SAMUDRA Report No. 61, March 2012

Contents: UNCSD: Rio+20. Shrimp Aquaculture in Central America. Sovereign Rights of Indigenous Fishers. Access to Fisheries Information. Harmonizing Fishworkers’ Rights. The Delhi MPA Workshop.

On the troll line investigations off Cochin during five fishing seasons. Pt. 1. Investigations during 1960-61 and 1961-62 seasons

There is apparently great scope for improvement of the design and operational aspects of the gear particularly for the effective exploitation of seasonal fisheries like that of seer, tuna, barracuda etc. In order to evolve improved, yet cheap trolling gear regular investigations were undertaken by the Craft & Gear Wing of the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, off Cochin for five fishing seasons and the results of these studies are incorporated in this paper.

光敏核不育水稻41 kDa和61 kDa蛋白质的发现、N-端序列分析及其雄性不育性状关系的探讨

光敏核不育水稻农垦58S是石明松于1973年在晚粳农垦58的大田中发现的雄性不育突变体，它在长日照下雄性不育可被用于与恢复系杂交生产杂种，而在短日照下雄性可育能用于自交繁殖，它的恢复系来源广泛。基于这些特性，育种学家用光敏核不育水稻建立的二系杂交水稻制种技术有很大的应用潜力。近十几年来，育种学家用农垦58S作基因供体转育了许多新的不育系，研究结果表明育成的粳型不育系均为光敏不育系，但在育成的籼型不育系中，绝大多数丧失光敏核不育特性，变成温敏不育系。目前因不知光敏核不育的分子遗传机制，尚不能解释这些问题。 本文用双向电泳技术分析了农垦58S和农垦58苗期和育性转换光敏感期叶绿体蛋白质的差异，在农垦58S中发现三个蛋白质(Pl，P2和P3)，其中Pl和P2在苗期和光敏感期叶片内均存在，P3仅在光敏感期的叶片中存在，它们不受长日照或短日照处理的影响。农垦58没有这三个蛋白质。 用制备型双向电泳纯化后，得到SDS - PAGE和IEF纯的Pl和P2。经SDS-PAGE和IEF测定，Pl的等电点是6.2，分子量是41 kDa;P2的等电点是5.8，分子量是61 kDa。现称Pl为P41，P2为P61。氨基酸序列分析和同源性检索发现P41与水稻叶绿体ATP合成酶p亚基和酵母转录因子CAD1有同源性，此外，P41的N-端序列中有一个与蛋白激酶催化核心中的多功能motif Y-G-X-G-X- (P/T)-G-V相似的序列;P61的14个氨基酸长的N-端序列与水稻叶绿体ATP合成酶β亚基的一致。P41和P61 N-端前12个氨基酸的序列也完全一致。 PCR扩增和Southern杂交分析没有发现农垦58S和农垦58之间ATP合成酶β亚基基因(atpB)的多态性。Nothern杂交分析表明农垦58S中仅有一种、与农垦58 atpB mRNA分子量相同的atpB转录产物，但它的atpB mRNA丰度明显低于农垦58的。没有检测到突变的atpB和其它形式的atpB转录产物。 分析P41和P61在其它水稻材料中的分布特点发现它们在粳型光敏不育系7001S、5088S、31301S、C407S和1647S，籼型光敏不育系W7415S和W9451S以及温（光）敏不育系培矮64S中存在，而在对照材料三系水稻马协A、珍汕97A、马协B、珍汕97B和明恢63以及常规粳稻C94153中不存在。根据这些不育系的系谱和它们与农垦58S之间基因的等位性研究结果，讨论了P41和P61与光敏核不育性的可能联系。

Effects of intrahippocampal NAC(61-95) injections on memory in the rat and attenuation with vitamin E

Parkinson's disease (PD)-related dementia affects approximately 40% of PD patients and the severity of this dementia correlates significantly with the density of Lewy body (LB) deposition in the PD brain. Aggregated alpha-synuclein protein is the major component of LB's and the non-amyloid component (NAC) region of alpha-synuclein, residues 61-95, is essential for the aggregation and toxicity of this protein. The current study evaluated the effect of pre-aggregated NAC(61-95) injected into the CA3 area of the dorsal hippocampus of the brain on memory in the rat. Previous research has suggested that oxidative stress processes may play a role in the neuropathology of PD, therefore the effect of treatment with vitamin E, an antioxidant, was also evaluated. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained in two-lever operant chambers under an alternating-lever cyclic-ratio (ALCR) schedule of food reinforcement. When responding showed no trends, subjects were divided into four groups. Two groups were injected bilaterally into the dorsal hippocampus with aggregated NAC(61-95) (5 mu l suspension), and two groups were injected bilaterally into the dorsal hippocampus with sterile water (5 mu l). Subgroups were treated with either vitamin E (150 mg/kg in Soya oil) or vehicle (Soya oil) daily. Injection of NAC(61-95) induced memory deficits and vitamin E treatment alleviated these. In addition, NAC(61-95) injections induced activated astrocytes and chronic treatment with vitamin E reduced the numbers of activated astrocytes. These results suggest that aggregated NAC(61-95) and associated oxidative stress, may play a role in the pathogenesis of cognitive deficits seen in PD-induced dementia. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

WASP-30b: A 61 M Jup Brown Dwarf Transiting a V = 12, F8 Star

We report the discovery of a 61-Jupiter-mass brown dwarf (BD), which transits its F8V host star, WASP-30, every 4.16 days. From a range of age indicators we estimate the system age to be 1-2 Gyr. We derive a radius (0.89 ± 0.02 R Jup) for the companion that is consistent with that predicted (0.914 R Jup) by a model of a 1 Gyr old, non-irradiated BD with a dusty atmosphere. The location of WASP-30b in the minimum of the mass-radius relation is consistent with the quantitative prediction of Chabrier & Baraffe, thus confirming the theory.