Risk factors associated with Brachyspira hyodysenteriae PCR-positivity in East-European pig production units

The objective of the present study was to determine the risk factors for swine dysentery in East-European middle-to-large sized, farrow-to-finish units, with separate breeding and grower-finisher facilities. Samples of faeces from 10 breeding animals (3-10% of the female inventory) and 10 grower finisher pigs (80-140 days of age) were collected for polymerase chain reaction testing (PCR) for Brachyspira hyodysenteriae (B. hyo). Of 139 farrow-to-finish units, 51 (36.7%) were positive, 49 (35.3%) were negative, and 39 (28.1%) were inconclusive for B. hyo by PCR. In breeding subunits, twelve variables passed the screening criterion for risk factors (P < .2) for B. hyo PCR positivity. The odds of the breeding subunits being B. hyo PCR positive were 3.5 times greater when the grower-finisher subunit was positive and the fibre content of the diet was > 6%. Use of 'all-in-all-out' farrowing policy and having >60% multiparous sows each reduced the odds of being B. hyo PCR-positive by 4-fold. In grower-finisher subunits, fourteen variables passed the screening criterion for risk factors (P < .2) for B. hyo PCR positivity. B. hyo PCR-positive status of the breeding subunits and higher fibre content of the diet were the most influential variables, with the odds of the grower-finisher subunits being B. hyo PCR positive being almost 8 times greater when the breeding subunit was also B. hyo PCR positive. Grower-finisher B. hyo PCR positivity was also associated with the percentage of pigs housed on concrete slats, with the odds of being positive being 7.5-times higher for subunits where more that 70% of the animals were kept on concrete slats compared with all other floor types. There was a strong association between grower-finisher status and whether the animals were on outdoor lots, with the odds of being B. hyo PCR positive being substantially lower for pigs on outdoor lots compared with all other surfaces. IN CONCLUSION: All-in-all-out management in the breeding units, B. hyo negativity of adjacent grower-finisher units, high fibre content of the diet, and older parity structure in a sow herd may reduce the risk of swine dysentery. In grower-finisher units, slatted flooring is associated with a higher risk, while B. hyo negativity of the breeding units, the fibre content of the diet, and outdoor production are associated with lower risk of swine dysentery.     

Development of specific primers for cpSSR analysis in caper,olive and grapevine using consensus chloroplast primer pairs

Chloroplast SSR (cpSSR) markers have demonstrated utility in studying genetic relationships. DNA sequence information of the chloroplast genome is necessary for the development of cpSSR primer pairs. To overcome this limitation, “consensus” primers have been developed to amplify the homologous regions in plants where chloroplast sequences are not available. However, 80% Pinus thunbergi and Nicotiana tabacum developed “consensus” primers tested with grapevine, olive and caper showed multi-locus patterns. The presence of multi-locus patterns requires the use of agarose gel electrophoresis followed from isolation and sequencing of the bands. Herein, a PCR-strategy is proposed to construct specific cpSSR primer pairs without genomic sequence information, giving single-band amplifications that can be directly sequenced. Twelve new specific cpSSR primer pairs were developed for Capparis spinosa L., Olea europea L. and Vitis vinifera L. PCR products were sequenced to confirm the presence of microsatellite sequences, and their transportability was tested on six V. vinifera cultivars. Both single-nucleotide polymorphisms and polymorphic cpSSR were observed in the six grapevine cultivars using the specific cpSSR primers.     

Somatic embryogenesis in pepper anther culture: The effect of incubation treatments and different media

The frequency of obtained androgenic plants depends highly on the genotype; therefore the low rate of haploid recovery limits the utility of anther culture in pepper breeding. The need for incubation treatment and adequate nutrition media supplemented with plant growth regulators, especially auxins, are suggested as important factors to obtain somatic haploid embryos in pepper anther culture. The effect of three incubation treatments of the androgenic potential in pepper anther culture on MS, N, LS, NN and CP medium are summarised, and the results demonstrate that:

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by incubating treatment in cold conditions (at 7 °C) in darkness for 7 days, and then transferring the explants to light conditions (12-h photoperiod at 25 °C) for 4 weeks, on LS and NN mediums, anthers produced callus;     

NMR characterization of lignins isolated from fruit and vegetable insoluble dietary fiber

Compositional information for lignins in food is rare and concentrated on cereal grains and brans. As lignins are suspected to have important health roles in the dietary fiber complex, the confusing current information derived from nonspecific lignin determination methods needs to be augmented by diagnostic structural studies. For this study, lignin fractions were isolated from kiwi, pear, rhubarb, and, for comparison, wheat bran insoluble dietary fiber. Clean pear and kiwi lignin isolates allowed for substantive structural profiling, but it is suggested that the significance of lignin in wheat has been overestimated by reliance on nonspecific analytical methods. Volume integration of NMR contours in two-dimensional (13)C-(1)H correlation spectra shows that pear and wheat lignins have comparable guaiacyl and syringyl contributions and that kiwi lignins are particularly guaiacyl-rich (approximately 94% guaiacyl) and suggest that rhubarb lignins, which could not be isolated from contaminating materials, are as syringyl-rich (approximately 96% syringyl) as lignins from any known natural or transgenic fiber source. Typical lignin structures, including those newly NMR-validated (glycerols, spirodienones, and dibenzodioxocins), and resinols implicated as possible mammalian lignan precursors in the gut are demonstrated via their NMR correlation spectra in the fruit and vegetable samples. A novel putative benzodioxane structure appears to be associated with the kiwi lignin. It is concluded that the fruits and vegetables examined contain authentic lignins and that the detailed structural analysis exposes limitations of currently accepted analytical methods.     

Chemical compounds released from five different woods used to make barrels for aging wines and spirits: volatile compounds and polyphenols

Aging wine and spirits in wooden barrels is an industrial process used to stabilize color and improve limpidity; many compounds are released from the wood and enrich the sensorial characteristics of the product. The main wood species used for making barrels is oak, but in particular cases also acacia, chestnut, cherry and mulberry. In this work, polyphenols contained in the extracts of these wood species obtained by solutions of 50% hydroalcohol as well as a model wine were studied and compared with the extracts from oak. The hydroalcoholic extracts of chestnut and mulberry had higher total polyphenols, followed by cherry, acacia and oak, respectively. The oak model wine extract had the highest percentage of polyphenols extractable by the wine, followed by chestnut, acacia, cherry and mulberry, respectively. Chestnut extracts had the highest percentage of oxidizable compounds, followed by acacia, oak, mulberry and cherry. The GC/MS–EI profile of 50% hydroalcoholic extracts revealed as principal volatiles several benzene compounds containing a guaiacol residue, and high contents of C₆–C₁₈ fatty acids. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting on polyphenolic and complete volatile compounds characterization of these woods for oenological purposes.     

Cross-linking of arabinoxylans via 8-8-coupled diferulates as demonstrated by isolation and identification of diarabinosyl 8-8(cyclic)-dehydrodiferulate from maize bran

Dehydrodiferulates are likely the most important arabinoxylan cross-links in cereals and grasses in general. However, association of dehydrodiferulates and arabinoxylans has only been authenticated for 5-5- and 8-O-4-dehydrodiferulates to date. In the present study, a saccharide ester of 8-8(cyclic)-dehydrodiferulate was isolated from maize bran insoluble fibre following mild acidic hydrolysis by using Sephadex LH-20 chromatography, gel chromatography on Bio-Gel P-2, and RP-HPLC. Mass spectrometry, one- and two-dimensional NMR and analysis of the carbohydrate and phenolic constituents following further hydrolysis identified the isolated compound as the di-5-O-l-arabinosyl ester of 8-8(cyclic)-dehydrodiferulic acid. From this finding it is apparent that 8-8(cyclic)-dehydrodiferulate exists as such in the plant cell wall and acts as an arabinoxylan cross-link. In addition, a fraction was isolated that contained two saccharide esters of 8-O-4-dehydrodiferulates. This fraction was comprised of two compounds, both built from 8-O-4-dehydrodiferulate, a 5-linked arabinofuranose and a 5-linked xylopyranosyl-(1→2)-arabinofuranose unit. These compounds show that, in addition to the 5-O-(trans-feruloyl)-l-arabinofuranosyl sidechain, the more complex β-d-xylopyranosyl-(1→2)-5-O-trans-feruloyl-l-arabinofuranosyl sidechains are involved in the formation of 8-O-4-dehydrodiferulates.     

Effects of Age and Pretreatment of Tissue-Cultured Potato Plants on Subsequent Minituber Production

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plantlets were conditioned in tissue culture to produce more minitubers when planted in a greenhouse. Tissue-cultured potato plantlets, varieties Coliban and Russet Burbank, were grown for 4, 10, or 12 weeks under three temperature regimes (22/18 °C, 16/10 °C, and 10/2 °C day/night) and a photoperiod of 16, 12, or 8 h in different stages of growth. Duration, temperature, and photoperiod of the in vitro period affected plantlet morphology and the total number of minitubers produced per plant in a greenhouse. Extending the growing period and introducing a hardening period with low temperatures (16/10 °C) during the in vitro production stage resulted in 97% more minitubers (4.94 vs 2.50 minitubers per plant for the control) in variety Coliban and up to 71% (6.50 vs 3.80 minitubers per plant for the control) in variety Russet Burbank. The total number of minitubers produced per plant did not change significantly for both varieties when a shorter photoperiod was used instead of the standard 16-h day during the growing period in vitro. Results presented in this experiment demonstrate that the number of minitubers can be substantially increased through the introduction of an induction period as an interstage between the in vitro stages of potato plantlet production and minituber production.     

A geometric and topological system for supporting agricultural subsidies in Slovenia

This paper presents a system for supporting agricultural subsidies in Slovenia. First, an overview is given of specific areas of Slovenia’s land, considered as zones. Then, the system, which explores the computational power of today’s clients is briefly introduced. Some features of the geometric and topological system (GTS), is introduced. This application has been used successfully for 3 years and has turned out to be effective and stable.     

Feruloylated Wheat Bran Arabinoxylans: Isolation and Characterization of Acetylated and O–2‐Monosubstituted Structures

Arabinoxylan structures vary based on the degree and pattern of substitution of the β‐(1→4)‐linked d ‐xylopyranose backbone with α‐l ‐arabinofuranose units, acetyl groups, uronic acids, and feruloylated side chains. Substitution differences affect arabinoxylans’ physicochemical and physiological characteristics. Wheat bran arabinoxylans were hydrolyzed with GH10 and GH11 endo‐1,4‐β‐xylanases, and feruloylated oligosaccharides were isolated and purified (Amberlite XAD‐2 isolation, Sephadex LH‐20 gel permeation chromatography, and preparative reversed‐phase HPLC). The pure, isolated compounds were structurally characterized via liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–mass spectrometry and one‐dimensional and two‐dimensional NMR analyses. In addition to the well‐known products of endo‐xylanase hydrolysis (xylotriose and xylobiose O–3‐substituted with a 5‐O‐trans‐feruloyl‐α‐arabinofuranosyl unit on the middle and nonreducing xylose residue, respectively), novel structural features, including O–2‐monosubstitution of xylose adjacent to a xylose carrying feruloylated arabinose, were observed. Additionally, a simultaneously acetylated and feruloylated oligosaccharide has been isolated and tentatively characterized. Oligosaccharides esterified with caffeic acid were also isolated, but these were proven to result, at least in part, as artifacts of the enzymatic hydrolysis.     

Pectic Arabinans in Quinoa Seeds (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) Are Acylated with p‐Coumaric Acid

A modified digestion method was used to hydrolyze large amounts of quinoa meal to study polysaccharide‐bound phenolic acids. Besides the well‐characterized oligosaccharide O‐(2‐O‐trans‐feruloyl‐α‐l ‐arabinofuranosyl)‐(1→5)‐l ‐arabinofuranose, O‐(2‐O‐trans‐coumaroyl‐α‐l ‐arabinofuranosyl)‐(1→5)‐l ‐arabinofuranose was isolated from the hydrolysate and identified by LC‐MS, GC‐MS, and NMR experiments. This study demonstrates for the first time that p‐coumaric acid can be linked to pectic side chains of dicotyledonous plants.