Assessing logging residues availability for energy production by using forest management plans data and geographic information system (GIS)

European Journal of Forest Research - The aim of the work was to quantify the mass of logging residues (branches and tops; t yr?1 dry matter, DM) for energy generation starting from...     

Antioxidants, free radicals, storage proteins, puroindolines, and proteolytic activities in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) seeds during accelerated aging

Seeds of bread wheat were incubated at 40 degrees C and 100% relative humidity for 0, 3, 4, 6, and 10 days. The effects of accelerated aging on seed germinability and some biochemical properties of flour (carotenoid, free radical, and protein contents and proteolytic activity) and gluten (free radical content and flexibility) were investigated. Seed germinability decreased during aging, resulting in seed death after 10 days. A progressive decrease of carotenoid content, in particular, lutein, was observed, prolonging the incubation, whereas the free radical content increased in both flour and gluten. A degradation of soluble and storage proteins was found, associated with a marked increase of proteolytic activity and a loss of viscoelastic properties of gluten. On the contrary, puroindolines were quite resistant to the treatment. The results are discussed in comparison with those previously obtained during accelerated aging of durum wheat seeds.     

Antioxidants,free radicals,storage proteins,and proteolytic activities in wheat (Triticum durum) seeds during accelerated aging

Accelerated aging was performed by incubation of wheat seeds at 40 degrees C and 100% relative humidity for 3, 4, 6, 10, and 14 days. The effects of the treatment on seed germinability and on several biochemical characteristics of flour (carotenoids, free radical and protein contents, and proteolytic activity) and gluten (free radical content and flexibility) were evaluated. A decrease of germinability was found during aging, the germination being completely inhibited after 14 days. The lutein content decreased gradually, without going to zero, while that of free radicals increased. A reduction of soluble proteins and a degradation of glutenins and gliadins were observed, associated with a substantial increase of protease activity and a decrease in gluten flexibility. The results were discussed in reference to those previously obtained by natural aging of wheat seeds of the same species and cultivar.     

Assessment of the metabolic effects of hydrocortisone on llamas before and after feed restriction

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of administration of hydrocortisone on plasma concentration of insulin and serum concentrations of glucose, triglyceride, and nonesterified fatty acids (NEFAs) in llamas before and after feed restriction. ANIMALS: 9 adult female llamas. PROCEDURE: Feed was withheld from llamas for 8 hours. Blood samples were collected before (0 minutes) and 120, 180, 240, and 300 minutes after IV injection of hydrocortisone sodium succinate (1 mg/kg) for determination of plasma insulin concentration and serum concentrations of glucose, triglyceride, and NEFAs. The llamas were then fed a limited diet (grass hay, 0.25% of body weight daily) for 21 days, after which the experimental procedures were repeated. RESULTS: Compared with llamas that were not feed-restricted, llamas after feed restriction had significantly higher plasma insulin concentration and serum concentrations of triglycerides and NEFAs. Feed-restricted llamas after hydrocortisone injection had a significantly smaller increase in serum glucose concentration, a decrease (rather than an increase) in serum concentration of NEFAs, and no change in blood concentrations of insulin or triglycerides. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Short-acting glucocorticoid hormones did not appear to increase blood lipid concentrations in healthy llamas, regardless of ongoing fat mobilization. Thus, these hormones appear unlikely to be major direct contributors to diseases such as hepatic lipidosis or hyperlipemia. Although administration of hydrocortisone reduced serum concentration of fatty acids in feed-restricted llamas, its use has not been evaluated in sick camelids and cannot be considered therapeutically useful.     

Novel Prunus rootstock somaclonal variants with divergent ability to tolerate waterlogging

Plants require access to free water for nutrient uptake, but excess water surrounding the roots can be injurious or even lethal because it blocks the transfer of free oxygen between the soil and the atmosphere. Genetic improvement efforts in this study were focused on the increased tolerance in roots to waterlogging. Among a pool of clones generated in vitro from leaf explants of rootstock Mr.S.2/5 of Prunus cerasifera L., the S.4 clone was flood tolerant whereas the S.1 clone was sensitive. The S.4 clone formed adventitious roots on exposure to flooding. Moreover, the chlorophyll content and mitochondrial activity in the leaf and root, soluble sugar content, alcohol dehydrogenase activity and ethylene content were different between the clones. The sorbitol transporter gene (SOT1) was up-regulated during hypoxia, the alcohol dehydrogenase genes (ADH1 and ADH3) were up-regulated in the leaves and down-regulated in the roots of the S.4 clone during hypoxia, and the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-oxidase gene (ACO1) was up-regulated in the leaves and roots of the S.4 clone during hypoxia and down-regulated in the wild-type roots. In addition, in the S.4 root, hypoxia induced significant down-regulation of a glycosyltransferase-like gene (GTL), which has a yet-undefined role. Although the relevant variation in the S.4 genome has yet to be determined, genetic alteration clearly conferred a flooding-tolerant phenotype. The isolation of novel somaclonals with the same genomic background but with divergent tolerance to flooding may offer new insights in the elucidation of the genetic machinery of resistance to flooding and aid in the selection of new Prunus rootstocks to be used in various adverse environments.     

Pandemic A/H1N1/2009 influenza virus in swine, Cameroon, 2010

Although swine origin A/H1N1/2009 influenza virus (hereafter "pH1N1″) has been detected in swine in 20 countries, there has been no published surveillance of the virus in African livestock. The objective of this study was to assess the circulation of influenza A viruses, including pH1N1 in swine in Cameroon, Central Africa. We collected 108 nasal swabs and 98 sera samples from domestic pigs randomly sampled at 11 herds in villages and farms in Cameroon. pH1N1 was isolated from two swine sampled in northern Cameroon in January 2010. Sera from 28% of these herds were positive for influenza A by competitive ELISA and 92.6% of these swine showed cross reactivity with pandemic A/H1N1/2009 influenza virus isolated from humans. These results provide the first evidence of this virus in the animal population in Africa. In light of the significant role of swine in the ecology of influenza viruses, our results call for greater monitoring and study in Central Africa.     

Fine earth soil bulk density at 0.2 m depth from Land Use and Coverage Area Frame Survey (LUCAS) soil 2018

Soil Bulk Density (BD) is an extremely important variable because it is an important site characterization parameter, and it is highly relevant for policy development because it is mandatory for calculating soil nutrient stocks. BD can influence soil chemical properties, land-use planning and agronomic management. The 2018 Land Use and Coverage Area Frame Survey (LUCAS) saw the unprecedented collection of BD core analysis in a subset of the locations in Europe and the United Kingdom where soil physical and chemical properties were analysed in the 2009 and the 2015 sampling campaigns. Here, we integrated the LUCAS 2018 BD sampling campaign with the mass fraction of coarse fragments previously determined in LUCAS 2009–2015 in order to provide a dataset of the volume fraction of coarse fragments and the BD of the fine earth and improve soil organic carbon (SOC) stock estimation accuracy for topsoil. BD data sampled at 0–10 and 10–20 cm were averaged to harmonize the BD with the mass fraction of coarse fragments measured in 2009, 2012 and 2015. Samples were from cropland, grassland and woodland soils, which accounted for 41%, 21% and 30%, respectively, of the total number of selected sites (n = 6059); ‘bareland’, and ‘shrubland’ accounted for 3% of the sites each, whereas ‘artificial land’ accounted for <1%. Only six samples were classified as ‘wetland’. The dataset was produced assuming the mass density of the coarse fraction to be constant across all LUCAS soil samples. We also estimated the SOC stocks associated with LUCAS 2018 BD and SOC content measurements and showed that correcting the BD by the coarse mass fraction instead of the coarse volume fraction generates SOC stock underestimation. We found the highest deviations in woodlands and shrublands. We showed that, when SOC stock is computed with coarse mass fraction, the error compared with the computation by volume may vary depending on the SOC and coarse mass fraction. This may imply a SOC stock underestimation for European soils. This dataset fits into the big framework of LUCAS soil properties monitoring and contributes both to soil awareness and soil research and assessments, which are two important objectives of the Soil Strategy and the European Soil Observatory (EUSO).     

Light quality affects in vitro adventitious rooting and ex vitro performance of cherry rootstock Colt

The effect of light quality on in vitro rooting of cherry rootstock “Colt” was studied to evaluate adventitious root development, ex vitro acclimatization and plant growth performance. Adventitious rooting was dependent on the light quality to which the microcutting were exposed. Highest number of roots per microcuttings was recorded under dichromatic light (blue + red). This response could be ascribed to the control of a strong synergistic interaction between phytochromes and blue light photoreceptors. Red light was more effective on root elongation than blue light. In this response a strong synergistic interaction between phytochromes and blue light photoreceptors was suggested. The effect of light quality on the number of root/explant affected the plant during acclimation, scoring the highest level of plant survival in the blue-, red- and blue + red-exposed plantlets. The light quality effect was also observed under greenhouse culture conditions, as shown by growth parameters at the end of six months in plants growth. No specific role was observed for the photoequilibrium of phytochrome. The results reported in this work show that plantlets exposed to different light quality, during the in vitro rooting phase, retain the light quality effects in the subsequent plant acclimatization and greenhouse plant growth phase.