October 2007
A review of policy acts and initiatives in plantain and banana innovation system in Nigeria
Plantain and banana are among the most important staple food crops in humid forest zone of West and Central Africa. These has made the crop one of the key research mandates of International and national research institutes, both of which has developed many technologies aimed at improving the production of the crop and removing constraints posed by pest and diseases, marketing opportunities and perishability. Despite...
October 2007
Studies on the effect of doxorubicin on MDA, NO2, NO3, Se-GSH peroxidase and SOD levels in albino rat tissues
Doxorubicin, a highly effective anticancer drug, produces cardiotoxicity, which limits its therapeutic potential. The mechanism of this cardiotoxicity has remained elusive. The use of this drug, however, continues to be limited by its dose-related and time interval toxicity. Reactive oxygen species are hypothesized to be a major factor in the toxicity of doxorubicin. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of...
October 2007
Mitragyna ciliata and its trypanocidal activity
The trypanocidal activity of different fractions of hydroethanolic root extract ofMitragyna ciliata Aubrev and Pellegr (Rubiaceae) were evaluated in rats infected withTrypanosoma brucei field isolates from a cow. Oral administration of the fractions at a dose of 100 mg/kg for 5 days (10 days post-infection) indicated that only butanol fraction showed trypanocidal activity with inhibition percent of 68.68. The...
October 2007
Antibacterial effects and toxigenesis of Penicillium aurantiogriseum and P. viridicatum
The toxigenesis of one Penicillium aurantiogriseum and one Penicillium viridicatumisolates was investigated. Sterile culture filtrates of both fungi had a clear antibacterial effect only against Bacillus subtilis. The effect on B. subtilis varied with amount of filtrate used and temperature. The antibacterial activity of chloroform extracts varied with the nature of media used to grow the...
October 2007
Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Canarium schweinfurthii Engl. Essential oil from Centrafrican Republic
The antioxidant activity of the essential oil was investigated using 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and the β-carotene bleaching test. Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) was employed as a positive control. The essential oil showed antioxidant and DPPH radical scavenging activities, and it displayed the inhibition of lipid peroxidation. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of the...
October 2007
Effect of topical application of neem seed (Azadiracta indica) extract on sheep infested with Amblyomma variegatum
The effect of topical application of neem seed extract on sheep infested with tickAblyomma variegatum was examined for acaricidal and repellant activity. The seed extract showed acaricidal activity at 5.0, 2.5 and 1.0% concentration in vitro. The extract had no acaricidal activity in vivo. However, it showed a repellant activity against ticks at 5.0 and 2.5% concentration. The activity of the extract...
October 2007
The effects of different growing media on flowering and corm formation of saffron (Crocus sativus L.)
The objective of this research was to determine the effects of different growing media on saffron growth and corm formation in greenhouse conditions. In the experiment four different treatments were used. These were (1) soil+sand (control), (2) soil+sand+manure, (3) soil+sand+manure applied as a double layer above and bottom of corm bed, and (4) soil+sand+manure+ nitfojips-K. The results revealed that effects of the...
October 2007
Classification of genetic diversity and choice of parents for hybridization in cowpea Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp for humid savanna ecology
Thirty-one accessions of cowpea of diverse eco-geographic origins were evaluated for genetic diversity using principal component analysis (PCA), single linkage cluster analysis (SLCA) and canonical techniques. The accessions were classified into six groups by PCA and SLCA while canonical technique identified five vector groups. There was no relationship between the clustering pattern and eco-geographic distribution. PCA...
October 2007
Limitation in detecting African cassava mosaic geminivirus in the lignified tissues of cassava stems
Field-infected cassava stems whose leaves were identified with differential symptoms ofAfrican cassava mosaic geminivirus (ACMV) disease were assessed for index of severity of symptoms (ISS) to determine their infection status by scoring young resultant plants in the laboratory. Extracts of young stem tissues and leaves of emergent shoots from topped stems were also assayed for occurrence of ACMV by the...
October 2007
In vitro propagation of wild yams, Dioscorea oppositifolia (Linn) and Dioscorea pentaphylla (Linn)
In vitro propagation of two wild yams, Dioscorea oppositifolia and Dioscorea pentaphylla, is reported. Multiple shoots were initiated from nodal explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 8.8 µM 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 0.3% (w/v) activated charcoal. Root induction was also achieved simultaneously from the base of the shoots in the same medium. Individual shoots with a...
October 2007
Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in vitro morphogenesis in response to growth regulators, sucrose and nitrogen
Studies were conducted to test the effect of different growth regulators, sucrose and nitrogen on Phoenix dactylifera L. explants cultured on Eeuwen’s basal medium. Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) was very effective for callus induction. Addition of cytokinins (BAP and Kinetin) to NAA containing media did not enhance actual callus growth. Sucrose influenced callus production. Depending on the auxin...
October 2007
Hydrobiological constraints of trace metals in surface water, coastal sediment and water lily of Calabar River, Nigeria
Trace metals concentrations in surface water, sediment and water lily (Nymphaea lotus) samples from the banks of Calabar River, a major tributary of Cross River Estuary, Nigeria were determined. The results revealed average concentrations 0.017, 0.010, 37.08 and 0.025 mg/l, respectively, for As, Cd, Fe and Pb in surface water samples, which exceeded Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) maximum guideline...
October 2007
Phosphate uptake kinetics and its regulation in N2-fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena oryzae Fritsch under salt stress
Phosphorous (P) starved cells of the cyanobacterium Anabaena oryzae showed higher phosphate uptake rates than P-sufficient cells. The P-uptake obeyed saturation kinetics. The Km value for P-deficient cells was lower (54.34 mM) than P-sufficient cells (82.64mM) while Vmax was higher in P-deficient and lower in P-sufficient cells. Salinity (NaCl) stimulated phosphate uptake significantly in the...
October 2007
Degradation of Aroclor 1221 by microbial populations of the Lagos lagoon
Samples obtained from three locations in the Lagos lagoon were studied for the effect of Aroclor 1221 on their population dynamics. In all three cases, both control and experimental microcosms showed slight increases between day 5 and day 10 with the highest value of 4 × 1010 cfu/ml in control and 1.2 × 1011, 8 × 1010 and 9 × 1010 cfu/ml for Iddo, Apapa and Tin Can samples...
October 2007
Distribution of cyanotoxins in aquatic environments in the Niger Delta
The presence and types of cyanotoxins in some aquatic environments in the Niger Delta were investigated. Water samples surveyed in the study were surface water of Sombreiro, Nun and New Calabar Rivers. Others were groundwater from Abonnema and Kiama and pond water from Ogboro. Sampling locations of Sombreiro and the New Calabar rivers and the groundwater at Abonnema are all in the Rivers State while other locations were...
October 2007
Sequence analysis of cereal sucrose synthase genes and isolation of sorghum sucrose synthase gene fragment
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is an important staple food for about 500 million people in semi arid regions of the world. Recently, sorghum has been identified as a main plant species for the comparative analysis of grass genomes and as a source of beneficial genes for agriculture. Recent studies have shown that there is conservation of gene order at the chromosome level in rice, sorghum and maize....
October 2007
Molecular diversity in persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.) cultivars growing around Hatay province in Turkey
Genetic relationships among Diospyros kaki L. growing around Hatay province in Turkey were assessed by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assay. Ten decamer primers were selected from 50 primers. These primers yielded a total of 155 bands and 126 of them were recorded as polymorphic. Pairwise genetic distances of the samples were used to construct dendograms using Unweighted Pair-Group Method of...
October 2007
Cultivars of Codiaeum variegatum (L.) Blume (Euphorbiaceae) show variability in phytochemical and cytological characteristics
In the course of their evolution, plant developed chemical defences when attacked. These phytochemicals inadvertently protect humans against pathogens as antimicrobial medicines. Thus, six clone cultivars of Codiaeum variegatum (Spirale, Royal, Broad Spotted Guinea, Punctatum, Sunray and Royal-like) were chemically and cytologically investigated to evaluate their therapeutic potentials, values and variability....
October 2007
Traditional use, antibacterial activity and antifungal activity of crude extract of Aloe excelsa
The fleshy leaves and roots of most species within the Aloe family are used in many traditional treatments (Mabberley, 1987). Traditional healers and indigenous people utilize mainly the leaf sap of this genus widely for the treatment of wounds, burns, rashes, itches, cracked lips and cracked skin (Cera et al., 1980). Antimicrobial activities on the crude extract of Aloe exclesa was carried out in...
October 2007
Experimental Yersinia pseudotuberculosis enteritis in laboratory animals
The course of in vivo pathogenicity of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in groups of rabbits and gunnea pigs were examined. One group of the animals was infected orally with 108 cfu/ml of test organism and the second group with standard reference strains. The third group was dosed with clean water as negative control. Both controls and Y. pseudotuberculosis infected animals were closely...
October 2007
Sensory evaluation of wheat/cassava composite bread and effect of label information on acceptance and preference
The performance of 10, 20 and 30% cassava composite bread was carried out by evaluating the colour, aroma, texture, acceptability and buying preference. The samples were served to semi-trained panelists. The result showed that bread baked with 10 and 20% composite flour were not significantly different in all sensory attributes, acceptability and readiness to buy from the control. However, bread baked from 30% composite...
October 2007
Abundance and gill net selectivity of Pellonula leonensis in the Lower Nun River, Niger Delta, Nigeria
The abundance of Pellonula leonensis in relation to location, photoperiod, depth, tide, season and gill net selectivity was studied from May 2001 to April, 2002 in the Lower Nun River, Niger Delta. Three sets of gill net with stretched mesh sizes of 8, 12 and 15 mm respectively were used each measuring 35 m in length and 3 m in depth having a surface area of 105 m2. Abundance was least in September and...
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