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Products from peanut seeds are nutritious for human and/or animal consumption. Peanut seed nutritional quality is determined by the genotype (G) of cultivars or accessions, environmental conditions (E), and their interactions (G × E). To evaluate the effects of genotype, environment, and their interactions on seed nutritional quality, 52 peanut germplasm accessions, which vary in oil content and fatty acid composition, were planted at three locations (Citra, FL; Byron, GA; and Clovis, NM) for 2 years (2017 and 2018). The harvested seeds were analyzed for protein, oil, and fatty acid composition using an N analyzer, nuclear magnetic resonance, and gas chromatography, respectively. Significant effects of accession, FAD2 gene, where FAD is fatty acid desaturase, location, year, and their interactions on the investigated traits were evaluated. The average oil content from accessions grown in Florida (51.1%) or Georgia (50.7%) was significantly higher than those grown in New Mexico (45.8%), whereas the average protein content from accessions grown in Florida (23.2%) was significantly lower than those grown in New Mexico (25.4%) or Georgia (24.8%). This is expected as there is a negative correlation between oil and protein content. After genotyping and classification (A/A, A/W, and G/W) for the FAD2A/FAD2B genes, the nutritional quality variations were further evaluated at the levels of the specific haplotype of FAD2A/FAD2B and explicit environmental index. The average prediction accuracy of seed nutritional quality trait values from the prediction model demonstrated that predicting trait values in new environments is feasible. The results of this study provide insights into the seed nutritional analysis, germplasm evaluation, and peanut breeding, cultivation, and production to peanut breeders, curators, farmers, and product processors. Core Ideas: Genotype, environment, and their interactions affect peanut seed nutritional quality.The FAD2A/FAD2B gene (F) effect significantly alters seed fatty acid composition.Location (L) effect significantly changes seed oil and protein content.Photothermal time may be a good parameter for representing the growing location environmental conditions for data analysis.Recommendation was given to farmers and processors on how to cultivate the right peanut varieties and purchase the right seeds from specific regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recombinant bovine interferon alpha (rBoIFN-α) has been demonstrated to have antiviral activity. However, no conduct of acute or chronic toxicity tests has been reported.

Ovine interferon-tau (oIFN-τ) is a newly discovered type I interferon. This study used biochemical techniques to transform the oIFN-τ gene into Escherichia coli to obtain the mass and soluble expression of the recombinant protein.

Abstract Background Sacred lotus is a basal eudicot with agricultural, medicinal, cultural and religious importance. It was domesticated in Asia about 7,000 years ago, and cultivated for its rhizomes and seeds as a food crop. It is particularly noted for its 1,300-year seed longevity and exceptional water repellency, known as the lotus effect. The latter property is due to the nanoscopic closely packed protuberances of its self-cleaning leaf surface, which have been adapted for the manufacture of a self-cleaning industrial paint, Lotusan. Results The genome of the China Antique variety of the sacred lotus was sequenced with Illumina and 454 technologies, at respective depths of 101× and 5.2×. The final assembly has a contig N50 of 38.8 kbp and a scaffold N50 of 3.4 Mbp, and covers 86.5% of the estimated 929 Mbp total genome size. The genome notably lacks the paleo-triplication observed in other eudicots, but reveals a lineage-specific duplication. The genome has evidence of slow evolution, with a 30% slower nucleotide mutation rate than observed in grape. Comparisons of the available sequenced genomes suggest a minimum gene set for vascular plants of 4,223 genes. Strikingly, the sacred lotus has 16 COG2132 multi-copper oxidase family proteins with root-specific expression; these are involved in root meristem phosphate starvation, reflecting adaptation to limited nutrient availability in an aquatic environment. Conclusions The slow nucleotide substitution rate makes the sacred lotus a better resource than the current standard, grape, for reconstructing the pan-eudicot genome, and should therefore accelerate comparative analysis between eudicots and monocots.

BACKGROUND Due to its high digestion efficiency, low equipment cost and low detection limit, atmospheric acid dissolution is widely used in the geological laboratory. However, the commonly used four acid methods (hydrofluoric acid-nitric acid-hydrochloric acid-perchloric acid) is insufficient to dissolve niobium and tantalum. At the same time, niobium and tantalum would be partially adsorbed or would settle on the vessel caused by hydrolysis and polymerization reactions leading to the test results are lower than the real values. OBJECTIVES To determine accurately the concentrations of Nb and Ta in geochemical samples, and to solve the two key problems of the dissolution rate and hydrolysis of Nb and Ta in the solution. METHODS For the insufficiency of dissolution, sulphuric acid was introduced into the acid solution system. The acid solution system of hydrofluoric acid-nitric acid-hydrochloric acid-perchloric acid-sulphuric acid is used to completely dissolve niobium-tantalum in the sample. In view of the hydrolysis, extracting agent of 5% hydrofluoric acid-5% sulphuric acid-5% hydrogen peroxide was used. At the same time, the standard material curves were made using the same analytical process as the sample. The combination of these two methods effectively inhibited the hydrolysis of niobium-tantalum in sample solution. The method of standard material curves reduced the error caused by the matrix inconsistency between the sample solution and the standard solution in ICP-MS analysis. RESULTS The relative deviation was less than ±7% and the relative standard deviation was 3.11%-6.27% (n=11). The detection limits of niobium and tantalum were 0.04 μg/g and 0.03 μg/g, respectively. Compared with the detection limit of 0.33 μg/g by alkali fusion method, it has obvious advantages. CONCLUSIONS By changing the acid solution system, the extracting agent, and the method of standard material curves, the proposed method can be applied to measure niobium and tantalum in geochemical exploration samples.

Blackeye peas (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) are mainly used as a vegetable throughout the world, however they may contain significant concentrations of quercetin, myricetin, cyanidin, and delphinidin for potential use as a functional vegetable. Thirty-eight blackeye pea genotypes were selected from the core collection in the USDA, ARS, Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit's cold storage at 4 °C during 2016. Information regarding concentrations of quercetin, myricetin, cyanidin, delphindin, and correlations among these as well as additional seed traits including seed coat color, seed pattern color, seed pattern, seed texture, and years in storage would add value to the blackeye pea genotypes for use as a functional vegetable. Using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the red seeded accession originating from Mozambique, PI 367927 produced the highest quercetin (469.53 µg/g) and myricetin (212.23 µg/g) concentrations. The black seeded genotype, PI 353236, originating from India, produced the highest cyanidin (1,388.82 µg/g) concentration. However, PI 353236 and the brown seeded genotype, PI 353352 from India produced the highest concentrations of delphinidin (1,343.27 and 1,353.94 µg/g), respectively. Several correlations were observed and interestingly only delphinidin showed a significant negative correlation (r = −0.293*) with years in cold storage indicating that delphinidin declined in the seeds stored the longest (from 4-45 years) at 4 °C. Principal component analysis (PCA) explained how the flavonols, anthocyanidins, and the additional seed traits contributed to the variation of the blackeye pea genotypes. The cluster analysis showed six clusters representing low to high phytochemical concentrations. The genetic parameters including σ2g, σ2p, GCV, PCV, h2h, and GG indicate that improvement in these phytochemical traits is possible through selection. The genotypic and phenotypic correlations showed that improving one phytochemical significantly improved the other except for cyanidin with delphinidin. These results can be used by scientists to develop blackeye pea cultivars with high flavonol and anthocyanidin concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]