Structure and functionality of surface-active amylose-fatty amine salt inclusion complexes.

Novel value-added starch-based materials can be produced by forming amylose inclusion complexes (AIC) with hydrophobic compounds. There is currently little research on AIC use as polymeric emulsifiers, particularly for AIC with fatty amine salt ligands. This work evaluated AIC emulsifiers by studying the structure and functionality of AIC composed of high amylose corn starch and fatty amine salts (10-18 carbons, including a mixture simulating vegetable oil composition) produced via steam jet cooking.

Elevated CO Can Worsen Fusarium Head Blight Disease Severity in Wheat but the QTL Provides Reliable Disease Resistance.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a destructive fungal disease of wheat that causes significant economic loss due to lower yields and the contamination of grain with fungal toxins (mycotoxins), particularly deoxynivalenol (DON). FHB disease spread and mycotoxin contamination has been shown to worsen at elevated CO, therefore, it is important to identify climate-resilient FHB resistance. This work evaluates whether wheat with the quantitative trait locus (QTL), the most widely deployed FHB resistance locus in wheat breeding programs, provides reliable disease resistance at elevated CO.

Bioactivity of brassica seed meals and its compounds as ecofriendly larvicides against mosquitoes.

Strategic, sustainable, and ecofriendly alternatives to chemical pesticides are needed to effectively control mosquitoes and reduce the incidence of their vectored diseases. We evaluated several Brassicaceae (mustard family) seed meals as sources of plant derived isothiocyanates produced from the enzymatic hydrolysis of biologically inactive glucosinolates for the control of Aedes aegypti (L., 1762).

Insights into the Aggressiveness of the Emerging North American Population 3 (NA3) of .

In the United States and Canada, () is the predominant etiological agent of Fusarium head blight (FHB), an economically devastating fungal disease of wheat and other small grains Besides yield losses, FHB leads to grain contamination with trichothecene mycotoxins that are harmful to plant, human, and livestock health. Three genetic North American populations of , differing in their predominant trichothecene chemotype (i.e.

disease resistance QTL does not exacerbate wheat grain protein loss at elevated CO.

Fusarium head blight, a devastating cereal crop disease, can cause significant yield losses and contaminate grain with hazardous fungal toxins. Concerningly, recent evidence indicates that substantial grain protein content loss is likely to occur in wheat that is moderately resistant to head blight when it is grown at elevated CO. Although wheat breeders in North America utilize a number of resistance sources and genes to reduce pathogen damage, the gene is widely deployed.

Fusarium head blight resistance exacerbates nutritional loss of wheat grain at elevated CO.

The nutritional integrity of wheat is jeopardized by rapidly rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO) and the associated emergence and enhanced virulence of plant pathogens. To evaluate how disease resistance traits may impact wheat climate resilience, 15 wheat cultivars with varying levels of resistance to Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) were grown at ambient and elevated CO. Although all wheat cultivars had increased yield when grown at elevated CO, the nutritional contents of FHB moderately resistant (MR) cultivars were impacted more than susceptible cultivars At elevated CO, the MR cultivars had more significant differences in plant growth, grain protein, starch, fructan, and macro and micro-nutrient content compared with susceptible wheat.

Effects of Atmospheric CO and Temperature on Wheat and Corn Susceptibility to and Deoxynivalenol Contamination.

This work details the impact of atmospheric CO and temperature conditions on two strains of their disease damage, pathogen growth, mycotoxin accumulation, and production per unit fungal biomass in wheat and corn. An elevated atmospheric CO concentration, 1000 ppm CO, significantly increased the accumulation of deoxynivalenol in infected plants. Furthermore, growth in cool growing conditions, 20 °C/18 °C, day and night, respectively, resulted in the highest amounts of pathogen biomass and toxin accumulation in both inoculated wheat and corn.

Insecticidal Activity of Commiphora erythraea Essential Oil and Its Emulsions Against Larvae of Three Mosquito Species.

The use of essential oils as ecofriendly tools for vector management is one of the mainstreams for biopesticide research. We evaluated the larvicidal properties of Commiphora erythraea (opoponax) essential oil and its fractions against Culex restuans Theobald, Culex pipiens L., and Aedes aegypti L.

Changes in Wheat Nutritional Content at Elevated [CO] Alter Growth and Mycotoxin Production on Grain.

Rising atmospheric [CO] has been shown to impact plant primary metabolism and the severity of head blight (FHB) in wheat. In this study, we evaluated how changes in grain nutritional content due to growth at elevated [CO] affected growth and mycotoxin production. Susceptible (Norm) and moderately resistant (Alsen) hard spring wheat grains that had been grown at ambient (400 ppm) or elevated [CO] (800 ppm) were independently inoculated with two fungal strains, which produce the trichothecene mycotoxin, deoxynivalenol.

Biopesticide synergy when combining plant flavonoids and entomopathogenic baculovirus.

Four crop plants known to be hosts for the lepidopteran Trichoplusia ni (soybean, green bean, cotton, and cabbage) were treated with the biopesticide AfMNPV baculovirus in a dosage response assay. Treated soybean had, on average, a 6-fold increase in virus activity compared with the other crops. Leaf trichomes on soybeans were not found to be responsible for the observed increase of insecticidal activity.

Intrapopulation Antagonism Can Reduce the Growth and Aggressiveness of the Wheat Head Blight Pathogen .

is a causal agent of Fusarium head blight (FHB), a disease that reduces yield and quality of cereal crops and contaminates grain with mycotoxins that pose health risks to humans and livestock. Interpopulation antagonistic interactions between isolates that produce different trichothecene mycotoxins can reduce FHB in wheat, but it is not known if interactions between isolates with a shared population identity that produce the same trichothecenes have a similar effect. Using isolates from the predominant populations in North America (NA1 and NA2), we examined intrapopulation interactions by comparing growth, disease progression, and toxin production of individual isolates with multi-isolate mixes.

Leptospermum scoparium essential oil is a promising source of mosquito larvicide and its toxicity is enhanced by a biobased emulsifier.

Synthetic pesticides are the cornerstone of vector-borne disease control, but alternatives are urgently needed to tackle the growing problem of insecticide resistance and concerns over environmental safety. Leptospermum scoparium J.R.

Antimicrobial properties of amylose-fatty ammonium salt inclusion complexes.

Amylose-fatty (C12-C16) ammonium salt inclusion complexes are effective antimicrobial polymers causing growth inhibition of microbes at concentrations as low as 40 μg/mL of the complex (2 μg/mL active cationic ligand). The complex was more effective at controlling microbes than the uncomplexed ligand. The complexes were found to be particularly effective at inhibiting the growth of fungi, yeast, gram (+) bacteria, and algae; its performance was affected by pH.

Amylose Inclusion Complexes as Emulsifiers for Garlic and Asafoetida Essential Oils for Mosquito Control.

Although the insecticidal properties of some plant essential oils are well-documented, their use in integrated pest and vector management is complicated by their high volatility, low thermal stability, high sensitivity to oxidation, and low solubility in water. We investigated the use of bio-based -1-hexadecylammonium chloride and sodium palmitate amylose inclusion complexes as emulsifiers for two essential oils, garlic and asafoetida, known to be highly toxic to mosquito larvae. Four emulsions of each essential oil based on amylose hexadecylammonium chloride and amylose sodium palmitate inclusion complexes were evaluated for their toxicity against L.

Improved hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) films through incorporation of amylose-sodium palmitate inclusion complexes.

Polymer film blends of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and amylose-sodium palmitate inclusion complexes (Na-Palm) were produced with no plasticizer, and were observed to have improved physical and gas barrier properties as compared with pure HPMC. The crystalline amylose helices incorporating the hydrophobic sodium palmitate ligand decreased the water vapor permeability of a 50/50% blended film of HPMC/Na-Palm by 40% and decreased oxygen permeability by 96%. The incorporation of 25% Na-Palm into HPMC films resulted in improved elongation, Young's modulus and toughness.

Physical, Rheological, Functional, and Film Properties of a Novel Emulsifier: Frost Grape Polysaccharide from Vitis riparia Michx.

A novel emulsifier, Frost grape polysaccharide (FGP), isolated from natural exudate of the species Vitis riparia Michx, was physically and rheologically characterized. The determination of the physical, structural, thermodynamic, emulsification, film, and rheological properties of FGP provide essential details for the commercial adoption of this novel plant polysaccharide. FGP is capable of producing exceptionally stable emulsions when compared with the industrially ubiquitous gum arabic (GA).

Enhancing soybean photosynthetic CO assimilation using a cyanobacterial membrane protein, ictB.

Soybean C photosynthesis can suffer a severe loss in efficiency due to photorespiration and the lack of a carbon concentrating mechanism (CCM) such as those present in other plant species or cyanobacteria. Transgenic soybean (Glycine max cv. Thorne) plants constitutively expressing cyanobacterial ictB (inorganic carbon transporter B) gene were generated using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

Rheological characterization of solutions and thin films made from amylose-hexadecylammonium chloride inclusion complexes and polyvinyl alcohol.

The rheological properties of aqueous solutions and films made from blends of polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) and amylose-hexadecylammonium chloride inclusion complexes (Hex-Am) were investigated to better understand the polymer interactions and processing parameters. Aqueous solutions of Hex-Am displayed non-Newtonian shear thinning characteristics, becoming highly viscous at 4.2% solids and forming a strong mechanical gel at 10% solids.

Effect of spray drying on the properties of amylose-hexadecylammonium chloride inclusion complexes.

Water soluble amylose-hexadecyl ammonium chloride complexes were prepared from high amylose corn starch and hexadecyl ammonium chloride by excess steam jet cooking. Amylose inclusion complexes were spray dried to determine the viability of spray drying as a production method. The variables tested in the spray drying process were the% solids of the amylose-hexadecyl ammonium chloride complex being fed into the spray dryer, feed rate and the spray dryer outlet temperature.