Heritage genetics for adaptation to marginal soils in barley.

Future crops need to be sustainable in the face of climate change. Modern barley varieties have been bred for high productivity and quality; however, they have suffered considerable genetic erosion, losing crucial genetic diversity. This renders modern cultivars vulnerable to climate change and stressful environments.

Ancient barley landraces adapted to marginal soils demonstrate exceptional tolerance to manganese limitation.

Background And Aims: Micronutrient deficiency in cereals is a problem of global significance, severely reducing grain yield and quality in marginal soils. Ancient landraces represent, through hundreds of years of local adaptation to adverse soil conditions, a unique reservoir of genes and unexplored traits for enhancing yield and abiotic stress tolerance. Here we explored and compared the genetic variation in a population of Northern European barley landraces and modern elite varieties, and their tolerance to manganese (Mn) limitation.

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin-D responses to multiple UV exposures from solaria: inferences for exposure to sunlight.

We investigate the relationship between blood serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and UV exposure from two artificial sources. We then use the results to test the validity of the action spectrum for vitamin D production, and to infer the production from summer and winter sunlight. The results are based on a two-arm randomised clinical trial of biweekly UV exposure for 12 weeks using two different types of dermatological booths: one emitting primarily UV-A radiation, and the other emitting primarily UV-B radiation (booth A and booth B respectively).

No effect of ultraviolet radiation on blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors.

Objectives: Recent epidemiological studies have reported inverse associations between vitamin D status and blood pressure. The study aim is to determine if exposure to ultraviolet B radiation, which synthesizes vitamin D, lowers blood pressure, compared with ultraviolet A radiation.

Methods: Men and women (n = 119) with low vitamin D levels [serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] <50 nmol/l], completed a randomized clinical trial carried out during winter.