Extrapituitary gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) binding sites in goldfish

In teleosts, as in other vertebrates, the secretion of pituitary gonadotropin (GTH) is mediated by the hypothalamic decapeptide, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Recent findings in teleosts indicate that GnRH receptors are not restricted to the pituitary gonadotropes and are also associated with somatotropes as well as being present in a number of other tissues. In the present study, we provide novel information on GnRH binding in a number of extrapituitary tissues in goldfish. However, we do not intend to provide full characterization of GnRH binding sites in various extrapituitary tissues in goldfish as this would clearly be outside the scope of this paper. In this study we examined GnRH binding in a number of extrapituitary tissues in goldfish and observed specific binding in ovary, testis, brain, liver and kidney. No specific GnRH binding was observed in muscle, skin, gut, gill and heart. In general, the present findings together with the results of other studies carried out in our laboratory demonstrate that mature goldfish ovary and testis contain two classes of GnRH binding sites, high affinity/low capacity and low affinity/high capacity sites with binding characteristics similar to those of the pituitary GnRH receptors. The brain of goldfish was also found to contain two classes of GnRH binding sites, a super-high affinity/low capacity and a low affinity/high capacity sites. Furthermore, study of goldfish liver and kidney demonstrated the presence of a single class of GnRH binding sites with characteristics different from those of pituitary, ovary, testis and brain. Overall, it is evident that goldfish contains a family of GnRH binding sites which can be classified into four groups based on binding affinities: 1) A class of high affinity binding sites present in the pituitary, ovary and testis, 2) a class of super high affinity sites so far only detected in the brain, 3) a class of intermediate-affinity GnRH binding sites in the liver and kidney, and 4) a class of low affinity binding sites present in all the tissues containing specific GnRH binding sites except for liver and kidney.     

Optimizing fertilizers doses and their effects on photosynthesis and biomass yield of Hibiscus cannabinus cultivated on BRIS soil

In tropical climate, huge amount of fertilizer need to be used for the cultivation of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) in Beach Ridges Interspersed with Swales (BRIS) soil, however this approach is not cost effective and environmental friendly. Therefore, the optimizing of fertilizer rate for BRIS soils and selection of suitable soil amendments are crucial to get a higher yield. In this study, the effects of different combinations of urea, chicken manure and biochar on soil properties, growth performance and physiological characteristics of kenaf cultivated on the BRIS soil were investigated. Eight treatments were conducted namely: control (T1), biochar (T2), chicken manure (T3), urea (T4), chicken manure + urea (T5), biochar + chicken manure (T6), urea + biochar (T7) and biochar + chicken manure + urea (T8). The biomass and physiological characteristics of kenaf were recorded every month, while the soil was analyzed following a standard laboratory procedure. The application of organic and inorganic fertilizer (urea) significantly increased the nutrient content of the soil compared to the T1, whereas T3 showed the highest pH, cation exchange capacity, and exchangeable bases (Na, Mg, Ca). However, the mixing of biochar with organic and inorganic fertilizers showed the highest plant height, diameter of stem and number of leaves as well as dry biomass compared to other treatments. Furthermore, the application of nitrogen fertilizer significantly increased the photosynthesis rate and stomatal conductivity. The results suggest that the mixing of biochar with organic and inorganic fertilizers represents an effective approach for the cultivation of kenaf in tropical climate.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Effects of nano-silver impregnation on brittleness, physical and mechanical properties of heat-treated hardwoods

The present study investigates the effect of heat treatment of untreated and nano-silver-impregnated Populus nigra, Populus deltoides and Fagus orientalis on the physical and mechanical properties. Specimens were impregnated with a 200-ppm aqueous silver nanoparticles suspension. Heat treatment was carried out at temperatures of 135 ± 3 °C and 185 ± 3 °C. Nano-silver impregnation aggravated the effects of heat treatment. Although significant in some cases, nano-silver impregnation did not seem to have great effect on physical properties. It may be concluded that although NS impregnation aggravated the effects of heat treatment on solid woods, other factors may also be involved such as the species and density of the wood.     

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.     

Study on the effect of nano-silver impregnation on mechanical properties of heat-treated <Emphasis Type="Italic">Populus nigra</Emphasis>

The present study is aimed at investigating the effect of heat treatment of nano-silver-impregnated Populus nigra on weight loss, modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE), and compression parallel to grain. Specimens were impregnated with 200 PPM water-based solution of nano-silver particles at 2.5 bar in a pressure vessel. For heat treatment, both nano-silver-impregnated and simple specimens were kept for 24 h at 45°C and then further for 24 h at 145°C and finally for 4 h at 185°C. MOR decreased from 529 to 461 kg/cm² in heat-treated specimens; MOE and compression parallel to grain were though improved. Also, comparison between heat-treated and nano-silver-impregnated heat-treated specimens showed that there was a decrease in MOR and MOE in nano-silver-impregnated heat-treated specimens. This shows that nano-silver impregnation facilitates transfer of heat in wood and it may increase the process of degradation and pyrolysis of wood structures in deeper parts of specimens.     

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.