In this study, series of non-ionic surfactants from Span and Tween are evaluated for their ability to affect the viscosity profile of cyclopentane hydrate slurry. The surfactants; Span 20, Span 40, Span 80, Tween 20, Tween 40 and Tween 80 were selected and tested to provide different hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance values and allow evaluation their solubility impact on hydrate formation and growth time. The study was performed by using a HAAKE ViscotesterTM 500 at 2 °C and a surfactant concentration ranging from 0.1 wt%-1 wt%. The solubility characteristic of the non-ionic surfactants changed the hydrate slurry in different ways with surfactants type and varying concentration. The rheological measurement suggested that oil-soluble Span surfactants was generally inhibitive to hydrate formation by extending the hydrate induction time. However, an opposite effect was observed for the Tween surfactants. On the other hand, both Span and Tween demonstrated promoting effect to accelerate hydrate growth time of cyclopentane hydrate formation. The average hydrate crystallization growth time of the blank sample was reduced by 86% and 68% by Tween and Span surfactants at 1 wt%, respectively. The findings in this study are useful to understand the rheological behavior of surfactants in hydrate slurry.
In the past two decades, the search for novel pharmacotherapies to treat alcohol addiction has been a global endeavor. This has resulted in several drugs that have been approved and successfully marketed for public use while some are still in the testing phase. These pharmacological agents, though effective for the treatment of alcoholism, are not without shortcomings; such as abuse potential, serious mental and physical adverse effects, interaction with alcohol and also poor metabolism and excretion. As more is being understood about the neurobiology of alcohol addiction as well as the unique pharmacological action of these drugs, new agents are evaluated for potential benefits when used as an adjunct in combination therapy. This review article summarizes the novel pharmacotherapeutic approaches used in the treatment of alcohol addiction by focusing on the drugs, which include neramexane, gabapentin, baclofen, aripiprazole, nalmafene, and quetiapine.
Matched MeSH terms: Cyclopentanes/adverse effects; Cyclopentanes/therapeutic use
Polygonum minus Huds. is a medicinal aromatic plant rich in terpenes, aldehydes, and phenolic compounds. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is a plant signaling molecule commonly applied to elicit stress responses to produce plant secondary metabolites. In this study, the effects of exogenous MeJA treatment on the composition of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in P. minus leaves were investigated by using a metabolomic approach. Time-course changes in the leaf composition of VOCs on days 1, 3, and 5 after MeJA treatment were analyzed through solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The VOCs found in MeJA-elicited leaves were similar to those found in mock-treated leaves but varied in quantity at different time points. We focused our analysis on the content and composition of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and green leaf volatiles (GLVs) within the leaf samples. Our results suggest that MeJA enhances the activity of biosynthetic pathways for aldehydes and terpenes in P. minus. Hence, the production of aromatic compounds in this medicinal herb can be increased by MeJA elicitation. Furthermore, the relationship between MeJA elicitation and terpene biosynthesis in P. minus was shown through SPME-GC-MS analysis of VOCs combined with transcriptomic analysis of MeJA-elicited P. minus leaves from our previous study.
Callus was induced from mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) young purple-red leaves on Murashige and Skoog basal medium with various combinations of plant growth regulators. Murashige and Skoog medium with 4.44 µM 6-benzylaminopurine and 4.52 µM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid was the best for friable callus induction. This friable callus was used for the initiation of cell suspension culture. The effects of different combinations of 6-benzylaminopurine and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, carbon sources and inoculum sizes were tested. It was found that combination of 2.22 µM 6-benzylaminopurine + 2.26 µM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, glucose (30 g/l) and 1.5 g/50 ml inoculum size was the best for cell growth. Callus and cell suspension cultures were then treated either with 100 µM methyl jasmonate as an elicitor for 5 days, or 0.5 g/l casein hydrolysate as an organic supplement for 7 days. Metabolites were then extracted and profiled using liquid chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry. Multivariate discriminant analyses revealed significant metabolite differences (P ≤ 0.05) for callus and suspension cells treated either with methyl jasmonate or casein hydrolysate. Based on MS/MS data, methyl jasmonate stimulated the production of an alkaloid (thalsimine) and fatty acid (phosphatidyl ethanolamine) in suspension cells while in callus, an alkaloid (thiacremonone) and glucosinolate (7-methylthioheptanaldoxime) was produced. Meanwhile casein hydrolysate stimulated the production of alkaloids such as 3ß,6ß-dihydroxynortropane and cis-hinokiresinol and triterpenoids such as schidigerasaponin and talinumoside in suspension cells. This study provides evidence on the potential of secondary metabolite production from in vitro culture of mangosteen.
Melastoma malabathricum, belongs to the Melastomaceae family, is an important medicinal plant widely distributed from Madagascar to Australia, that is used in traditional remedies for the treatment of various ailments. Besides its medicinal properties, it has been identified as a potential source of anthocyanin production. The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of sucrose and methyl jasmonate and feeding time on cell biomass yield and anthocyanin production in cell suspension culture of M. malabathricum. Addition of different concentrations of sucrose into the cell culture of M. malabathricum influenced cell biomass and pigment accumulation. The addition of methyl jasmonate was found to have no effect on cell biomass but the presence of higher amount (12.5-50 mg/L) had caused a reduction in anthocyanin production and accumulation. MS medium supplemented with 30 g/L sucrose and 3.5 mg/L of MeJA added on cero day and 3rd day produced high fresh cell mass at the end of nine days of culture but did not support the production of anthocyanins. However, cells cultured in the medium supplemented with 45 g/L sucrose without MeJA showed the highest pigment content (0.69 +/- 0.22 CV/g-FCM). The cells cultured in MS medium supplemented with 30 g/L sucrose with 3.5 mg/L MeJA added on the 3rd and 6th day of culture, showed the lowest pigment content (0.37-0.40 CV/g-FCM). This study indicated that MeJA was not necessary but sucrose was needed for the enhancement of cell growth and anthocyanin production in M. malabathricum cell cultures.
Fragaria chiloensis fruit has a short postharvest life mainly due to its rapid softening. In order to improve its postharvest life, preharvest applications of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and chitosan were evaluated during postharvest storage at room temperature. The quality and chemical parameters, and protection against decay were evaluated at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h of storage from fruits of two subsequent picks (termed as first harvest and second harvest). In general, fruits treated with MeJA and chitosan maintained higher levels of fruit firmness, anthocyanin, and showed significant delays in decay incidence compared to control fruit. MeJA-treated fruits exhibited a greater lignin content and SSC/TA ratio, and delayed decay incidences. Instead, chitosan-treated fruits presented higher antioxidant capacity and total phenol content. In short, both the elicitors were able to increase the shelf life of fruits as evidenced by the increased levels of lignin and anthocyanin, especially of the second harvest.
Hevea brasiliensis remains the primary crop commercially exploited to obtain latex, which is produced from the articulated secondary laticifer. Here, we described the transcriptional events related to jasmonic acid (JA)- and linolenic acid (LA)-induced secondary laticifer differentiation (SLD) in H. brasiliensis clone RRIM 600 based on RNA-seq approach. Histochemical approach proved that JA- and LA-treated samples resulted in SLD in H. brasiliensis when compared to ethephon and untreated control. RNA-seq data resulted in 86,614 unigenes, of which 2,664 genes were differentially expressed in JA and LA-induced secondary laticifer harvested from H. brasiliensis bark samples. Among these, 450 genes were unique to JA and LA as they were not differentially expressed in ethephon-treated samples compared with the untreated samples. Most transcription factors from the JA- and LA-specific dataset were classified under MYB, APETALA2/ethylene response factor (AP2/ERF), and basic-helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene families that were involved in tissue developmental pathways, and we proposed that Bel5-GA2 oxidase 1-KNOTTED-like homeobox complex are likely involved in JA- and LA-induced SLD in H. brasiliensis. We also discovered alternative spliced transcripts, putative novel transcripts, and cis-natural antisense transcript pairs related to SLD event. This study has advanced understanding on the transcriptional regulatory network of SLD in H. brasiliensis.
The importance of plant secondary metabolites for both mankind and the plant itself has long been established. However, despite extensive research on plant secondary metabolites, plant secondary metabolism and its regulation still remained poorly characterized. In this present study, cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP) transcript profiling was applied to generate the expression profiles of Polygonum minus in response to salicylic acid (SA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) elicitations. This study reveals two different sets of genes induced by SA and MeJA, respectively where stress-related genes were proved to lead to the expression of genes involved in plant secondary metabolite biosynthetic pathways. A total of 98 transcript-derived fragments (TDFs) were up-regulated, including 46 from SA-treated and 52 from MeJA-treated samples. The cDNA-AFLP transcripts generated using 64 different Mse1/Taq1 primer combinations showed that treatments with SA and MeJA induced genes mostly involved in scavenging reactive oxygen species, including zeaxanthin epoxidase, cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase 1 and peroxidase. Of these stress-related genes, 15 % of other annotated TDFs are involved mainly in secondary metabolic processes where among these, two genes encoding (+)-delta cadinene synthase and cinnamoyl-CoA reductase were highlighted.
Since 2003, highly pathogenic A(H5N1) influenza viruses have been the cause of large-scale death in poultry and the subsequent infection and death of over 140 humans. A group of 55 influenza A(H5N1) viruses isolated from various regions of South East Asia between 2004 and 2006 were tested for their susceptibility to the anti-influenza drugs the neuraminidase inhibitors and adamantanes. The majority of strains were found to be fully sensitive to the neuraminidase inhibitors oseltamivir carboxylate, zanamivir and peramivir; however two strains demonstrated increased IC50 values. Sequence analysis of these strains revealed mutations in the normally highly conserved residues 116 and 117 of the N1 neuraminidase. Sequence analysis of the M2 gene showed that all of the A(H5N1) viruses from Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia contained mutations (L26I and S31N) associated with resistance to the adamantane drugs (rimantadine and amantadine), while strains from Indonesia were found to be a mix of both adamantane resistant (S31N) and sensitive viruses. None of the A(H5N1) viruses from Myanmar contained mutations known to confer adamantane resistance. These results support the use of neuraminidase inhibitors as the most appropriate class of antiviral drug to prevent or treat human A(H5N1) virus infections.
The novel avian influenza A H7N9 virus which caused the first human infection in Shanghai, China; was reported on the 31st of March 2013 before spreading rapidly to other Chinese provinces and municipal cities. This is the first time the low pathogenic avian influenza A virus has caused human infections and deaths; with cases of severe respiratory disease with pneumonia being reported. There were 440 confirmed cases with 122 fatalities by 16 May 2014; with a fatality risk of ∼28%. The median age of patients was 61 years with a male-to-female ratio of 2.4:1. The main source of infection was identified as exposure to poultry and there is so far no definitive evidence of sustained person-to-person transmission. The neuraminidase inhibitors, namely oseltamivir, zanamivir, and peramivir; have shown good efficacy in the management of the novel H7N9 virus. Treatment is recommended for all hospitalized patients, and for confirmed and probable outpatient cases; and should ideally be initiated within 48 h of the onset of illness for the best outcome. Phylogenetic analysis found that the novel H7N9 virus is avian in origin and evolved from multiple reassortments of at least four origins. Indeed the novel H7N9 virus acquired human adaptation via mutations in its eight RNA gene segments. Enhanced surveillance and effective global control are essential to prevent pandemic outbreaks of the novel H7N9 virus.
The natural rubber of Para rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis, is the main crop involved in industrial rubber production due to its superior quality. The Hevea bark is commercially exploited to obtain latex, which is produced from the articulated secondary laticifer. The laticifer is well defined in the aspect of morphology; however, only some genes associated with its development have been reported. We successfully induced secondary laticifer in the jasmonic acid (JA)-treated and linolenic acid (LA)-treated Hevea bark but secondary laticifer is not observed in the ethephon (ET)-treated and untreated Hevea bark. In this study, we analysed 27,195 gene models using NimbleGen microarrays based on the Hevea draft genome. 491 filtered differentially expressed (FDE) transcripts that are common to both JA- and LA-treated bark samples but not ET-treated bark samples were identified. In the Eukaryotic Orthologous Group (KOG) analysis, 491 FDE transcripts belong to different functional categories that reflect the diverse processes and pathways involved in laticifer differentiation. In the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and KOG analysis, the profile of the FDE transcripts suggest that JA- and LA-treated bark samples have a sufficient molecular basis for secondary laticifer differentiation, especially regarding secondary metabolites metabolism. FDE genes in this category are from the cytochrome (CYP) P450 family, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family, short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) family, or cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) family. The data includes many genes involved in cell division, cell wall synthesis, and cell differentiation. The most abundant transcript in FDE list was SDR65C, reflecting its importance in laticifer differentiation. Using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) as part of annotation and functional prediction, several characterised as well as uncharacterized transcription factors and genes were found in the dataset. Hence, the further characterization of these genes is necessary to unveil their role in laticifer differentiation. This study provides a platform for the further characterization and identification of the key genes involved in secondary laticifer differentiation.