Physiological trials with laboratory animals to evaluate nutritional values of plant material in programs for plant breeding and technical research

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - To be successful in the development of quality in plant products the possibilities for improvement by plant breeding and processing must be weighed against the...     

Healthy goats naturally devoid of prion protein

Prion diseases such as scrapie in small ruminants, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in man, are fatal neurodegenerative disorders. These diseases result from the accumulation of misfolded conformers of the host-encoded prion protein (PrP) in the central nervous system. To date naturally-occurring PrP free animals have not been reported. Here we describe healthy non-transgenic animals, Norwegian Dairy Goats, lacking prion protein due to a nonsense mutation early in the gene. These animals are predicted to be resistant to prion disease and will be valuable for research and for production of prion-free products.     

Exploratory Study of Potato Cultivar Differences in Sensory and Hedonistic Applicability Tests

From a potato cultivar breeding database including 2,143 named cultivars and clones, 11 cultivars that spanned the major variation in cultivar quality were selected for subsequent sensory and hedonistic applicability tests. A tailor-made sensory profile of the cultivars was developed for four different cooking procedures: boiled, mashed, oven-fried and oven-cooked potatoes. A sensory profile consisted of the four to five most important sensory attributes, and the data was combined with the applicability data using multivariate data analysis. Ultimately, the variation in eating quality was evaluated in a hedonistic test with expert evaluation of applicability. Three gourmet chefs prepared the different cultivars as boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes and oven-fried potatoes and evaluated the cultivars’ applicability, while a sensory panel consisting of nine judges evaluated the sensory quality. The multivariate data analysis revealed a significant diversity amongst the cultivars for the different cooking procedures. A single PCA bi-plot was able to provide a simple and clear overview of the gastronomic diversity and possible applications of the different potato cultivars.     

Adaptation of regional digital soil mapping for precision agriculture

In the initial phase of a national project to map clay, sand and soil organic matter (SOM) content in arable topsoil in Sweden, a study area in south-west Sweden comprising about 100 000 ha of arable land was assessed. Models were created for texture, SOM and two estimated variables for lime requirement determination (target pH and buffering capacity), using a data mining method (multivariate adaptive regression splines). Two existing reference soil datasets were used: a grid dataset and a dataset created for individual farms. The predictor data were of three types: airborne gamma-ray spectrometry data, digital elevation from airborne laser scanning, and legacy data on Quaternary geology. Validations were designed to suit applicability assessments of prediction maps for precision agriculture. The predictor data proved applicable for regional mapping of topsoil texture at 50 × 50 m² spatial resolution (root mean square error: clay = 6.5 %; sand = 13.2 %). A novel modelling strategy, ‘Farm Interactive’, in which soil analysis data for individual farms were added to the regional data, and given extra weight, improved the map locally. SOM models were less satisfactory. Variable-rate application files for liming created from derived digital soil maps and locally interpolated soil data were compared with ‘ground truth’ maps created by proximal sensors on one test farm. The Farm Interactive methodology generated the best predictions and was deemed suitable for adaptation of regional digital soil maps for precision agricultural purposes.     

Potato Late Blight and Tuber Yield: Results from 30 Years of Field Trials

During 1983–2012, three field trials per year were performed in each of the three southernmost counties in Sweden to test different fungicide programmes aiming to control late blight, primarily in the very susceptible potato cultivar Bintje. A dataset with results from these field trials was used (i) to examine possible changes in the appearance and behaviour of late blight attack over the years, (ii) to investigate the relationship between late blight in foliage and tuber blight, (iii) to investigate the relationship between late blight and tuber yield and (iv) to identify any correlations between different variables in the dataset. Late blight reached epidemic proportions, i.e. 75% disease severity in the untreated control, in the majority of the field trials. The estimated first attack of late blight was earlier in many field trials after 1998. Differences between years and regions were great in terms of date of the first attack and how the attack developed during the season. For example, in 2002–2005 and 2007, the first attack occurred 40–55 days after planting (DAP), compared with 95–108 DAP in 1994 and 1996. In 1994, 2006 and 2009–2011, the attacks increased from first symptoms to 65% disease severity in the untreated control within 16–21 days, compared with 35–40 days in 1995, 1999 and 2002. The relationship between foliage late blight and tuber blight was weak with the best match found at high disease severity late in the growing season (r?=?0.33; p?<?0.001). The relationship between blight-free tuber yield and start of the first attack indicated a yield increase of 287 kg/day (R ²?=?0.27) for every day’s delay in first attack. Using the DAP for 65% disease severity in the untreated control improved the correlation (R ²?=?0.64) and indicated a yield increase of 534 kg/day for every day’s delay in first attack. The later the onset of attack, the higher the blight-free tuber yield in treated plots. In general, significant correlations were found between blight-free tuber yield, size fractions of tuber yield, date of first late blight attack, date of different degrees of disease severity, disease severity, date of treatment, treatment measures and maintenance.     

Structure of the polycrystalline zeolite catalyst IM-5 solved by enhanced charge flipping

Despite substantial advances in crystal structure determination methodology for polycrystalline materials, some problems have remained intractable. A case in point is the zeolite catalyst IM-5, whose structure has eluded determination for almost 10 years. Here we present a charge-flipping structure-solution algorithm, extended to facilitate the combined use of powder diffraction and electron microscopy data. With this algorithm, we have elucidated the complex structure of IM-5, with 24 topologically distinct silicon atoms and an unusual two-dimensional medium-pore channel system. This powerful approach to structure solution can be applied without modification to any type of polycrystalline material (e.g., catalysts, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, complex metal alloys) and is therefore pertinent to a diverse range of scientific disciplines.     

Lower prevalence of fin erosion in mature than in immature Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) parr

Samples of hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon parr (age 0+ and 1+) from two different Norwegian river strains were investigated for connections between sexual maturity and prevalence of dorsal fin ray erosion. Mature males showed consistently lower prevalence as well as better recovery than immature males. Among the immature fish, no differences were detected between males and females. The results are discussed relative to morphological and physiological changes in maturing salmon parr.     

The effect of cell density on biomass and fatty acid productivity during cultivation of Rhodomonas salina in a tubular photobioreactor

The microalga Rhodomonas salina is widely used in aquaculture. There is a need for optimization of the growth of the microalgae and its content of essential fatty acids. Here, the fatty acid profile of Rhodomonas in relation to cell density during cultivation in a tubular PBR is investigated. It is expected that cell density is an important factor in controlling productivity and fatty acid content of the microalgae because cell density is important in determining light availability due to the self‐shading of the algae. The carbon productivity as a function of cell density is described by a saturation curve. The carbon productivity and the productivity of total fatty acids are lowest at the lowest cell density, and independent of cell density at higher cell densities. The relative contribution of the two poly‐unsaturated fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) increases with increasing cell density and saturates at 1 × 10⁶ cells/ml. We conclude that large‐scale production of Rhodomonas in this tubular PBR should take place at cell densities of 1 × 10⁶ cells/ml, while there are indications for increasing difficulties in maintaining steady‐state production in this PBR at higher cell densities.     

The influence of anaerobic muscle activity,maturation and season on the flesh quality of farmed turbot

In order to test seasonal, rearing, maturing and anaerobic muscle activity effect on the flesh quality of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) a total of 80 farmed turbot from three different strains from reared under natural or continuous light were killed by a percussive blow to the head in November (winter, Icelandic strain), March (spring, Portuguese strain) and June (summer, domesticated strain (France turbot)). To test the effect of anaerobic muscle activity, 10 fish were on each occasion pre rigor filleted, where one fillet was used as a control, while the other fillet was electrically stimulated using a squared 5 Hz, 10 V pulsed DC for 3 min. All pre rigor fillets were measured for pH, weighed, wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in polystyrene boxes with ice. After 7 days of storage the fillets were measured instrumentally for pH, drip loss, colour (CIE L* a* b*) and texture properties such as hardness and shear force, while fillet shrinkage and colour (RBG) were evaluated with computer imaging on photographs from a standard lightbox. Results showed that softness of the flesh was mainly influenced by factors associated with growth, such as season, photoperiod and maturation. Anaerobic muscle activity simulated with electrical stimulation caused an increase in drip loss (<1%) and loss of shear force (<4%), but had no effect on hardness or fillet shrinkage. Computer imaging revealed that muscle contractions related to the electrical stimulus forced out blood from the fillet causing less reddishness for the entire storage period. We conclude that a pH drop upon slaughter associated with anaerobic muscle activity has a minor effect on the flesh quality in the short run, while seasonal/alternatively genetic effects are predominant.     

Water-mediated proton hopping on an iron oxide surface

The diffusion of hydrogen atoms across solid oxide surfaces is often assumed to be accelerated by the presence of water molecules. Here we present a high-resolution, high-speed scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) study of the diffusion of H atoms on an FeO thin film. STM movies directly reveal a water-mediated hydrogen diffusion mechanism on the oxide surface at temperatures between 100 and 300 kelvin. Density functional theory calculations and isotope-exchange experiments confirm the STM observations, and a proton-transfer mechanism that proceeds via an H(3)O(+)-like transition state is revealed. This mechanism differs from that observed previously for rutile TiO(2)(110), where water dissociation is a key step in proton diffusion.