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- Author or Editor: X. H. Zhou x
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Crown rot caused by Fusarium pathogens is one of the most economically destructive diseases of wheat. The objective of this study was to investigate defense-related enzyme responses in wheat seedlings infected with Fusarium graminearum. Three wheat varieties were employed to the experiment. Physiological analysis of varieties indicated that defensive-related enzymes were induced by F. graminearum infection. The superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities increased dramatically and the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity was stimulated to a higher level in resistant variety Hongyouzi than in susceptible variety Wo0102. However, the chitinase activity was higher in susceptible variety Wo0102 than in Hongyouzi after infection. These results suggest that the defense enzymes could be stimulated in wheat seedlings by Fusarium infection.
Abstract
The paper presents the results of determination of extractable organohalogens (EOX) by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) by gas chromatography (GC), in atmospheric precipitation in Shanghai, China, from January to August 2005. The results showed that EOCI was the major component of organohalogens in precipitation. A significant correlation between the concentrations of EOBr and EOI was observed (r 2 = 0.75), which suggested that EOBr and EOI in precipitation might mainly come from the same sources. There were no clear seasonal trends for the concentrations of EOX. The concentrations of ΣPCBs ranged from 0.2–2.8 ng/l, with the dominant PCBs containing 3 to 5 chlorine atoms. HCH was the predominant pesticide in precipitation, accounting for over 80% of total OCPs, in which β-HCH took 28%–72% of total HCH. Also, there may be an evidence for significantly historical usage of DDT.
Despite a long history of alpine meadows studies, uncertainty remains about the importance of environmental factors in structuring their assembly. We examined the functional and phylogenetic structure of 170 alpine Tibetan meadow communities in relation to elevation, soil moisture and shade. Functional community structure was estimated with both communityweighted mean (CWM) trait values for specific leaf area (SLA), plant height and seed mass and functional diversity (Rao’s quadratic index) for their traits individually and in combination (multivariate functional diversity). We found that shade induced by woody plants significantly increased the phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity of SLA of co-occurring species, suggesting that woody plants behave as “ecosystem engineers” creating a different environment that allows the existence of shade tolerant species and thereby facilitates the coexistence of plant species with different light resource acquisition strategies. We also found evidence for a clear decrease in phylogenetic diversity, CWM and functional diversity related to plant height in the two extreme, both the dry and wet, soil moisture conditions. This indicates that both drought and excess moisture may act as environmental filters selecting species with close phylogenetic relationships and similar height. Moreover, we detected significant decreases in both CWM and functional diversity for seed mass along elevational gradients, suggesting that low net primary productivity (NPP) limits seed size. Finally, because of different individual trait responses to environmental factors, the multivariate functional diversity did not change across environmental gradients. This lack of multivariate response supports the hypothesis that multiple processes, such as environmental filtering, competition and facilitation, may operate simultaneously and exert opposing effects on community assembly along different niche (e.g., water use, light acquisition) axes, resulting in no overall functional community structure change. This contrast between individual and multivariate trait patterns highlights the importance of examining individual traits linked with different ecological processes to better understand the mechanisms of community assembly.
Abstract
The stability constants for tracer concentrations of Co(II) complexes with both the red earth humic and fulvic acids were determined at pH 5.9 and ionic strength 0.010 mol/l by using theArdakani-Stevenson cation exchange equilibrium method and the radiotracer60Co. It was found that the 1:1 complexes of Co(II) with the red earth humic and fulvic acids were formed and that the average values of logβ (stability constant) of humic and fulvic acid complexes were 5.76±0.19 and 4.42±0.03, respectively.
Abstract
The stability constants for tracer concentrations of Co(II) complexes with the red earth fulvic acid were determined at pH 3.8–6.8 and ionic strength 0.0010–1.0 mol/l by using the cation exchange equilibrium method and the radiotracer60Co. The effects of ionic strength and pH on the stability constants of 1∶1 Co(II) complexes were investigated, and it was found that the stability constants of complexes of humic substances do not vary with ionic strength and pH in a manner similar to that of simple complexes.
Abstract
The effects of cisplatin and its trans isomer transplatin on the thermal denaturation of G-actin were studied with a Micro DSC-III differential scanning calorimeter. The denaturation enthalpy of G-actin was found to be 12 J g–1, and the denaturation temperature was 328 K. The thermal denaturation curve showed that increasing cisplatin concentration decreased the enthalpy change. However, after the ratio of cisplatin to G-actin attained 8:1 (mol:mol), the denaturation enthalpy no longer decreased. Transplatin decreased the enthalpy change more rapidly. In contrast with cisplatin, the denaturation peak at 328 K disappeared, and a strong exothermic peak appeared at 341 K when the ratio of transplatin to G-actin was 8:1 (mol:mol). The enthalpy change was 75 J g–1, which is far in excess of the range of weak interactions. This strong exothermic phenomenon probably reflects the agglutination of protein. The effects of cisplatin and transplatin on the number of the free thiol groups of G-actin are discussed.
It is well demonstrated that wheat-rye 1BL/1RS translocated chromosome leads to some valuable novel traits such as disease resistance, high yield and functional stay-green after anthesis. To understand the physiological mechanism of 1BL/1RS translocation responsible for osmotic stress, two wheat cultivars, CN12 and CN17, carrying the translocated chromosome and MY11 without the translocated chromosome were employed in the study. During 5-day osmotic stress, fresh weight inhibition, chlorophyll content, soluble protein content, MDA concentration, antioxidant enzymes activity and free polyamines content were examined. CN12 and CN17, especially cultivar CN17, registered greater biomass and minor oxidative damage compared with their wheat parent. Meanwhile, the concentration of Spd and Spm in CN17 was significantly higher than the others. In addition, we found a positive correlation of fresh weight inhibition (FWI) and Put concentration, and a negative one with the parameters (Spd + Spm): Put ratio, indicating the importance of higher polyamine (Spd and Spm) accumulation on the adaptation to osmotic stress. Therefore, we proposed that the accumulation of higher polyamines (Spd and Spm) should play an important role on the adaptation of 1BL/1RS translocation lines to osmotic stress and might be important factors for the origin of novel traits introduced by 1BL/1RS.
A rapid and sensitive ultraperformance liquid chromatography-multiple reaction monitoring-multi-stage/mass spectrometry (UPLC-MRM-MS/MS) method has been developed for simultaneous quantification of salvianolic acid B and tanshinone IIA of salvia tropolone tablets in dog plasma. This was achieved by performing quantification using the MRM acquisition with two channels of MRM-MS/MS and MS full scan for more accuracy qualitative results, and the fragmentation transitions of m/z 295→249, 191 for tanshinone IIA and m/z 297→279, 251 for IS in positive mode, m/z 717→519, 321 for salvianolic acid B and m/z 295→267, 239 for IS in negative mode were selected. The UPLC separation was achieved within 3 min in a single UPLC run. Linear calibration curves were obtained over the concentration range of 10 pg/mL−1 ng/mL for tanshinone IIA and 100 pg/mL−1 for salvianolic acid B. Lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) was 10 pg/mL and 100 pg/mL for tanshinone IIA and salvianolic acid B, respectively. The inter-day and intra-day precision (relative standard deviation, RSD) in all samples were less than 8.21%, and the recoveries were over 85.9% for both tanshinone IIA and salvianolic acid B. The two channels of MRM with MS full scan approach could provide both qualitative and quantitative results without the need for repetitive analyses and resulted in the reduction of further confirmation experiments and analytical time. The pharmacokinetic study of the two active components of salvia tropolone tablets following oral gavage administration of dogs was thus explored with this method.
Elsholtzia densa Benth. var. densa (Lamiaceae) is a famous medicinal herb which has been widely used for treatment of colds, headaches, pharyngitis, fever, diarrhea, digestion disorder, rheumatic arthritis, nephritises, and nyctalopia in China. In this study, fraction of the ethyl alcohol extract of E. densa (aerial part) by different polarity solvents indicated that the ethyl acetate soluble fraction exhibited a potent 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity with the IC50 value of 148.2 μg/mL. Under the target guidance of DPPH experiment, isoquercitrin, trachelogenin, ethyl caffeate, and arctigenin were separated with purities 95.98%, 92.98%, 96.07%, and 88.83%, respectively, by a dual-mode high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) method using n-hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (4.5:5:3:4, v/v/v/v) as the solvent system. In order to evaluate the scientific basis, antioxidant activity of four isolated compounds was assessed by the radical scavenging effect on DPPH radical; isoquercitrin and ethyl caffeate showed stronger antioxidant activities with IC50 values of 9.4 μg/mL and 9.2 μg/mL, respectively, while trachelogenin and arctigenin showed weak antioxidant activities with IC50 values of >500 μg/mL and 72.8 μg/mL, respectively. Results of the present study indicated that the combinative method using DPPH antioxidant assay and dual-mode HSCCC could be widely applied for rapid screening and isolating of antioxidants from complex traditional Chinese medicine extract.
Summary
The extraction of protactinium with Aliquat 336 (methyl-tri-caprylyl ammonium chloride) in toluene, cyclohexane and chloroform from HCl, HNO3, H2SO4, HClO4, HF and mixed HCl-HF media was investigated by radioactive tracer technique. Distribution ratios of protactinium between the aqueous solution and the organic phase were determined as a function of shaking time, concentrations of acid in aqueous solution phase, extractant concentration and type of diluents in the organic phase. Aliquat 336 can almost quantitatively extract protactinium from strong HCl solution. At the same time, small amounts of HF in HCl solutions have a strong effect on Pa distribution.
