Genetic structure and mating system of wild cowpea populations in West Africa.

Background: Cowpea is a highly inbred crop. It is part of a crop-weed complex, whose origin and dynamics is unknown, which is distributed across the African continent. This study examined outcrossing rates and genetic structures in 35 wild cowpea (Vigna unguiculata ssp.

High-performance liquid chromatographic methods for the determination of topoisomerase II inhibitors.

Various methods for separating eleven different types of topoisomerase II (TOPO-2) inhibitors, including epipodophyllotoxins, anthracyclines, anthracenediones, anthrapyrazoles, anthracenebishydrazones, indole derivatives, aminoacridines, benzisoquinolinediones, isoflavones, bisdioxopiperazines and thiobarbituric acids, are summarized. Proper sample preparation and storage is critical to the successful analysis of some TOPO-2 inhibitors due to difficulties associated with adsorption, instability and complex biological components. Solid-phase and liquid-liquid extractions are widely used to separate TOPO-2 inhibitors from biological samples, although simple deproteinization followed by direct analysis of the supernatant is preferable to extraction based on its speed and simplicity.

Polarity of the transition state controls the reactivity of related charged phenyl radicals toward atom and group donors.

Polar effects are demonstrated to be a key factor in controlling the reactivities of related charged phenyl radicals in different exothermic atom and group abstraction reactions in the gas phase. The effects of various meta substituents on the phenyl radicals' reactivity were probed via the measurement of bimolecular reaction rate constants by using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. This approach requires an additional, charged substituent to be present in the phenyl radical to allow mass spectrometric manipulation.

Synthesis of charged phenyl radicals and biradicals by laser photolysis in a Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer.

The feasibility of generating substituted phenyl radicals and biradicals (with a charged substituent) in the gas phase by laser photolysis was examined by using a Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. The precursors were generated by ipso-substitution of a halogen atom in the radical cation of a di- or trihalobenzene by various nucleophiles. Photolytic cleavage of the remaining carbon-halogen bond(s) with 266-nm radiation was found to produce many substituted phenyl radicals in greater yields than the earlier employed method, sustained off-resonance irradiated collision-activated dissociation (SORI-CAD).

Distinguishing conventional and distonic radical cations by using dimethyl diselenide.

Dimethyl diselenide is demonstrated to be among the most powerful reagents used to identify distonic radical cations. Most such ions readily abstract CH3Se from dimethyl diselenide. The reaction is faster and more exclusive than CH3S(·) abstraction from dimethyl disulfide, a reaction used successfully in the past to identify numerous distonic ions.