Project description:The purpose of this study was to explore the mechanism of aerobic decay of whole-plant corn silage and the effect of Neolamarckia cadamba essential oil on aerobic stability of whole-plant corn silage. Firstly, the dynamic changes of temperature, microbial community and metabolite content after aerobic exposure of whole-plant corn silage were determined, and the main microbial species and mechanism leading to aerobic spoilage of whole-plant corn silage were analyzed. The N. cadamba essential oil was extracted from fresh N. cadamba leaves by steam distillation, and the minimal inhibitory concentration, antibacterial stability and bacteriostatic mechanism of N. cadamba essential oil against undesirable microorganisms in whole-plant corn silage were determined. According to the minimum inhibitory concentration of N. cadamba essential oil on undesirable microorganisms in silage, N. cadamba essential oil was added to whole-plant corn silage to explore the effect of N. cadamba essential oil on the aerobic stability of whole-plant corn silage.
Project description:Sugarcane is a very efficient crop to produce ethanol. In recent years, extensive efforts have been made in order to increase sugarcane yields. To reach this goal, molecular biology tools have been used comprehensively, identifying genes, pathways and genetic polymorphisms. However, some important molecular components, like microRNAs, have not been deeply investigated. MicroRNAs are an important class of endogenous small, noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcription level and play fundamental roles in diverse aspects of animal and plant biology. Plant genomes harbor numerous miRNA genes that regulate many protein-coding genes to influence key processes ranging from development, metabolism, and responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. There is wide range of pests and diseases that affect sugarcane, yet the mechanisms that regulate pathogen interactions with sugarcane have not been thoroughly investigated. To gain knowledge on the physiological responses to pathogens mediated by microRNAs in sugarcane, we screened the transcriptoma of sugarcane plants infected with Acidovorax avenae subsp avenae, the causal agent of red stripe disease in sugarcane, and detected several microRNAs modulated in the presence of the pathogen. Furthermore, we validated with qPCR a number of microRNA expression patterns observed by bioinformatics analysis. In addition, we observed high expression levels of several star microRNAs, in numbers larger than the mature microRNAs in some cases. Interestingly, sof-miR408 was consistently down-regulated in the presence of several pathogens, but not in the presence beneficial microbes. This result indicates that the sugarcane senses pathogenic or beneficial microorganisms differentially and triggers specific epigenetic regulatory mechanisms accordingly