Genetic analysis and identification of SSR markers associated with rice blast disease in a BC2F1 backcross population

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) blast disease is one of the most destructive rice diseases in the world. The fungal pathogen, Magnaporthe oryzae, is the causal agent of rice blast disease. Development of resistant cultivars is the most preferred method to achieve sustainable rice production. However, the effectiveness of resistant cultivars is hindered by the genetic plasticity of the pathogen genome. Therefore, information on genetic resistance and virulence stability are vital to increase our understanding of the molecular basis of blast disease resistance. The present study set out to elucidate the resistance pattern and identify potential simple sequence repeat markers linked with rice blast disease. A backcross population (BC2F1), derived from crossing MR264 and Pongsu Seribu 2 (PS2), was developed using marker-assisted backcross breeding. Twelve microsatellite markers carrying the blast resistance gene clearly demonstrated a polymorphic pattern between both parental lines. Among these, two markers, RM206 and RM5961, located on chromosome 11 exhibited the expected 1:1 testcross ratio in the BC2F1population. The 195 BC2F1 plants inoculated against M. oryzae pathotype P7.2 showed a significantly different distribution in the backcrossed generation and followed Mendelian segregation based on a single-gene model. This indicates that blast resistance in PS2 is governed by a single dominant gene, which is linked to RM206 and RM5961 on chromosome 11. The findings presented in this study could be useful for future blast resistance studies in rice breeding programs

Waste management: a qualitative study exploring the perception of food waste management among the community of Pasir Mas

The purpose of this paper is to examine the 2014 post-flood waste management in affected area. For this purpose, Pasir Mas in Kelantan was chosen as the sample area and interviews were conducted with the residents. The interviews aim to gather information about post-flood waste produced,sources of the waste, actions taken by the residents and related authorities bodies to clear the waste, impact of the waste on their living surroundings and health, and assistance needed to manage the waste. A total of 39 respondents consisted of 20 men and 19 women were selected at random for focus group discussion. These respondents represent persons of age 25 years old and above, local and whose living quarters have been affected by the flood. The large volume of mud left by the flood has been identified by the participants as the main source of the post-flood waste. In addition, good cooperation between government agencies and the residents is important to speed up the waste clearing works.However, residents are in much needed support, awareness and education about the impact of long due waste clearing on their health and living environment

Waste management: a qualitative study exploring the perception of flood waste management among the community of Pasir Mas

The purpose of this paper is to examine the 2014 post-flood waste management in affected area. For this purpose, Pasir Mas in Kelantan was chosen as the sample area and interviews were conducted with the residents. The interviews aim to gather information about post-flood waste produced, sources of the waste, actions taken by the residents and related authorities bodies to clear the waste, impact of the waste on their living surroundings and health, and assistance needed to manage the waste. A total of 39 respondents consisted of 20 men and 19 women were selected at random for focus group discussion. These respondents represent persons of age 25 years old and above, local and whose living quarters have been affected by the flood. The large volume of mud left by the flood has been identified by the participants as the main source of the post-flood waste. In addition, good cooperation between government agencies and the residents is important to speed up the waste clearing works. However, residents are in much needed support, awareness and education about the impact of long due waste clearing on their health and living environment

Screening of combined zeolite-ozone system for phenol and COD removal

In this study, four zeolites in H-form (HZSM-5, H-Beta, H-Mordenite, and H-USY) were tested at different operating conditions for removal of phenol and COD by ozonation. The process variables include concentration of phenol in solution, ozonated airflow rates, pH of solution, temperature, and reaction time. According to experimental results, combination of zeolite and ozone was able to remove both phenol and COD effectively compared to without ozone. Zeolite mainly acted as adsorbent, providing surface for reaction between ozone and phenol. However, the adsorption capacity of zeolites decreased at higher pH due to the formation of OH radicals, which diminished the surface reactions, but enhanced the bulk removal of phenol. Large flow rates of ozonated air and ambient temperature were suitable for removal of both phenol and COD. A maximum of 50.5% phenol was removed by HZSM-5(80) at 100 ppm of phenol concentration. HZSM-5(80) removed both phenol and COD effectively compared to other zeolites at all operating conditions except when phenol concentration was higher at which H-USY was a better catalyst

Catalytic conversion of RBD palm oil to gasoline: the effect of silica-alumina ratio in HZSM-5

The RBD palm oil was converted to gasoline by passing its vapor through HZSMcatalyst. Three samples of HZSM-5 with different silica-alumina ratio (SiO2/ Al2O3) of 30, 50 and 70 were prepared and used to investigate the effect of silica-alumina ratio of HZSM-5 to the process. XRD was employed to confirm that the catalyst prepared were HZSM-5. FT-IR analysis for middle range spectra and near range spectra both were engaged to give structural characteristic of the catalyst and to analyze the hydroxyl (OH) groups of the catalyst respectively. The effect of silica-alumina ratio can be seen clearly from the result as HZSM-5 with 30 silica-alumina ratio produced the highest gasoline selectivity compare with the other two catalysts

Detection of shiga toxin 1 and 2 (stx1 and stx2) genes in escherichia coli 0157: H7 isolated from retail beef in Malaysia by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Twenty (n=20) beef isolates of Escherichia coli O157:H7 were examined for the detection of Shiga- toxin 1 and 2 (stx1 and stx2) genes by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and characterized using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RAPD-PCR) fingerprinting. All isolates were obtained from the laboratory of Food Science and Biotechnology, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor. In the detection of stx1 and stx2 genes, 14 of isolates (14/20) were positive to stx1 and stx2. 5 isolates (5/20) were positive to stx1 and 1 isolate (1/20) was negative by either of stx1 or stx2 genes. Using RAPD-PCR analysis, two oligonucleotides were chosen because they yielded clearly and reproducible band. There were OPAR8 (5'-TGGGGCTGTC-3') and OPAR20 (5'-ACGGCAAGGA-3'). Subsequently, all 20 isolates of E.coli O157:H7 were subtyped using OPAR8 and OPAR20. Primer OPAR8 produced 8 RAPD-PCR fingerprinting namely P1 to P11. Whereas, OPAR20 produced 16 RAPD-PCR fingerprinting of Q1-Q18. Combination of two primers was analyzed using Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic mean (UPGMA). Dendogram performed from cluster analysis showed that all the 20 isolates of E.coli O157:H7 differentiated into 20 individual isolates which may suggest the high level of local geographical genetic variation

Catalytic decomposition of palm oil to liquid fuels and chemicals

An attempt was made to convert vapours of palm oil to liquid fuels and other chemicals by passing over various zeolite catalysts in a glass reactor. The catalysts used were in the zeolite family namely ultra-stable Y (USY), rare-earth Y (REY) and Na-Y. The liquid products were analyzed by gas chromatography. The results show that it is possible to alter the yield and compositions of the different hydrocarbon products by changing the reactor temperature, the type and amount of the catalyst. USY (6.0g) at the 425 degree C, offered a liquid product (92.63 wt% of total liquid hydrocarbons) in the gasoline boiling range enriched with high content of aromatic hydrocarbons which turns out to be high-octane gasoline. Similar liquid product compositions were by REY (6.0g) at 425 degree C with a liquid product of 95.49wt% of total liquid hydrocarbons, in the gasoline boiling range in which 56.37 wt% of total liquid hydrocarbons, was contributed by benzene, toluene and xylenes alone, which have high octane ratings. Na-Y catalyst (6.0g) produced ample amount of straight chain hydrocarbons (53.77 wt% of total liquid hydrocarbons) at 425 degree C in the gasoline boiling range

Catalytic ozonation of aqueous phenol over metal-loaded HZSM-5

The performances of HZSM-5 and transition metal-loaded HZSM-5 (Mn, Cu, Fe, Ti) catalysts during catalytic ozonation of phenol have been investigated. It was observed the performance order for removal of phenol and COD was Mn/HZSM-5>Fe/HZSM-5>Cu/HZSM-5>Ti/HZSM-5>HZSM-5. The presence of metals on HZSM-5 enhanced the phenol removal capability of HZSM-5. Mn loading on HZSM-5 was optimized due to its high phenol removal capability amongst metal-loaded HZSM-5 catalysts. Experimental results suggested that low amount of Mn loading on HZSM-5 was sufficient for HZSM-5 to act as catalyst and adsorbent. A maximum of 95.8 wt% phenols and 70.2 wt% COD were removed over 2 wt% Mn/HZSM-5 in 120 min. It was supposed that transition metals mainly acted as ozone decomposers due to their multiple oxidation states that enhanced the ozonation of phenol

Detection of shiga toxin 1 and 2 (stx1 and stx2) genes in escherichia coli O157:H7 isolated from retail beef in Malaysia by Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Twenty (n=20) beef isolates of Escherichia coli O157:H7 were examined for the detection of Shiga- toxin 1 and 2 (stx1 and stx2) genes by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and characterized using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RAPD-PCR) fingerprinting. All isolates were obtained from the laboratory of Food Science and Biotechnology, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor. In the detection of stx1 and stx2 genes, 14 of isolates (14/20) were positive to stx1 and stx2. 5 isolates (5/20) were positive to stx1 and 1 isolate (1/20) was negative by either of stx1 or stx2 genes. Using RAPD-PCR analysis, two oligonucleotides were chosen because they yielded clearly and reproducible band. There were OPAR8 (5’-TGGGGCTGTC-3’) and OPAR20 (5’-ACGGCAAGGA-3’). Subsequently, all 20 isolates of E.coli O157:H7 were subtyped using OPAR8 and OPAR20. Primer OPAR8 produced 8 RAPD-PCR fingerprinting namely P1 to P11. Whereas, OPAR20 produced 16 RAPD-PCR fingerprinting of Q1-Q18. Combination of two primers was analyzed using Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic mean (UPGMA). Dendogram performed from cluster analysis showed that all the 20 isolates of E.coli O157:H7 differentiated into 20 individual isolates which may suggest the high level of local geographical genetic variation