MONTH
OCT 04
TOPIC
Anticandida albicans Activity of Crude
Extract of the Local Plant, Winged Beans
Leaf
AUTHOR
ABSTRACT
Methanol extracts of the winged beans (Psophocarpus tetraglonobus)
ZURAINI Z1; YOGA
leaf have been screened for antiyeast activities. Antimicrobial activity
LATHA L1; SURYANI was carried out using disc diffusion assay and broth dilution method
against Candida albicans. The methanolic extracts of the Psophocarpus
S1 AND
tetraglonobus leaf showed a good Anticandida albicans activity with
SASIDHARAN S 2
Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) value of 2.55 mg/ml for each
Universiti Sains
strain tested. Apart from anti-yeast effects, Scanning Electron
Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Microscopy studies were done to determine the major alteration in the
Pulau Pinang, Malaysia microstructure of the Candida albicans. The main abnormalities noted
zuraini@usm.my
via SEM studies were the alterations in morphology and complete
collapse of the yeast cells after 36 hours exposure.
Keywords: Winged beans leaf, Candida albicans, antibiotic discovery
DNA Marker Technology and Private Sector
Oil Palm Breeding
LIM, C C
Sime Darby Technology
Centre, 2, Jalan Tandang,
46050 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia. e-mail:
chern72@yahoo.com
DNA marker technology is a powerful tool that can be used for plant
and animal breeding, principally through marker-assisted selection
(MAS) and fingerprinting. In the oil palm, heritable traits of economic
importance, such as shell-thickness, fruit colour, height and some fruit
and bunch components as well as fatty acid composition, could be
tagged with DNA markers. The markers, and hence the trait of interest,
could then be followed through at the seed and seedling stage, besides
in the adult palm as in conventional screening, thus saving on costs,
AND
land for trialling and, most importantly, the time required to produce
RAO, V
better planting materials. Additionally, using appropriate DNA
Boh Plantations Sdn Bhd, fingerprinting marker sets, rogue seedlings can be culled before field
P O Box 10245, 50708 planting thus avoiding the permanent losses due to planting such
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. material. For breeding programmes, such authentication will ensure
e-mail:
pedigree integrity of breeding stocks. The technology can also be used
vengeta_rao@yahoo.com for seed or clonal certification, paving the way for plant breeders’
rights in the oil palm. The technology is relatively inexpensive and it is
quite feasible to set up a simple DNA marker laboratory as an integral
part of the breeding laboratories of any oil palm company intent on fast
tracking its breeding work.
Keywords: DNA markers, oil palm breeding, marker laboratory.
Some Pulverisation Techniques of Clearing
Old Palms for Replanting*
LING-HOAK OOI1,
KODIAPPAN P2 AND
GUNARAJAN M3
The ban on open burning of old oil palm biomass at replanting has
resulted in very high breeding of Oryctes rhinoceros in the palm
biomass. The rhinoceros beetle has emerged as the most serious pest in
immature and young mature palms in Malaysia currently. This paper
reports two no-burn methods of clearing old oil palms whereby almost
the entire palms were pulverised and spread widely over the field and
the root mass dug up at felling. The first method comprised the felling,
chipping and spreading of palm chips by an excavator followed by two
rounds of pulverisation by a tractor drawn mulcher 40 to 60 days later,
with one round of ploughing in between to dig up the missed and buried
palm chips. The ploughing also helped to spread the pulverised palm
biomass more evenly and improved the field condition for the planting
of leguminous cover crops and palms. An alternative technique
whereby the tractor drawn mulcher was replaced by an excavator
driven mulcher was also evaluated. The second method involved
pulverising the standing and newly felled palms in a one-off operation
with three types of machines called the EnviroMulcher, MountainGoat
and Beaver. Results of the rhinoceros beetle population census in fields
cleared by the first method indicate that it was effective in reducing the
breeding of beetles. This was reinforced by the low levels of pest
damage on the replanted palms in three plantings on two estates.
Although beetle population and pest damage census were not carried
out for the other methods, it could be inferred that they would be as
effective, as all the methods have the same objective of pulverising the
entire palm and spreading the pulverised palm biomass as thinly as
possible throughout the field thus making them unsuitable for beetle
breeding. The methods of land clearing also have the potential of
reducing the Ganoderma disease problem. In addition, they could
confer other potential benefits such as more efficient utilisation of
nutrients released by the decomposing palm biomass by the newly
replanted palms and shorter fallow period. The clean clearing methods
also facilitated replanting and the subsequent field upkeep work. In
addition, these zero-burn techniques of replanting are environmentally
less polluting and could contribute to sustainable palm oil production.
Keywords: Oil palm replanting, pulverisation and decomposition of
palm biomass, EnviroMulcher, MountainGoat, Beaver, rhinoceros
beetle, rat, Ganoderma.