on animal prey by reducing submerged macrophytes, thus increasing its individual growth rate in a positive density-dependent manner.

Results

In the first experiment, increasing crayfish density reduced both macrophytes and animal prey (dragonfly and chironomid larvae) and, importantly, increased the growth rate of individual crayfish, in accordance with our expectation. In the second experiment, we used artificial macrophytes to clarify whether the physical architecture of macrophytes itself protects animal prey and limits crayfish growth rate. Increasing the artificial macrophyte quantity not only increased the survival of animal prey, but also retarded the crayfish growth rate.

Conclusions

We conclude that macrophytes strengthen bottom-up control of crayfish, but this effect can be relaxed by increasing the density of crayfish via reduction in macrophytes. This positive feedback process may explain the crayfish outbreaks and regime shifts occasionally observed in invaded freshwater ecosystems.

     

Classification of crops and weeds from digital images: A support vector machine approach

In most agricultural systems, one of the major concerns is to reduce the growth of weeds. In most cases, removal of the weed population in agricultural fields involves the application of chemical herbicides, which has had successes in increasing both crop productivity and quality. However, concerns regarding the environmental and economic impacts of excessive herbicide applications have prompted increasing interests in seeking alternative weed control approaches. An automated machine vision system that can distinguish crops and weeds in digital images can be a potentially cost-effective alternative to reduce the excessive use of herbicides. In other words, instead of applying herbicides uniformly on the field, a real-time system can be used by identifying and spraying only the weeds. This paper investigates the use of a machine-learning algorithm called support vector machine (SVM) for the effective classification of crops and weeds in digital images. Our objective is to evaluate if a satisfactory classification rate can be obtained when SVM is used as the classification model in an automated weed control system. In our experiments, a total of fourteen features that characterize crops and weeds in images were tested to find the optimal combination of features that provides the highest classification rate. Analysis of the results reveals that SVM achieves above 97% accuracy over a set of 224 test images. Importantly, there is no misclassification of crops as weeds and vice versa.     

How Long can Rogued Potato Plants Left in the Field Be a Source of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Potato Virus Y</Emphasis> for Aphids?

Removal of diseased plants (roguing) is commonly practiced in seed potato production. Diseased plants left to desiccate in fields could possibly serve as sources of Potato virus Y (PVY). PVY acquisition by three aphid species (Myzus persicae, Rhopalosiphum padi, Aphis fabae) was evaluated with leaflets from rogued plants for seven days. Results showed greater PVY acquisition rates in non-colonizing aphids species compared to colonizing ones. The proportion of aphids leaving leaflets increased with time (i.e. days after plants were uprooted) and some aphids were carrying PVY in their stylets on each of the seven days of the experiment, suggesting that aphids were able to probe and acquire PVY even when plants wilted. These results confirmed that diseased plants left in fields can serve as a source of PVY for aphids even after they wilted and emphasises that proper actions must be taken to efficiently remove diseased plants from fields.     

Synthesis and properties of alkali-clearable azo disperse dyes containing a carboxylic ethyl ester group

Three alkali-clearable azo disperse dyes containing a carboxylic ethyl ester group (D1-D3) were readily synthesized using three different synthetic strategies. D1 was prepared from a carboxylic acid-containing dye by esterification with ethanol. D2 was prepared from a carboxylic ester-containing dye by transesterification with ethanol. D3 was prepared from a cyano group-containing dye by alcoholysis with ethanol and water. The molecular structures of the dyes were characterized by FTIR, mass spectrometry, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and elemental analysis. The synthesized dyes and the control dyes were used to dye poly(ethylene terephthalate) fabric, and their washing and rubbing fastness properties following different after-treatment methods (reduction clearing and alkali clearing) were examined and compared. The carboxylic ethyl ester-containing disperse dyes show good alkali clearing ability on poly(ethylene terephthalate) fabric and cause fewer environmental issues due to the absence of reductants, no production of aromatic amines with high toxicity and carcinogenicity, as well as the low toxicity of the dye hydrolysate ethanol.     

The Race Structure of the Rice Blast Pathogen Across Southern and Northeastern China

Background

Rice blast, caused by the ascomycete Magnaporthe oryzae (Mo), imposes a major constraint on rice productivity. Managing the disease through the deployment of host resistance requires a close understanding of race structure of the pathogen population.

Results

The host/pathogen interaction between isolates sampled from four Mo populations collected across the rice-producing regions of China was tested using two established panels of differential cultivars. The clearest picture was obtained from the Chinese cultivar panel, for which the frequency of the various races, the race diversity index, the specific race isolate frequency, and the frequency of the three predominant races gave a consistent result, from which it was concluded that the pathogen population present in the southern production region was more diverse than that in the northeastern region. The four blast resistance genes Pi1, Pik, Pik-m, and Piz all still remain effective in the southern China rice production area, as does Pi1 in the northeastern region. The effectiveness of Pita, Pik-p, Piz, and Pib is restricted to single provinces. The distinctive resistance profile shown by the Chinese differential cultivar set implied the presence of at least five as yet unidentified blast resistance genes.

Conclusions

The Chinese differential cultivar set proved to be more informative than the Japanese one for characterizing the race structure of the rice blast pathogen in China. A number of well characterized host resistance genes, in addition to some as yet uncharacterized ones, remain effective across the major rice production regions in China.

     

Functional electrospun cellulosic nanofiber mats for antibacterial bandages

Functionalization of cellulosic nanofibers was established to develop antibacterial bandages. The functionalization was conducted through preparation of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) containing different metal nanoparticles (MNPs) such as copper nanoparticles (CuNPs), iron nanoparticles (FeNPs) and zinc nanoparticles (ZnNPs). Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy was used to characterize CMC containing MNPs and scanning electron microscopy coupled with high energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) to study the surface morphology of CMC with and without MNPs. Furthermore, back scattering electron detector was used to show the position of metal nanoparticles on the microcrystalline CMC. In addition, UV-visible spectroscopy was used to confirm MNPs formation. Nanofiber mats of CMC containing MNPs were synthesized using electrospinning technique. Surface morphology of electrospun CMC containing MNPs was characterized using SEM. The obtained data revealed that elctrospun CMC nanofibers containing MNPs were smooth and uniformly distributed without bead formation. The average fiber diameters were in the range of 150 to 200 nm and the presence of MNPs in the nanofiber did not affect the size of the electrospun nanofiber diameter. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images displayed that MNPs were existed inside and over the surface of the electrospun nanofibers without any agglomeration. The average particle diameters of MNPs were 29-39 nm for ZnNPs, 23-27 nm for CuNPs and 22-26 nm for FeNPs. Moreover, Water uptake of electrospun nanofiber mats and the release of MNPs from nanofibers were evaluated. Nevertheless, electrospun CMC nanofibers containing MNPs had an excellent antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus.