Vol. 1 No. 2 (2018): Vietnam Journal of Agricultural Sciences

Monkey head mushrooms (Hericium erinaceus (Bull.: Fr.) Pers) have been broadly cultivated and widely consumed as traditional medicinal herbs as well as functional food in the Orient for several hundred years of history. The identification of optimal culture conditions for mycelium growth and fruiting body formation is one of the most important steps in cultivation of mushroom. The aim of this study was to investigate the optimal culture conditions including pH level, temperature, media and substrate mixtures for the mycelium growth  and cultivation of Hericium erinaceus strain He-2. Results of the study revealed that the optimal conditions for mycelial growth were observed at 25 ± 1oC and pH 8.0. H. erinaceus was cultured on five different types of culture media: Czapek, Raper, PGA (potato, glucose, agar), PGA supplemented with rice bran, and PGA supplemented with fresh mushrooms. PGA supplemented with fresh mushrooms was found to be the best medium for the growth of mycelia. A media containing 99% grain of rice + 1% CaCO3 was considered as the best mother spawn media for mycelial growth. Among various culture media, the highest mycelium growth rate and biological efficiency of H. erinaceus were obtained when grown on a treatment of 87% sawdust + 4% corn bran + 8% rice bran + 1% CaCO3.

Hippeastrum hybridum cultivar ‘Cam Tu’ bulbs were subjected to ten different treatment regimens to evaluate the effect of temperature (4°C or 25°C), duration (4, 6, or 8 weeks), and wrapping materials (coir fiber or newspaper) on their growth and flowering. The data revealed that the storage treatments had significant effects on several growth and flowering characteristics of H. hybridum cv. ‘Cam Tu’. In terms of vegetative characteristics, bulbs stored at 4°C with coir fiber wrapping for 6 weeks (T9) had the largest leaf size (a length of 39.46 cm, a width of 4.39 cm), the longest flower scape (48.64 cm in length), and the longest pedicel (4.75 cm in length). Bulbs of the T9 treatment also showed the shortest time to flower bud emergence (62.24 days) and first flower opening (80.43 days), and the date of 70% first flower fully opening was January 19, 2018. Both of the two thermal treatment regimens shortened flowering time (80.43-103.16 days) compared to the control (132.46 days). However, the number of bulblets per plant, number of leaves per plant, number of florets per scape, floret diameter, longevity of a flower, and longevity of a flower scape were not statistically impacted by the treatments.

This study was performed to evaluate the effects of osmotic stress (measured by different water potentials) induced by Polyethylene Glycol 6000 (PEG) and NaCl solutions at the germination stage of five mung bean varieties (DX11, DX208, DX14, DX17, and DX22). Five water potentials: 0 (control), -0.15, -0.49, -1.03, and -1.76 Mpa were used as treatments in this study. The germination rates, root and shoot lengths, root and shoot fresh weights, and dry weights of the plants were measured. The results showed that the germination rate of the mung bean varieties decreased with increased NaCl or PEG concentrations. The germination rates of the mung bean varieties in the PEG treatments were higher than those in the NaCl treatments. In addition, low water potentials induced by NaCl (-1.76 Mpa and -1.03 Mpa) inhibited germination and seeding growth of all the mung bean varieties. The growth parameters of the mung bean seedlings, such as root and shoot lengths, fresh weights of roots and shoots, and plant dry weights, were reduced under low water potentials treated with either PEG or NaCl. However, more severe damage in seedling growth was observed in the NaCl induced treatments. Amongst five mung bean varieties used in this study, DX17 was more drought and salt tolerant than the other mung bean varieties.

The overuse of fertilizers can result in many adverse effects such as decreasing fertilizer use efficiency of plants, wasting resources, increasing farming costs, and polluting our environment. Local rice landraces including indigenous and local rice varieties, may contain considerable genetic diversity that can serve as sources of germplasm for genetic improvements of nutrient use efficiency, yield, resistance to pests and pathogens, and important agronomic traits. Increasing the fertilizer use efficiency of crops by developing new rice varieties is necessary for sustainable agriculture. In this study, six rice varieties, Chiem Tay (CT), Te Tep (TT), Re Bac Ninh (RB), IR24, P6DB, and Khang Dan 18 (KD18), were evaluated for nitrogen use efficiency. Two landraces, P6DB and CT, which showed the lowest and highest values of nitrogen use efficiencies, were selected for a genome survey. Ninety-seven out of the 1051 surveyed markers indicated polymorphisms. These polymorphic markers were distributed along to each of the 12 chromosomes and were either scattered quite evenly on a chromosome or were condensed at particular regions in the physical map. The obtained information on nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) variation and the marker map should be very useful to further identify QTLs/genes involving in NUE as well as other genetic analyses toward the development of sustainable agriculture.

Micrografting can be used as a key tool to investigate gene-function, long-distance signal transduction, or metabolite movement in different developmental and physiological stages. In plant production, plant grafting can be applied to improve productivity and/or increase the tolerance of plants to stresses. Here, we describe a simple and high efficiency protocol for reciprocal micrografting of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). Tomato and eggplant seeds can be disinfected with 0.5% Presept for 20 min before germinating on MS media. Seedlings of 5-day-old tomatoes and 15-day-old eggplants were suitable for preparation of scions and rootstocks. Scions were cut into 0.5-1 cm lengths for micrografting. Sucrose levels greatly influenced the graft success rate of all graft combinations including of self- and reciprocal micrografting between tomato and eggplant. While self-grafted tomatoes or eggplants required 20 g L-1 sucrose to get the highest grafting success rate (72% for tomato and 100% for eggplant), reciprocal micrografting of tomato/eggplant and eggplant/tomato reached the highest success rate (83%) on MS medium supplemented with 30 g L-1 sucrose. Grafted plants should be cultured under the illumination conditions of a 16 h light/8 h dark cycle for optimal growth and quality.

In this study, an unknown mushroom species collected on rotting trunks of Ficus elastica in the Hanoi Botanical Garden was investigated. It was designated as Bt116. Based on the observed morphological characteristics, such as irregularly semi-circular, slightly yellow pileus; very soft, homogeneous, spongy, creamy white context; short and not clear stipes; and basidiospores typical of ganoderma mushrooms, etc., we hypothesized that Bt116 belongs to the Tomophagus Murr. mushroom genus. Some biological characteristics of the Bt116 strain were made. The results indicated that the temperature 35°C was optimal for Bt116 mycelial growth; an alkaline environment (pH 8.0) was conducive for the mycelial growth of Bt116 among a range of pH levels from 4.0 to 9.0; aerobic conditions were better than anaerobic conditions for the growth of Bt116 mycelium; and lighting time showed no significant effects on the growth of Bt116 mycelium.

Lien Minh chicken is an indigenous breed with several favorable properties, such as high productivity and good meat quality, and is associated with the economic development of the people in the Lien Minh village, Cat Hai, Hai Phong. The objective of the current research was to investigate the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of candidate genes, which might be associated with broodiness and egg production traits. Ninety Lien Minh chicken individuals were genotyped for five SNPs of chicken prolactin (PRL), Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP), neuropeptide Y gene (NPY), growth hormone (GH), and growth hormone receptor (GHR) genes. Blood samples were used for DNA extraction and then for genotyping by the PCR-RFLP method. The allele frequencies obtained were as follows: 0.19 and 0.81 for alleles C and T (PRL-C2161G), respectively; in VIP (G5138982T), 0.55 for the G allele and 0.45 for T; in GH-SacI (the intron 4), 0.02 for A and 0.98 for B; and in GHR-NspI, 0.82 for C and 0.18 for T. The NPY gene (four nucleotide indel) had the frequencies of 0.86 for I and 0.14 for D. The four studied polymorphic loci (PRL, VIP, NPY, and GH) were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the Lien Minh chicken population. These are the initial results, which can be used to analyze the correlation of molecular markers and egg production traits in Lien Minh chickens.

In the present study, experiments were conducted to assess the effects of caffeine on in vitro fertilization of pig follicular oocytes. Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were collected from porcine ovaries from slaughterhouses, cultured in in vitro maturation medium 1 (IVM1) at 38.5oC for 20-22 hours and then in in vitro maturation medium 2 (IVM2) for the next 24 hours. Only the oocytes with expanded cumulus cells were selected for in vitro fertilization. Boar frozen semen was used for the porcine IVF procedure. The spermatozoa were pre-incubated in modified TCM 199 medium and subsequently incubated for 3 hours in porcine fertilization medium (pig FM) supplemented with either 2 mM or 5 mM of caffeine. They were cultured in IVC1 medium supplemented with pyruvate and lactate from day 0 to day 2, and then in IVC2 medium supplemented with glucose from day 2 to day 6. The results indicate that pig FM containing 5 mM caffeine gave a higher penetration rate than 2 mM caffeine (33.4% vs. 11.4%, respectively). The blastocyst rates of the two groups were not significantly different (8.4% and 8.0%). In conclusion, a higher caffeine concentration in the fertilization medium may ensure the production of in vitro porcine embryos with acceptable productivity utilizable for further studies on this subject.

Biotechnology is defined as biology-based technology using organisms or their parts to make or modify products or to improve characteristics of plants, animals, and microorganisms for the demands of human beings. Biotechnology profoundly impacts various fields such as agriculture, animal husbandry and veterinary, industry, food science, pharmaceutics and medicine, environment, fine chemistry, biofuels, forensics, and nanotechnology. Nowadays, biotechnology and bioindustries are becoming integral parts of the knowledge-based economy, and therefore, biotechnology has become a powerful and indispensable tool for the development of all countries in the world. As a rule, biotechnology also requires regulatory policies to control genetically modified organisms and derived products to avoid risks to biodiversity, human health, the environment, and ethical issues. This article reviews the current research, challenges, and perspectives of biotechnology as an integration of both life sciences and applied sciences.