Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functional analysis of inositol phosphoryl ceramide synthase isoforms from arabidopsis thaliana

Sphingolipids are ubiquitous and essential components of eukaryotic cells. They are major components of the membrane, and have also been identified to be important in signalling. Until recently, very little has been known about IPCS in plants. The activity has been characterized in bean microsomes in 2003 by Bromley et al., but until now no genes encoding IPCS have been identified. Here the three Arabidopsis thaliana genes potentially encoding IPCS, which is responsible for a step in sphingolipid synthesis have been characterized and the expression level has been identified. Genes have been cloned and transformed into the yeast-E. coli shuttle vector pRS426 MET for investigating the encoded activity. In vivo and metabolic labelling in vitro studies of the complementation studies of AURl of these IPCS genes demonstrated that IPCS function as AURl. Although salt tolerance in vivo studies and metabolic labelling in vitro studies of ISCl complementation studies showed that IPCS did not function as ISCl, IPC-PLC. By designing gene specific primer sets, tissue-specific expression patterns for these genes have been identified for the first time and suggest that the expression of particular IPCS genes are regulated in a tissue-specific and developmental stage manner. Furthermore, A. thaliana IPCS was found to be resistant to the anti-fungal agent aureobasidm A (AbA). This may provide important aspects to future management and prevention of fungal diseases in plants. Identifying the functions and characteristics of A. thaliana IPCS provides important aspects of sphmgolipid synthesis and signalling in plants.
Acoustically Derived Estimate of the Size Distribution for a Sample of Sperm Whales (Physeter catodon) in the Western North Atlantic

Acoustic determination of sperm whale length based on measurement of the interpulse interval (IPI) of the characteristic multipulse sound click was used on a sample of 4000 clicks in 193 click series recorded in the North Atlantic. The analysis of IPI could be done with reasonable reproducibility using a minimum of equipment: a tape recorder, filter, and oscilloscope. Criteria were developed to choose suitable clicks for analysis. In the click sample, 11% met the criteria for analysis, and were contained in 41 click series, of which 22 had a unique IPI. The IPIs in the 41 series ranged between 1.6 and 8.0 ms, and corresponded to a predicted size range of 7–22 m. This is consistent for the size range reported for the western North Atlantic.Key words: bioacoustics, sperm whale, Physeter catodon, size determination, click, interpulse interval
Screening for Bacteriocin-Like Antimicrobial Activity Against Shrimp Pathogenic Vibrios and Molecular Identification of Marine Bacteria from Otter Clam Lutraria philippinarum

This study aimed to isolate marine bacteria from otter clam Lutraria philippinarum , screen for bacteriocin-like antimicrobial activity against shrimp pathogenic vibrios and identify these bacteria by molecular methods. Among a total of 128 bacterial isolates, 19 (15%) were found to produce bacteriocins against at least one of three shrimp pathogenic Vibrio strains. The highest bacteriocin production activity was shown by six strains, named H9, H18, H51, H61, H77 and H108. The antimicrobial activity of crude bacteriocin extracts from these strains was completely inactivated after proteinase K and trypsin treatment, heat-labile but relatively stable at pH 4-10. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA and rpoB genes resulted in the identification of one strain (H77) as Enterobacter cloacae and the other strains as Cronobacter sakazakii . This is the first evidence of bacteriocins produced by a member of the genus Cronobacter and also by bacteria associated with clam. The research presents data that support further studies of bacteriocin diversity in marine bacteria and their potential as probiotics or antibiotic substitutes for sustainable aquaculture.
Vitamin C, the Common Cold and the Flu

Of course, from childhood to forever, we are always thought to love reading. It is not only reading the lesson book but also reading everything good is the choice of getting new inspirations. Religion, sciences, politics, social, literature, and fictions will enrich you for not only one aspect. Having more aspects to know and understand will lead you become someone more precious. Yea, becoming precious can be situated with the presentation of how your knowledge much.
Agricultural intensification and the functional capacity of soil microbes on smallholder African farms

Summary 1. Fertilization may impact ecosystem processes that sustain agriculture, such as nutrient cycling, by altering the composition of soil microbial communities that regulate such processes. These processes are crucial to low-input, smallholder tropical agriculture, which supports 900 million of the world’s poorest people. Yet little is known about how efforts to increase crop yield on such farms will affect the capacity of soil microbial communities to carry out ecosystem processes. 2. We studied the diversity and functional capacity of microbial communities on smallholder farms in western Kenya. We measured functional capacity as the abundance of functional genes involved in several components of nutrient cycling as well as catabolism of multiple carbon substrates; taxonomic diversity was measured using metagenomic sequencing. Diversity and functional capacity were measured on short-term, experimental mineral fertilizer addition plots and on actively managed farms that have maintained for at least seven years a management strategy of low mineral fertilization, high mineral fertilization, or high fertilization combined with legume rotations. 3. Soil bacterial diversity decreased with mineral fertilizer addition, with a community shift towards taxa that thrive in high-resource conditions. This taxonomic response did not correspond with decreased microbial functional capacity. Instead, functional capacity was increased, along with yields, when fertilizers were combined with legume rotations that add organic matter to soil. 4. Policy implications. Mineral fertilizer use is associated with lower soil microbial diversity on smallholder farms, but not associated with changes in microbial functional capacity. Functional capacity is highest, along with yields, when mineral fertilizers are paired with legume rotations. Our findings suggest that this type of agroforestry can be an important strategy for maintaining the long-term functional capacity of soil microbes as well as increasing crop yields on smallholder farms. These observations support proposals to achieve long-term food production targets in sub-Saharan Africa by combining mineral fertilizers with organic inputs.
Seasonal Population Fluctuations of Serangium parcesetosum (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), a Predator of Citrus Whitefly, Dialeurodes citri (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) in Turkey’s Eastern Mediterranean Citrus Groves

Abstract We conducted investigations on seasonal population fluctuations of Serangium parcesetosum Sicard and citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri (Ashmead), in the East Mediterranean citrus orchards in Turkey from 1992 to 1995. Serangium parcesetosum and D. citri were sampled in two mandarin orchards at 2- to 3-wk intervals. Sooty-mold growth on honeydew excreted by the citrus whitefly on sampled trees also was evaluated as an indirect measure of the predator’s success. Serangium parcesetosum controlled D. citri populations effectively and prevented them from causing sooty-mold growth in the citrus groves in all 4 yr. It also fed and reproduced on brown soft scale, Coccus hesperidum L. , another citrus pest, as an alternate host when D. citri populations were lower, and contributed to biological control, along with two other predators of coccoids, Chilocorus bipustulatus (L.) and Exochomus quadripustulatus L.
Aphids on the World's Crops: An Identification and Information Guide

This book provides a comprehensive, species-by-species account of all the world s tree-dwelling aphids. It can be used both as an identification guide by entomologists and taxonomists, and as a database in studies of biosystematics and biodiversity. In all, 1758 aphid species are covered, feeding on trees in 355 genera. There are detailed host lists and illustrated keys to the aphids colonizing each tree genus, followed by a systematic treatment of the aphid species in alphabetical order of genera, with information on appearance in life, host range, distribution, life cycle and natural enemies. There are 722 drawings, 108 photographs and more than 1800 literature references. The volume will be a standard reference for workers in entomology and forestry. "
The Geometrid Moths (Lepidoptera) from the Middle and Eastern Black Sea Regions of Turkey

The aim of the present study, which was performed in 2003 and 2005 in Sinop, Kastamonu, Samsun, Amasya, Tokat, Ordu, Giresun, Gumushane, and Trabzon provinces, located in the middle and eastern Black Sea regions of Turkey, is to determine the species belonging to Geometridae family. Sweep net and light traps were used to collect the samples. Totally 76 species belonging to 59 genera in 5 subfamilies of the Geometridae family were identified. It is determined in the present study that the following number of species were found to be the first record for the fauna of the provinces from which they were collected: 19 species among 23 in Sinop, 5 species among 6 in Kastamonu, 1 species in Samsun, 4 species among 10 in Amasya, 16 species among 19 in Tokat, 14 species among 18 in Ordu, all of 4 species in Giresun, 6 species among 7 in Gumushane, and 34 species among 51 in Trabzon.
Fish Community Response to a Small-Stream Dam Removal in a Maine Coastal River Tributary

AbstractSedgeunkedunk Stream, a third-order tributary to the Penobscot River in Maine, historically has supported several anadromous fishes including Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar, Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, and Sea Lamprey Petromyzon marinus. Two small dams constructed in the 1800s reduced or eliminated spawning runs entirely. In 2009, efforts to restore marine–freshwater connectivity in the system culminated in removal of the lowermost dam (Mill Dam) providing access to 4.7 km of lotic habitat and unimpeded passage into the lentic habitat of Fields Pond. In anticipation of these barrier removals, we initiated a modified before-after-control-impact study, and monitored stream fish assemblages in fixed treatment and reference sites. Electrofishing surveys were conducted twice yearly since 2007. Results indicated that density, biomass, and diversity of the fish assemblage increased at all treatment sites upstream of the 2009 dam removal. No distinct changes in these metrics occurred at reference sites. We.
CYTOGENETIC STUDIES IN TUBEROUS SOLANUM SPECIES

Summary The results are given of crossing fifteen Central and South American wild Solanum species included in the series Conicibaccata, Demissa, Longipedicellata and Piurana. Nearly all the 210 possible combinations were examined. Pollen tube inhibition occurred in 144 cases. It was affected by the particular species used (e.g. pollen of Conicibaccata species was strongly inhibited), by polyploidy and by the breeding system. It was progressively weaker from 2x×2x to 6x×6x crosses: in crosses of parents differing in chromosome number the probability of inhibition was greater the lower the ploidy of the pollen. The effect of different breeding systems was to introduce reciprocal differences such that pollen inhibition occurred when self-incompatible species were crossed as females with self-compatible ones but not in reciprocal crosses. This was so at diploid and tetraploid levels except in crosses involving tetraploid and hexaploid Conicibaccata species where the results were in complete contrast: there are indications that species in this series do not have a simple one-locus self-incompatibility system. Post-fertilization failure occurred in eighteen cases and breakdown was greatest in crosses between parents of different chromosome number. Hybrids were obtained in forty-seven combinations. Generally, crossability was highest in crosses that gave even polyploid (2x, 4x, 6x) progeny and lowest where uneven polyploids (3x, 5x, 7x) were obtained. All hybrids except two were vigorous. Meiosis is described in thirty-seven hybrids and the patterns of chromosome association are interpreted in terms of genomic differentiation. It seems that species in series Demissa and Longipedicellata have at least one common genome, which is also present in S. Uiquerrense of series Piurana. Further, it seems that this genome is similar to that of the diploid species S. verrucosum of series Demissa and consequently it is considered as an important link between the Central and South American potatoes. Both S. fendleri and S. stoloniferum of series Longipedicellata have genomic affinities with S. santolallae of series Conicibaccata; this is evidence of another genomic link across the subcontinent. Of the species in series Longipedicellata, S. fendleri and S. stoloniferum are fundamentally similar whereas S. polytrichon is different from both. S. guerreroense and S. iopetalum of series Demissa are very similar and could be considered conspecific. Evidence suggests that S. X semidemissum is probably a hybrid between S. demissum and either S. fendleri or S. stoloniferum.
The influence of cutting height, planting density, harvesting frequency and fertilization of edible dry matter yield of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) De Wit

Leucaena leucocephala was evaluated to determine the agronomic and management requirements of this legume in Natal. The objectives were to test the effect of maintaining hedge-rows at different heights, and to investigate the effect of different densities, harvest intervals and fertilization on edible dry matter (EDM) production of L. leucocephala plants grown in the pure stand situation. Cutting plants in hedge-rows at 0,3, 0,6, 0,9, 1,2 and 1,5m respectively resulted in significant increases in yield of EDM with increases in height which ranged from 2,3 to 3,1 t/ha. By increasing the density of plants from 12 346 to 444 444 plants/ha, a significantly greater production of EDM was obtained. A harvest interval of six weeks was significantly better than four and eight week intervals. Fertilization increased production to a greater extent with a shorter cutting interval. Yields ranged from 1,6 to 5,7 t/ha for the pure stand situation. Keywords: planting densities|cutting heights|harvesting frequencies|fertilisation|dry matter yields|agronomic requirements|management|legumes|KwaZulu Natal Province|hedges|height control|densities|edible dry matter|production
Simultaneous determination of volatile and non‐volatile acidic fermentation products of anaerobes by capillary gas chromatography

A method previously used for the analysis of organic acids in silage has been applied to the detection and quantification of acidic fermentation products (C1 to C6 volatile fatty acids, lactic and succinic acid) of rumen bacteria and anaerobic fungi grown in pure culture. The acids were converted to tertiary butyldimethylsilyl derivatives prior to separation on a 30 m DB1 capillary gas chromatographic column. The quantitative recoveries of formic and succinic acids were found to be comparable to the recoveries of other acids reported in the original study. The quantitative recovery of lactic acid was found to be dependent on storage of the samples at ambient temperature for at least 24 h following derivatization. The simultaneous determination of a wide range of volatile and non‐volatile acidic products is an important feature of this method.
Statistical models for analyzing human genetic variation

Advances in sequencing and genomic technologies are providing new opportunities to understand the genetic basis of phenotypes such as diseases. Translating the large volumes of heterogeneous, often noisy, data into biological insights presents challenging problems of statistical inference. In this thesis, we focus on three important statistical problems that arise in our efforts to understand the genetic basis of phenotypic variation in humans. At the molecular level, we focus on the problem of identifying the amino acid residues in a protein that are important for its function. Identifying functional residues is essential to understanding the effect of genetic variation on protein function as well as to understanding protein function itself. We propose computational methods that predict functional residues using evolutionary information as well as from a combination of evolutionary and structural information. We demonstrate that these methods can accurately predict catalytic residues in enzymes. Case studies on well-studied enzymes show that these methods can be useful in guiding future experiments. At the population level, discovering the link between genetic and phenotypic variation requires an understanding of the genetic structure of human populations. A common form of population structure is that found in admixed groups formed by the intermixing of several ancestral populations, such as African-Americans and Latinos. We describe a Bayesian hidden Markov model of admixture and propose efficient algorithms to infer the fine-scale structure of admixed populations. We show that the fine-scale structure of these populations can be inferred even when the ancestral populations are unknown or extinct. Further, the inference algorithm can run efficiently on genome-scale datasets. This model is well-suited to estimate other parameters of biological interest such as the allele frequencies of ancestral populations which can be used, in turn, to reconstruct extinct populations. Finally, we address the problem of sharing genomic data while preserving the privacy of individual participants. We analyze the problem of detecting an individual genotype from the summary statistics of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) released in a study. We derive upper bounds on the power of detection as a function of the study size, number of exposed SNPs and the false positive rate, thereby providing guidelines as to which set of SNPs can be safely exposed.
Furanocoumarins in tedera do not affect ruminal fermentation in continuous culture

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the forage shrub tedera (Bituminaria bituminosa) on nutrient digestibility, rumen microbial fermentation and furanocoumarins degradation in the rusitec. The variables were measured in fermentation liquid on Days 13 and 17 and were compared with a control (lucerne hay). Overall, tedera had greater (P < 0.05) neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre digestibility than lucerne hay on both days of the experiment, but on Day 17 it had lower (P < 0.01) dry matter and crude protein digestibility than lucerne hay. There were no significant differences in concentration of NH3-N and pH between treatments, but NH3-N concentrations in both treatments were lower (P < 0.05) on Day 17 than on Day 13. The concentration of total volatile fatty acids in vessels were not affected by treatments, but the concentration of acetate was lower and acetate-to-propionate ratio higher (P < 0.05) in tedera than lucerne hay on Day 13 of the experiment. Furanocoumarins were detected in the tedera treatment only. Their concentration in the fermentation liquid increased immediately after the addition of the plant material to the fermenter, reaching highest concentrations after 2 h. These concentrations gradually declined over the next two sampling times, but 6 h after the ‘feeding’, they were still detectable in the fermentation liquid. It was concluded that (i) tedera had in vitro digestibility and fermentability variables comparable to lucerne; (ii) furanocoumarins were degraded in the fermentation fluid, and (iii) furanocoumarins from tedera did not seem to impede microbial fermentation. Tedera may provide an alternative feed source to hay and grain for filling the summer–autumn feed gap without negatively affecting nutrient digestibility and rumen microbial fermentation.
Early Stages in the Development of Wheat Endosperm. I. The Change From Free Nuclear to Cellular Endosperm

The cytological features of the cellularization of the free nuclear endosperm of wheat are described. Following the initial proliferation of nuclei the endosperm is divided into a small ventral area and a larger dorsal area which then develop separately. Cell wall formation in both regions is independent of a mitotic spindle and appears to be mediated by freely growing walls. Wall material is laid down along lines already marked out by ingrowth from the plasma membrane into the central cell cyto- plasm. By the time that cellularization is complete the smaller ventral region has been transformed into a layer of small, thick-walled cells whilst the larger dorsal area contains large, highly vacuolate endosperm cells. A model is proposed which endeavours to link the morphological features observed in embryo sacs, collected from wheat ovules 2-6 days after anthesis, into an ontogenetic sequence. This model is compared with previously published descriptions of wheat endosperm development.
Application of Site‐Directed Lipase Mutants on Regioselective Acylation of Monosaccharides

Mutants F344V and F345V of Candida rugosa lipase1 (CRL1) were tested in acylation reactions of monosaccharide derivatives 1–8, in order to study the regioselectivity, and the substrate specificity of lipase variants towards unnatural substrates, such as carbohydrates. Mutant F344V showed a better reaction kinetics and/or regioselectivity then the wild type enzyme with several substrates while mutant F345V was inefficient in most cases. With the aim of correlating experimental data with the structural features of the enzyme and substrates, the interaction of substrates methyl 4,6‐O‐benzylidene‐α‐d‐glucopyranoside (5a) and 4,6‐O‐benzylidene‐α‐d‐galactopyranoside (6a) with the wild type enzyme and the mutant F344V was investigated, using a molecular modelling approach. †This paper is dedicated to Professor Gérard Descotes on the occasion of his 70th birthday.
Guides to the Freshwater Invertebrates of Southern Africa. Volume 5: Non-Arthropods. The Protozoans, Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nemertea, Rotifera, Nematoda, Nematomorpha, Gastrotrichia, Bryozoa, Tardigrada, Polychaeta, Oligochaeta and Hirudinea

March 2002, Water Research Commission, Pretoria, South Africa Ring-bound soft cover, 293 pages WRC Report No. TT 167/02; ISBN 978-1-86845-827-1; price R100.00 (South Africa), US$50.00 (international) Obtainable from the Water Research Commission, Private Bag X03, Gezina, Pretoria 0031, South Africa; or orders@wrc.org. za