Phenolics in the bran of waxy wheat and triticale lines

The present study was designed to determine total phenolic acid contents (TPC) and compositions of bran from newly developed near-isogenic waxy wheat and triticale translocation lines. Two waxy wheat sets, Svevo (durum) and N11 (bread wheat), consisting of partial and waxy null lines and four sets of triticales (GDS7, Trim, Rhino and Rigel) having translocations at 1A.1D and 1R.1D with high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) 5 + 10 and 2 + 12 were investigated. Similar to non-waxy wheat, ferulic acid was the predominant phenolic acid found in waxy wheats analyzed. Two other major phenolics include p-coumaric and vanillic acids followed by lesser quantities of syringic acid. Waxy lines had higher TPC than the parent line in the N11 set, whereas the Svevo set showed the opposite trend. TPC of waxy bread wheats were correlated with amylose fractions in which the order was complete waxy < double waxy nulls < single waxy nulls. Lines with HMW-GS 2 + 12 have lower TPC than other lines in each group of triticales, except the Trim set. TPC was negatively correlated (r = −0.41; p > 0.1) with bran yields in triticale lines studied, indicating that variation in phenolics was not only due to bran yields but also to genotypic differences.     

Developmental and environmental effects on the assembly of glutenin polymers and the impact on grain quality of wheat

Wheat kernel development can be divided into three phases i.e. cell division, cell enlargement and dehydration. Accumulation of gluten proteins continues till the end of the cell enlargement phase. During the dehydration phase, post-translational polymerization of the glutenin subunits occurs to form very large glutenin polymers. Assembly of the glutenin polymers has been monitored by increase in the unextractable polymeric protein. Lines possessing HMW-GS related to dough strength (e.g. 5 + 10) started accumulating large polymers several days earlier than lines with HMW-GS related to dough weakness (e.g. 2 + 12) and maintained their higher amounts till maturity. This may be explained by faster polymerization resulting from a higher concentration of cysteine residues in the x-type HMW-GS.     

Continuous cultures of phytoplankton

The development of cultures of phytoplankton adapting throughout several days in an axenic, continuous-flow chemostat to yield a steady kinetic state of competing species is described mathematically. The adaptation of the growth rate to the chemostat environment inhibits integration of the equation of conservation of phytoplankton populations, though eventually when a steady state is reached the growth rate becomes equal to the rate of flow through the chemostat. Representation of species growth rates by a Verhuls formulation utilising experimentally determinable intra- and interspecies interaction constants permits the rapid prediction of the adaptation and alteration in the populations of competing phytoplankton species with changes in the chemostat environment. Illustrations of the behaviour of two and three competing species are extended to consideration of the stabilities of cultures of many competing species. Stable steady states of phytoplankton in a continuous-flow chemostat comprise a classic thermodynamic system and consequently the utilisation of light energy by the cells varies inversely with their growth rate. It is probable that when growth is nutrient limited, intra-and interspecies interaction parameters diminish as the demands of consumption are more nearly matched by the ratios of the limiting nutrients.     

Does the potential ammonium fixation of soils have an impact on the optimum nitrogen fertilizer rate?

Field experiments were conducted to determine the effect of nitrogen (N) fertilizer forms and doses on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) on three soils differing in their ammonium (NH₄) fixation capacity [high = 161 mg fixed NH₄-N kg^?1 soil, medium = 31.5 mg fixed NH₄-N kg^?1 soil and no = nearly no fixed NH₄-N kg^?1 soil]. On high NH₄⁺ fixing soil, 80 kg N ha^?1 Urea+ ammonium nitrate [NH₄NO₃] or 240 kg N ha^?1 ammonium sulfate [(NH₄)₂SO₄]+(NH₄)₂SO₄, was required to obtain the maximum yield. Urea + NH₄NO₃ generally showed the highest significance in respect to the agronomic efficiency of N fertilizers. In the non NH₄⁺ fixing soil, 80 kg N ha^?1 urea+NH₄NO₃ was enough to obtain high grain yield. The agronomic efficiency of N fertilizers was generally higher in the non NH₄⁺ fixing soil than in the others. Grain protein was highly affected by NH₄⁺ fixation capacities and N doses. Harvest index was affected by the NH₄⁺ fixation capacity at the 1% significance level.     

Policosanol contents and compositions of wheat varieties

Policosanol (PC) is the common name for a mixture of high molecular weight (20-36 carbon) aliphatic primary alcohols, which are constituents of plant epicuticular waxes. Wheat germ oil has been reported to improve human physical fitness, and this effect is attributed to its high PC, specifically its high octacosanol (OC) content. Although the PC composition of wheat leaves has been studied extensively, information on PC content and composition of wheat grain fractions is scarce. The objective of this study was to examine the PC contents and compositions of wheat grain fractions of 31 varieties grown in Oklahoma. PC compositions of the samples were identified using a gas chromatograph coupled with a mass spectrometer. The PC content of wheat bran was higher than that of the germ, shorts, and flour. The Trego and Intrada varieties had the highest PC content among the 31 wheat varieties studied. Tetracosanol (C24), hexacosanol (C26), and OC (C28) were the major PC components in all varieties. This study showed that wheat varieties grown under identical growing conditions and management differ significantly in PC content and composition.     

Properties and components of deposit which occurred inside a drainage tube

In poorly drained fields, tube drains are used to improve drainage. In some cases, however, there are fields where the effects of tube drainage have deteriorated within several years after installation. One cause of malfunction is low permeability of backfilled soils (Ishiwata et al. 1990, 1992, 1993). Another cause is clogging of tubes by deposits (Trafford et al. 1973; Dent 1986; Koutani et al. 1989; Kusaka et al. 1993; Kaneko et al. 1995).     

High-yield irrigated maize in the Western U.S. Corn Belt: II. Irrigation management and crop water productivity

Appropriate benchmarks for water productivity (WP), defined here as the amount of grain yield produced per unit of water supply, are needed to help identify and diagnose inefficiencies in crop production and water management in irrigated systems. Such analysis is lacking for maize in the Western U.S. Corn Belt where irrigated production represents 58% of total maize output. The objective of this paper was to quantify WP and identify opportunities to increase it in irrigated maize systems of central Nebraska. In the present study, a benchmark for maize WP was (i) developed from relationships between simulated yield and seasonal water supply (stored soil water and sowing-to-maturity rainfall plus irrigation) documented in a previous study; (ii) validated against actual data from crops grown with good management over a wide range of environments and water supply regimes (n = 123); and (iii) used to evaluate WP of farmer's fields in central Nebraska using a 3-y database (2005–2007) that included field-specific values for yield and applied irrigation (n = 777). The database was also used to quantify applied irrigation, irrigation water-use efficiency (IWUE; amount of yield produced per unit of applied irrigation), and the impact of agronomic practices on both parameters. Opportunities to improve irrigation management were evaluated using a maize simulation model in combination with actual weather records and detailed data on soil properties and crop management collected from a subset of fields (n = 123). The linear function derived from the relationship between simulated grain yield and seasonal water supply, namely the mean WP function (slope = 19.3 kg ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹; x-intercept = 100 mm), proved to be a robust benchmark for maize WP when compared with actual yield and water supply data. Average farmer's WP in central Nebraska was ∼73% of the WP derived from the slope of the mean WP function. A substantial number of fields (55% of total) had water supply in excess of that required to achieve yield potential (900 mm). Pivot irrigation (instead of surface irrigation) and conservation tillage in fields under soybean–maize rotation had the greatest IWUE and yield. Applied irrigation was 41 and 20% less under pivot and conservation tillage than under surface irrigation and conventional tillage, respectively. Simulation analysis showed that up to 32% of the annual water volume allocated to irrigated maize in the region could be saved with little yield penalty, by switching current surface systems to pivot, improving irrigation schedules to be more synchronous with crop water requirements and, as a fine-tune option, adopting limited irrigation.     

Recombinant origin of the retrovirus XMRV

The retrovirus XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) has been detected in human prostate tumors and in blood samples from patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, but these findings have not been replicated. We hypothesized that an understanding of when and how XMRV first arose might help explain the discrepant results. We studied human prostate cancer cell lines CWR22Rv1 and CWR-R1, which produce XMRV virtually identical to the viruses recently found in patient samples, as well as their progenitor human prostate tumor xenograft (CWR22) that had been passaged in mice. We detected XMRV infection in the two cell lines and in the later passage xenografts, but not in the early passages. In particular, we found that the host mice contained two proviruses, PreXMRV-1 and PreXMRV-2, which share 99.92% identity with XMRV over >3.2-kilobase stretches of their genomes. We conclude that XMRV was not present in the original CWR22 tumor but was generated by recombination of two proviruses during tumor passaging in mice. The probability that an identical recombinant was generated independently is negligible (~10(-12)); our results suggest that the association of XMRV with human disease is due to contamination of human samples with virus originating from this recombination event.