Effect of octadecanoyl acetal sodium sulphite series with different numbers of double bonds on their immunological and surface activities.

The relationship between the immunological activities and their surface activities of octadecanoyl acetal sodium sulphite series containing different numbers of double bonds (HOU-C18:n; n = 1, Delta9; n = 2, Delta9,12; n = 3, Delta9,12,15) were studied. The results showed that HOU-C18:n were able to increase the carbon granular clearance rate K, the NK cell activity in spleen and the activity of lysozymes in serum as well as inhibit Staphylococcus aureus and lysozymes in vitro to some degree. As the number of double bonds in HOU-C18:n increased along with the hydrophobic properties and the ability to improve the immune activity, NK cell activity and lysozyme activity decreased, but the bacteriostatic activity increased.

Expression of a novel small antimicrobial protein from the seeds of motherwort (Leonurus japonicus) confers disease resistance in tobacco.

Medicinal plants are valuable resources of natural antimicrobial materials. A novel small protein with antimicrobial activities, designated LJAMP1, was purified from the seeds of a medicinal herb, motherwort (Leonurus japonicus Houtt). LJAMP1 is a heat-stable protein with a molecular mass of 7.

[Impacts of different vegetation types and soil properties on runoff chemical characteristics].

Chemical characteristics of surface runoff and groundwater in different vegetation types on Jinyunshan located in suburb of Chongqing were studied, and the relationship between runoff chemical characteristics and soil properties were analyzed. The vegetation types include coniferous broad-leaved mixed forest, evergreen broad-leaved forest, bamboo forest, shrubbery and bare soil. Results showed as follows: Chemical characteristics in surface runoff and groundwater were similar to that in rainfall, which Ca2+ was the dominant cation, Ca2+ > K+ > Na+ > Mg2+ > NH4+; and SO4(2-) was the dominant anion, SO4(2-) > NO; > Cl-.

QTL mapping of seed coat color for yellow seeded Brassica napus.

The development of yellow-seeded varieties of Brassica napus for improving the oilseed quality characteristics of lower fiber content and higher protein and oil content has been a major focus of breeding researches worldwide in recent years. With the black-seeded 'Youyan 2' as male and the yellow-seeded GH06 as female parents respectively, F2 population of 132 individuals were obtained. A linkage map was constructed with 164 markers including 125 AFLP, 37 SSR, 1 RAPD and 1 SCAR markers distributed over 19 linkage groups covering approximately 2 549.

[Effects of land use structure change on regional ecological health--taking Shapingba County as an example].

Land resource is the carrier for the exchange of matter, energy and information flows, while the change velocity and the intensity of land use has strong effects on the ecological processes such as matter circulation, energy flow, and biologic diversity. Land use structure change will alter the type, area, and spatial distribution of ecosystem, and in the meantime, result in the changes of regional ecological health. Employing the principles and methods of landscape ecology, and through endowing relative ecological value to land use type, this paper analyzed the charaeteristics of recent 10 years land use change in Shapingba County of Chongqing, and discussed the effects of land use change on regional ecological health, aimed to provide scientific references for land use planning and sustainable land resource utilization.

[Dynamics of soil properties under secondary succession forest communities in Mt. Jinyun].

Mt. Jinyun is located in the north suburb of Chongqing, 30 km away from the city center. It is rich in forest plants, an epitome of forests in north tropical areas of China.

EST-based profiling and comparison of gene expression in the silkworm fat body during metamorphosis.

The fat body plays key roles in metabolism and sustenance of growth throughout the life of a silkworm, and thus represents a model tissue for studying development and metamorphosis. Analysis of 18,480 ESTs derived from larval and pupal fat body cDNA libraries allowed characterization of gene expression patterns in the fat body during metamorphosis. By Phrap assembling, 6,814 estimated transcription units (TUs) were generated, 2,673 of which contained 60% of the total ESTs and represented 1,366 distinctive known genes.

[Growth characteristics of rock plant Pogonatherum paniceum].

The study on the growth characters, above and underground biomass, and root-shoot ratio of Pogonatherum paniceum grown on three types of substrates and five types of habitats in Chongqing showed that there were significant differences in plant growth characters, including stalk basal diameter, plant canopy and height, root system area and depth, and maximum root length among five habitats. For shoot growth, though the plants grown on purple soil had the maximum stalk basal diameter (15.18 cm), canopy (3 086.

Analysis of cytochrome P450 genes in silkworm genome (Bombyx mori).

We have searched the Bombyx mori genome for members of the major enzyme family, the Cytochrome P450s, which carry out multiple reactions to enable organisms to rid themselves of foreign compounds. As a result, 86 putative P450s were discovered in silkworm genome, which are thought to belong to 32 subfamilies. A comparative genomic analysis with Drosophila melanogaster reveals that the two insects have some similar P450 distribution patterns but still have some obvious differences.

Response of CH4 emission of paddy fields to land management practices at a microcosmic cultivation scale in China.

The terrestrial ecosystem may be either a source or a sink of CH4 in rice paddies, depending, to a great extent, on the change of ecosystem types and land use patterns. CH4 emission fluxes from paddy fields under 4 cultivation patterns (conventional plain culture of rice (T1), no-tillage and ridge culture of rice (T2), no-tillage and ridge culture of rice and wheat (T3), and rice-wheat rotation (T4)) were measured with the closed chamber technique in 1996 and 1998 in Chongqing, China. The results showed that differences existed in CH4 emission from paddy fields under these land management practices.

Identification and expression pattern of Bmlark, a homolog of the Drosophila gene lark in Bombyx mori.

Two Bombyx mori isoforms of the gene lark, which is shown to play an important role in Drosophila circadian rhythms, were identified and named Bmlark-PA and Bmlark-PB, respectively. Bmlark-PA consists of 5 exons and encodes a protein of 343 amino acid residues which contains 3 functional domains: two RRM (RNA recognization motif) domains and an RTZF (retroviral-type zinc finger) and shares 72% identity with the Drosophila gene lark at the amino acid level. Bmlark-PB lacks the sequence between 118 and 791 nt of Bmlark-PA and codes for a protein of 68 amino acid residues, which contains no distinct functional domains.

[Identification of expanding-related genes from young fruit of cucumber after pollination].

Differential expression of genes in young fruit of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) before/after pollination was investigated via cDNA amplified fragment length polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP). There were 64 transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) displayed specially in young fruits after pollination of 6-72 h (Table 1), five of which were verified to be mainly expressed in young fruits by reverse Northern dot blotting (Fig.

[Pridiction of the Sex-effects of the Cocoon Quality Characters in Silkworm.].

In this paper , the sex-effects of the cocoon quality characters in silkworm was predicted with Mixed linear model úThe fact that the probability of effect variance and predictability of random gender of whole cocoon weight, cocoon shell weight, ratio of cocoon shell and pupa weight reached a level of extreme significance showed that the gender effect of the four traits was extremely significant, which matched with the reality completely. The predictive values of gender effect of the four traits of female(male) were 0.248g (-0.

Characterization and immunostimulatory activity of an (1-->6)-a-D-glucan from the root of Ipomoea batatas.

The polysaccharide PSPP (purified sweet potato polysaccharide), isolated and purified from the roots of Ipomoea batatas, was found to be a glucan with a molecular weight of 53.2 kDa and specific rotation of +115.0 degrees (ca.

Survey of long terminal repeat retrotransposons of domesticated silkworm (Bombyx mori).

Long terminal retrotransposons are major components of eukaryotic transposable elements. We have surveyed the long terminal repeats (LTR) retrotransposons of domesticated silkworm (Bombyx mori) by mining the data produced by Bombyx mori Genome Sequencing Project. At least 29 separate families of LTR retrotransposons are identified in this survey, comprising of 11.

[Effects of simulated acid rain on physiological and biochemical characters of eggplant, the host plant of Tetranychus cinnabarinus].

In a series of laboratory trials, this paper studied the responses of eggplant (Solanum melongena), the host plant of carmine spider mite Tetranychus cinnabarinus, to different pH values simulated acid rain. The results showed that with the increasing acidity of simulated acid rain, the CAT activity and the contents of P and soluble protein in egg plant leaves increased significantly first, reaching the highest at pH 4.0 or 3.

The effect of the insecticide dichlorvos on esterase activity extracted from the psocids, Liposcelis bostrychophila and L. entomophila.

The inhibition kinetics of dichlorvos on carboxylesterase and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity extracted from Liposcelis bostrychophila and L. entomophila (Psocoptera: Liposcelididae) were compared. The results showed that L.

Detection and analysis of alternative splicing in the silkworm by aligning expressed sequence tags with the genomic sequence.

We identified 277 alternative splice forms in silkworm genes based on aligning expressed sequence tags with genomic sequences, using a transcript assembly program. A large fraction (74%) of these alternative splices are located in protein-coding regions and alter protein products, whereas only 26% are in untranslated regions. From the alternative splices located in protein-coding regions, some (43%) affect protein domains that bind various biological molecules.

[Cloning and expression analysis of two Rac genes from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)].

Plant Rac proteins belong to an important group of signal switches anchoring on membranes, involved in various physiological processes including cell polar growth, synthesis of secondary wall, resistance response and hormone signaling. In the attempt to elucidate the molecular mechanism of initiation and elongation of cotton fiber, two cotton Rac protein genes, designated as GhRacA and GhRacB, were amplified from elongating fibers and cloned. It was demonstrated that, the cDNA of GhRacA contained 959 bp and encoded a putative polypepetide of 211 aa, while GhRacB was 920 bp in length, encoding a predicted protein of 195 aa.

[Effect of acid rain on mercury leaching from forest yellow soil in Jinyun Mountain].

Forest yellow soil and arable yellow soil in Jinyun Mountain were collected to study the effect of simulated acid rain(adjusted to pH 2.0, 3.0, 4.

[Relationship between vegetable nutrition and nitrate content].

Nitrate accumulation in vegetables, which related well to vegetable nutrition, becomes one of the limiting factors of non-pollution vegetables production. Preference to nitrate is the nutritional characteristic of vegetables. Nitrate is absorbed by vegetables through high-affinity transport system (HATS) and low-affinity transport system (LATS), and is reduced and transformed under the effect of such essential elements as molybdenum, manganese, iron, copper, sulphur and phosphorus.

Cloning of Beauveria bassiana chitinase gene Bbchit1 and its application to improve fungal strain virulence.

Entomopathogenic fungi can produce a series of chitinases, some of which act synergistically with proteases to degrade insect cuticle. However, chitinase involvement in insect fungus pathogenesis has not been fully characterized. In this paper, an endochitinase, Bbchit1, was purified to homogeneity from liquid cultures of Beauveria bassiana grown in a medium containing colloidal chitin.

[The simple gain of templates of rice genomes DNA for PCR].

The solution of alkali-treated fresh rice leaves was used directly as the templates of PCR. The amplified results were stable, reliable, and had no difference compared with that amplified with rice total DNA extracted by common method. The stable results can still be obtained based on the templates kept at 25 degrees for tow weeks, at 4 degrees for three weeks, at -20 degrees for over four months.

[Amplification of 5' cDNA end of a disease resistance gene homolog using RACE system from soybean].

Based on part of a known partial cDNA sequence of a disease resistance gene homolog, KR3-1, obtained by screening a cDNA library from soybean, 5'-RACE-PCR was carried out with gene specific primers and universal primers. After the nested PCR reaction,an amplified fragment of 447 bp in length which overlapped the known KR3-1 sequence by 129 bp was obtained subsequently. Thus, a 5' cDNA end of KR3 was successfully cloned.

[Progress of molecular mechanism of self-incompatibility in Brassica].

In recent years certain progress in Brassica signaling was reviewed about some self-compatibility-related genes such as SRK, SLG, SCR, ARC1, THL1 and THL2. Meanwhile, molecular mechanism in Brassica self-compatibility signaling was reviewed, including its action models.