Resistance to barley scald (Rhynchosporium secalis) in the Ethiopian donor lines 'Steudelli' and 'Jet', analyzed by partial least squares regression and interval mapping.

The resistance of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) to Rhynchosporium secalis (scald) has been investigated in two crosses between the susceptible cv. 'Ingrid' and two resistant Ethiopian landraces, 'Steudelli' and 'Jet'.

Analysis of genetic marker-phenotype relationships by jack-knifed partial least squares regression (PLSR).

The utility of a relatively new multivariate method, bi-linear modelling by cross-validated partial least squares regression (PLSR), was investigated in the analysis of QTL. The distinguishing feature of PLSR is to reveal reliable covariance structures in data of different types with regard to the same set objects. Two matrices X (here: genetic markers) and Y (here: phenotypes) are interactively decomposed into latent variables (PLS components, or PCs) in a way which facilitates statistically reliable and graphically interpretable model building.

Analysis of the early stages of lipid oxidation in freeze-stored pork back fat and mechanically recovered poultry meat.

An analytical method that can detect low levels of oxidation in food earlier than a sensory panel would be a valuable tool for food manufacturers as well as research institutes. Two model matrixes, pork back fat and mechanically recovered poultry meat (MRPM), were freeze-stored in air at -20 degrees C for 26 weeks. Peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, volatiles analyzed with dynamic headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and a gas-sensor array technique (electronic nose), chemiluminescence, and front-face fluorescence were evaluated against sensory analysis with regard to detection of early oxidation and correlation with sensory data.

Genetic evaluation of mastitis resistance using a first-passage time model for wiener processes for analysis of time to first treatment.

A Wiener process is a Brownian-motion process initiated in a certain state in a state space, and the first passage time is defined as the time of the process to reach a predefined absorbing state where the process stops. Time from 31 d prepartum to first treatment of clinical mastitis (CM) was modeled as first passage times of such Wiener processes. Two processes were used to allow for several risk factors, and for each process, initiation was at some arbitrary time point, in a certain health state with drift toward or away from absorption (disease).

Mutation in the Arabidopisis thaliana DEK1 calpain gene perturbs endosperm and embryo development while over-expression affects organ development globally.

A T-DNA insertion in the Arabidopsis thaliana DEK1 gene, encoding a calpain-like cysteine proteinase with a predicted membrane anchor, causes unorganized embryo development displaying irregular mitotic divisions in the embryo proper and suspensor. Embryo development is arrested at the globular stage, and the embryo proper lacks a defined protoderm. In the endosperm, the aleurone-like peripheral cell layer is partly or completely lacking.

Autofluorescence quantifies collagen in sausage batters with a large variation in myoglobin content.

In order to clarify the potential of the method of autofluorescence for determining the collagen content in meat batter, an experimental design was used where the emission originating from collagen was unrelated to the effect of myoglobin absorbance on the emission spectra. Muscles like beef Masseter, beef Latissimus dorsi and pork Glutens medius assured a large variation in myoglobin content, and made absorbance from myoglobin account for 65-84% of the variation in the emission spectra at wavelengths normally thought interesting for collagen quantification. Collagen (range 1.

Lichen palatability depends on investments in herbivore defence.

Lichens are well-suited organisms for experimental herbivory studies because their secondary compounds, assumed to deter grazing, can be non-destructively extracted. Thalli of 17 lichen species from various habitats were cut in two equal parts; compounds were extracted from one part by acetone, the other served as a control. These two pieces were offered as a paired choice to the generalist herbivore snail Cepaea hortensis.

Characterization of micro-organisms isolated from dairy industry after cleaning and fogging disinfection with alkyl amine and peracetic acid.

Aims: To characterize micro-organisms isolated from Norwegian dairy production plants after cleaning and fogging disinfection with alkyl amine/peracetic acid and to indicate reasons for survival.

Methods And Results: Microbial samples were collected from five dairy plants after cleaning and fogging disinfection. Isolates from two of these production plants, which used fogging with alkylamino acetate (plant A), and peracetic acid (plant B), were chosen for further characterization.

Heritabilities, genetic correlations, and genetic change for female fertility and protein yield in Norwegian Dairy Cattle.

Data from 1,815,581 first insemination records from daughters of 2697 Norwegian Dairy Cattle (NRF) sires were analyzed. A multitrait model was used to estimate genetic parameters and genetic change for 56-d nonreturn rate in virgin heifers (NR56D0), for 56-d nonreturn rate in first lactation cows (NR56D1L), for interval from calving to first insemination (CFI1L), and for protein yield (PY(305)1L). The heritabilities for NR56D0, NR56D1L, CFI1L, and PY(305)1L were 1.

Crystal structure and binding properties of the Serratia marcescens chitin-binding protein CBP21.

Chitin proteins are commonly found in bacteria that utilize chitin as a source of energy. CBP21 is a chitin-binding protein from Serratia marcescens, a Gram-negative soil bacterium capable of efficient chitin degradation. When grown on chitin, S.

Genetic diversity and geographic pattern in early South American cotton domestication.

Amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting was applied to survey the genetic diversity of primitive South American Gossypium barbadense cotton for establishing a possible link to its pre-Columbian expansion. New germplasm was collected along coastal Peru and over an Andean transect in areas where most of the archaeological evidence relating to cotton domestication has been recorded. Gene bank material of three diploid (G.

Study of the reaction products of flavonols with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl using liquid chromatography coupled with negative electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.

The products obtained after the reaction between flavonols and the stable free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH(*)) in both methanol and acetonitrile were characterized using liquid chromatography coupled with negative electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS) and NMR spectroscopy. The flavonols studied were quercetin, kaempferol and myricetin. In methanol, two reaction products of oxidized quercetin were identified using LC/ESI-MS/MS and NMR.

Molecular and genetic characterization of propionicin F, a bacteriocin from Propionibacterium freudenreichii.

This work describes the purification and characterization of propionicin F, the first bacteriocin isolated from Propionibacterium freudenreichii. The bacteriocin has a bactericidal activity and is only active against strains of P. freudenreichii.

Factors regulating lamb longissimus tenderness are affected by age at slaughter.

The objective of this experiment was to determine age-related changes in collagen concentration, sarcomere length, calpain (μ- and m-) and calpastatin activities, postmortem proteolysis and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) in ovine longissimus thoracis et lumborum. Rambouillet lambs were slaughtered at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 months of age and samples of longissimus were collected at 0, 2 and 10 days postmortem. Collagen concentration and sarcomere lengths were determined from the cores used for WBSF measurements and reflected changes in the background toughness.

Neutralizing human antibodies to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) derived from a VZV patient recombinant antibody library.

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the causative agent of chickenpox and herpes zoster, can be life-threatening in prematurely born children and in children with immune defects or who are under immunosuppressive treatment. Therefore agents for passive immunization, such as VZV-specific immunoglobulin preparations (VZIG) derived from convalescent plasma, are crucial in the prophylaxis of VZV infection. This study describes the isolation of human VZV-neutralizing recombinant antibodies.

Scope insensitivity in contingent valuation of complex environmental amenities.

It has been argued that respondents in contingent valuation (CV) surveys, asked to value complex environmental amenities, will state willingness to pay (WTP) independently of the scope of the project. Such insensitivity to scope would be at odds with rational choice, and could therefore imply that CV is not a theoretically valid method for biodiversity valuation. The scope test in the present CV study was applied to endangered species preservation.

Low temperature, but not photoperiod, controls growth cessation and dormancy induction and release in apple and pear.

In contrast to most temperate woody species, apple and pear and some other woody species of the Rosaceae family are insensitive to photoperiod, and no alternative environmental seasonal signal is known to control their dormancy. We studied growth and dormancy induction in micropropagated plants of four apple (Malus pumila Mill.) and one pear (Pyrus communis L.

Oxidation states of uranium in depleted uranium particles from Kuwait.

The oxidation states of uranium in depleted uranium (DU) particles were determined by synchrotron radiation based mu-XANES, applied to individual particles isolated from selected samples collected at different sites in Kuwait. Based on scanning electron microscopy with X-ray microanalysis prior to mu-XANES, DU particles ranging from submicrons to several hundred micrometers were observed. The median particle size depended on sources and sampling sites; small-sized particles (median 13 microm) were identified in swipes taken from the inside of DU penetrators holes in tanks and in sandy soil collected below DU penetrators, while larger particles (median 44 microm) were associated with fire in a DU ammunition storage facility.

Influences of suspended particles on the runoff of pesticides from an agricultural field at Askim, SE-Norway.

Field and laboratory experiments were conducted to study the loss of particles from agricultural fields, and the role of suspended particles in carrying pesticides in surface runoff and drainage water. Propiconazole, a widely used fungicide was applied to experimental fields located at Askim, SE-Norway. Samples from surface runoff and drainage water were collected and analyzed for sediment mass, pesticides, particulate and dissolved organic carbon through a whole year.

Loss of pesticides from agricultural fields in SE Norway--runoff through surface and drainage water.

Loss of two pesticides with different mobility characteristics, bentazone (Koc approximately 34) and propiconazole (Koc approximately 1800), were studied at three agricultural fields (Askim, Bjørnebekk and Syverud) in SE Norway. A conservative tracer (Br) was used to follow the flow of water. The loss of pesticides varied among the fields, depending on hydrological characteristics and soil properties.

Atmospheric deposition, mineralization and leaching of nitrogen in subtropical forested catchments, South China.

In recent years, China has conducted considerable research focusing on the emission and effects of sulphur (S) on human health and ecosystems. By contrast, there has been little emphasis on anthropogenic nitrogen (N) so far, even though studies conducted abroad indicate that long-range atmospheric transport of N and ecological effects (e.g.

Metabolic and genomic diversity of rhizobia isolated from field standing native and exotic woody legumes in southern Ethiopia.

Eighty-seven rhizobial strains isolated from root nodules of field standing native and exotic woody legumes in southern Ethiopia were characterized using the Biolog method and AFLP fingerprinting technique. Cluster analysis of the metabolic and genomic fingerprints revealed 18 and 25 groups, respectively, demonstrating considerable diversity in rhizobial population indigenous to Ethiopian soils. While 25 strains (29%) were linked to members of Agrobacterium, Bradyrhizobium, Mesorhizobium, Rhizobium or Sinorhizobium, the bulk of the strains formed several distinct groups in both methods and did not relate to reference species included in the study.

Identification of a 49-bp fragment of the HvLTP2 promoter directing aleurone cell specific expression.

Identification of regulatory elements directing definite and specific spatiotemporal expression patterns is a prerequisite to the next generation of transgenic plants with commercial and ethical feasibility for producing plantibodies or other pharmaceutically important compounds. Here we describe the functional dissection of the barley nonspecific lipid transfer protein gene promoter, HvLTP2. The gene is specifically expressed in aleurone cells of cereals and used as an aleurone marker in maize and rice.

Mapping of a milk production quantitative trait locus to a 420-kb region on bovine chromosome 6.

A QTL affecting milk production traits was previously mapped to an interval of 7.5 cM on chromosome 6 in Norwegian dairy cattle. This article aimed to refine this position by increasing the map density in the region by a set of single-nucleotide polymorphisms and analyzing the data with a combined linkage and linkage disequilibrium approach.

Solution structure of T4moC, the Rieske ferredoxin component of the toluene 4-monooxygenase complex.

Toluene 4-monooxygenase, a four-protein complex from Pseudomonas mendocina KR1, catalyzes the NADH- and O(2)-dependent hydroxylation of toluene to form p-cresol. The solution structure of the 112-amino-acid Rieske ferredoxin component, T4moC, was determined from 2D and 3D (1)H, (13)C, and (15)N NMR data. The structural model was refined through simulated annealing by molecular dynamics in torsion angle space with input from 1650 experimental restraints, including 1264 inter-proton distance restraints obtained from NOEs, 247 non-redundant intra-residue NOEs, 26 hydrogen bond restraints, and 113 dihedral angle ( phi, psi) restraints.