The aim of this study was to investigate antifungal activity of a range of different molecular weight (MW) chitosan against Penicillium italicum. Our results demonstrate that the antifungal activity was dependent both the MW and concentration of the chitosan. Among a series of chitosan derived from the hydrolysis of high MW chitosan, the fractions containing various sizes of chitosan ranging fr...

Transition row metal ions are both essential and toxic to microorganisms. Zinc in excess has significant toxicity to bacteria, and host release of Zn(II) at mucosal surfaces is an important innate defence mechanism. However, the molecular mechanisms by which Zn(II) affords protection have not been defined. We show that in Streptococcus pneumoniae extracellular Zn(II) inhibits the acquisition of...

It was demonstrated in our recent study that Zn(2+) had dual effects on Ca(2+)-permeable AMPA receptors on carp retinal horizontal cells. However, the possible mechanism(s) underlying the Zn(2+) effects is still unclear. In the present study, we examined the Zn(2+) effects in the presence of cyclothiazide (CTZ), an allosteric potentiator of AMPA receptors, which could attenuate the receptor des...

Juvenile black sea bream, Acanthopagrus schlegelii, were exposed to waterborne zinc (Zn) at concentrations of 0, 200, and 400 μg/L, at temperatures of 18 or 26 °C for 4 weeks. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities in the liver and gill of A. schlegelii significantly increased following exposure to waterborne Zn. Significant reduction in glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity in the liver and ...

Gaseous HZnCl has been synthesized for the first time in a high-temperature tube furnace with a dc discharge in a flowing mixture of pure HCl and Zn vapor. The vibration-rotation emission spectrum of HZnCl was recorded at high resolution using a Fourier transform spectrometer. The H-Zn stretching modes (nu(1)) of the H(64)Zn(35)Cl, H(66)Zn(35)Cl, H(68)Zn(35)Cl, and H(64)Zn(37)Cl species, as wel...

Inheritance of plant height, pod length, pod width, seed length and seed width was studied in a set of crosses grown during rabi 2007-08. F2 phenotypic data for plant height was a good fit to a phenotypic ratio of 1:4:6:4:1 and 1:2:1 respectively in two crosses studied indicating the involvement of more than two genes. Segregation of pod length in F2 generation of the cross ICGV 00350 x K 1340,...

The LiF:F2+** laser has been shown' to provide high power (hundreds ofmJ), efficient (tens of%), room temperature stable laser operation tunable from 800 nm to nearly 1210 nm. However, no reasonable explanations were provided for such an ultrabroadband tuning capability using this active medium. This work describes the mechanism ofthe ullrabroadband lasing from LiF:F2+** und Alexandrite 1asa pu...

Zinc concentrations in alfalfa hay were varied using a N-Zn liquid fertilizer as a foliar applicant (.34 or .68 kg Zn/ha) or as a soil fertilizer (4.07 kg Zn/ha). Mean concentrations of Zn across five cuttings of alfalfa in 2 yr were 18, 27, 41 and 21 mg Zn/kg DM for control, low foliar, high foliar and soil treatments, respectively. Each treatment was fed in ad libitum amounts to eight crossbr...

Changes in DNA methylation may play a role in the genetic mechanism underlying glucose intolerance in the offspring of mothers with diabetes. Here, we established a rat model of moderate intrauterine hyperglycemia induced by streptozotocin to detect glucose and lipid metabolism of first-generation (F1) and second-generation (F2) offspring. Moderate intrauterine hyperglycemia induced high body w...

BACKGROUND Spermatogonia are highly tolerant to reactive oxygen species (ROS) attack while advanced-stage germ cells such as spermatozoa are much more susceptible, but the precise reason for this variation in ROS tolerance remains unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Using the Japanese eel testicular culture system that enables a complete spermatogenesis in vitro, we report that advanced-s...