Water‐saving approaches for improving wheat production

The greatest fear of global climate change is drought. World‐wide, 61% of countries receive rainfall of less than 500 mm annually; domestication of wheat first occurred in such a semiarid region of southwestern Asia, and it seems that wheat foods originally came from dryland gardens. Wheat plants respond to drought through morphological, physiological and metabolic modifications in all plant parts. At the cellular level, plant responses to water deficit may result from cell damage, whereas other responses may correspond to adaptive processes. Although a large number of drought‐induced genes have been identified in a wide range of wheat varieties, a molecular basis for wheat plant tolerance to water stress remains far from being completely understood. The rapid translocation of abscissic acid (ABA) in shoots via xylem flux, and the increase of ABA concentration in wheat plant parts correlate with the major physiological changes that occur during plant response to drought. It is widely accepted that ABA mediates general adaptive responses to drought. For a relatively determinate target stress environment, and with stable genotype × environment interaction, the probability for achieving progress is high. This approach will be possible only after we learn more about the physiology and genetics of wheat plant responses to water stress and their interactions. The difficulties encountered by molecular biologists in attempting to improve crop drought tolerance are due to our ignorance in agronomy and crop physiology and not to lack of knowledge or technical expertise in molecular biology. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Estimation of compound classes in coal hydrogenation liquids by thin-layer chromatography

Compound classes in coal liquids were investigated by thin-layer chromatography coupled with a flame ionization detector (t.l.c.-f.i.d.). Individual t.l.c. peaks for coal liquids were identified as paraffins, aromatics, polar compounds and more strongly polar compounds or asphaltenes in order of increasing R_f values by comparison with specific compounds separated previously by conventional liquid chromatography. Concentrations of compound classes for a series of samples obtained by varying the hydrogenation time were estimated and good agreement was found with the results obtained by the USBM-API 60 liquid chromatography procedure. By using the t.l.c.-f.i.d. method, the relation of distribution of compound classes to the reaction conditions of coal hydrogenation could be derived quantitatively with relative ease.     

Polymerization of epoxide with aluminum complex/silanol catalyst. VII. Thermal and electrical properties of epoxy resin cured with the new catalyst

Curing catalyst for epoxy resins was newly found. The catalyst consists of aluminum complex and silanol. Lack of one component of the pair does not cure epoxy resins. The epoxy resins cured with the catalyst are characterized by excellent electrical properties, especially at high temperature, due to the absence of strong acid species in the cured epoxy resin matrix. Heat-resistant property of the resin was also excellent. These properties were compared with those of epoxy resin cured with commonly used BF₃ complex.     

Synthesis of bis(2,4-diphenylbutyl) phthalate and its application as a plasticizer for poly(vinyl chloride) from waste polystyrene

Bis(2,4-diphenylbutyl) phathalate, a plasticizer for poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), was synthesized from 2,4-diphenyl-1-butene obtained by a thermal decomposition under reduced pressure of waster polystyrene. The heat stability of bis(2,4-diphenylbutyl) phthalate was determined by thermogravimetric analysis and compared with typical plasticizers. It was recognized that bis(2,4-diphenylbutyl) phthalate showed high heat resistant. A test sheet of plasticized PVC with bis(2,4-diphenylbutyl) phthalate and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate was prepared. The test sheet was used for determination of the plasticizing performance of bis(2,4-diphenylbutyl) phthalate. Although the effect of bis(2,4-diphenylbutyl) phthalate imparting flexibility to PVC is poorer than that of bis(2-ethylehexyl) phthalate, the former phthalate is well compatible with PVC and exceedingly heat-resistant.     

Comparative characterisation of dioxane-soluble lignins released by ball milling and by sheep digestion from forage grasses

Faecal soluble lignin (FSL), extracted from the faeces of sheep that received orchardgrass and timothy, were compared with 90% dioxane-soluble lignins released by ball milling (MHL) and by subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis (EHL) from the same grasses. FSL contained much less carbohydrate and esterified p-coumaric and ferulic acids than MHL and EHL. Although no considerable differences were found in the yields of vanillin and syringaldehyde produced by nitrobenzene oxidation, the molar ratio of syringaldehyde to vanillin was higher for FSL than for MHL and EHL. Such differences in chemical properties among the lignin preparations were confirmed by ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy. FSL had a lower molecular size compared with MHL and EHL. Results indicated that syringyl-rich lignin fragments with less phenolic acid esters, probably depolymerisation products of the grass lignins, were released by digestion in sheep from the forage grasses.     

PACAP-mediated sperm-cumulus cell interaction promotes fertilization

The developing acrosome in spermatids contains pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP). However, the role of the acrosomal PACAP remains unclear because it has not been detected in mature spermatids and sperm. We reinvestigated whether the sperm acrosome contains PACAP. An antiserum produced against PACAP reacted to the anterior acrosome in epididymal sperm fixed under mild conditions, suggesting that PACAP acts on oocytes and/or cumulus cells at the site of fertilization. Immunolabeling and RT-PCR demonstrated the presence of PACAP type I receptor, a PACAP-specific receptor, in postovulatory cumulus cells. To investigate the role of PACAP in fertilization, we pretreated cumulus-oocyte complexes with the polypeptide. At a low concentration of sperm, the fertilization rate was significantly enhanced by PACAP in a dose-dependent manner. Sperm penetration through the oocyte investment, cumulus layer, and zona pellucida was also enhanced by PACAP. The enhancement was probably due to an enhancement in sperm motility and the zona-induced acrosome reaction, which were stimulated by a cumulus cell-releasing factor. Indeed, PACAP treatment increased the secretion of progesterone from the cumulus-oocyte complexes. These results strongly suggest that in response to PACAP, cumulus cells release a soluble factor that probably stimulates sperm motility and the acrosome reaction, thereby promoting fertilization.     

Dimethylamine-modified waste paper for the recovery of precious metals

Waste newsprint paper was modified with dimethylamine (DMA) to obtain a tertiary amine type adsorption gel called DMA-paper gel. This new derivative was investigated for adsorption, from hydrochloric acid medium, of gold, palladium, and platinum as well as some base metals. The gel exhibited selectivity only for precious metals with a remarkably high capacity for Au(III), i.e., 4.6 mol/kg dry gel and comparable capacities, i.e., 2.1 and 0.9 mol/kg for Pd(II) and Pt(IV), respectively. Also, Au(III) was reduced to the elemental form during adsorption. Furthermore, column adsorption and subsequent elution of the adsorbed metal ions by acidic thiourea revealed encouraging recoveries (approximately 90%), thus enhancing the scope of the gel for effective preconcentration, separation, and recovery of precious metals. The effectiveness of recovery of precious metals from real industrial liquor was also tested, and it showed highly encouraging results with respect to the stability of the gel in the harsh medium, and selectivity for the targeted metal ions in the presence of excess of other metal ions.     

Mass balance and kinetic analysis of anaerobic microbial dechlorination of pentachlorophenol in a continuous flow column

A mass balance and kinetic investigation of anaerobic dechlorination of pentachlorophenol (PCP) was undertaken using an enriched microbial consortium in a laboratory scale continuous flow column, as a model microbial permeable reactive barrier. The chlorine balance showed that 50 µM PCP was largely dechlorinated to phenol with the formation of a small quantity of 3-chlorophenol as an intermediate metabolite (hydraulic retention time 7.6 days), and the chlorine removal efficiency reached 36 µM d^-1. When the initial PCP concentration was increased to 100 µM the chlorine removal efficiency increased 1.5 times. However, the dechlorination activity disappeared after 7.4 pore volumes (58 days), demonstrating the susceptibility of the dechlorination culture to high concentrations of PCP. Lactate released hydrogen as an electron donor during PCP dechlorination, with acetate, propionate, CO₂ and CH₄ as byproducts. The carbon balance showed that some of the organic carbon source (PCP, lactate) in the influent was converted to gas and utilized for biomass growth in addition to organic metabolites. The kinetic study was conducted in a batch culture and yielded 1.99 mg l^-1 biomass growth per unit of chlorine consumption (µM). The Monod equation was well fitted to the specific growth rate of 1.38 d^-1 and a half saturation constant of 0.29 µM. The organic chlorine removal rate in the batch culture was consistent with the results in the flow column, indicating the feasibility of and potential for in situ estimation and prediction through batch culture studies.     

Inhibitory effect of high concentrations of ferric ions on the activity of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

The influence of high concentrations of ferric ions on the biochemical activity of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans was studied using intact cells. The specific oxidation rate of ferrous ions decreased with increasing ferric ion concentration. Lineweaver-Burk plots revealed typical competitive inhibition kinetics, because the slopes varied with the ferric ion concentration. A linear relationship between the slope and the square of the ferric ion concentration revealed that the iron-oxidizing enzyme system of A. ferrooxidans was competitively inhibited by about two molecules of ferric ion. The kinetic equation based on this inhibition model agreed with the experimental observation at a high ferric ion concentration where the bacterium is usually exposed in bioleaching and biooxidation plants.     

Multiresidue determination of quinolones in animal and fishery products by HPLC

A simple and rapid multiresidue method was developed for the determination of twelve quinolones (ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin, difloxacin, enrofloxacin, flumequine, marbofloxacin, nalidixic acid, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, orbifloxacin, oxolinic acid and sarafloxacin) in muscle, liver, chicken eggs, milk, prawn and rainbow trout.The quinolones were extracted from a sample with acetonitrile-water (95 : 5). A fifth part of the filtered extract was diluted with water to keep the acetonitrile ratio at ca. 60%, and passed through a C18 mini-column. The eluate was evaporated to dryness, and the residues were dissolved in methanol-water (30 : 70) for HPLC analysis.The quinolones were separated on a Inertsil ODS-3V column (4.6 mm i.d.x250 mm) with a gradient system of 0.1% phosphoric acid-acetonitrile as the mobile phase, with fluorescence detection.No interfering peak was found on the chromatograms of animal and fishery products, except for milk. The recoveries of the quinolones were over 60% from the animal and fishery products fortified at 0.1 microg/g, and the quantification limits of the quinolones were 0.005 microg/g. This proposed method was found to be effective and suitable for the screening of the quinolones in animal and fishery products.