Search results for "classification"

Preparation of Samples for Characterization of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

2020

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are an important element of the plant microbiome as they establish an endosymbiotic relationship with the roots of most plant species. This association enhances access to nutrients and water for plants, and provides the fungus with plant-derived organic carbon. In this chapter, I describe a range of methods to work with AMF including: soil sampling; isolation of AMF propagules (spores, sporocarps, roots, and mycelium) by a wet sieving and centrifugation in a sucrose solution; trap (from field soil with AMF spores) and one-species pot cultures (from AMF spores divided into morphotypes); staining of mycorrhizae in plant roots; and production of diagnostic sl…

2020

Turtles, a speciose group consisting of more than 300 species, demonstrate karyotypes with diploid chromosome numbers ranging from 2n = 26 to 2n = 68. However, cytogenetic analyses have been conducted only to 1/3rd of the turtle species, often limited to conventional staining methods. In order to expand our knowledge of the karyotype evolution in turtles, we examined the topology of the (TTAGGG)n telomeric repeats and the rDNA loci by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on the karyotypes of two emydids: the Sicilian pond turtle, Emys trinacris, and the yellow-bellied slider, Trachemys scripta scripta (family Emydidae). Furthermore, AT-rich and GC-rich chromosome regions were detected …

Seasonal genetic variation associated with population dynamics of a poecilogonous polychaete worm

2017

Poecilogonous species show variation in developmental mode, with larvae that differ both morphologically and ecologically. The spionid polychaete Pygospio elegans shows variation in developmental mode not only between populations, but also seasonally within populations. We investigated the consequences of this developmental polymorphism on the spatial and seasonal genetic structure of P. elegans at four sites in the Danish Isefjord‐Roskilde‐Fjord estuary at six time points, from March 2014 until February 2015. We found genetic differentiation between our sampling sites as well as seasonal differentiation at two of the sites. The seasonal genetic shift correlated with the appearance of new s…

In vitro bioactive properties of phlorotannins recovered from hydrothermal treatment of Sargassum muticum

2016

Abstract The present work addresses the potential of different adsorbents for the recovery of the phlorotannin fraction present in the liquid phase from the autohydrolysis of Sargassum muticum. Operating with the extract generated during autohydrolysis of alginate exhausted algae, the kinetics followed pseudo-second order and the equilibrium corresponded to Freundlich model. In batch configuration, up to 70% phlorotannins were adsorbed and up to 30% were desorbed with ethanolic solutions. Comparable performance was observed with the autohydrolysis extracts from the whole algae. The phloroglucinol content, the reducing and ABTS antiradical capacities of the desorbed product increased by 2–4 …

In vitro antifungal activity of bioactive peptides produced by Lactobacillus plantarum against Aspergillus parasiticus and Penicillium expansum

2017

Abstract Food spoilage caused by mycotoxigenic moulds represents an important problem in food security. The antimicrobial peptides are compounds of natural origin constituted by a variable number (5–100) of amino acids held together through peptide bonds. In this work, the cell free supernatants (CFSs) containing peptides obtained from four strains of LAB were lyophilized, filtered and tested to determine the antifungal activity against Aspergillus Parasiticus and Penicillium expansum . CFS obtained by Lactobacillus plantarum showed the highest inhibition activity. CFS was fractionated by size exclusion chromatography and injected into the liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detect…

Importance of Endophytic Strains Pantoea agglomerans in the Biological Control of Rhizoctonia solani

2018

Abstract Antagonistic activity of microorganisms against phytopathogens is mainly the results of plants’ health improvement due to the inhibition of pathogens growth and the induction of plants resistance against diseases. The aim of the research was to determine antagonistic properties of Pantoea agglomerans against Rhizoctonia solani. The properties of two strains P. agglomerans BC17 and BC45 were assessed according to the following criteria: mycelial growth of R. solani in the presence of bacterial metabolites, an impact of P. agglomerans on the growth of sugar beet in the pots containing soil with and addition of R. solani and without it, the ability to produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA…

Characterization of a β-glucosidase isolated from an alpeorujo strain of Candida adriatica

2017

ABSTRACTA β-glucosidase-producing strain, Candida adriatica CECT13142, was isolated from olive oil wastes (alpeorujo) and identified by PCR/restriction fragment length polymorphism of the rDNA internal transcribed spacer and sequence analysis of the D1/D2 region of the 26S rRNA gene techniques. The enzyme was purified by sequential chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and Sephadex G-100. The relative molecular mass of the enzyme was estimated to be 50 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The hydrolytic activity of the β-glucosidase had an optimum pH of 8.2 and an optimum temperature of 40°C. The enzyme displayed high substrate specificity and high catalytic efficiency (Km 0.85 mM, Vmax 12.5 U/g of cells) for p-nit…

2020

Fucoxanthin and its derivatives are the main light-harvesting pigments in the photosynthetic apparatus of many chromalveolate algae and represent the most abundant carotenoids in the world's oceans, thus being major facilitators of marine primary production. A central step in fucoxanthin biosynthesis that has been elusive so far is the conversion of violaxanthin to neoxanthin. Here, we show that in chromalveolates, this reaction is catalyzed by violaxanthin de-epoxidase-like (VDL) proteins and that VDL is also involved in the formation of other light-harvesting carotenoids such as peridinin or vaucheriaxanthin. VDL is closely related to the photoprotective enzyme violaxanthin de-epoxidase t…

Polyamine Biosynthesis Engineering as a Tool to Improve Plant Resistance to Abiotic Stress

2015

Polyamines (PAs) are small polycationic molecules which are present in all living organisms. PAs have been involved in a wide array of metabolic plant processes, extending from development to stress protection. Most of this knowledge has been achieved through the observation of PA homeostasis and manipulation of plant PA levels mediated by different approaches. This chapter summarizes the approaches undertaken to demonstrate the relationship between PAs and the stress response and, in particular, how the genetic manipulation of polyamine levels has evolved in a useful tool for the enhancement of plant stress tolerance in many species, including crops. This chapter also includes the most rec…

Studying the Function of the Phosphorylated Pathway of Serine Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana

2017

Photorespiration is an essential pathway in photosynthetic organisms and is particularly important to detoxify and recycle 2-phosphoglycolate (2-PG), a by-product of oxygenic photosynthesis. The enzymes that catalyze the reactions in the photorespiratory core cycle and closely associated pathways have been identified; however, open questions remain concerning the metabolic network in which photorespiration is embedded. The amino acid serine represents one of the major intermediates in the photorespiratory pathway and photorespiration is thought to be the major source of serine in plants. The restriction of photorespiration to autotrophic cells raises questions concerning the source of serin…