Study of the behavior of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) in mixtures of perennial grasses and legumes, used by mowing and grazing

The research was carried out in the Banat plain area, characterized by the uneven distribution of rainfall during the vegetation period. The experimental device applied included three types of simple mixtures (Lolium perenne 50% + Festuca pratensis 50%, Lolium perenne 50% + Trifolium repens 50%, Lolium perenne 50% + Lotus corniculatus 50%) and a complex mixture (Lolium perenne 30% + Festuca pratensis 30% + Trifolium repens 20% + Lotus corniculatus 20%) used both by mowing and grazing directly with sheep. The fertilization was carried out uniformly, at all experimental variants (200 kg/ha of complex fertilizers was applied at the establishment, and during the vegetation a dose of N150 was applied in fractions, before the vegetation started and after each mowing or grazing cycle). The grazing variants was carried out with young males sheep of Țurcana breed. The floral composition of temporary grassland reacts differently to the valorification methods (mowing and grazing) because the morphological and ecophysical peculiarities of the grass and legume species are different. In case of simple mixtures, Lolium perenne is very competitive in blends with Festuca pratensis with a share of 52% in mowed variants, and 73% in grazing variants. Perennial grasses and legumes used for the simple and complex mixtures were: Timis 81 (Lolium perenne), Tampa (Festuca pratensis), Danitim (Trifolium repens), Dragotim (Lotus corniculatus). In the two years of production, the complex blend recorded the highest production of dry matter, in both uses, under conditions of balanced floral ratio between the component species

The effect of myco‐biocontrol based formulates on yield, physiology and secondary products of organically grown basil

The development of organic farming as a result of increasing consumer preference for organic food has led to the development and registration of new pest‐control products for certified organic production. In this study, the effects of three biocontrol products containing spores and mycelium of Arthrobotrys oligospora—Artis®, Beauveria bassiana—Bora®, and Coniothyrium minitans— Öko‐ni® were tested on four basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) cultivars: ‘Aromat de Buzau’, ‘Serafim’, ‘Macedon’ and ‘Cuisoare’. The application of Öko‐ni® increased basil yields by 8% relative to Control. The application of Bora® increased chlorophyll content of basil leaves by 2% and the activity of photosynthesis by 66% relative to the Control. Basil essential oil (EO) content was increased by 18% with the application of Artis® and by 34% with the application of Bora® and Öko‐ni®, respectively. The content of phenolic compounds analyzed by HPLC varied; caffeic acid concentration was higher in the plants treated with Öko‐ni®, hyperoside, isoquercitrin and rutin concentrations were higher in those treated with Artis®, while the quercitrin content was higher in Bora®‐treated plants. The two main EO constituents that were identified were linalool and methyl chavicol in ‘Aromat de Buzau’, linalool and eugenol in ‘Serafim’, neral and geranial in ‘Macedon’, also linalool and eugenol in ‘Cuisoare’. The investigated myco‐biocontrol products had positive effects on basil fresh biomass and EO content and also influenced the content of phenolic compounds

Chemical Probes that Competitively and Selectively Inhibit Stat3 Activation

Signal transducer and activator of transcription (Stat) 3 is an oncogene constitutively activated in many cancer systems where it contributes to carcinogenesis. To develop chemical probes that selectively target Stat3, we virtually screened 920,000 small drug-like compounds by docking each into the peptide-binding pocket of the Stat3 SH2 domain, which consists of three sites—the pY-residue binding site, the +3 residue-binding site and a hydrophobic binding site, which served as a selectivity filter. Three compounds satisfied criteria of interaction analysis, competitively inhibited recombinant Stat3 binding to its immobilized pY-peptide ligand and inhibited IL-6-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation of Stat3. These compounds were used in a similarity screen of 2.47 million compounds, which identified 3 more compounds with similar activities. Examination of the 6 active compounds for the ability to inhibit IFN-γ-mediated Stat1 phosphorylation revealed that 5 of 6 were selective for Stat3. Molecular modeling of the SH2 domains of Stat3 and Stat1 bound to compound revealed that compound interaction with the hydrophobic binding site was the basis for selectivity. All 5 selective compounds inhibited nuclear-to-cytoplasmic translocation of Stat3, while 3 of 5 compounds induced apoptosis preferentially of breast cancer cell lines with constitutive Stat3 activation. Thus, virtual ligand screening of compound libraries that targeted the Stat3 pY-peptide binding pocket identified for the first time 3 lead compounds that competitively inhibited Stat3 binding to its pY-peptide ligand; these compounds were selective for Stat3 vs. Stat1 and induced apoptosis preferentially of breast cancer cells lines with constitutively activated Stat3