Nuclear power plants and natural populations of Mexican Drosophila

With the worldwide proliferation of nuclear power plants has come the need to study the biological effects of the operation of the reactors on surrounding populations. We have begun a long-term study of the sibling species Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans in the area of Laguna Verde in the state of Veracruz in Mexico. Laguna Verde, on the Gulf of Mexico about 75 km north of the city of Veracruz, is the location of the country's first nuclear power plant. This plant has not yet gone "on-line." The species have been collected from two sites, one of which is south of the reactor and is in the path of the prevailing north to south wind flow. The other collecting site is west of the plant. The species are being studied for the following: species frequency, desiccation resistance, vagility, proportion of larvae pupating, pupation height, and egg to adult survival after irradiation. To date we have noted both spatial and seasonal differences in a number of these characteristics. The information being gathered will serve as base-line data for monitoring the future operation of the nuclear power plant.     

DNA barcodes for Mexican Cactaceae, plants under pressure from wild collecting

DNA barcodes could be a useful tool for plant conservation. Of particular importance is the ability to identify unknown plant material, such as from customs seizures of illegally collected specimens. Mexican cacti are an example of a threatened group, under pressure because of wild collection for the xeriscaping trade and private collectors. Mexican cacti also provide a taxonomically and geographically coherent group with which to test DNA barcodes. Here, we sample the matK barcode for 528 species of Cactaceae including approximately 75% of Mexican species and test the utility of the matK region for species-level identification. We find that the matK DNA barcode can be used to identify uniquely 77% of species sampled, and 79-87% of species of particular conservation importance. However, this is far below the desired rate of 95% and there are significant issues for PCR amplification because of the variability of primer sites. Additionally, we test the nuclear ITS regions for the cactus subfamily Opuntioideae and for the genus Ariocarpus (subfamily Cactoideae). We observed higher rates of variation for ITS (86% unique for Opuntioideae sampled) but a much lower PCR success, encountering significant intra-individual polymorphism in Ariocarpus precluding the use of this marker in this taxon. We conclude that the matK region should provide useful information as a DNA barcode for Cactaceae if the problems with primers can be addressed, but matK alone is not sufficiently variable to achieve species-level identification. Additional complementary regions should be investigated as ITS is shown to be unsuitable.     

Medicinal plants of the sierra madre: Comparative study of tarahumara and Mexican market plants

Of the 47 medicinal plants that originate from the Sierra Madre Occidental of Chihuahua, Mexico, and that are sold in Chihuahuan markets, about three-fifths are used in a similar manner by both the urban Mexicans and the Tarahumara. This pattern suggests that these plants produce satisfactory effects on certain human systems, are reliable, and hence are repeatedly employed by both ethnic groups. Such plants that are used for similar ailments by 2 cultural groups with different ethnomedical concepts may be of interest for intensive research.     

Regeneration of transgenic plants of Mexican lime from Agrobacterium rhizogenes-transformed tissues

Transgenic Mexican lime [Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) Swing] plants were regenerated from tissues transformed by Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain A4, containing the wild-type plasmid pRiA4 and the binary vector pESC4 with nos-npt II and cab-gus genes. Transgenic shoots were generated by two different approaches. The first approach used internodal stem segments cocultured with A. rhizogenes. These were placed onto regeneration medium containing Murashige and Skoog salts and B5 organic compounds supplemented with 8 g ⋅ l^–1 agar, 7.5 mg ⋅ l^–1 6-benzylaminopurine, 1.0 mg ⋅ l^–1 -naphthaleneacetic acid, 300 mg ⋅ l^–1 cefotaxime and 80 mg ⋅ l^–1 kanamycin as a selective agent, and incubated under continuous light at 25 °C. Under these conditions, 76% of the explants produced shoots directly with no hairy root phase, with a mean of 1.3 shoots per explant, and 88% of these shoots were genetically transformed as determined by β-glucuronidase (GUS) assays. In the second approach, segments of transformed roots (15 mm long) obtained from internodal stem segments cocultured with A. rhizogenes were cultured on the above regeneration medium under similar conditions. Forty-one percent of these transformed root segments produced adventitious shoots, with a mean of 2.2 shoots per explant and with 90% of shoots transformed. GUS activity was evident in the transformed roots and in all parts of both transformed shoots and regenerated plants. The presence of the npt II and rolB genes in the regenerated plants was confirmed by PCR analysis. The presence of the npt II gene in the regenerated plants was also confirmed by Southern blot. Using these transformation systems, more than 300 Mexican lime transgenic plants were obtained, 60 of which were adapted to growing in soil. Received: 15 March 1997 / Revision received: 30 December 1997 / Accepted: 19 January 1998     

征稿启事

《生物技术进展》是由农业农村部主管,中国农业科学院茶叶研究所和生物技术研究所联合主办的学术期刊,于2011年7月创刊,双月刊,单月出版,国内外公开发行,中国科技核心期刊。本刊立足国内,面向国际,围绕分子生物学、遗传学、生物化学、生物信息学、基因组学等基础研究,关注生物技术领域最新发展动态和成果,促进相关学科学术交流与发展,及时刊载生物技术在农、林、畜牧、兽医、食品、工业、医药、生态与生物安全等领域的应用进展和研究成果,注重理论、技术和方法的新颖性和创新性。同时发布国家相关政策及导向、生物技术研究成果信息、技术推广信息、生物技术相关企业产品信息等。欢迎广大科研工作者踊跃投稿!     

Notice for Contributors

Aims and ScopeCell Research is a journal devoted to the publication of the novel results in different areas of animal and plant cell biologyand to the promotion of the scientific exchanges between China and all other parts of the world. It is edited by ShanghaiInstitute of Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The journal is indexed in Index Medicus, MEDLINE on MEDLARSsystem, Science Citation Index Expanded-tm (also known as SciSearch-tm), and ISI Web of Science on the Inte…     

《武汉植物学研究》征稿简则

《武汉植物学研究》为国内外公开发行的植物学综合性学术期刊。主要刊载植物学及各分支学科的原始研究论文,植物学研究的新技术、新方法,综合评述(应结合作者本人的研究工作、反映本学科在国内外的最新研究进展)、研究简报、重要书刊评介和学术动态等。主要读者对象为从事植物学研究的科技人员、大专院校师生,以及相关学科,包括农、林、牧、医药、轻工、水产和环保等方面的工作者。     

征稿启事

《生物技术进展》是由农业部主管,中国农业科学院茶叶研究所和生物技术研究所联合主办的学术期刊,于2011年7月创刊,双月刊,单月出版,国内外公开发行,中国科技核心期刊。本刊立足国内,面向国际,围绕分子生物学、遗传学、生物化学、生物信息学、基因组学等基础研究,关注生物技术领域最新发展动态和成果,促进相关学科学术交流与发展,及时刊载生物技术在农、林、畜牧、兽医、食品、工业、医药、生态与生物安全等领域的应用进展和研究成果,注重理论、技术和方法的新颖性和创新性。同时发布国家相关政策及导向、生物技术研究成果信息、技术推广信息、生物技术相关企业产品信息等。欢迎广大科研工作者踊跃投稿!     

征稿启事

《生物技术进展》是由农业部主管,中国农业科学院茶叶研究所和生物技术研究所联合主办的学术期刊,于2011年7月创刊,双月刊,单月出版,国内外公开发行,中国科技核心期刊。本刊立足国内,面向国际,围绕分子生物学、遗传学、生物化学、生物信息学、基因组学等基础研究,关注生物技术领域最新发展动态和成果,促进相关学科学术交流与发展,及时刊载生物技术在农、林、畜牧、兽医、食品、工业、医药、生态与生物安全等领域的应用进展和研究成果,注重理论、技术和方法的新颖性和创新性。同时发布国家相关政策及导向、生物技术研究成果信息、技术推广信息、生物技术相关企业产品信息等。欢迎广大科研工作者踊跃投稿!     

Notice for Contributors

Aims and Scope Cell is a journal dvetod to the publication of the novel results in dfferent areas of animal and plant cell biology and to the promotion of the scientific exchanges between China and all other parts of the word     

Notice for Contributors

Order for Journals or Reprints please contact directly with Editorial OfficeThe Journal is online with full text beginning from Vol. 9(1), 1999. http://www.cell-research.comAims and ScopeCell Research is a journal devoted to the publication of the novel results in different areas of animal and plant cell biology and to the promotion of the scientific exchanges between China and all other parts of the world. The journal was founded by Shanghai Institute of Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of…     

Antitoxin activity of plants used in Mexican traditional medicine against scorpion poisoning

Scorpions, especially in urban areas of tropical and subtropical regions, present a common risk of poisoning. In Mexico, scorpion envenomation is considered a public health problem. Despite the frequency of scorpion sting cases, there are to date no uniform criteria for their treatment. In Mexican traditional medicine, different plant species have been widely used as a remedy for treating scorpion poisoning. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of Bouvardia ternifolia, Aristolochia elegans and Vitex mollis extracts on Centruroides limpidus limpidus venom lethality in mice, and to determine their antagonist activity on guinea pig ileum. The hexane and methanol extract from B. ternifolia modified the LD50 of C. limpidus limpidus venom from 0.750 +/- 0.08 to 1.64 +/- 0.19 and 1.16 +/- 0.14 mg/kg, respectively. The extracts of A. elegans produced lower antitoxic activity, while extracts of V. mollis did not show any protection. On in vitro test, addition of B. ternifolia and A. elegans extracts strongly inhibited, in a concentration-dependent manner, the ileum contractions induced by venom. In general, the results demonstrated the effectiveness of these two plant species in modifying the lethality of C. limpidus limpidus venom in mice.     

Notice for Contributors of Cell Research

Aims and ScopesCell Research, a peer-reviewed journal that publishes worldwide new original achievements articles of basic researchin English, plus reviews, features and special report or analyses of current research in Cell and Molecular Biology,aims to the promotion of scientific exchanges between China and all other parts of the world. Our offices in Shanghai,Bethesda, MD, Piscataway, NJ, Toronto, Oxford and London welcome submissions from scientists of all parts in theworld.About the journalCell Research was founded by Shanghai Institute of Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1990 and sponsoredby Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciencesfrom 2002. It was awarded one of the most important science journals in China Journal Array approved by NationalJournalism Administration of China and supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and ChineseAcademy of Sciences. The journal is indexed in Index Medicus,