Chemical modification of L-glutamine to alpha-amino glutarimide on autoclaving facilitates Agrobacterium infection of host and non-host plants: A new use of a known compound

Background

Accidental autoclaving of L-glutamine was found to facilitate the Agrobacterium infection of a non host plant like tea in an earlier study. In the present communication, we elucidate the structural changes in L-glutamine due to autoclaving and also confirm the role of heat transformed L-glutamine in Agrobacterium mediated genetic transformation of host/non host plants.

Results

When autoclaved at 121°C and 15 psi for 20 or 40 min, L-glutamine was structurally modified into 5-oxo proline and 3-amino glutarimide (α-amino glutarimide), respectively. Of the two autoclaved products, only α-amino glutarimide facilitated Agrobacterium infection of a number of resistant to susceptible plants. However, the compound did not have any vir gene inducing property.

Conclusions

We report a one pot autoclave process for the synthesis of 5-oxo proline and α-amino glutarimide from L-glutamine. Xenobiotic detoxifying property of α-amino glutarimide is also proposed.     

Electrical and photo-electrical properties of a chalcopyrite semiconductor AgInSe2

In this paper we report the electrical and photoelectrical properties of AgInSe₂. Nyquist plots for AgInSe₂, obtained at different temperatures, are perfect arcs of a semicircle with their centres lying below the abscissa at an angleα. Finite values ofα (the distribution parameter) clearly indicate a multirelaxation behaviour. Transient and steady state photoconductivity of AgInSe₂ has been studied at different temperatures and illumination levels. The lnI _ph vs lnF curves at different temperatures follow the empirical relation:I _ph ∝F ^γ. Values of γ are close to 0.5 at all the temperatures, suggesting a bimolecular recombination. Decay of the photocurrent, when the illumination is switched off, shows that during decay, photocurrent has two components, i.e. a fast decay in the beginning and a slow decay thereafter. Decay time constant for slow decay process decreases with increasing temperature, suggesting that recombination is a thermally activated process in the temperature range studied.     

The Finite Horizon Trended Inventory Replenishment Problem With Shortages

A new type of replenishment policy is suggested for an inventory item having a finite shortage cost and linear trend in demand over a finite time horizon. The optimal solution of the suggested replenishment policy has a lower total cost as compared with the optimal solution for the traditional replenishment policies.     

Counterion condensation in ionic micelles as studied by a combined use of SANS and SAXS

We report a combined use of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to the study of counterion condensation in ionic micelles. Small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering measurements have been carried out on two surfactants cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTABr) and cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTACl), which are similar but having different counterions. SANS measurements show that CTABr surfactant forms much larger micelles than CTACl. This is explained in terms of higher condensation of Br⁻ counterions than Cl⁻ counterions. SAXS data on these systems suggest that the Br⁻ counterions are condensed around the micelles over smaller thickness than those of Cl⁻ counterions.     

A factual observation on “Effective and simple EOQ-like solutions for stochastic demand periodic review systems”

This communication points out a couple of early publications on the power-of-two scheduling scheme that has been consistently ignored by researchers in the past.     

Determining Economic Maintenance Frequency for a Family of Machines

This paper deals with the problem of determining economic maintenance frequency for a group of machines. The operating cost for each machine is assumed to increase with time since the last maintenance work carried out on the machine. The cost of carrying out maintenance work is known and assumed constant. A fixed cost is incurred whenever maintenance work is carried out, and this fixed cost is assumed to be independent of the number of machines on which maintenance work is carried out. The total cost of the system is given by the sum of maintenance and operating costs for all the machines. A heuristic method is proposed for determining the economic maintenance frequency of each machine. An example is given to illustrate the method.