Clinical and Metabolic Characterization of Women With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Within the First Year Postpartum.

Context: Women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have an increased risk of long-term complications, including impaired glucose metabolism, type 2 diabetes (T2DM), cardiovascular disease, and obesity. In current clinical practice, a 1 size fits all approach to GDM is applied, although heterogeneity among women with GDM has been recognized.

Objective: To give the most adequate preventive care and postpartum (PP) guidance, we aimed to make a metabolic characterization and identify subgroups of women with previous GDM within the first year PP.

Delivery of E. coli Nissle to the mouse gut by mucoadhesive microcontainers does not improve its competitive ability against strains linked to ulcerative colitis.

For patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), administration of the probiotic E. coli Nissle (EcN) holds promise for alleviation of disease symptoms. The mechanisms are unclear, but it has been hypothesised that a capacity of the probiotic to outcompete potentially detrimental UC-associated E.

Molecular breeding of barley for quality traits and resilience to climate change.

Barley grains are a rich source of compounds, such as resistant starch, beta-glucans and anthocyanins, that can be explored in order to develop various products to support human health, while lignocellulose in straw can be optimised for feed in husbandry, bioconversion into bioethanol or as a starting material for new compounds. Existing natural variations of these compounds can be used to breed improved cultivars or integrated with a large number of mutant lines. The technical demands can be in opposition depending on barley's end use as feed or food or as a source of biofuel.

Local Delivery of Streptomycin in Microcontainers Facilitates Colonization of Streptomycin-Resistant Escherichia coli in the Rat Colon.

Oral antibiotic treatment is often applied in animal studies in order to allow establishment of an introduced antibiotic-resistant bacterium in the gut. Here, we compared the application of streptomycin dosed orally in microcontainers to dosage through drinking water. The selective effect on a resistant bacterial strain, as well as the effects on fecal, luminal, and mucosal microbiota composition, were investigated.

Barley isochorismate synthase mutant is phylloquinone-deficient, but has normal basal salicylic acid level.

Salicylic acid (SA) is an important signaling hormone in plant immunity. It can be synthesized by either the phenylpropanoid pathway or the isochorismate pathway, but mutant studies of this have been scarce in other species than Arabidopsis. Here we identified a mutation that introduced a stop-codon early in the barley gene for isochorismate synthase (ICS).

Fluidic resistance control enables high-throughput establishment of mixed-species biofilms.

Bacteria often live in communities of mixed species embedded in a self-produced extracellular matrix of polysaccharides, proteins and DNA, termed biofilms. The BioFlux microfluidic flow system is useful for studying biofilm formation in different media under flow. However, analyzing the architecture and maturation of biofilms under flow requires a proper seeding, which can prove difficult when working with bacteria of different sizes, motile bacteria or aiming for a high number of replicates.

TILLING in Brachypodium distachyon.

TILLING is a low-cost screening method that allows for identification of mutations in a gene-of-interest within a range of few base pairs. TILLING can be applied to mutant populations or to plant collections of cultivars, landraces or crop wild relatives (Eco-TILLING). The method is based on the Cel1 enzyme cleavage of mismatches in PCR products amplified with labeled primers.

QTLs and Potential Candidate Genes for Heat Stress Tolerance Identified from the Mapping Populations Specifically Segregating for / in Wheat.

Despite the fact that / (maximum quantum efficiency of photosystem II) is the most widely used parameter for a rapid non-destructive measure of stress detection in plants, there are barely any studies on the genetic understanding of this trait under heat stress. Our aim was to identify quantitative trait locus (QTL) and the potential candidate genes linked to / for improved photosynthesis under heat stress in wheat ( L.).

Genome-wide association mapping in winter barley for grain yield and culm cell wall polymer content using the high-throughput CoMPP technique.

A collection of 112 winter barley varieties (Hordeum vulgare L.) was grown in the field for two years (2008/09 and 2009/10) in northern Italy and grain and straw yields recorded. In the first year of the trial, a severe attack of barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV) strongly influenced final performances with an average reduction of ~ 50% for grain and straw harvested in comparison to the second year.

Mapping of common bunt resistance gene Bt9 in wheat.

The Bt9 resistance locus was mapped and shown to be distinct from the Bt10 locus. New markers linked to Bt9 have been identified and may be used to breed for resistance towards the seed-borne disease. Increasing organic wheat production in Denmark, and in other wheat-producing areas, in conjunction with legal requirements for organic seed production, may potentially lead to a rise in common bunt occurrence.

Association Mapping in Scandinavian Winter Wheat for Yield, Plant Height, and Traits Important for Second-Generation Bioethanol Production.

A collection of 100 wheat varieties representing more than 100 years of wheat-breeding history in Scandinavia was established in order to identify marker-trait associations for plant height (PH), grain yield (GY), and biomass potential for bioethanol production. The field-grown material showed variations in PH from 54 to 122 cm and in GY from 2 to 6.61 t ha(-1).

Barbarea vulgaris linkage map and quantitative trait loci for saponins, glucosinolates, hairiness and resistance to the herbivore Phyllotreta nemorum.

Combined genomics and metabolomics approaches were used to unravel molecular mechanisms behind interactions between winter cress (Barbarea vulgaris) and flea beetle (Phyllotreta nemorum). B. vulgaris comprises two morphologically, biochemically and cytologically deviating types, which differ in flea beetle resistance, saponin and glucosinolate profiles, as well as leaf pubescence.

Mutations in genes controlling the biosynthesis and accumulation of inositol phosphates in seeds.

Most of the phosphorus in the resting seed is stored inside protein storage vacuoles as PA (phytic acid; InsP(6)). The biosynthesis and accumulation of PA can be detected beginning from a few days after anthesis and seem to continue during seed development until maturation. The first step in PA biosynthesis is the formation of Ins3P by conversion of glucose 6-phosphate.

Peanut cross-reacting allergens in seeds and sprouts of a range of legumes.

Background: Recently, peanut-allergic patients have reported symptoms upon ingestion of bean sprouts produced from various legumes.

Objective: This study was designed to identify immunoreactivity to seeds and sprouts of legumes other than peanut in sera from peanut-allergic patients.

Methods: Crude protein extracts of seeds and sprouts (comprising cotelydons and hypocotyls/epicotyls) of peanut, soybean, green pea, blue lupine, mung bean, alfalfa, broad bean, and azuki bean were prepared.

The biological activity of a recombinantly expressed (His)(6)-tagged peanut allergen (rAra h 1) is unaffected by endotoxin removal.

The application of recombinant (His)(6)-tagged proteins in cell culture assays is associated with problems due to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) contamination. LPS stimulates cells of the immune system, thereby masking antigen-specific activation of T cells. Due to the affinity of LPS for histidine it is associated with difficulties to remove LPS from recombinant (His)(6)-tagged proteins.

Cross-reactivity to eel, eelpout and ocean pout in codfish-allergic patients.

Fish allergy is one of the most common food allergies in both children and adults and patients with allergic reactions to one fish species have in many cases been given the advice to avoid all fish, without further evaluation. The possible common reactivity between different fish species is not well studied. Because of this and a possible exploitation of fish species hitherto not much used in the Scandinavian diet ocean pout, eelpout and eel were evaluated.

A comparative study of the allergenic potency of wild-type and glyphosate-tolerant gene-modified soybean cultivars.

A large proportion of soybean cultivars grown in the USA are now genetically modified varieties and concern has been raised about the safety of these products for consumers. A study of the impact on allergenic potency in soybeans, comparable except for the newly introduced gene (CP4 EPSPS), was performed using soybean-sensitized patients. The allergenicity of 18 different (10 GM and 8 WT) soybean extracts was examined blindly by the following three methods: A) Sera from patients with specific IgE against soybean were used to determine concentrations inducing 50% RAST inhibition; B) Histamine release induced by the extracts was examined using blood from sensitized patients; C) SPT was performed on sensitized patients with all 18 extracts.

Quantitative trait loci affecting plant regeneration from protoplasts of Brassica oleracea.

Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling the plant-regeneration ability of Brassica oleracea protoplasts were mapped in a population of 128 F(2) plants derived from a cross between the high-responding, rapid-cycling line and a low-responding, broccoli breeding line of B. oleracea. A modified bulked segregant analysis with AFLP markers identified two QTLs for plant regeneration.

Allergenic components of a novel food, Micronesian nut Nangai (Canarium indicum), shows IgE cross-reactivity in pollen allergic patients.

Background: New foods may present a risk for food hypersensitive patients. Several examples exist of allergic reactions caused by cross-reactive plant-derived foods, and new foods should be scrutinised before introducing them to the market. We have evaluated the clinical and serological relevance of cross-reactivity between Nangai and pollen allergens.