Loquat as a crop model for successful deficit irrigation

During three consecutive seasons, two different deficit irrigation strategies were compared with control fully irrigated trees regarding their capacity to induce early bloom and harvest in “Algerie” loquat. The first strategy, a continuous deficit irrigation strategy, consisted in a uniform reduction of 20% water needs through the entire season; the second strategy, a regulated deficit irrigation approach, while accounting for the same global reduction of 20% loquat water needs, concentrated water shortages after harvest from mid-May through the end of August. Regulated deficit irrigation resulted more successful. Postharvest regulated deficit irrigation advanced full bloom 10–20 days depending on the season. Such enhancement led to more precocious and valuable yield, with an average increase of fruit value of 0.21 € kg⁻¹. The effects of continuous deficit irrigation were less noticeable and average fruit value was increased 0.08 € kg⁻¹. Yield and fruit quality were not affected for the different deficit irrigation strategies. Water savings established around 1450 m³ ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. Deficit irrigation rose water use efficiency up to more than a 40%.     

Subolesin/akirin orthologs from Ornithodoros spp. soft ticks: cloning, RNAi gene silencing and protective effect of the recombinant proteins

Subolesin/akirin is a well characterized protective antigen highly conserved across vector species and thus potentially useful for the development of a broad-spectrum vaccine for the control of arthropod infestations including hard ticks, mosquitoes, sand flies and the poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae. Soft ticks could be also targeted by this vaccine if proved that the soft tick subolesin orthologs are conserved and induce protective immune responses too. However, to date no soft tick subolesin orthologs have been fully characterized nor tested as recombinant antigens in vaccination trials. The objectives of the present work were to clone and characterize the subolesin orthologs from two important vector species of soft ticks as Ornithodoros erraticus and O. moubata, to evaluate the effect of subolesin gene silencing by RNAi, and to test the protective value of the recombinant antigens in vaccination trials. The obtained results demonstrate that both soft tick subolesins are highly conserved showing more than 69% and 74% identity with those of hard ticks in their nucleotide and amino acid sequences, respectively. Additionally, we demonstrate that both soft ticks possess fully operative RNAi machinery, and that subolesin gene silencing by dsRNA injection inhibits oviposition indicating the involvement of subolesin in tick reproduction. Finally, vaccination with the recombinant soft tick subolesins induced a partial protective effect resulting in the reduction of the oviposition rate. These preliminary results encourage further studies on the use of recombinant subolesins as vaccines for the control of soft tick infestations, either alone or in combination with other specific molecules.     

保鲜剂对贮运过程中哈密瓜品质的影响

以‘西州密25号’为试验材料,研究了经保鲜剂处理的哈密瓜‘西州密25号’在短途运输过程中可溶性固形物含量、失重率、硬度、腐烂率的变化情况。结果表明,经保鲜剂处理的哈密瓜的可溶性固形物含量(17.94%)低于未处理的(18.16%)、A组的腐烂率(20%)低于对照组(60%),此外保鲜剂的使用还可以抑制果肉硬度和果实质量的下降,从而延长货架期,保持优良品质,保证商家的利益。     

复合涂膜结合紫外处理对鲜切木瓜冷藏品质的影响

为了延长鲜切木瓜的保鲜时间,利用尼辛、那他霉素、薄荷油、氯化钙、香兰素、壳聚糖制成复合保鲜涂膜液,考察涂膜及紫外线处理对木瓜鲜切块贮藏品质(包括色泽、可溶性固形物含量、失水率、维生素C含量、可滴定酸、霉菌酵母数、菌落总数)的影响。由均匀设计试验优化涂膜液配方以及紫外线处理参数。研究结果表明:涂膜及紫外线处理可较好地保持鲜切木瓜的色泽,抑制褐变,保持较高的可溶性固形物含量,减少贮藏过程中的水分损失,抑制霉菌、酵母菌和细菌的增长。采用SAS软件建立各参数与菌落总数关系的回归方程。利用非线性规划法得到较佳的复合涂膜配方与紫外线处理参数为:壳聚糖质量分数1.0%,氯化钙质量分数0.6%,Nisin0.10g/kg,那他霉素14.0mg/kg,香兰素质量分数0.3%,薄荷油1.5mL/L,紫外照射时间22min,紫外照射距离范围44～66cm。此复合涂膜配方与紫外线处理可使货架期至少达到6天,为鲜切木瓜保鲜提供技术参考。     

苜蓿组织培养研究进展

苜蓿Medicago spp.组织培养已在多个种上取得成功,且以紫花苜蓿M. sativa最多。对苜蓿组织培养的外植体选择、培养基组成成分、愈伤组织和体细胞胚的诱导、植株再生以及基因型的选择5个方面阐述了苜蓿组织培养的研究现状。并进一步对目前存在的问题和发展趋势进行了归纳,以期为苜蓿基因工程和细胞工程研究提供有益的借鉴。     

Hypoglycemic effect of lupin seed γ-conglutin in experimental animals and healthy human subjects

A lupin seed γ-conglutin-enriched preparation was tested in a glucose overload trial with both murine models and adult healthy volunteers. The results with rats showed a dose-dependent significant decrease of blood glucose concentration, which confirmed previous findings obtained with the purified protein. Moreover, three test-product doses equivalent to 630, 315, and 157.5 mg γ-conglutin, orally administered 30 min before the carbohydrate supply, showed a relevant hypoglycemic effect in human trials. Insulin concentrations were not significantly affected. The general hematic parameters did not change at all.This is the first report on the glucose-lowering effect of lupin γ-conglutin in human subjects.     

Multilocus sequence typing analysis of Italian Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris strains suggests the evolution of local endemic populations of the pathogen and does not correlate with race distribution

Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) is the causal agent of black rot in Brassicaceae. It is widespread in Italy and severe outbreaks occur under conditions that favour disease development. In this study a multilocus sequence typing approach (MLST) based on the partial sequence of seven loci was applied to a selection of strains representative of the main areas of cultivation and hosts. The aim was to investigate whether the long tradition of brassica crops in Italy has influenced the evolution of different Xcc populations. All loci were polymorphic; 14 allelic profiles were identified of which 13 were unique to Italian strains. Based on the seven loci, the most common genotype within the Italian Xcc strains (AP1) was also the most representative genotype found in worldwide Xcc strains. This genotype was included in a new clonal complex in addition to three other clonal complexes already identified in Xcc populations. The phylogenetic reconstruction using a concatenated dataset of four conserved protein-coding genes, dnaK, fuyA, gyrB and rpoD, showed that the Italian strains belonged to two genetic groups. Physiological races were also investigated for the first time in Italy. The race structure of Xcc was determined by inoculating eight differential Brassica lines belonging to five species and showed that, in Italy, race 4 is the most widespread, followed by races 1 and 6. No correlation was found between allelic profiles, host of isolation, geographical origin and races, although a prevalent race was identified within the same clonal complex.     

Combined Effects of Excess Mn and Low pH on Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Enzymes in Cucumber Roots

The effects of excess Mn on oxidative stress and antioxidant enzymes in cucumber roots under different pH （pH 4.5 and 6.5） were studied. The results indicated that lipid peroxidation was increasingly serious with the increased concentration of Mn, especially under low pH. As a result, the growth of cucumber roots and shoots was significantly inhibited. Excess Mn led to an elevation in activities of Mn-SOD and Fe-SOD, which played an important role in removing O2^-. CAT was sensitive to excess Mn, and its activity significantly decreased under excess Mn and low pH, while activities of GPX, APX, DHAR and GR increased under low pH and to some extent under excess Mn, which indicated their important roles in scavenging reactive oxygen in tolerance to low pH and excess Mn of cucumber roots.     

Transgenic fertile soybean plants derived from somatic embryos transformed via the combined DNA-free particle bombardment and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Agrobacterium</Emphasis> system

An Agrobacterium-mediated transformation procedure for soybean [Glycine max L. Merrill] proliferating somatic embryos is here described. The Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 strain harboring pTOK233, pCAMBIA1390-olp or pH7WG2Dwrky plasmids was used to mediate gene transfer into the plant genome. Prior to Agrobacterium inoculation, proliferative soybean embryogenic clusters were microwounded by DNA-free tungsten particle bombardment. Three independent transformation experiments were performed. In Experiment I, 26 transgenic plants were obtained from a unique clone of cv Bragg, while 580 plants were recovered from 105 clones of cv IAS5. In Experiment II, a single hygromycin-resistant clone of cv BRSMG68 Vencedora was recovered and gave rise to five plants. In Experiment III, 19 plants of cv Bragg and 48 plants of IAS5 were recovered, representing five and 14 independent transformation events, respectively. PCR and Southern analyses confirmed the transgenes’ integration into plant genomes. Transgenic plants were fertile. They flowered, set pods and seeds. Transgene segregation in two T₁ progenies fits the Mendelian pattern (3:1 transgenic:non-transgenic plants). This is the first report of transgenic fertile soybean plants obtained from somatic embryogenic tissues transformed by the system that combines DNA-free particle bombardment and Agrobacterium.