The Plymouth Student Scientist - Volume 4, No. 1 - 2011
https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/12791
2024-03-29T07:32:28ZIn vitro micropropagation of medicinal plants by tissue culture
https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/13944
In vitro micropropagation of medicinal plants by tissue culture
Sidhu, Y.
Tissue culturing of medicinal plants is widely used to produce active compounds for
herbal and pharmaceutical industries. Conservation of genetic material of many
threatened medicinal plants also involves culturing techniques. This work reviews in
vitro micropropagation techniques and gives examples of various commercially
important medicinal plants. The effect of media formulations and culturing techniques
on the growth and multiplication of medicinal plants; and on the production of
secondary metabolites is also reviewed. Another method of obtaining secondary
metabolites is biotransformation; some famous pharmaceuticals obtained by this
method are discussed briefly.
2011-01-01T00:00:00ZRed and green Carcinus: how different?
https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/13943
Red and green Carcinus: how different?
Lewis, J.
Carcinus maenas is, arguably, the most extensively studied intertidal crab in the
world and can be found in a variety of habitats, from rocky intertidal, subtidal, in
many areas of the world. Because of its range of habitats, it can tolerant a wide
range of salinities and other environmental stressors like hypoxia and desiccation.
Some individuals go into a prolonged state of intermoult when they reach a certain
size, and turn red in colour. This means that C. maenas exhibits colour
polymorphism, there being a green colour morph and a red colour morph due to
different levels of expression in CYP enzymes. These colour morphs have various
behavioural, physiological and biochemical differences which result in them
occupying different habitats; the green morphs exhibiting tidal migrations up and
down the shore, whilst the red morphs stay in the subtidal. Thus although red
morphs are better competitors and are more likely to win fights over mates or prey,
green morphs are more tolerant to a wide range of salinities and other stressors and
so can exploit a wider range of habitats. Recent studies have suggested that green
morphs may also be pre-adapted to deal with anthropogenic stress. Most
experiments have involved mainly male samples; however, suggesting future
research into female C. maenas colour morphs could give a wider picture of the
differences between colour morphs.
2011-01-01T00:00:00ZThe physiological and physical response to capture stress in sharks
https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/13942
The physiological and physical response to capture stress in sharks
Hassanein, L.
Exhaustive exercise leads to severe metabolic, acid-base, ionic and hematological
changes in sharks. It has been shown that these changes are species-specific and are
affected by the magnitude of the cumulative effects of physiological and physical trauma
associated with capture. Blood lactate, glucose and pH levels are reliable indicators of the
shark stress response and have been extensively studied. Several shark species have
been reported to be able to survive physiological stress unless severe physical trauma
occurs. As comprehensive information about post release mortality is missing, future
investigations should focus on the relationship between physiological disruption and
survival rates of tagged and released sharks.
2011-01-01T00:00:00ZWhat do we know about the causes and consequences of salmonid social hierarchies from laboratory experiments?
https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/13941
What do we know about the causes and consequences of salmonid social hierarchies from laboratory experiments?
Eaton, L.
The main focus of this review will be to examine the current understanding of the
causes and consequences of salmonid hierarchies as well as the implications to wild
populations and aquaculture. Salmonid dominance hierarchies readily form under
laboratory conditions, this has allowed extensive research into social structures.
There is limited research into the causes of social status, however, the cause is likely
to be a combination of standard metabolic rate, body size and prior competitive
experience. A wide range of research outlines the consequences of social status
from behavioural changes in aggression and submission to physiological changes in
disease resistance, the stress response of fish, responsiveness to additional
stressors and varied growth rates to name just a few
2011-01-01T00:00:00Z