Inhibitory activity of proteinaceous α-amylase inhibitors from Triticale seeds against Eurygaster integriceps salivary α-amylases: Interaction of the inhibitors and the insect digestive enzymes

In many countries, the Sunn pest, Eurygaster integriceps Puton (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae) is one of the most important insect pests of wheat. Chemical control of E. integriceps is not efficient making it essential to find other control methods. Plant α-amylase inhibitors expressed as transgenes have emerged as a promising way of controlling insect pests and several crop species expressing transgenic amylase inhibitors have been shown to be resistant to certain insect pest. Here we report inhibition of salivary α-amylases of E. integriceps by semi-purified proteinaceous α-amylase inhibitors from Triticale (TAI). A dose dependent trend of inhibition of the enzyme was observed using TAI with an I₅₀ value of 0.79 μg of TAI. At the highest concentration of the inhibitor used here, we found 87% inhibition of amylase activity. The inhibitory activity was maximal at pH at 5.0, which is in accordance with the pH optimum of the salivary gland enzymes. Kinetic studies of enzyme-inhibitor interaction revealed a kind of partial mixed inhibition with an apparent inhibitory constant value (K_i[app]) of 1.1 μg of TAI against salivary α-amylase in the assay medium. In gel inhibition assays showed that all isoforms of salivary glands α-amylase were sensitive to the TAI, although to different degrees. Moreover, the effectiveness of TAI was retained in different stages of pre-oral and oral digestion of E. integriceps, although some inhibitory activity was lost, possibly by the action of the insect proteases. These findings indicate that TAI shows promise for use in the management of this pest. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of inhibitor-insect digestive enzymes interaction, based on the insect feeding strategy and digestion process.     

A serologic study on Toxoplasma gondii infection in slaughtered sheep and goats in Qazvin Province,Iran

Background

Toxoplasma gondii is a common protozoan parasite among all mammals, in particular small ruminants, worldwide. Traditional husbandry can be a major risk factor for infection of sheep and goats with this parasite.

Objectives

The present study aimed to determine the current status of the prevalence for T. gondii in livestock of Qazvin Province.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, the sera of 455 sheep and 375 goats were examined to detect anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies by using in-house indirect ELISA.

Results

Overall, 33.62% (153/455) of sheep and 36.41% (130/375) of goats were positive for anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies with no statistically significant difference. The prevalence rate of T. gondii among the sheep of Qazvin County was significantly higher than in Abyek and Abhar counties (p < 0.001).

Conclusions

The results of the present study indicate that the prevalence of T. gondii in sheep and goats of the study area is high. Therefore, the meat of the animals reared in this area can be a potential source of human infections by this parasite.

     

Temperature influences postdispersal predation of weed seeds

Temperature is a key factor for the living organisms on earth. It influences weed management practices, either directly or indirectly. Field experiments were conducted to determine the effect of temperature on the postdispersal seed predation of four important weed species (Cuscuta compestris, Stellaria media, Taraxacum officinale and Veronica persica) in two lucerne fields in Mashhad and Chenaran, north‐eastern Iran. These two cities have the same climate: temperate and cold alpine but the temperature varies between them. Wire mesh cages were used to determine the relative importance of birds in predation and pitfall traps were used to detect the species and the activity density of invertebrate predators. The results showed that the predation preference of different weed species was significantly different between and within fields. Seed predation fluctuated widely throughout the sampling periods, matching the periodic forage harvest and regrowth cycle of lucerne. Despite the level of seed predation fluctuating, it declined toward the last sampling periods. Using wire mesh exclusion cages showed no significant effect of birds on weed seed predation in both fields. Ants, crickets and carabid beetles were the invertebrate seed predators that were caught in the pitfall traps. There were significant correlations between the mean temperature and predator activity densities and also between the predated seeds and the mean air temperature in both locations. The results of this study indicate the significant effect of temperature on postdispersal weed seed predation. Therefore, with respect to climate change and increasing global warming, it would be possible to focus on postdispersal seed predation in weed management in the future.     

Hijacking tobacco hairy roots and leaves in order to produce IpaD antigen by means of different signal peptides

IpaA, IpaB, IpaC, and IpaD are Shigella dysenteriae Ipa operon genes which collectively contribute in invasion to the epithelial cells of the human gut. Among them, IpaD has been demonstrated to play the most crucial role in shigellosis. Noteworthy, due to the more efficient, cost-effective and no need for advanced equipment in comparison with traditional systems, plant-based expression systems are considered as a novel strategy for production of recombinant proteins. As an aim of this research, attempts were carried out to examine and compare IpaD antigen production in three different plant-based platforms, including transgenic tobacco hairy roots and leaves as well as a transient based expression. Furthermore, different signal peptides (i.e. Zera® and Extensin) were also employed in order to improve the production level. Based on TAS-ELISA result, the highest yield of IpaD acquired by ER-derived protein bodies (Zera® ) which was more than 1.29-fold higher as compared with apoplastic space based on TSP% in both transgenic tobacco hairy roots and leaves. Furthermore, transgenic tobacco hairy roots were more abundant than transgenic leaves averaging 0.52 ng of IpaD per μg TSP and with a maximum of 0.94 ng IpaD per μg TSP in the best-performing construct of pBI-ZeCIpaD. Totally, the results of quantitative RT-PCR and TAS-ELISA indicated that the best time point for the production of IpaD using agroinfiltration was 72 h post infiltration and during 72 to 96 hpi, expression levels descended rapidly. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report representing and combining the potential effects of signal peptides and plant-based expression platforms on stably production of IpaD antigen in transgenic tobacco leaves and hairy roots.     

Association between climate indices,aridity index,and rainfed crop yield in northeast of Iran

Agricultural drought occurs when there is a deficit in soil water supply to crops. Severe drought limits crop water availability and reduces yield. Rainfed crop production is very vulnerable to drought conditions and farmers in northeast of Iran who heavily depend on their rainfed cereals production usually suffer from drought occurrence. Based on history, any severe drought resulted in severe financial problems and forced the affected farmers to move to cities in search of alternative jobs. Any possibility to enable the farmers to mitigate or adapt to drought is highly required. In this study, the relationship between aridity index (AI) and detrended crop yield (1985–2005) of selected crops (wheat and barley) and the influence of three climate indices (AO, NAO and NINO-3.4) were assessed for Khorasan province in northeast of Iran. All associations were assessed at annual, seasonal (wet and dry seasons) and monthly scale considering both concurrent and lag correlations (1-year and 2-year lag). Our results indicated a significant correlation (P < 0.05) between the AI and crops yield mostly in central Khorasan province. Our study also showed that correlation coefficient between AI and barley yield was stronger than AI and wheat yield across all study locations. Seasonal (wet) AI showed significant correlation with crops yield. These results demonstrated that, in some areas of Khorasan, drought is one of the key causes of interannual yield variability. We also observed a significant association between NAO and NINO-3.4 with AI. Precipitation is one of the components of AI, so AI response to NAO and NINO-3.4 can be related to the observed association between this index and precipitation. It seems that these indices could be useful tools to monitor drought patterns and subsequent yield variability in some regions of Khorasan province.     

Electrospun nanostructures based on polyurethane/MWCNTs for strain sensing applications

Electrically conductive nanofibers were fabricated from elastic polyurethane (PU) and PU/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) nanocomposite by electrospinning method. The nanocomposites were electrospun at various MWCNTs loading. Electron microscopy was used to investigate nanofibers morphology and dispersion of MWCNTs in the electrospun nanofibers. The results showed that the presence of the MWCNTs promoted the creation of fibrous structures in comparison with the PU without MWCNTs. On the other hand, increasing the MWCNTs content resulted in a slight increase in the average fiber diameter. TEM micrographs and mechanical properties of the electrospun mats indicated that the homogeneous dispersion of MWCNTs throughout PU matrix is responsible for the considerable enhancement of mechanical properties of the nanofiber mats. Electrical behavior of the conductive mats was also studied, in view of possible sensor applications. Cyclic experiments were conducted to establish whether the electrical properties were reversible, which is an important requirement for sensor materials.     

Evaluation of Genetic Diversity in Wild Diploid Wheat Triticum boeoticum from Iran Using AFLP Markers

Although Iran is a main center of distribution of wild wheats, but little information is available regarding genetic variation in wild wheat relatives from this country （Tabatabaei and Massoumi, 2001）. The habitats of wild wheats in the west of Iran （east of Fertile Crescent） are potentially the ideal areas to explore the suitable genes for further transferring into the cultivated wheat. In the Near East, primary habitats of Z boeoticum occur in the northern and eastern parts of the Fertile Crescent （Harlan and Zohary, 1996）.Various sites of excavations such as Ali KOSH （Iran）, Catal HUYUK and HACILAR （Turkey）, from where specimens of Z monococcum have been recovered are within the general area of distribution of Z boeoticum （Harlan and Zohary, 1996）. Iran is a main center of distribution of wild wheats and the associated compositions of Z boeoticum with Aegilops spp. as the ＂richest wheat gene pool＂ has been found in this region （Tabatabaei and Massoumi, 2001）.Therefore, it is supposed that the populations of Z boeoticum in this region contain high levels of genetic diversity and may provide significant information regarding their potential for breeding purposes. In this study,     

Nursery performance of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei Boone, 1931) cultivated in a biofloc system: the effect of adding different carbon sources

Effect of different carbon sources on nursery performance of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) cultivated in biofloc system was investigated. Shrimp postlarvae (98.47 ± 8.6 mg) were fed for 32 days in tanks with water volume of 130 L and density of 1 individual L^?1. One control treatment and four biofloc treatments (BFT1, BFT2, BFT3 and BFT4) with adding different carbon sources including molasses, starch, wheat flour and mixture of them, respectively, were considered at equal weight ratios. According to the results, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH were not significantly different among the biofloc treatments (P > 0.05). Maximum pH (8.27) and maximum dissolved oxygen (6.35 mg L^?1) were recorded in the control. Maximum (0.43 mg L^?1) and minimum (0.09 mg L^?1) ammonia were recorded in the control and BFT2, respectively (P < 0.05). Using simple carbohydrates (molasses and starch) lowered the ammonia concentration significantly. The highest increase in body weight (1640.43 ± 231.28 mg), growth rate, specific growth rate (8.97 ± 0.42% per day) and biomass (190.29 ± 26.83 mg) were found in BFT1 and the highest survival (90 ± 0.77%) was found in BFT4. The highest feed conversion (1.52 ± 0.23) and the lowest feed efficiency (66.81 ± 7.95) were observed in the control (P < 0.05). The proximate composition analysis revealed an increase in lipid and ash in biofloc treatments. Results indicated that using biofloc technology with zero‐water exchange system and adding carbon sources could help to recycle waste and improve the water quality. Moreover, the type of carbonaceous organic matter as a substrate for heterotrophic bacteria would be effective in degradation and metabolization of ammonia and nitrite.     

Investigating impact of converging training walls of the ogee spillways on hydraulic performance

Paddy and Water Environment - Due to their economical and structural aspects, ogee-crested spillways can be constructed and operated in a wide variety of situations. In this study, a...