Ascorbic acid level of Belgian apple genetic resources

With the help of the public, a wide collection of old apple cultivars (cvs) was established progressively at our Department from 1975 onwards. Currently, more than 1400 apple accessions are being maintained and three quarters of them are subjected to field evaluation for disease resistance and agronomic characters. This paper presents results of the ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) contents of old cvs combining interesting disease resistance and agronomic features in order to promote them as cvs adapted to production systems which are more environmentally friendly or to be used as parents in breeding programmes. First, a methodological study shows the importance of the variability of ascorbic acid content depending on fruit position in the trees, fruit size, fruit skin colour and maturity stage. Statistical analyses show that the sample size of six fruits per cv is sufficient to detect a difference of 20% between cvs. Old apple cvs such as Grenadier^RGF, Transparente de Croncels, Bramley’s Seedling, Reinette des Capucins, Reinette Libotte and Reinette de Waleffe contain three and seven times more ascorbic acid than the commercial cvs Gala and Elstar, respectively. The paper highlights the need to evaluate the rich potential in our genetic resources.     

Contribution of insulin to the ascorbate recycling system in the chicken liver

The effect of insulin on the ascorbate recycling system in the chicken liver was examined. First, insulin was injected subcutaneously into the chicken, and liver glutathione‐dependent dehydroascorbate reductase (GSH‐DHAR) activity was determined. Insulin increased liver GSH‐DHAR activity, but did not affect plasma and liver ascorbate concentration. Dehydroascorbate increased plasma and liver ascorbate levels, and liver GSH‐DHAR activity. However, distinct changes in plasma insulin level were not observed by dehydroascorbate injection. In addition, reduction of external dehydroascorbate in cultured chicken hepatocytes could not be observed in an insulin‐deprived culture, although the cells reduced external dehydroascorbate in a serum‐free culture with insulin. We concluded that insulin affects the ascorbate recycling system as an essential factor in the chicken liver.     

Effect of recent cropping history and herbicide use on the degradation rates of isoproturon in soils

Five soil samples were taken from each of five fields with different crop management histories. Three of the fields were in an arable rotation, the fourth field was temporary grassland, and the final field was under permanent grass. Of the three arable fields, two had been cropped with winter wheat in three of the preceding 6 years, and the third had last been cropped with winter wheat once only, 6 years previously. With one exception, the winter wheat had been sprayed with the herbicide isoproturon. The rate of isoproturon degradation in laboratory incubations was strongly related to the previous management practices. In the five soils from the field that had been treated most regularly with isoproturon in recent years, <2.5% of the initial dose remained after 14 days, indicating considerable enhancement of degradation. In the soils from the field with two applications of the herbicide in the past 6 years, residues after 27 days varied from 5% to 37% of the amount applied. In soils from the other three sites, residue levels were less variable, and were inversely related to microbial biomass. In studies with selected soils from the field that had received three applications of isoproturon in the previous 6 years, kinetics of degradation were not first‐order but were indicative of microbial adaptation, and the average time to 50% loss of the herbicide (DT₅₀) was 7.5 days. In selected soils from the field that had received just one application of isoproturon, degradation followed first‐order kinetics, indicative of cometabolism. Pre‐incubation of isoproturon in soil from the five fields led to significant enhancement of degradation only in the samples from the two fields that had a recent history of isoproturon application.     

Expression of the tobacco β-1,3-glucanase gene, PR-2d, following induction of SAR with Peronospora tabacina

Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is induced following inoculation of Peronospora tabacina sporangia into the stems of Nicotiana tabacum plants highly susceptible to the pathogen. Previous results have shown that accumulation of acidic β-1,3-glucanases (PR-2's) following induction of SAR by P. tabacina may contribute to resistance to P. tabacina. We showed that up-regulation of the PR-2 gene, PR-2d, following stem inoculation with P. tabacina, is associated with SAR. Studies using plants transformed with GUS constructs containing the full length promoter from PR-2d or promoter deletions, provided evidence that a previously characterized regulatory element that is involved in response to salicylic acid (SA), may be involved in regulation of PR-2d following induction of SAR with P. tabacina. This work provides evidence that regulation of PR-2 genes during P. tabacina-induced SAR may be similar to regulation of these genes during infection of N-gene tobacco by TMV or following exogenous application of SA, and provides further support for the role of SA in regulation of genes during P. tabacina-induced SAR.     

华北农牧交错带退化草地土壤种子库动态变化

对华北农牧交错带不同退化演替阶段土壤种子库的数量和物种组成及与地上植被的关系进行了初步的研究,结果表明:农牧交错带草地在刈割和放牧等干扰下,发生逆行演替,土壤种子库中植物种类及种子数量呈递减的趋势,轻度退化类型土壤种子库物种组成最高,有23种植物,种子数量最多,有4 303粒,禾本科所占比例较大,为32.3%;而极度退化草地物种组成最低,有14种植物,种子数量仅有1 156粒,禾本科只占8.4%.草地逆行演替过程中植被与土壤种子库在物种组成上存在一定差别,中度退化阶段差别最大,有18种植物未在种子库中出现,极度退化阶段差别最小,有2种未在种子库中出现.     

植物化感作用影响因素的再认识

土壤养分、酶、微生物、本底特性,根茬还田、水分、植物根系、种植体系和种植模式与化感作用的互作关系,表明这些因子可通过对土壤养分有效性、微生物种群结构、土壤酶活性和化感物质浓度的影响而对化感作用产生直接或间接影响,这些可为通过化感作用途径构建高效农田生态系统提供新的思路.     

几种牧草对河西走廊盐渍化土壤改土培肥的效应研究

在河西走廊盐渍化土地上种植老芒麦、扁穗冰草、碱茅和紫花苜蓿4种优质牧草,对盐渍化程度均有一定的改良效果.其中碱茅对盐渍化土壤的改土培肥效果最好,建植3年后的碱茅,与对照比较,0～20 cm土层中自然含水量增加125.99 g/kg,总孔度增加16.14%,容重降低0.27 g/cm3,pH值由8.43降到8.10,全盐含量降低52.90 g/kg,脱盐率达到76.12%,有机质增加3.67 g/kg,碱解氮含量增加18.63 mg/kg,速效磷和钾亦随之增加.     

HBV/HAV复合抗原基因在CHO细胞中的表达

为探讨HBV／HAV复合疫苗的可行性，利用DNA重组技术将HBsAg与HAW复合多表位抗原基因VPX进行融合，插入到真核表达质粒pVAX1多克隆位点，构建成核酸表达疫苗pVAX1／SVPX，将其转染CHO细胞。转染细胞培养48h后，进行RTPCR、Western-blot、ELISA分析，结果表明HBV／HAV复合抗原基因SVPX能够在CHO细胞内转录、表达，融合蛋白具有HBV和HAV抗原的特性。     

0～3周龄北京鸭氨基酸理想模式的研究

依据扣除法原理，根据现有氨基酸需要量标准和目前的研究结果规划出一种氨基酸模式，依次将模式中赖氨酸、蛋氨酸、色氨酸、苏氨酸、异亮氨酸扣除20％，而非扣除的氨基酸量保持不变，来确定扣除某一种氨基酸后对育雏期北京鸭生产性能和血液生化指标的影响，确定出理想的氨基酸比例。试验共设6个处理组，为6种氨基酸模式，每个处理设4个重复。结果表明：北京鸭育雏期氨基酸理想模式为赖氨酸：蛋氨酸：色氨酸：苏氨酸：异亮氨酸=100：42：22：38：48。     

核酸疫苗研究进展(下)

Sato等报道，在质粒载体上引入大肠杆菌Amp^ 抗性基因(内含有6核苷酸片段的ISS免疫增强序列)，真皮免疫小鼠后ISS增强CTL和Th1细胞的免疫反应。有人提出利用含有病毒免疫原性基因的基因大片段进行基因免疫，以弥补单基因免疫活性的不足。将协同因子如IL-2、IL-12、TCA等的表达质粒与抗原表达质粒混合注射可使Th1型细胞免疫增强，而GMcsf能明显加强体液免疫，