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    Crop Genetics · Breeding · Germplasm Resources
    Genetic Diversity and Genetic Changes in the Introgression Lines Derived from Oryza sativa L. Mating with O. rufipogon Griff.
    DENG Xiao-juan, DAI Liang-fang, HU Biao-lin, XIE Jian-kun
    2012, 12(7): 1059-1066.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8630
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    The objectives of the present study were to estimate genetic diversity and genetic changes of introgression lines (ILs) which derived from cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Xieqingzao B, XB) mating with common wild rice (O. rufipogon Griff., CWR). The genetic data of 239 ILs were based on a total of 131 polymorphic microsatellite (SSR) markers distributed across the 12 chromosomes of rice. On average, these ILs possessed 77.1 and 14.31% homozygous bands from XB and CWR, respectively. Most of the ILs were clustered together with XB individual, which was revealed by principal coordinate analysis (PCA) and the program STRUCTURE analysis. The result from PCA demonstrated that some intermediate genotypes between XB and CWR were also found. Moreover, there were some genomic sequence changes including parental bands elimination and novel bands emergence in the ILs. The average Nei’s gene diversity (He) was 0.296, which was higher than that of cultivated rice. It suggested that interspecific hybridization and gene introgression could broaden the base of genetic variation and lay an important foundation for rice genetic improvement. These different genotypic ILs would provide a better experimental system for understanding the evolution of rice species and the mechanism of alien gene introgression.
    Allelic Variation at the TaZds-A1 Locus on Wheat Chromosome 2A and Development of a Functional Marker in Common Wheat
    DONG Chang-hai, MA Zhi-ying, ZHANG Li-ping
    2012, 12(7): 1067-1074.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8631
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    (zeta)-carotene desaturase (ZDS) is a key enzyme for carotenoid biosynthesis, demonstrating high association with the yellow pigment (YP) content in wheat grain. Cloning ZDS gene and developing functional markers are important for marker-assisted selection in wheat breeding. In the present study, the full-length DNA sequence of a ZDS gene on wheat chromosome 2A, designated TaZds-A1, was cloned, with 14 exons and 13 introns, and it has an open reading frame (ORF) of 1 707 bp, encoding 568 amino acid residues. A co-dominant functional marker, YP2A-1, was designed based on the polymorphisms of two alleles at the locus, TaZds-A1a and TaZds-A1b, yielding 183- and 179-bp fragments in TaZds-A1a and TaZds-A1b genotypes, respectively. A new QTL for YP content was detected on chromosome 2A, co-segregating with the functional marker YP2A-1 and TaZds-A1; it explained 11.3% of the phenotypic variance for YP content in a doubled haploid (DH) population from Zhongyou 9507/CA9632. Among 217 Chinese wheat cultivars and advanced lines, the average grain YP content of 126 cultivars with TaZds-A1b allele was 7.8% higher than that of 91 cultivars with TaZds- A1a allele.
    Construction of Two Suppression Subtractive Hybridization Libraries and Identification of Salt-Induced Genes in Soybean
    LI Liang, WANG Wei-qi, HAN Tian-fu, HOU Wen-sheng
    2012, 12(7): 1075-1085.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8632
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Soybean is planted worldwide and its productivity is significantly hampered by salinity. Development of salt tolerant cultivars is necessary for promoting soybean production. Despite wealth of information generated on salt tolerance mechanism, its basics still remain elusive. A continued effort is needed to understand the salt tolerance mechanism in soybean using suitable molecular tools. To better understand the molecular basis of the responses of soybean to salt stress and to get an enrichment of critical salt stress responsive genes in soybean, suppression subtractive hybridization libraries (SSH) are constructed for the root tissue of two cultivated soybean genotypes, one was tolerant and the other was sensitive to salt stress. To compare the responses of plants in salt treatment and non-treatment, SSH1 was constructed for the salt-tolerant cultivar Wenfeng 7 and SSH2 was constructed for the salt-sensitive cultivar Union. From the two SSH cDNA libraries, a total of 379 high quality ESTs were obtained. These ESTs were then annotated by performing sequence similarity searches against the NCBI nr (National Center for Biotechnology Information protein non-redundant) database using the BLASTX program. Sixty-three genes from SSH1 and 49 genes from SSH2 could be assigned putative function. On the other hand, 25 ESTs of SSH1 which may be not the salt tolerance-related genes were removed by comparing and analyzing the ESTs from the two SSH libraries, which increased the proportion of the genes related to salt tolerance in SSH1. These results suggested that the novel way could realize low background of SSH and high level enrichment of target cDNAs to some extent.
    Identification of Molecular Markers for a Aphid Resistance Gene in Sorghum and Selective Efficiency Using These Markers
    CHANG Jin-hua, CUI Jiang-hui, XUE Wei, ZHANG Qing-wen
    2012, 12(7): 1086-1092.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8633
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    In this study, an F2 segregated population obtained by hybridization between the aphid-sensitive sorghum strain Qiansan and aphid-resistant cultivar Henong 16 was used to establish an aphid-resistant pool and an aphid-sensitive pool. 192 pairs of AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) marker primers were screened in these pools using BSA (bulked segregant analysis). Three pairs of EcoR I-CTG/Mse I-CCT, EcoR I-CTG/Mse I-CAT, and EcoR I-AGT/Mse I-CCC showed linkage with aphis resistance. EcoR I-CTG/Mse I-CCT-475, EcoR I-CTG/Mse I-CAT-390, and EcoR I-AGT/Mse I-CCC- 350 (E42/M52-350) were mapped within 6, 10, and 13 cM distances with the aphid-resistant gene by using Mapmaker 3.0 software. The bands amplified by EcoR I-CTG/Mse I-CCT-475 and EcoR I-CTG/Mse I-CAT-390 were extracted, cloned, and sequenced. Specific primers of SCAR (sequence characterized amplified regions) were then designed from these bands. A specific band of 300 bp was amplified by a pair of SCAR primers designed based on the sequence obtained from the EcoR I-CTG/Mse I-CAT-390 marker. The SCAR marker was named SCA50. The marker was used to detect the F2, BC1, and F2:3 populations. The selective efficiency was 86.8, 91.1, and 86.3% in the BC1, F2, and F2:3 populations, respectively. The average selective efficiency was 88.2%.
    Comparative Study on the Expression of Genes Involved in Carotenoid and ABA Biosynthetic Pathway in Response to Salt Stress in Tomato
    DUAN Hui-kun, ZHU Yan, LI Wen-long, HUA Xue-jun, LIU Yong-xiu, DENG Xin
    2012, 12(7): 1093-1102.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8634
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    1 Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, P.R.China 2 Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P.R.China 3 Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, P.R.China Carotenoid biosynthetic pathway produces not only pigments that protect photosynthetic system against photo-oxidative damage, but also precursors of abscisic acid, the major hormone regulates stress responses. To understand the response of carotenoid biosynthetic pathway to salt stress, the expression of the genes involved in carotenoid and ABA biosynthesis were compared in cultivated tomato Solanum lycopersicon cv. Moneymaker and its relative wild genotype S. pimpinellifolium (PI365967) together with the contents of carotenoids and ABA. The results showed that 11 of the 15 genes investigated were up-regulated and four unaltered in Moneymaker after 5 h of salt stress; whereas only four genes were up-regulated, four unaltered, and seven down-regulated in PI365967 after stress. Further comparison revealed that 11 salinity-induced genes were expressed significantly lower in Moneymaker than in PI365967 under normal condition, and 8 of them were induced to similar levels after salt stress. In consistence, ABA level was doubled in Moneymaker but kept consistent in PI365967 after salt stress, though the contents of neoxanthin, violaxanthin, β-carotene, lutein, and total carotenoids were kept unchanged in both species. Since it is known that PI365967 is more tolerant to salt stress than Moneymaker, we proposed that the constitutive high level of carotenoid and ABA biosynthetic pathway under normal growth condition could be benefit to PI365967 for establishing the early response to salt stress. In addition, CrtR-b1 and CrtR-b2 that encode β-carotenoid hydroxylases were the only genes in carotenoid biosynthetic pathway that were up-regulated by salt stress in both species. The CrtR-b2 gene was cloned from both species and no essential difference was found in the encoded amino acid sequences. Transformation of CrtR-b2 to tobacco improved the seed germination under salt stress condition, indicating that the hydrolysis of β-carotenoid is the target of transcriptional regulation of the carotenoid biosynthesis in both tomato cultivar and wild relative.
    PHYSIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY · TILLAGE · CULTIVATION
    Responses of Phosphorus Use Efficiency, Grain Yield, and Quality to Phosphorus Application Amount of Weak-Gluten Wheat
    ZHU Xin-kai, JIANG Zong-qing, FENG Chao-nian, GUO Wen-shan, PENG Yong-xin
    2012, 12(7): 1103-1110.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8635
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Phosphorus (P) is one of the most widely occurring nutrients for development and growth of wheat. In this study; the effects of P application amount on grain yield; protein content; and phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) were studied by agronomic management of P fertilizer on spring weak-gluten wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown under field conditions for  yr. The experiments were performed at five levels of PO application amount; including ; ; ; ; and  kg ha-. As a result; with increase in P fertilizer; grain yield; and P agricultural efficiency (AEP) increased in a quadratic equitation; but partial factor productivity of P (PFPP) decreased in a logarithmic eq. When  kg ha- PO was applied; the grain yield reached the highest level; but the protein content in gain was lower than .%; a threshold for the protein content to evaluate weak-gluten wheat suitable for production of cake and biscuit. Yangmai  and Ningmai  could tolerate to higher P level of soils than Yangmai  that had more loss in grain yield when P fertilizer was over-applied. AEP had a concomitant relationship with grain yield and was a better descriptor for P use efficiency in the wheat. A high P use efficiency resulted in leaf area index (LAI); increased chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate; and stable acid phophatase (APase) activity to accumulate more dry matter after anthesis; which explained that the optimum P fertilizer increased grain yield and improved grain quality of weak-gluten wheat.
    HPLC Fingerprint-Antioxidant Properties Study of Buckwheat
    ZHAO Gang, WANG Shu, HU Yi-bing, ZOU Liang
    2012, 12(7): 1111-1118.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8636
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    For quality control of buckwheat, fingerprint-efficacy study of buckwheat was carried out in this work. 2,2´-Bipyridyl,2,2- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging activity of the buckwheat was measured using UV spectrometer. Chemical fingerprints of tartary buckwheat from 29 different sources were determined by HPLC-UV and investigated by similarity analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis. The fingerprint-efficacy relationship between chemical fingerprint and DPPH radical scavenging activity of tartary buckwheat were established by multi-linear regression analysis. The results showed that the sources of buckwheat had some important influence on the chemical fingerprints and DPPH radical scavenging activity. DPPH radical scavenging activity of tartary buckwheat was stronger than that of common buckwheat, rutin, and kaempferol and some unknown compound might be the major effective components for quality control of tartary buckwheat for its antioxidant activity.
    Effects of Water-Collecting and -Retaining Techniques on Photosynthetic Rates, Yield, and Water Use Efficiency of Millet Grown in a Semiarid Region
    WEN Xiao-xia, ZHANG De-qi, LIAO Yun-cheng, JIA Zhi-kuan, JI Shu-qin
    2012, 12(7): 1119-1128.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8637
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Field experiments were conducted in 2003 and 2004 to study the effects of plastic ridges and furrow film mulching (plastic film on sowing, as well as plastic film on flat soil and hole sowing) and chemicals (a drought resistant agent and a waterretaining agent) on growth, photosynthetic rate, yield, and water use efficiency (WUE) of spring millet (Setaria italica L.). The experimental results showed that water-collecting and -retaining techniques can effectively increase soil moisture content, the leaf photosynthetic rate and crop growth. Due to increased soil moisture under the plastic-covered ridge and furrow water-collecting in July and August, dry matter and plant height had a increase at the booting stage (late growth advantage). However, the plastic-covered flat soil and hole sowing reduced soil evaporation during early growth, the increase of dry matter and plant height appeared at the seedling stage (early growth advantage). Plastic-covered ridge and furrow sowing supplemented with chemical reagents had significant positive effects on water collection and soil moisture retention. Improvement of soil moisture resulted into the increase of the photosynthetic rate, dry matter accumulation yield and WUE. The water-collecting and -retaining techniques can improve WUE and enhance crop yield. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the photosynthetic rate under the water-collecting and -retaining techniques was significantly associated with the soil moisture, but had no significant relationship with leaf chlorophyll content. Plasticcovered ridge and furrow sowing supplemented with chemical reagents increased the yield and WUE by 114% and 8.16 kg ha-1 mm-1, respectively, compared with the control; while without the chemical reagents the yield and WUE were 95% and 7.42 kg ha-1 mm-1 higher, respectively, than those of the control.
    Relationship Between Polyamines Metabolism and Cell Death in Roots of Malus hupehensis Rehd. Under Cadmium Stress
    JIANG Qian-qian, YANG Hong-qiang, SUN Xiao-li, LI Qiang, RAN Kun, ZHANG Xin-rong
    2012, 12(7): 1129-1136.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8638
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    The free putrescine (Put) content, the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content and the polyamine oxidase (PAO) activity in roots of Malus hupehensis Rehd. var. pinyiensis Jiang (PYTC) were significantly increased, and reached its peak at 1, 2 and 6 h, respectively, under cadmium treatment. The free spermine (Spm) and spermidine (Spd) contents were dramatically decreased, and reached the minimum value at 4-6 h, then remained relatively stable. The change in total free polyamines (PAs) content was consistent with that of free Put. The number of root dead cells was gradually increased after treatment for 24 h, and the typical characteristics of programmed cell death (PCD) were displayed at 48 h. Throughout the Cd treatment process, changes in PAs metabolism appeared to be prior to cell death increase, and the H2O2 content was always maintained at a high level. These results indicated that polyamines could initiate cell death by generating H2O2 in roots of Malus hupehensis Rehd. under CdSO4 stress.
    PLANT PROTECTION
    Overexpression of a Broccoli Defensin Gene BoDFN Enhances Downy Mildew Resistance
    JIANG Ming, HE Cai-ming, MIAO Li-xiang, ZHANG Yu-chao
    2012, 12(7): 1137-1144.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8639
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Plant defensins are small, basic cysteine-rich peptides that play important roles in disease resistance. A gene, designated BoDFN, was isolated from Brassica oleracea var. italica. Gene sequence has been submitted to NCBI with an accession no. of HQ436486. Complete coding sequence of BoDFN is 243 bp in length encoding 80 amino acids. Sequence comparison results showed that BoDFN shared high homology with those of crucifer plants and there were only few DNA base differences. RT-PCR results indicated an increase of gene expression in Hyaloperonospora parasitica infected leaves and revealed a significant increase at 24 and 36 h of treatment. A recombinant plasmid, named pBI121-BoDFN, was constructed and introduced into Agrobacterium tumefacien LBA4404. PCR screening for 65 regenerated plantlets, 17 positive plantlets were obtained, PCR screening results revealed that 17 out of 65 regenerated plantlets were positive. Disease resistant identification results indicated that all positive plants showed an increase in resistance to H. parasitica.
    Sublethal Effects of Metaflumizone on Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae)
    ZHANG Zhe, LI Jian-hong, GAO Xi-wu
    2012, 12(7): 1145-1150.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8640
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Metaflumizone is a novel sodium channel blocker insecticide, which has been registered for controling the diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) in China. It is unavoidable for DBMs to be exposed to sublethal dose of metaflumizone in brassicaceous vegetable field. Sublethal effects of metaflumizone at LC15 (1.06 mg L-1) and LC25 (2.03 mg L-1) on the biological characteristics were investigated. Pupation rate, pupal period and pupal weight were significantly declined comparing with the control (P=0.05) when third instar larvae were exposed to LC15 and LC25 of metaflumizone. Comparing the control group to LC15 and LC25 treatment groups, there were significant differences in the development periods of eggs, first instar larvae, pupae and total preoviposition period. The peak of age-specific fecundity in LC15 and LC25 treatment groups was lagged behind control group. Mean values of intrinsic rate of increase (rm), net reproductive rate (R0) and finite rate of increase (λ) observed from the LC15 and LC25 treatment groups were lower than those from the control group. But mean values of gross reproduction rate (GRR) was not different. The mean generation time (T) of the treatment groups was prolonged. Whether sublethal doses of metaflumizone could stimulate reproduction in the long term needs further investigation on continuous generations.
    Preparation, Characterization and Nematicidal Activity of Lansiumamide B Nano-Capsules
    YIN Yan-hua, GUO Qing-ming, HAN Yun, WANG Ling-jing, WAN Shu-qing
    2012, 12(7): 1151-1158.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8641
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    In this study, nano-capsules of lansiumamide B (NCLB) was prepared by the microemulsion polymerization method to improve the nematicidal efficacy of lansiumamide B (LB). An optimal formulation was gained by orthogonal experiment design based on the encapsulation efficiency (En, %) value. The optimized NCLB were spherical and uniform under transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The mean particle size, zeta potential and En were (38.50±0.64) nm, (-70.5±0.76) mV and (95.13±1.16)%, respectively. The release profile indicated that the accumulated release of LB in NCLB reached up to 82% within 96 h. Effects of NCLB against Bursaphelenehus xylophilus and J2 of Meloidogyne incognita were reported in this paper. The nematicidal activity of NCLB has been remarkably increased, with LC50 values of 2.1407 mg L-1 and 19.3608 mg L-1, respectively, at 24 h after treatment. The disease progression and the average number of root knots of Ipomoea aquatica were 1.50 and 7.25, respectively, in the treatment of NCLB, at concentration of 200 mg L-1, significantly lower than the treatment of LB and ethoprophos. Compared to control, the treatments of NCLB, LB and ethoprophos leaded the disease progression to drop 68.42, 36.84 and 26.32%, respectively, and caused the average number of root knots to fall 83.94, 78.03 and 63.66%. These results suggested that NCLB, as a novel nematicides formulation, performed more efficient and longer effective maintenance against plant parasitic nematodes.
    ANIMAL SCIENCE · VETERINARY SCIENCE
    Hoxc13/β-catenin Correlation with Hair Follicle Activity in Cashmere Goat
    WU Jiang-hong, ZHANG Yan-jun, ZHANG Jia-xin, CHANG Zi-li, LI Jin-quan, YAN Zu-wei, Husile , ZHANG Wen-guang
    2012, 12(7): 1159-1166.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8642
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Seasonal hair follicle activity and fibre growth in some Cashmere-bearing goats (Caprus hircus) is a cyclic process that is well characterized morphologically but understood incompletely at the molecular level. As an initial step in discovering regulators in hair-follicle activity and cycling, we used qPCR to investigate 19 genes expression in Cashmere goat side skin from 12 mon. Many of these genes may be associated with the hair follicle development-relevant genes (HFDRGs) in the literature. Here we show that Hoxc13/β-catenin gene associated with the follicle activity. In addition, Hoxc13 was found to be expressed with an drastic increase between July and November for melatonin treatments. To further investigate the role of Hoxc13 on HFDRGs, fibroblasts and keratinocytes from Cashmere goat skin were transfected with p-ECFPHoxc13. The result suggested that overexpression of Hoxc13 gene decreased HFDRGs with negative role for hair follicle development and increase HFDRGs with positive role for hair follicle development in vitro. These findings provide data on the Hoxc13 expression profile of normal Cashmere goat skin and Cashmere goat skin with melatonin treatment, and demonstrate hair-follicle-activity dependent regulation of Hoxc13 expression.
    Effects of Dietary Energy Level on the Expression of the HSL Gene in Different Tissues of Sheep
    ZHANG Ying-jie, LIU Yue-qin, CHENG Shan-yan, SONG Jie
    2012, 12(7): 1167-1172.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8643
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    A total of 36 four-mon-old hybrid lambs (Dorset×Thin-tailed Han sheep) with similar body weight (BW) were randomly allocated to three dietary treatments with different energy (7.21, 10.33 and 13.49 MJ d-1 ME) but similar protein levels. The animals were slaughtered and subcutaneous fat, longissimus dorsi muscle, femoral biceps muscle and cardiac muscle tissue samples were taken after being treated for 40 d. The samples were then subjected to quantitative PCR to determine mRNA expression of hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) in different tissues in the laboratory. The findings showed that the abundance of HSL mRNA decreased with the elevation of dietary energy. In the subcutaneous fatty tissue, the HSL mRNA levels showed significant differences among the three groups (P<0.01); in the longissimus dorsi and femoral biceps muscles, the HSL mRNA level in the low energy group was significantly higher than that in the moderate and high energy groups (P<0.01). In the cardiac muscle, the HSL mRNA level in the moderate energy group was significantly different from the low and high energy groups (P<0.05). The number of HSL copies (Qty) in different tissues of sheep was different, it was greater in the subcutaneous fat than in longissimus dorsi muscle, femoral biceps muscle and heart.
    RESEARCH ARTICLE Effects of Central Administration of Glutamine and Alanine on Feed Intake and Hypothalamic Expression of Orexigenic and Anorexigenic Neuropetides in Broiler Chicks
    Khondowe Paul, WANG Song-bo, CHEN Sheng-feng, YU Jian-jian, ZHU Xiao-tong, WANG Li-na, GAO Ping, XI Qian-yun, ZHANG Yong-liang, SHU Gang, JIANG Qing-yan
    2012, 12(7): 1173-1180.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8644
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Different amino acids have been shown to affect feed intake when injected directly into the central nervous system of birds. In the present study, we investigated the effects of L-glutamine and L-alanine on feed intake and the mRNA expression levels of hypothalamic neuropeptides involved in feed intake regulation in broiler chicks. L-Glutamine or Lalanine was intra-cerebroventricularly (ICV) administered to 4-d-old broiler chicks and the feed intake were recorded at various time points. Quantitative PCR was performed to determine the hypothalamic mRNA expression levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY), agouti related protein (AgRP), pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), melanocortin receptor 4 (MC4R) and corticotropin releasing factor (CRF). Our results showed that ICV administration of L-glutamine (0.55 or 5.5 μmol) significantly increased feed intake up to 2 h post-administration period and the hypothalamic NPY mRNA expression levels, while it markedly decreased hypothalamic POMC and CRF mRNA expression levels. In contrast, ICV administration of L-alanine (4 μmol) significantly decreased feed intake for the first 0.5 h post-administration period, and reduced the hypothalamic AgRP mRNA expression levels, while it remarkablely enhanced the mRNA expression levels of MC4R and CRF. These findings suggested that L-glutamine and L-alanine could act within the hypothalamus to influence feed intake in broiler chicks, and that both orexigenic and anorexigenic neuropeptide genes might contribute directly to these effects.
    Angiopoietin-Like Protein 3 Expression is Down-Regulated in Experimentally Pregnant Toxemic Goats
    CHEN Xiao-jun, BAI Xia, MAI Pei, CAI Jie, LIU Zhao-ying, WANG Hui, XIAO Hong-bo, DONG Wei, WANG Shui-lian, SUN Zhi-liang,
    2012, 12(7): 1181-1188.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8645
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Pregnancy toxemia is a metabolic disorder of lipid and glucose. Recent investigations have found that angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) can contribute to disorder of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. The present study was conducted to investigate the change of ANGPTL3 expression during pregnancy toxemia. We firstly cloned the full-length cDNA of ANGPTL3 in Liuyang Black goats, revealing that goat ANGPTL3 had the typical structure of the angiopoietin-like family, and its mRNA was exclusively expressed in liver. Pregnancy toxemia of pregnant goat does with twins during late gestation was induced by being fasted for 72 h, and then they were recovered after 5 d of refeeding. Hepatic ANGPTL3 gene expression was significantly down-regulated concomitantly with decreased serum glucose concentration, elevated serum β-hydroxybutyrate and free fatty acid levels in pregnant toxemic goats, and these changes were reversed after refeeding. These results suggest ANGPTL3 may play a certain role in the development of pregnancy toxemia in goats.
    SOIL & FERTILIZER · AGRI-ECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT
    Determination of Tetracyclines and Their Epimers in Agricultural Soil Fertilized with Swine Manure by Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry
    ZHENG Wen-li, ZHANG Li-fang, ZHANG Ke-yu, WANG Xiao-yang, XUE Fei-qun
    2012, 12(7): 1189-1198.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8646
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    A rapid, sensitive and specific ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) method was developed for the analysis of tetracycline antibiotics, including tetracycline (TC), oxytetracycline (OTC), chlortetracycline (CTC) and their 4-epimers (4-epiTCs) in agricultural soil fertilized with swine manure. Soil samples were extracted and cleaned-up with 10 mL EDTA-McIlvaine buffer solution (pH 4.0), then cleaned-up and pre-concentrated using the Oasis MAX cartridge and then eluted with 1 mL solution by mixing formic acid, methanol and water at a ratio of 2:15:83 (v/v/v). The purified samples were separated by an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column using acetonitrile and water containing 0.1% formic acid mobile phase and detected by a single quadrupole MS. The limits of detection for the soil extraction method (LODsoil) ranged from 0.6-2.5 μg kg-1 with recoveries from 23.3-159.2%. Finally, the method was applied to an agricultural field in an area with intensive pig-fattening farming. Tetracyclines were detected in soil from 2.8 to 42.4 μg kg-1 soil. These results demonstrate that soil from swine farms can become severely contaminated with tetracycline antibiotics and their metabolites.
    Effect of Planting Density and Fertilizer Application on Fiber Yield of Ramie (Boehmeria nivea)
    LIU Li-jun, CHEN He-quan, DAI Xiao-bing, WANG Hui, PENG Ding-xiang
    2012, 12(7): 1199-1206.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8647
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    As the most important cultural practices for ramie (Boehmeria nivea) production, the single effects of plant density and nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) fertilization on yield are well documented. To achieve the high yield and quality of ramie fiber, it is principal to quantify the fertilizer dosage for ramie sustainable production. A central composite design (CCD) was adopted with three replications, for a two-year field experiment (2008-2009) in the Yangtze River Valley of China. The aim was to evaluate both the individual and combined effects of plant density and N, P, and K fertilization on yield and fiber quality. The effects of the four factors on yield and quality of ramie cultivar Huazhu 4 were tested. Then mathematical models of the relationship among the four factors affecting ramie production and quality were established and analyzed to optimize the four factors, and used to establish optimum cultivation methods for the elite cultivar suitable to this area of the Yangtze River Valley. Supplements of N (X2), P (X3) and K (X4), and the density (X1) with N (X2) interaction significantly influenced strength in tests of mature ramie. The influence on fiber yield in the two year tests by the four factors ranked as follows: X3>X4>X1>X2. We established the optimization technique attaining yield of 2600 kg ha-1 in the tests as following: density of 28 350-31 650 plants ha-1, and supplements of N, P and K of 363-387, 98.58-105.48 and 280.20- 319.8 kg ha-1, respectively. It was concluded that nitrogen mostly improved plant growth and fiber yield while potassium had discernible effects on fiber quality.
    Identify Plant Drought Stress by 3D-Based Image
    ZHAO Yan-dong, SUN Yu-rui, CAI Xiang, LIU He, Peter Schulze Lammers
    2012, 12(7): 1207-1211.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8648
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    Plants respond to drought stress with different physical manners, such as morphology and color of leaves. Thus, plants can be considered as a sort of living-sensors for monitoring dynamic of soil water content or the stored water in plant body. Because of difficulty to identify the early wilting symptom of plants from the results in 2D (two-dimension) space, this paper presented a preliminary study with 3D (three-dimension)-based image, in which a laser scanner was used for achieving the morphological information of zucchini (Cucurbita pepo) leaves. Moreover, a leaf wilting index (DLWIF) was defined by fractal dimension. The experiment consisted of phase-1 for observing the temporal variation of DLWIF and phase-2 for the validation of this index. During the experiment, air temperature, luminous intensity, and volumetric soil water contents (VSWC) were simultaneously recorded over time. The results of both phases fitted the bisector (line: 1:1) with R2=0.903 and REMS=0.155. More significantly, the influence of VSWC with three levels (0.22, 0.30, and 0.36 cm3 cm-3) on the response of plant samples to drought stress was observed from separated traces of DLWIF. In brief, two conclusions have been made: (i) the laser scanner is an effective tool for the non-contact detection of morphological wilting of plants, and (ii) defined DLWIF can be a promising indicator for a category of plants like zucchini.
    SHORT COMMUNICATION
    A Simple Method for Isolating Chloroplast DNA and Mitochondria DNA from the Same Rapeseed Green Leaf Tissue
    HU Zhi-yong, ZHAN Gao-miao, WANG Han-zhong, HUA Wei
    2012, 12(7): 1212-1215.  DOI: 10.1016/S1671-2927(00)8649
    Abstract ( )   PDF in ScienceDirect  
    In the study, we present a fast, simple and inexpensive protocol for isolating chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA from one rapeseed leaf tissue sample. The chloroplast and mitochondria were separated from the same green leaf tissue by differential centrifugations. The protocol is the first report that isolates plant chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the same sample homogenate. The organelle DNA yield is 2-10 micrograms per gram of tissue; the DNA was fully restrictable and was successfully used for sequencing.