Studies on the energy release of rice mitochondria under different conditions by means of microcalorimetry

The thermodynamic and kinetic behaviors of energy release of mitochondria isolated from rice (Oryza sative L.) were studied by using a LKB 2277 Bioactivity Monitor under different conditions. The thermogenesis curves of energy release of the rice mitochondria (which had been kept at 0-3 degreesC for 15 h and 40 day before the determination) were determined respectively at 25 and 30 degreesC, and the difference in shape of the thermogenesis curves and thermodynamic and kinetic characteristics were compared. The thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of energy release of the mitochondria in the thermogenesis increasing stage have been calculated, and the experimental thermokinetic equations of the thermogenesis have been established. The results indicated that the lower the temperature, the slower the energy release of the rice mitochondria. Both the thermogenesis and the energy release late of the rice mitochondria increased after the mitochondria was kept at lower temperature for 40 days. One can use the methods to characterize the ability of the rice mitochondria to release energy under different conditions. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

The role of plants in channel-dyke and field irrigation systems for domestic wastewater treatment in an integrated eco-engineering system

Eight kinds of plants were tested in channel-dyke and field irrigation systems. The removal rates of TP, phosphate, TN, ammonia, CODcr and BOD, in the channel-dyke system with napiergrass (Pennisetum purpurem Schumach, x Pennisetum alopecuroides (L.) Spreng American) were 83.2, 82.3, 76.3, 96.2, 73.5 and 85.8%, respectively. The field irrigation systems with rice I-yuanyou No.1(88-132) (Oryza sativa L.) and rice II- suakoko8 (Oryza glaberrima) had high efficiency for N removal; the removal rate were 84.7 and 84.3%, respectively. The mass balance data revealed that napiergrass, rice I and II were the most important nutrient sinks, assimilating more than 50% of TP and TN. Plant uptake of N and P as percentage of total removal from wastewater correlated with biomass yield of and planting mode. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

水稻木质素在土壤中的降解及其效应

本论文主要以化感水稻PI312777和非化感水稻辽粳-9木质素为试验材料，通过土壤添加实验，分析水稻木质素降解产生的酚酸种类与含量，评价其降解产物对稗草及微生物的影响；同时测定水稻不同生育时期稻田土壤中酚酸种类和含量的变化。结果表明： (1)木质素降解过程中会释放多种酚酸，各酚酸含量变化显著。随着木质素的降解，释放出的酚酸含量呈现先升高再降低的趋势。木质素降解产生的酚酸含量的变化与其是否来自化感水稻品种无关，而与木质素的浓度有关。 (2)木质素对稗草产生显著抑制效果，且抑制程度与木质素的浓度呈负相关关系。木质素对稗草的抑制程度随培养时间呈现增强-减弱-增加的变化趋势。木质素对稗草的影响与其来源的水稻品种特性无关。 (3)培养到第四周木质素对细菌和放线菌产生显著抑制活性，并且对细菌和放线菌抑制效应随培养时间增加而减弱。木质素对细菌和放线菌的影响与其来源的水稻品种和浓度无关。在整个共培养时间内，木质素对真菌种群数量产生显著的影响。在其培养的前30天，随培养时间增加其促进作用增强，而后促进作用减弱。木质素的添加量及其来源的水稻品种均对真菌的种群数量产生显著影响。 (4)田间条件下，土壤中酚酸的含量随水稻生育期和品种的不同而存在显著差异。水稻幼苗期田间土壤中酚酸的含量较多，成熟期最少。而三种土壤游离态酚酸—香草酸、4-香豆酸和阿魏酸在水稻不同生育时期田间土壤中的含量变化不大。生测显示,田间土壤中的游离酚酸含量在水稻整个生育时期都低于酚酸对稗草生长的抑制浓度。稻田土壤中的酚酸含量与水稻品种及生育时期无关。

燕麦(Avena sativa L.)的营养成分与保健价值探讨

本文介绍了燕麦(Avena sativa L.)的植物学特性、种植区域及营养价值,并对开发燕麦保健食品进行了探讨.燕麦中含有8种人体必需的氨基酸,各种氨基酸含量不仅很高,而且比较平衡;亚油酸含量占脂肪含量的38.1%～52.0%,磷、铁、维生素B2含量也比较丰富,还含有独有的皂甙素.燕麦中的可溶性纤维β-糊精具有降低血脂、保护肠胃、降低血糖的特殊功效.因此,燕麦作为保健食品有广阔的开发利用前景.

Introdução e avaliação de cultivares de alface (Lactuca sativa L.), para o período seco no Acre.

Os trabalhos de pesquisa em melhoramento com alface no país, têm obtido grandes progressos, com desenvolvimento de cultivares de alface lisa e, mais recentemente, crespa, com maior resistência ao pendoamento precoce e às principais doenças. Tendo em vista a reduzida informação no Estado em relação às novas cultivares disponíveis no mercado, este trabalho foi realizado com o objetivo de avaliar o comportamento de doze cultivares de alface, durante o período seco (julho a agosto) em Rio Branco, Acre.

Manipulación de la senescencia de alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) por ingeniería genética

En plantas forrajeras como la alfalfa, la senescencia foliar produce tanto una pérdida de la biomasa de forraje como una reducción de la calidad del mismo. Una estrategia molecular para retrasar la senescencia mediante la ingeniería genética se basa en la expresión de la secuencia codificante de la isopentenil transferasa (ipt), enzima clave en la biosíntesis de citoquininas. Para lograrlo resulta crítico la utilización de promotores con expresión no constitutiva que permitan la producción sitio-específica y autorregulada de citoquininas. La manipulación de la senescencia constituye un objetivo particularmente atractivo en especies forrajeras. Se transformaron clones de alfalfa con las construcción AtMYB32-ipt, se logró la regeneración de 3 plantas transgénicas, las cuales fueron confirmadas por PCR al amplificar el transgen ipt. La expresión del transgen se confirmó por RT-PCR y a través de la técnica de Southern blot se observó un patrón de inserción múltiple. También se estableció el patrón de expresión de la construcción AtMYB32-gus, la cual se limitó a los tejidos vasculares, con cierta variabilidad de expresión en la parte aérea las plantas. Los fenotipos observados en las plantas AtMYB32-ipt fueron desde plantas normales a plantas que perdieron la dominancia apical con raíces necrosadas en su mayoría. Se evaluó la senescencia foliar a través de bioensayos de hojas de plantas que incorporaron el transgen ipt y plantas que no lo incorporaron, se observó una senescencia foliar retrasada en plantas transgénicas, se cuantificó dicho retraso a través de los contenidos de clorofila a y b, proteínas foliares totales y cambios en el perfil de las proteínas foliares en geles SDS-PAGE (subunidad mayor de Rubisco). Se observó a los 35 días un mayor contenido de clorofila a y b, proteínas foliares y una mayor intensidad de las bandas de la subunidad mayor de Rubisco en las plantas que incorporaron el transgen ipt

Efect of Nostoc muscorum Ag. on germination in vitro of Bremia lactucae sporangia in Lactuca sativa L. Regel

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Efect of Nostoc muscorum Ag. on germination in vitro of Bremia lactucae sporangia in Lactuca sativa L. Regel

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Grain unloading of arsenic species in rice

Rice (Oryza sativa) is the staple food for over half the world's population yet may represent a significant dietary source of inorganic arsenic (As), a nonthreshold, class 1 human carcinogen. Rice grain As is dominated by the inorganic species, and the organic species dimethylarsinic acid (DMA). To investigate how As species are unloaded into grain rice, panicles were excised during grain filling and hydroponically pulsed with arsenite, arsenate, glutathione-complexed As, or DMA. Total As concentrations in flag leaf, grain, and husk, were quantified by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy and As speciation in the fresh grain was determined by x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy. The roles of phloem and xylem transport were investigated by applying a +/- stem-girdling treatment to a second set of panicles, limiting phloem transport to the grain in panicles pulsed with arsenite or DMA. The results demonstrate that DMA is translocated to the rice grain with over an order magnitude greater efficiency than inorganic species and is more mobile than arsenite in both the phloem and the xylem. Phloem transport accounted for 90% of arsenite, and 55% of DMA, transport to the grain. Synchrotron x-ray fluorescence mapping and fluorescence microtomography revealed marked differences in the pattern of As unloading into the grain between DMA and arsenite-challenged grain. Arsenite was retained in the ovular vascular trace and DMA dispersed throughout the external grain parts and into the endosperm. This study also demonstrates that DMA speciation is altered in planta, potentially through complexation with thiols.

Rice-arsenate interactions in hydroponics:whole genome transcriptional analysis

Rice (Oryza sativa) varieties that are arsenate-tolerant (Bala) and -sensitive (Azucena) were used to conduct a transcriptome analysis of the response of rice seedlings to sodium arsenate (AsV) in hydroponic solution. RNA extracted from the roots of three replicate experiments of plants grown for 1 week in phosphate-free nutrient with or without 13.3 muM AsV was used to challenge the Affymetrix (52K) GeneChip Rice Genome array. A total of 576 probe sets were significantly up-regulated at least 2-fold in both varieties, whereas 622 were down-regulated. Ontological classification is presented. As expected, a large number of transcription factors, stress proteins, and transporters demonstrated differential expression. Striking is the lack of response of classic oxidative stress-responsive genes or phytochelatin synthases/synthatases. However, the large number of responses from genes involved in glutathione synthesis, metabolism, and transport suggests that glutathione conjugation and arsenate methylation may be important biochemical responses to arsenate challenge. In this report, no attempt is made to dissect differences in the response of the tolerant and sensitive variety, but analysis in a companion article will link gene expression to the known tolerance loci available in the BalaxAzucena mapping population.

Uptake kinetics of arsenic species in rice plants

Arsenic (As) finds its way into soils used for rice (Oryza sativa) cultivation through polluted irrigation water, and through historic contamination with As-based pesticides. As is known to be present as a number of chemical species in such soils, so we wished to investigate how these species were accumulated by rice. As species found in soil solution from a greenhouse experiment where rice was irrigated with arsenate contaminated water were arsenite, arsenate, dimethylarsinic acid, and monomethylarsonic acid. The short-term uptake kinetics for these four As species were determined in 7-d-old excised rice roots. High-affinity uptake (0-0.0532 mM) for arsenite and arsenate with eight rice varieties, covering two growing seasons, rice var. Boro (dry season) and rice var. Aman (wet season), showed that uptake of both arsenite and arsenate by Boro varieties was less than that of Aman varieties. Arsenite uptake was active, and was taken up at approximately the same rate as arsenate. Greater uptake of arsenite, compared with arsenate, was found at higher substrate concentration (low-affinity uptake system). Competitive inhibition of uptake with phosphate showed that arsenite and arsenate were taken up by different uptake systems because arsenate uptake was strongly suppressed in the presence of phosphate, whereas arsenite transport was not affected by phosphate. At a slow rate, there was a hyperbolic uptake of monomethylarsonic acid, and limited uptake of dimethylarsinic acid.

Analysis of genetic diversity in Portuguese Ceratonia siliqua L. cultivars using RAPD and AFLP markers

Although carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is of great economic importance little is still known about the pattern of genetic variation within this species. Morphological characteristics based on 31 fruit and seeds of continuous characters determinant for agro-industrial uses, were compared with RAPD and AFLP markers for assessing genetic distances in 68 accessions of carob trees, from different cultivars, varieties and eco-geographic regions of Algarve. Eighteen selected RAPD primers applied to the 68 accessions produced a total of 235 fragments ranging from 200 to 2000 bp, of which 93 (40%) were polymorphic. Four AFLP selective primer combinations generated a total of 346 amplification fragments of which 110 were polymorphic. The average level of polymorphism based on four primer combinations was 31.8%. The phenetic trees based on RAPD and AFLP analyses gave high co-phenetic correlation values, and were found to be consistent in general with the analysis of morphological data, carried out on the same accessions. A number of RAPD and AFLP markers were found to be diagnostic for ‘Canela’ cultivar and 13 wild ungrafted trees.