Influence of processing on total,monoglutamate and polyglutamate folate contents of leeks,cauliflower, and green beans

Bioavailability of dietary folate might be impaired by the polyglutamate chain to which approximately 70% of dietary folates are bound. This chain must be removed enzymatically in the intestine before folate is absorbed as a monoglutamate. To increase formation of monoglutamate folate in vegetables, the vegetables were subjected to various processing treatments. Treatments included freezing (-18 degrees C, 16 h) and thawing (4 degrees C, 24 h) and hydrostatic high-pressure treatment (200 MPa, 5 min). Both freezing/thawing and high-pressure treatment increased the proportion of folate in the monoglutamate form in leeks, cauliflower, and green beans 2-3-fold. However, loss of total folate after these treatments was >55%. It is concluded that conversion of folate polyglutamate to the monoglutamate form in vegetables is possible by certain processing treatments. Potentially this could lead to vegetables with higher folate bioavailability. However, to prevent folate loss into processing water, processing in a closed system should be applied.     

Abatement of High Concentrated Ammonia Loaded Waste Gases in Compost Biofilters

The performance of lab-scale compostbiofilters for the purification of waste gasescontaining high (>70 mg m^-3) ammoniaconcentrations was studied. When using fresh compostmaterial, no effect of inoculating the compostmaterial with a nitrifying culture was observed sincehigh elimination capacities (up to 350 gNH₃ m^-3 d^-1) were obtained in both theinoculated and the non-inoculated biofilter. Due tothe physico-chemical interaction of NH₃ with thecompost material at the start of the experiment, nomicrobiological start-up period was observed and highremoval efficiencies were obtained from the first dayon. Next to this, no NH₃-toxicity was observedeven at concentrations up to 550 mg NH₃ m^-3.About 50% of the NH₃-removal was found to benitrified, while the other 50% remained in thebiofilter as NH ⁺₄ . As a result of this, noacidification of the carrier material was observed andNH₄NO₃ accumulated in the biofilter. Due toosmotic effects, however, a complete inhibition innitrification and NH₃-removal was obtained at ameasured NH₄NO₃-concentration in the compostmaterial of 6–7 g N kg^-1, corresponding to acumulative NH₃-removal in the biofilter of ±6000 g m^-3. Finally, it was illustrated that theremoval of the odorant dimethyl sulfide (Me₂S) ina Hyphomicrobium MS3-inoculated compostbiofilter is completely inhibited due toNH₃-toxicity at a waste gas concentration of 100 mg NH₃ m^-3. Next to this, theNH ⁺₄ - and NO ^?₃ -concentrations inthe compost material that were shown to inhibit thenitrification, also strongly affected theMe₂S-degrading activity of Hyphomicrobium MS3.

     

Effects of grassland abandonment, restoration and management on butterflies and vascular plants

When semi-natural pastures are abandoned, specialized grassland species are lost as a consequence of succession. As a counter-measure, previously abandoned grasslands may be restored by clearing shrubs and trees and re-introducing grazing livestock. In order to examine the effects of this type of habitat restoration, we compared species richness of plants and of specialized plants thought to be dependent on continuous management and species richness and abundance of butterflies and red-listed butterflies in 12 sets of matched continuously managed, abandoned and restored grassland in southern Sweden. We found no differences in species richness or abundance between the three grassland types. There were, however, some negative effects of abandonment. The number of management-dependent plants decreased with increasing cover of trees and shrubs, and in restored sites species richness of all groups decreased with increasing cover of trees and shrubs before restoration. Also the present management significantly affected both butterflies and plants. Species richness of both groups increased with increasing vegetation height and differed between sites depending on the species of grazers, with negative effects of sheep compared to cattle or horses. Our study indicates that for grassland management to be efficient, the restoration actions should mainly be directed towards sites where the post-abandonment succession has not proceeded too far.     

Host resistance to lung infection mediated by major vault protein in epithelial cells

The airway epithelium plays an essential role in innate immunity to lung pathogens. Ribonucleoprotein particles primarily composed of major vault protein (MVP) are highly expressed in cells that encounter xenobiotics. However, a clear biologic function for MVP is not established. We report here that MVP is rapidly recruited to lipid rafts when human lung epithelial cells are infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and maximal recruitment is dependent on bacterial binding to the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator. MVP was also essential for optimal epithelial cell internalization and clearance of P. aeruginosa. These results suggest that MVP makes a substantial contribution to epithelial cell-mediated resistance to infection.