Simple Sequence Repeat Markers in Genetic Divergence and Marker-Assisted Selection of Rice Cultivars: A Review

Sequencing of rice genome has facilitated the understanding of rice evolution and has been utilized extensively for mining of DNA markers to facilitate marker-assisted breeding. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers that are tandemly repeated nucleotide sequence motifs flanked by unique sequences are presently the maker of choice in rice improvement due to their abundance, co-dominant inheritance, high levels of allelic diversity, and simple reproducible assay. The current level of genome coverage by SSR markers in rice is sufficient to employ them for genotype identification and marker-assisted selection in breeding for mapping of genes and quantitative trait loci analysis. This review provides comprehensive information on the mapping and applications of SSR markers in investigation of rice cultivars to study their genetic divergence and marker-assisted selection of important agronomic traits.     

Comparison of xylo-oligosaccharides production by autohydrolysis of fibers separated from ground corn flour and DDGS

Xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) are known to have beneficial health properties, and are considered to be functional food ingredients. The objective of this study is to compare corn fibers separated from ground corn flour and distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) for XOS yield and optimum autohydrolysis conditions. Based on the initial xylan content, the fiber separated from ground corn flour (FC) resulted in higher XOS yield (71.5%) than the fiber separated from DDGS (FD) (54.6%) at the maximum XOS production conditions. XOS produced were mainly xylobiose and xylotriose. Based on total initial material also, FC resulted in higher XOS yield (8.9%) than FD (8.0%), based on total original masses. Thus, fiber separated from ground corn flour would be a better feedstock for production of XOS than fiber separated from DDGS. The conditions for maximum XOS production from FD and FC were 180 °C with 20 min hold-time and 190 °C with 10 min hold-time, respectively.     

Potential for rice straw ethanol production in the Mekong Delta,Vietnam

This study is to evaluate the potential for development of a cellulosic ethanol facility in Vietnam. Rice straw is abundant in Vietnam and highly concentrated in the Mekong Delta, where about 26 Mt year⁻¹ of rice straw has been yearly produced. To minimize the overall production cost (PC) of ethanol from rice straw, it is crucial to choose the optimal facility size. The delivered cost of rice straw varied from 20.5 to 65.4 $ dry t⁻¹ depending on transportation distance. The Mekong Delta has much lower rice straw prices compared with other regions in Vietnam because of high density and quantity of rice straw supply. Thus, this region has been considered as the most suitable location for deploying ethanol production in Vietnam. The optimal plant size of ethanol production in the region was estimated up to 200 ML year⁻¹. The improvement in solid concentration of material in the hydrothermal pre-treatment step and using residues for power generation could substantially reduce the PC in Vietnam, where energy costs account for the second largest contribution to the PC, following only enzyme costs. The potential for building larger ethanol plants with low rice straw costs can reduce ethanol production costs in Vietnam. The current estimated production cost for an optimal plant size of 200 ML year⁻¹ was 1.19 $ L⁻¹. For the future scenario, considering improvements in pre-treatment, enzyme hydrolysis steps, specific enzyme activity, and applying residues for energy generation, the ethanol production cost could reduce to 0.45 $ L⁻¹ for a plant size of 200 ML year⁻¹ in Vietnam. These data indicated that the cost-competitiveness of ethanol production could be realized in Vietnam with future improvements in production technologies.     

Synthesis of Cellulose-Based Macromolecular Coupling Agent and its Utilization in Poly (butylene succinate)/Wood Flour Composites

A long fatty side chain was introduced into the macromolecule of hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) via esterification reaction. The hydrophobicity of hydroxyethyl cellulose lauric acid ester (HECLAE) was enhanced in comparison with HEC. The obtained HECLAE was used as macromolecular coupling agent in poly (butylene succinate)/wood flour composites and exhibited a positive influence on improving the mechanical performance of composites. Besides, HECLAE plays a role as a hydrophobic agent in composites. A significant increase in storage modulus (E’) was observed upon the incorporation of treated wood flour. SEM images showed that the dispersion of treated wood flour in PBS matrix was improved.     

Insights into biological delignification of rice straw by Trametes hirsuta and Myrothecium roridum and comparison of saccharification yields with dilute acid pretreatment

Rice straw is the most abundant agricultural residue on a global scale and is widely available as feedstock for cellulosic fuel production. However, it is highly recalcitrant to biochemical deconstruction and also generates inhibitors that affect enzymatic saccharification. Rice straw from eastern Arkansas was subjected to dilute acid pretreatment (160 °C, 48 min and 1.0% sulfuric acid) and solid-state fermentation with two lignocellulolytic fungi, Trametes hirsuta and Myrothecium roridum, and their saccharification efficacies were compared. T. hirsuta and M. roridum were tested separately; pretreatment of rice straw with either strain for seven days resulted in 19 and 70% enrichment of its holocellulose content, respectively. However, liquid chromatography analysis of the alkali extracts showed significant differences in cell wall degradation by T. hirsuta and M. roridum. T. hirsuta removed 15% more phenolic compounds and 38% more glucan than M. roridum, while M. roridum removed 77% more xylan than T. hirsuta. Fungal and dilute acid pretreated biomass was then hydrolyzed using Accellerase^® 1500, a saccharification cocktail. Saccharification efficiency of M. roridum was 37% higher than that of dilute acid pretreatment of rice straw, requiring 8% lower enzyme loading and 50% shorter enzymatic hydrolysis duration. Alkali extraction of fungal pretreated biomass also yielded 10–15 g kg⁻¹ of acid precipitable polymeric lignin (APPL), which is a valuable co-product for biorefineries. In comparison to dilute acid pretreatment, fungal pretreatment could be a cost-effective alternative for the degradation of recalcitrant biomass, such as rice straw.     

Decay Rate Kinetics of Ozone Gas in Rice Grains

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of ozone on rice grains for the following three conditions: saturation time, decay rate, and half-life of ozone. Experiments were performed in different bed thicknesses (5 and 10 cm) and moisture content (11.4 and 14.2% wb) at atmospheric conditions. The lowest saturation time of ozone was 119 min, with the concentration of 516 ppm for rice grains ozonated at 5-cm bed thickness with 11.4% (wb) moisture content. The decay rate kinetics of ozone obtained were consistent with a first-order model. Regarding the half-life of ozone, the lowest value obtained was 6.78 min for rice grains ozonated at 10-cm bed thickness with 14.2% (wb) moisture content.     

Synthesis of Rice Processing Plants. I. Development of Simplified Models

This article, the first of three articles on the synthesis of rice processing plants, focuses on the development of simplified mathematical models necessary for use in optimizing rice processing plants. The second concentrates on the optimal synthesis of a rice plant and the third on the sensitivity of the optimization to uncertainty in model parameters. Existing models for rice processing unit operations are not suitable for flowsheet optimization and new models need to be developed to overcome numerical difficulties that occur in optimization applications, specifically in mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) applications. Simplified models of the drying, cooling, and tempering units are developed. In addition head rice yield models, used as a quality indicator, energy consumption, and economic models were also developed. Naturally, the new models exhibit some mismatch with respect to the existing models from which they were developed. However, a sensitivity analysis, presented in Part III, has shown that the optimal flowsheet structure was not sensitive to a lack of fit between the simplified and complex models. The simplified models were found adequate to be appropriate for use at the synthesis stage.     

运用NOAA AVHRR和Landsat TM数据估算多年水稻种植面积

介绍了综合运用NOAA AVHRR和Landsat TM数据进行多年水稻种植面积监测的一种方法,以湖北省为例,首先运用Landsat TM数据计算了该省1992年的水稻种植面积;接着运用1992年和1994年的NOAA AVHRR数据分别计算这两年的水稻像元数,以这两年水稻像元数的变化来反映水稻种植面积的变化;最后运用线性模型,估算1994年的水稻种植面积。所得的1994年水稻种植面积与湖北省农调队资料相比精度为84.5%。运用同样的方法估算1995年该省的水稻种植面积,精度达90%以上。     

Synthesis and characterization of zeolite NaY from rice husk silica

Rice husk silica (RHS) in amorphous phase with 98% purity was prepared from a waste rice husk from rice milling by leaching with hydrochloric acid and calcination. The RHS was used effectively as a silica source for the synthesis of zeolite Y in sodium form (NaY). The zeolite in pure phase was obtained from a two-step synthetic route in which the starting gels were mixed, aged for 24 h at room temperature and crystallized for 24 h at 90 °C. The diameter of single crystal particles from a scanning electron microscope was approximately 1.0 μm, whereas the average particle diameter from laser diffraction particle size analyzer was approximately 10 μm because of the agglomeration of small crystals. Longer crystallization time in this route resulted in a mixed phase containing NaY and zeolite P in sodium form (NaP). In addition, a one-step synthetic route (no aging) was studied and the product was also a mixed phase zeolite.     

Micromechanical modelling of ductile crack growth in the binder phase of WC–Co

This study focuses on numerical simulation of ductile failure in the Co binder phase of WC–Co hardmetal. The growth of edge cracks under mode I loading is considered. A computational micromechanics approach is taken where the Co binder ligaments are explicitly represented in finite element models. An embedding technique is employed. Crystal plasticity theory is used to represent plastic deformation in the Co ligaments. Crack propagation in the binder is simulated using an element removal technique based on a modified Rice and Tracey model for ductile void growth, and fracture resistance curves are generated. Parameter studies are performed for variations in microstructrual parameters such as numbers of Co ligaments ahead of the crack tip and local Co volume fraction. The importance of thermal residual stresses and finite element mesh density are also investigated.