Impact of physicochemical characteristics on the oxidative stability of fish oil microencapsulated by spray-drying

The aim of the present research was to identify principal parameters determining the oxidative stability of microencapsulated fish oil. Microcapsules were prepared by spray-drying using different types of n-octenylsuccinate-derivatized starch, gum Arabic, sugar beet pectin, sodium caseinate, and/or glucose syrup. Two principal components to classify the different microcapsules accounting for up to 79% of the variance were identified. The principal components were determined by physicochemical parameters reflecting the emulsifying ability of the encapsulant and the drying behavior of the parent emulsion. Microcapsules, which were identified by principal component analysis to be significantly different, exhibited a low stability upon storage, showing that the principal components and, thus, the underlying physicochemical parameters analyzed in the present study are correlated with core material stability.     

Response of water and nutrient fluxes to improvement fellings in a tropical montane forest in Ecuador

Management of natural forests might be one option to reduce the high deforestation rate in Ecuador. We therefore evaluated the response of water and nutrient cycles in a natural tropical montane forest to improvement fellings with the aim of favoring economically valuable target trees which will later be harvested with additional ecosystem impacts not considered here.     

Generalist dinoflagellate endosymbionts and host genotype diversity detected from mesophotic (67-100 m depths) coral Leptoseris

Background  

Mesophotic corals (light-dependent corals in the deepest half of the photic zone at depths of 30 - 150 m) provide a unique opportunity to study the limits of the interactions between corals and endosymbiotic dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodinium. We sampled Leptoseris spp. in Hawaii via manned submersibles across a depth range of 67 - 100 m. Both the host and Symbiodinium communities were genotyped, using a non-coding region of the mitochondrial ND5 intron (NAD5) and the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region 2 (ITS2), respectively.     

Innovative methods in soil phosphorus research: A review

Phosphorus (P) is an indispensable element for all life on Earth and, during the past decade, concerns about the future of its global supply have stimulated much research on soil P and method development. This review provides an overview of advanced state‐of‐the‐art methods currently used in soil P research. These involve bulk and spatially resolved spectroscopic and spectrometric P speciation methods (1 and 2D NMR, IR, Raman, Q‐TOF MS/MS, high resolution‐MS, NanoSIMS, XRF, XPS, (µ)XAS) as well as methods for assessing soil P reactions (sorption isotherms, quantum‐chemical modeling, microbial biomass P, enzymes activity, DGT, ³³P isotopic exchange, ¹⁸O isotope ratios). Required experimental set‐ups and the potentials and limitations of individual methods present a guide for the selection of most suitable methods or combinations.     

Effects of preoperative administration of meloxicam on whole blood platelet aggregation, buccal mucosal bleeding time, and haematological indices in dogs undergoing elective ovariohysterectomy

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of preoperative administration of meloxicam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for pain control, on primary haemostasis in dogs. Twenty healthy female dogs undergoing elective ovariohysterectomy were enrolled in the study. Sixty minutes before pre-anaesthesia, a single dose of meloxicam (0.2 mg/kg) was randomly administered intravenously (IV) to 10 dogs (treatment group) while control dogs received an equivalent volume of saline solution IV. Platelet aggregation, buccal mucosa bleeding time, platelet count and haematological indices were measured at 0, 1, 6 and 24 h after administration of meloxicam. Since significant differences between groups were not observed for any of the measured parameters, preoperative administration of meloxicam may be used for pain control before elective ovariohysterectomy in healthy dogs, without compromising primary haemostasis.     

Mining Indonesian Microbial Biodiversity for Novel Natural Compounds by a Combined Genome Mining and Molecular Networking Approach

Indonesia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world and a promising resource for novel natural compound producers. Actinomycetes produce about two thirds of all clinically used antibiotics. Thus, exploiting Indonesia’s microbial diversity for actinomycetes may lead to the discovery of novel antibiotics. A total of 422 actinomycete strains were isolated from three different unique areas in Indonesia and tested for their antimicrobial activity. Nine potent bioactive strains were prioritized for further drug screening approaches. The nine strains were cultivated in different solid and liquid media, and a combination of genome mining analysis and mass spectrometry (MS)-based molecular networking was employed to identify potential novel compounds. By correlating secondary metabolite gene cluster data with MS-based molecular networking results, we identified several gene cluster-encoded biosynthetic products from the nine strains, including naphthyridinomycin, amicetin, echinomycin, tirandamycin, antimycin, and desferrioxamine B. Moreover, 16 putative ion clusters and numerous gene clusters were detected that could not be associated with any known compound, indicating that the strains can produce novel secondary metabolites. Our results demonstrate that sampling of actinomycetes from unique and biodiversity-rich habitats, such as Indonesia, along with a combination of gene cluster networking and molecular networking approaches, accelerates natural product identification.     

Effect of seawater concentration on the productivity and nutritional value of annual Salicornia and perennial Sarcocornia halophytes as leafy vegetable crops

The halophyte Salicornia was recently introduced as a fresh vegetable crop that thrives in extreme salt conditions. Two annual Salicornia and two perennial Sarcocornia ecotypes were investigated for yield production and nutritional value in response to different seawater concentrations in the irrigation solution. A harvest schedule based on a three-week cycle gave better productivity than a two-week or a four-week cycle. Total yield declined with increasing percentage of seawater above 50% in the irrigation water, however annual plants had always ca 2–3-fold higher fresh biomass in comparison to their perennial counterparts. Increased percentages of seawater in the irrigation solution had the following effects on ion concentrations in the shoots: no change in Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺, a slight increase in K⁺, and marked elevations in Na⁺ and Cl⁻. Importantly, total polyphenol, β-carotene and ureides, all known for their antioxidant capacities, rose with increasing seawater percentage, findings that indicated improved nutritional values for Salicornia and Sarcocornia irrigated with high concentrations of seawater. Impressively, both the annual Salicornia and the perennial Sarcocornia ecotypes exhibited high total shoot lipid contents of up to 2.41 and 2.06 mg g⁻¹ fresh weight, respectively, which included an omega-3 fraction of 47.6 and 41.2% of the total fatty acid content. Moreover, the high fatty acid content of the annual Salicornia ecotype was not significantly affected by increasing seawater concentrations. In this study, we thus demonstrated the feasibility of cultivating Salicornia and Sarcocornia by applying a multiple harvest system and 100% percentages of seawater in the irrigation water generating economic yields with high nutritional value. The findings also showed that Salicornia and Sarcocornia leafy vegetables may attract additional interest as an alternative source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for human consumption, even when the crop irrigated solely with seawater.     

A study of the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in pigs and in personnel involved in the pig industry in Ireland

To evaluate the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the pig population in Ireland, nasal swabbing was employed in three abattoirs to screen 440 pigs from 41 geographically distributed farms. One hundred individuals involved in the pig industry were also nasally screened. No MRSA isolates were recovered from the pigs and only two of the humans tested were identified as MRSA carriers. Importantly, MRSA was not obtained from pig producers, veterinarians or abattoir employees, but was isolated from individuals working in the wider pig industry. Multi-locus sequence typing revealed that these isolates belonged to sequence types (ST) ST22 and ST1307; the latter is a previously unreported single locus variant of ST5. Five dust samples from each of the three slaughterhouses were culture-negative for MRSA. These results indicate that porcine colonisation by MRSA, and in particular the animal-related strain MRSA-ST398, was not common in Ireland during the period of study.     

Effects of day length on flowering and yield production of Salicornia and Sarcocornia species

Salicornia is a new vegetable crop that can be irrigated with highly saline water, even at salt concentrations equivalent to full-strength seawater. During leafy vegetable cultivation, the onset of the reproductive phase is an undesired phenomenon that reduces yield and quality and prevents year-round cultivation. Knowledge about the regulation of floral induction in the members of the tribe Salicornieae, however, is lacking. To establish year-round cultivation, we studied the flower induction of five Salicornia and two Sarcocornia varieties. Plants were grown under two day lengths, 13.5 h and 18 h, and harvested by a repetitive harvest regime. A 13.5-h day length prevented flower induction in the Israeli Salicornia varieties, but a longer day length was required to prevent flower induction in two species originating from more northern latitudes. The onset of the reproductive phase under suboptimal short day length conditions severely reduced vegetative growth and yields in Salicornia. In Sarcocornia, the repetitive harvest regime prevented flowering, making it a promising candidate for year-round cultivation. Irrigating the plants with full-strength seawater (electrical conductivity 48 dS m⁻¹) vs. water with moderate salinity (electrical conductivity 10 dS m⁻¹) did not change the general flowering pattern of the studied Salicornieae members.     

Structure of a tyrosine phosphatase adhesive interaction reveals a spacer-clamp mechanism

Cell-cell contacts are fundamental to multicellular organisms and are subject to exquisite levels of control. Human RPTPmu is a type IIB receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase that both forms an adhesive contact itself and is involved in regulating adhesion by dephosphorylating components of cadherin-catenin complexes. Here we describe a 3.1 angstrom crystal structure of the RPTPmu ectodomain that forms a homophilic trans (antiparallel) dimer with an extended and rigid architecture, matching the dimensions of adherens junctions. Cell surface expression of deletion constructs induces intercellular spacings that correlate with the ectodomain length. These data suggest that the RPTPmu ectodomain acts as a distance gauge and plays a key regulatory function, locking the phosphatase to its appropriate functional location.