Diversification of maize (Zea mays L.) through teosinte (Zea mays subsp. parviglumis Iltis & Doebley) allelic

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - Zea mays ssp. parviglumis is the progenitor of maize and assume to have tolerance against various biotic and abiotic stresses. It...     

Landraces-potential treasure for sustainable wheat improvement

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - Agricultural production is facing serious threat from various biotic and abiotic stresses specifically under climatic challenges. It is becoming increasingly...     

Horticultural crops tackling stresses: genetic and epigenetic alterations

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - Food is indispensable for fulfilling the nutritional requirements of living beings. The principal source of food, nutrition and feed are horticultural...     

Atrazine degradation in boreal nonagricultural subsoil and tropical agricultural soil

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine the natural atrazine degradation activity and the genetic potential in a soil profile spanning down to the groundwater zone, collected in Finland at a site where past use of atrazine has contaminated the groundwater, and in Indian agricultural topsoils having different histories of atrazine use.

Materials and methods

Atrazine degradation potential was assessed by quantifying the atrazine degradation genes atzA, trzN, and atzB by quantitative PCR reaction. Atrazine mineralization was studied by radiorespirometry in order to find out if these genes were expressed.

Results and discussion

Indian soils contained a large number up to 10⁴–10⁵ copies (g^?1 dry weight (dw) soil) of atrazine degradation genes after the first treatment with atrazine. These genes were also expressed, as up to 55 % of atrazine mineralized. Some unspecific binding of primers required thorough investigation and confirmation by sequencing of the qPCR products in the agricultural soil samples. The degradation capability of the nonagricultural boreal soil profile was much lower: atrazine degradation genes were present at detection limit (10² copies g^?1 soil), but mineralization studies indicated that these genes were not transcribed, since no or very little atrazine mineralization was observed.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that when atrazine was applied in agricultural practice, the soil atrazine degradation capacity was high. The organisms responsible for the degradation were effectively degrading atrazine already 3 months after the first treatment with atrazine. However, in boreal soil, decades after atrazine use had been discontinued, residual atrazine was not degraded even though a small number of degradation genes could still be detected in soil. There is a need for more specific primers for qPCR in tropical soils.     

Responses of maize × teosinte derived backcross inbred lines (BILs) to maydis leaf blight (MLB) disease

Euphytica - Rice growth and productivity are greatly affected by cold stress, which is likely to become more of a hindrance for high and stable rice yields. To identify cold tolerance at the...     

Thunderstorms have species and gear-specific indirect effects on the catchability of Mongolian salmonids

Climate change is predicted to cause increasingly frequent and intense storms. Northern Mongolia is already warming at a rate twice the global average, and thunderstorms, defined as intense, short, patchy rains associated with thunder, lightning and high precipitation rates, are becoming more frequent. Because Mongolia's fish populations are lightly exploited, Mongolia provides a model system in which to study the effects of storms on fish behaviour and fishing vulnerability. The impacts of thunderstorm-related hydrological changes on fishes’ vulnerability to two fishing gears were evaluated. Two thunderstorm-related factors, turbidity and river stage, reduced catch rates of the salmonids lenok Brachymystax lenok (Pallas) and Baikal grayling Thymallus baicalensis Dybowski. Fly-fishing gear was more effective than spinning gear in this fishery and retained higher catch rates in extreme conditions. These gear-specific effects suggest that turbidity and rising river stage affect fishing vulnerability by influencing feeding behaviour.     

Biofunctionalised polycaprolactone fibrous mat as a transfer tool for cell sheet engineering

Cell sheet technology is a unique technique in tissue engineering where cell sheets are generated from thermoresponsive substrates, by simple variation of temperature. Though the cell sheets have intact cell-cell and cell-extra cellular matrix junctions, the transfer of large sheets needs a carrier or transfer tool to prevent it from rolling and folding. In this study polycaprolactone electrospun mats with porous fibers (PPCL) functionalized with thrombin is proposed as a cell sheet transfer tool. The biofunctionalised mats were evaluated for cytocompatibility and analyzed for its efficiency to form a clot when exposed to blood plasma. This property was utilized to use the mats for cell sheet engineering. The efficacy of the biofunctionalised mat as a carrier was successfully demonstrated in the transfers of human lung epithelial and mouse fibroblast cell sheets generated from a thermoresponsive N-Isopropylacrylamide-co-Glycidylmethacrylate substrates. The clot acts like a sacrificial adhesive between the cells and the mat making the later to be used as a carrier tool in cell sheet engineering.     

Psidium guajava (L.)—a Bioeconomic Plant for Restoration of Industrial Solid Waste Dump: a Green and Sustainable Approach

Water, Air, & Soil Pollution - Air pollution, especially heavy metals in PM2.5, has gradually become one of the most serious environmental problems in cities, which might cause various...