Protein markers of Marteilia sydneyi infection in Sydney rock oysters, Saccostrea glomerata

Marteilia sydneyi is the causative agent of QX disease in Sydney rock oyster, Saccostrea glomerata . It is responsible for disease outbreaks among oysters that occur during summer and can result in up to 95% mortality. QX disease has significantly decreased S. glomerata production in some areas of Australia's eastern seaboard over the past 30 years. Marteilia sydneyi sporulates in the digestive gland of oysters leading to complete disorganization of the infected tissues. The current study used proteomics to identify potential molecular markers of sporulating M. sydneyi infection during a field trial undertaken in the Georges River, Sydney, between December 2006 and May 2007. Early stages of M. sydneyi infection were detected by polymerase chain reaction, whilst cytological examination was used to identify sporulating M. sydneyi in the gut. Protein expression in oyster haemolymph was assessed during the M. sydneyi infection period by two dimensional electrophoresis. Proteome maps identified significant differences in the expression of four proteins in oysters with sporulating M. sydneyi infections.     

甘蔗cDNA-SCoT差异显示分析PCR反应体系建立、优化及应用

cDNA-SCoT差异显示分析是应用于植物基因差异表达研究的一项新技术.本研究以甘蔗品种桂糖11号根尖为材料,提取总RNA并反转录第1链cDNA,对影响甘蔗cDNA-SCoT差异显示PCR反应的cDNA模板、SCoT引物、dNTPs、Taq DNA聚合酶和Mg2+等因子进行优化,建立甘蔗cDNA-SCoT反应体系,同时应用优化后反应体系分离25％PEG6000胁迫诱导甘蔗根尖差异表达基因片段.结果表明:各项因子均对PCR扩增效果存在影响,20μL反应体系中各因子的最佳含量如下:cDNA 80 ng、引物浓度1.0 μmol/L、Taq DNA聚合酶2.0 U、dNTPs浓度200 μmo1/L、Mg2+浓度1.8 mmol/L.研究结果还显示,SCoT引物扩增多态性丰富,平均每条引物扩增条带30条,多态性条带比率为46.9％,6条引物分离得到PEG诱导甘蔗根尖特异表达片段45条,表明本研究所建立的甘蔗cDNA-SCoT反应体系具有操作简便、结果稳定、重复性好、成本低、多态性丰富等优点,可为甘蔗基因差异表达研究提供新的技术支持.     

分离基因的有效手段-mRNA差异显示技术

mRNA差异显示技术从开始应用至今已经有10年了。在此期间,此项技术也在不断发展完善。简要综述了差异显示技术的基本原理、优越性、存在的主要缺陷及其技术改进等方面的研究进展。     

粒径对平菇栽培用玉米芯发酵料代谢物的影响

为了解玉米芯粒径对平菇栽培用发酵料中代谢物的影响,采用代谢组学技术分析添加不同粒径玉米芯的发酵料中微生物代谢物及其代谢通路.结果表明,添加小粒径玉米芯(D50=0.5 cm)和大粒径玉米芯(D50=1.5 cm)的发酵料中微生物代谢物差异显著.在正离子(POS)和负离子(NEG)模式下分别筛选得到464种和201种差异...     

Differential evolution algorithm for solving multi-objective crop planning model

This study presents four strategies of a novel evolutionary algorithm, multi-objective differential evolution algorithm (MDEA). The four strategies namely, MDEA1, MDEA2, MDEA3 and MDEA4 are adapted to solve the multi-objective crop planning model with multiple constraints in a farmland in the Vaalharts irrigation scheme (VIS) in South Africa. The three objectives of the model are to minimize the total irrigation water (m²) and to maximize both the total net income in South African Rand (ZAR) from farming and the total agricultural output in tons. The total area of the farm is 771,000 m² and supplied with 704,694 m² of irrigation water annually. Numerical results produce non-dominated solutions which converge to Pareto optimal fronts. MDEA1 and MDEA2 strategies with binomial crossover method are better for solving the crop planning problem presented than MDEA3 and MDEA4 strategies with exponential crossover method. MDEA1 found a solution with the highest total net income of ZAR 1,304,600 with the corresponding total agricultural output, total irrigation water and total planting areas of 316.26 tons, 702,000 m³ and 725,000 m², respectively. The planting areas for the crops in the solution are 73,463 m² for maize, 551,660 m² for groundnut, 50,000 m² for Lucerne and 50,000 m² for Peacan nut. It can be concluded that MDEA is a good algorithm for solving crop planning problem especially in water deficient areas like South Africa.     

Analysis of leaf and needle litter decomposition by differential scanning calorimetry and differential thermogravimetry

Summary Changes in the physicochemical properties of three kinds of litter (Prunus serotina leaves, Carpinus betulus leaves, and Pinus sylvestris needles) were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry and differential thermogravimetry after decomposition for 12 to 27 months under field conditions. As expected, holocellulose was always decomposed to a larger extent than the corresponding lignin components, leading to an enrichment of lignin in the residue. These lignins were more or less modified depending on the plant species. Moreover, the results suggest that energy-rich crystalline cellulose accumulates during decomposition at the expense of easier degradable amorphous cellulose and hemicelluloses. The quotient Q, from the corresponding calorimetry and thermogravimetry values, was introduced to estimate the specific energy content as a measure for the decomposition of litter components.Dedicated to the late Prof. Dr. W. Kühnelt