Use of desiccant application to enhance the germination and vigor of inbred corn seed

The objective of this study was to assess the comparative effect on warm and cold germination of seed from five different inbred maize cultivars following Defol 750 (sodium chlorate) application at approximately 50% moisture content. The trial was conducted in 2016 at the Syngenta Seed Production Research Farm in Waterloo, Nebraska using a randomized complete block consisting of three locations with a factorial arrangement of sodium chlorate treatment and an untreated control. Sodium chlorate application improved the cold germination of one variety by a score of 17.5 and showed significant effect of desiccation on the cold germination on the tested inbreds (p0.05). The application of sodium chlorate also resulted in a significant effect on an inbred seed size interaction (

Use of desiccant application to enhance the germination and vigor of inbred corn seed

The objective of this study was to assess the comparative effect on warm and cold germination of seed from five different inbred maize cultivars following Defol 750 (sodium chlorate) application at approximately 50% moisture content. The trial was conducted in 2016 at the Syngenta Seed Production Research Farm in Waterloo, Nebraska using a randomized complete block consisting of three locations with a factorial arrangement of sodium chlorate treatment and an untreated control. Sodium chlorate application improved the cold germination of one variety by a score of 17.5 and showed significant effect of desiccation on the cold germination on the tested inbreds (p0.05). The application of sodium chlorate also resulted in a significant effect on an inbred seed size interaction (p**This submission only represents an abstract from a project that was presented and approved by the students Graduate Faculty Committee. Because the complete creative component project contained proprietary company information, the student is only able to share this version of the project to the online repository.</p

Silver nanoparticles suppress forskolin-induced syncytialization in BeWo cells

Opportunities for the exposure of pregnant women to engineered nanoparticles have been increasing with the expanding use of these materials. Therefore, there are concerns that nanoparticles could have adverse effects on the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. The effects of nanoparticles on the mother and fetus have been evaluated from this perspective, but there is still little knowledge about the effects on placentation and function acquisition, which are essential for the successful establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. Formation of the syncytiotrophoblast is indispensable for the acquisition of placental function, and impairment of syncytialization inevitably affects pregnancy outcomes. Here, we assessed the effect of nanoparticles on placental formation by using forskolin-treated BeWo cells, a typical in vitro model of trophoblast syncytialization. Immunofluorescence staining analysis revealed that silver nanoparticles with a diameter of 10 nm (nAg10) (at 0.156 µg/mL) significantly decreased the proportion of syncytialized BeWo cells, but gold nanoparticles with a diameter of 10 nm did not. Consistently, only nAg10 (at 0.156 µg/mL) significantly suppressed forskolin-induced elevation of CGB and SDC1 mRNA expression levels and human chorionic gonadotropin β production in a dose-dependent manner; these molecules are all markers of syncytialization. Besides, nAg10 significantly decreased the expression of ERVFRD-1, which encodes proteins associated with cell fusion. Moreover, nAg10 tended to suppress the expression of sFlt-1 e15a, a placental angiogenesis marker. Collectively, our data suggest that nAg10 could suppress formation of the syncytiotrophoblast and that induce placental dysfunction and the following poor pregnancy outcomes.</p