An archaeobotanical perspective on Holocene plant-use practices in lowland northern New Guinea

Existing archaeobotanical and palynological records of plant use in the northern New Guinea lowlands are reviewed in light of recent work at Kuk and theoretical refocusing on plant use practice. A practice-based approach is supported as the most useful way of investigating the highly problematical area of tropical plant food production. The existing direct record of past plant use in lowland New Guinea is considered woefully inadequate to achieve this task, as is that in Near Oceania and Island Southeast Asia. Archaeobotanical methods exist to fill the void, but full implementation requires a change in general archaeological and palaeoecological practice.

Exploring the use of Viagra in place of animal and plant potency products in traditional Chinese medicine

Recently, conservationists have debated whether consumers of animal and plant potency products used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED) in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) might be switching to Viagra, consequently consuming fewer of these animals and plants. To address this question, a survey examined the medical decisions of male consumers of TCM in Hong Kong who were over the age of 50. As predicted, these consumers reported selectively switching to Western medicines to treat ED, but not to treat other health ailments. These findings provide support for the possibility that Viagra may have conservation benefits for certain species.

The role of physiological understanding in plant breeding; From a breeding perspective

The role of physiological understanding in improving the efficiency of breeding programs is examined largely from the perspective of conventional breeding programs. Impact of physiological research to date on breeding programs, and the nature of that research, was assessed from (i) responses to a questionnaire distributed to plant breeders and physiologists, and (ii) a survey of literature abstracts. Ways to better utilise physiological understanding for improving breeding programs are suggested, together with possible constraints to delivering beneficial outcomes. Responses from the questionnaire indicated a general view that the contribution by crop physiology to date has been modest. However, most of those surveyed expected the contribution to be larger in the next 20 years. Some constraints to progress perceived by breeders and physiologists were highlighted. The survey of literature abstracts indicated that from a plant breeding perspective, much physiological research is not progressing further than making suggestions about possible approaches to selection. There was limited evidence in the literature of objective comparison of such suggestions with existing methodology, or of development and application of these within active breeding programs. It is argued in this paper that the development of outputs from physiological research for breeding requires a good understanding of the breeding program(s) being serviced and factors affecting its performance. Simple quantitative genetic models, or at least the ideas they represent, should be considered in conducting physiological research and in envisaging and evaluating outputs. The key steps of a generalised breeding program are outlined, and the potential pathways for physiological understanding to impact on these steps are discussed. Impact on breeding programs may arise through (i) better choice of environments in which to conduct selection trials, (ii) identification of selection criteria and traits for focused introgression programs, and (iii) identifying traits for indirect selection criteria as an adjunct to criteria already used. While many breeders and physiologists apparently recognise that physiological understanding may have a major role in the first area, there appears to be relatively Little research activity targeting this issue, and a corresponding bias, arguably unjustified, toward examining traits for indirect selection. Furthermore, research on traits aimed at crop improvement is often deficient because key genetic parameters, such as genetic variation in relevant breeding populations and genetic (as opposed to phenotypic) correlations with yield or other characters of economic importance, are not properly considered in the research. Some areas requiring special attention for successfully interfacing physiology research with breeding are discussed. These include (i) the need to work with relevant genetic populations, (ii) close integration of the physiological research with an active breeding program, and (iii) the dangers of a pre-defined or narrow focus in the physiological research.

Plant transformation: Problems and strategies for practical application

Plant transformation is now a core research tool in plant biology and a practical tool for cultivar improvement. There are verified methods for stable introduction of novel genes into the nuclear genomes of over 120 diverse plant species. This review examines the criteria to verify plant transformation; the biological and practical requirements for transformation systems; the integration of tissue culture, gene transfer, selection, and transgene expression strategies to achieve transformation in recalcitrant species; and other constraints to plant transformation including regulatory environment, public perceptions, intellectual property, and economics. Because the costs of screening populations showing diverse genetic changes can far exceed the costs of transformation, it is important to distinguish absolute and useful transformation efficiencies. The major technical challenge facing plant transformation biology is the development of methods and constructs to produce a high proportion of plants showing predictable transgene expression without collateral genetic damage. This will require answers to a series of biological and technical questions, some of which are defined.

Application of inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers to plant genetics

Microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are ubiquitous in eukaryotic genomes. Single-locus SSR markers have been developed for a number of species, although there is a major bottleneck in developing SSR markers whereby flanking sequences must be known to design 5'-anchors for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers. Inter SSR (ISSR) fingerprinting was developed such that no sequence knowledge was required. Primers based on a repeat sequence, such as (CA)(n), can be made with a degenerate 3'-anchor, such as (CA)(8)RG or (AGC)(6)TY. The resultant PCR reaction amplifies the sequence between two SSRs, yielding a multilocus marker system useful for fingerprinting, diversity analysis and genome mapping. PCR products are radiolabelled with P-32 or P-33 via end-labelling or PCR incorporation, and separated on a polyacrylamide sequencing gel prior to autoradiographic visualisation. A typical reaction yields 20-100 bands per lane depending on the species and primer. We have used ISSR fingerprinting in a number of plant species, and report here some results on two important tropical species, sorghum and banana. Previous investigators have demonstrated that ISSR analysis usually detects a higher level of polymorphism than that detected with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) or random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analyses. Our data indicate that this is not a result of greater polymorphism genetically, but rather technical reasons related to the detection methodology used for ISSR analysis.

Eosinophilic pneumonitis induced by aerosol-administered diesel oil and pyrethrum to mice

Objective. To confirm the episode of eosinophilic pneumonitis that occurred in March 2001 in Manaus, Amazon, northern Brazil, as secondary to home aerosolization with 2% cypermethrin diluted in diesel compared with the more conventional 1% cypermethrin and soybean solution used in prophylaxis of dengue. Methods. Four groups of Swiss mice were kept in polycarbonate cages aerosolized with one of the following solutions: diesel, diesel and cypermethrin, soy oil and cypermethrin, and saline. Three and 6 days after exposure, resistance and compliance of the respiratory system and white cell kinetics in peripheral blood and lung tissue were analyzed. Results. The group exposed to diesel and cypermethrin showed higher respiratory system resistance (p < 0.001), lower compliance (p = 0.03), and increased eosinophils in blood (p = 0.03) and lung tissue (p = 0.005) compared with the other groups. There was an increase of neutrophils in the blood of all experimental groups on the third day after exposure (p < 0.001). Conclusions. We concluded that diesel associated with cypermethrin induced lung hyperresponsiveness in this experimental model and was associated with increased polymorphonuclear cells (eosinophils and neutrophils) in blood and lungs. This effect is strongest on the third day after exposure. These results are similar to the episode that occurred in Manaus in 2001 and suggest that diesel plus cypermethrin home aerosolization for arbovirosis prophylaxis should be revised.

Plant-antivenom: Database of anti-venom medicinal plants

Plant-antivenom is a computational Websystem about medicinal plants with anti-venom properties. The system consists of a database of these plants, including scientific publications on this subject and amino acid sequences of active principles from venomous animals. The system relates these data allowing their integration through different search applications. For the development of the system, the first surveys were conducted in scientific literature, allowing the creation of a publication database in a library for reading and user interaction. Then, classes of categories were created, allowing the use of tags and the organization of content. This database on medicinal plants has information such as family, species, isolated compounds, activity, inhibited animal venoms, among others. Provision is made for submission of new information by registered users, by the use of wiki tools. Content submitted is released in accordance to permission rules defined by the system. The database on biological venom protein amino acid sequences was structured from the essential information from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Plant-antivenom`s interface is simple, contributing to a fast and functional access to the system and the integration of different data registered on it. Plant-antivenom system is available on the Internet at http://gbi.fmrp.usp.br/plantantivenom.

Use of lignin extracted from different plant sources as standards in the spectrophotometric acetyl bromide lignin method

A nongravimetric acetyl bromide lignin (ABL) method was evaluated to quantify lignin concentration in a variety of plant materials. The traditional approach to lignin quantification required extraction of lignin with acidic dioxane and its isolation from each plant sample to construct a standard curve via spectrophotometric analysis. Lignin concentration was then measured in pre-extracted plant cell walls. However, this presented a methodological complexity because extraction and isolation procedures are lengthy and tedious, particularly if there are many samples involved. This work was targeted to simplify lignin quantification. Our hypothesis was that any lignin, regardless of its botanical origin, could be used to construct a standard curve for the purpose of determining lignin concentration in a variety of plants. To test our hypothesis, lignins were isolated from a range of diverse plants and, along with three commercial lignins, standard curves were built and compared among them. Slopes and intercepts derived from these standard curves were close enough to allow utilization of a mean extinction coefficient in the regression equation to estimate : lignin concentration in any plant, independent of its botanical origin. Lignin quantification by use of a common regression equation obviates the steps of lignin extraction, isolation, and standard curve construction, which substantially expedites the ABL method. Acetyl bromide lignin method is a fast, convenient analytical procedure that may routinely be used to quantify lignin.