Structural investigation of a polysaccharide (Fr. I) isolated from the aqueous extract of an edible mushroom, Volvariella diplasia

A water-soluble polysaccharide, (Fr. I) isolated from the aqueous extract of an edible mushroom, Volvariella diplasia, is composed of D-glucose, D-mannose, and D-galactose in a molar ratio 3:1:1. Compositional analysis, methylation analysis, periodate oxidation study, Smith degradation, and NMR studies (1H, 13C, DQF-COSY, TOCSY, NOESY, ROESY, HMQC, and HMBC) revealed the presence of the following repeating unit in the polysaccharide: [FORMULA: SEE TEXT].     

Barley allele-specific amplicons useful for identifying wheat-barley recombinant chromosomes

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is potentially a new source of genes for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) improvement. Wheat-barley chromosome recombinant lines provide a means for introgressing barley genes to wheat genome by chromosome engineering, and since these are expected to occur only rarely in special cytogenetic stocks, an efficient selection skill is necessary to identify them. To convert RFLP markers to barley allele-specific PCR markers useful for effective production of wheat-barley recombinant lines, 91 primer sets derived from RFLP clones which were previously mapped to the barley chromosomes were examined for PCR amplification using 'Chinese Spring' wheat, 'Betzes' barley and the wheat-barley chromosome addition lines. The polymorphisms were detected by an agarose gel electrophoresis of the PCR products without digestion with restriction enzymes. Out of 81 primer sets producing polymorphisms between the wheat and barley genomes, 26 amplified barley chromosome-specific DNAs which were confirmed to be located on the same chromosome as the RFLP markers by using the wheat-barley chromosome addition lines. These amplified DNAs represent barley allele-specific amplicons, which distinguish barley alleles from their wheat homoeologous counterparts. The present investigation revealed a higher probability for obtaining allele-specific amplicons from genomic DNA-derived RFLP markers than from cDNA-derived ones. The barley allele-specific amplicons developed in this study, namely, four for chromosome 2H, two for 3H, seven for 4H, eight for 5H, one for 6H and four for 7H, are suitable for identifying 'Chinese Spring' wheat- 'Betzes' barley recombinant chromosomes. However, one out of eight barley allele-specific amplicons on chromosome 5H did not detect a unique barley band in a 'New Golden' barley chromosome 5H addition line of 'Shinchunaga' wheat, indicating there may be a need to reconstruct allele-specific amplicons with different barley cultivars.     

Cryopreservation of invitro-grown shoot tips of taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott) by vitrification. 1. Investigation of basic conditions of the vitrification procedure

Invitro-grown shoot tips of taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott.) were successfully cryopreserved by vitrification. Excised shoot tips precultured on solidified MS supplemented with 0.3M sucrose and maintained under a 16 h phtoperiod at 25°C for 16 h were loaded with a mixture of 2M glycerol plus 0.4M sucrose for 20 min at 25°C. The shoot tips were then sufficiently dehydrated with a highly concentrated vitrification solution (PVS2) for 20 min at 25°C prior to immersion into liquid nitrogen. Successfully vitrified and warmed shoot tips resumed growth within 7 days and developed shoots directly without intermediate callus formation. The average rate of shoot recovery amounted to around 80%, and the vitrification protocol appeared to be very promising for the cryopreservation of taro germplasm.Abbreviations DMSO Dimethylsulfoxide - EG ethylene glycol - LN liquid nitrogen - MS Murashige & Skoog medium (1962) - TDZ thidiazuron     

iProtGly‐SS: Identifying protein glycation sites using sequence and structure based features

Glycation is chemical reaction by which sugar molecule bonds with a protein without the help of enzymes. This is often cause to many diseases and therefore the knowledge about glycation is very important. In this paper, we present iProtGly‐SS, a protein lysine glycation site identification method based on features extracted from sequence and secondary structural information. In the experiments, we found the best feature groups combination: Amino Acid Composition, Secondary Structure Motifs, and Polarity. We used support vector machine classifier to train our model and used an optimal set of features using a group based forward feature selection technique. On standard benchmark datasets, our method is able to significantly outperform existing methods for glycation prediction. A web server for iProtGly‐SS is implemented and publicly available to use: http://brl.uiu.ac.bd/iprotgly-ss/ .     

Distribution and diet of the roughskin sculpin, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Trachidermus fasciatus</Emphasis>, larvae and juveniles in the Chikugo River estuary,Ariake Bay,Japan

Larvae and juveniles of the roughskin sculpin Trachidermus fasciatus were collected during four cruises in March and April 2001 to study the distribution and diet of the fish in the Chikugo estuary in the northern Ariake Bay, Japan. Sampling was conducted at seven stations covering an area approximately 30 km in length along the estuary, with salinity ranging from nearly 0 to about 30 PSU. Gut contents were analyzed by separating, identifying, and counting the prey organisms. Plankton samples were collected during each cruise to study the numerical composition and abundance of copepods in ambient water. A total of 1790 larvae and juveniles of T. fasciatus were collected; they were distributed in the five uppermost stations, covering approximately 20 km and ranging in salinity from 0.4 to 27.4 PSU. The fish fed almost exclusively on a single calanoid copepod species, Sinocalanus sinensis, which was numerically the most abundant in the ambient water at the upper part of the Chikugo River. At the lower part of the river, the fish positively selected S. sinensis while negatively selecting other species. T. fasciatus larvae experienced a high proportion of empty guts and low feeding intensity at around 9.0 mm body length, which appears to be associated with commencement of exogenous feeding. The proportion of empty guts reduced sharply at subsequent stages and was accompanied by an increase in feeding intensity. The oligohaline and mesohaline areas are important nursery grounds, and S. sinensis is an important prey copepod species for the larval and juvenile T. fasciatus in the Chikugo estuary.     

Cardioprotective effect of aqueous extract of Embelia ribes Burm fruits against isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction in albino rats

In the present study, cardioprotective effect of aqueous extract of fruits of Embelia ribes Burm (ER) was evaluated in a rat model having acute myocardial infarction, induced by isoproterenol (5.25 and 8.5 mg/kg, sc, for two consecutive days). Aqueous ER extract (100 mg/kg) pretreatment orally for 40 days in isoproterenol (ISO)-treated rats significantly decreased the heart rate, systolic blood pressure, increased levels of serum lactate dehydrogenase, serum creatine kinase and myocardial lipid peroxides and significantly increased the myocardial endogenous antioxidants (glutathione, superoxide dismutase and catalase) levels. The results of biochemical observations in serum and heart tissues were supplemented by histopathological examination of rat's heart sections to confirm the myocardial injury. The results were comparable to that of gliclazide treated group. The present results provide evidence for the first time, that aqueous ER extract pretreatment ameliorated myocardial injury and enhanced the antioxidant defense against ISO-induced myocardial infarction in rats and exhibited cardioprotective property.     

A study of structure–activity relationship and anion-controlled quinolinyl Ag(I) complexes as antimicrobial and antioxidant agents as well as their interaction with macromolecules

BioMetals - In this communication, we feature the synthesis and in-depth characterization of a series of silver(I) complexes obtained from the complexation of quinolin-4-yl Schiff base ligands...     

Otolith microstructure of Japanese sea bass larvae and juveniles: interpretation and utility for ageing

This paper interprets and discusses the usefulness of otolith microstructure for ageing Japanese sea bass ( Lateolabrax japonicus ) larvae and juveniles. Samples were collected from the Tango Sea along the Japan Sea coast, January–March 2007. Known-age (0-day and 10-day-old) larvae were obtained from the Ibaragi Prefectural Hatchery, Japan. Sagittal and lapillar otolith were processed and read using an otolith reading system. Clearly discernible hatch- and first-feeding marks were evident on sagitta, and development of accessory premordia (AP) appeared to be associated with larva-juvenile transition; however, no other marks indicating metamorphosis or settlement were evident. In lapillus, no discernible check mark was found. Known-age larvae showed that deposition of the first daily increment (DI) corresponded to first-feeding, which occurred at day-4 post-hatch. However, mean increment counts were significantly lower in lapillus than in sagitta, caused by poorly expressed increments around the centrum as well as relatively unclear centrum of the lapillus. The authors suggest that the use of lapillus can cause significant underestimation of age. Therefore, the sagitta is recommended for age and growth estimations of larvae and juveniles, although the presence of numerous subdaily increments warrants careful preparation and interpretation of the microstructure. A test for asymmetry showed the right and left otoliths to be quite symmetrical and their DI counts not significantly different, suggesting that either otolith can be used for studying age and growth of Japanese sea bass larvae and juveniles.