Effect of water-deficit stress on secondary metabolites of Melissa officinalis L.: role of exogenous salicylic acid

Melissa officinalis is a perennial herbaceous plant from Lamiaceae family, widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries to add aroma. Drought stress in plants may happen due to the increase in water loss, insufficient water absorption or both. Salicylic acid (SA) is an important secondary metabolite in plants with hormone-like action in some biochemical pathways. Adding it during water-deficit stress, may alter a number of physiological processes, increasing the resistance of plant against possible damage by water loss. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of drought stress (DRU) on secondary metabolites of Melissa officinalis and also the efficacy of salicylic acid treatment to minimize the damages. According to the results, treatment of plant with 0.7 mM salicylic acid had considerable alteration in the quantity of important secondary metabolites. Protein concentration increased in all stages; Chlorophyll a reached to the highest amount; the amount of the MDA increased at the first and second stages in 1/3 fc drought treatment as well as at the third stage in 2/3 fc. Besides, total phenol content increased at stage I in 1/3 fc drought and the flavonoid content increased in 1/3 fc drought at all stages. Finally, content of anthocyanin was increased at first and third stages 1/3 fc drought, as well as at second stage in 1/3 fc drought. In conclusion, application of salicylic acid (0.7 mM) was useful for improving quality of lemon balm subjected to stress due to water deficit

Evaluation of the antioxidant activity of extracts from some fruit peels

The growing interest on the replacement of synthetic antioxidants with natural ones has directed many research toward the plant-derived raw materials. The special attention is focused on inexpensive or residual sources from food agricultural industries. Fruit peels are valuable wastes obtained from domestic and industrial sources. The potential of fruit wastes as sources of natural antioxidants was explored in the present research. The peels of five kinds of fruits commonly used were obtained from domestic consumption. Antioxidant activity of their separate extract was assessed using DPPH radical scavenging activity and ferric-reducing antioxidant power. Besides, total phenol, flavonoid anthocyanin, protein and soluble sugar contents of the samples were also determined. According to the results, the apple peel extract contained the most content of total flavonoid, soluble sugar, protein and ferric-reducing antioxidant power. The maximum DPPH radical scavenging activity (256.78 ± 4.54 mg AA.g^-1 dry weight = DW), total phenol (13.17 ± 0.268 mg of GAE.g^-1 DW) and total anthocyanin (0.811 ± 0.024 mg.g-1 DW) were observed in orange peel. This study demonstrated that fruit peels could serve as potential sources of antioxidants in the food and pharmaceutical industries

Penambahan Berbagai Aras Selenium untuk Menurunkan Merkuri dalam Rumput yang Ditanam pada Tanah di Sekitar Pabrik Tekstil (Selenium Addition Level to Reduce Mercury in The Grass Planted on The Soil Adjacent to Textile Factory)

The study was conducted to determine the level of Se that influenced the absorption of Hg by grasses and to determine the optimal level of Se to reduce Hg absorption. Two species of grasses namely Panicum muticum and Pennisetum purpureum, and 4 levels of Se namely 0, 1, 2, and 3 ppm, with 5 replications of each treatments were used in this study. The experimental design was a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Parameters measured were N total (Kjeldahl method), available P (Bray II method), exchangeable K (K in water method), Hg and Se content of the soil (AAS method). Samples of the forage were analyzed the Hg, Se, digestibility and crude protein (CP) content. Results of the study showed that species of grasses, level of Se and its interaction significantly (P<0.01) affected Hg content of the soil, Se and crude protein content of the forages. Level of Se significantly (P<0.01) affected Hg content of the forages while Se concentration on the soil were not afftected by level of Se but affected by spesies of grasses and interaction between level Se and spesies of grasses. Hg content of the soil (12.45 ppb) decreased after Panicum muticum cultivation (3.599 ppb) and however, they were significantly (P<0.01) different with the Hg content of the soil cultivated by Pennisetum purpureum (0.52 ppb). Hg contens of the Panicum muticum and Pennisetum purpureum were not detected under 0.54 ppb. Se contents of the soil increased after Panicum muticum cultivation (1.395 ppm) and were significant (P<0.01) different with cultivated by Pennisetum purpureum (1.585 ppm) also Se contents of the forages. Highest crude protein contents of the forages at the level Se 2 ppm for Panicum muticum (6.55%) and Pennisetum purpureum (6.88%). Conclusion of the study is addition of Se influence Hg absorbtion and level Se 2 ppm can be given to get the best forages quality. (Key words : Selenium, Mercury, Panicum muticum, Pennisetum purpureum

Diversity, distribution and conservation of the terrestrial reptiles of Oman (Sauropsida, Squamata)

All authors: Salvador Carranza , Meritxell Xipell, Pedro Tarroso, Andrew Gardner, Edwin Nicholas Arnold, Michael D. Robinson, Marc Simó-Riudalbas, Raquel Vasconcelos, Philip de Pous, Fèlix Amat, Jiří Šmíd, Roberto Sindaco, Margarita Metallinou †, Johannes Els, Juan Manuel Pleguezuelos, Luis Machado, David Donaire, Gabriel Martínez, Joan Garcia-Porta, Tomáš Mazuch, Thomas Wilms, Jürgen Gebhart, Javier Aznar, Javier Gallego, Bernd-Michael Zwanzig, Daniel Fernández-Guiberteau, Theodore Papenfuss, Saleh Al Saadi, Ali Alghafri, Sultan Khalifa, Hamed Al Farqani, Salim Bait Bilal, Iman Sulaiman Alazri, Aziza Saud Al Adhoobi, Zeyana Salim Al Omairi, Mohammed Al Shariani, Ali Al Kiyumi, Thuraya Al Sariri, Ahmed Said Al Shukaili, Suleiman Nasser Al Akhzami.In the present work, we use an exceptional database including 5,359 records of 101 species of Oman’s terrestrial reptiles together with spatial tools to infer the spatial patterns of species richness and endemicity, to infer the habitat preference of each species and to better define conservation priorities, with especial focus on the effectiveness of the protected areas in preserving this unique arid fauna. Our results indicate that the sampling effort is not only remarkable from a taxonomic point of view, with multiple observations for most species, but also for the spatial coverage achieved. The observations are distributed almost continuously across the two-dimensional climatic space of Oman defined by the mean annual temperature and the total annual precipitation and across the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the multivariate climatic space and are well represented within 17 out of the 20 climatic clusters grouping 10% of the explained climatic variance defined by PC1 and PC2. Species richness is highest in the Hajar and Dhofar Mountains, two of the most biodiverse areas of the Arabian Peninsula, and endemic species richness is greatest in the Jebel Akhdar, the highest part of the Hajar Mountains. Oman’s 22 protected areas cover only 3.91% of the country, including within their limits 63.37% of terrestrial reptiles and 50% of all endemics. Our analyses show that large areas of the climatic space of Oman lie outside protected areas and that seven of the 20 climatic clusters are not protected at all. The results of the gap analysis indicate that most of the species are below the conservation target of 17% or even the less restrictive 12% of their total area within a protected area in order to be considered adequately protected. Therefore, an evaluation of the coverage of the current network of protected areas and the identification of priority protected areas for reptiles using reserve design algorithms are urgently needed. Our study also shows that more than half of the species are still pending of a definitive evaluation by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).This work was funded by grants CGL2012-36970, CGL2015-70390-P from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain (cofunded by FEDER) to SC, the project Field study for the conservation of reptiles in Oman, Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, Oman (Ref: 22412027) to SC and grant 2014-SGR-1532 from the Secretaria d'Universitats i Recerca del Departament d'Economia i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya to SC. MSR is funded by a FPI grant from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain (BES-2013-064248); RV, PT and LM were funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through post-doc grants (SFRH/BPD/79913/2011) to RV, (SFRH/BPD/93473/2013) to PT and PhD grant (SFRH/BD/89820/2012) to LM, financed by Programa Operacional Potencial Humano (POPH) – Quadro de Referência Estrategico Nacional (QREN) from the European Social Fund and Portuguese Ministerio da Educação e Ciência

Enzyme immobilization: an update

Compared to free enzymes in solution, immobilized enzymes are more robust and more resistant to environmental changes. More importantly, the heterogeneity of the immo-bilized enzyme systems allows an easy recovery of both enzymes and products, multiple re-use of enzymes, continuous operation of enzymatic processes, rapid termination of reactions, and greater variety of bioreactor designs. This paper is a review of the recent literatures on enzyme immobilization by various techniques, the need for immobilization and different applications in industry, covering the last two decades. The most recent papers, patents, and reviews on immobilization strategies and application are reviewed

The Effect of Metal Ion Contents in Petal Tissue on Perception of Flower Final Colors in Gerbera hybrid

Interaction of floral pigments with metal ions can alter the final color of the petals. Metal ions can affect stability of flowers final color by altering vacuolar pH and activity of enzymes involved in biosynthesis, destruction, accumulation and transition of pigments. In this study, contents of metal ions of petal tissue and their relationships with parameters of petal color analyzed and compared in stage of full blooming in six varieties Gerbera with different colors. Investigation on metal ion contents in different varieties didn't show statistically significant difference in Cu2+ content. Results showed that enhancement of Fe2+ content in petals increased a* and C* parameters and decreased L* value. Also, reduction of Zn2+ amounts in petal tissue increased h* value. Unlike Ca2+, a positive significant difference observed between Mg2+ contents and parameters of C* and a*, also a negative significant difference between Mg2+ content and L* value. Ions of Fe2+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ presented more effective relationship with flower color parameters. Concentration of Fe2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Mn2+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ in petal tissue were ranged to 0.0076-0.012, 0.0035-0.004, 0.0017-0.003, 0.0021-0.0032, 2.18-2.97, 1.45-1.79 mg g-1 FW, respectively

Tear proteomic profiling as potential non-invasive laboratory test for rheumatoid arthritis

Tear film resembles other body fluids in many biochemical aspects. As tear sampling is a noninvasive, simple and rapid method, it may be used for diagnostic purposes regarding local or systemic disorders. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints. It may also cause Sjogren's syndrome, an inflammation of the lachrymal and salivary glands, leading to decreased production of saliva and tears and possible development of a dry mouth and dry eyes. Therefore, lachrymal and accessory glands can become a target of the immune system and show signs of inflammation, leading to possible changes in tear physiology and biochemistry. 30 RA patients and 30 controls (aged 45-55 years) were selected to enter the study. A number of analytical methods including electrophoresis, reverse-phase high-performance liquid-chromatography (HPLC) fractionations; enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) were used to separate and display the differential tear proteome. Total tear proteins and biological activities of some important enzymes, lysozyme, lactoferrin and tyrosinase were measured using known chemical assay methods. Changes in electrophoregrams and chromatographic tear proteomic profiling patterns were observed and characterized in tears of RA patients compared to healthy volunteers. Total tear proteins and lysozyme were decreased in tear samples obtained from RA patients while lactoferrin and immunoglobulins showed about a 10 increase compared to healthy controls. Based on the results obtained from this study, it is concluded that a rheumatologist should to be aware of the association between RA and inflammatory eye disease. Changes in tear proteins and enzymatic activity may, in most cases, give rise to impaired response of the eye to external and internal factors