A study of the anthocyanins of kenaf
Continuing a study of the anthoeyanins [1] of the family Malvaceae , by par t i t ion chromatography on a column of ce l lu lose powder [in the w a t e r a c e t i c acid (85 : 15) system] we have isolated f rom the f lowers of Hibiscus cannabinus var . s implex (kenaf) col lected in the expe r imen ta l sect ion of the cent ra l Asian Branch of VIR ]All-Union Scientif ic R e s e a r c h Inst i tute for Plant Breeding] an anthocyanin with mp 164-166 ° C (decomp.) having the composi t ion C26H29016C 1.4H20.
Transcriptome Analysis and Identification of Genes Related to Biosynthesis of Anthocyanins and Kaempferitrin in Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.)
Kenaf is a valuable fiber and medicinal crop. Here, we performed RNA-sequencing to obtain comprehensive transcriptome information and identify putative genes involved in biosynthetic pathways of anthocyanins and kaempferitrin in kenaf. A total of 39.6 Gb reads were generated for six kenaf accessions. Individual de novo assembly of each accession and clustering of whole transcriptome contigs finally yielded 299,880 representative transcripts having an average length of 1217 bp, of which 231,825 (77.3%) were annotated against various databases. Expression profiling of the transcripts identified 6,592 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among the three accessions, C-14 (a local landrace) and two of its mutant varieties, Jeokbong (purple leaves and stems) and Baekma (light green leaves and stems). In addition to their altered coloration, leaves of these two mutants had significantly different anthocyanin and kaempferitrin contents. We constructed anthocyanin and kaempferitrin biosynthetic pathways and identified 671 transcripts mapping to the entire pathway. In addition, 29 DEGs assigned to eight structural genes and 41 DEGs related to three transcription factor families were identified in high anthocyanin- and kaempferitrin-accumulating mutant Jeokbong. Our results provide a large transcriptome library pool for understanding gene functions and should also be useful in further studies of flavonoid biosynthesis in kenaf.
Instrumentation and Automated Photometric Titration Procedure for Total Acidity Determination in Red Wine Employing a Multicommuted Flow System
An automated procedure for photometric titration of red wine and associated instrumentation is described. The procedure was based on the flow-batch approach implemented employing multicommutation. The photometric detection was carried out using a homemade LED-based photometer. The mixing device, LED, and photodetector were attached to the titration chamber in order to form a compact and small-sized unit. The flow system comprised an automatic injector and three-way solenoid valves, which were controlled by a microcomputer through an electronic interface card. The software, written in Quick BASIC 4.5, was designed with abilities to accomplish all steps of the titration procedure including data acquisition and real-time processing to decide about the course of titration in the following step and so forth, until the titration endpoint was reached. The usefulness of the proposed titration system was demonstrated by analyzing red wine samples. When results were compared with those obtained using the AOAC reference method, no significant difference was observed at the 95% confidence level. A relative standard deviation of ca  2% (n=9 ) was obtained when processing a typical red wine sample containing 7.3 gl -1 total acidity expressed as tartaric acid.