The Mucus of Actinia equina (Anthozoa,Cnidaria): An Unexplored Resource for Potential Applicative Purposes

The mucus produced by many marine organisms is a complex mixture of proteins and polysaccharides forming a weak watery gel. It is essential for vital processes including locomotion, navigation, structural support, heterotrophic feeding and defence against a multitude of environmental stresses, predators, parasites, and pathogens. In the present study we focused on mucus produced by a benthic cnidarian, the sea anemone Actinia equina (Linnaeus, 1758) for preventing burial by excess sedimentation and for protection. We investigated some of the physico-chemical properties of this matrix such as viscosity, osmolarity, electrical conductivity, protein, carbohydrate, and total lipid contents. Some biological activities such as hemolytic, cytotoxic, and antibacterial lysozyme-like activities were also studied. The A. equina mucus is mainly composed by water (96.2% ± 0.3%), whereas its dry weight is made of 24.2% ± 1.3% proteins and 7.8% ± 0.2% carbohydrates, with the smallest and largest components referable to lipids (0.9%) and inorganic matter (67.1%). The A. equina mucus matrix exhibited hemolytic activity on rabbit erythrocytes, cytotoxic activity against the tumor cell line K562 (human erythromyeloblastoid leukemia) and antibacterial lysozyme-like activity. The findings from this study improve the available information on the mucus composition in invertebrates and have implications for future investigations related to exploitation of A. equina and other sea anemones’ mucus as a source of bioactive compounds of high pharmaceutical and biotechnological interest.     

Effect of parboiling on physical and chemical characteristics and non-enzymatic browning of emmer (Triticum dicoccon Schrank)

Parboiling is a popular technology applied to rice to increase its milling yield, nutritional value and resistance to spoilage by insects and mould. This process was applied to Triticum dicoccon Schrank to induce physical, chemical and organoleptic modifications in order to increase its use and product diversification.     

生物碳可以防止土壤活性有机质矿化吗？

Biochar could help to stabilize soil organic(SOM) matter, thus sequestering carbon(C) into the soil. The aim of this work was to determine an easy method i) to estimate the effects of the addition of biochar and nutrients on the organic matter(SOM)mineralization in an artificial soil, proposed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), amended with glucose and ii) to measure the amount of labile organic matter(glucose) that can be sorbed and thus be partially protected in the same soil, amended or not amended with biochar. A factorial experiment was designed to check the effects of three single factors(biochar, nutrients, and glucose) and their interactions on whole SOM mineralization. Soil samples were inoculated with a microbial inoculum and preincubated to ensure that their biological activities were not limited by a small amount of microbial biomass, and then they were incubated in the dark at 21℃ for 619 d. Periodical measurements of C mineralized to carbon dioxide(CO_2) were carried out throughout the 619-d incubation to allow the mineralization of both active and slow organic matter pools. The amount of sorbed glucose was calculated as the difference between the total and remaining amounts of glucose added in a soil extract. Two different models, the Freundlich and Langmuir models, were selected to assess the equilibrium isotherms of glucose sorption. The CO_2-C release strongly depended on the presence of nutrients only when no biochar was added to the soil. The mineralization of organic matter in the soil amended with both biochar and glucose was equal to the sum of the mineralization of the two C sources separately. Furthermore, a significant amount of glucose can be sorbed on the biochar-amended soil, suggesting the involvement of physico-chemical mechanisms in labile organic matter protection.     

Use of Rh (III)-Heteropolymolybdate as Potential Catalysts for the Removal of Nitrates in Human Drinking Water: Synthesis,Characterisation and Catalytic Performance

The investigation and development of technologies to remediate water contaminated with NO₃^? are constantly increasing. An economically and potentially effective alternative is based on the catalytic hydrogenation of NO₃^? to N₂. With this objective, bimetallic RhMo₆ catalysts based on Anderson-type heteropolyanion (RhMo₆O₂₄H₆)^3? were prepared and characteri3ed in order to obtain well-defined bimetallic catalyst. The catalysts were supported on Al₂O₃ with different textural properties and on silica. The heteropolyanion-support interaction was analysed by temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The differences obtained in activity and selectivity to the different products can be assigned to the different interaction between the RhMo₆ Anderson phase and the supports. The RhMo₆/G, (G: γ-Al₂O₃) system showed the best catalytic performance. This catalyst exhibited the lowest reduction temperature of Rh and Mo in the TPR assay and a Rh/Mo surface ratio similar to that of the original phase, as observed by XPS analysis. These studies allowed us to verify a synergic effect between Rh and Mo, through which Mo reducibility was promoted by the presence of the noble metal. The catalytic activity was favoured by the active sites generated from the Anderson phase. This fact was confirmed by comparing the activity of RhMo₆/G with that corresponding to a conventional catalyst prepared through successive impregnation of both Rh (III) and Mo (VI) salts.     

Cytotoxic and antioxidant activity of 4-methylthio-3-butenyl isothiocyanate from Raphanus sativus L. (Kaiware Daikon) sprouts

There is high current interest in the chemopreventive potential of Brassica vegetables (cruciferae), particularly due to their content in glucosinolates (GL), which upon myrosinase hydrolysis release the corresponding isythiocyanates (ITC). Some ITCs, such as sulforaphane (SFN) from broccoli ( Brassica oleacea italica), have been found to possess anticancer activity through induction of apoptosis in selected cell lines, as well as indirect antioxidant activity through induction of phase II detoxifying enzymes. Japanese daikon ( Raphanus sativus L.) is possibly the vegetable with the highest per capita consumption within the Brassicaceae family. Thanks to a recently improved gram scale production process, it was possible to prepare sufficient amounts of the GL glucoraphasatin (GRH) as well as the corresponding ITC 4-methylthio-3-butenyl isothiocyanate (GRH-ITC) from its sprouts. This paper reports a study on the cytotoxic and apoptotic activities of GRH-ITC compared with the oxidized counterpart 4-methylsulfinyl-3-butenyl isothiocyanate (GRE-ITC) on three human colon carcinoma cell lines (LoVo, HCT-116, and HT-29) together with a detailed kinetic investigation of the direct antioxidant/radical scavenging ability of GRH and GRH-ITC. Both GRH-ITC and GRE-ITC reduced cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner and induced apoptosis in the three cancer cell lines. The compounds significantly ( p < 0.05) increased Bax and decreased Bcl2 protein expression, as well as producing caspase-9 and PARP-1 cleavage after 3 days of exposure in the three cancer cell lines. GRH-ITC treatment was shown to have no toxicity with regard to normal human lymphocytes (-15 +/- 5%) in comparison with SFN (complete growth inhibition). GRH and GRH-ITC were able to quench the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical, with second-order rate constants of 14.0 +/- 2.8 and 43.1 +/- 9.5 M(-1) s(-1), respectively (at 298 K in methanol), whereas the corresponding value measured here for the reference antioxidant alpha-tocopherol was 425 +/- 40 M (-1) s (-1). GRH reacted with H2O2 and tert-butyl hydroperoxide in water (pH 7.4) at 37 degrees C, with rate constants of 1.9 +/- 0.3 x 10(-2) and 9.5 +/- 0.3 x 10(-4) M(-1) s (-1) (paralleling recently developed synthetic antioxidants) being quantitatively (>97%) converted to GRE. It is demonstrated that GRH-ITC has interesting antioxidant/radical scavenging properties, associated with a selective cytotoxic/apoptotic activity toward three human colon carcinoma cell lines, and very limited toxicity on normal human T-lymphocytes.     

Phenolic compounds and saponins in quinoa samples (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) grown under different saline and nonsaline irrigation regimens

Quinoa is a pseudocereal from South America that has received increased interest around the world because it is a good source of different nutrients and rich in antioxidant compounds. Thus, this study has focused on the effects of different agronomic variables, such as irrigation and salinity, on the phenolic and saponin profiles of quinoa. It was observed that irrigation with 25% of full water restitution, with and without the addition of salt, was associated with increases in free phenolic compounds of 23.16 and 26.27%, respectively. In contrast, bound phenolic compounds were not affected by environmental stresses. Saponins decreased if samples were exposed to drought and saline regimens. In situations of severe water deficit, the saponins content decreased 45%, and 50% when a salt stress was added. The results suggest that irrigation and salinity may regulate the production of bioactive compounds in quinoa, influencing its nutritional and industrial values.     

Inclusion of licuri meal in the diet of pasture dairy cows

Tropical Animal Health and Production - The objective of this study was to evaluate the inclusion of increasing levels of licuri meal as a substitute for soybean bran in the diet of pasture-based...     

Evaluation of biological quality of protein concentrates from different vegetable protein sources

The quality of protein concentrates coming from conventional and non-conventional vegetable sources was evaluated. The protein quality was assessed by the multi-point assay RPV. Whole body weight gain, weight gain corrected for the gastrointestinal content (G.I.), total body nitrogen and total liver nitrogen were used as response parameters. The various protein sources ranked differently depending upon the response parameters utilized, but a great majority of the sources had a good nutritional value (over 0.5). The gastrointestinal content is one of the principal factors responsible for the differences found. However, even after correcting for the G.I. content, some differences remained. For the various protein sources, the nitrogen deposition in the liver correlates satisfactorily with the whole body nitrogen deposition, if in the calculation of the regression line, the data for faba bean and tobacco were omitted (respectivelyr=0.610 andr=0.925). On the whole, these data indicate that most plant protein concentrates in suitable combinations and properly processed, may become a promising alternative to animal proteins.     

Herbicide risk assessment for non-target aquatic plants: sulfosulfuron--a case study

Herbicides entering the aquatic environment by spray drift, run-off and leaching to field drains may cause adverse effects on non-target aquatic vegetation. The potential for such effects has typically been evaluated from tests with floating, monocotyledonous Lemna sp. However, concern has been expressed as to whether this species could be used to indicate potential effects on other vegetation types, particularly rooted, submerged, emergent or dicotyledonous species. In 1997, the Centre for Aquatic Plant Management undertook development of new tests based on the additional species, Glyceria maxima (Hartm) Holmb, Lagarosiphon major (Ridl) Moss and Myriophyllum spicatum L. The resulting methodology was used to assess the effects of the sulfonylurea herbicide, sulfosulfuron on these species. Data presented here demonstrate that exposure to initial sulfosulfuron concentrations of 3.33 microg litre(-1) for up to 21 days was tolerated by these species and that adverse effects were observed only when plants were exposed to initial concentrations of 3.33 and 10 microg litre(-1) for 70 days. As the occurrence of such high initial concentrations for long periods is unlikely in the aquatic environment, sulfosulfuron is not expected to have adverse effects on the growth of these species. This study has also demonstrated that G maxima, L major and M spicatum grown in small outdoor tanks can be used successfully to assess the effects of crop-protection products on non-target aquatic flora.