Optimising cutting method and timing for the control of Abutilon theophrasti seed production

Abutilon theophrasti (velvetleaf) is a widespread and problematic annual weed. Greenhouse and field experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of different cutting methods on the viability of A. theophrasti seeds. Three cutting methods were assessed: (1) Entire plant cut and dried (EPD)—plants were cut at soil level and dried with capsules attached on the greenhouse bench or soil surface for 4 weeks; (2) capsules detached and dried (CD)—capsules were removed from plants and dried for 4 weeks; and (3) capsules detached and tested while fresh (CF)—a control treatment. Before drying, the developmental stage (stage one, dark green; stage two, light green; stage three, yellowish-green; or stage four, black with the slightly open capsule) and age (days after flowering, DAF) of each capsule was recorded. Seed viability was measured immediately in the CF treatment and after the 4-week drying period in the EPD and CD treatments. No seeds in the EPD and CD treatments were viable when harvested at the first developmental stage (1–8 DAF) in either experiment, but 100% of seeds in the CF treatment in the field were viable when harvested at 8 DAF. In both greenhouse and field experiments, seeds attained full viability at earlier harvest ages in CF than in EPD or CD treatments, suggesting that seeds might become viable relatively early in development but lose viability if allowed to dry. These findings could be applied to optimise late-season mechanical control of A. theophrasti.     

Shortening the generation cycle in faba bean (Vicia faba) by application of cytokinin and cold stress to assist speed breeding

The aim of this study was to reduce the length of the breeding cycle for faba bean by accelerating seed setting. We examined the mode and time of exogenous 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) (cytokinin) application, and cold treatments and their combinations in two faba bean genotypes. Acropetal node number of pod and seed set and pollen viability were recorded during the experiments. Application of BAP improved pollen germination. The application of 10^–5 M BAP 4 days after flowering increased seed set at the lower nodes. Cold treatment (8/4°C day/night for 2 days) after the onset of flowering induced the formation of more pods and faster pod set compared to the non-cold treatment. The time to first seed was significantly reduced, and pollen viability was increased in plants exposed to cold treatment. Increased pollen viability also showed a significant positive correlation with seed setting. The combinations of 10^–5 BAP and cold treatment together had similar and independent effects. These results will accelerate plant breeding in faba bean by providing additional tools for reducing generation time.     

Age estimation of Arabian mares by incisors morphometry and dentition changes

Veterinary Research Communications - Accurate estimation of a horse's age based on the condition of the tooth status is necessary as a scientific and artistic technique, which has not been...     

Efficiency of seed bio-priming technique for healthy mungbean productivity under terminal drought stress

Recently, drought-induced damaging impact in reducing the crop growth and development is drastically ranked at the top under various abiotic stresses. And especially water stress at the reproductive growth stages termed as terminal drought has become a severe threat for mungbean productivity. To mitigate the drought stress condition, "bio-priming" has emerged as a newly agronomic and sustainable technique in improving the mungbean production. A 2-year field study during Kharif season 2017–2018 was conducted to investigate the efficacy of rhizobacteria seed priming in mungbean(AZRI mung-06), at Agronomic Research Area, Department of Agronomy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan. The experiment comprised two factors containing F_A(seed treatments, control(dry seeds), hydro-priming, silicon(Si)-priming, and bio-priming(mixture strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens+Rhizobium phaseoli)) and F_B(irrigation water-regimes at various growth stages including leaf formation(L), stem elongation(S)+flowering(F)+pod formation(P) containing treatments are normal irrigation(I_(L+S+F+P)) and terminal drought stress(I_(F+P))). All the treatments were arranged in randomized complete block design under factorial design and were replicated thrice. Results indicated that the exposure of drought stress at flowering and pod formation stages hampered the morpho-physiological growth and yield of mungbean. Nevertheless, seed priming treatments particularly bio-priming were effective in alleviating the detrimental effects of drought stress. Bio-priming significantly increased the yield and yield components(seeds/plant, 1 000-grain weight and harvest index) of mungbean and regulated the activities/levels of antioxidants(superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, ascorbic acid, and total phenolics) under drought stress. Compared with the control, bio-priming increased the seed yield of mungbean by 8–12% under normal as well as drought stress conditions during both years of study. Bio-priming also improved the nutrient uptake behavior followed by Si-and hydro-priming treatments under terminal drought stress. The study emphasized the effectiveness of bio-priming as dual seed treatment method may be helpful for vigorous germination of mungbean production along with plant tolerance against terminal drought stress. Among the various treatments, plants treated with bio-priming technique compensated the grain yield due to having strong antioxidant defense system and better nutrient uptake behaviour under terminal drought stress. Economic analysis also concluded that bio-priming is the easiest, cost-effective, friendly, and sustainable approach for the maximization of the mungbean production.     

Nonparametric phenotypic stability analysis in advanced barley (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Hordeum vulgare</Emphasis> L.) genotypes

The development of genotypes with adaptation to a wide range of environments is one of the most important goals of plant breeding programs. In order to compare nonparametric stability measures and to identify promising high-yield and stable barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), 20 barley genotypes selected from the Iran/ICARDA joint project and grown in nine environments during 2009-11 in Iran. Four nonparametric statistical tests of significance for genotype × environment (GE) interaction and 10 nonparametric measures of stability were used to identify stable genotypes in nine environments. Results of nonparametric tests of G×E interaction (Kubinger, Hildebrand, and Kroon/ Laan) and a combined ANOVA across environments, indicated the presence of both crossover and non-crossover interactions. Also, only TOP and rank-sum values were positively associated with high yield. Thus, in the simultaneous selection for high yield and stability, only the rank-sum and TOP methods were useful in terms of the principal component analysis results, and correlation analysis of nonparametric stability statistics and yield. According to these stability parameters (TOP and rank-sum), three genotypes (G13, G12, and G17) were the most stable for grain yield. The results also revealed that based on nonparametric test results, stability could be classified into three groups, according to agronomic and biological concepts of stability.     

Rapid one-step separation and purification of recombinant phenylalanine dehydrogenase in aqueous two-phase systems

Background: Phenylalanine dehydrogenase (PheDH; EC 1.4.1.20) is a NAD+-dependent enzyme that performs the reversible oxidative deamination of L-phenylalanine to phenylpyruvate. It plays an important role in detection and screening of phenylketonuria (PKU) diseases and production of chiral intermediates as well. The main goal of this study was to find a simple and rapid alternative method for purifying PheDH. Methods: The purification of recombinant Bacillus sphaericus PheDH was investigated in polyethylene glycol (PEG) and ammonium sulfate aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). The influences of system parameters including PEG molecular weight and concentration, pH and (NH4)2SO4 concentration on enzyme partitioning were also studied. The purity of enzyme was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Results: A single extraction process was developed for separation and purification of recombinant PheDH from E. coli BL21 (DE3). The optimized conditions for partitioning and purification of PheDH were 9% (w/w) PEG-6,000 and 16% (w/w) (NH4)2SO4 at pH 8.0. The partition coefficient, recovery, yield, purification factor and specific activity values were achieved 58.7, 135%, 94.42%, 491.93 and 9828.88 U/mg, respectively. Also, the Km values for L-phenylalanine and NAD+ in oxidative deamination were 0.21 and 0.13 mM, respectively. Conclusion: The data presented in this paper demonstrated the potential of ATPS as a versatile and scaleable process for downstream processing of recombinant PheDH.     

Microalgae as Contributors to Produce Biopolymers

Biopolymers are very favorable materials produced by living organisms, with interesting properties such as biodegradability, renewability, and biocompatibility. Biopolymers have been recently considered to compete with fossil-based polymeric materials, which rase several environmental concerns. Biobased plastics are receiving growing interest for many applications including electronics, medical devices, food packaging, and energy. Biopolymers can be produced from biological sources such as plants, animals, agricultural wastes, and microbes. Studies suggest that microalgae and cyanobacteria are two of the promising sources of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), cellulose, carbohydrates (particularly starch), and proteins, as the major components of microalgae (and of certain cyanobacteria) for producing bioplastics. This review aims to summarize the potential of microalgal PHAs, polysaccharides, and proteins for bioplastic production. The findings of this review give insight into current knowledge and future direction in microalgal-based bioplastic production considering a circular economy approach. The current review is divided into three main topics, namely (i) the analysis of the main types and properties of bioplastic monomers, blends, and composites; (ii) the cultivation process to optimize the microalgae growth and accumulation of important biobased compounds to produce bioplastics; and (iii) a critical analysis of the future perspectives on the field.     

Transparent Polycaprolactam Electrospun Nanofibers Doped with 1,10-phenanthroline Optical Sensor for Colorimetric Determination of Iron (II) and Vitamin C

A novel optical chemical sensor based on a transparent electrospun nanofibrous scaffold, composed of polycaprolactam (PA6) and 1,10-phenanthroline (Phen), deposited on a glass slide and impregnated with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was coupled with UV-vis spectrophotometry and used for colorimetric determination of ferrous ion (Fe²⁺) and ascorbic acid (AA). The electrospun nanofibers were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques. The main factors affecting performance of the optical sensor (PA6-Phen/PVA@glass) including Phen dosage, pH of sample solution, electrospinning time, polymer solution flowrate, electrospinning voltage, and PVA amount were investigated and the related optimum values were obtained. The analytical merits of the sensor for quantitative determination of Fe²⁺ and ascorbic acid was evaluated. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for Fe²⁺ were 1 and 3 μg mL^-1, respectively. The linear dynamic range (LDR) was 3–150 μg mL^-1 with the determination coefficient (R²) of 0.991. The relative standard deviation (RSD %, n=3) for a solution of 60 μg mL^-1 was 5.4 %. For determination of AA, LOD and LOQ were obtained equal to 0.5 and 2 μg mL^-1, respectively. The linear dynamic range was in the 2–200 μg mL^-1 range with a R2 of 0.994. The RSD % at 100 μg mL^-1, n=3) was equal to 7.0 %. The sensor was applied successfully to the detection of Fe(II) and AA in real water samples and aspirin tablets.     

Anti-inflammatory activities of cucurbitacin E isolated from Citrullus lanatus var. citroides: role of reactive nitrogen species and cyclooxygenase enzyme inhibition

The in vivo and in vitro mechanistic anti-inflammatory actions of cucurbitacin E (CE) (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides) were examined. The results showed that LPS/INF-γ increased NO production in RAW264.7 macrophages, whereas L-NAME and CE curtailed it. CE did not reveal any cytotoxicity on RAW264.7 and WRL-68 cells. CE inhibited both COX enzymes with more selectivity toward COX-2. Intraperitoneal injection of CE significantly suppressed carrageenan-induced rat's paw edema. ORAC and FRAP assays showed that CE is not a potent ROS scavenger. It could be concluded that CE is potentially useful in treating inflammation through the inhibition of COX and RNS but not ROS.