Molecular characterization of γ gliadin from durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. Subsp. Durum ((Desf.) Husn.)

The gluten quality is one of the main factors affecting the quality of durum wheat. It depends primarily on its storage proteins composition (glutenins and gliadins). In order to set up and initiate a technological quality improvement program of durum wheat we have conducted a prospection of the different protein sequences of gliadin in different databases for Triticum, then the filtration steps and assembly by appropriate software have been conducted to reduce the number of redundant sequences. On the other hand, we have isolated a gene from Iride "Gli-A1" encoding a γ-gliadin protein associated with gluten strength and viscoelasticity of the dough, we performed an in silico molecular and structural analysis in order to define its putative functional properties. The latter could be a valuable candidate as molecular marker for selecting high nutritive value of durum wheat and/or for genetic improvement of durum wheat quality.Keywords: in silico; Storage Proteins; Gliadin; Triticum ; wheat; technological qualit

Analysis of salinity tolerance of Vitis vinifera 'Thompson Seedless' transformed with AtNHX1

Several transgenic plant species expressing AtNHX1, coding for a vacuolar Na+/H+ antiporter from Arabidopsis thaliana, have shown their ability to cope with salinity. The aim of this study was to analyze the response of Vitis vinifera cv. 'Thompson Seedless' transformed with AtNHX1 to salt stress, using soil substrate or hydroponic media, and to compare the response with untransformed 'Thompson Seedless' and allegedly tolerant 'Criolla' cultivars: 'Pedro Giménez' and 'Criolla Chica'. 'Thompson Seedless' embryogenic calli were transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens carrying AtNHX1 under the control of CaMV 35S promoter. Transgenic and untransformed plants were grown in a greenhouse under hydroponics or in pots with soil, and were subjected to increasing concentrations of sodium chloride (NaCl) up to 150 mM for a period of 7 weeks. Growth and toxicity symptoms were less affected in transgenics as compared to the untransformed grapevines, and transgenic lines had higher shoot length, leaf area and dry weights at the end of the experiment. Root concentrations of Na in transgenics were similar or lower than that observed in untransformed genotypes. Growth impairment and toxicity symptoms were observed in all genotypes under both conditions, but effects were more severe in plants growing with hydroponic culture. Potassium content and shoot to root dry weight ratio decreased with NaCl in hydroponics but not in pots. 'Criolla' cultivars grew less than the other genotypes, although 'Pedro Giménez' always exhibited highest shoot/root ratios

Salinity effects on germination, growth and mineral nutrition of Ricinus communis seedlings

The salinity effects on the germination and the growth of greenhouse grown castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) from three local provenances (Sidi Thabet, Grombalia and Kairouan) were studied. Plants were grown in sand-perlite mixture and irrigated with solution containing 0, 2, 5, and 10 g/l NaCl. The effect of salt stress on germination was weakly pronounced in the case of castor bean for the three provenances compared to control. Moreover, salt stress induced significant differences on plant growth during the experimental period. After 80 stress days, decreases in plant height were observed. 10 g/l NaCl has an intense depressive effect on seedling stage. The seedlings have not completed their development and this is noticed for all provenances. 5 g/l NaCl has also an intense depressive effect only for Grombalia. With regards to the mineral nutrition, hypocotyls are more concentrated in Na+ and Cl− than the other organs. Thus, we observed a slight increase in K+ concentration for 2 and 5 g/l NaCl compared to control, especially for Kairouan in stems. Based on the stability of the tolerance to salinity from germinative stage to seedlings stage, the provenance of Kai rouan was identified as the most tolerant and the provenance of Grombalia as the most sensitive to salt toxicity

Gas Under Diaphragm: A Rare Case of Ruptured Liver Abscess With Gas Forming Organism.

Acute abdominal pain with free air under the diaphragm visible on chest/abdomen X-ray (pneumoperitoneum) is a medical emergency. Most of such cases of pneumoperitoneum are attributable to perforated hollow viscus; however, other possibilities like rupture of liver abscess (by a gas-forming organism) also need to be considered. Further imaging like a CT scan might help in the diagnosis and would also obviate the need for laparotomy in some of such cases. We report a case of acute abdominal pain with gas under the diaphragm due to a ruptured liver abscess caused by . The patient was managed successfully with ultrasound-guided percutaneous aspiration and insertion of a drain along with antibiotics and supportive measures, and no laparotomy was performed

Evaluation of the morpho-physiological, biochemical and molecular responses of contrasting Medicago truncatula lines under water deficit stress

This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Analysis of Medicago Spp.Medicago truncatula is a forage crop of choice for farmers, and it is a model species for molecular research. The growth and development and subsequent yields are limited by water availability mainly in arid and semi-arid regions. Our study aims to evaluate the morpho-physiological, biochemical and molecular responses to water deficit stress in four lines (TN6.18, JA17, TN1.11 and A10) of M. truncatula. The results showed that the treatment factor explained the majority of the variation for the measured traits. It appeared that the line A10 was the most sensitive and therefore adversely affected by water deficit stress, which reduced its growth and yield parameters, whereas the tolerant line TN6.18 exhibited the highest root biomass production, a significantly higher increase in its total protein and soluble sugar contents, and lower levels of lipid peroxidation with greater cell membrane integrity. The expression analysis of the DREB1B gene using RT-qPCR revealed a tissue-differential expression in the four lines under osmotic stress, with a higher induction rate in roots of TN6.18 and JA17 than in A10 roots, suggesting a key role for DREB1B in water deficit tolerance in M. truncatula.This study was supported by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (CBBC02 LR15) and the National Research Foundation of South Africa (GUN 95358) in the framework of the Tunisian-South African Joint Research Collaboration Program (2016–2017).Peer reviewe

Effect of Initial Disturbance on The Detonation Front Structure of a Narrow Duct

The effect of an initial disturbance on the detonation front structure in a narrow duct is studied by three-dimensional numerical simulation. The numerical method used includes a high resolution fifth-order weighted essentially non-oscillatory scheme for spatial discretization, coupled with a third order total variation diminishing Runge-Kutta time stepping method. Two types of disturbances are used for the initial perturbation. One is a random disturbance which is imposed on the whole area of the detonation front, and the other is a symmetrical disturbance imposed within a band along the diagonal direction on the front. The results show that the two types of disturbances lead to different processes. For the random disturbance, the detonation front evolves into a stable spinning detonation. For the symmetrical diagonal disturbance, the detonation front displays a diagonal pattern at an early stage, but this pattern is unstable. It breaks down after a short while and it finally evolves into a spinning detonation. The spinning detonation structure ultimately formed due to the two types of disturbances is the same. This means that spinning detonation is the most stable mode for the simulated narrow duct. Therefore, in a narrow duct, triggering a spinning detonation can be an effective way to produce a stable detonation as well as to speed up the deflagration to detonation transition process.Comment: 30 pages and 11 figure

Pressure profiles in detonation cells with rectangular and diagonal structures

Experimental results presented in this work enable us to classify the three-dimensional structure of the detonation into two fundamental types: a rectangular structure and a diagonal structure. The rectangular structure is well documented in the literature and consists of orthogonal waves travelling independently front each another. The soot record in this case shows the classical diamond detonation cell exhibiting 'slapping waves'. The experiments indicate that the diagonal structure is a structure with the triple point intersections moving along the diagonal line of the tube cross section. The axes of the transverse waves are canted at 45 degrees to the wall, accounting for the lack of slapping waves. It is possible to reproduce these diagonal structures by appropriately controlling the experimental ignition procedure. The characteristics of the diagonal structure show some similarities with detonation structure in round tube. Pressure measurements recorded along the central axis of the cellular structure show a series of pressure peaks, depending on the type of structure and the position inside the detonation cell. Pressure profiles measured for the whole length of the two types of detonation cells show that the intensity of the shock front is higher and the length of the detonation cell is shorter for the diagonal structures

Preliminary experimental investigation of the pressure evolution in detonation cells

Recently two types of three-dimensional (3D) structure of gaseous detonation have been documented: rectangular and diagonal modes easily distinguishable from soot records. This paper presents pressure measurements recorded along the central axis of the cellular structure. The pressure records are achieved rd by using piezoelectric gauges flush-mounted with respect to the surface of the soot-covered plate located in the detonation tube. The low pressure reactive mixture used (H-2, O-2, Ar; Equivalence ratio = 1) is ignited in a square cross-section tube. The detonation tube is operated in the shock tube mode. The time evolution of the local pressure exhibits several pressure peaks depending on the type of 3D structure and on the position in the detonation cell. The first peak characterizes the leading shock and the subsequent pulses correspond to the elaborate shock structure, The influence of the slapping waves (SW) is documented. The pressure profiles throughout the whole length of the detonation cell ale reported for the individual types of 3D structure. The second pressure jumps can be rationalized in terms of the classical transverse wave structure. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved