Biofuels
Selecting elephant grass families and progenies to produce bioenergy through mixed models (REML/BLUP).
Path analysis and canonical correlations for indirect selection of Jatropha genotypes with higher oil yield.
Multivariate diallel analysis allows multiple gains in segregating populations for agronomic traits in Jatropha.
Estimating genetic potential of biofuel forest hardwoods to withstand metal toxicity in industrial effluent under dry tropical conditions
Biofuel tree species are recognized as a promising alternative source of fuel to conventional forms. Additionally, these tree species are also effective in accumulating toxic heavy metals present in some industrial effluents. In developing countries such as Pakistan, the use of biofuel tree species is gaining popularity not only for harvesting economical and environmentally friendly biofuel, but also to sequester poisonous heavy metals from industrial wastewater.
Bioprospection of bacteria and yeasts from Atlantic Rainforest soil capable of growing in crude-glycerol residues
The increasing world production of biodiesel has resulted in an accumulation of crude glycerol as the major byproduct. This could be used as carbon source for industrial microbiology, with economic and environmental advantages for the biodiesel industry. We explored an Atlantic Rainforest soil sample to search for crude glycerol-degrading microorganisms. Microcosms of this soil were established containing minimal medium + 8% crude glycerol (w/w); the biological activity was measured by respirometry.
Biodiversity in the sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) germplasm of Pakistan
Sorghum ranks fifth in worldwide economic importance among cereal crops and is one of the most important summer annual grasses of Pakistan. As it is a very diverse crop, sorghum genetic fingerprinting requires an efficient marker system. We estimated genetic divergence among 29 sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) genotypes, including approved varieties and local and exotic lines collected from different ecological regions of Pakistan, using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers.