Influence of Low Light Irradiance on Grain Filling in Rice (Oryza saliva L.) cultivars

Time course of grain filling pattern in two rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars, grown under normal and low light intensities, was studied. The number of spikelets, partially filled grains and high density grains were monitored at a 5 day interval during grain filling period from uniform panicles tagged at anthesis. The low light tolerant cultivar Swarnaprabha had more high density grains and less partially filled grains throughout the grain filling period and at harvest compared to cultivar Ratna under both normal and low light intensities. Further, the opening of spikelets in two flushes in Swarnaprabha seemed to result in a more efficient resource allocation and hence better yield as compared to Ratna, in which the opening of spikelets was in a single flush on day 10.     

Evaluation of Five Most Commonly Grown Cotton Cultivars (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Under Mediterranean Conditions: Productivity and Fibre Quality

Studies were conducted in four regions of central Greece (Larisa, Karditsa, Livadia, Thiva), to evaluate the productivity and fibre properties (fibre strength and fibre length) of the five most commonly grown cotton cultivars in these regions. The experiments lasted for 6 years (1995–2000). All the characteristics tested were strongly influenced by the factors ‘year’, ‘cultivar’ and ‘region’. Significant cultivar × region, year × cultivar, region × year and cultivar × region × year interactions occurred for all the characteristics studied. The cultivar Alegria had the highest seed‐cotton and lint yield, while Aria had the lowest ones. Both cultivars gave the highest mean lint percentage but the lowest mean boll weight (MBW). Alegria had the lowest fibre strength, while Aria had the highest. The Acala‐type cultivars, Acala SJ2 and Zeta 2, had intermediate seed‐cotton and lint yield, while Vered 171 had high seed‐cotton and satisfactory lint yield. The three cultivars mentioned above had the highest MBW and very good fibre strength. Positive correlation was observed between fibre strength and length. In spite of the fact that mean fibre length was statistically the same in all cultivars, it was influenced by the factor ‘year’, as a result of different weather conditions. The year 1996 was the most unfavourable one for seed‐cotton yield and MBW, because it was characterized by lower than average air temperatures and rather dry conditions for all study sites. The factor ‘region’, a combination of different climatic conditions and cultural practices, influenced significantly all the parameters studied.     

The Inhibitors of CDK4/6 from a Library of Marine Compound Database: A Pharmacophore,ADMET, Molecular Docking and Molecular Dynamics Study

Background: CDK4/6 (Cyclin-dependent kinases 4/6) are the key promoters of cell cycle transition from G1 phase to S phase. Thus, selective inhibition of CDK4/6 is a promising cancer treatment. Methods: A total of 52,765 marine natural products were screened for CDK4/6. To screen out better natural compounds, pharmacophore models were first generated, then the absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and toxicity (ADMET) were tested, followed by molecular docking. Finally, molecular dynamics simulation was carried out to verify the binding characteristics of the selected compounds. Results: Eighty-seven marine small molecules were screened based on the pharmacophore model. Then, compounds 41369 and 50843 were selected according to the ADMET and molecular docking score for further kinetic simulation evaluation. Finally, through molecular dynamics analysis, it was confirmed that compound 50843 maintained a stable conformation with the target protein, so it has the opportunity to become an inhibitor of CDK4/6. Conclusion: Through structure-based pharmacophore modeling, ADMET, the molecular docking method and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, marine natural compound 50843 was proposed as a promising marine inhibitor of CDK4/6.     

Effects of dietary vitamin E and fat supplementation in growing-finishing swine fed to a heavy slaughter weight of 150 kg: II. Tissue fatty acid profile,vitamin E concentrations,and antioxidant capacity of plasma and tissue

The study aimed to assess the effects of vitamin E (VE) supplementation and fat source on fatty acid (FA) composition, VE concentrations, and antioxidant capacity in plasma and tissues of pigs fed to a heavy slaughter weight (150 kg). A total of 64 pigs (32 barrows, 32 gilts; 28.41 ± 0.83 kg) were blocked by sex and weight, and randomly assigned to one of eight dietary treatments (n = 8 per treatment) in a 4 × 2 factorial arrangement. Fat sources included corn starch (CS), 5% tallow (TW), 5% distiller’s corn oil (DCO), and 5% coconut oil (CN); VE supplementation levels were 11 and 200 ppm. Five-phase diets were formulated to meet requirement estimates of NRC (2012) and fed to pigs for each period of 25 kg from 25 to 150 kg. Increasing VE supplementation level increased C16:1 (P < 0.05) content but decreased C20:0 (P < 0.05) content in backfat and belly fat, while in liver, it increased C17:0 (P < 0.05) but decreased C18:0 (P < 0.05). Compared to the pigs fed the CS diet, the pigs fed the CN diet had greater (P < 0.05) content of total saturated FA, the pigs fed the DCO diet had greater (P < 0.05) content of total polyunsaturated FA content and iodine value, and the pigs fed the TW diet had greater (P < 0.05) content of total monounsaturated FA in backfat, belly fat, and liver. Plasma VE concentrations increased linearly (P < 0.05) with increasing length of feeding but faster (P < 0.05) in the pigs fed the CN and TW diets compared with the CS and DCO diets within the 200 ppm VE level; the pigs fed the DCO diet had the highest plasma VE concentrations (P < 0.05) from Phase 2 to Phase 5 within the 11 ppm VE level. The VE concentrations in liver and loin muscle (P < 0.05) increased with increasing dietary VE level from 11 to 200 ppm, but it was not affected by dietary fat source. There was no effect of VE supplementation and fat source on antioxidant capacity in plasma and liver except that pigs fed the DCO diet had greater liver SOD activity (P < 0.05) than the pigs fed the CN diet. In conclusion, dietary VE supplementation did not affect FA profile in backfat, belly fat, and liver consistently, while dietary FA composition with different fat sources affected much of the FA profile in backfat, belly fat, and liver. The higher level of VE supplementation increased liver and muscle VE concentrations and dietary fat sources affected plasma VE concentrations differently (P < 0.05), wherein the TW and CN diets increased the VE absorption greater than the DCO diet.     

Analysis of the seed dispersal patterns of wild soybean as a reference for vegetation management around genetically modified soybean fields

There are concerns that genetically modified soybean might threaten the genetic diversity of the wild soybean populations that are distributed in East Asia because genetically modified soybean has no crossing barrier with wild soybean. A simple and effective method to prevent hybridization via pollen flow is spatial separation between the two species because their hybridization occurs only when they grow in close proximity. Therefore, the invasiveness of wild soybean needs to be known in order to secure the appropriate distances. As wild soybean seeds are dispersed mechanically by pod dehiscence, an experiment was conducted in which white sheets were placed on the ground, concentric circles were drawn around the parent plants, and the number of dispersed seeds within each 0.5 m‐wide zone were counted. About 40% of the produced seeds were dispersed and the number of dispersed seeds gradually declined as the distance from the parent plants increased. The model that explained the relationship between the number and distance of the dispersed seeds was produced by using a generalized linear model procedure. More than 95, 99, and 99.9% of the produced seeds stayed within 3.5, 5.0, and 6.5 m after natural pod dehiscence. Knowing these values is useful for evaluating the level of invasive risk by mechanical seed dispersal. The goal of the work is to efficiently and deliberately prevent hybridization by isolating genetically modified soybean fields and wild soybean populations by vegetation management, including weeding and setting up specific‐width buffer zones.     

Investigation of the In Vivo,In Vitro,and In Silico Wound Healing Potential of Pinctada martensii Purified Peptides

Previous studies found that both oral and topical administration of enzymatic digestion products < 3 K Da ultrafiltration fractions of Pinctada martensii mantle (PMPs) had pro-healing effects. Thus, we further purified them by Sephadex-G25 and screened them by cellular assays to obtain Pinctada martensii purified peptides (PMPPs). In this study, we explored the mechanism of PMPPs on wound healing by in vivo, in vitro, and in silico experiments. LC-MS/MS results showed that PMPPs consisted of 33 peptides with molecular weights ranging from 758.43 to 2014.04 Da, and the characteristic peptide was Leu-Asp. The results of cellular assays showed that PMPPs promoted the proliferation of human skin fibroblasts (HSF) (135%) and human immortalized keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells (125%) very significantly at 12.5 μg/mL. The in vivo results showed that PMPPs could achieve scarless healing by inhibiting the inflammatory response, accelerating the epithelialization process, and regulating collagen I/III ratio. The optimal peptide sequence FAFQAEIAQLMS of PMPPs was screened for key protein receptors in wound healing (EGFR1, FGFR1, and MMP-1) with the help of molecular docking technique, which also showed to be the key pro-healing active peptide sequence. Therefore, it may provide a therapeutic strategy with great potential for wound healing.     

蓝莓枝枯病病原菌鉴定

 蓝莓 (Vaccinium spp.),是一类属于杜鹃花科 (Ericaceae) 越橘属 (Vaccinium) 的多年生小浆果类果树,广泛地应用于医药、保健、化妆品和环境保护等各方面,联合国粮农组织将其果实列为人类世界五大健康食品之一,也是我国南方酸性土丘陵地区值得发展的经济作物。全国已超过 10 个省份开始大面积的蓝莓商业化栽培,预计未来 10 年将超过 10 万 hm^{2 [1]}。但是,随着生产面积的不断扩大,蓝莓病害也日趋严重,严重影响和制约蓝莓产业的发展。2010年至今,在云南省昆明市周边及丽江市蓝莓种植区发生一种病害,主要为害嫩枝、枝条和主干,发病初期,感病枝条上产生红褐色圆或椭圆形坏死斑,随后逐渐扩大,造成枝条干枯死亡,并可扩展造成主干枯萎。调查发现,该病发病率通常在 10％～20％,重者可达 25％ 以上,可引起蓝莓整株枯萎死亡。本文通过病原菌分离、致病性测定及传统、分子鉴定,明确了该病的病原,以期为病害防治提供理论依据。     

β-折叠抗菌肽的研发及应用策略

抗生素的滥用导致全球细菌耐药性问题愈发严重,严重威胁人类、畜禽健康及畜牧业发展,功能多样且不易导致细菌产生耐药性突变的抗菌肽（antimicrobial peptides,AMPs）逐渐发展为抗生素的潜在替代品。β-折叠是抗菌肽一个主要的二级结构分类,该类肽通常由一个或多个二硫键来维系结构的稳定,现已发现许多抗菌肽具有此类结构。相比于目前研究广泛的α-螺旋AMP,它们被认为拥有更强的抗酶解能力和更高的细胞选择性。本篇综述介绍了β-折叠抗菌肽的来源和抗细菌机理,并梳理了一些常见的分子设计方法和应用策略,以期为β-折叠抗菌肽的研发应用提供新思路。     

预防兽医学分子生物学技术发展概况

概括介绍了分子生物学理论、技术的发展，重点从病原学、免疫学和疫病预防与控制学三方面阐述了分子生物学在预防兽医学中的应用、发展及其贡献。同时，阐明了预防兽医学对分子生物学的贡献和促进作用。     

玉林市犬狂犬病流行状况调查

通过调查问卷方式得知2010-2016年玉林市犬只饲养量年均20.13万头,免疫犬年均为13.64万头,免疫密度年均为67.74%,仍存在未经免疫的犬。ELISA方法检测免疫犬抗体阳性率为91.57%(1509/1648),非免疫犬为4.13%(10/242);RT-PCR方法检测520份犬脑组织,病原检出率为5.00%(26/520)。通过数据分析与实际情况结合,表明玉林市犬狂犬病免疫抗体合格率较高,疫苗效果表现稳定,外观健康犬仍携带狂犬病病毒。