Evidence of Anti-Proliferative Activities in Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis) By-Products

Shellfish waste components contain significant levels of high quality protein and are therefore a potential source for biofunctional high-value peptides. The feasibility of applying a pilot scale enzymatic hydrolysis process to whole Mytilus edulis and, by fractionation, recover hydrolysates presenting a biological activity of interest, was evaluated. Fractions were tested on four immortalized cancerous cell lines: A549, BT549, HCT15 and PC3. The 50 kDa fraction, enriched in peptides, presented anti-proliferative activity with all cell lines and results suggest a bioactive molecule synergy within the fraction. At a protein concentration of 44 µg/mL, the 50 kDa fraction induced a mortality of 90% for PC3, 89% for A549, 85% for HCT15 and of 81% for BT549 cell lines. At the low protein concentration of only 11 µg/mL the 50 kDa fraction still entails a cell mortality of 76% for A549 and 87% for PC3 cell lines. The 50 kDa fraction contains 56% of proteins, 3% of lipids and 6% of minerals on a dry weight basis and the lowest levels detected of taurine and methionine and highest levels of threonine, proline and glycine amino acids. The enzymatic hydrolysis process suggests that Mytilus edulis by-products should be viewed as high-valued products with strong potential as anti-proliferative agent and promising active ingredients in functional foods.     

What sampling is needed for reliable estimations of genetic diversity in Fraxinus excelsior L. (Oleaceae)?

? Sample size is a critical issue for genetic diversity studies and conservation programs. However, sample size evaluation requires previous knowledge of allele frequencies estimated with precision and this is not often the case.

? Here, we evaluated sample size requirements for accurate genetic diversity in adult trees and family arrays in a 12 ha plot of Fraxinus excelsior L. (Oleaceae) in a community forest in central France. Data consisted of 579 adult trees and 480 offspring from 24 families genotyped at four nuclear microsatellites.

? Mean square errors (MSE) estimates performed on Monte Carlo simulations of resampled data indicated that several adult individuals (> 300) are necessary for accurate measures of allele richness. However, expected heterozygosity requires smaller samples (< 30). Seeds captured about 90% of adult allelic diversity requiring a sampling effort roughly 50% larger than that of adult trees (480 seeds vs. 300 adults) suggesting that seed sampling is heavily penalized for allele counts. Nevertheless, gene diversity of seeds was essentially identical to that of the adult population.

? Extrapolation of these results to other ash tree populations appears feasible because of similar levels of diversity reported in the literature but it is not granted for species with significant selfing or high genetic structure.

     

Potential health implication of in vitro human low-density lipoprotein-vitamin E oxidation modulation by polyphenols derived from Côte d'Ivoire's oil palm species

Antioxidant activities of polyphenolic compounds extracted (PPEs) from ripe fruits of oil palms are investigated by studying their in vitro effects on human low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation. Four oil palm species ( Elaeis guineensis ) are issued from the National Centre of Agronomic Research of Co?te d'Ivoire, of which two are parental varieties (HP1 and HP2), while the other two are crossing varieties (HP3 and HP4). The main identified compounds were rutin (HP3 and HP4) and caffeic and chlorogenic (5-caffeoyl quinic) acids (HP1, HP3, and HP4). The highest total phenolic content was found for HP4, while it was significantly lower for HP2. Antioxidative effects were monitored by Cu(2+)- or 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane) hydrochloride (AAPH)-induced generation of conjugated dienes (lag time and oxidation rate). The highest PPE specific antioxidant activity (SAA) values were obtained with crossing varieties (HP3 and HP4) in the copper-oxidation assay. In the AAPH-oxidation assay, SAA values were comparable for all four varieties. PPEs were effective at preventing LDL-vitamin E depletion in vitro. They could exert direct beneficial antioxidant effects on vitamin E and other antioxidants contained in food and beverages in vivo, within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. These data could also be of particular importance for a healthier nutrition or the management of chronic diseases by a polyphenol-rich diet.     

Seroprevalence of Mycoplasma alligatoris among free-ranging alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) in Florida--2003.

Mycoplasma alligatoris causes acute lethal infection of alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). The objective of this study was to assess the current seroprevalence of M. alligatoris among free-ranging, juvenile and subadult alligators in Florida. Thirty-two of 592 (5.4%) plasma samples from alligators at 12 of 20 sites (60%) in April and October 2003 were tested seropositive (titer 1: > or = 32) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for anti-M. alligatoris antibodies. These results show that alligators throughout Florida have a recent history of exposure to M. alligatoris and suggest that contact with free-ranging alligators may constitute a risk of lethal infection of susceptible crocodilians.     

La Stéatose Hépatique et la Cholestérolémie Chez le Caneton Domestique au Cours d'une Malnutrition Protéique en Régime Orizé

The object of this experiment was to study the influence of essential amino acids on the growth, fatty infiltration of liver and cholesterol level of the serum in ducklings.     

A Decision Support System for Vine Growers Based on a Bayesian Network

We propose here a decision support system for vine growers to assess the quality of a vineyard to be planted. The quality of a vineyard is defined by the probability of possible profitability of the wine sales he is able to produce. The model, based on a Bayesian network (BN), takes into account environment and the parameters defining vineyard status with their associated interactions. BN are widely used for knowledge representation and reasoning under uncertainty in natural resource management. There is a rising interest in BN as tools for ecological and agronomic modelling. Data were collected from knowledge of vine-growing experts. We developed a C# computer program predicting the likely quality of a vineyard. The model has been validated on existing vineyards with prediction ability around 75 %. This system should ease assessments of the likely impact of the choices and decisions of vine growers on the quality of new vineyards to be planted in any part of the world. No such model has been developed before for vine growers.     

不同修剪水平对葡萄叶幕光照微区气候和水分关系的影响

本实验在法国波尔多的生态条件下，从叶幕光照微区气候和植物水分关系的角度，设计比较了四种植株芽眼负载量（修剪水平）和不同的修剪方式后指出，轻修剪水平（重负荷）的葡萄植株，由于生长的“自动调节”，整个叶幕水平上光照微区气候没有出现恶化现象。但是果际的郁蔽也许是造成物质代谢不良的重要原因之一。在水分关系方面，轻修剪水平植株整个叶幕前半天的蒸腾作用较强，但是以较剧烈的“午间低谷”和整个下午的低水平作为代价；伴随着这个现象的是午后叶幕气孔导性和叶面水势的较低水平。轻修剪水平对植株叶幕光照微区气候和水分关系影响的机理以及对葡萄果实品质形成的作用在本文中作了讨论。