Food safety knowledge and climate in the university canteens of three European countries.

The association of food safety knowledge and climate with gender, education level, length of employment, food safety training, and professional role was measured using a 15-item food safety climate survey and a 20-item food safety questionnaire on a sample of 263 employees from 19 small and medium-sized university canteens in Croatia, Hungary, and Portugal. The relationship between knowledge and climate and the demographic determinants of both variables were examined. Food safety knowledge was inadequate (45.

Hygiene assessments of school kitchens based on the microbiological status of served food.

Background: According to European trends, more children eat at school canteens than ever before, therefore food safety and quality have become increasingly significant in recent years. Nevertheless, there are large differences in food safety levels in different school canteens. We hypothesize that the microbial status of the served meal represents on the general hygiene of the kitchen.

Overcoming ammonium toxicity.

Ammonia (ammonium ion under physiological conditions) is one of the key nitrogen sources in cellular amino acid biosynthesis. It is continuously produced in living organisms by a number of biochemical processes, but its accumulation in cells leads to tissue damage. Current knowledge suggests that a few enzymes and transporters are responsible for maintaining the delicate balance of ammonium fluxes in plant tissues.

Phytoextraction potential of wild type and 35S-gshI transgenic poplar trees (Populus x Canescens) for environmental pollutants herbicide paraquat, salt sodium, zinc sulfate and nitric oxide in vitro.

Phytoextraction potentials of two transgenic (TR) poplar (Populus x canescens) clones TRggs11 and TRlgl6 were compared with that of wild-type (WT) following exposure to paraquat, zinc sulfate, common salt and nitric oxide (NO), using a leaf-disc system incubated for 21 days on EDTA-containing nutritive WPM media in vitro. Glutathione (GSH) contents of leaf discs of TRlgl6 and TRggs11 showed increments to 296% and 190%, respectively, compared with WT. NO exposure led to a twofold GSH content in TRlgl6, which was coupled with a significantly increased sulfate uptake when exposed to 10(-3) M ZnSO4.

RT-PCR analysis and stress response capacity of transgenic gshI-poplar clones (Populus x canescens) in response to paraquat exposure.

Stress response capacity (Fv/Fm at 690 nm and F690/F735 at Fmax) of untransformed hybrid poplar, Populus x canescens (P tremula x P alba), and two transgenic lines overexpressing gamma-ECS (gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase) either in the cytosol (cyt-ECS) or in the chloroplast (chl-ECS) was studied in response to the herbicide paraquat (4.0 x 10(-9) to 4.0 x 10(-6) M) for 21 days.

AFLP analysis and improved phytoextraction capacity of transgenic gshI-poplar clones (Populus x canescens L.) for copper in vitro.

Clone stability and in vitro phytoextraction capacity of vegetative clones of P. x canescens (2n = 4x = 38) including two transgenic clones (ggs11 and lgl6) were studied as in vitro leaf disc cultures. Presence of the gshI-transgene in the transformed clones was detected in PCR reactions using gshI-specific primers.

Ability of transgenic poplars with elevated glutathione content to tolerate zinc(2+) stress.

Phytoremediation potentials of four poplar lines, Populus nigra (N-SL clone), Populus canescens, and two transgenic P. canescens clones were investigated using in vitro leaf discs cultures. The transgenic poplars overexpressed a bacterial gene encoding gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase in the cytosol (11ggs) or in the chlopoplasts (6LgI), and therefore, they contained an elevated level of glutathione.