Table of Content

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• Current Biotechnology
  Volume 4 Issue 3 25 May 2014
• Progress of High Photosynthesis Efficiency Rice Breeding
• NIU Li-fang, LU Tie-gang, LIN Hao*
• 2014, 4(3):  153-157.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-2341.2014.03.01
• Abstract ( ) PDF (1200KB)( )
Rice is a staple food worldwide. The low photosynthetic efficiency is one of the factors limiting rice yield. Improvement of photosynthetic capacity will play a critical role in increasing rice production. This review briefly introduces the history and progress in rice breeding for high photosynthesis efficiency, and summarizes the strategies for improving rice photosynthesis capacity through hybrid breeding, genetic engineering and plant architecture improvement approaches.
• Research Progress on Eukaryotic Promoter
• LI Sheng-yan, LANG Zhi-hong*, HUANG Da-fang*
• 2014, 4(3):  158-164.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-2341.2014.03.02
• Abstract ( ) PDF (1377KB)( )
Promoter is an important element in regulation of gene expression. The regulation role of promoter is the result of a multi-level interaction of multiple factors. The level, location and manner of gene expression are regulated by the promoter, so deeply study of promoter is of great importance for understanding biological growth, defense system and disease. This paper reviews the methods of promoter cloning, bioinformatics analysis and forecasting of promoter, compares two methods of promoter analysis, introduces the progress of promoter methylation and polymorphism, so as to provide a reference for further study of promoters.
• Progress on Expression of Recombinant Porcine Growth Hormone
• ZHANG Yong-hong, TANG Fen-fen, SHAO Yu-lan, ZHONG Jian, BAI Xing-rong*
• 2014, 4(3):  165-170.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-2341.2014.03.03
• Abstract ( ) PDF (1923KB)( )
Porcine growth hormone (pGH), a protein hormone that plays a leading role in the process of pig's growing development, is one of useful hormones worth developing and utilizing in animal husbandry, since it can increase muscle protein content，reduce fat content，promote bone growth，and stimulate lactation，etc. The development of recombinant porcine somatotropin hormone by genetic engineering techniques make it possible for pGH's applications in the pig production. This paper briefly described the porcine growth hormone，summarized the research progress of recombinant porcine growth hormone expression，and forecasted the prospect of the application and development of recombinant porcine growth hormone.
• Research Progress on Microbial Remediation of Nitro-aromatic Compounds
• YANG Rui-hong
• 2014, 4(3):  171-176.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-2341.2014.03.04
• Abstract ( ) PDF (1229KB)( )
Nitro-aromatic compounds, a kinds of very important organic chemicals, are considered as organic pollutants hard to degrade. Compared with the traditional removal method, bioremediation method is more sustainable since it could make nitro-aromatic compounds become part of biogeochemical cycles by microbial mineralization or non-specific catalytic conversion. This paper reviewed the research progress on microbial resource of nitro-aromatics degradation and their degradation pathway，mechanism，and the related bioremediation methods.
• Research Progress on Arsenic Bio-adsorption
• CHEN Peng1,2, WANG Ning-bo2, LI Su-yue2, YAN Xiao-juan2, XIONG Min-hui2, LI Hong-yu1, LIANG Ning2
• 2014, 4(3):  177-181.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-2341.2014.03.05
• Abstract ( ) PDF (1703KB)( )
Affected by geological movement and human activities, water pollution by arsenic become a serious threat to human health and life. Treatment of arsenic contamination is one of world focuses. Adsorption is a low cost, easy operating and efficient method to remove arsenic. Currently, absorption properties of various arsenic absorbents have been extensively studied. Biosorbent, which is eco\|friendly and no\|secondary pollution, has attracted widespread attention. This paper reviewed arsenic biosorbents and their adsorption mechanisms, outlining the future research directions and providing reference for the development of new adsorbent materials.
• The Safe Use of a Chemiluminescence Detection Reagent Luminol
• LIU Xiao-zhi, ZHAO Wei, CHANG Liang, GAO Jian*
• 2014, 4(3):  182-185.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-2341.2014.03.06
• Abstract ( ) PDF (1183KB)( )
Luminol is a reagent that is used to enhance the display of non-visible blood stains and it is one of the most sensitive reagents available to forensic scientists. It is also known as light-emitting reagent used in biological detection systems. However，its use has been limited particularly within the UK and some other European countries, predominantly due to concerns about health and safety of the reagent. This paper reviews current research progress of effects of luminol on health. It showed that there is no impact on health when using luminol at the crime scene or in the laboratory if suitable protective measures are taken.
• Morphological Analysis and Gene Mapping of a Rice Small Grain and Dwarf Mutant
• 2014, 4(3):  186-191.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-2341.2014.03.07
• Abstract ( ) PDF (2283KB)( )
A small grain and dwarf rice mutant, designated as t129, was discovered in the rice T-DNA insertion mutation library. As compared to that in wild-type plants, t129 exhibited characters of dwarf, small grain, and lower 1 000-grain weight (GW). Genetic analysis showed the mutant character was controlled by a recessive gene. Through map-based cloning, the gene T129 was located on the long arm of rice chromosome 5 between primer InDel43 and InDel57 with 430 kb physical distance, and it was co-segregated with InDel51 marker. This study defined the phenotypic characteristics and inheritance of a small grain and dwarf mutant, which laid foundation for further study on genes regulating plant height and grain-type.
• Determination and Analysis of Na⁺, K⁺ and Ca²⁺ Flow in Different Oat Varieties under Saline-Alkali Stress
• YANG Hai-feng1, LIU Jing-hui1, WANG Jun-ying2*
• 2014, 4(3):  192-196.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-2341.2014.0 .
• Abstract ( ) PDF (1437KB)( )
Na⁺/K⁺ ratio is an important indicator to evaluate saline-alkali tolerance of crops. Ca²⁺ can transfer saline-alkali stress signal and start a series of cascade reaction inside the crop to resist the stress. In order to evaluate the saline-alkali tolerance of different oat varies， ICP-MS was used to measure contents of Na⁺，K⁺ and Ca²⁺ in root，stem and leaf of four oat varieties，the detection limits of K⁺，Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ were 10.0， 8.0 and 5.0 ng/L respectively, under the optimum instrument conditions. The detection results showed that when pH value in soil was 8.0, the Na⁺/K⁺ ratio in organs of oat showed roots>stem>leaves, content of Ca²⁺ was root>stem>leaf>60 ng/L；when pH value in soil was 8.8, Na⁺/K⁺ ratio showed stem>root>leaf, content of Ca²⁺ was 35 ng/L>roots>stem>leaves. All four oat varieties maintain lowest Na⁺/K⁺ ratio in leaf under both higher and lower salt-alkali condition, which is one of the reasons for normal growth and strong salt-alkali tolerance of oats under salt-alkali condition.
• Effects of Efficient Photosynthetic Bacteria on Pepper Growth and Soil Microorganism
• 2014, 4(3):  197-200.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-2341.2014.03.09
• Abstract ( ) PDF (1208KB)( )
A pepper field experiment was conducted for applying photosynthetic bacteria in relatively poor-fertility soil to study the effects on pepper growth and soil microbial activity. The results showed that fertility level was an important factor affecting the pepper growth, the photosynthetic bacteria could significantly improve nitrogen content in leaves to get heavier and fuller fruits，and plants with best growth at harveat timeof. During the whole growth period，soil treated by photosynthetic bacteria kept the highest soil microbial activity. Thus, on the basis of the fertility supplement, photosynthetic bacteria can improve soil microenvironment of poor soil，promote pepper plant growth and fruit development，showing considerable application prospects.
• Chromatography Purification and Characterization of 1398 Neutral Protease
• ZHAO Zhong-run1, CHEN Chao2, HUANG Jiao-fang2, YU Feng1, SHI Ji-ping2, SUN Jun-song2*
• 2014, 4(3):  201-206.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-2341.2014.03.10
• Abstract ( ) PDF (3224KB)( )
The food-grade 1398 neutral protease (1398 NprE), produced through fermentation using Bacillus subtilis AS1398, is widely used in food processing industry. However, the quality of present 1398 NprE is rather disfavored, brought by its dark color, unpleasant odors or contamination problem. With the  purpose of development of 1398 NprE liquid products that better meets strict standard of food processing industry, we attempted to purify the protease using sepharose FF column and macroporous resin chromatography, and analysed the target protein with Maldi-Tof spectrometry; DNA and peptide sequences of 1398 NprE were further revealed and characterized by multiple alignment analysis, which laid a solid ground for further studies of strain development for production of better recombinant neutral proteases through genetic engineering biotechnologies.
• Mutation Breeding of Vitamin B1 Auxotrophy of Propionibacteria freudenreichii
• CHUAI Yu-duo1, MA Zhi-gang2, WANG De-pei2
• 2014, 4(3):  207-210.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-2341.2014.0 .
• Abstract ( ) PDF (1204KB)( )
Acetic acid is one of main by-products in propionic acid fermentation. Vitamin B1 is involved in acetic acid biosynthesis. The vitamin B1 auxotrophy would reduce the acetic acid biosynthesis, which result in increase of propionic acid yield. A vitamin B1 auxotrophy mutant Pf007 was screened out from Propionibacteria freudenreichii IFFI.10019 by UV treatment，and the propionic acid production level reached up to 2.1 g/L，which increased 91% compared with original strain's 1.1 g/L.
• The Application of Imaging Mass Spectrometry in Microbial Metabolites Research
• XU Yu-quan
• 2014, 4(3):  211-215.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-2341.2014.03.12
• Abstract ( ) PDF (3380KB)( )
Microbial metabolites with structural and functional diversity have an important impact on the neighboring micro-organisms and the environment. The traditional method of natural products isolation cannot monitor, in a systematic and informative fashion, the metabolic release patterns by microbes grown in a pure or mixed culture. MALDI-imaging mass spectrometry can visualize both spatial and temporal production of multiple metabolites from a single microbial colony to complex microbial communities. It can be adapted to discover novel biologically active molecules, observe metabolic exchange of microbial colonies, and track metabolite modifications during interspecies competition. This paper reviews on recent progress of microbial metabolites research by imaging spectrometry, prospects the future application of this technology.