Development and Characterization of Eco-Friendly Non-Isocyanate Urethane Monomer from Jatropha curcas Oil for Wood Composite Applications

The aim of this research work was to evaluate the potential of using renewable natural feedstock,i.e.,Jatropha curcas oil(JCO)for the synthesis of non-isocyanate polyurethane(NIPU)resin for wood composite applications.Commercial polyurethane(PU)is synthesized through a polycondensation reaction between isocyanate and poly-ol.However,utilizing toxic and unsustainable isocyanates for obtaining PU could contribute to negative impacts on the environment and human health.Therefore,the development of PU from eco-friendly and sustainable resources without the isocyanate route is required.In this work,tetra-n-butyl ammonium bromide was used as the activator to open the epoxy ring with 3-Aminopropyltriethoxisylane as a catalyst to yield urethane of JCO(UJCO).The UJCO were characterized by Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy(FTIR)and their oxirane,and hydroxyl values were measured.The result showed that a decrease in oxirane value was found while the hydroxyl value was increased during the time,confirming that the urethane group was formed.The presence of functional groups in FTIR spectra at wave numbers 1732.08,1562.34,and 3348.42 cm^(−1) indicates the functional groups of C=O(urethane carbonyl),–NH,and–OH,respectively confirmed this finding.The potential applications of NIPU in the wood composite were also outlined.

Cloning and Expression of Curcin, a Ribosome-Inactivating Protein from the Seeds of Jatropha curcas

Curcin, a ribosome-inactivating protein with a molecular weight of about 28.2 kD, which strongly inhibits the protein synthesis in rabbit reticulocyte lysate system with an IC50 value of about (0.19 +/- 0.01) nmol/L, was purified from the seeds of Jatropha curcas L. The protein has the activity of rRNA N-glycosidase. Degenerate primers were designed based on the N-terminal partial sequence from purified curcin. The full-length curcin cDNA by RT-PCR and 5'-RACE was cloned. The deduced amino acids sequence indicates that a preprotein with 20 amino acid residues is first translated and then processed to a mature protein with 251 amino acids. The deduced amino acids sequence shares homology of 33% and 57% to those of type I ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) and A chain of type II RIPs, respectively. The sequence encoding mature curcin was integrated into the pQE-30 vector for expression in Escherichia coli strain M15 (pREP4). The purified recombinant curcin was able to inhibit protein synthesis in rabbit reticulocyte lysate system.

麻疯树(Jatropha curcas L．)幼苗生长和光合作用对盐胁迫的响应

为探讨盐胁迫对麻疯树幼苗生长和叶片光合生理的影响,在温室不同浓度NaCl处理下,对生长、光合色素含量、净光合速率Pn等光合参数、叶片MDA含量和电解质相对外渗率EL进行测定。结果表明:①25～50mmol·L-1NaCl处理促进幼苗生长,尤其是50mmol·L-1NaCl处理,鲜重较对照显著增加44.3%,100～150mmol·L-1NaCl对生长影响不大,200～250mmol·L-1NaCl使生长受抑制,鲜重较对照分别显著下降39.3%和70.2%。②50mmol·L-1NaCl时,Pn较对照显著增加17.2%,100～150mmol·L-1NaCl时与对照无显著差异,200～250mmol·L-1NaCl时分别比对照显著下降73.2%和77.9%,Gs和Tr呈相同趋势,MDA含量、EL则相反。③叶绿素Chl在25～50mmo.lL-1NaCl时递增,100～250mmol·L-1NaCl时递减,但Chla/Chlb值变化小;类胡萝卜素Car在25mmol·L-1NaCl时显著增加,100mmol·L-1NaCl后缓慢下降,但Car/Chl值呈上升趋势。④25～150mmo.lL-1NaCl时幼苗水分利用效率WUE与对照无显著差异,200～250mmol·L-1NaCl时比对照显著下降。综上所述,25～50mmol·L-1NaCl时,麻疯树幼苗通过增加气孔开张、增强光合膜等细胞膜稳定性和膜功能,使Pn显著增加,促进植株生长和提高耐盐性,100～150mmo.lL-1NaCl时,通过稳定的WUE使Pn下降不显著,生长受影响小,具有较好的耐盐性,200～250mmo.lL-1NaCl时,光合膜等生物膜功能减弱,使Pn显著下降,幼苗诱导活性氧清除系统并通过减小生长来提高耐盐性,具有较好的耐盐适应性。150mmol·L-1NaCl以下是麻疯树幼苗生长的适宜浓度。

对药用及能源植物Jatropha curcas L.的中文名称的建议

目前重要药用及能源植物Jatropha curcas L.的中文名称很多,给生产应用和科研等带来诸多不便。统一命名,特别是在当今信息化时代,对于学术交流和科技推广具有极其重要的意义。根据我国各地的中文名称使用习惯和大众心理,我们建议将Jatropha curcas L.的中文名称统一为"小油桐"。

金沙江干热区麻疯树(Jatropha curcas L.)杂交育种技术的初步研究

对金沙江干热区麻疯树生物特性、开花特性、结实特性进行观测,并开展不同地理种源麻疯树杂交育种试验。结果表明,麻疯树在本区域生长发育较好,可持续开花结果至1月初,雌雄花比例可达1∶10左右。通过麻疯树杂交育种试验,研究了麻疯树雌雄花分辨、雌花可授粉时间、套袋材料及去袋时间等特性。通过对金沙江干热区麻疯树主要特性和杂交育种技术试验研究,有利于提高育种效果,加速育种进程,提高育种工作的预见性。

Study on Establishment of cpSSR Marker Technology and Optimization of Its Reaction System in Jatropha curcas Linn

[ Objective] The aim of this study was to establish the optimum cpSSR-PCR system for Jatropha curcas Linn. [ Method] cpSSR-PCR amplification system for Jatropha curcas Linn influenced by five factors including Taq DNA polymerase, Mg^2＋ , DNA template, dNTP and primer were optimized from several levels. [ Result] The optimum concentration of 20 μl reaction system was 10 × Buffer, 2.00 mmol/L Mg^2＋ , 2 U/μl Taq DNA polymerase, 0.2 mmol/L dNTP, 0.2 μmol/L primer and 35 ng/μl DNA template. [ Conclusion] The optimum annealing temperature for cpSSR-PCR reaction system is 52 ℃, and the cpSSR reaction system is steady and reproducible.

麻疯树(Jatropha curcas L.)高含油量单株无性系筛选评价

利用初步筛选出的种仁含油量大于65%的10个麻疯树地理种源单株,以种仁含油量为目标,在元谋干热河谷区,经过3次无性繁殖复选,并对其种仁含油量进行测定评价。结果表明:由于生长环境的改变,10个单株材料的种仁含油量都有不同程度的下降,但来自元谋物茂乡、双柏大庄乡和云南永仁县的3个单株材料种仁含油量下降幅度较小,且连续表现稳定,可作为进一步品种选育和生产使用的无性系材料。

Changes of Water Status and Different Responses of Osmoregulants in Jatropha Curcas L. Seedlings to Air-drought Stress

[Objective] The study aimed to investigate the changes of water status and different responses of osmoregulants during air-drought stress,to better understand mechanisms of drought resistance in Jatropha Curcas L. [Methods] The 12-day-old J. curcas seedlings were held in a climate chamber at 25/20 ℃（day/night）,16 hours illumination,and 75% of relative humidity for air-drought treatment,and the changes of water potential,osmotic potential and the content of soluble sugar,proline,betaine were measured. [Results] Water potential and osmotic potential in leaves of J. curcas seedlings dropped significantly,pressure potential lost during air-drought stress,and the contents of osmoregulants soluble sugar,proline and betaine rose significantly to different extent in the leaves and stems. [Conclusion] Osmoregulants in the leaves and stems respond differently to air-drought stress,and in general leaves are much more responsive to the drought than stems of J. curcas seedlings.

Distribution and development strategy for Jatropha curcas L. in Yunnan Province, Southwest China

Yunnan Province is the main distributing area ofJatropha curcas L. This plant is abundant in several drainage areas of the dry-hot, dry-warm and sub-humid valleys in the south subtropical area of Yunnan Province. The seeds that were picked from trees blossoming between April and May and fructifying between September and October will have large seed yield and fine quality. For developing bio-diesel stock forest ofJ. curcas in areas with adaptive climate, seeding measures for afforestation should be taken and techniques on breeding, fast-growing, and high-yielding plantation cultivation are very important.

Jatropha curcas L: Phytochemical, antimicrobial and larvicidal properties

Objective: To evaluate antimicrobial activities as well as the phytochemical and lavicidal properties of different parts of Jatropha curcas L.(J. curcas) growing in Mauritius.Methods: Determination of the presence of phytochemicals in the crude plants extracts by test tube reactions. Disc diffusion method and microdilution method were used to detect the antimicrobial sensitivity and activity(minimal inhibitory concentration). The crude solvent extracts were also tested on the larvae of two insects, Bactrocera zonata and Bactrocera cucurbitae(Diptera, Tephritidae).Results: The antimicrobial activities were significantly dependent for the different crude plant extracts on the thirteen microorganisms tested. For the Gram-positive bacteria, the crude ethyl acetate extract was more efficient compared to the Gram-negative bacteria with both solvents being effective. The crude ethyl acetate extract of J. curcas bark and mature seed oil showed the highest efficacy. The highest mortality percentage was observed after 24 h for both Diptera flies with(66.67 ± 2.89)% of Bactrocera cucurbitae larvae killed by ethyl acetate extract of J. curcas bark.Conclusions: This paper compared the different J. curcas plant sections with respect to the effectiveness of the plant as a potential candidate for new pharmaceuticals. The larvicidal effect was also studied in order to demonstrate the dual purpose of the plant.

Floral display and breeding system of Jatropha curcas L.

Plant flowering and breeding characteristics are important for us to understand the reproduction of plant populations. In this paper, we studied the reproduction characteristics of Jatropha curcas in Yuanjiang County （23°36＇1＇4, 101°00＇E）, Yunnan Province. The plant produces flowers in dichasial inflorescences. Normally, the flowers are unisexual, and male and female flowers are produced in the same inflorescence. Only a few male flowers are produced in an inflorescence, and fruits are produced only through pollination between different flowers from the same or different plants. By the treatments of emasculation, bagging and artificial pollination in this experiment, there were few but same fruit set ratios when the inflorescences were emasculated, bagged, or bagged with net, except artificial pollination treatments, which showed that Jatropha curcas could produce fruit through apomixis but not wind pollination. When the inflorescences were unbagged, unemasculated and with free pollination treatments, or bagged, emasculated and with artificial cross-pollination treatments, or unbagged, emasculated and with free pollination treatments, there were many fruits produced. It showed that Jatropha curcas shows outcrossing, is self-compatible, and demanding for pollinators. Normally, the male flowers open first and a few flowers bloom in one day in a raceme. These flowers last a long time in bloom. However, a large number of female flowers open from the third to the fifth day, with some female flowers opening first in a few raceme. This shows a tendency to promote xenogamy and minimize geitonogamy.

Biodiesel Production from Crude Jatropha curcas L.Oil with Trace Acid Catalyst

Biodiesel produced from crude Jatropha curcas L.oil with trace sulfuric acid catalyst(0.02%-0.08% oil) was investigated at 135-184 ℃.Both esterification and transesterification can be well carried out simultane-ously.Factors affecting the process were investigated,which included the reaction temperature,reaction time,the molar ratio of alcohol to oil,catalyst amount,water content,free fatty acid(FFA) and fatty acid methyl ester(FAME) content.Under the conditions at 165 ℃,0.06%(by mass) H2SO4 of the oil mass,1.6 MPa and 20:1 methanol/oil ratio,the yield of glycerol reached 84.8% in 2 hours.FFA and FAME showed positive effect on the transesterification in certain extent.The water mass content below 1.0% did not show a noticeable effect on trans-esterification.Reaction kinetics in the range of 155 ℃ to 175 ℃ was also measured.

Cloning and characterization of a stearoyl-ACP desaturase gene from Jatropha curcas

Using degenerate primers and RT-PCR, RACE techniques, a 1491 bp cDNA segment of stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase （SAD） is cloned from developing seeds of Jatropha curcas L. The segment contains a 1191 bp of complete open reading frame （ORF）. Analysis in the BLAST on NCBI shows that Jatropha curcas SAD （JSAD） gene encodes a protein precursor composed of a signal peptide of 33 amino acids and a mature peptide of 363 amino acids. The homological analysis shows that JSAD has high level of homology both in nucleotide sequence and in amino acid sequence to other plants SADs. The nucleotide and peptide identity of JSAD to Ricinus communis SAD （RSAD） is up to 89% and 96.2% respectively. Molecular modeling of JSAD indicates that its three-dimensional structure strongly resembled the crystal structure of RSAD.

<i>In</i><i>Silico</i>Mining of EST-SSRs in Jatropha curcas L. towards Assessing Genetic Polymorphism and Marker Development for Selection of High Oil Yielding Clones

In recent years, Jatropha curcas L. has gained popularity as a potential biodiesel plant. The varying oil content, reported between accessions belonging to different agroclimatic zones, has necessitated the assessment of the existing genetic variability to generate reliable molecular markers for selection of high oil yielding variety. EST derived SSR markers are more useful than genomic markers as they represent the transcriptome, thus, directly linked to functional genes. The present report describes the in silico mining of the microsatellites (SSRs) using J. curcas ESTs from various tissues viz. embryo, root, leaf and seed available in the public domain of NCBI. A total of 13,513 ESTs were downloaded. From these ESTs, 7552 unigenes were obtained and 395 SSRs were generated from 377 SSR-ESTs. These EST-SSRs can be used as potential microsatellite markers for diversity analysis, MAS etc. Since the Jatropha genes carrying SSRs have been identified in this study, thus, EST-SSRs directly linked to genes will be useful for developing trait linked markers.

The biomedical significance of the phytochemical, proximate and mineral compositions of the leaf, stem bark and root of Jatropha curcas

Objective: To analyse the phytochemical contents of leaf, stem bark and root of Jatropha curcas(J. curcas) in four solvent extracts and their proximate and mineral compositions. Methods: Standard analytical procedures were used for the determination of phytochemicals, proximate and mineral compositions of the leaf, stem bark and root extracts of J. curcas. Results: Results of the analysis showed the presence of polyphenols, flavonoids, alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, coumarins, saponins, terpenoids, steroids, triterpenoid saponins, carotenoids, phlobatannins and tannins in the leaf, stem bark and root of all the solvent extracts. Flavonoids were present in the highest amount in the ethyl acetate extracts of the leaf(7.35% ± 0.02%), stem bark(4.12% ± 0.01%) and root(3.35% ± 0.02%) followed by polyphenols in the methanol extracts of leaf(4.62% ± 0.02%), stem bark(2.77% ± 0.05%) and root(2.49% ± 0.02%). Poly-acetylated compounds were absent in all the solvent extracts of the leaf, stem bark and root. However, some anti-nutritional agents such as oxalates, phytates and cyanates were present in all the solvent extracts of the leaf, stem bark and root except the ethyl acetate. Phytates were high in the aqueous solvent of the leaf(6.12% ± 0.00%) but low in the stem bark(1.00% ± 0.05%) and root(0.89% ± 0.03%). Proximate composition showed appreciable amounts of total carbohydrate(36.33% ± 0.72%), crude protein(26.00% ± 0.47%) and reducing sugars(5.87% ± 0.14%) in the leaf, while crude fat was more in the stem bark(16.70% ± 0.30%). There was corresponding substantial energy in the leaf [(1 514.77 ± 20.87) kJ /100 g] and stem bark [(907.00 ± 8.52) kJ /100 g]. Moisture and ash contents of the leaf, stem bark and root were within acceptable limits for the use in drugs formulation. The mineral composition showed substantial amounts of important elements such as Fe, Ca, Na, Mg and Zn. Others were P, K and Se. Conclusions: The outcome of this study suggests that the leaf, stem bark and root of J. curcas have very good medicinal potentials, meet the standard requirements for drug formulation and serve as good sources of energy and nutrients except for the presence of some anti-nutritional elements predominant in the leaf.

Comparative characterization of Jatropha,soybean and commercial biodiesel

Oil was extracted from seeds of Jatropha Curcas,in high yields(up to 40% by weight).The extracted Jatropha oil was converted in a laboratory reactor to biodiesel by transesterification.Analysis of Jatropha oil and Jatropha biodiesel by GC/MS and GC/SIMDIS showed that Jatropha oil could be readily converted to a biodiesel product through NaOH catalyzed transesterification.The resulting biodiesel has desirable properties such as high cetane number and low flash point,which are major improvements over the properties of commercial biodiesel fuels.

One-step process for production of biodiesel from Jatropha curcas L. seeds： Optimization using Response Surface Methodology （RSM）

Jatropha curcas L. （JCL） seeds were extracted and transesterified in-situ using supercritical methanol extraction in the absence of catalyst at different temperatures （200-280℃） and pressures （8-12 MPa）, and at a fixed reaction time of 30 min with seeds-to-methanol ratio of 1：40 w/v. Design of experiment approach using five-level-two-factors design of Response Surface Methodology （RSM） was used to observe the effect of two independent variables i.e. temperature and pressure and the percent of biodiesel yield which required 13 runs. For optimization of the variables, Central Composite Rotatable Design （CCRD） was used for regression analysis and analysis of variance （ANOVA）. The optimize conditions suggested by RSM were at T = 280℃ and P = 12.04 MPa. The predicted and experimental biodicsel yields were found to be 56.8% and 59.9%, respectively, with relatively small deviation errors of 1.59%.

Response of Jatropha on a Clay Soil to Different Concentrations of Micronutrients

In recent years Jatropha curcas L. has emerged as a biofuel crop with potential for its production in marginal land with application of treated sewage water. Since this is a new crop for its profitable cultivation, additional research is needed to develop optimal management programs, including macro and micronutrients applications. A pot experiment was conducted in a Greenhouse at the National Research Center, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt, during 2010 summer to evaluate effects of varying concentrations of iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) in irrigation water (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 ppm) on the growth, biomass production, photosynthetic pigments, and mineral nutrients status in the plants. Increasing concentrations of Fe, Mn, and Zn in irrigation water up to 150 ppm increased the biomass weight, photosynthetic pigments, and nutrient uptake by Jatropha plants. Further increase in concentrations of micronutrients showed negative effects on the above response parameters. Therefore, this study demonstrates that Jatropha can be grown under irrigation using waste water containing reasonable concentrations of micronutrients and heavy metals. This property of Jatropha provides some support for potential use of this crop for phytoremediation of metal contaminated soils. However, long term field research is needed to further verify both the above beneficial effects.

Growth and Transpiration of <i>Jatropha curcas</i>L. Seedlings under Natural Atmospheric Vapour Pressure Deficit and Progressive Soil Drying in Semi-Arid Climate

During the last decade, Jatropha curcas L. (J. curcas) has gained much attention worldwide as biofuel crop. Although its cultivation is promoted in the Sahel, there is a surprising lack of data on its water use regulation and growth in this region. Here, we investigated, in semi-controlled conditions, leaf transpiration and growth of six accessions of J. curcas at seedling stage under natural changing in vapour pressure deficit (VPD) and progressive soil drying in Senegal. The experimental layout was a randomized complete bloc design and after 3 months of growth arranged to a split-plot at the implementation of water stress to facilitate irrigation. Under well water condition, there was no significant difference between accessions for leave transpiration that was positively correlated to VPD with high values recorded between 13 h and 14 h pm. Accessions of J. curcas used in this study showed closed thresholds at which transpiration declined except accession from Ndawene that threshold was lower (0.30). There is no significant difference between accessions for growth during the experimentation period. In 3 months, we recorded 23.57 g for the aboveground dry biomass and seedlings had about 14 leaves and 24.3 cm height. Positive linear correlation was recorded between aboveground biomass and root dry weight (p J. curcas might need complement irrigation for a better growth of seedlings especially during the dry season.

Synthesis of biodiesel from Jatropha curcas L. seed oil using artificial zeolites loaded with CH3COOK as a heterogeneous catalyst

An environmentally benign process was devel-oped for the transesterification of Jatropha curcas L. seed oil with methanol using artificial zeolites loaded with potassium acetate as a heterogeneous catalyst. After calcination for 5 h at 823 K, the catalyst loaded with 47 wt.% CH3COOK exhibited the highest efficiency and best catalytic activity. The easily prepared cata-lysts were characterized by means of X-ray dif-fraction and IR spectroscopy, as well as Hammett indicator titration. The results revealed a strong dependence of catalytic activity on ba-sicity. The optimum reaction conditions for transesterification of J. curcas oil were also in-vestigated. The methyl ester content in the bio-diesel product exceeded 91% after 4h reaction at reflux temperature in the presence of 2% solid catalyst and no water washing process is needed during workup.