Hemolysis interference in measuring fish plasma biochemical indicators

The present study aimed to determine hemolysis interference in measurement of plasma biochemical parameters in fish specimens. For this purpose, blood samples were harvested from 24 Huso huso juveniles. After centrifugation, each plasma sample was divided into seven portions to make seven levels of hemolysis. Hemolysis was induced by addition of different percentages of the corresponding whole blood [0 (non-hemolyzed control group), 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20% of whole blood]. Albumin, total protein, calcium, phosphorus, glucose, sodium, potassium, chloride, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate transaminase (AST), and alanine transaminase (ALT) were measured in different samples. Results showed that plasma albumin, ALP, potassium, and AST significantly increased (more than 200% at the highest hemolysis level) in the hemolyzed samples. Also, plasma total protein and phosphorus showed significant elevation in the hemolyzed samples (more than 70% at the highest hemolysis level). Plasma glucose, calcium, chloride, and ALT showed narrow but significant increase in hemolyzed samples (11.8–35.2% at the highest hemolysis level). Plasma sodium showed no significant changes in the hemolyzed samples. In conclusion, the present results show that hemolysis markedly affects plasma parameters levels, which interferes with plasma results interpretation. Therefore, analysis of hemolyzed samples should be avoided or the results should be interpreted with caution. This study encourages further investigations to develop methods for omitting the effects of hemolysis by sample blanking and/or presenting correction coefficients for measurement of plasma parameters in samples with different levels of hemolysis.     

Genotypic-specific responses caused by prolonged drought stress in smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis): Interactions with mating systems

The consequences of recurrent drought events compared with a single drought, and drought's interaction with deliberate selfing compared with open-pollination on postdrought recovery and persistence of smooth bromegrass, are not clear. This research was conducted to investigate the effects of recurrent drought stresses compared with a single drought on stress response, poststress recovery and persistence of full-sib and half-sib progenies of smooth bromegrass. During this study, 25 selfed (S1) and 25 open-pollinated (OP) progenies of smooth bromegrass created in 2012 were evaluated in the field under normal and recurrent drought stress during 2013–2016. After the first harvest of above-ground biomass in 2016, irrigation was withheld in both environments for 2 months; plants were subsequently re-watered and evaluated. Recurrent drought stress changed the relationships between different traits. Moreover, prolonged drought stress resulted in increased plant productivity (recovery aerial biomass; RABI) of S1 and OP populations in recurrent drought stress compared with normal environment. Mandatory selfing increased persistence of smooth bromegrass genotypes but did not affect recovery after prolonged drought stress. Results revealed that, selecting among S1 families would be more effective than OP ones.     

Functional analysis of walnut polyphenol oxidase gene (JrPPO1) in transgenic tobacco plants and PPO induction in response to walnut bacterial blight

Walnut (Juglans regia) is economically important for both its wood and nut nutritional value, but it is susceptible to diseases such as walnut bacterial blight, caused by Xanthomonas arboricola pv. juglandis (Xaj). Walnuts contain many phenolic compounds, providing a good model on which to study polyphenol oxidase (PPO). We inoculated the detached walnut fruits of cultivars Ford, Chandler, Franquette, Robert Livermore, and Payne with Xaj and measured the induction of PPO activity in infected sites and adjacent to infected sites. Compared to infected and uninfected sites, PPO activity was induced significantly in areas adjacent to infected sites in all cultivars except Ford. Ford and Franquette, presenting the lowest and highest PPO activity, showed the largest and smallest mean diameter spots in response to Xaj, respectively. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis confirmed monophenol oxidase activity of walnut PPO in the assessed tissues. Then, we revealed the antipathogenic potential of walnut PPO through Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated walnut JrPPO1 gene transfer into tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Two transformed tobacco lines overexpressing the JrPPO1 gene were regenerated successfully and challenged with Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci. Transgenic lines showed significantly higher PPO activity and lower disease severity to the pathogen compared to the control. However, a significant difference in disease severity and PPO activity level was observed between the two transgenic lines. Our results demonstrate a potential defence-related role of PPO in transgenic tobacco and its induction in areas adjacent to infection sites in walnut cultivars treated with Xaj.     

Study of genetic diversity in safflower genotypes using agro-morphological traits and RAPD markers

This research was conducted to study the genetic diversity in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) using agro-morphological traits and RAPD markers. Sixteen selected lines derived from landraces growing in various agro-climatic regions of Iran along with four exotic genotypes were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with three replications under field conditions. Days to emergence, days to initial flowering, days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, branches per plant, capitula per plant, seeds per capitulum, 1,000-seed weight, seed yield per plant, seed yield, and reaction to powdery mildew (Leveillula taurica Arnaud) were evaluated in this study. Genetic diversity of the genotypes was assessed by RAPD markers. The results indicated significant differences among genotypes for the agro-morphological traits and clustering based on these traits classified the genotypes into five groups. Analysis of the RAPD markers revealed 15 polymorphic primers out of 50 used primers. Based on RAPD data, the highest genetic similarity was observed between the cultivars of “AC Sunset,” “AC Sterling” from Canada and the lowest relatedness observed between a local breeding line “E₂₄₂₈” and genotype “GE₆₂₉₂₃” from Germany. Cluster analysis based on RAPD markers and 54% coefficient of similarity divided the genotypes into five distinct groups. Comparing the clusters based on agro-morphological traits with those from molecular markers showed slight similarities. The finding of high genetic variation for agro-morphological traits and polymorphism at DNA level reveal that agronomic traits can be improved by selection programs.     

Release of aloe vera from electrospun aloe vera-PVA nanofibrous pad

The electrospinnability of aloe vera gel and the release mechanism as well as the kinetic of its release from poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibrous matrix is reported. Addition of PVA by an amount of only 1 % (w/w) to aloe vera solution made its electrospinning possible leading, to the fabrication of aloe vera nanofiber (99 %) with an average diameter of around 80 nm. Electrospinning of aloe vera-PVA solutions (25-75, 50-50, 75-25) led to the fabrication of nanofibers with average diameter of around 55, 105 and 110 nm, respectively. FTIR analysis showed no reaction between aloe vera and PVA. X-ray diffraction patterns showed no considerable effect from aloe vera on the amorphous structure of PVA. The release mechanism of aloe vera from PVA matrix in phosphate buffer solution was of Ficki type and the kinetic of the release followed Higuchi model. Aloe vera or aloe vera-PVA electrospun nanofibers may be used as an aloe vera release system in wound care. In a phosphate buffer solution, at least 60 percent of aloe vera is released in the first hour and about 90 % of aloe vera is released in 2-4 hours depending on the diameter of the nanofibers.     

Unsaturated Soil Hydraulic Properties according to Double-Ring Infiltration of Saline Water

Eurasian Soil Science - Inverse modeling is a relatively complex procedure that allows quick estimation of soil hydraulic properties, yielding parameters for both soil water retention and...     

Effects of PLGA nanofibrous scaffolds structure on nerve cell directional proliferation and morphology

Electrospinning has been recognized as an efficient technique for the fabrication of neural tissue engineering scaffolds. Many approaches have been developed on material optimization, electrospinning techniques, and physical properties of scaffolds to produce a suitable scaffold for tissue engineering aspects. In this study, structural properties of scaffolds were promoted by controlling the speed of fiber collection without any post-processing. PLGA scaffolds, in two significantly different solution concentrations, were fabricated by the electrospinning process to produce scaffolds with the optimum nerve cell growth in a desired direction. The minimum, intermediate and maximum rate of fiber collection (0.4, 2.4, 4.8 m/s) formed Random, Aligned and Drown-aligned fibers, with various porosities and hydrophilicities. The scaffolds were characterized by fiber diameter, porosity, water contact angle and morphology. Human nerve cells were cultured on fiber substrates for seven days to study the effects of different scaffold structures on cell morphology and proliferation, simultaneously. The results of MTT assay, the morphology of cells and scaffold characterization recommend that the best structure to promote cell direction, morphology and proliferation is accessible in an optimized hydrophilicity and porosity of scaffolds, which was obtained at the collector linear speed of 2.4 m/s.     

Matrix-fibril morphology development of polypropylene/poly(butylenes terephthalate) blend fibers at different zones of melt spinning process and its relation to mechanical properties

Different shapes of dispersed phase such as sphere, laminar and fibrillar can form in the matrix phase of polymer blends. Production of blend fibers in melt spinning process can result more effective in fibrillar phase morphology formation than in other processes. In this research, the matrix-fibril morphology development during the melt spinning of polypropylene/poly(butylenes terephthalate) was studied. The shapes of blend dispersed phase collected from different zones of the melt spinning line were evaluated by scanning electron micrographs (SEM) and rheological mechanical spectra (RMS). The results showed that fibrillar shape could not be created in the PP/PBT blend fiber samples exited from the spinneret orifice (gravity spun fibers) at low contents (5 percent) of the PBT dispersed phase. However, a complete fibrillar structure was formed in all the as-spun PP/PBT blend fiber samples (melt drawn). The rheological evaluations confirmed a network structure resulting from fibril formation for the samples with high contents (20–40 %) of the PBT dispersed phase and the formation of spherical shape with low contents (5–10 %) of the PBT dispersed phase in matrix of the blend fibers. It was observed that the flow fields of processing zones and blend ratio, in producing the blend fibers, have intensive effects on morphological variations; besides there was a strong relation between the mechanical and morphological properties.     

Effects of Some Organic Nitrogen Sources and Antibiotics on Callus Growth of Indica Rice Cultivars

A factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replicates was conducted to evaluate effects of sixteen different mixtures of organic nitrogen sources and antibiotics which were supplemented to an Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 4 mg L^?1 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 0.4 mg L^?1 benzyl-aminopurine (BAP), 30 g L^?1 sucrose, 8 g L^?1 Agar-agar on fresh weight and dry weight (assessed after three days of drying at 70°C) of calli and in vitro callogenesis from scutellum of four indigenous Iranian Indica rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars, including ‘Hashemi’, ‘Gerdeh’, ‘Hasani’, and ‘Gharib’. It was found that proline at 2.8 g L^?1 is the most effective source of organic nitrogen in enhancing growth, whereas asparagine at 0.75 g L^?1 inhibited the calli growth. Hygromycin at 50 mg L^?1, with slight differences between the cultivars, could effectively stunt the growth of untransformed calli. Mixture of cefotaxime (250 mg L^?1) and vancomycin (250 mg L^?1) did not have any significant effects on calli growth, although this treatment was slightly phytotoxic.