What role does the seed coat play during symbiotic seed germination in orchids: an experimental approach with Dendrobium officinale.

Background: Orchids require specific mycorrhizal associations for seed germination. During symbiotic germination, the seed coat is the first point of fungal attachment, and whether the seed coat plays a role in the identification of compatible and incompatible fungi is unclear. Here, we compared the effects of compatible and incompatible fungi on seed germination, protocorm formation, seedling development, and colonization patterns in Dendrobium officinale; additionally, two experimental approaches, seeds pretreated with NaClO to change the permeability of the seed coat and fungi incubated with in vitro-produced protocorms, were used to assess the role of seed coat played during symbiotic seed germination.

Compatible and Incompatible Mycorrhizal Fungi With Seeds of Species: The Colonization Process and Effects of Coculture on Germination and Seedling Development.

Orchids highly rely on mycorrhizal fungi for seed germination, and compatible fungi could effectively promote germination up to seedlings, while incompatible fungi may stimulate germination but do not support subsequent seedling development. In this study, we compared the fungal colonization process among two compatible and two incompatible fungi during seed germination of The two compatible fungi, i.e.

Oxidation pretreatment by calcium hypochlorite to improve the sensitivity of enzyme inhibition-based detection of organophosphorus pesticides.

Background: Enzyme inhibition-based detection is the most widely used method for rapid detection of organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) in food and agricultural products. However, the accuracy of the method is negatively affected by low inhibitory activities of OPs with PS moiety on acetylcholinesterase.

Results: We demonstrated that oxidation pretreatments with bromine, hydrogen peroxide, or calcium hypochlorite significantly enhanced the enzyme inhibitory activities of these OPs.

A systematic determination of polyphenols constituents and cytotoxic ability in fruit parts of pomegranates derived from five Chinese cultivars.

Plant polyphenols derived from pomegranates are natural health-promoting components, and their bioactivities are well proved. However, the systematic studies of polyphenols constituents and cytotoxic ability in fruit parts of pomegranates derived from different Chinese cultivars have not been studied yet. In this report, a validated and sensitive HPLC-DAD method and fluorescence spectrophotometric method was established for quantitative analysis of four polyphenols and total phenolic content (TPC) in fruit parts of pomegranates (including peels, flesh, seeds, juices and leaves) derived from five Chinese cultivars, respectively.

[Preliminary processing, processing and usage of Dendrobii Caulis in history].

On account of the dense cuticles of the fresh stem and the light, hard and pliable texture of the dried stem, Dendrobii Caulis is difficult to dry or pulverize. So, it is very important to the ancient doctors that Dendrobii Caulis should be properly treated and applied to keep or evoke its medicinal effects. The current textual research results about the preliminary processing, processing and usage methods of Dendrobii Caulis showed that: (1) In history the clinical use of fresh or processed Dendrobii Caulis as teas and tinctures were very common.

An integrated molecular docking and rescoring method for predicting the sensitivity spectrum of various serine hydrolases to organophosphorus pesticides.

Background: The enzymatic chemistry method is currently the most widely used method for the rapid detection of organophosphorus (OP) pesticides, but the enzymes used, such as cholinesterases, lack sufficient sensitivity to detect low concentrations of OP pesticides present in given samples. Serine hydrolase is considered an ideal enzyme source in seeking high-sensitivity enzymes used for OP pesticide detection. However, it is difficult to systematically evaluate sensitivities of various serine hydrolases to OP pesticides by in vitro experiments.

Actinopolyspora lacussalsi sp. nov., an extremely halophilic actinomycete isolated from a salt lake.

A novel halophilic, filamentous actinobacterium, designated strain TRM 40139(T), was isolated from a hypersaline habitat in Xinjiang Province, north-west China. Its taxonomic status was determined using a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on the almost-complete 16S rRNA gene sequence of the strain showed that it formed a well-separated sub-branch within the radiation of the genus Actinopolyspora and the organism was related most closely to the type strains of Actinopolyspora alba (97.

Myceligenerans salitolerans sp. nov., a halotolerant actinomycete isolated from a salt lake in Xinjiang, China.

A halotolerant actinomycete strain, designated XHU 5031(T), was isolated from a salt lake in Xinjiang Province, northwest China. Its taxonomic status was determined using a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the organism was most closely related to Myceligenerans xiligouense DSM 15700(T) (98.

Assessment of iron bioavailability in ten kinds of Chinese wheat flours using an in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell model.

Objective: To compare iron bioavailability (Fe BV) from ten selected kinds of Chinese wheat flours in order to provide scientific basis for further human trials and enable plant breeding programs to screen biofortified wheat cultivars.

Methods: An in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell model was used to assess Fe BV of ten flour samples from six leading Chinese wheat cultivars and the stability of Fe BV in one cultivar was studied across three growing environments.

Results: Significant differences were observed in both Fe BV and Fe bioavailability per gram of food (Fe BVPG) among cultivars (P<0.

[Analysis of correlation of local GC level in human protein coding genes].

GC level is an important feature of genomic composition, which significantly improve our understanding of structure, function and evolution of genes. In this paper, the nonredundant DNA sequence of 7,992 human protein coding genes were retrieved from public database and the local GC level of different sequence regions and correlation between GC levels were analyzed..

[Effects of exogenerous nucleotides on the apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells IEC-6].

Objective: To investigate the effects of exogenous nucleotides on apoptosis of a normal rat small intestinal epithelial cell line, IEC-6.

Methods: Cultured IEC-6 cells were treated by four kinds of monophosphate nucleotides and their mixture prepared according to their composition in human milk, then the cell apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry measurement, morphologic characterization, and electron-microscope observation.

Results: IEC-6 cells treated with AMP or GMP showed a apotosis peak in flow cytometry measurement, but only AMP produce typical apoptosis characteristics in electron-microscope observation.

[Experimental studies on male reproductive toxicity of bisphenol A in vitro and vivo].

Objective: To explore the effects of Bisphenol A in adult rats and its possible mechanisms.

Methods: BPA (in corn oil) was administered orally to 9-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats for 14 days (0, 1 and 5 g/kg bw), and incubated primary Sertoli cells from pubertal SD rats with 0, 10(-7), 10(-6), 10(-5), 10(-4) mol/L BPA.

Results: After oral administration, a significant decrease in right testis weight was observed in 5 g/kg dose group, but not in the 1 g/kg bw dose group.