The neu gene: an erbB-homologous gene distinct from and unlinked to the gene encoding the EGF receptor

The neu oncogene, identified in ethylnitrosourea-induced rat neuroglioblastomas, had strong homology with the erbB gene that encodes the epidermal growth factor receptor. This homology was limited to the region of erbB encoding the tyrosine kinase domain. It was concluded that the neu gene is a distinct novel gene, as it is not coamplified with sequences encoding the EGF receptor in the genome of the A431 tumor line and it maps to human chromosome 17.     

Rice genetic diversity at farm and village levels and genetic structure of local varieties reveal need for in situ conservation

Rice genetic diversity partitioning between farms, varieties and, within-variety diversity, were analysed in two villages of Maritime Guinea with contrasted agroecological conditions. One thousand and two hundred individual plants belonging to 45 accessions collected in eight farms were genotyped using 10 SSR markers. The molecular variance was evenly shared between and within accessions, while the farm effect was almost nil. Local varieties had a multi-line genetic structure. The number of multilocus genotypes was proportional to the utilisation rate of the variety in the village. The F _ST values between different accessions of each variety were significant which indicated low genetic consistency in the variety names. This varietal structure could mainly be explained by the migration phenomenon and the high varietal turnover. Compared to allelic diversity, multilocus genotypic diversity seemed to be the most suitable indicator of the quantitative distribution of diversity at different management scales (accession, farm and village). The within- and between-farm F _ST values were in the same order of magnitude. The within-farm diversity was not farm-specific but quantitatively high, i.e. up to 50% of the total genotypic diversity of a given village. Given the relative importance of the within-variety diversity, the in situ approach stands out as the most effective solution. As farms do not host specific diversity the in situ approach could be implemented by working with a small number of farms.     

Effects of treatment and flow on the deoxygenation rate constant

The laboratory bench-scale experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of varying degrees of waste treatment and the flow conditions in the receiving waters on the deoxygenation rate constant (k), and ultimate biochemical oxygen demand (L), and the total O₂ utilisation of the receiving waters. Industrial wastewaters were collected from 10 major industrial plants located along the Houston Ship Channel in Texas. Two different degrees of treatment for industrial wastewaters were studied. Three different flow conditions studied were the high, the average and the low flow in the Houston Ship Channel. The k values increased for both further treatment and decreased flow in the reactor runs. The L values were higher for the average flow conditions than for the low flow conditions. The total O₂ utilization was found to increase with a decrease in the flow of the receiving waters.     

Indigenous rhizobia associated with native shrubby legumes in Taiwan

Root-nodulating bacteria were isolated and characterized from seven native shrubby legumes growing in Taiwan. Phenotypic characteristics measured included growth rates in various media, colony morphology, and tolerances to extremes of temperature, salt and pH. The isolates were very diverse phenotypically. Among the 83 isolates that were screened, the majority were fast-growing rhizobia. Twenty eight strains tolerated high concentration of salt (4.5% NaCl) and grew well between temperatures of 37 and 45 °C. The majority of the strains also tolerated extreme pH in their medium from 3.5 to 12. All strains formed nitrogen fixing nodules, and the highest activity was detected in the legume Hedysarum crinita L. PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and sequencing of the small subunit ribosomal RNAs revealed that the majority of the isolates belonged to the genera Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium and Agrobacterium. Only a single strain represented the genus Sinorhizobium. In addition, a strain related to Burkholderia from the β-class of the Proteobacteria (CC-CC-5) was found within nodules of the legume Catenaria caudatum. The study contributes to the understanding of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in selected wild legumes that are native to Taiwan and provides insights into the distribution of nodulating and nitrogen-fixing bacteria from other distinct lineages.     

Antioxidant properties of crocin from Gardenia jasminoides Ellis and study of the reactions of crocin with linoleic acid and crocin with oxygen

Crocin-a water soluble carotenoid-is found in the fruits of gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides Ellis) and in the stigmas of saffron (Crocus sativus Linne). For crocin purification, gardenia fruits are extracted with 50% acetone, followed by ether washing, ion exchange, and separation by preparative HPLC. Purified crocin with purity of >99.6% has an antioxidative activity at concentrations up to 40 ppm. At 20 ppm the antioxidative activity of crocin is comparable to that of BHA. The antioxidant property of crocin as evaluated by the thiocyanate method was better than with the thiobarbituric acid method. The adduct between the linoleic acid radical and crocin was detected by LC-MS. When crocin reacted with oxygen in the presence of FeSO(4), intermediates such as monohydroperoxides and dihydroperoxides of crocin were formed and detected by LC-MS.     

Spawning induces a shift in energy metabolism from glucose to lipid in rainbow trout white muscle

Enzymatic changes that occur in the white somatic muscle of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in response to spawning were investigated, and the evenness of their distribution across the ventral-dorsal plane of this muscle was assessed. Four enzymes that are involved in energy metabolism were measured (phosphofructokinase: glycolytic capacity, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase: -oxidation, citrate synthase: citric acid cycle, cytochrome oxidase: oxidative capacity). The enzyme activities were followed in different parts of the white muscle of non-spawning female rainbow trout from May, four months after their first spawning, until December, at second spawning. Samples were taken from white epaxial muscle along the lateral line, on the dorsum, and in between. Samples were also taken from red muscle of non-spawning fish. The isoforms of myosin heavy chains (MyHC) were electrophoretically identified on 6% SDS-PAGE gel to study possible changes in contractile properties of the muscle.Transformation from the non-spawning to spawning phase was associated with dramatic changes in the activity of the enzymes studied in white muscle: glycolytic capacity decreased to less than half, whereas oxidative metabolism increased about two- to four-fold in all areas. Significant quantitative differences in enzyme activities were found between the three epaxial muscle areas: in the non-spawning fish lateral line samples differed from those taken in the other two areas, whereas in spawning fish the dorsal sample difered from the other two. No difference in the expression of MyHC-isoforms was found between spawning and non-spawning fish. Co-expression of both slow and fast isoforms was found in single fibres isolated from red muscle.The results show that the energy metabolism in white muscle of domestic rainbow trout is altered during spawning; i.e., the metabolism becomes increasingly aerobic, with an increased capacity for fatty acid utilization, concomitant with phenotypic changes associated with sexual maturation. These changes are especially pronounced in ventral, superficially located fibres.     

Aflatoxin B<Subscript>1</Subscript> (AFB<Subscript>1</Subscript>) reduces growth performance,physiological response,and disease resistance in Tra catfish (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pangasius hypophthalmus</Emphasis>)

Triplicate groups of one hundred Tra catfish (8 g?±?0.2) were fed seven test diets containing increasing levels of AFB₁ (0, 50, 100, 250, 500, and 1000 μg AFB₁ kg^?1). Additionally Mycofix® Secure was added at 1.5% to one diet containing 500 μg AFB₁ kg^?1. Results showed that Tra catfish are sensitive to AFB₁. Reduction in weight gain (P?<?0.05) was observed for fish fed 50 μg AFB₁ kg^?1 and declined further with increasing levels of AFB₁ in the diets. Fish fed diets contaminated with 500 and 1000 μg AFB₁ kg^?1 showed increased (P?>?0.05) hepatosomatic index (HIS), while an increase in adipose somatic index (ASI) was observed in fish fed 50 μg AFB₁ kg^?1 and above when compared to the control and Mycofix® diets. After 12 weeks, blood serum analysis revealed higher alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels in fish fed the 50, 100, and 250 μg AFB₁ kg^?1 suggesting occurrence of liver damage. Disease resistance of fish exposed to Edwardsiella ictaluri was also compromised by the presence of AFB₁ in the feed and was directly related to the contamination level. Seven days after Edwardsiella ictaluri exposure, survival rates were 50, 41.7, 31.7, and 8.3% for fish fed control, 50, 100, and 250 μg AFB₁ kg^?1, respectively. This trial shows that AFB₁ at a level of 50 μg AFB₁ kg^?1 and above can affect fish performance and disease resistance. Application of an effective mycotoxin management in the feed seems to be useful to prevent the negative effects of AFB₁.     

Usage of electrolytic water system in the giant freshwater prawn,Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man) larval hatchery system

The purpose of this study was to use an electrolytic oxidizing (EO) water system in a prawn hatchery. The results of the EO water generation efficiency showed that available chlorine in the EO water increased as the salinity and electric power increased, but was reduced as the water flow rate increased. A bactericidal activity assay showed that the growth of six aquatic pathogens was well inhibited by incubation with EO water containing 1 mg L^?1 of available chlorine. The removal of NH₃‐N and NO₂‐N by electrolysis at 15‰ and 5 W had significant effects, and the removal rate of NO₂‐N was much faster than that of NH₃‐N. Prawn zoea (Z) reared in EO water with different levels of available chlorine at 0 (control), 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 mg L^?1 had mortalities of 0%, 12%, 27% and 42%, respectively, after 72 h. However, Z were able to well survive in activated carbon‐treated EO water for 1 week. For the on‐farm use of the EO water system in a prawn hatchery, larvae in the EO water group had faster development and higher survival than those in the activated carbon group. From these results, we believe that the EO water group had excellent water quality and lower bacterial counts resulting in increased larval development and survival.     

A new ent-kaurane diterpenoid from Croton tonkinensis leaves

A new ent-kaurane diterpenoid (1) was isolated from the leaves of Croton tonkinensis. The structure of 1 was determined as ent-7beta-hydroxy-15-oxokaur-16-en-18-ol from spectroscopic methods.     

Improving the ratio of monacolin K to citrinin production of Monascus purpureus NTU 568 under dioscorea medium through the mediation of pH value and ethanol addition

Using dioscorea root as substrate of Monascus species was found to stimulate monacolin K (cholesterol-lowering agent) formation in our previous study, but the mycotoxin-citrinin has never been studied. This study used dioscorea root as the liquid medium to culture Monascus purpureus NTU 568 using a 6.6 L jar fermentor. Culture pH value, dioscorea concentration, and ethanol concentration were used as the factors of response surface methodology (RSM) to investigate the optimal culture condition for high monacolin K production and low citrinin formation. Monacolin K and citrinin formation of M. purpureus NTU 568 under submerged dioscorea medium were respectively found to be significantly formed by 148% and 147%, as compared to that under submerged rice medium. The reason is due to the pH value (3.5) of dioscorea medium involved in the formation of Monascus cell amount and secondary metabolite. RSM results further indicated that lowering the pH value to 2.5 would result in high monacolin K and citrinin concentrations as well as high biomass in fixed dioscorea amount, implying that pH value may stimulate the formation of monacolin K and citrinin through increasing Monascus cell amount. Lowering dioscorea and ethanol concentration was able to increase the ratio of monacolin K level to citrinin level. The optimal culture condition (pH 5.7, 1% dioscorea concentration, and 0.5% ethanol concentration) would increase monacolin K levels to 27.9 mg/g (by 47%) and decrease citrinin level to 2.15 microg/g (by 54%), as compared to control conditions (pH 3.5, 5% dioscorea, and ethanol free).