BACKGROUND Stevia rebaudiana is a high value crop due to the strong commercial demand for its met... more BACKGROUND Stevia rebaudiana is a high value crop due to the strong commercial demand for its metabolites (steviol glycosides) but has limited geographical cultivation range. In non-native environments with different daylength and light quality, Stevia has low germination rates and early flowering resulting in lower biomass and poor yield of the desired metabolites. In this study, artificial lighting with LEDs was used to determine if different light quality within and outside of the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) range can be used to improve germination rates and yields for production of steviol glycosides for the herbal supplement and food industry. RESULTS Plants treated with red and blue light at an intensity of 130 μmol/m2/s supplemented with 5% of UV-A light under a 16-hour photoperiod produced the most desirable overall results with a high rate of germination, low percentage of early flowering, and high yields of dry leaf, stevioside and rebaudioside A, 175 days after planting. CONCLUSION While red and blue light combinations are effective for plant growth, the use of supplemental non-PAR irradiation of UV-A wavelength significantly and desirably delayed flowering, enhanced germination, biomass, rebaudioside A and stevioside yields, while supplemental green light improved yield of biomass and rebaudioside A, but not stevioside. Overall, the combination of RB + UVA light resulted in the best overall productivity for Stevia rebaudiana. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Background Paraburkholderia fungorum (P. fungorum) is a Gram-negative environmental species that ... more Background Paraburkholderia fungorum (P. fungorum) is a Gram-negative environmental species that has been commonly used as a beneficial microorganism in agriculture as an agent for biocontrol and bioremediation. Its use in agriculture is controversial as many people believe that it could harm human health; however, there is no clear evidence to support. Methodology The pangolin P. fungorum (pangolin Pf) genome has a genomic size of approximately 7.7 Mbps with N50 of 69,666 bps. Our study showed that pangolin Pf is a Paraburkholderia fungorum supported by evidence from the core genome SNP-based phylogenetic analysis and the ANI analysis. Functional analysis has shown that the presence of a considerably large number of genes related to stress response, virulence, disease, and defence. Interestingly, we identified different types of secretion systems in the genome of pangolin Pf, which are highly specialized and responsible for a bacterium’s response to its environment and in physiolog...
Myostatin (MSTN) is an interesting negative growth‐regulating gene that has been well characteriz... more Myostatin (MSTN) is an interesting negative growth‐regulating gene that has been well characterized in vertebrates but scantly described in invertebrates. The current study focuses on the downregulation of the MrMSTN gene and subsequently records any histological changes for giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (Mr). In addition, the study also deals with the MrMSTN gene's influence on other growth‐related genes, which include myosin heavy chain, dystrophin‐dystroglycoprotein complex, tropomyosin, farnesoic acid o‐methyl transferase, arginine kinase, cyclophilin, and acyl CoA desaturase. The preliminary histological analysis following MrMSTN silencing favors muscle regeneration, which supports its functional role as a negative growth regulator and its significant effect on the expression of other growth‐related genes. Overall, our results show that the MrMSTN gene could therefore be a potential target for gene manipulation aimed at enhancing the growth and muscle development of M. rosenbergii, which could be beneficial in increasing the total mass production in the postlarva phase at the hatchery level.
Asia Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, 2010
Cymbidium mosaic virus (CymMV) is a major pathogen affecting commercial orchid production operati... more Cymbidium mosaic virus (CymMV) is a major pathogen affecting commercial orchid production operations and hobbyists. This virus is globally endemic and is easily transmitted during handling of infected plants and materials. Whilst good management practices can avoid spread of the disease, this also relies on effective early detection which may be difficult due to late onset of symptoms. Biotechnology may be used to address this problem at a number of levels; the development of sensitive and inexpensive diagnostic procedures which are practical to implement on site; the development of novel preventative treatments and the development of new varieties with improved resistance to the virus. We have been investigating the identification of short peptides which could be used as inexpensive diagnostic reagents. A novel method for the isolation of viral coat protein specific peptides has been developed using superparamagnetic beads. This resulted in the identification of a peptide with specificity for CymMV and several other peptides which are able to detect both CymMV and Odontoglossum ringspot virus (ORSV). Research findings on the use of virus coat-protein mediated resistance both towards the development of transgenic plants and for applica - tion as RNA interference are also discussed.
Growth retardation and diseases hindering growth are constraints faced by Macrobrachium rosenberg... more Growth retardation and diseases hindering growth are constraints faced by Macrobrachium rosenbergii and thus urge an in-depth study on the growth and growth-related genes to improve this species. This study focused on molecular cloning and characterization of the myostatin gene in M. rosenbergii (MrMSTN) followed by mRNA transcription in different life stages and upon infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV) infection. We have characterized a full-length MrMSTN gene encoding 1619 base pairs (bp) with an open reading frame of 945 bp that encodes for 315 amino acid residues. MrMSTN retains all the conserved characteristics belonging to TGF-β superfamily including propeptide and mature peptide domain, cysteine residues and a proteolytic cleavage site, RXXR where “XX” denotes Asparagine and Arginine. MrMSTN gene is ubiquitously expressed in all the tissues of healthy adults, with the highest expression observed in muscle. Moreover, the MrMSTN transcripts showed significant (P < 0.05) changes in different life stages of M. rosenbergii and IHHNV-challenged prawns. The results indicate the possible functional role of MrMSTN as a negative growth regulator. Thus, MrMSTN can be exploited further to enhance the growth and can be used as a biomarker to address the growth deficiency-related problems in M. rosenbergii.
BACKGROUND Stevia rebaudiana is a high value crop due to the strong commercial demand for its met... more BACKGROUND Stevia rebaudiana is a high value crop due to the strong commercial demand for its metabolites (steviol glycosides) but has limited geographical cultivation range. In non-native environments with different daylength and light quality, Stevia has low germination rates and early flowering resulting in lower biomass and poor yield of the desired metabolites. In this study, artificial lighting with LEDs was used to determine if different light quality within and outside of the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) range can be used to improve germination rates and yields for production of steviol glycosides for the herbal supplement and food industry. RESULTS Plants treated with red and blue light at an intensity of 130 μmol/m2/s supplemented with 5% of UV-A light under a 16-hour photoperiod produced the most desirable overall results with a high rate of germination, low percentage of early flowering, and high yields of dry leaf, stevioside and rebaudioside A, 175 days after planting. CONCLUSION While red and blue light combinations are effective for plant growth, the use of supplemental non-PAR irradiation of UV-A wavelength significantly and desirably delayed flowering, enhanced germination, biomass, rebaudioside A and stevioside yields, while supplemental green light improved yield of biomass and rebaudioside A, but not stevioside. Overall, the combination of RB + UVA light resulted in the best overall productivity for Stevia rebaudiana. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Background Paraburkholderia fungorum (P. fungorum) is a Gram-negative environmental species that ... more Background Paraburkholderia fungorum (P. fungorum) is a Gram-negative environmental species that has been commonly used as a beneficial microorganism in agriculture as an agent for biocontrol and bioremediation. Its use in agriculture is controversial as many people believe that it could harm human health; however, there is no clear evidence to support. Methodology The pangolin P. fungorum (pangolin Pf) genome has a genomic size of approximately 7.7 Mbps with N50 of 69,666 bps. Our study showed that pangolin Pf is a Paraburkholderia fungorum supported by evidence from the core genome SNP-based phylogenetic analysis and the ANI analysis. Functional analysis has shown that the presence of a considerably large number of genes related to stress response, virulence, disease, and defence. Interestingly, we identified different types of secretion systems in the genome of pangolin Pf, which are highly specialized and responsible for a bacterium’s response to its environment and in physiolog...
Myostatin (MSTN) is an interesting negative growth‐regulating gene that has been well characteriz... more Myostatin (MSTN) is an interesting negative growth‐regulating gene that has been well characterized in vertebrates but scantly described in invertebrates. The current study focuses on the downregulation of the MrMSTN gene and subsequently records any histological changes for giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (Mr). In addition, the study also deals with the MrMSTN gene's influence on other growth‐related genes, which include myosin heavy chain, dystrophin‐dystroglycoprotein complex, tropomyosin, farnesoic acid o‐methyl transferase, arginine kinase, cyclophilin, and acyl CoA desaturase. The preliminary histological analysis following MrMSTN silencing favors muscle regeneration, which supports its functional role as a negative growth regulator and its significant effect on the expression of other growth‐related genes. Overall, our results show that the MrMSTN gene could therefore be a potential target for gene manipulation aimed at enhancing the growth and muscle development of M. rosenbergii, which could be beneficial in increasing the total mass production in the postlarva phase at the hatchery level.
Asia Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, 2010
Cymbidium mosaic virus (CymMV) is a major pathogen affecting commercial orchid production operati... more Cymbidium mosaic virus (CymMV) is a major pathogen affecting commercial orchid production operations and hobbyists. This virus is globally endemic and is easily transmitted during handling of infected plants and materials. Whilst good management practices can avoid spread of the disease, this also relies on effective early detection which may be difficult due to late onset of symptoms. Biotechnology may be used to address this problem at a number of levels; the development of sensitive and inexpensive diagnostic procedures which are practical to implement on site; the development of novel preventative treatments and the development of new varieties with improved resistance to the virus. We have been investigating the identification of short peptides which could be used as inexpensive diagnostic reagents. A novel method for the isolation of viral coat protein specific peptides has been developed using superparamagnetic beads. This resulted in the identification of a peptide with specificity for CymMV and several other peptides which are able to detect both CymMV and Odontoglossum ringspot virus (ORSV). Research findings on the use of virus coat-protein mediated resistance both towards the development of transgenic plants and for applica - tion as RNA interference are also discussed.
Growth retardation and diseases hindering growth are constraints faced by Macrobrachium rosenberg... more Growth retardation and diseases hindering growth are constraints faced by Macrobrachium rosenbergii and thus urge an in-depth study on the growth and growth-related genes to improve this species. This study focused on molecular cloning and characterization of the myostatin gene in M. rosenbergii (MrMSTN) followed by mRNA transcription in different life stages and upon infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV) infection. We have characterized a full-length MrMSTN gene encoding 1619 base pairs (bp) with an open reading frame of 945 bp that encodes for 315 amino acid residues. MrMSTN retains all the conserved characteristics belonging to TGF-β superfamily including propeptide and mature peptide domain, cysteine residues and a proteolytic cleavage site, RXXR where “XX” denotes Asparagine and Arginine. MrMSTN gene is ubiquitously expressed in all the tissues of healthy adults, with the highest expression observed in muscle. Moreover, the MrMSTN transcripts showed significant (P < 0.05) changes in different life stages of M. rosenbergii and IHHNV-challenged prawns. The results indicate the possible functional role of MrMSTN as a negative growth regulator. Thus, MrMSTN can be exploited further to enhance the growth and can be used as a biomarker to address the growth deficiency-related problems in M. rosenbergii.
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