Magnitude and persistence of higher estrus-associated temperatures in beef heifers and suckled cows.

Higher estrus-associated temperatures (HEAT) are a hallmark feature in sexually active females. The overarching aim of this study was to characterize the variability, magnitude, and persistence of HEAT in heifers and suckled beef cows as well as identify associated factors when occurring during thermoneutral conditions at the onset of the spring breeding season. In both heifers and cows, estrus was induced using a 7-d controlled internal drug release (CIDR)-PGF2α protocol.

Quantitative, small-scale, fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis implemented on a capillary electrophoresis-based DNA sequence analyzer.

Fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE) is an analytical method for characterizing carbohydrate chain length that has been applied to neutral, charged, and N-linked oligosaccharides and that has been implemented using diverse separation platforms, including polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and capillary electrophoresis. In this article, we describe three substantial improvements to FACE: (i) reducing the amount of starch and APTS required in labeling reactions and systematically analyzing the effect of altering the starch and 8-amino-1,3,6-pyrenetrisulfonic acid (APTS) concentrations on the reproducibility of the FACE peak area distributions; (ii) implementing FACE on a multiple capillary DNA sequencer (an ABI 3130xl), enabling higher throughput than is possible on other separation platforms; and (iii) developing a protocol for producing quantitative output of peak heights and areas using genetic marker analysis software. The results of a designed experiment to determine the effect of decreasing both the starch and fluorophore concentrations on the sensitivity and reproducibility of FACE electrophoregrams are presented.

Barley sex6 mutants lack starch synthase IIa activity and contain a starch with novel properties.

Analysis of barley shrunken grain mutants has identified lines with a novel high amylose starch phenotype. The causal mutation is located at the sex6 locus on chromosome 7H, suggesting the starch synthase IIa (ssIIa) gene as a candidate gene altered by the mutation. Consistent with this hypothesis, no evidence of SSIIa protein expression in either the starch granule or soluble fractions of the endosperm was found.

Electrophoretic characterisation of fractions collected from gluten protein extracts subjected to size-exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography.

The electrophoretic analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE; reduced and unreduced) of fractions, collected from a size exclusion-high performance liquid chromatography (SE-HPLC) separation of gluten proteins using a column with pore size of around 400A, showed clear resolution for the seven elution ranges studied in two Australian bread wheat lines. Polymeric proteins - high molecular weight (HMW) glutenin subunits, low molecular weight (LMW) glutenin subunits, HMW albumins and some modified omega-gliadins - appeared exclusively in the region within the first peak of the chromatogram (fractions 1 to 5), the limit being a region that resolved as a small peak before the large peak of gliadins and where some omega-gliadins eluted. A larger proportion of HMW glutenin subunits and B subunits contributed to polymer formation of higher molecular weight.

Rapid and automated characterisation of seed genotype using Micrograd electrophoresis and pattern-matching software.

New precast microgels are described for use in quickly identifying seed of cereal varieties by determining protein composition within an hour. For example, gliadin proteins are extracted from crushed wheat grain, wheatmeal or flour with ethylene glycol (centrifugation not necessary) and 5 microliters extract is applied to a Micrograd gel (3-15% gel gradient) for ten minutes' electrophoresis at 300 volts in sodium lactate buffer (pH 3.1).