Remnant grassland habitats as source communities for plant diversification in agricultural landscapes     

Sara A.O. Cousins  Regina Lindborg 《Biological conservation》2008,141(1):233-240

Lately there has been a shift in Sweden from grazing species-rich semi-natural grasslands towards grazing ex-arable fields in the modern agricultural landscape. These fields normally contain a fraction of the plant species richness compared to semi-natural grasslands. However, small remnant habitats have been suggested as important for plant species diversity and conservation as they may function as refugia for grassland specialists in fragmented and highly modified agricultural landscapes. In this study, we examined whether plant communities on small remnant habitats, i.e. midfield islets, can function as sources for grassland species to disperse out into surrounding grazed ex-fields (former arable fields). We examined species richness and grassland specialists (species favoured by grazing) and their ability to colonize fields after 5 and 11 years of grazing. The fields that had been grazed for a shorter time were fairly species-poor with few grassland specialists. A longer period of grazing had a positive effect on total and small-scale species diversity in both islets and fields. Species composition became more similar with time, and the number of grassland specialists in both habitats increased. We found that grassland specialists dispersed step-wise into the fields, and the number of grassland specialists decreased with distance from the source. Our study suggests that remnant habitats, such as midfield islets, do function as a source community for grassland specialists and enhance diversification of grassland species when grazing is introduced. For long-term conservation of plant species, incorporating small refugia into larger grazing complexes may thus enhance species richness.  相似文献   

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of phosphoramide derivatives as urease inhibitors     

Domínguez MJ  Sanmartín C  Font M  Palop JA  San Francisco S  Urrutia O  Houdusse F  García-Mina J 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2008,56(10):3721-3731

The design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of phosphoramide derivatives as urease inhibitors to reduce the loss of ammonia has been carried out. Forty phosphorus derivatives were synthesized and their inhibitory activities evaluated against that of jack bean urease. In addition, in vivo assays have been carried out. All of the compounds were characterized by IR, (1)H NMR, MS, and elemental microanalysis. In some cases, detailed molecular modeling studies were carried out, and these highlighted the interaction between the enzyme active center and the compounds and also the characteristics related to their activity as urease inhibitors. According to the IC(50) values for in vitro inhibitory activity, 12 compounds showed values below 1 microM and 8 of them represent improvements of activity in comparison to the commercial urease inhibitor N-n-butylthiophosphorictriamide (NBPT) (100 nM) (AGROTAIN). On the basis of the activity results and the conclusions of the molecular modeling study, a structural model for new potential inhibitors has been defined.  相似文献   

Compositional and tissue modifications induced by the natural fermentation process in table olives     

Servili M  Minnocci A  Veneziani G  Taticchi A  Urbani S  Esposto S  Sebastiani L  Valmorri S  Corsetti A 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2008,56(15):6389-6396

Olive fruits contain high concentrations of phenols that include phenolic acids, phenolic alcohols, flavonoids, and secoiridoids. The final concentration of phenols is strongly affected by brine conditions. The factors involved in modification by brine are still partially unknown and can include hydrolysis of secoiridoid glucosides and the release of hydrolyzed products. In this study olives from various Italian cultivars were processed by natural fermentation (e.g., without a preliminary treatment of olives with NaOH) using a selected Lactobacillus strain. Processed olives are characterized by a low phenolic concentration of phenols, consisting mainly of phenyl alcohols, verbascoside, and the dialdehydic form of decarboxymethylelenolic acid linked to (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethanol (3,4-DHPEA-EDA), whereas a high level of phenols occurs in olive brine from all the cultivars studied. Olives of the Coratina cultivar, control and with fermentation by Lactobacillus pentosus 1MO, were analyzed in a frozen hydrated state by cryo scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis, on both surface and transversal freeze-fracture planes. Structural modifications, found in olives after fermentation, may explain the phenol release in brine.  相似文献   

Influence of methanol on the dynamics of the retention and release of cyprodinil by an agricultural soil     

López-Periago JE  Arias-Estévez M  Soto-González B  Trelles-Reinoso S  Simal-Gándara J 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2006,54(13):4751-4757

The influence of methanol on the adsorption of the fungicide cyprodinil by a crop soil was studied by equilibrium measurements and by determining the retention-release dynamics in a continuous stirred flow tank reactor (CSTR). Equilibrium measurements showed the effective coefficient of partition of cyprodinil between soil and solution, K(dc), decreases linearly as the concentration of methanol in the solution increases until a percentage of 20% is reached. In CSTR experiments, the retention of cyprodinil was found to be almost reversible; up to a 95% of the fungicide was desorbed. The retention-release dynamics showed biphasic behavior and was partially controlled by diffusion. This behavior was reproduced by a model of diffusion into micropores identifying the soil particles as spheres and taking into account both intraparticle nonlinear adsorption and nonlinear adsorption at external surfaces. In all cases, the sorption kinetics was not the limiting step. The main effect of methanol in the retention-release dynamics ended up being based on the changes produced in the adsorption equilibrium. Methanol also increased the effective diffusion coefficient and decreased the mass transfer coefficient. The optimized Freundlich's isotherm coefficients for <5% methanol were lower than those obtained from the batch experiments.  相似文献   

Antioxidant activities and anthocyanin content of fresh fruits of common fig (Ficus carica L.)     

Solomon A  Golubowicz S  Yablowicz Z  Grossman S  Bergman M  Gottlieb HE  Altman A  Kerem Z  Flaishman MA 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2006,54(20):7717-7723

Fig fruit has been a typical component in the health-promoting Mediterranean diet for millennia. To study the potential health-promoting constituents of fig fruits, six commercial fig varieties differing in color (black, red, yellow, and green) were analyzed for total polyphenols, total flavonoids, antioxidant capacity, and amount and profile of anthocyanins. Using reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC), various concentrations of anthocyanins but a similar profile was found in all varieties studied. Hydrolysis revealed cyanidin as the major aglycon. Proton and carbon NMR confirmed cyanidin-3-O-rhamnoglucoside (cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside; C3R) as the main anthocyanin in all fruits. Color appearance of fig extract correlated well with total polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and antioxidant capacity. Extracts of darker varieties showed higher contents of phytochemicals compared to lighter colored varieties. Fruit skins contributed most of the above phytochemicals and antioxidant activity compared to the fruit pulp. Antioxidant capacity correlated well with the amounts of polyphenols and anthocyanins (R2 = 0.985 and 0.992, respectively). In the dark-colored Mission and the red Brown-Turkey varieties, the anthocyanin fraction contributed 36 and 28% of the total antioxidant capacity, respectively. C3R contributed 92% of the total antioxidant capacity of the anthocyanin fraction. Fruits of the Mission variety contained the highest levels of polyphenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanins and exhibited the highest antioxidant capacity.  相似文献   

The role of fat in flavor perception: effect of partition and viscosity in model emulsions     

Bayarri S  Taylor AJ  Hort J 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2006,54(23):8862-8868

Decreasing the fat content of a food, while maintaining the same aroma content, changes both aroma release (due to partition effects) and the viscosity of the food. To understand the relative contribution of these two factors on flavor perception, a series of flavored emulsions were prepared to control aroma release and viscosity using different aroma, oil, and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) contents. Samples were formulated to deliver the same aroma-release in vitro and in vivo, and their viscosity was measured using the Kokini oral shear stress parameter. Despite the in vivo aroma release being constant, there were perceptual differences between the samples, and the flavor intensity decreased as in-mouth viscosity increased. For these iso release samples, the Kokini oral shear stress parameter correlated well with the decrease in perception, suggesting that there may be a viscosity stimulus or that the viscosity affects release of tastant and hinders aroma-taste interactions.  相似文献   

Potential of Tamarix africana and other halophyte species for phytostabilisation of contaminated salt marsh soils     

Santos  Erika S.  Abreu  Maria Manuela  Peres  Sara  Magalhães  Maria Clara F.  Leitão  Sara  Pereira  Ana Santos  Cerejeira  Maria José 《Journal of Soils and Sediments》2017,17(5):1459-1473

Purpose

Salt marsh plants are colonising wastes from a steel plant deposited on the Coina River Banks posing a potential contamination risk to the Tagus estuary ecosystem. The objectives of this study were to assess the uptake, accumulation and translocation of hazardous elements/nutrients in three spontaneous halophytic species, to evaluate the capacity of Tamarix africana to stabilise a contaminated salt marsh soil, and to evaluate the ecotoxicity of the pore water and elutriates from phytostabilised soils.

Materials and methods

The work comprises the following: fieldwork collection of soil samples from Coina River (an affluent of Tagus River) bank landfill, estuarine water and spontaneous plants (Aster tripolium, Halimione portulacoides and Sarcocornia sp.), and greenhouse studies (microcosm assay) with T. africana growing in one landfill salt marsh soil, for 97 days, and watered with estuarine water. Soils were analysed for pH, EC, C_organic, NPK, iron and manganese oxides. Soils total (acid digestion) elemental concentrations were determined by ICP/INAA. Estuarine waters, plants roots and shoots (acid digestion), soils available fraction (diluted organic acids extraction-RHIZO or pore water), and salts collected from the T. africana leaves surface were analysed for metals/metalloids (ICP-MS). Ecotoxicity assays were performed in T. africana soil elutriates and pore waters using Artemia franciscana and Brachionus plicatillis.

Results and discussion

Soils were contaminated, containing high total concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead and zinc. However, their concentrations in the available fraction were <4 % of the total. The estuarine waters were contaminated with cadmium, but negligible ecotoxicological effect was observed. The spontaneous plants had significant uptake of the above elements, being mostly stored in the roots. Elemental concentrations in the shoots were within the normal range for plants. These species are not hazardous elements accumulators. Tamarix africana was well adapted to the contaminated saline soils, stored the contaminants in the roots, and had small concentrations of hazardous elements in the shoots. Excretion of hazardous elements by the salt glands was also observed. Elutriates from soils with and without plant did not show ecotoxicity.

Conclusions

The salt marsh species play an important role in the stabilisation of the soils in natural conditions. Tamarix africana showed potential for phytostabilisation of saline-contaminated soils. The low translocation of the elements from roots to shoots and/or active excretion of the elements by the salt glands was a tolerance mechanism in T. africana.

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Comparison of corneal degeneration and calcific band keratopathy from 2000 to 2013 in 69 horses          下载免费PDF全文

Emily H. Berryhill  Sara M. Thomasy  Philip H. Kass  Christopher M. Reilly  Kathryn L. Good  Steven R. Hollingsworth  David J. Maggs  K. Gary Magdesian  Nicola Pusterla 《Veterinary ophthalmology》2017,20(1):16-26

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Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas in humans and dogs          下载免费PDF全文

S. Galac  E. Korpershoek 《Veterinary and comparative oncology》2017,15(4):1158-1170

Pheochromocytomas (PCCs) and paragangliomas (PGLs) are described in several species. In humans and dogs they have many similarities: the excessive catecholamine release in hormonally active PCC causes similar clinical signs, the frequency of metastasis is similar, and they are histopathologically almost identical. Surgery is curative when PCC and PGL have not metastasized, while only palliative treatment is possible for patients with metastatic disease. Mutations in succinate dehydrogenase subunit B (SDHB) are associated with metastatic behaviour in human PCC/PGL and the same mutation has been described in dogs. The dog might therefore be a suitable model for study of the pathogenesis of metastatic PCC and PGL in humans. Further molecular studies of common tumourigenic pathways and comparative studies of histopathology of human and canine PCC and PGL are warranted.  相似文献   

Identification of candidate genes for paratuberculosis resistance in the native Italian Garfagnina goat breed     

Francesca Cecchi  Claudia Russo  Daniela Iamartino  Alessia Galiero  Barbara Turchi  Filippo Fratini  Sara Degl’Innocenti  Raffaele Mazza  Stefano Biffani  Giovanna Preziuso  Carlo Cantile 《Tropical animal health and production》2017,49(6):1135-1142

Paratuberculosis disease is a chronic bacterial disease infection of ruminants of global relevance, caused by MAP (Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis). The present study was conducted on the Garfagnina goat breed that is an Italian native goat population registered on the Tuscan regional repertory of genetic resources at risk of extinction. Forty-eight adult goats (27 serologically positive to MAP-positive and 21 serologically negative to MAP-negative) belonging to a single flock that had experienced annual mortalities due to MAP infection were identified and genotyped with the Illumina GoatSNP60 BeadChip. Diagnosis was achieved by serological tests, as well as post-mortem examination of affected animals. A genome-wide scan was then performed on the individual marker genotypes, in an attempt to identify genomic regions associated with MAP infection disease. Nine significant markers were highlighted and they were located within, or nearby, annotated genes. Two genes found in this study encode are linked to protein kinases that are among the most important enzymes involved in the immune response to Johne’s disease, and four genes are involved in the functions of the Golgi complex.  相似文献