Effects of Temperature,Light Intensity and DIF on Growth Characteristics in Platycodon grandiflorum

Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology - Bellflower (P. grandiflorum) has been an important medicinal plant since the ancient time. In the present study, we aimed to determine the effects of...     

Dietary lipid requirement of whiteleg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei juveniles cultured in biofloc system

An eight‐week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the contribution of biofloc on dietary lipid requirement in whiteleg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. Five diets with graded levels of dietary lipid (45, 60, 90, 120 and 150 g/kg) were fed to juvenile shrimp. Final weight, weight gain and specific growth rate of shrimp fed diets with 60, 90 and 120 g/kg lipid levels were significantly higher than those of shrimp fed diets with lipid levels 45 and 150 g/kg (p < .05). Feed efficiency and protein efficiency ratio of shrimp fed 60, 90 and 120 g/kg were higher than those fed 150 g/kg diet. Plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were lower in shrimp fed 45 g/kg compared with those fed the 90 g/kg (p < .05). Also, lysozyme activity for 90 g/kg group was higher than the 15 g/kg group. Hepatopancreas lipase and amylase activities of shrimp fed 90 and 120 g/kg diets were significantly higher than those of shrimp fed 45 and 150 g/kg diets. Broken‐line regression analysis for weight gain indicated that the dietary lipid requirement of whiteleg shrimp juveniles reared in a biofloc system was estimated to be higher than 56 g/kg but <60 g/kg.     

Effects of heat‐assisted irradiation treatment on microbial and physicochemical qualities of dried laver (Porphyra spp.) and optimization by response surface methodology

The Korean Food Code has approved irradiation less than 7 kGy for microbial control in algal food, which is often not sufficient to achieve the acceptable contamination level (<10⁴ CFU/g). In this study, heat‐assisted low‐dose electron beam (E‐beam) irradiation was applied for improving the microbial quality of dried laver through the response surface optimization of process conditions (Xn); irradiation dose (0–4 kGy, X1), heating temperature (140–180°C, X2) and heating time (0–28 s, X3) for their effects on total aerobic bacteria (TAB) count, moisture content, chlorophyll content, carotenoid content and overall palatability of dried laver. TAB counts were affected more by irradiation dose than by heating temperature and time. Moisture, chlorophyll and carotenoid content and overall palatability were more affected by heating temperature and heating time than by irradiation dose. The overall results indicated that the optimal conditions were irradiation dose of 1.8–3.0 kGy, heating temperature of 154–170°C and heating time of 10–18 s to achieve appropriate quality attributes of heat‐assisted E‐beam irradiated dried laver, such as TAB count of 10³ CFU/g, moisture content of 5% and 6.5 of good overall palatability score out of 7.     

ULTRASONOGRAPHIC ELASTOGRAPHY OF THE LIVER,SPLEEN, KIDNEYS,AND PROSTATE IN CLINICALLY NORMAL BEAGLE DOGS

Standard ultrasonography is often insensitive for distinguishing normal vs. diseased states for canine abdominal organs. Ultrasonographic elastography is a new technique that is becoming increasingly available and may help to improve sensitivity. This study evaluated the feasibility, repeatability, and reproducibility of strain elastography of the liver, spleen, kidneys, and prostate in healthy dogs and described the elasticity of each organ using strain values and strain ratios. The reproducibility of strain elastography was excellent, and intraobserver repeatability was moderate to excellent. The strain value of each organ was not significantly different among dogs (liver = 143.38 ± 7.41, spleen = 141.04 ± 9.03, left renal cortex = 141.26 ± 7.50, right renal cortex = 145.80 ± 7.79, and prostate = 135.46 ± 5.80), except for the renal medulla (left = 51.19 ± 4.54 and right = 51.93 ± 5.09) (P < 0.05). The strain ratios for the liver, spleen, renal cortex, and prostate were similar with no significant difference (liver = 10.20 ± 1.47, spleen = 8.40 ± 1.53, left renal cortex = 9.62 ± 1.56, right renal cortex = 8.29 ± 1.63, and prostate = 8.20 ± 1.21), except for the renal medulla (left = 3.48 ± 0.68 and right = 2.95 ± 0.63) (P < 0.05). Our results indicated that strain elastography was feasible for estimating tissue stiffness in the canine liver, spleen, kidneys, and prostate. This study provides basic information for strain values and strain ratios for the liver, spleen, kidneys, and prostate in clinically normal dogs.     

The mode of seed formation in Allium senescens and two Korean Allium species

The genus Allium includes several important vegetable and ornamental species, and is an economically important crop. The objective of this study was to determine the mode of reproduction in A. senescens L. (2n=6x= 48) and two Allium species collected in Korea. Chromosome numbers of embryo sac mother cells (EMCs) at diplotene of meiosis were 2n = 48 and unreduced in A. senescens. However, normal sexual reproduction was observed at diplotene in both A. senescens var. minor (2n = 2x= 16) and A. nutans L. (2n=4x= 32). Parthenogenetic embryogenesis also occurred in A. senescens at high frequencies among the three Allium species. Antipodal embryos in A. nutans were formed in unpollinated flowers. Normal seeds were not formed in flowers of A. senescens that had been emasculated and kept in sealed conditions. However, normal seeds were formed in the flowers that were pollinated 2 days after anthesis. In conclusion, diplospory, parthenogenesis, and pseudogamy occur in A. senescens.     

Relationship between genetic divergence and hybrid performance in japonica rice grown in a cold water-irrigated field

The present study was carried out to evaluate genetic divergence among eleven japonica rice cultivars and to assess the relationship between genetic distance and hybrid performance in partial non-reciprocal crosses among them. The 44 F1 hybrids along with the eleven parents were evaluated for five cold tolerance-related traits; discoloration at seedling stage, days to heading, culm length, fertility, and spikelets per panicle in a cold water screening nursery (17 ^°C). The eleven parents were examined for DNA polymorphism using amplified fragment length polymorphisms(AFLPs). A total of 855 polymorphic variants were generated and based on the polymorphism data, genetic distances (GDs) ranged from 0.023 to0.524. Very little heterosis was observed in hybrids for most of the traits,whereas heterosis was high for fertility. The correlation values of GDs with F1 performance were mostly non-significant except for discoloration and fertility. The correlations of GDs with mid-parent and better-parent heterosis were not significant and proved to be of no predictive value. Our results indicate that GDs based on AFLP markers are not useful for predicting heterosis for cold tolerance in japonica hybrids. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Isolation and identification of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) phenolics with antioxidant activity and α-glucosidase inhibitory effect

This study was performed to evaluate the antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory effects from the extract, fractions, and isolated compounds of sea buckthorn leaves. Six compounds, kaempferol-3-O-β-D-(6'-O-coumaryl) glycoside, 1-feruloyl-β-D-glucopyranoside, isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside, quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, and isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside, were isolated from sea buckthorn leaf extracts. The butanol fraction (EC(50) = 1.81 μg/mL) along with quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (EC(50) = 1.86 μg/mL) had a higher DPPH radical-scavenging activity and showed stronger reducing power (OD(700) = 1.83 and 1.78, respectively). The butanol fraction (477 mg GAE/g) contained the highest amount of phenolic compounds and also the most powerful α-glucosidase inhibitory effect (86%) at 5 μg/mL. The results indicate that sea buckthorn leaf extracts could potentially be used for food additives and the development of useful natural compounds.     

Cross-amplification of SSR markers developed from Allium sativum to other Allium species

For genetic analysis of the genus Allium, which is composed of diverse species, we acquired 50 transferable and polymorphic microsatellite markers from A. sativum and tested them for transferability in five Allium species. Among the 50 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci, the dinucleotide motif was the most prevalent, with a ratio of 50% (25/50), and (GT)n was more frequent than (GA)n within the dinucleotide motif. The average number of amplified alleles ranged from 1.452 to 1.910 and the accessions of A. tuberosum had a maximum of 4.8 alleles per accession with the GB-AS-104 SSR marker. Whereas A. porrum belonging to the Allium section revealed 73.0% transferability, A. altaicum and A. fistulosum appertaining to different sections showed low transferability, with a ratio of 47.6% and 48.0%, respectively. The phylogenetic results for these SSR markers did not deviate from previous classifications of the genus Allium. As the rate of successful amplification of SSR markers generally correlates with genetic distance, these SSR markers are potentially useful in the analysis of genetic relationships between or within Allium species.     

Bioactive Bis(indole) Alkaloids from a Spongosorites sp. Sponge

Six new bis(indole) alkaloids (1–6) along with eight known ones of the topsentin class were isolated from a Spongosorites sp. sponge of Korea. Based on the results of combined spectroscopic analyses, the structures of spongosoritins A–D (1–4) were determined to possess a 2-methoxy-1-imidazole-5-one core connecting the indole moieties, and these were linked by a linear urea bridge for spongocarbamides A (5) and B (6). The absolute configurations of spongosoritins were assigned by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) computation. The new compounds exhibited moderate inhibition against transpeptidase sortase A and weak inhibition against human pathogenic bacteria and A549 and K562 cancer cell lines.