Agronomic performance and combining ability estimates of yellow maize inbred lines under adequate and deficit moisture conditions

Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology - Breeding for drought tolerance and increased grain yield is vital in mitigating the threat posed by recurrent drought stress on maize production, as well...     

Lack of exposed ice inside lunar south pole Shackleton Crater

The inside of Shackleton Crater at the lunar south pole is permanently shadowed; it has been inferred to hold water-ice deposits. The Terrain Camera (TC), a 10-meter-resolution stereo camera onboard the Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE) spacecraft, succeeded in imaging the inside of the crater, which was faintly lit by sunlight scattered from the upper inner wall near the rim. The estimated temperature of the crater floor, based on the crater shape model derived from the TC data, is less than approximately 90 kelvin, cold enough to hold water-ice. However, at the TC's spatial resolution, the derived albedo indicates that exposed relatively pure water-ice deposits are not on the crater floor. Water-ice may be disseminated and mixed with soil over a small percentage of the area or may not exist at all.     

Biochemical and genomic analysis of neoculin compared to monocot mannose-binding lectins

Neoculin occurring in an edible tropical fruit is a heterodimeric protein which has both sweetness and a taste-modifying activity that converts sourness to sweetness. Both the primary and the overall tertiary structures of neoculin resemble those of monocot mannose-binding lectins. This study investigated differences in biochemical properties between neoculin and the lectins. Structural comparison between the mannose-binding sites of lectins and the corresponding regions of neoculin showed that there is at least one amino acid substitution at each site in neoculin, suggesting a reason for the lack of its mannose-binding ability. This was consistent with hemagglutination assay data demonstrating that neoculin had no detectable agglutinin activity. DNA microarray analysis indicated that neoculin had no significant influence on gene expression in Caco-2 cell, whereas kidney bean lectin (Phaseolus vulgaris agglutinin) greatly influenced various gene expressions. These data strongly suggest that neoculin has no lectin-like properties, encouraging its practical use in the food industry.     

无纺布法防治光肩星天牛成虫的初步研究

利用无纺布培养球孢白僵菌（Ｂｅａｕｖｅｒｉａｂａｓｉａｎａ）和布氏白僵菌（Ｂ．ｂｒｏｎｇｎｉａｒｔｉ）,对无纺布上布氏白僵菌分生孢子的自然扩散能力和发芽率进行测定,在风向西北０．９ｍ／ｓ风速条件下,分生孢子的扩散距离达４０ｍ以上,扩散方向与风向有密切关系。无纺布上布氏白僵菌分生孢子在野外自然林地内的发芽率１９ｄ内达到７０％以上。利用无纺布培养布氏白僵菌后,在网箱内对光肩星天牛Ａｎｏｐｌｏｐｈｏｒａｇｌａｂｒｉｐｅｎｎｉｓ（Ｍｏｔｓｃｈｕｌｓｋｙ）成虫的感染死亡率为６１．１％,在旱柳Ｓａｌｉｘｍｉｔｓｕｄａｎａ林地内防治光肩星天牛成虫可以达到３８％的感染效果     

Comparison of useful terrestrial and aquatic plant species for removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from domestic wastewater

To develop a low cost and energy-saving wastewater treatment technique in combination with resource recycling and amenity functions, we constructed a plant bed filter ditch in which useful terrestrial and aquatic plants can be utilized for nitrogen and phosphorus removal from wastewater. Screening studies were conducted to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of 20 kinds of plant species which are economically important or exhibit on aesthetic value, including 13 terrestrial species, for domestic wastewater treatment. Artificial wastewater containing 20 mg L^-1 of Nand 3.3 mg L^-1 of P, was supplied to the ditch at the rate of about 1.41–2.08 g m^-2 d^-1 for N and 0.20–0.33 g m^-2 d^-1 for P. The experiments were performed in a glass house with windows opened from April to November. The ditches showing high Nand P removal rates were planted with plants which exhibited high biomass production rates. In the case of the papyrus ditch, Nand P removal rates exceeded 0.8 g m^-2 d^-1 for N and 0.15 g m^-2 d^-1 for P from late spring to autumn, in the case of the kenaf ditch and sorghum ditch, from summer to autumn and in the case of the Italian ryegrass ditch and barley ditch, in early spring. These findings indicated that efficient wastewater treatment can be performed consistently except in the winter season, by cultivating these plants in an appropriate combination in the ditches.