Research Progress on Effects of Continuous Cropping on Soil Microbial Florae and Its Restoration

Continuous cropping has become a common form of agricultural production at present, but with the increase of continuous cropping years, continuous cropping obstacles such as soil-borne diseases and plant growth potential decline are becoming more and more common. At present, the causes of continuous cropping obstacles and continuous cropping restoration have become a hot issue in agricultural research. This paper summarized the effects of continuous cropping obstacles on soil microbial community structure and main technical methods to repair continuous cropping obstacles, such as agricultural measure management, microbial balance adjustment and soil improvement, aiming to provide theoretical reference for protecting the sustainable utilization of soil ecosystem and ensuring the stability of crop production.

3,6-Bis-β-Dicarbonylsubstituted Carbazoles Bearing N-Spacers and Their Eu(III) Complexes as Immunofluorescent Labelling Agents

New reagents for immunofluorescence analysis of carbazole series containing fluorinated β-dicarbonyl fragments and carboxylic substituent groups separated by spacers of different lengths from the light-gathering carbazole scaffold have been developed. The markers in complex with Eu3+ ions possess stability in the aqueous phase, intense and prolonged luminescence (τ 550 - 570 μs) with characteristic emission maxima in the region of 615 nm and excitation wavelengths in the region of 380 - 390 nm, which distinguishes them from most of the analogs used. In the study of marker conjugation with streptavidin, a reagent containing 4 - 5 europium labeling complexes based on spacer-containing carbazole tetraketone was obtained. The marker-doped silicate nanoparticles exhibit intense and long-lived luminescence in the characteristic region.

The study of the teaching mode and method of plant biology

As the specialized basic course of biological engineering, the plant biology has played a decisive role in determining the professional expertise and theoretical knowledge of students, which has also raised a higher requirement for the teaching method and mode. Based on the actual condition of course teaching of plant biology, this paper has made an analysis on the content and shortcoming of the existing mode and method as well as come up with some feasible advices about how to arouse the learning interest within the student, integrate the teaching with the practice as well as adjust the teaching sequence accordingly.

Basic fibroblast growth factor alleviates brain injury following global ischemia reperfusion in rabbits

The study was to explore the protective effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on brain injury following global ischemia reperfusion and its mechanisms. Brain injury following global ischemia was induced by four vessels occlusion and systemic hypotension. Twenty-four rabbits were randomized into three groups: group A, only dissection of vessels; group B, intravenous infusion of normal saline after reperfusion for 6 h; group C, 30 μg/kg bFGF injected intravenously at the onset of reperfusion, then infused with 10 μg/(kg&middoth) for 6 h. Serum neuron specific enolase (NSE), S-100B, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-8 (IL-8) were measured before ischemia, 30 min after ischemia, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 h after reperfusion. Brain water content was determined and cerebral histopathological damages were compared. NSE and S-100B were increased 1 h after reperfusion and reached their peaks 6 h after reperfusion, but were much higher in group B than those in group C 3, 6 h after reperfusion. In groups B and C, TNF-a was increased after ischemia and IL-1 and IL-8 were increased significantly 0.5 h after reperfusion, then reached their peaks 6 h, 3 h, 6 h after reperfusion respectively. TNF-a and IL-8 at the time points of 1 h and 3 h and IL-1 at 3 h and 6 h in group C were correspondingly lower than those in group B. These indices in group A were nearly unchanged. There were less severe cerebral histopathological damages in group C compared with group B, but no difference in brain water content. It could be concluded that bFGF alleviates brain injury following global ischemia and reperfusion by down-regulating expression of inflammatory factors and inhibiting their activities.

Does Hepatitis E Virus Need to Be Considered as a Re-Emerging Problem in Both Industrialized and Developing Countries?

Hepatitis E caused by the Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) is a liver disease resulting in over 20 million cases every year. Hepatitis E is now considered by some scientists as an emerging issue as HEV is not only prevalent in developing countries but is increasingly detected in industrialized nations. In this paper, we try to provide evidence for this notion and what actions may need to be implemented to prevent further spreading of HEV. The prevalence of HEV, including its distinct genotype distribution in different geographic regions (including both developing countries and industrialized countries) will be discussed;further discussions of HEV treatments will include the availability and the mechanism of HEV vaccines and antiviral treatments used to treat and contain the disease. Additionally, the prevention and spreading of Hepatitis E disease will be discussed in the later section of the paper. With the presentation of HEV transmission route, infection regions, and treatment, we aim to raise the awareness of the general public toward this liver disease and discuss whether the high prevalence disease is an emerging disease worldwide. According to the data we collected, the rate of HEV infection is high and shows a trend of increasing, which leads to our conclusion and proves our hypothesis that Hepatitis E is a re-emerging disease.

The molecular dynamics of neural metabolism during the action potential

Neural information processing is tightly coupled to both energy consumption and derivation from substrates.In this study,the energy function of the neuron during the action potential(AP)is described and analyzed.It has been observed that energy consumption during the AP does not match predictions of the conventional theory of neural energy dynamics.On short time scales,neural energy expenditure shifts between positive and negative phases.During the AP,the energy source switches from neuronal stores(positive expenditure or net consumption)to exploitation of external substrates,specifically the glucose and oxygen carried in cerebral blood(the negative consumption phase).Based on the idea of reductionism,this paper demonstrates how ion channels,membrane pumps and transporters,ionotropic and metabotropic receptor signaling pathways,astrocyte glycolysis and the production lactate,and the glutamate-glutamine cycle all serve to relate cerebral blood flow and neuronal metabolism to neuronal activity and so maintain neuronal energy charge during the AP.

Improvement of Growth and Periplocin Yield of Periploca sepium Adventitious Root Cultures by Altering Nitrogen Source Supply

Objective To increase the ultimate yield of periplocin in Periploca sepium adventitious root cultures by a two-stage culture based on nitrogen source.Methods Firstly,the effects of nitrogen source(NH4+-NO3-) at different ratios and different total initial nitrogen amounts on the accumulation of biomass and secondary metabolites in adventitious root cultures of P.sepium were investigated,and growth and production media for the two-stage culture based on the above results were established.Results The highest biomass and periplocin content were obtained in the culture medium of 15 mmol/L total nitrogen amount with NH4+-NO3-(1:2) and 30 mmol/L total nitrogen amount with nitrate as the sole nitrogen source.By adopting a fed-batch cultivation strategy,the dry weight adventitious root,periplocin content and yield were increased by 136%,108%,and 389%,respectively when compared with those of the control,reaching up to 8.13 g/L,157.15 μg/g,and 1277.63 μg/L,respectively.Furthermore,it was found that in the process of two-stage culture,the adventitious roots grew thicker significantly after they were transferred into production medium directly.Conclusion The ultimate yield of periplocin in P.sepium adventitious root cultures could be significantly increased by a two-stage culture based on nitrogen source.