Cultivated chickpea (Cicer arietinum) has a narrow genetic base making it difficult for breeders to produce new elite cultivars with durable resistance to major biotic and abiotic stresses. As an alternative to genome mapping, microarrays have recently been applied in crop species to identify and assess the function of putative genes thought to be involved in plant abiotic stress and defence responses. In the present study, a cDNA microarray approach was taken in order to determine if the transcription of genes, from a set of previously identified putative stress-responsive genes from chickpea and its close relative Lathyrus sativus, were altered in chickpea by the three abiotic stresses; drought, cold and high-salinity. For this, chickpea genotypes known to be tolerant and susceptible to each abiotic stress were challenged and gene expression in the leaf, root and/or flower tissues was studied. The transcripts that were differentially expressed among stressed an d unstressed plants in response to the particular stress were analysed in the context of tolerant/susceptible genotypes. The transcriptional change of more than two fold was observed for 109, 210 and 386 genes after drought, cold and high-salinity treatments, respectively. Among these, two, 15 and 30 genes were consensually differentially expressed (DE) between tolerant and susceptible genotypes studied for drought, cold and high-salinity, respectively. The genes that were DE in tolerant and susceptible genotypes under abiotic stresses code for various functional and regulatory proteins. Significant differences in stress responses were observed within and between tolerant and susceptible genotypes highlighting the multiple gene control and complexity of abiotic stress response mechanism in chickpea. The annotation of these genes suggests that they may have a role in abiotic stress response and are potential candidates for tolerance/susceptibility.

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Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) genes have been irrefutably linked to the osmotic stress response since their initial discovery in maturing cotton seeds. They have since been reported from a multitude of other organism where their occurrence is often associated with general responses to abiotic stress. Many studies have been conducted using LEA genes in over expression strategies to improve abiotic stress resistance. Of the known classes of LEAs, the group 1 LEAs have been widely reported, in plants, to only occur in seeds during late stages of development. Their expression coincides with the seeds acquisition of desiccation tolerance. In this thesis we present a group 1 LEA isolated from the desiccated vegetative tissues (leaves) of the resurrection plant Xerophyta humilis. Using E.coli and Arabidopsis we attempted to use XhLEA to improve salt and water deficit stress-responses, respectively. To this end we conducted soil-drought trials on two independent transgenic Arabidopsis lines expressing XhLEA under a drought inducible-promoter and monitored their responses as compared to untransformed WT (Col-0 ) controls. Solid substrate E.coli growth assays and liquid media growth curves under both stress and unstressed conditions were conducted. We found no obvious beneficial effect through the expression of XhLEA in either of the organisms. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar

Submitted by Biblioteca de Pós-Graduação em Geoquímica BGQ (bgq@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-04-27T15:35:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado do curso de Geoquímica - Lívia 03-2010.pdf: 1379701 bytes, checksum: 122a8209347f09650bfb44e6c9ac14c4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-27T15:35:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Mestrado do curso de Geoquímica - Lívia 03-2010.pdf: 1379701 bytes, checksum: 122a8209347f09650bfb44e6c9ac14c4 (MD5) / Universidade Federal Fluminense. Instituto de Química. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências- Geoquímica Ambiental. Niterói, RJ / A análise de efluentes hipersalinos ainda é um problema analítico a ser resolvido. Atualmente, tem ocorrido um grande aumento da demanda para caracterização de águas de alta salinidade, tendo em vista que esta é um dos maiores descartes da indústria de petróleo. Devido a isto, técnicas analíticas para sua caracterização têm sido desenvolvidas amplamente e entre elas temos a cromatografia de íons, onde diferentes tipos de ânions são quantificados. Contudo, para que seja possível o uso desta técnica, é imprescindível que haja a retirada do cloreto dessas matrizes hipersalinas. Essa separação prévia pode ser realizada através do emprego de cartuchos comercializados, porém de custo elevado. Sendo assim, têm sido desenvolvidos estudos com trocadores iônicos onde são utilizados no tratamento de diferentes tipos de matriz de amostra. Para o tratamento de matrizes salinas, estudos com trocadores catiônicos tratados com prata, como Amberlite IR 120 e Dowex W50, foram realizados mostrando-se eficientes na remoção do íon cloreto. Amostras de diferentes salinidades foram eluídas através de mini colunas preenchidas com estas resinas tratadas com prata. Entretanto, o seu uso leva à coluna íons de prata que também são retirados de forma eficaz do meio, através de mini colunas preenchidas com resinas na forma de hidrogênio, de modo que a coluna analítica não seja afetada. Análises comparativas com cartuchos comerciais de retenção de cloreto e prata foram realizadas, comprovando a eficiência do método. Testes para a retenção dos analitos foram realizados e mostraram que a primeira alíquota de 0,5 mL retém boa parte dos ânions de trabalho tanto nas resinas de estudo quanto nos cartuchos comerciais / ABSTRACT The analysis of hypersaline wastewater is still an analytical problem to be solved. Currently, there has been an increased demand for characterization of high salinity water, considering that this is one of the largest discharges of oil industry. Because of this, analytical methods for their characterization have been developed extensively, and among them we have the ion chromatography, where different types of anions are quantified. However, it is possible to use this technique, it is crucial that the withdrawal of these matrices hypersaline chloride. This separation can be accomplished in advance through the use of cartridges sold, however costly. Thus, studies have been developed with ion exchangers which are used to treat different types of sample matrix. For the treatment of salt matrices studies with cationic exchangers treated with silver, such as Amberlite IR 120 and Dowex W50 were performed showing to be efficient in the removal of chloride ion. Samples of different salinities were eluted through mini columns filled with these resins treated with silver. However, its use leads to a column of silver ions that are also effectively removed the medium, using mini columns filled with resins in the form of hydrogen, so that the analytical column is not affected. Comparisons with commercial cartridges retention of chloride and silver were performed, proving the efficiency of the method. Tests for retention of the analytes were performed and showed that the first rate of L retains much of the work of anions in both resins in the study as 0.5 μL commercial cartridges

<div>Thermal desalination of high salinity water resources is crucial for increasing freshwater supply, but efficiency enhancements are badly needed. Nanomaterial enhancements and novel condensation regimes offer enormous potential for improving promising technologies like membrane distillation (MD). In this work, we first examined nanofluids for MD, including the role of nanoscale physics, and model system-level energy efficiency enhancements. Our model included the dominant micro-mixing from Brownian motion in fine particle nanofluids (copper oxide) and the unusually high axial conduction from phonon resonance through Van der Waals interaction in carbon nanotube nanofluids. Carbon nanotubes resulted in a consistent, wide range of improvements; while copper oxide particles showcased diminishing returns after a concentration of 0.7%, where Brownian motion effects reduced. However, the enhancements at higher concentrations from liquid layering around nanoparticles were impractical in MD, since the related high surfactant levels compromised the membrane hydrophobicity and promoted fouling. Dilute solutions of metallic nanofluids can be actively integrated to enhance the performance of MD, whereas stronger nanofluid solutions should be limited to heat exchangers that supply thermal energy to MD systems. We then investigated slippery liquid infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) for enhanced condensation rates in MD. Dropwise condensation heat transfer was modelled considering the effects of the departing, minimum droplet radii and the interfacial thermal resistances. Effective droplet shedding from these surfaces led to an experimental thermal efficiency of 95%. Alternatively, porous condensers with superior wicking properties and conductive heat transfer offered a robust solution to high salinity desalination. We modelled the onset of flooding in porous condensers using Darcy’s law for porous media, including the effects of the condenser permeability and determined the optimal condenser thickness at varying system length scales. The increased active area of condensation resulted in a significant enhancement (96.5%) in permeate production and 31.7% improvement in experimental thermal efficiency. However, porous condensers were only compatible with flat plate module designs limiting their practicality.</div>