ABSTRACT Rock phosphate (RP) is traditionally solubilized by chemical process causing high cost and environmental pollution. To reduce process cost and protect environment, RP solubilization by Aspergillus japonicus was studied and its mechanisms were discussed. Results show that A. japonicus could effectively solubilize RP in NBRIP medium. RP solubilization by A. japonicus included direct and indirect actions of the strain on RP. Cells of A. japonicus attached rapidly to RP surface and the RP surface was seriously corroded by the strain. A. japonicus excreted multiple organic acids, and followed by a significant increase of titratable acidity and decrease of pH in the culture. A positive correlation between content of soluble phosphate and quantity of titratable acidity but a negative correlation between content of soluble phosphate and pH were observed. Results of abiotic solubilization of RP using organic and inorganic acids indicated that the release of soluble phosphate was significantly lower than that of inoculated with A. japonicus. Higher release of soluble phosphate and pH reduction achieved when using ammonium nitrogen rather than nitrate nitrogen.

We wish to report a set of seventeen ketones bearing nabumetone and trifluoro- methylaniline(TFMA) moieties. Synthesized via direct Mannich reaction in a solution of ethanol- chloroform catalyzed by concentrated hydrochloric acid, the chemical structures of these compounds were characterized by IR, ¹H NMR, 13C NMR, ESI MS and HR MS. Studies on their antidiabetic activities revealed that all title compounds possessed moderate α-glucosidase inhibitory activities and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP 1B) inhibitory activities. Among them, a few compounds also exhibit considerable peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor response element (PPRE) agonist activity, in particular the relative PPRE agonist activity of compounds 1r and 1l reached 54.02% and 57.60%, respectively. These results represent significant examples of new molecular type for antidiabetic agents that merit further evaluation.

We investigated inheritance and carried out gene fine mapping of aroma in crosses between the aromatic elite hybrid rice Oryza sativa indica variety Chuanxiang-29B (Ch-29B) and the non-aromatic rice O. sativa indica variety R2 and O. sativa japonica Lemont (Le). The F1 grains and leaves were non-aromatic while the F2 non-aroma to aroma segregation pattern was 3:1. The F3 segregation ratio was consistent with the expected 1:2:1 for a single recessive aroma gene in Ch-29B. Linkage analysis between simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and the aroma locus for the aromatic F2 plants mapped the Ch-29B aroma gene to a chromosome 8 region flanked by SSR markers RM23120 at 0.52 cM and RM3459 at 1.23 cM, a replicate F2 population confirming these results. Three bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones cover chromosome 8 markers RM23120 and RM3459. Our molecular mapping data from the two populations indicated that the aroma locus occurs in a 142.85 kb interval on BAC clones AP005301 or AP005537, implying that it might be the same gene reported by Bradbury et al (2005a; Plant Biotec J. 3:363-370). The flanking markers Aro7, RM23120 and RM3459 identified by us could greatly accelerate the efficiency and precision of aromatic rice breeding programs.

SSRs have proved to be the most powerful tool for variety identification in groundnut of similar origin, and have much potential in genetic and breeding studies. To facilitate SSR discovery in groundnut, we proposed a highly simplified SSR isolation protocol based on multiple enzyme digestion/ligation, mixed biotin-labeled probes and streptavidin coated magnetic beads hybridization capture strategy. Of the 272 colonies randomly picked for sequencing, 119 were found to have unique SSR inserts