Search Results
You are looking at 1 - 10 of 31 items for
- Author or Editor: D.Y. Zhang x
- Refine by Access: All Content x
Changes in microbial population, pH, sugar, organic acid, anthocyanins, total soluble phenolics, and anti-glucosidase contents were measured during fermentation of mulberry juice at 30 °C by probiotic Leuconostoc mesenteroides showing rapid growth after an approximately 1-day lag phase and reaching a maximum of 8.6 log CFU ml−1 after 4 d. During the rapid growth phase, the main mulberry juice sugars, glucose and fructose, were largely consumed, and the acidic metabolites, lactic acid and acetic acid, were produced accordingly. A slow decrease in the concentration of the main organic acid, citric acid, was also observed during fermentation. After 4 d fermentation, anthocyanin content showed a 44.4% reduction, but the total amount of soluble phenolics and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity showed no significant changes (P>0.05). This suggests that L. mesenteroides fermentation of mulberry juice is a good strategy to enhance its probiotic value and to decrease the sugar content without changing the anti-glucosidase activity, which is required to reduce postprandial rise in blood glucose.
Summary
1,7-Dihydroxy-3,8-dimethoxyxanthone (X1) and 1,8-dihydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyxanthone (X2) are two important xanthones of the Tibetan medicinal plant Gentianopsis paludosa (Hook. f.) Ma. They are very similar in structure, the only difference being exchange of OH and OCH3 at the 7 and 8 positions. By calculations based on the geometry of the molecules using the MM+ force field, the different distances between the hydroxyl groups of the two xanthones were obtained (4.64774 Å for X2 and 7.19412 Å for X1), therefore, the two hydroxyl groups of X1 should freely interact with more water molecules than those of X2 in aqueous solution. In other words, X2 is more hydrophobic than X1. Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) was therefore chosen for separation of the compounds. The optimum separation conditions were: 20 mm borate + 20 mm SDS (pH 9.8) as running buffer, 17.5 kV applied potential, and detection wavelength 260 nm. The two xanthones were well separated in 9.0 min, with Gaussian peak shapes. The repeatability of the MEKC method (expressed as RSD) for X1 and X2 was 0.9 and 1.1%, respectively, for migration time, and 3.1 and 1.4% for peak area. The limits of detection (S/N = 3) were 0.41 μg mL−1 for X1 and 0.82 μg mL−1 for X2. The recovery of the MEKC method for the two xanthones was also satisfactory.
Abstract
Although Ir anomaly has been discovered in a number of C/T boundaries in the world, no positive results of this anomaly in Permian/Triassic (P/Tr) boundary were given. There are many well-developed P/T sections in South China. One of representative sections is located at the Baoqing quarry, Meishan Town, Changxin County, Zhejiang Province. Ir, Os, Re, Au, Pt, Cu and Mo were determined by the radiochemical procedure developed in our laboratory. (1) Besides those accessible by INAA. The results reveal that the refractory siderophile and other chalcophile elements have certain enrichment near and at the boundary layer. However, the Ir/Au and other element abundance ratios fail to accord with the extraterrestrial values. The nature of the boundary event was discussed in terms of elemental geochemistry.
Abstract
The heat capacities of LiNH2 and Li2MgN2H2 were measured by a modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC) over the temperature range from 223 to 473 K for the first time. The value of heat capacity of LiNH2 is bigger than that of Li2MgN2H2 from 223 to 473 K. The thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy (H–H 298.15) and entropy (S–S 298.15) versus 298.15 K were calculated based on the above heat capacities. The thermal stabilities of them were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TG) at a heating rate of 10 K min−1 with Ar gas flow rate of 30 mL min−1 from room temperature to 1,080 K. TG curves showed that the thermal decomposition of them occurred in two stages. The order of thermal stability of them is: Li2MgN2H2 > LiNH2. The results indicate that addition of Mg increases the thermal stability of Li–N–H system and decrease the value of heat capacities of Li–N–H system.
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been recently found to be a gaseous signaling molecule in plants. In this work, we studied the role of H2S in alleviating salinity stress during wheat grain germination (Triticum aestivum L. Yangmai 158). Pretreatment with NaHS, a H2S donor, during wheat grain imbibition, could significantly attenuate the inhibitory effect of salinity stress on wheat germination. NaHS-pretreated grain showed higher amylase and esterase activities than water control. NaHS pretreatment differentially stimulated the activities of catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (POD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), decreased the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced NaCl-induced changes in plasma membrane integrity in the radicle tips of seedlings compared with water control. We conclude that H2S plays an important role in protecting wheat grain from oxidative damage induced by salinity stress.
Stripe or yellow rust (Yr), caused by Puccinia striiformis Westend. (Pst), is one of the most important wheat diseases worldwide. New aggressive Pst races can spread quickly, even between countries and continents. To identify and exploit stripe rust resistance genes, breeders must characterize first the Pst resistance and genotypes of their cultivars. To find new sources of resistances it is important to study how wheat varieties respond to Pst races that predominate in other continents. In this study we evaluated stripe rust resistance in 53 Hungarian winter wheat cultivars in China. Twenty-four cultivars (45.3%) had all stage resistance (ASR) and 1 (1.9%) had adult-plant resistance (APR), based on seedling tests in growth chambers and adult-plant tests in fields. We molecularly genotyped six Yr resistance genes: Yr5, Yr10, Yr15, Yr17, Yr18, and Yr36. Yr18, an APR gene, was present alone in five cultivars, and in ‘GK Kapos’, that also had seedling resistance. The other five Yr genes were absent in all cultivars tested.
In this study, the cDNA of homocysteine S-methyltransferase was isolated from Aegilops tauschii Coss., with the gene accordingly designated as AetHMT1. Similar to other methyltransferases, AetHMT1 contains a GGCCR consensus sequence for a possible zinc-binding motif near the C-terminal and a conserved cysteine residue upstream of the zinc-binding motif. Analysis of AetHMT1 uncovered no obvious chloroplast or mitochondrial targeting sequences. We functionally expressed AetHMT1 in Escherichia coli and confirmed its biological activity, as evidenced by a positive HMT enzyme activity of 164.516 ± 17.378 nmol min−1 mg−1 protein when catalyzing the transformation of L-homocysteine. Compared with the bacterium containing the empty vector, E. coli harboring the recombinant AetHMT1 plasmid showed much higher tolerance to selenate and selenite. AetHMT1 transcript amounts in different organs were increased by Na2SeO4 treatment, with roots accumulating higher amounts than stems, old leaves and new leaves. We have therefore successfully isolated HMT1 from Ae. tauschii and characterized the biochemical and physiological functions of the corresponding protein.
Two experiments to investigate the crossability of Triticum turgidum with Aegilops tauschii are described. In the first experiment, 372 wide hybridization combinations were done by crossing 196 T. turgidum lines belonging to seven subspecies with 13 Ae. tauschii accessions. Without embryo rescue and hormone treatment, from the 66220 florets pollinated, 3713 seeds were obtained, with a mean crossability percentages of 5.61% which ranged from 0 to 75%. A lot of hybrid seeds could germinate and produce plants. Out of 372 combinations, 73.12% showed a very low crossability less than 5%, 23.39% showed the crossability of 5–30%, 2.69% showed the crossability of 30–50%, 0.81% showed high crossability more than 50%, respectively. Among the seven T. turgidum subspecies, there were significant differences in crossability. The ssp. dicoccoides and dicoccon showed the highest crossability, while polonicum the lowest. All the crossability percentages more than 30% were obtained from the crossing of ssp. dicoccoides or dicoccon with Ae. tauschii .In the second experiment, the genetics of crossability was investigated using T. turgidum ssp. durum cultivar Langdon and the D-genome disomic substitution lines of Langdon. Compared with the control Langdon, lines 7D(7A) and 4D(4B) showed higher crossability, which suggested that chromosomes 7A and 4B of tetraploid wheat cv. Langdon carried dominant alleles inhibiting crossability with Ae. tauschii . The relationships of present results with previously reported crossability genes of wheat are discussed.
Abstract
The power-time curves of the growth of three strains of petroleum bacteria at different temperatures have been determined. A novel equation of a power-time curve has been proposed in this paper. The general formula to calculate the rate constant of the bacterial growth has been derived. The rate constants of the bacterial growth at different temperatures, the heat production per newly formed bacterium, the bacterial number at the end of the bacterial growth and the deceleration rate constant of the bacterial growth at 50.00°C, have been calculated. The optimum growth temperatures of the three strains have been obtained.
