Lipid synthesized by micro‐algae grown in laboratory‐ and industrial‐scale bioreactors

Tetraselmis sp. and Nannochloropsis oculata, cultivated in industrial‐scale bioreactors, produced 2.33 and 2.44% w/w lipid (calculated as the sum of fatty acid methyl esters) in dry biomass, respectively. These lipids contained higher amounts of neutral lipids and glycolipids plus sphingolipids, than phospholipids. Lipids of Tetraselmis sp. were characterized by the presence of eicosapentaenoic acid (that was located mainly in phospholipids), and octadecatetraenoic acid (that was equally distributed among lipid fractions), while these fatty acids were completely absent in N. oculata lipids. Additionally, lipids produced by 16 newly isolated strains from Greek aquatic environments (cultivated in flask reactors) were studied. The highest percentage of lipids was found in Prorocentrum triestinum (3.69% w/w) while the lowest in Prymnesium parvum (0.47% w/w). Several strains produced lipids rich in eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids. For instance, docosahexaenoic acid was found in high percentages in lipids of Amphidinium sp. S1, P. parvum, Prorocentrum minimum and P. triestinum, while lipids produced by Asterionella sp. (?) S2 contained eicosapentaenoic acid in high concentration. These lipids, containing ω‐3‐long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, have important applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries and in aquaculture.     

Application of chemical and biological agents for the management of frosty pod rot (Moniliophthora roreri) in Costa Rican cocoa (Theobroma cacao)

This article describes two field trials carried out at La Lola, Costa Rica, to assess control measures against frosty pod rot of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) caused by Moniliophthora (Crinipellis) roreri. In the first, factorial, trial the control agents were applied using motorised mistblowers (MMs) and hydraulic sprayers fitted with a narrow angle cone nozzle. There was an interaction between agents and application methods; together with previous application data for the most active fungicide (copper hydroxide), these trials indicate that best yields are achieved with sprays that maximise deposits on pods. We describe the droplet size spectra produced by a Stihl SR400 MM under a range of conditions because this has become the standard method of fungicide application in this series of trials at La Lola. The factor that had the largest effect on droplet size spectrum was the presence or the absence of a detachable baffle plate in front of the air‐shear nozzle. In both trials described here, MMs were fitted with baffle plates, a formulation pump and restrictor transmitting 550 mL min^?1 to deliver an estimated equivalent of 190 L ha^?1. Copper hydroxide as prophylactic applications at 1500 g a.i. ha^?1 have, to date, shown the most consistent (but incomplete) improvement in healthy pod yield. Use of copper fungicides may be cost effective when farm‐gate cocoa prices exceed approximately $1.25 kg^?1. In these trials, isolates of the hyperparasitic fungi Clonostachys byssicola and Trichoderma asperellum and two off‐patent triazole fungicides (bitertanol and triadimenol) made no significant improvement to healthy yields. The systemic oxathiin fungicide flutolanil, at a dosage of 300 g a.i. ha^?1, appears to protect pods substantially at early stages but gives proportionately less control of M. roreri than copper at later stages of pod development.     

Phyllosphere nitrogen relations: reciprocal transfer of nitrogen between epiphyllous liverworts and host plants in the understorey of a lowland tropical wet forest in Costa Rica

Epiphyllous bryophytes on tropical rainforest plants acquire nutrients from throughfall and free-living N2-fixing organisms, but may also depend directly on host leaf leachates. By contrast, after drying events bryophytes lose significant quantities of nutrients through leaching that can be taken up by host leaves. To assess a potential nutritional interdependency, nitrogen fluxes between epiphyllous liverworts and their host leaves (Carludovica drudei, Costus laevis, Dieffenbachia concinna, Pentagonia wendlandii) were quantified by in situ15N-labelling techniques in a lowland rainforest, Piedras Blancas National Park, Costa Rica. Depending on host species, epiphyllous bryophytes met between 1 and 57% of their N demand from host leaf leachates. Externally supplied 15N was taken up both by epiphylls and host leaves, but N from epiphyll leachates accounted for < 2.5% of host leaf N after 14 d. Long-term observations (180 d) demonstrated the highly dynamic nature of phyllosphere N of the investigated tropical rainforest understorey and an intermittent sink capacity of epiphyllous bryophytes.     

Accelerated degradation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N,N′</Emphasis> (DBU) upon repeated application

In a recent study on the degradation of N,N-dibutylurea (DBU), a breakdown product of benomyl [methyl 1-(butylcarbamoyl)-2-benzimidazole carbamate], the active ingredient in Benlate^® fungicides, degradation half-lives of 1.4–46.5days were observed across several soils incubated at various combinations of soil moisture potential (–0.03 and –0.1MPa) and temperature (23, 33, and 44°C) for a single DBU application of 0.08 and 0.8 g g^–1 (Lee et al. 2004). However, Benlate^® can be applied as often as every 7days resulting in the repeated application of DBU likely to be present in the Benlate^® over a growing season. In this study, the effect of seven repeated DBU applications on mineralization rate was investigated in two soils, which encompass the range in rates previously observed. For the slower degrading soil, repeated DBU application increased mineralization from 0.029 to 0.99day^–1 at the 0.08 g g^–1 rate, and 0.037 to 0.89day^–1 at the 0.8 g g^–1 rate. For the faster degrading soil, effects on mineralization of repeated DBU applications were small to negligible. For the latter soil, the effect on mineralization of applied DBU concentrations from 0.0008 to 80 g g^–1 was also investigated. Mineralization rates decreased from 0.43 to 0.019day^–1 with increasing DBU concentrations. However, the amount of DBU mineralized by day 70 was similar across concentrations and averaged 83% of applied. Microbial respiration was not affected by increasing DBU concentrations. These findings support the supposition that DBU is readily degraded by soil microorganisms, thus unlikely to accumulate in agricultural soils.     

低分子量肝素钠的制备与临床应用

低分子肝素有抗凝血、抗血栓、调血脂、抗肿瘤等作用,与普通肝素相比具有皮下注射吸收好、半衰期长、生物利用率高,与血浆、血小板亲和力小、出血副作用少等优点.对低分子肝素的制备、质量检测和临床应用的研究进展进行了综述.     

河豚毒素的起源及其研究进展

河豚毒素(tetrodotoxin,TTX)是一种毒性很强、相对分子质量小的非蛋白毒素,最初从豚科鱼中发现,故被命名为河豚毒素。1985年有人提出了河豚鱼TTX的体外起源因素,认为所有能产生TTX的生物都与其体内能分泌TTX的微生物有着密切联系,但有部分研究人员证实东方在孵化期间能自行产生TTX。TTX为典型的Na 通道阻断剂,中毒者往往肢体麻木、瘫痪、甚至死亡;但另一方面,TTX具有镇痛、镇静、降压等功效,在临床上的应用十分广泛。本文简要介绍TTX的起源、毒性作用机制、毒性控制、临床及药理学上的应用,及其存在的问题和应用前景。     

Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on soil enzyme activities at different nitrogen application treatments

It has been predicted that elevated atmospheric CO₂ will increase enzyme activity as a result of CO₂-induced carbon entering the soil. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of elevated atmospheric CO₂ on soil enzyme activities under a rice/wheat rotation. This experiment was conducted in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China as part of the China FACE (Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment) Project. Two atmospheric CO₂ concentrations (580±60) and (380±40) μmol·mol^-1) and three N application treatments (low-150, normal-250 and high-350 kg N·hm^-2) were included. Soil samples (0-10 cm) were collected for analysis of β-glucosidase, invertase, urease, acid phosphates and β-glucosaminidase activities. The results revealed that with elevated atmospheric CO₂ β-glucosidase activity significantly decreased (P < 0.05) at low N application rates; had no significant effect with a normal N application rate; and significantly increased (P < 0.05) with a high N application rate. For urease activity, at low and normal N application rates (but not high N application rate), elevated atmospheric CO₂ significantly increased (P < 0.05) it. With acid phosphatase elevated atmospheric CO₂ only had significant higher effects (P < 0.05) at high N application rates. Under different CO₂ concentration, effects of N fertilization are also different. Soil β-glucosidase activity at ambient CO₂ concentration decreased with N fertilization, while it increased at elevated CO₂ concentration. In addition, invertase and acid phosphatase activities at elevated CO₂ concentration, significantly increased (P < 0.05) with N treatments, but there was no effect with the ambient CO₂ concentration. For urease activity, at ambient CO₂ concentration, N fertilization increased it significantly (P < 0.05), whereas at elevated CO₂ concentration it was not significant. Additionally, with β-glucosaminidase activity, there were no significant effects from N application. In general, then, elevated atmospheric CO₂ increased soil enzyme activity, which may be attributed to the following two factors: (1) elevated atmospheric CO₂ led to more plant biomass in the soil, which in turn stimulated soil microbial biomass and activity; and (2) elevated atmospheric CO₂ increased plant photosynthesis, thereby increasing plant-derived soil enzymes.     

RNA干扰的研究进展及应用

RNA干扰(RNAi)是生物体的一种在进化上保持高度保守的,能抵御外源基因或外来病毒侵犯的重要防御机制,是一种序列特异性的转录后基因沉默现象。它由双链RNA引发,广泛存在于动、植物等各种生物体内。我们简要综述了RNAi发生的机制、特点、哺乳动物与RNAi现象,以及RNAi的应用等。     

Optimizing MPI collective communication by orthogonal structures

MPI collective communication operations to distribute or gather data are used for many parallel applications from scientific computing, but they may lead to scalability problems since their execution times increase with the number of participating processors. In this article, we show how the execution time of collective communication operations can be improved significantly by an internal restructuring based on orthogonal processor structures with two or more levels. The execution time of operations like MPI_Bcast() or MPI_Allgather() can be reduced by 40% and 70% on a dual Xeon cluster and a Beowulf cluster with single-processor nodes. But also on a Cray T3E a significant performance improvement can be obtained by a careful selection of the processor structure. The use of these optimized communication operations can reduce the execution time of data parallel implementations of complex application programs significantly without requiring any other change of the computation and communication structure. We present runtime functions for the modeling of two-phase realizations and verify that these runtime functions can predict the execution time both for communication operations in isolation and in the context of application programs.     

Dynamics of Foliage and Thatch Populations of Introduced Pseudomonas fluorescens and Streptomyces sp. on a Fairway Turf

Populations of bacteria (Pseudomonas fluorescens A506 and Streptomyces sp. strain 93) applied to a creeping bentgrass/annual bluegrass fairway turf were followed over time on leaves and thatch. While introduced populations remained at detectable levels over a period of 11–25 days, they usually declined gradually and did not increase after their application to turf. Streptomyces rapidly disappeared from leaves while P. fluorescens was able to maintain similar population sizes on both thatch and leaves, after an initial decline of about 1-log unit, showing that it was actively colonizing the foliage despite loss of biomass from lawn mowing. Throughout these experiments, populations of indigenous microbes on foliage and thatch remained stable, about 10⁶ and 10⁸ cfu g⁻¹ for fungi and bacteria, respectively, and were not affected by the application of bacterial antagonists. Niche-clearing with hydrogen peroxide, which temporarily reduced the population size of indigenous microorganisms two-fold, caused population size of P. fluorescens to increase approximately ten-fold within 24 h, while it declined by about one log unit on untreated turf. It is concluded that the indigenous microflora competes with introduced bacterial antagonists and interferes with their establishment and persistence on turf. Additional studies with P. fluorescens revealed that its population size was inoculum dose-dependent and that solid top dressing was slightly more efficient than spraying liquid suspension in establishing the antagonist. It was possible to maintain P. fluorescens populations above 10⁵ cfu/g of thatch and leaves for 2 weeks or more with both top-dressing or spraying with about 1 to 3 × 10¹⁰ cfu m⁻².