Effect of chelating agent in disperse dye dyeing on polyester fabric

In this study, mild acid based chelating agents (glycolic acid, gluconic acid, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and citric acid) were used for the dyeing of polyester fabrics with metal sensitive disperse dye in closed dyeing process. The chelating and pH adjustment efficiencies were compared in disperse dyeing condition. In the comparative analysis with different chelating agents, glycolic acid showed a higher chelation efficiency and consequently showed higher dye bath exhaustion and color strength. Slight differences in the color fastness of the dyed samples obtained by employing four different chelating agents were observed.     

Spatio-temporal variability of drought characteristics across Pakistan

Climate change in Pakistan has a great impact on the spatial and temporal variation of precipitation and ultimately alters the frequency and duration of droughts. In this study, spatial and temporal trend analyses of precipitation and droughts were observed at 58 meteorological stations across Pakistan from 1981 to 2018. The existing trend analysis methods were evaluated to address the issue of serial correlation in the climatic data. Results of precipitation analysis showed significant decreasing trends in winter (November, December) and significant increasing trends were observed in summer (June and September) at a confidence level of 95 percent. The magnitude of the precipitation trends showed the highest variation during summer season and the least variation in winter season. Rotated Principal Component (RPC) analysis showed the severe droughts (high positive loading) in southeastern side (Sindh province) of Pakistan due to lack of summer rains. Furthermore, variance correction approaches are identified as the most suitable in coping with the effect of serial correlation. The highest drought frequencies were observed in the southern areas of Pakistan and the drought events are expected to occur more frequently in the late winter, early spring, and early autumn, while droughts were expected to occur least frequently in summer.

     

陆地棉转录因子GhNAC7的克隆及功能分析

【目的】从陆地棉中克隆GhNAC7,分析其结构和功能,研究其在棉花不同组织中以及叶片不同发育时期的表达量。并转入拟南芥进一步探究其在棉花叶片衰老过程中的作用。【方法】利用中国农业科学院棉花研究所棉花生物学国家重点实验室建立的棉花衰老叶片cDNA文库中的序列,获得1个含有NAM结构域的EST,使用Oligo6.71设计引物,重新在陆地棉叶片cDNA中进行克隆。使用Gene Structure Display Server软件分析GhNAC7结构,使用在线工具Plant CARE分析启动子序列,利用在线工具Gen Scan进行氨基酸序列翻译。同时,利用拟南芥基因组数据库(TAIR)进行序列比对,选取得分较高的NAC家族基因,使用MEGA 6.06软件和Gene Doc软件进行进化树分析和氨基酸比对。以XbaⅠ和SacⅠ为酶切位点构建35S::GhNAC7-GFP融合表达载体,分析其在洋葱表皮细胞中的瞬时表达,进行亚细胞定位。利用实时荧光定量PCR技术分析GhNAC7在棉花不同组织、不同叶片发育时期以及在200μmol·L~(-1) ABA调控下的表达量。通过构建p GhNAC7-GUS融合表达载体并转拟南芥,分析其启动子特异性。以Eco RⅠ和SalⅠ为酶切位点,利用p BI101和p BI121载体,分别构建融合表达载体并转拟南芥进行过表达分析。【结果】从陆地棉中成功克隆GhNAC7,其全长为1 064 bp,包含3个外显子,2个内含子。生物信息学分析结果表明,GhNAC7开放阅读框为834 bp,可编码277个氨基酸,其蛋白质分子量为31.35 k D,等电点为9.22。结构域分析表明其属于NAC转录因子的NAM亚家族,进化树分析显示GhNAC7与ANAC041、ANAC083同源性最高,其中,GhNAC7与ANAC083结构域位置均为17—58 aa。其启动子核心元件包含一系列与衰老、激素、胁迫相关的顺式作用元件。亚细胞定位表明其蛋白为核蛋白。组织特异性表明GhNAC7在真叶、子叶、花、花药和衰老真叶中均明显表达,其中在衰老的真叶中表达量最高。启动子特异性分析表明,其GUS活性在衰老的叶片中最强。在拟南芥中过表达该基因,转基因植株比野生型表现出明显的衰老症状。荧光定量PCR分析表明,ABA处理后6 h GhNAC7明显上调表达,并在48 h表达量达到最高,这表明ABA可调控GhNAC7表达从而调节棉花叶片衰老。【结论】GhNAC7可以促进棉花叶片衰老并受ABA的调控。     

Hexane Extract of Raphanus sativus L. Roots Inhibits Cell Proliferation and Induces Apoptosis in Human Cancer Cells by Modulating Genes Related to Apoptotic Pathway

Raphanus sativus, a common cruciferous vegetable has been attributed to possess a number of pharmacological and therapeutic properties. It has been used in indigenous system of medicine for the treatment of various human ailments in India. This present study evaluated the chemopreventive efficacy of different parts of R. sativus such as root, stem and leaves, extracted with solvents of varying polarity and investigated the molecular mechanism leading to growth arrest and apoptotic cell death in human cancer cell lines. Of the different parts, significant growth inhibitory effect was observed with hexane extract of R. sativus root. Analysis of hexane extract by GC-MS revealed the presence of several isothiocyanates (ITCs) such as 4-(methylthio)-3-butenyl isothiocyanate (MTBITC), 4-(methylthio)-3-butyl isothiocyanate (erucin), 4-methylpentyl isothiocyanate, 4-pentenyl isothiocyanate and sulforaphene. R. sativus root extract induced cell death both in p53 proficient and p53 deficient cell lines through induction of apoptotic signaling pathway regardless of the p53 status of cells. The molecular mechanisms underlying R. sativus-induced apoptosis may involve interactions among Bcl₂ family genes, as evidenced by up-regulation of pro-apoptotic genes and down-regulation of anti-apoptotic genes along with activation of Caspase-3. Our findings present the first evidence that hexane extract of R. sativus root exerts potential chemopreventive efficacy and induces apoptosis in cancer cell lines through modulation of genes involved in apoptotic signaling pathway.     

Enzymatic surface modification of polyacrylonitrile and its copolymers: Effects of polymer surface area and protein adsorption

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) is a widely used polymer in the textile industry. PAN contains cyano groups on the surface due to which it possess low hydrophilicity and limits its application. Thus, there is a need to modify the functional groups on the surface of PAN for its industrial demand to improve moisture uptake, dyeability with ionic dyes, without affecting mechanical properties. A number of strategies such as chemical treatment, plasma treatment, enzymatic treatment etc. have been applied for the surface modification of polymer but enzymatic treatment are advantageous over plasma treatment and chemical treatment. In enzymatic treatment, reaction is limited to polymer surface only, and provides milder condition with less damage to polymer. In present study, it was found that enzyme system of Amycolatopsis sp.IITR215 was effective enzyme system for modification of surface nitrile groups of polyacrylonitrile. PAN powder was treated with the cell free extract of Amycolatopsis sp.IITR215 and it was found that the nitrile metabolizing enzymes of this strain were efficiently able to transform -CN to -COOH groups present on the surfaces of PAN powder. The formation of carboxyl group was quantified by ammonia released and dye binding assay. Further, confirmation of carboxyl group on polymer was done by FTIR and XPS. This study indicates that, specific adsorption of enzyme probably plays an important role in the enzymatic surface modification of polymer.     

Simultaneous HPLC determination of gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) and lysine in selected Pakistani rice varieties by pre-column derivatization with 2-Hydroxynaphthaldehyde

A selective and sensitive HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) and lysine in Pakistani rice varieties was developed. Both analytes were detected in rice varieties as Schiff base derivatives with 2-hydroxynaphthaldehyde. The derivatives were analyzed on a reverse phase C-18 column with Diode Array Detector (DAD) at 254 nm. The calibration curves were found linear over a concentration range of 3.83–34.58 μg/mL for GABA and 5.16–48.68 μg/mL for lysine with a correlation coefficient of 0.998 for both standards. GABA and lysine contents were found higher in brown rice varieties (4.1–6.58 mg/100 g for GABA and 15.1–27.6 mg/100 g for lysine) than the polished varieties (0.32–0.47 mg/100 g GABA and 13.1–19.8 mg/100 g lysine). This method could be used for separation and quantification of GABA and lysine simultaneously in food samples, especially in cereal seeds.     

Mineralogy and factors controlling charge development of three Oxisols developed from different parent materials

Three Oxisols, developed from serpentinite (Sungai Mas Series), basalt (Kuantan Series) and andesite (Segamat Series), selected to represent the most common Oxisols in Malaysia were sampled and studied. The objectives of this study were: (i) to determine mineralogical composition and factors responsible for changes in point of zero charge (pH₀) of the variable charge component of three Oxisols; (ii) to use pH₀ values to assess degree of chemical weathering; and (iii) to determine the magnitude of variable charge using corrected back-titration technique. The mineralogical composition was determined by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The pH₀ was determined by potentiometric titration in different electrolyte strengths. The magnitude of variable charge generation as a function of soil pH was measured using corrected back-titration to allow elimination of charge overestimation caused by solid dissolution and hydrolysis reactions. The results showed that the mineralogical composition were similar (kaolinite, goethite, hematite and gibbsite) between profiles but different in proportion, except for gibbsite which was absent in the andesite-derived soil. The sequential removal of soil organic matter (SOM), iron oxides and SOM together with iron oxides resulted in the changes of pH₀ from 3.9–5.7 to 5.3–6.7, 2.6–3.7 and 3.3–4.5, respectively. These pH₀ changes indicate SOM and sesquioxides are masking mineral surfaces and are factors responsible for lowering and increasing pH₀ values, respectively. Regression correlation (R² = 0.87^??) showed that for every 1% organic C may decrease 1.0 unit of pH₀ value. The pH₀ values, after SOM removal, are in the order of Sungai Mas ～ Segamat > Kuantan Series. This suggests that the serpentinite and andesite-derived soils have achieved a relatively similar degree of chemical weathering and they are more weathered than the basalt-derived soil. The charge measured by corrected back-titration is 1.5–3.8 cmol_c kg^? 1 at pH 4.5 and increases to 4.2–10.8 cmol_c kg^? 1 at pH 6.5, indicating that the three Oxisols mainly bear variable charge. Charge overestimation resulted from dissolution and hydrolysis reactions during potentiometric titration ranges from 36 to 160%, depending on pH values (the lower the pH the higher is the overestimation). Hence, back-titration is a reliable technique to correct charge overestimation when using the traditional potentiometric titration for highly weathered tropical soils.     

Development of breeding populations from interspecific hybrids between Trifolium repens L. and T. occidentale Coombe

Trifolium occidentale is a diploid wild relative of T. repens (white clover) with adaptation to dry, saline coastal habitats. Transfer of drought and salt‐tolerant adaptive traits to white clover could be potentially valuable if interspecific hybridization can be achieved efficiently and leads to fertile hybrid populations. To achieve hybridization, 4x plants of T. occidentale were generated. Efficient techniques for generation of 4x plants and their identification using dry pollen shape are described. Interspecific 4x F₁ plants were achieved without embryo rescue. F₂ populations and first backcross hybrids to white clover were also efficiently achieved. Although male and female fertility were lower than in white clover, they were adequate to produce large amounts of seed from small numbers of inflorescences. Thus, early generation interspecific hybrid prebreeding populations can be readily developed, opening the way for transfer of traits from T. occidentale to white clover.