African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12496

Table of Content: 13 August, 2014; 13(33)

August 2014

Expressed sequence tags (EST) analysis of a normalized full-length cDNA library from the pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus)

The pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) infects pine trees and causes pine wilt disease. To clarify the functions and subcellular localization of B. xylophilus genes/proteins transcribed and predicted from mixed stages (egg, J1, J2, J3 J4 and adult), we prepared a normalized full-length B. xylophilus cDNA library and analyzed expressed sequence tags (ESTs) using the Pendant-Pro sequence analysis suite. Most...

Author(s): Ha Young Chung†, Man-Jung Kang†, Hye Rim Han, Joon-Soo Sim, Byung-Ju Oh, Inchan Choi, Chang-Muk Lee, Sang-Hong Yoon and Bum-Soo Hahn

August 2014

A parallel reconfigurable platform for efficient sequence alignment

Bioinformatics is one of the emerging trends in today’s world. The major part of bioinformatics is dealing with DNA. Analysis of DNA requires more memory and high efficient computations to produce accurate outputs. Researchers use various bioinformatics algorithms for sequencing and pattern detection techniques, but still now it takes enormous amount of time for computations. In our method we are going to propose...

Author(s): A. Surendar, M. Arun and P. S. Periasamy

August 2014

Genetic variability among ‘Kashmiri Nakh’ pear (Pyrus pyrifolia): A local variety grown in North- Western Himalayan region of India

Twenty four (24) ‘Kashmiri Nakh’ pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) genotypes were studied to assess the overall degree of polymorphism, detect similarities among important tree, pomological, fruit quality and yield parameters. Eleven (11) variables were scored and subjected to multivariate analysis. Results show a considerable phenotypic diversity among ‘Kashmiri Nakh’ pear genotypes and differed...

Author(s): M. K. Verma, S. Lal, J. I. Mir, H. A. Bhat and M. A. Sheikh

August 2014

Plant growth promoting potential of endophytic bacteria isolated from cashew leaves

Endophytic microorganisms are able to promote plant growth through various mechanisms, such as production of plant hormones and antimicrobial substances, as well as to provide the soil with nutrients, for instance, inorganic phosphate. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of endophytic bacteria isolated from cashew leaves to produce substances involved in the promotion of plant growth, such as indole-3-acetic...

Author(s): Milca Rachel da Costa Ribeiro Lins, Jéssica Martins Fontes, Nataliane Marques de Vasconcelos, Danilo Mamede da Silva Santos, Ozias Elias Ferreira, João Lúcio de Azevedo, Janete Magali de Araújo and Gláucia Manoella de Souza Lima

August 2014

The effect of natural antioxidant(s) on date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in vitro

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of the most valuable economic resources in the Middle East and North Africa that grow on monocotyledonous trees. To increase crop yield of palm trees, in vitro micro-propagation has become an attractive alternative for large-scale production of date palm. A problem that frequently damages tissues in the early micro-propagation is the brown color that advances in the callus...

Author(s): Gehan Safwat, Sherif El-Sharabasy, Abd El-Moneam El-Banna, Saleh Khede Zardah and Nashwa Hamido

August 2014

CO2 emissions from soil incubated with sugarcane straw and nitrogen fertilizer

The decomposition/mineralization of organic material from crop residues constitutes an important nutrient reservoir for plants. This process produces CO2 and is influenced by biophysical and environmental conditions such as temperature, oxygen availability and the chemical composition of the crop residue. We studied the effect of temperature and nitrogen fertilization on CO2 emissions and the distinct contributions of C...

Author(s): Risely Ferraz de Almeida⊃, Camila Haddad Silveira⊃, Joseph Elias Rodrigues Mikhael⊃, Fernando Oliveira Franco⊃, Bruno Teixeira Ribeiro⊃, Adão de Siqueira Ferreira⊃, Eduardo de Sá Mendonça⊃ and Beno Wendling⊃

August 2014

Biodegradation of hydrocarbons exploiting spent substrate from Pleurotus ostreatus in agricultural soils

In Acatzingo, Puebla, Mexico (east-central), oil spills have mainly affected agricultural fields. Pleurotus ostreatus is a white rot basidiomycete and produces extracellular enzymes (lacasses, manganese peroxidases, versatile peroxidases and veratryl alcohol oxidases). The production of edible mushrooms generates spent mushroom substrate that may have a biotechnological application. The aim of this study was to evaluate...

Author(s): A. Mauricio-Gutiérrez, T. Jiménez-Salgado, A. Tapia-Hernández, J. Cavazos-Arroyo and B. Pérez-Armendáriz

August 2014

Production and characterization of biosurfactant from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PBSC1 isolated from mangrove ecosystem

In this present study, biosurfactant-producing microorganisms Pseudomonas aeruginosa PBSC1, was isolated from mangrove ecosystem in Pichavaram (Boat house), Tamil Nadu, India. The biosurfactant production was done using a minimal salt medium (MSM) with crude oil as the hydrocarbon. The microbial growths were investigated, and the best cultivation times for the biosurfactant production by P. aeruginosa PBSC1 was found to...

Author(s): Anna Joice, P. and Parthasarathi, R.

August 2014

In vitro inhibition of pathogenic Verticillium dahliae, causal agent of potato wilt disease in China by Trichoderma isolates

Twenty (20) of Verticillium dahliae were isolated from wilted potato specimens collected from six districts in Guizhou, China. All the isolates were evaluated for pathogenicity on two potato cultivars, Favorita (susceptible) and Hui-2 (resistant) using the root dip inoculation (RDI) and microsclerotia inoculation (MI). All of the V. dahliae isolates appeared to be pathogenic on both cultivars but VGZ-HZ-4 isolate gave...

Author(s): Chen Xiaojun, Sopone Wongkaew, Yuan Jie, Yang Xuehui, He Haiyong, Wu Shiping, Tai Qigqun, Wang Lishuang, Dusit Athinuwat and Natthiya Buensanteai

August 2014

Adsorption of essential oil components of Lavandula angustifolia on sodium modified bentonite from Nador (North-East Morocco)

The analysis of essential oil has basically one technical goal: to achieve the best possible separation performance by using the most effective, available and current technology of chromatography. The present work aimed to study the formulation created by the adsorption of active components of Lavandula angustifolia essential oil on sodium modified bentonite. Essential oils were obtained from dried leaves of L....

Author(s): M. EL MIZ, S. SALHI, A. EL BACHIRI, J. P. WATHELET and A. TAHANI

August 2014

Induction and optimization of cellulases using various agro-wastes by Trichoderma virdii: Effect of alkali pretreatment

This study presents optimization of various lignocellulosics and alkali pretreatment for maximum cellulase production by Trichoderma virdii sp. Maximum endoglucanase (642 IU/L) and exoglucanase (187IU/L) activity was achieved with maize straw at 5% concentration. Oat hay was the most suitable agro-waste for β - glucosidase (7100 IUL-1) production followed by maize straw (6500 IUL-1). Maize straw was chosen in an...

Author(s): Meenakshi Goyal and Giridhar Soni

August 2014

Early gonad development in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Gonadogenesis in zebrafish goes through an initial ovarian phase then subsequently into either ovarian or testicular phases. How germ cells choose to commit to an oogenic fate and enter meiosis or alternatively not enter meiosis and commit to a spermatogenetic fate remains a key question. This study investigated events of early gonadogenesis in zebrafish with the aim of unraveling the events surrounding the...

Author(s): Grace Emily Okuthe, Shirley Hanrahan and Barry Collins Fabian

August 2014

Pequi pulp (Caryocar brasiliense Cambess): Drying kinetics and thermodynamic properties

The objective of this study was to evaluate the drying kinetics of Pequi pulp (Caryocar brasiliense Cambess) at temperatures of 40, 50 and 60°C, and the thermodynamic properties for this process. Eleven mathematical models commonly used to represent the drying process of agricultural products were fitted to experimental data. The Fick's second law was used to determine the diffusion coefficients of Pequi fruits...

Author(s): Silva, R. M., Placido, G. R., Oliveira, D. E. C., Silva, M. A. P. and Caliari, M.