Use of tween 20 as a substrate for assay of lipase activity in soils

Abstract

A method for assaying the soil lipase activity is described. It involves the titrimetric estimation of the amount of lauric acid released by the lipase activity when the soil is incubated with Tween 20 in the presence of toluene at 30°C for 18 h under agitation. The method is simple and precise and incubation without agitation is also possible. The method has been applied to six different kinds of soils. The lipase activity in the cultivated soils ranged from 22.5 to 75.5 mmol min^?1 g^?1 of dried soil. The K _m value for Tween 20 was 1.8 × 10^?4 m. The optimum pH was approximately 7.5. The hydrolysis of liveen 20 in soil was inhibited by glycerol which was the essential moiety of glyceride. The inhibition by glycerol was found to be competitive. These results indicate that Tween 20 is a potential substrate for the assay of the glyceride hydrolytic activity in soils.     

Source of soil protease based on the splitting sites of a polypeptide

Abstract

Soil protease is an important enzyme in the nitrogen cycle which plays an essential role in the growth of various crops. We have attempted to identify a microbial source of soil protease. Selective soil incubation using antibiotics was suitable for a rough estimation of the groups of microorganisms responsible for the production of soil protease (Hayano and Watanabe 1990; Hayano 1993). Enumeration of proteolytic microorganisms in the field and analysis of their protease-producing ability enabled to evaluate the potential of various soil microorganisms for soil protease production (Watanabe and Hayano 1993a; Watanabe et al. 1994). For the accurate estimation of the soil protease source, the characteristics of the soil protease and microbial protease must be compared directly based on enzymatic properties as indices.     

Liming and Manganese Foliar Levels in Orange

ABSTRACT

Citrus cultures have a fundamental importance to the Brazilian economy; certain aspects such as plant nutrition, yield, and fruit quality are vital for the citrus industry sustainability. The present study evaluated the nutritional status of manganese in adult Pear orange trees using different lime rates topically applied to the soil. The direct evaluation of lime rates effects on leaf manganese (Mn) levels revealed a decrease of the nutrient correlated to its increased, as well as passage of time between application and measurement. Foliar sampling 30 months after surface lime application evidenced a high correlation of foliar manganese levels with soil base saturation of 10–20 cm. Leaf manganese levels which showed a great probability of high productivity were between 33 and 70 mg kg^?1.     

Development of a new high-throughput and small-size method for measuring sediment oxygen demand in lakes

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Sediment oxygen demand (SOD) measurement currently requires a long preparation time and bulky experimental equipment, which represent major obstacles to conducting...     

Fuzzy optimization model for integrated management of total nitrogen loads from distributed point and nonpoint sources in watershed

A fuzzy optimization model is developed to allocate allowable total nitrogen (T-N) loads to distributed nonpoint sources (NPSs) and point sources (PSs) in a watershed for river water quality management using the linear programing technique. The watershed is divided into uniform grid cells on which T-N loads issuing from NPSs such as paddy fields, upland crop fields and cities are controlled. A geographic information system integrated with the digital elevation model facilitates computation of route lengths of surface and subsurface flows from cells to a river running through the watershed. The T-N loads discharged from their sources are assumed to decay, subject to distance-related first-order kinetics. As management goals, maximizations of total allowable NPS loads, total allowable PS loads and total yield of rice are considered from environmental and economic viewpoints. A prime constraint is an effluent limitation standard for the aggregate amount of loads that arrive at the downstream end of the river. The fuzzy sets theory helps appropriately describe vague attitudes of decision-makers (i.e., stakeholders and management authorities) in terms of constraints and conflicting goals. An application of the fuzzy optimization model, developed as an improvement over our last nonfuzzy model, to a real watershed in Shiga prefecture, Japan, demonstrates that the fuzzy model embodies our last model, and is capable of creating management alternatives for T-N load allocation in a more practical and flexible manner.     

A distributed hydro-environmental watershed model with three-zoned cell profiling

A cell-based distributed watershed model is developed which enables us to simulate the hydrological and hydraulic aspects of the watershed in a refined fashion. With three-zoned cell profiling, the model is composed of three sub-models; tank model for a surface water zone, soil moisture model for a surface soil zone, and unconfined shallow groundwater flow model for a subsurface zone. Inclusion of the soil moisture sub-model modified to reroute the infiltration, routed from the tank sub-model, into the return flow and the groundwater recharge features the model. The groundwater flow sub-model, numerically approximated by use of the finite volume method and the implicit time-marching scheme, considers a network of on-farm drainage canals as internal boundaries, which is an essential need for modeling the watershed including farmlands. Cascade-linking of the three sub-models in a cell and assembling of all the cells over the entire watershed domain provides the global equations system to be solved. Applicability of the model is demonstrated with its practical application to a real watershed in that paddy and upland crop fields take great part of the land-use practice. It is then indicated in a quantified manner that rice farming significantly contribute as a major groundwater recharger in an irrigation period to fostering and conservation of regional water resources. Along with appropriately profiling a cell, the model is so versatile and tough that it can be applied without difficulty to a watershed of diverse terrains and land-uses and the computations can stably be carried out. It is thus concluded that the model presently developed could be a powerful “watershed simulator” to investigate and assess the time-varying hydro-environmental properties of a watershed while separating and integrating the hydrological and hydraulic components of particular importance.     

Increased expression of fractalkine and its receptor CX(3)CR1 in canine inflammatory bowel disease and their possible role in recruitment of intraepithelial lymphocytes

The interaction between fractalkine/CX(3)CL1 and its receptor CX(3)CR1 has been reported to play an important role in various human inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) mediated by lymphocyte chemoattraction. The objective of this study was to investigate the role of fractalkine and CX(3)CR1 in lymphocyte migration in canine IBD. IBD was diagnosed in 34 dogs, and 19 healthy beagles were used as normal controls. We quantified intestinal mRNA and protein expression of fractalkine and CX(3)CR1 by real-time RT-PCR and ELISA, respectively, and examined the localization of fractalkine in canine intestine by immunohistochemistry. The expression of CX(3)CR1 and surface antigens on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) was analyzed by flow cytometry. Intestinal fractalkine and CX(3)CR1 mRNA was significantly up-regulated in IBD dogs compared with the healthy control dogs. In addition, fractalkine expression on intestinal epithelial cells was significantly increased in the intestinal mucosa of IBD dogs compared with the healthy dogs. CX(3)CR1(+) PBMCs were significantly elevated in IBD dogs and positively correlated with the histopathological severity of IELs infiltration. These CX(3)CR1(+) PBMCs predominantly expressed markers for cytotoxic T cells. Almost all IELs expressed CD3, and the majority of cells expressed CD8 rather than CD4, which was analogous to the CX(3)CR1(+) PBMCs. These results suggest that the fractalkine-CX(3)CR1 interaction may contribute to the pathogenesis of canine IBD through migration of IELs.     

Involvement of granulin in estrogen-induced neurogenesis in the adult rat hippocampus

Recent studies have demonstrated the presence of neurogenesis in the adult mammalian hippocampus, and it has been suggested that estrogen and various growth factors influence the processes of adult neurogenesis. The present study assessed cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus and the mRNA expression levels of granulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus 4 h after treatment with estradiol benzoate (EB) in 3- and 12-month old ovariectomized rats. At 3 months of age, mRNA expression of granulin precursor and cell proliferation were increased by EB treatment, although the mRNA expressions of IGF-I and BDNF remained unchanged. At 12 months of age, however, neither mRNA expression of the three genes nor cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus were affected by EB treatment. In addition, 17beta-estradiol enhanced the proliferation of neural progenitor cells derived from hippocampal tissue of 3-month-old female rats in vitro; this was inhibited by neutralization of granulin with specific antibody. These results suggest that estrogen induces granulin gene expression in the hippocampus and that the product of this gene is involved in the mitogenic effects of estrogen in the dentate gyrus, although the responses to estrogen decline with age.     

A case of canine multiple inflammatory colorectal polyps treated by endoscopic polypectomy and argon plasma coagulation

Endoscopic polypectomy and argon plasma coagulation (APC) were performed in a refractory case of inflammatory colorectal polyps in a 7-year-old male Miniature Dachshund. Colonoscopic examination revealed a large sessile polyp and multiple diffuse small polyps, localized to the descending colon and rectum. The case showed a poor therapeutic response to prednisolone and cyclosporine. Under anesthesia, piecemeal resections were performed by polypectomy. APC was carried out to cauterize the polyp remnants. After treatment, reduction of the lesions and the improvement in clinical signs were observed, without recurrence of lesions for at least 10 months. Endoscopic treatment by polypectomy and APC is suggested to be a therapeutic option for refractory cases of inflammatory colorectal polyps in dogs.