The effect of some vine desiccants on periderm development on cut potato tuber pieces

Russet Burbank, Red Pontiac, and Superior potato plants were treated with vine desiccants at the rate of 0.50 kg/ha and 1.12 kg/ha paraquat + X77, diquat + X77 and 2.24 kg/ha of Dow General, alone and with Crop Oil, 2 to 4 weeks before harvest. Untreated and treated tubers were selected for anatomical examination directly after harvest and after 22 weeks of storage. The tubers were cut in half longitudinally and exposed to optimum environmental conditions for 25 days when they were examined for periderm formation. Wound periderm in untreated tubers consisted of uniformly shaped and continuous layers of cambial cells. Tubers treated with 0.56 kg/ ha paraquat had a less developed periderm than untreated ones, but it would serve as a barrier against the invasion of pathogens. Diquat at the same concentration had fewer cambial cells and they were not continuous so that pathogen entrance was possible. With 1.12 kg/ha paraquat the periderm was less and with diquat more differentiated than the 0.56 kg/ha treatment indicating that concentration had some effect. Treatment with Dow General resulted in the formation of a periderm adequate for prevention of pathogen entrance. The effectiveness of the 3 chemicals to form periderm in Superior and Red Pontiac was similar to that of Russet Burbank. Periderm was most highly differentiated in untreated tubers followed by paraquat, Dow General, and diquat treated tubers.     

The Marine Natural Product Furospinulosin 1 Induces Apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cell Spheroids,But Not in Cells Grown Traditionally with Longer Treatment

Cancer cells grown in spheroid conditions interact with each other and the extracellular matrix, providing a better representation of the in vivo environment than two-dimensional cultures and are a more clinically relevant model. A discrete screening of genetically diverse marine samples in the spheroid assay led to the identification of a novel activity for the known compound furospinulosin 1. This compound shows activity against MDA-MB-231 triple negative breast cancer cells grown as spheroids and treated for 24 or 48 h. No cytotoxicity was seen in traditional two-dimensional adherent cultures treated for a longer time (72 h). A reverse phase protein array (RPPA) confirmed the limited activity of the compound in cells grown traditionally and revealed changes in protein expression when cells are grown as spheroids that are associated with better clinical prognosis. Analysis of the RPPA data through the Broad institute’s connectivity map suggested the hypothesis that furospinulosin 1 functions as an MEK inhibitor. Analysis of the RPPA data through STRING supports the apoptosis observed. The selectivity exhibited by furospinulosin 1 for triple negative breast cancer cells only when grown as spheroids makes it an interesting compound with strong therapeutic potential that merits further study.     

Effect of Sorghum Decortication and Use of Protease Before Liquefaction with Thermoresistant α‐Amylase on Efficiency of Bioethanol Production

The aim was to study the dual effect of sorghum decortication and protease treatment before liquefaction with α‐amylase on the performance of subsequent steps of saccharification and fermentation. A bifactorial experiment with a level of confidence of P < 0.05 was designed to study differences among grains (maize, whole, and decorticated sorghum) and the effectiveness of the protease before liquefaction. Sorghum was decorticated to remove most of the pericarp and part of the germ and increase starch concentration of the feedstock. The decorticated sorghum had significantly higher starch hydrolysis during liquefaction compared with the whole kernel. These hydrolyzates contained ≈50% more reducing sugars than the untreated counterparts. At the end of saccharification, the final glucose concentration in hydrolyzates treated without protease was the highest for maize (180 mg/mL), followed by decorticated sorghum (165 mg/mL), and whole sorghum (145 mg/mL). Decortication and protease treatment had a significant effect on fermentation times. In decorticated sorghum mash treated with and without protease, fermentation times were 22 and 60 hr, respectively. The decorticated sorghum treated with protease yielded similar amounts of ethanol compared with maize and 44% more ethanol compared with the untreated whole sorghum. Both sorghum decortication and protease treatments before hydrolysis with α‐amylase are recommended to increase ethanol yields, lower yields of distilled grains, and save liquefaction, saccharification, and fermentation times.     

Damage thresholds and population dynamics of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pratylenchus penetrans</Emphasis> on carrot (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Daucus carota</Emphasis> L. cv. Nerac) at three different seed densities

Yield and quality loss of carrot (Daucus carota L. cv. Nerac) caused by Pratylenchus penetrans and the population dynamics of this nematode were studied in a climate controlled glasshouse. A range of 12 nematode densities was used at three different seed densities of carrot; 2, 4 and 18 seeds pot^?1. Seinhorst’s yield loss model; y?=?m?+?(1 - m) 0.95 ^Pi/T-1 for Pi?>?T; y?=?1 for Pi?≤?T for Tylenchina was fitted to the yield and quality loss data. Seinhorst’s model for population dynamics of migratory nematodes with multiple generations; \( Pf=M* Pi/\left( Pi+M/a\right) \) was fitted to the data of the final population densities (Pf). P. penetrans had a significant impact on carrot taproot yield and its quality. The tolerance limits for the relative carrot taproot yield (T _y) were 1.51, 1.88, and 1.37 and those of quality yields (T _q) were 0.67, 0.18, and 0.40 P. penetrans (g dry soil)^?1 at 2, 4 and 18 seeds pot^?1, respectively. Both the minimum yield (0.20, 0.29, and 0.60) and the minimum quality yield (0.05, 0.07, and 0.20), expressed as a proportion, increased with seed density at 2, 4 and 18 seeds pot^?1, respectively. The model for population dynamics fitted well to the Pf data obtained. The maximum multiplication rates (a) were 19.58, 9.99, and 17.54, while the maximum population densities (M) were 49.86, 43.21, and 60.37 P. penetrans (g dry soil)^?1 at 2, 4, and 18 seeds pot^?1, respectively. Carrot cv. Nerac can be considered a good host for P. penetrans.     

Quality Assessment of Three Industry-Derived Organic Amendments for Agricultural Use

The quality of three types of treated sludges (sludge from the paper recycling industry, and sewage sludge treated by composting with pruning waste and thermally dried) was assessed in this work. The amendments were physicochemically characterized and evaluated for their microbiological quality and for contamination with pollutants. All three organic amendments showed an absence of pathogens, so they are microbially suitable for agricultural use. The pollutants studied in the amendments included eight heavy metals and 83 organic compounds. Heavy metals, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, octylphenol, bisphenol A, and parabens were found in the organic amendments. The amount and type of contaminants depended on the sample sources and differed between samples from a single origin. The presence of some of the pollutants found has not been previously reported in organic amendments. The germination assay showed that these amendments may be applied to soil in controlled doses. As far as we know, this is the first reported study that has evaluated a great variety of pollutants (heavy metals, pesticides, persistent and emerging organic pollutants) in sludge from the recycled paper industry; moreover, studies in other waste products in which such a broad range of pollutants has been evaluated have been scarce until now due to the complexity of these matrices.     

Silvicultural strategies for increased timber harvesting in a Central European mountain landscape

The demand for wood as construction material, renewable source for energy and feedstock for chemicals is expected to increase. However, timber increments are currently only partly harvested in many European mountain regions, which may lead to supply shortages for local timber industries, decreases in forest resistance to disturbances and functioning as protection from gravitational hazards. Using an inventory-based forest simulator, we evaluated scenarios to increase wood mobilization in the 7105-km² Swiss canton of Grisons for the period 2007–2106. Scenarios varied with respect to landscape-scale harvesting amounts and silvicultural strategies (low vs. high stand-scale treatment intensity) and accounted for regulations and incentives for protection forest management. With 50 and 100% increases of harvests, the current average growing stock of 319 m³ ha^?1 was simulated to be reduced by 12 and 33%, respectively, until 2106 in protection forests of Northern Grisons, where management is prioritized due to subsidies. Outside protection forests and in Southern Grisons, growing stock was simulated to continually increase, which led to divergent developments in forest structure in- and outside protection forests and in the Northern and Southern Grisons. The effect of silvicultural strategies on simulated forest structure was small compared to the effect of future harvesting levels. We discuss opportunities and threats of decreasing management activities outside protection forests and advocate for incentives to promote natural regeneration also outside protection forests to safeguard long-term forest stability.     

Characterization of supported lipid bilayers incorporating the phosphoinositides phosphatidylinositol 4,5-biphosphate and phosphoinositol-3,4,5-triphosphate by complementary techniques

Phosphoinositides are involved in a large number of processes in cells and it is very demanding to study individual protein-lipid interactions in vivo due to their rapid turnover and involvement in simultaneous events. Supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) containing controlled amounts of phosphoinositides provide a defined model system where important specific recognition events involving phosphoinositides can be systematically investigated using surface sensitive analytical techniques. The authors have demonstrated the formation and characterized the assembly kinetics of SLBs incorporating phosphatidylinositol 4,5-biphosphate (PIP(2); 1, 5, and 10 wt?%) and phosphoinositol-3,4,5-triphosphate (1 wt?%) using the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching. An increased fraction of phosphoinositides led to a higher barrier to liposome fusion, but full fluidity for the phosphatidylcholine lipids in the formed SLB. Significantly, the majority of phosphoinositides were shown to be immobile. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used for the first time to verify that the PIP(2) fraction of lipids in the SLB scales linearly with the amount mixed in from stock solutions.     

Model legumes contribute to faba bean breeding

Faba bean is an excellent candidate crop to provide nitrogen input into temperate agricultural systems. However, its growth is hampered by several factors including environmental stresses and the presence of anti-nutritional factors. To solve these limitations, breeding programs have been initiated that were successful for monogenic traits but not so for multigenic traits. The large genome size of faba bean has slowed down breeding processes. Several other legumes have emerged as model legumes including Medicago truncatula, Lotus japonicus, Glycine max and Pisum sativum. The establishment of these models has already boosted our understanding of important processes such as the nitrogen-fixing symbiotic interaction. The high level of synteny and collinearity existing between legumes makes possible the transfer of key knowledge from model legumes to faba bean. Here we review the most recent knowledge gained from model legumes on grain quality, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, nitrogen-fixing symbiosis and how this knowledge can be employed for faba bean breeding.