Genetic variability among sugarcane genotypes based on polymorphisms in sucrose metabolism and drought tolerance genes

Target region amplification polymorphism (TRAP) markers were used to estimate the genetic similarity (GS) among 53 sugarcane varieties and five species of the Saccharum complex. Seven fixed primers designed from candidate genes involved in sucrose metabolism and three from those involved in drought response metabolism were used in combination with three arbitrary primers. The clustering of the genotypes for sucrose metabolism and drought response were similar, but the GS based on Jaccard’s coefficient changed. The GS based on polymorphism in sucrose genes estimated in a set of 46 Brazilian varieties, all of which belong to the three Brazilian breeding programs, ranged from 0.52 to 0.9, and that based on drought data ranged from 0.44 to 0.95. The results suggest that genetic variability in the evaluated genes was lower in the sucrose metabolism genes than in the drought response metabolism ones.     

水稻纹枯病发生与群体物质生产及产量形成的关系研究

2005-2007年晚季,以杂交稻为材料,设置6个氮肥处理,进行连续3年的田间试验,研究了纹枯病病情指数(ShBI)与水稻群体物质生产及产量形成的关系.结果表明,不同氮肥处理的ShBI存在显著差异,表现出施氮量越高,纹枯病发生越严重的趋势.同一氮肥水平下,两个供试品种的ShBI也存在显著差异,汕优63的ShBI显著高于博优998.在分蘖中期、穗分化始期、孕穗期和抽穗期,ShBI都与单位面积茎数、单位面积的叶重、茎鞘重和地上部干重呈正相关趋势,而与茎粗及茎叶比呈负相关趋势,其中穗分化始期、孕穗期和抽穗期都达到显著或极显著水平.在同一生育期,ShBI与叶重的相关系数都高于ShBI与茎鞘重的相关系数,表明与茎鞘重相比,叶重与ShBI的关系更密切.ShBI与稻谷产量呈正相关趋势,其中博优998的相关系数3年都达到极显著水平,高产与防病存在一定矛盾.ShBI与有效穗数、每穗粒数呈正相关,而与结实率、千粒重呈负相关或相关不显著.培育茎秆粗壮、茎叶比高的品种,采取栽培措施增加茎粗、提高茎叶比,适当控制穗数和每穗粒数,提高结实率和千粒重,是控病高产的重要技术途径.     

Influence of soil pH and contents of organic carbon and clay on the volatilization of [14C]fenpropimorph after application to bare soil

The behaviour of the morpholine fungicide fenpropimorph applied to soil was investigated in a laboratory chamber. The volatility and metabolism of a ¹⁴C-labelled fenpropimorph formulation (Corbel^®) was studied after application to three soils (sandy loam, loamy clay and loamy sand), simulating a four-day weather scenario in the volatilization chamber. Additional experiments were conducted under standard climatic conditions over a period of 24 h using sandy soils with different pH values. The results of the first experiments showed that most of the radioactivity applied remained in the soils as unchanged fenpropimorph four days after application. In the experiments with the sandy loam and loamy clay, less than 5% of the applied radioactivity was removed by volatilization whereas 11·4% volatilized from the surface of the loamy sand. The comparatively higher volatilization of the fungicide from the loamy sand was confirmed by the later experiments indicating that higher soil pH favoured volatilization of [¹⁴C]fenpropimorph from sandy soils. Thus 5·6% (pH 5·0), 18·9% (pH 5·8) and 28·3% (pH 6·6) of the radioactivity applied volatilized within one day after application. The overall recoveries were between 93·8% and 111·3% in these experiments. © 1998 SCI     

Structural Characterization and In Vivo Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Fucoidan from Cystoseira crinita (Desf.) Borry

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of fucoidan isolated from C. crinita on histamine-induced paw inflammation in rats, and on the serum levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-10 in rats during systemic inflammation response. The levels of TNF-α in a model of acute peritonitis in rats were also investigated. The isolated crude fucoidan was identified as a sulfated xylogalactofucan with high, medium, and low molecular weight fractions and a content of fucose of 39.74%, xylose of 20.75%, and galactose of 15.51%. Fucoidan from C. crinita showed better anti-inflammatory effects in the rat paw edema model, and this effect was present during all stages of the experiment. When compared to controls, a commercial fucoidan from F. vesiculosus, the results also displayed anti-inflammatory activity on the 60th, 90th, and 120th minute of the experiment. A significant decrease in serum levels of IL-1β in rats treated with both doses of C. crinita fucoidan was observed in comparison to controls, whereas TNF-α concentrations were reduced only in the group treated with fucoidan from C. crinita at the dose of 25 mg/kg bw. In the model of carrageenan-induced peritonitis, we observed a tendency of decrease in the levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α in peritoneal fluid after a single dose of C. crinita fucoidan, but this did not reach the statistical significance margin. Single doses of C. crinita fucoidan did not alter serum levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in animals with lipopolysaccharide-induced systemic inflammation.     

Insight into Fucoidan-Based PEGylated PLGA Nanoparticles Encapsulating Methyl Anthranilic Acid: In Vitro Evaluation and In Vivo Anti-Inflammatory Study

A potential fucoidan-based PEGylated PLGA nanoparticles (NPs) offering a proper delivery of N-methyl anthranilic acid (MA, a model of hydrophobic anti-inflammatory drug) have been developed via the formation of fucoidan aqueous coating surrounding PEGylated PLGA NPs. The optimum formulation (FuP2) composed of fucoidan:m-PEG-PLGA (1:0.5 w/w) with particle size (365 ± 20.76 nm), zeta potential (−22.30 ± 2.56 mV), % entrapment efficiency (85.45 ± 7.41), drug loading (51.36 ± 4.75 µg/mg of NPs), % initial burst (47.91 ± 5.89), and % cumulative release (102.79 ± 6.89) has been further investigated for the anti-inflammatory in vivo study. This effect of FuP2 was assessed in rats’ carrageenan-induced acute inflammation model. The average weight of the paw edema was significantly lowered (p ≤ 0.05) by treatment with FuP2. Moreover, cyclooxygenase-2 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha immunostaining were decreased in FuP2 treated group compared to the other groups. The levels of prostaglandin E2, nitric oxide, and malondialdehyde were significantly reduced (p ≤ 0.05) in the FuP2-treated group. A significant reduction (p ≤ 0.05) in the expression of interleukins (IL-1β and IL-6) with an improvement of the histological findings of the paw tissues was observed in the FuP2-treated group. Thus, fucoidan-based PEGylated PLGA–MA NPs are a promising anti-inflammatory delivery system that can be applied for other similar drugs potentiating their pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties.     

Construction and evaluation of a delta cya delta crp Salmonella typhimurium strain expressing avian pathogenic Escherichia coli O78 LPS as a vaccine to prevent airsacculitis in chickens.

Avian pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli cause a number of extraintestinal diseases in poultry, including airsacculitis and colisepticemia. Expression of O78 lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is frequently associated with pathogenic isolates. Salmonella, a common poultry contaminant, is a major public health concern. The purpose of this work was to develop an E. coli vaccine for poultry with the use of an attenuated Salmonella typhimurium carrier that would benefit both the bird and the consumer. Orally administered attenuated S. typhimurium delta cya delta crp strains have been shown to provide excellent protection against wild-type Salmonella challenge in chickens. This work describes the construction of a delta cya delta crp derivative of an avian pathogenic S. typhimurium that expresses both the homologous group B determinants (O1,4,5,12) and the heterologous E. coli O78 LPS O antigens. This was accomplished by inserting the E. coli rfb region, which encodes the genes required for O78 expression, into the chromosomal cya gene of S. typhimurium, creating a defined deletion/insertion mutation. A delta crp mutation was introduced in a subsequent step. Expression of both O antigens was stable in vitro and in vivo. Vaccination of white leghorn chicks at day of hatch and 14 days with the recombinant vaccine strain induced serum immune responses against both S. typhimurium and E. coli LPS and protected the birds against subsequent challenge with an avian pathogenic E. coli O78 strain. Introduction of a mutation in rfc, which encodes the O antigen polymerase, reduced the chain length of the S. typhimurium LPS without affecting the expression of O78. The rfc mutation further enhanced the ability of the vaccine strain to protect chickens against E. coli challenge.     

不同时期施氮对华南双季杂交稻产量及氮素吸收和氮肥利用率的影响

以两系法杂交水稻粤杂122为材料，在广州进行2a4季田间试验，研究了氮素作基肥、蘖肥和穗粒肥施用对水稻氮素吸收、稻谷产量和氮肥利用率的影响。结果表明：施用穗粒肥具有显著的增产作用，其增产效果比基肥和蘖肥好；施用穗粒肥显著提高水稻总吸氮量，基肥和蘖肥对吸氮量影响较小；在总施氮量相同的情况下，氮肥作穗粒肥施用的吸收利用率和农学利用率比基肥和蘖肥高；水稻最适吸氮量随结实期日照时数的增加而提高。控制氮肥总量，适当减少基肥和蘖肥用量，增加穗粒肥用量，实行氮肥后移，有利于提高华南双季杂交稻的产量和氮肥利用率。     

Suitability of dehydrogenase activity assay as an index of soil biological activity

Summary Dehydrogenase activity was studied in typical soils of the Northwest German Lower Plains in order to test some criticisms raised by nannipieri et al. (1990) about methodology. We found that in the same soils with the sampe crop, dehydrogenase activity varies significantly. In the field dehydrogenase activity was dependent on the soil type and not on the cropping system. There is no adequate explanation of these findings. Dehydrogenase activity is a parameter of soil microbiological activity and is influenced by many factors. Either purely accidental the results are or dehydrogenase activity is affected by unknown ecological interactions and by the composition of soil microflora. We conclude that without simultaneous investigations of other microbiological parameters (microbial biomass, ATP levels, enzyme activities, etc.) the measurement of dehydrogenase activity creates confusion and may impede valid ecological comparisons of soils.Dedicated to Prof. H.-P. Blume, Kiel, on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Optimization of yield and water-use of different cropping systems for sustainable groundwater use in North China Plain

A groundwater crisis is going on in the North China Plain (NCP), due to the excessive water consumption of the traditional winter wheat (WW)/summer maize (SM) double cropping system (two harvests in one year). In order to improve the water use efficiency in this particular cropping system and to evaluate the sustainability of water usage in Chinese agroecosystems, two field experiments were conducted from October 2004 to September 2006 at two sites of the North China Plain. The field experiments included four treatments: (1) farmers’ practice (FP) with two harvests in one year (WW/SM rotation), (2) FP with reduced input (RI) of water and nitrogen (WW/SM rotation), (3) three harvests in two years (TW, 1st year: WW/SM; 2nd year: spring maize), and (4) continuous spring-maize monoculture (CS) with one harvest per year (spring maize). In the treatments RI, TW and CS, the amount and timing of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization was optimized using TDR based soil moisture measurements and the N_min-method, respectively. Data showed that the utilization efficiency of irrigation water can be improved by optimizing soil water management compared to the traditional water management (FP). However, the groundwater net consumption required for RI still surpassed 300 mm yr⁻¹. Both FP and RI, still overused groundwater resources. The groundwater consumption in the continuous spring maize (CS) was on average 139 mm yr⁻¹. Therefore, the CS system can show the potential to use groundwater sustainably in the long term. Water usage of the TW treatment was in between the water usage of the other treatments. The grain yields in the double cropping systems (FP and RI) were higher than that in the two other systems (TW and CS). But the CS treatment showed the higher W_UE than others.