Marker assisted selection (MAS) for powdery mildew resistance in a grapevine hybrid family

Research Note

Identification of grapevine cultivars using microsatellite-based DNA barcodes

Microsatellite allele sizes were determined at twelve loci in 115 grape genotypes, including 88 ancient Vitis vinifera L. cultivars indigenous to the Carpathian Basin. Pairwise comparison of the microsatellite data led to the identification of ambiguous nomenclature and established differences between two grapevine cultivars, Leányka and Leányszőlő, previously thought of as identical. The data also disproved erroneous assumptions about the parentage of two additional cultivars, one of which was 'Csabagyöngye' ('Pearl of Csaba'), an economically important grapevine and a renowned genetic resource for grape breeding. The results also pointed to several possible parent-progeny relationships which will be subject to further pedigree studies. The DNA typing information was used to construct a barcode system which was incorporated into the Hungarian Vitis Microsatellite Database for efficient and unambiguous identification of grape genotypes, thereby increasing the precision with which genetic resources are managed in Hungary.

Comparison of three nanoparticle deposition techniques potentially applicable to elemental mapping by nanoparticle-enhanced laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

In this study, we compared the applicability of three nanoparticle deposition techniques (spray coating, spark discharge nanoparticle generation, magnetron sputtering) towards elemental mapping by nanoparticle-enhanced laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (NE-LIBS). It was found that sputtering followed by a thermal treatment at 550 °C can provide a homogenous, practical and controllable way of NE-LIBS sample preparation with gold nanoparticles. The laser ablation properties of the created NP layer was also studied in detail and it was established that a 200 μm laser spot size is good compromise between the NE-LIBS signal enhancement and the spatial resolution required for mapping. A signal enhancement of about a factor of 10 with good repeatability (ca. 5 %RSD) in a line scanning demonstration was achieved on glass for Si detection. For samples that are fairly temperature and vacuum stable, this approach allows the signal enhancement to be used in mapping applications

Case Reports: Arsenic pollution in Thailand, Bangladesh and Hungary

The purpose of this review is to share information on how arsenic contamination arises and what options are available to mitigate it when it occurs. We describe how contamination arose in three countries, two Asian, and one European, and the approaches employed to resolve it. In the three selected countries, the presence of arsenic is both long term and of geological origin, yet the affected regions have distinct and contrasting concerns, both in the scale of the contamination of the abiotic environment and in the extent of human health impacts arising from arsenic exposure. Therefore, we hope that knowledge of the range of problems encountered in the three countries, and their potential solutions, will contain common themes that, at least partly, facilitate stakeholder endeavours to address arsenic contamination in other affected regions

Size-dependent H₂ sensing over supported Pt nanoparticles

Abstract Catalyst size affects the overall kinetics and mechanism of almost all heterogeneous chemical reactions. Since the functional sensing materials in resistive chemical sensors are practically the very same nanomaterials as the catalysts in heterogeneous chemistry, a plausible question arises: Is there any effect of the catalyst size on the sensor properties? Our study attempts to give an insight into the problem by analyzing the response and sensitivity of resistive H₂ sensors based on WO₃ nanowire supported Pt nanoparticles having size of 1.5±0.4 nm, 6.2±0.8 nm, 3.7±0.5 nm and 8.3±1.3 nm. The results show that Pt nanoparticles of larger size are more active in H₂ sensing than their smaller counterparts and indicate that the detection mechanism is more complex than just considering the number of surface atoms of the catalyst