Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XX
Written by Maria Cristiana ONCICĂ (MORARU), Ricuţa-Vasilica DOBRINOIU, Luminiţa VISAN, Silvana DANAILA-GUIDEA, Andrei Gabriel IVAN

Within the framework of the present climate changes, it is ever recommended to grow varieties characterized by a large ecological plasticity, varieties which can successfully pass over the extreme droughty periods which may affect both the yield and its nutritive quality. Thus, the sweet corn, variety resistant to hydrical stress conditions, remarked itself by a higher calory content and a superior nutritive value in comparison with the regular corn, representing both an important source of microelements: magnezium (37-48 mg/100 g grains), potassium (270 mg/100 g grains, phosphorous (69 mg/100 g grains), natrium (16 mg/100 g grains) a source of B complex vitamins, C and E vitamins. Knowing the fact that the nutritive value represents one of the main requests in cobs trade the influence of technological links upon sweet corn yield quality, in conditions of crop irrigation lack, has been tested within a bi-factorial trial. Recorded experimental results emphasized the inferiority of the hybrids grown in the classical soil tillage system in comparison with the minimum tillage soil system, thus, both the grown genotype and the soil tillage variant significantly influence the level of production and the grains quality. Thus, it is requested to find an alternative for animal proteins, namely vegetal proteins, which even incomplete, being cholesterol free, may constitute alternatives for a healthy food.

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Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XX
Written by Ana Raluca BIȚICĂ, Aurel GIURA, Petruța CORNEA

In the last decade, DH technology has been integrated by many maize breeding programs in Europe, North America and China due to the releasing of lines with inducing efficiency up to 15 %, developed for temperate and tropical areas as well as due to improved selection of the putative haploid kernels (PHK) on the basis of the expression of anthocyanin coloration conferred by R1-nj as a genetic marker. Even though the R1-nj marker system offers an efficient way to identify haploids, the expression given by this genetic marker could be influenced by several factors such as the genetic background of the female parent. According to the literature, haploids obtained from dent genotypes are more easily recognized and both anthocyanin coloration and intensity of the coloration are better expressed than in flint genotypes; anthocyanin coloration could be also affected by the moisture of kernels at time of harvest and may vary from a small patch to covering the entire aleuronezone, exception kernel basis. Intensity of anthocyanin can range from very poor to strong anthocyanin both in the embryo and aleurone. In 2014 at NARDI Fundulea, 27 populations were used as female parent in crosses with five different inducers and inducing efficiency was determined for each cross to see the influence of the female parent on the inducing efficiency.

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Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XXI
Written by Ana Raluca COJOACĂ(BIȚICĂ)

Accelerating the development of homozygous lines and consequently hybrids is an important aspect of the maize breeding programs. Doubled haploid technology has successfully replaced the traditional method of obtaining homozygous lines in maize breeding programs in Europe, North America, China and Central America, due to the clear advantages in terms of timing and important reduction of the workload and costs by eliminating controlled pollination and relatively simple methodology. Haploid inducing efficiency is influenced by the genotype of the population submitted to the induction, haploid inducing capacity of the inducer and the inducing protocol (time and type of pollination). The study was carried out in special climatic conditions of the year 2016 (the absolute maximum temperature was 35.80C for June and 35.70C for July. The results showed that the source genotype used in the induction nursery influenced the anthocyanin coloration in both aleurone and embryo. Clear variability regarding the anthocyanin coloration was observed among the ears from the same genotype and even between aleurone and embryo from the same ear. Comparing the PHK (putative haploid kernels) number from the top and bottom of the ear, the top average is distinct significantly positively over the bottom average PHK number. Similarly to controlled pollination, the highest percentage of PHK remains on top of the ear in the case of this experiment with open pollination induction nursery.

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Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XX
Written by Gabriel Florin ANTON, Maria JOITA-PACUREANU, Călina Petruţa CORNEA

Sunflower broomrape (Orobanche cumana Wallr.) is causing a great deal of damage to sunflower production in many countries in Europe as well as in countries from Asia and in Australia. Extensive research on sunflower resistance to broomrape has been conducted in Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia and Spain. New races of the parasite appear frequently. Sunflower breeders have been trying to develop sunflower genotypes resistant to all known races of this parasite. In our research work regarding resistance to broomrape we have used different sources of resistance, the best ones being the sunflower wild species. For obtaining results presented in this paper there have been used six cultivated sunflower genotypes which were crossed with two sunflower wild species, in order to obtain some populations. These populations are used for obtaining sunflower inbred lines which can to be used as sources of resistance (donor of genes) or directly to obtain hybrids. There have been studied the interspecific hybrids as well as the parental forms, for the number of released seeds, for oil content, one thousand seed weight and resistance to different populations of broomrape parasite, in the artificial and natural infestation conditions. We identified some populations full resistant to the most virulent races of broomrape in sunflower crop in Romania.

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Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XXII
Written by Radu-Cristian TOMA, Gabriela-Lucica MĂRGĂRIT, Diana CONSTANTINESCU-GROPOŞILĂ, Dana BARBA, Gabriela POPA

The number of mobile users today is greater than the number of desktop users. Mobile applications have the advantage of utilizing features of a mobile device like camera, contact list, GPS, phone calls, accelerometer, compass, and so on. Such device features, when used within an app, can make the user experience interactive and fun. The aim of the paper is to describe the making of the first electronic Romanian - language dictionary with biotech terms, being the first mobile application of its kind and to highlighting the importance of using mobile applications in biotechnology both educational and industrial field. Mobile applications like dictionaries are useful for both researchers and students in various domains for a facile access to the necessary information directly from mobile phone so they can work or study wherever they are.

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Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XXII
Written by Roxana-Mădălina STOICA, Caterina TOMULESCU, Angela CĂȘĂRICĂ, Mariana-Grațiela SOARE (VLADU)

Antioxidants are substances that are able to prevent or inhibit oxidation processes in human body as well as in food products. The entire tissue of fruits and vegetables are rich in bioactive compounds and in most cases the waste byproducts can present similar or even higher contents of antioxidant compounds. The tomato processing industry generates large quantities of tomato peel residues, usually creating environmental problems. The tomato by-products mainly constituted by tomato skins and seeds represent one of the richest sources of lycopene, a carotenoid with a noncyclic, not branched structure which has demonstrated antioxidant properties and an important role in the prevention of chronic diseases. Tomatoes skin can, in fact, contain up to 5 times more lycopene than the pulp. So, although these by-products of tomato industry represent a major disposal problem for the food industry, they are also a promising source of compounds which may be used in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries because of their antioxidant or nutritional properties.

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Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XXI
Written by Emanuel VAMANU, Alina VOICA

Wild mushrooms are commonly used in various pathologies. However, there are few studies concerning species characteristics from different geographical areas. The aim of the study was to determine the antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of 17 triple tinctures prepared from 9 species of mushrooms with medicinal potential, harvested from the region of Moldova, Romania. The study was conducted in parallel with seven commercial species by in vitro studies (DPPH and ABTS scavenging and chelating activities) and in vivo (antioxidant activity by using Kluyveromyces marxianus yeast strain). A direct correlation of in vitro antioxidant activity to that expressed in vivo was determined in the case of a high content of phenolic compounds. Tincture prepared from Hericium coralloides presented the lowest antiradical capacity. A correlation between the different in vitro antioxidant activities was determined for the Tuber indicum and Piptoporus betulinus species. Tinctures which have a high degree of protection against oxidative action of H₂O₂ had a medium value of EC50 < 1 mg/mL. The results obtained proved that certain compounds identified in trace amounts may significantly increase the biological effect, as the protocol for tinctures obtaining directly influenced the response and content expressed in vitro and in vivo.

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Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XXI
Written by Ercan YATMAZ, Irfan TURHAN, Mustafa GERMEC, Ercan KARAHALIL

Enzymes are protein-based catalyzers which organize the specific chemical reactions. Therefore, they could be used for lots of industrial applications. For the industrial grade, enzymes were extracted by different physical or chemical methods from the plant or animal tissues formerly. But these techniques are very hard to apply and provide enough enzymes for the industry. The production of the microbial enzymes could be done by a series of operations, which can be divided into two groups (upstream and downstream processes). Production of bulk or partial concentrated enzyme solutions are easier than the production of pure enzyme extracts. In this study, the effects of centrifuge and ultrafiltration on the production of concentrated β-mannanase enzyme extract from fermented carob pod medium by recombinant Aspergillus sojae were investigated. For this purpose, combination of time (5, 10, and 15 min) and speed (7000, 10000, and 15000 rpm) were tested for centrifuge assays. Then, ultrafiltration processes were performed with 10kDa and 30kDa membranes by using 1000 ml fermented media. Because the enzyme molecular weight was 50-60 kDa. Results showed that the centrifuge was not statistically important at β-mannanase enzyme purification in carob medium in point of enzyme activity. But both ultrafiltration membranes were help to improve the specific enzyme activity from 2176.65 U/mg (initial) to 2582.92 U/mg for 10kDa and 2718.89 U/mg for 30kDa (p<0.05). It was obviously seen from the results that 100ml concentrated enzyme extract was collected from the retentate.

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Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XX
Written by Elena AWWAD, Mohammad FARRAJ, Tamer ESSAWI, Israr SABRI, Kamel ADWAN, Issa RUMI, Assad MANASRA, Stelian BARAITAREANU, Maria Rodica GURAU, Doina DANES

Brucella melitensis is a severe pathogen for human and animals, even at low concentrations. The milk of sheep and goat and the fresh dairy products, including white cheese, are the main source of consumers’ contamination. Early detection, using reliable validated diagnostic tools, is crucial for the control and eradication of the disease. The aim of this study was to develop fast molecular in-house techniques, such as RT-qPCR, to detect Brucella genome in milk. The validation of the method was carried out according to the specifications of the Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals of the World Organization for Animal Health OIE in chapter 1.1.5: Validation and quality control of polymerase chain reaction methods used for diagnostic of infection disease and with the requests of the ISO/IEC 17025:2005: General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. Tests for the RT-qPCR validation have proved his ability to detect 3.4 copies of Brucella's genome, into 5μl amplification product. Furthermore, DNA from non-Brucella microorganisms was not detected by developed method. While the identification of Brucella melitensis by traditional methods is time-consuming and may impair the outbreaks control, the RT-qPCR proposed can be used as a complementary, rapid and sensitive diagnostic tool for Brucella spp in Palestine, contributing to properly implement the control policy of authorities.

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Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XXI
Written by Steliana Paula BARBU, Gabriela ŞERBAN, Călina Petruţa CORNEA, Aurel GIURA

Most of the modern wheat cultivars carry GA (gibberellic acid) insensitive height reducing gene, Rht-B1b, that reduces stem elongation but improves yield potential, lodging resistance and increased harvest index. Recent cultivars released in Romania are semi-dwarf, carrying the Rht-B1b allele which confers an advantage in excessive temperate environmental conditions. However, such cultivars are characterized as having short coleoptile that influences stand establishment and seedling vigor, especially in dry autumns. Genotypes carrying Rht gene-alleles can contribute to increasing coleoptile length, and having semi-dwarf characteristics can be used as sources in advanced breeding programs. A set of 86 mutant/recombinant wheat doubled haploid (DH) lines, was obtained through a complex protocol including two genotypes, two irradiation cycles with gamma rays (200Gy, 100Gy), direct and reciprocal hybridization, rapidly homozygosity attained by using Zea system. This study was aiming to explore the genetic variability for the coleoptile length and plant height, produced by mutagenesis and recombination, in the selected 86 mutant/recombinant DH lines, and compared to the parents. The analyses performed in this study, reveal that are lines which registered a longer coleoptile than parents, and also one line was highlighted for a semi-dwarf stature and a long coleoptile, that can be used in wheat breeding programs.

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