UV spectral fingerprinting and analysis of variance-principal component analysis: a useful tool for characterizing sources of variance in plant materials

UV spectral fingerprints, in combination with analysis of variance-principal components analysis (ANOVA-PCA), can differentiate between cultivars and growing conditions (or treatments) and can be used to identify sources of variance. Broccoli samples, composed of two cultivars, were grown under seven different conditions or treatments (four levels of Se-enriched irrigation waters, organic farming, and conventional farming with 100 and 80% irrigation based on crop evaporation and transpiration rate). Freeze-dried powdered samples were extracted with methanol-water (60:40, v/v) and analyzed with no prior separation. Spectral fingerprints were acquired for the UV region (220-380 nm) using a 50-fold dilution of the extract. ANOVA-PCA was used to construct subset matrices that permitted easy verification of the hypothesis that cultivar and treatment contributed to a difference in the chemical expression of the broccoli. The sums of the squares of the same matrices were used to show that cultivar, treatment, and analytical repeatability contributed 30.5, 68.3, and 1.2% of the variance, respectively.     

Neural networks in fisheries research

Piscimetrics deals with software implementation of experimental design, second-generation artificial intelligence tools, viz. Neural Nets (NNs), genetic algorithms, Fuzzy Logic, Expert Systems, Wavelets and Image analysis in the field of fisheries. A brief sketch of NNs is followed by a review of their applications in forecasting, classification, distribution and fisheries management since 1978. Forecasting in fisheries covers distribution of eggs, recruitment, fish growth/age, biomass and fish catch. Other major areas are identification, abundance and food products, environmental factors and collapse of fishery industry. The data structures are given in tensorial notation. The need for the paradigm shift from classical to multi-level hybrid NNs is emphasized.     

Simple capillary electrophoretic determination of soluble oxalate and nitrate in forage grasses.

A simple capillary electrophoretic method is described for the simultaneous determination of soluble oxalate and nitrate in forage grasses. Grass samples were ground and extracted with water. The extracts were filtered and submitted to capillary electrophoresis. Electrophoresis was performed in a 75 microm x 50 cm fused silica capillary with 30 mM sodium sulfate containing an electroosmotic flow modifier under constant voltage at -8 kV. Separated oxalate and nitrate were detected with direct UV absorption at 214 nm. The present method can be used for routine monitoring of the concentration of soluble oxalate and nitrate in grasses.     

Effects of feeding calves genetically modified corn bt11: a clinico-biochemical study

Genetically modified corn Bt11 is insect-resistant and expresses Cry1Ab toxin, an insecticidal protein, in kernels. Although Bt11 corn is considered safe based on animal performance, there are no reports available on the clinico-biochemical effects of feeding it to cattle. In this study, we evaluated the effects of feeding Bt11 to calves, using blood and ruminal clinico-biochemical parameters. Our three-month-long feeding experiment demonstrated that calves (n=6), fed with a ration containing 43.3% of Bt11 corn kernels as dry matter, did not develop any discernible clinical, hematological, biochemical, or ruminal abnormalities as compared with control calves (n=6) fed non-Bt11 corn. The results suggest that the transgenic Bt11 has no negative clinico-biochemical effects on calves.     

Evaluation of actinomycete isolates obtained from herbal vermicompost for the biological control of Fusarium wilt of chickpea

A total of 137 actinomycetes cultures, isolated from 25 different herbal vermicomposts, were characterized for their antagonistic potential against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceri (FOC) by dual-culture assay. Of the isolates, five most promising FOC antagonistic isolates (CAI-24, CAI-121, CAI-127, KAI-32 and KAI-90) were characterized for the production of siderophore, cellulase, protease, hydrocyanic acid (HCN), indole acetic acid (IAA) and antagonistic potential against Rhizoctonia bataticola, which causes dry root rot in chickpea (three strains viz. RB-6, RB-24 and RB-115) and sorghum (one strain). All of the five FOC antagonistic isolates produced siderophore and HCN, four of them (except KAI-90) produced IAA, KAI-32 and KAI-90 produced cellulase and CAI-24 and CAI-127 produced protease. In the dual-culture assay, three of the isolates, CAI-24, KAI-32 and KAI-90, also inhibited all three strains of R. bataticola in chickpea, while two of them (KAI-32 and KAI-90) inhibited the tested strain in sorghum. When the FOC antagonistic isolates were evaluated further for their antagonistic potential in the greenhouse and wilt-sick field conditions on chickpea, 45-76% and 4-19% reduction of disease incidence were observed, respectively compared to the control. The sequences of 16S rDNA gene of the isolates CAI-24, CAI-121, CAI-127, KAI-32 and KAI-90 were matched with Streptomyces tsusimaensis, Streptomyces caviscabies, Streptomyces setonii, Streptomyces africanus and an identified species of Streptomyces, respectively using the BLAST searching. This study indicated that the selected actinomycete isolates have the potential for biological control of Fusarium wilt disease in chickpea.     

Effect of Seedling Density and Shading Material on Germination and Early Growth of Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.)

The effect of four seedling densities developed soon after the emergence and two shading materials were studied in order to elucidate the response of seedling growth of tobacco. Germination and seedling emergence was better in beds under greycloth than under polythene. In contrast, shoot and root growth of tobacco seedlings was superior under polythene at all densities. This observation is attributed to optimal environmental conditions under polythene. The study also revealed that the highest shoot and root growth was at the lowest density. High plant densities hindered plant growth. Well developed plants were seen at the plant density of 165 plants per 0.1 m² under polythene.     

Widespread genetic switches and toxicity resistance proteins for fluoride

Most riboswitches are metabolite-binding RNA structures located in bacterial messenger RNAs where they control gene expression. We have discovered a riboswitch class in many bacterial and archaeal species whose members are selectively triggered by fluoride but reject other small anions, including chloride. These fluoride riboswitches activate expression of genes that encode putative fluoride transporters, enzymes that are known to be inhibited by fluoride, and additional proteins of unknown function. Our findings indicate that most organisms are naturally exposed to toxic levels of fluoride and that many species use fluoride-sensing RNAs to control the expression of proteins that alleviate the deleterious effects of this anion.     

Marker-assisted introgression of QTLs for yield under moisture stress into elite varieties of rice (Oryza sativa)

Rice production is severely constrained by the moisture stress. The present study was undertaken to transfer two important QTLs viz., (qDTY2.2 and qDTY4.1), which controls yield under moisture stress (DTY) into two elite varieties, that is, MTU1010 and NLR34449 through marker-assisted breeding. Foreground and background selections of backcross generations, that is, BC₁F₁, BC₂F₁ and BC₂F₂ identified several promising introgression lines (ILs) with two QTLs and single QTLs with an appreciable level of recovery of recipient parent genome. In ILs, the recovery of MTU1010 genome content was estimated to be 83%–93% while the recovery of NLR34449 was 84%–92%. The two-QTL ILs of MTU1010 and NLR34449 backgrounds (qDTY2.2 and qDTY4.1) have shown substantial yield advantage (32 to 84%) over the single-QTL ILs (either qDTY2.2 or qDTY4.1) under moisture stress conditions. Among all, two ILs, MBC-124 and NBC-127 are the best high yielding lines under moisture stress conditions. These outyielded ILs have the potential to be released as varieties in rainfed ecosystem and also can be used as donors in the existing breeding programme in rice.     

Nitrogen enrichment causes minimal changes in arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization but shifts community composition—evidence from rDNA data

Intracellular arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonization was compared between nitrogen (NH₄NO₃) fertilized (10 g N m^–2) and nonfertilized tallgrass prairie plots. In the microscopic analyses of host roots, only intracellular coils showed an increasing trend as a result of N fertilization, whereas intracellular colonization by arbuscules, hyphae, or vesicles did not differ between the N treatments. Clone libraries established from pooled PCR products of AM fungi contained exclusively species of Glomus; no other genera were detected indicating that Glomus spp. dominated the host roots. Comparisons between observed and random topologies indicated that cloned sequence placement covaried with N treatment: unique clades within Glomus originated exclusively from N-fertilized or nonfertilized treatments. We conclude that the communities of dominant and most commonly occurring AM fungi changed in response to N amendment, although the root colonization showed minimal or no response.     

Influence of sample preparation on assay of phenolic acids from eggplant

Sample preparation is often overlooked and is frequently considered as "a means to an end". This systematic study with a phenolic-enriched substrate, eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), was undertaken to evaluate the substantial variations in the extraction techniques, solvents, and parameters as described in the published literature. Direct comparison of over 10 extraction procedures or conditions was performed to show the importance and influence of sample preparation on the assay of phenolic compounds. Chlorogenic acid (CA) was the most abundant phenolic acid accounting for >75% of the total phenolic acids content extracted from the eggplant sample. Optimum extraction of CA and total phenolics (TP) from Black Bell cultivar of eggplant were obtained when extractions were performed with a mixture of MeOH/H2O at a ratio of 80:20% v/v using a pressurized liquid extractor (PLE) at 100 degrees C. The amount of CA and TP extracted from eggplant by the previously reported procedures using a wrist shaker, rotary shaker, stirring, sonication, or reflux with different extraction solvents (acetone or varying composition of MeOH/H2O solvent mixtures) varied significantly between 5 and 95% as compared to PLE. The predominant phenolic acids in the free phenolic acid fraction of Black Beauty cultivar of eggplant were CA isomers. However, caffeic acid isomers were the major phenolic acids extracted from the base-hydrolyzed fraction. The total amount of caffeic acid extracted from the Italian Neon cultivar was more that twice that of four other eggplant cultivars (Orient Express, Calliope Zebra Stripe, Orient Charm Neon, and Black Beauty).