Degradation of cyanidin 3-rutinoside in the presence of (-)-epicatechin and litchi pericarp polyphenol oxidase

The degradation mechanism of cyanidin 3-rutinoside in the presence of (-)-epicatechin and litchi pericarp polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was investigated using several model systems. The enzymically generated (-)-epicatechin o-quinone could induce cyanidin 3-rutinoside degradation. The results obtained in this study allowed us to propose a pathway for cyanidin 3-rutinoside degradation in the presence of (-)-epicatechin and litchi pericarp PPO. First, enzymatic oxidation of (-)-epicatechin produced the corresponding o-quinone, and then cyanidin 3-rutinoside and (-)-epicatechin competed for (-)-epicatechin o-quinone, resulting in degradation of cyanidin 3-rutinoside and regeneration of (-)-epicatechin. Moreover, the results of kinetic studies indicated this competition was influenced by both (-)-epicatechin concentration and cyanidin 3-rutinoside concentration in the model system.     

Food habits and physical activity patterns among Palestinian adolescents: findings from the national study of Palestinian schoolchildren (HBSC-WBG2004)

OBJECTIVE: To describe the food habits and physical (in)activity patterns and to investigate the relationship with sociodemographic factors among Palestinian adolescents. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: The Palestinian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) is a cross-sectional survey of grades 6, 8, 10 and 12. Students completed a modified version of the international HBSC questionnaire. A total of 8885 students were included in this analysis; 53% were from the West Bank and 47% from the Gaza Strip. RESULTS: Adolescents in the West Bank consume more fruit, meat, chicken, sweets and soft drinks, but less vegetables than adolescents in Gaza (P<0.01). Girls reported more daily consumption of fruit, vegetables and sweets than boys (P<0.001), and less consumption of soft drinks, milk, meat and chicken (P<0.01). Boys were physically more active than girls (P<0.01), whereas girls reported doing more homework (P<0.001). Both boys and girls reported less physical activity with increasing age (P<0.001). Consumption of fruit and milk was positively associated with both parents' education, while consumption of meat, chicken and soft drinks was positively associated with mother's education only. Having breakfast on schooldays was positively associated with the father's education. Physical activity and television viewing were associated with the mother's education (P<0.01). The parents' level of education had no effect on vegetable consumption and dieting status. CONCLUSION: This study indicated that there are problems with Palestinian adolescents' eating, dieting and physical activity. Regional, gender and parental socio-economic status differences should be taken into account in developing interventions. More detailed studies are needed with more elaborate instruments about food habits and physical activity of adolescents.     

Quantification of allele E198A in beta-tubulin conferring benzimidazole resistance in Monilinia fructicola using real-time PCR

BACKGROUND: Thiophanate-methyl, a member of the benzimidazole class of fungicides, is used in California to control brown rot of stone fruit caused by Monilinia fructicola (G. Wint.) Honey. The goal of this study was to develop a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay as an efficient method to quantify the E198A allele of beta-tubulin that confers benzimidazole resistance. RESULTS: Using the real-time PCR assay, the frequency of allele E198A (FEA) in a population was determined from the quantities of DNA amplified with the E198A allele-specific primer pair HRF/HRR and the M. fructicola-specific primer pair MfF6/MfR6. The average proportions of highly resistant isolates determined with the conventional fungicide sensitivity method were within the range of average FEA values determined with the real-time PCR assay. We also determined the FEAs of M. fructicola populations sampled from 21 stone fruit orchards in California. Only one orchard showed a high FEA over 0.20, seven orchards had values between 0.01 and 0.1, and 13 orchards had values less than 0.01. CONCLUSION: The real-time PCR assay developed in this study provides a potentially useful tool to efficiently quantify benzimidazole resistance for large M. fructicola populations.     

Extra small virus-like particles (XSV) and nodavirus associated with whitish muscle disease in the giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii

A disease of Macrobrachium rosenbergii, the giant freshwater prawn, farmed in China was recently recorded in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces. The clinical sign of the disease, which develops in post-larvae (PL), is a whitish appearance of the muscles, particularly noticeable in the abdomen. Mortalities may reach 100% in some hatcheries. Investigations by transmission electron microscopy after negative staining of diseased PL homogenates showed the presence of two types of viral particles: one, unenveloped, icosahedral in shape, 26-27 nm in diameter, the second, much smaller, about 14-16 nm in diameter, designated extra small virus particle (XSV). The large virus has a genome with two pieces of ssRNA (RNA-1 and RNA-2), of 3 and 1.2 kb, respectively. Hybridization tests confirmed that this large virus is closely related to M. rosenbergii nodavirus (MrNV) which was isolated from diseased prawns in a hatchery in the French West Indies. Its very small size and hypothesized biochemical and biological characteristics suggest XSV is a new type of crustacean virus. As XSV has always been found associated with the larger virus (nodavirus) and is located in muscle and connective cells of diseased animals, it could be an autonomous virus, a helper-type virus or a satellite-like virus.     

Cotton Databases and Web Resources

There are several web sites for whichinformation is available to the cotton researchcommunity.Most of these sites relate toresources developed or available to the researchcommunity.Few provide bioinformatic tools,which usually relate to the specific data sets andmaterials presented in the database.Just as thebioinformatics area is evolving,the available     

家禽拌料免疫的研究

家禽通过饲喂含病毒性疫苗的颗粒饲料进行免疫，与常规注射同种疫苗进行了特异性抗体的比较。经ELISA测定，传染性脑脊髓炎疫苗，通过拌料和滴眼免疫产生相同的抗体，并且疫苗毒均可在鸡群中经接触传播，若口服量增加10倍，产生特异性抗体更快，但抗体滴度不增加，喉气管炎病毒经拌料免疫不能引起血清学反应。将腺病毒拌料免疫，鸡可以产生特异性抗体，但经滴眼产生的抗体滴度比拌料产生的要高，并且疫苗株也可在鸡群中传播。因此认为脑脊髓炎病毒和以腺病毒为载体的基因重组疫苗可经拌料对鸡免疫。     

Evaluation of a laryngoscope and a rigid endoscope for the examination of the oral cavity of small mammals

The oral cavities of 65 rabbits, 35 chinchillas, 38 guinea pigs, 19 degus and 13 prairie dogs suffering from a lack of appetite, hypersalivation, moist dermatitis, swelling of the lower jaw or mild exophthalmos were examined with a paediatric laryngoscope and rigid endoscope. The laryngoscope was safe and satisfactory for a preliminary examination, but changes in the less accessible caudal parts of the cavity could not be identified precisely. A rigid endoscope with 30 degrees optics made it possible to examine all parts of the oral cavity and oropharynx, and make detailed observations of surface lesions on the premolar and molar teeth and the mucosal surface of the gingiva, tongue and hard palate; endoscopy with 70 degrees optics provided an excellent view of the occlusal tooth surfaces, tooth crowns, and buccal mucosa. The collection of biopsy samples, the removal of foreign objects and the correction of malocclusions were greatly simplified by the use of the endoscope owing to the clear visualisation of the procedures, and the risk of injury was minimised. The examinations with a laryngoscope were made effectively on animals that were manually restrained, but a thorough examination with a rigid endoscope required the animals to be anaesthetised.     

The immune response and protective efficacy of oral alginate microparticle Aeromonas sobria vaccine in soft-shelled turtles (Trionyx sinensis)

Aeromonas sobria is an important bacterial pathogen of soft-shelled turtles (Trionyx sinensis). The effect of an oral alginate microparticle A. sobria vaccine (MAV) on immune response and protection efficacy of soft-shelled turtles was investigated. The formalin-killed cultures of A. sobria strain Z-1 (FKC) were incorporated into alginate microparticles, and the encapsulated vaccine was orally used for immunizing turtles. The serum agglutinating antibody titers, bactericidal activity of blood leucocytes and relative percent survival (RPS) post-challenge with virulent live bacteria of control and immunized turtles were detected. The serum agglutinating antibody titers and bactericidal activity of the leucocytes in the turtles orally immunized with MAV reached a level equivalent to those of the turtles injected with FKC and were significantly higher than those of control group. The RPS of turtles immunized orally with the MAV and intraperitoneally with FKC was 89.5 and 94.7%, respectively, while 95% of the control turtles had died. These results demonstrated that oral alginate microparticle A. sobria vaccine was immunogenic, and could confer protective immunity in soft-shelled turtles.     

New alleles of chicken CD8 alpha and CD3d found in Chinese native and western breeds

Chinese native chicken breeds provide useful resources for the study of genetic diversity. In this study, the alleles of CD8 alpha and CD3d cDNA from Chinese native and introduced western breeds of chicken were analyzed at the sequence level. Six alleles were found, due to 13 amino acid replacements in the extracellular domain of the CD8 alpha sequence. There were four alleles detected in the Chinese strains, and alleles 5 and 6 were identified for the first time. Allele 6 was shared by Langshan, Beijing Fatty and Recessive White Feather chickens. Allele 2, found in the Bigbone strain, was the same as that found in the Leghorn strain H.B15.H7, and allele 3 in the Xianju breed was also the same as in the Leghorn strain H.B15.H12. Two Leghorn lines (RPL line 7 and AY519197) and the Camellia possessed an allele (alleles 1, 4 and 5), respectively, that was not found in the other lines. Nine out of 13 amino acid replacements were situated in the putative major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I binding CDR1 (positions 30, 33 and 34), CDR2 (positions 58, 62, 63 and 65) and CDR3 (positions 90 and 106). Except for the Xianju breed, the CD8 alpha cDNA of Chinese native chicken breeds shared high homology. Two alleles were found in CD3d. Three additional nucleotides were found at positions 64, 65 and 66 in the newly discovered allele 2. This led to a difference of four amino acids (at residues 22, 23, 24 and 25) in the extracellular domain of CD3d cDNA from the Gushi, Recessive White Feather and ISA chickens compared with these of the White Leghorn and T11.15 (NM_205512). Five hybridoma clones (1C9, 1H5, 4B11, 6G5 and 13C5) against chicken CD8 alpha were generated by DNA immunization. Two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), 6G5 and 4B11, showed reactivity to the splenocytes from five Chinese native chicken breeds, the Recessive White Feather chicken and the Leghorn (AY519197), while mAbs 1C9, 1H5 and 13C5 showed no reaction with these breeds.     

Comparison of a new gold-immunochromatographic assay for the detection of antibodies against avian influenza virus with hemagglutination inhibition and agar gel immunodiffusion assays

A gold-immunochromatographic test-strip kit is used for the detection of IgG antibodies against the nucleocapsid protein of Avian Influenza Virus (AIV). Compared with the "gold standard", i.e. hemagglutination inhibition (HI) and agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) assays, the gold-immunochromatographic test strip has many advantages, such as high specificity, high sensitivity, convenience, is rapid and has low cost. The gold-immunochromatographic test strip provides a unique tool for the on-site surveillance and diagnosis of Avian Influenza.