Superparamagnetic nanoparticles are promising candidates for gene delivery into mammalian somatic cells and may be useful for reproductive cloning using the somatic cell nuclear transfer technique. However, limited investigations of their potential applications in animal genetics and breeding, particularly multiple-gene delivery by magnetofection, have been performed. Here, we developed a stable, targetable and convenient system for delivering multiple genes into the nuclei of porcine somatic cells using magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles as gene carriers. After surface modification by polyethylenimine, the spherical magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles showed strong binding affinity for DNA plasmids expressing the genes encoding a green (DNAGFP) or red (DNADsRed) fluorescent protein. At weight ratios of DNAGFP or DNADsRed to magnetic nanoparticles lower than or equal to 10∶1 or 5∶1, respectively, the DNA molecules were completely bound by the magnetic nanoparticles. Atomic force microscopy analyses confirmed binding of the spherical magnetic nanoparticles to stretched DNA strands up to several hundred nanometers in length. As a result, stable and efficient co-expression of GFP and DsRed in porcine kidney PK-15 cells was achieved by magnetofection. The results presented here demonstrate the potential application of magnetic nanoparticles as an attractive delivery system for animal genetics and breeding studies.

With the goal of finding a new way to reduce population densities of Bemisia tabaci biotype Q in greenhouses, seven repellent volatile chemicals and their combinations were screened. The mixture of DLCO (D-limonene, citral and olive oil (63:7:30)) had a better cost performance(SC50 = 22.59 mg/ml)to repel whiteflies from settling than the other mixtures or single chemicals. In the greenhouse, in both the choice test and the no-choice tests, the number of adult whiteflies that settled on 1% DLCO-treated tomato plants was significantly lower than those settling on the control plants for the different exposure periods (P < 0.01). In the choice test, the egg amount on the treated tomato plants was significantly lower (P < 0.01) than that on the control plants, but there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the number of eggs on treated and control plants in the no-choice test. Compared with the controls, 1% DLCO did not cause significantly statistic mortality rates (P > 0.05) out of different living stages of B. tabaci. The tests for evaluating the repellent efficacy, showed that a slow-releasing bottle containing the mixture had a period of efficacy of 29 days, and the application of this mixture plus a yellow board used as a push-pull strategy in the greenhouse was also effective.

This paper investigates the synchronization problem of coupled switched neural networks (SNNs) with mode-dependent impulsive effects and time delays. The main feature of mode-dependent impulsive effects is that impulsive effects can exist not only at the instants coinciding with mode switching but also at the instants when there is no system switching. The impulses considered here include those that suppress synchronization or enhance synchronization. Based on switching analysis techniques and the comparison principle, the exponential synchronization criteria are derived for coupled delayed SNNs with mode-dependent impulsive effects. Finally, simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the results.

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