Metabolic engineering of micronutrients in crop plants

Micronutrient deficiency is a widespread phenomenon, most prevalent in developing countries. Being causally linked to the occurrence of a range of diseases, it affects billions of people worldwide. Enhancing the content of micronutrients in crop products through biotechnology is a promising technique to fight micronutrient malnutrition worldwide. Micronutrient fortification of food products has been implemented in a number of Western countries, but remains inaccessible for poor rural populations in a major part of the developing world. Moreover, evidence of the negative impacts of this practice on human health, at least for some vitamins, is accumulating. Biofortification of crop plants-the enhancement of vitamins and minerals through plant biotechnology-is a promising alternative or complement in the battle against micronutrient deficiencies. Owing to a growing knowledge about vitamin metabolism, as well as mineral uptake and reallocation in plants, it is today possible to enhance micronutrient levels in crop plants, offering a sustainable solution to populations with a suboptimal micronutrient intake

Graimbouville – La Brière

Identifiant de l'opération archéologique : 3405 Date de l'opération : 1992 (SD) Inventeur(s) : Blancquaert Gertrude Le site, localisé au sud-est de la commune, s’étend sur un terrain en pente douce orienté vers le sud et bordée sur ce côté par un talweg. Ce gisement présente un vaste enclos curviligne ceinturant une zone d’occupation structurée avec fosses et trous de poteaux. L’enclos semble formé d’un système de fossés dont le principal circonscrit une surface longue de 120 m d’est en ouest..

Cottévrard – La plaine de la Bucaille

Identifiant de l'opération archéologique : 4419 Date de l'opération : 1994 (EV) ; 1994 (SD) Inventeur(s) : Blancquaert Gertrude ; Marcigny Cyril Le site de Cottévrard, mis au jour à l’extrémité est du tracé autoroutier A 29 (Le Havre – Saint-Saëns), est localisé sur le plaine de la Bucaille à la jonction du pays de Caux et du pays de Bray. Ce plateau, d’une altitude moyenne de 165 m en position d’interfluve, présente une surface faiblement vallonnée recouverte d’un limon lœssique. L’occupatio..

Determination of five folate monoglutamates in rodent diets

A method for the quantitative determination of folates in rodent diets is very important for correct interpretation of folate intake during feeding trials, given the possible discrepancy between the actual folate concentration in the diet and that mentioned on the product sheet. Liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry is the method of choice to differentiate and quantify the individual folate species present. This discrepancy may be accounted for by, e.g., inaccurate folic acid supplementation and/or the presence of endogenous reduced and substituted folates. We developed a method, validated based on FDA guidelines, that allows the measurement of added and endogenous folates by quantitative determination of 5 folate monoglutamates with linear ranges from 8 mu g to 2 mg/kg feed. This information, combined with feed intake data, allows insight into the actual folate intake in animal feeding studies. The relevance of this method was illustrated by the analysis of several feed samples of varying composition, by the investigation of the effect of casein incorporation, and by evaluating the variability of the folate content between pellets and production batches

Predicting and testing bioavailability of magnesium supplements

Despite the presumption of the beneficial effects of magnesium supplementation, little is known about the pharmacokinetics of different magnesium formulations. We aimed to investigate the value of two in vitro approaches to predict bioavailability of magnesium and to validate this in subsequent in vivo testing. In vitro assessment of 15 commercially available magnesium formulations was performed by means of a Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (SHIME (R)) and by dissolution tests. Two magnesium formulations with contrasting bioavailability prediction from both in vitro tests (best vs. worst) were selected for in vivo testing in 30 subjects. In vivo bioavailability was compared following one acute ingestion by monitoring blood magnesium concentrations up to 6 h following intake. The in vitro tests showed a very wide variation in absorption and dissolution of the 15 magnesium products. In the in vivo testing, a significant different serum magnesium absorption profile was found up to 4 h following supplement ingestion for the two supplements with opposing in vitro test results. Moreover, maximal serum magnesium increase and total area under the curve were significantly different for both supplements (+6.2% vs. +4.6% and 6.87 vs. 0.31 mM.min, respectively). Collectively, poor bioaccessibility and bioavailability in the SHIME model clearly translated into poor dissolution and poor bioavailability in vivo. This provides a valid methodology for the prediction of in vivo bioavailability and effectiveness of micronutrients by specific in vitro approaches

Fiscalité, programmes sociaux et incitation au travail - une comparaison Québec - Ontario

Ce mémoire présente un portrait de la situation des taux marginaux effectifs d’imposition (TMEI) et des taux d’imposition à la participation (TIP) sur le revenu de travail au Québec et en Ontario. Il vise une meilleure compréhension de l’impact de la fiscalité et des transferts sociaux sur le comportement des agents, entre autres choses sur le marché du travail. À l’aide d’un modèle de microsimulation comptable reproduisant les systèmes d’impôts et de transferts au Québec et en Ontario, nous mesurons les TMEI et les TIP qui résultent de l’interaction des mécanismes de perception et de redistribution et présentons la répartition des TMEI et des TIP au sein des populations québécoise et ontarienne. Nous produisons en outre une répartition contre-factuelle des TMEI et des TIP en soumettant les ménages québécois au système d’imposition et de transferts sociaux de l’Ontario

Effects of Abiotic Factors on Phenolic Compounds in the Grape Berry – A Review

Grape berry phenolic compounds are widely described in literature. Phenolics can be divided into two main groups: flavonoids and non-flavonoids, of which the flavonoids are the most important. The two bestknown groups of flavonoids are the anthocyanins and condensed tannins (also called proanthocyanidins).  Anthocyanins are responsible for the red colour in grapes. The condensed tannins (proanthocyanidins) are responsible for some major wine sensorial properties (astringency, browning, and turbidity) and areinvolved in the wine ageing processes. This review summarises flavonoid synthesis in the grape berry and the impact of environmental factors on the accumulation rate during ripening of each of the flavonoids.  The impact of the accumulated flavonoids in grapes and the resulting impact on the sensorial aspects of the wine are also discussed

A novel approach to upgrade infrared spectroscopy calibrations for nutritional contents in fresh grapevine organs

[EN] Infrared spectroscopy is widely used in viticulture. Spectroscopy correlates spectral properties with reference data to obtain calibrations later used to predict the analyte content in new samples with a single spectral measurement. However, the main limitation lies in generating the reference data required to build robust prediction calibrations. This study proposes a data generation strategy to obtain reference data for larger spectral datasets. A reduced sample set was used to develop initial calibrations. These initial cali-brations were subsequently applied to predict the reference data in larger spectral datasets. Calibrations for nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen content were then attempted using the larger generated datasets. The initial nitrogen calibrations per organ showed coefficients of determination in validation (R2val) between 80.08 and 89.93%. The root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) ranged from 0.10 to 0.18% dry matter, and the residual predictive deviations in validation (RPD) were between 2.27 and 3.19. The larger predicted datasets showed improved prediction accuracy with coefficients of determination in validation values above 91.79%, root mean square errors of prediction below 0.14% dry matter, and residual predictive deviations in validation above 3.49. The carbon calibrations showed, on average, a 20% increase in the coefficient of determination in validation decreased root mean square errors of prediction and increased residual predictive deviations in validation. The hydrogen calibrations showed a similar increase in prediction accuracy. The results showed the suitability of using reduced sample sets to generate the reference data of larger datasets capable of yielding more accurate prediction calibrations.& COPY; 2023 IAgrE. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The authors gratefully acknowledge the Oppenheimer Me- morial Trust, for the local scholarship (OMT Award Ref. 21579/02) awarded to Ms Elizma van Wyngaard.Van Wyngaard, E.; Blancquaert, E.; Nieuwoudt, H.; Aleixandre Tudo, J. (2023). A novel approach to upgrade infrared spectroscopy calibrations for nutritional contents in fresh grapevine organs. Biosystems Engineering. 232:141-154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2023.07.00814115423