Isolation of anti-fungal phenolic compounds from petioles of two Hevea brasiliensis (rubber) genotypes and their effect on Phytophthora meadii

Phenolic compounds were present in greater amounts in non‐infected petioles of genotypes of Hevea brasiliensis that are resistant to Phytophthora leaf disease than in genotypes that are susceptible. Phenolic compounds extracted from petioles of either susceptible (PB86) or resistant (RRIC100) genotypes, before or after infection with Phytophthora meadii, had anti‐fungal properties. Artificially infected petioles of PB86 had phenolic acids, triterpenoids or flavonoids, whereas healthy petioles contained only triterpenoids or flavonoids. However, healthy or infected petioles of RRIC100 contained only trace amounts of the above compounds and of vanillin (3‐methoxy‐4‐hydroxybenzaldehyde). Vanillin and umbelliferone (7‐hydroxycoumarin) were shown to suppress zoospore germination of P. meadii on glass slides and to inhibit its growth in pea broth and V‐8 juice agar. Vanillin was slightly more active than umbelliferone. Resistance of RRIC100 to Phytophthora was suspected as being related to the polymerisation of phenolic compounds to form lignin, which may suppress further spread of the pathogen's mycelium into healthy tissues. Formation of lignin from phenolic aldehydes as a barrier to disease spread may be a critical factor in resistance.     

橡胶-砂仁复合系统生物产量、营养元素空间格局的研究

通过对橡胶与砂仁间作林和同龄纯胶林各层次各器官生物量及１０种营养元素含量的测定,对比研究了两种分乔木层生物量按径级分配,林分平均净生产量,营养元素的积累分布规律,林龄为３０ａ,间作龄为８ａ的胶砂间作林的总生物量为１３９．８５ｔ／ｈｍ＾２。其中乔木层占７２．７％,间作层占２２．６％,枯落物层占５．２％,与同龄纯胶林相比,乔木层提高了７．６％,枯落物层提高了３８．９％,两种林分乔木层地上部分生物量约占     

Coating and selective deposition of nanofilm on silicone rubber for cell adhesion and growth

A recently developed method for surface modification, layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly, has been applied to silicone, and its ability to encourage endothelial cell growth and control cell growth patterns has been examined. The surfaces studied consisted of a precursor, with alternating cationic polyethyleneimine (PEI) and anionic sodium polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) layers followed by alternating gelatin and poly-d-lysine (PDL) layers. Film growth increased linearly with the number of layers. Each PSS/PEI bilayer was 3 nm thick, and each gelatin/PDL bilayer was 5 nm thick. All layers were more hydrophilic than the unmodified silicone rubber surface, as determined from contact angle measurements. The contact angle was primarily dictated by the outermost layer. Of the coatings studied, gelatin was the most hydrophilic. A film of (PSS/PEI)₄/(gelatin/PDL)₄/ gelatin was highly favorable for cell adhesion and growth, in contrast to films of (PSS/PEI)₈ or (PSS/PEI)₈/PSS. Cell growth patterns were successfully controlled by selective deposition of microspheres on silicone rubber, using microcontact printing with a silicone stamp. Cell adhesion was confined to the region of microsphere deposition. These results demonstrate that the LbL self-assembly technique provides a general approach to coat and selectively deposit films with nanometer thickness on silicone rubber. Furthermore, they show that this method is a viable technique for controlling cellular adhesion and growth.     

产胶植物橡胶转移酶的研究进展

天然橡胶合成中,橡胶转移酶催化异戊二烯焦磷酸的多聚化过程,这一过程对天然橡胶的品质及产量至关重要。橡胶转移酶及其性质、橡胶生物合成分子机理及橡胶的分子量大小决定机制是亟待解决的重要科学问题。本文介绍了以巴西橡胶树为主的产胶植物橡胶转移酶的性质和生物学功能,对橡胶转移酶的分离与鉴定及其活性调节等研究进展进行了综述。     

基于FMT-AHP的海南农垦花岗岩类多雨区橡胶园地力评价

海南农垦是中国最大的天然橡胶生产基地,自第二次全国土壤普查以来橡胶园养分状况已发生了很大变化,但具体情况如何尚不清楚。运用耕地地力评价方法对海南农垦主要橡胶园的地力进行了系统评价,以期为橡胶园地力提升和天然橡胶的可持续发展提供理论支持。以土壤母质类型和降雨量为依据,首次将海南农垦橡胶园划分为8个类型区,并选取占海南农垦橡胶园总面积56.97%的花岗岩类多雨区作为评价区域,采集7204个0—20 cm层的土壤样品,运用特尔菲法、模糊数学理论和层次分析法确定11个评价指标及其权重,将评价区橡胶园地力划分为5等。研究结果发现:评价区以中间地力水平的二等、三等、四等橡胶园为主,占评价区橡胶园总面积的85.85%,它们广泛分布于琼中、屯昌、澄迈、儋州、万宁、保亭、乐东、三亚、陵水、定安、琼海、五指山、昌江、文昌和东方15个县市;一等地面积很小且分散,五等地相对集中面积也很小。相关分析表明土壤pH、有机质、有效磷和速效钾含量是影响评价区橡胶园地力水平的重要因素。评价区橡胶园土壤pH适宜橡胶树正常生长,但该区域土壤有机质和有效磷含量不能满足橡胶树正常生长的需要,而该区域一、二等地土壤速效钾含量能满足橡胶树正常生长,其三、四等地土壤速效钾含量仅达到橡胶树正常生长所需水平,随着地力下降到五等其土壤速效钾含量已不适宜橡胶树正常生长。根据上述研究结果,笔者建议橡胶园应大力间作绿肥,在增施有机质的基础上补氮、补钾、施用钙镁磷肥,同时加强养分管理,提高肥料利用率。     

The Crossmodal Congruency Task as a Means to Obtain an Objective Behavioral Measure in the Rubber Hand Illusion Paradigm

The rubber hand illusion (RHI) is a popular experimental paradigm. Participants view touch on an artificial rubber hand while the participants'' own hidden hand is touched. If the viewed and felt touches are given at the same time then this is sufficient to induce the compelling experience that the rubber hand is one''s own hand. The RHI can be used to investigate exactly how the brain constructs distinct body representations for one''s own body. Such representations are crucial for successful interactions with the external world. To obtain a subjective measure of the RHI, researchers typically ask participants to rate statements such as "I felt as if the rubber hand were my hand". Here we demonstrate how the crossmodal congruency task can be used to obtain an objective behavioral measure within this paradigm.The variant of the crossmodal congruency task we employ involves the presentation of tactile targets and visual distractors. Targets and distractors are spatially congruent (i.e. same finger) on some trials and incongruent (i.e. different finger) on others. The difference in performance between incongruent and congruent trials - the crossmodal congruency effect (CCE) - indexes multisensory interactions. Importantly, the CCE is modulated both by viewing a hand as well as the synchrony of viewed and felt touch which are both crucial factors for the RHI.The use of the crossmodal congruency task within the RHI paradigm has several advantages. It is a simple behavioral measure which can be repeated many times and which can be obtained during the illusion while participants view the artificial hand. Furthermore, this measure is not susceptible to observer and experimenter biases. The combination of the RHI paradigm with the crossmodal congruency task allows in particular for the investigation of multisensory processes which are critical for modulations of body representations as in the RHI.     

Caffeinated soft drinks reduce bacterial prevalence in voice prosthetic biofilms

Laryngectomized patients use indwelling silicone rubber voice prostheses, placed in a surgically created fistula in between the trachea and the esophagus, for voice and speech rehabilitation. At the esophageal side, these voice prostheses rapidly become colonized by a thick biofilm consisting of a variety of oral and skin bacteria and yeasts, and on average, after 3–4 months a prosthesis has to be replaced. In this study, the influence of caffeinated soft drinks on biofilm formation on silicone rubber voice prostheses has been investigated in a modified Robbins device. Robbins devices were first inoculated with the total cultivable microflora from an explanted voice prosthesis for 3 d, after which the devices were perfused three times daily over a 12 day period with 650 ml of either phosphate buffered saline or carbonated mineral water (controls), caffeinated soft drinks (two types), or a decaffeinated and a sugar‐free version of one of the caffeinated soft drinks. At the end of a day, during the experimental period, the devices were filled with growth medium for 30 min. Both caffeinated soft drinks reduced bacterial prevalence in the biofilms to 1–5% of the control, while yeasts thrived in voice prosthetic biofilms exposed to caffeinated soft drinks. Neither the controls, nor the decaffeinated soft drink, nor the sugar‐free version of this showed these effects on bacterial prevalence.     

Rubber particles from four different species, examined by transmission electron microscopy and electron-paramagnetic-resonance spin labeling, are found to consist of a homogeneous rubber core enclosed by a contiguous, monolayer biomembrane

The physical characteristics of rubber particles from the four rubber (cis-1,4-polyisoprene) producing species Euphorbia lactiflua Phil., Ficus elastica Roxb., Hevea brasiliensis Müll. Arg., and Parthenium argentatum Gray, were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron-paramagnetic-resonance (EPR) spin labeling spectroscopy. Transmission electron microscopy showed the rubber particles to be composed of a spherical, homogeneous, core of rubber enclosed by a contiguous, electron-dense, single-track surface layer. The biochemical composition of the surface layer and its single-track TEM suggested that a monolayer biomembrane was the surface structure most compatible with the hydrophobic rubber core. The EPR spectra for a series of positional isomers of doxyl stearic acid, used to label the surface layer of the rubber particles, exhibited flexibility gradients and evidence for lipid-protein interactions for all four rubber particle types that is consistent with a biomembrane-like surface. The EPR spectra confirmed that the surface biomembrane is a monolayer. Thus, rubber particles appear similar to oil bodies in their basic architecture. The EPR spectra also provided information on protein location and degree of biomembrane penetration that correlated with the known properties of the rubber-particle-bound proteins. The monolayer biomembrane serves as an interface between the hydrophobic rubber interior and the aqueous cytosol and prevents aggregation of the particles. An unexpected observation for the probes in pure polyisoprene was evidence of an intrinsic flexibility gradient associated with the stearic acid molecule itself. Received: 22 May 1999 / Accepted: 21 June 1999     

Variation Within and Between Phytophthora Species from Rubber and Citrus Trees in China, Determined by Polymerase Chain Reaction Using RAPDs

Variation among 39 isolates of Phytophthora of six morphological species (P. citrophthora. P. parasitka, P. capsici, P. palmivora and P. meadii. from rubber and citrus trees, and P. colocasiae from taro) was studied using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Ten randomly-chosen 10-mer primers were used. Generally, the banding patterns were similar within species and different between species, but no one primer was able to distinguish all six species from one another. Cluster analysis on pooled data from all the primers gave six groups of isolates corresponding to the six morphological species. The group corresponding to P. citrophthora was divided further into subgroups that were related to host species and geographical location. This work confirmed the existing morphological classification of Phytophthora isolates from rubber and citrus trees in tropical China and showed the validity of using RAPDs to study the taxonomy of Phytophthora.