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: 20 February 2013; 12(8)

February 2013

The potential of unintended effects in potato glycoalkaloids

    Unintended changes have long been considered as byproducts associated with genetic improvement of crop plants. The issue has been hotly debated during recent years following the identification of some unwanted characters in genetically engineered crop plants. In this context, the subject of unintended effects of plant transformation on known toxic compounds has been an area of immense...

Author(s): Mohammad Sayyar Khan, Iqbal Munir and Inamullah Khan

February 2013

Applications of biotechnology in olive

  Many scientific and technological fields make use of biotechnology. Among the most important applications of biotechnology in agriculture are large-scale commercial micropropagation, genetic transformation and the development of transgenic varieties, embryo rescue in plant breeding programs, genotyping based on DNA markers, studies of genetic evolution and diversity, and genome sequencing. These myriad...

Author(s): Geraldo Magela de Almeida Cançado, Tesfahun Alemu Setotaw and Juliano Lino Ferreira

February 2013

Production and characterization of thermostable xylanase from Bacillus subtilis XP10 isolated from marine water

  This study aims is to characterize an efficient bacterium, capable of producing thermostable xylanases. Different bacterial isolates were obtained on medium containing xylan as the sole carbon source from samples collected from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Out of 15 xylanase producing isolates, the best xylanase producer was XP10 which was selected for the enzyme production. It was identified based on morphological...

Author(s): Sanaa Tork, Magda M. Aly, Saleha Y. Alakilli and Madeha N. Al-Seeni

February 2013

Identification and genetic characterization of phenol-degrading bacterium isolated from oil contaminated soil

  A phenol-degrading novel monosodium glutamate was isolated from oil contaminated soil in India. This strain was found capable to utilize and tolerate up to 9.5 mM of phenol. Based on the results of phylogenetic similarity of 16S recombinant ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene sequences and fatty acid analysis, strain MSG8 was identified as a novel Acinetobacter sp. The sequence of the partial largest...

Author(s): Mritunjay Saxena#, Saurabh Gupta,#, Mahmooduzzafar, Rita Kumar and Anil Kumar

February 2013

Analysis of genetic variability in rice cultivars of Arunachal Pradesh (India) using microsatellite marker

  The present investigation was carried out to analyze the genetic diversity of rice cultivars utilizing microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Twenty four (24) genotypes of rice were evaluated for polymorphisms after amplification with 30 SSR primer pairs. The results obtained depicted a wide range of variation among the varieties. The diversity parameters confirmed that Bordungsha F1, S5 and...

Author(s): S. R. Berilus, A. Pattanayak and Gurudayal Ram

February 2013

Whole-genome methylation caller designed for methyl-DNA immunoprecipitation sequence data

  DNA methylation is an indispensable epigenetic modification required for regulating the expression of mammalian genomes. Continued efforts have been made to unravel the methylation states genome-wide, featuring the methyl-DNA immunoprecipitation(MeDIP) coupled with next-generation sequencing. Our method uses a single-CpG-resolution, whole-genome methylation caller designed specifically for MeDIP-seq...

Author(s): Mengying Ren

February 2013

A more improved protocol for in vitro shoot organogenesis in daylily (Hemerocallis sp.)

  Daylily is a crop of landscape, nutritional, and medicinal importance. Despite relative progress, daylily is one of the least explored crops in tissue culture, partly, because of its low responsiveness for in vitro organogenesis. This study reports a more efficient one-step protocol for shoot organogenesis. Leaf, flower, flower bud, stem, and root tissues were investigated for shoot organogenesis...

Author(s): Kanyand Matand, Ning Wu, Stephan Conley and George Acquaah

February 2013

Efficient in vitro plantlet regeneration in Populus euphratica Oliver

  Populus euphratica Oliver is highly tolerant against salt stress and thus very important for afforestation efforts of saline soils in sandy desert regions. Even if protocols already exist for the regeneration of shoots from leaf explants for this species, all are based on the hormones 6-benzylaminopurin (BAP) and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). An alternative and fast regeneration protocol was developed...

Author(s): Matthias Fladung

February 2013

Report of foliar necrosis of potato caused by Cochliobolus lunatus in India

  During the winter season of 2011, Cochliobolus lunatus was isolated from necrotized leaves of potato in potato plantations of Burdwan District, West Bengal State, India. The isolate was identified using standard monographs and taxonomic keys and confirmed molecularly using the Ribosomal Deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA) sequence data. The Koch’s postulate was confirmed through...

Author(s): Bengyella Louis, Roy Pranab, Sayanika Devi Waikhom and Narayan Chandra Talukdar

February 2013

Larvicidal activity of clove (Eugenia caryophyllata) extracts and eugenol against Aedes aegypti and Anopheles darlingi

  Malaria and dengue are the cause of a heavy public health burden in the Amazon region. The present work evaluated the larvicidal activity of aqueous and methanolic extracts from clove, Eugenia caryophyllata Thunberg (Myrtaceae), and a chemical component are found in cloves, eugenol, against malaria and dengue mosquito vectors. Bioassays were carried out with these extracts and eugenol...

Author(s): Eunice da S. Medeiros, Iléa B. Rodrigues, Eleilza Litaiff-Abreu, Ana C. da S. Pinto and Wanderli P. Tadei.

February 2013

Extraction and analysis of tea (Camellia sinensis) seed oil from different clones in Kenya

  Kenyan tea (Camellia sinensis) is widely grown for its leaves and is commercialized as black tea. Product diversification and value addition is currently an area of great interest. This study provides data on the physico-chemical properties of Kenyan tea seed oil from selected clones of tea seeds to ascertain its potential applications. Soxhlet extraction using hexane was employed to obtain tea...

Author(s): Kelvin Omondi George, Thomas Kinyanjui, John Wanyoko, Okong’o Kelvin Moseti and Francis Wachira

February 2013

Seasonal variation in the production of secondary metabolites and antimicrobial activity of two plant species used in Brazilian traditional medicine

  Guapira graciliflora and Pseudobombax marginatum are two species used in the treatment of various diseases in traditional medicine of the Brazilian semiarid region, but no studies assessing their phytochemical and pharmacological properties have been reported. This study aimed to evaluate seasonal variation in the production of secondary metabolites and antimicrobial activity of these plants. The...

Author(s): Thiago P. Chaves, Cleildo P. Santana, Germano Véras, Deysiane O. Brandão, Delcio C. Felismino, Ana Cláudia D. Medeiros and Dilma M. de B. M. Trovão

February 2013

Physicochemical characterisation of hexanic seed oil extract from the pepper tree (Schinus molle) of South African origin

  The physicochemical characterisation of oil extracts from Schinus molle seeds collected in South Africa was performed. The oils were extracted in hexane, physicochemical parameters determined and lipids profiled by gas chromatography, in order to determine its potential for use in industry, ethnomedicine and its nutritional value. The total oil yield of the seed dry mass was 22%. The oil was...

Author(s): Trevor T. Nyakudya, Oscar Mahoa, Amidou Samie, Eliton Chivandi, Kennedy H. Erlwanger, Mazuru B. Gundidza, Michael L. Magwa and Perkin Muredzi

February 2013

Effect of media composition and explant type on the regeneration of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

  Two as well as three way interactions of three eggplant genotypes, media compositions and explants (hypocotyl, cotyledon and leaf) showed significant differences for plant regeneration. Among three explants, hypocotyl induced highest percent callusing, but cotyledon showed best results for somatic embryogenesis on all the media compositions. For three way interactions, cotyledon of BSR-27 induced...

Author(s): Mohinder Kaur, Ajmer Singh Dhatt, Jagdeep Singh Sandhu Amrik Singh Sidhu and Satbir Singh Gosal

February 2013

Endogenous stages of Isospora acanthodactyli from sandy fringed-toed lizard (Acanthodactylus schmidti) in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia

  Endogenous stages of Isospora acanthodactyli from sandy fringed-toed lizard (Acanthodactylus schmidti) were described for the first time, in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Merogony and gamogony took place inside the host cell’s cytoplasm, in the distal part of the small intestine. Multinucleated meronts, microgamonts and macrogametes were described and measured.   Key...

Author(s): Ibrahim S. Al Nasr,