Olosuhteiden vaikutus kirjolohen kasvatuksen tehokkuuteen Suomen merialueilla

Kalankasvatusyksiköiden tuotantopaikan sijainti vaikuttaa olennaisesti tuotannon tehokkuuteen ja yritystoiminnan kannattavuuteen. Kasvatuskauden pituus, veden lämpötila, happiolot sekä myrskyt vaikuttavat kalojen kasvuun ja hyvinvointiin. Kasvu on eräs merkittävämmistä tuotannon tehokkuuteen vaikuttavista tekijöistä. Suomessa on Kansallisen vesiviljelyn sijainninohjaussuunnitelman yhteydessä määritelty tuotantoalueita, joihin uutta tuotantoa voidaan sijoittaa. Uusien, kasvatusmäärältään suurien tuotantopaikkojen sijainniksi suositellaan avoimia merialueita. Avoimilla alueilla meren lämpötila ja muut olosuhteet poikkeavat kuitenkin nykyisistä tuotantopaikoista, jotka ovat sijoittuneet yleisesti saariston suojaan. Toistaiseksi ei ole ollut tietoa miten uudet alueet vaikuttavat kotimaisen tuotannon kilpailukykyyn. Tässä selvityksessä arvioidaan, miten kirjolohen kasvu poikkeaa eri kasvatuspaikoissa Suomen merialueilla ja miten se vaikuttaa kasvatuksen kannattavuuteen. Parhaimmat kasvatusolosuhteet kirjolohelle tuotantokauden pituus huomioiden sijaitsevat Saaristomerellä väli- ja ulkosaaristossa sekä Ahvenanmaalla vastaavilla alueilla, missä sijaitsee myös merkittävä osa nykyisestä tuotannosta. Saaristomeren parhailla alueilla kasvu on noin 16–22 % keskimääräistä parempi. Pohjanlahdella avomeren lyhyemmät kasvatuskaudet ja pohjoisessa lisäksi kylmemmät vedet vaikuttavat kasvuun ja kannattavuuteen heikentävästi. Keskimääräinen kirjolohen kasvu on Saaristomeren parhailla alueilla jopa yli 50 % suurempi kuin Perämeren ulappa-alueilla. Mikäli loppuvuoden tuuliolot ja talveen varautuminen eivät rajoita kasvatuksen päättymisajankohtaa, löytyy lämpötilan puolesta erinomaisia kasvualueita eteläisiltä avoimilta merialueilta laajemminkin. Kalankasvatusyrityksen nettotulos voi vaihdella Suomen eri merialueilla useita prosenttiyksikköjä tuotantopaikan takia. Järkevällä sijainninohjauksella ja merialuesuunnittelulla on mahdollista edistää kotimaisen kalatuotannon kilpailukykyä pitkällä aikavälillä. Selvitystä rahoitti Euroopan Meri- ja Kalatalousrahaston Suomen toimintaohjelma 2014–2020, sekä osittain myös Suomen Akatemian Strategisen tutkimusneuvoston rahoittama Smartsea-hanke (rahoituspäätökset 292985 ja 314225).202

ß-Glucan contents of groats of different oat cultivars in official variety, in organic cultivation, and in nitrogen fertilization trials in Finland

ß-Glucan is a beneficial chemical compound in the diet of humans by decreasing the levels of serum cholesterol and blood glucose. The ß-glucan contents of oat groats were studied in official variety trials (1997-1999), nitrogen fertilization trials (1997-1999) and organic variety trials (1997-1998) in Finland. Eight cultivars were studied in the organic variety trials. Two of them, cultivars Puhti and Veli, were cultivated also with a conventional method at the same fields. The years 1997 and 1999 were very warm and dry and 1998 very cool and rainy. The effects of year and cultivar on ß-glucan content were significant in all three trial series. The Kolbu oat cultivar had a significantly lower ß- glucan content than other cultivars in all trials. N fertilization did not increase the ß-glucan contents of oats in Finland. The effect of cultivation method (traditional vr organic cultivation) had no significant effect on the ß-glucan content. The year x cultivar interaction significantly affected the ß-glucan contents of oat groats in N fertilization trials. The reaction of different cultivars to weather conditions was different. Kolbu oat cultivar had significantly lower ß-glucan contents in 1998 than in warm years in all three trial series

Lost at high latitudes : Arctic and endemic plants under threat as climate warms

Aim: Species' biogeographical patterns are already being altered by climate change. Here, we provide predictions of the impacts of a changing climate on species' geographical ranges within high-latitude mountain flora on a sub-continental scale. We then examined the forecasted changes in relation to species' biogeographic histories. Location: Fennoscandia, Northern Europe (55-72 degrees N). Methods: We examined the sensitivity of 164 high-latitude mountain species to changing climate by modelling their distributions in regard to climate, local topography and geology at a 1 km(2) resolution. Using an ensemble of six statistical modelling techniques and data on current (1981-2010) and future (2070-2099) climate based on three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs 2.6, 4.5, 8.5), we developed projections of current and future ranges. Results: The average species richness of the mountain flora is predicted to decrease by 15%-47% per 1 km(2) cell, depending on the climate scenario considered. Arctic flora is projected to undergo severe range loss along with non-poleward range contractions, while alpine flora is forecasted to find suitable habitat in a warmer North. A substantial majority (71%-92%) of the studied species are projected to lose more than half of their present range by the year 2100. Species predicted to lose all suitable habitat had ranges centred in the northernmost (>68 degrees N) part of continental Europe. Main conclusions: Climate change is predicted to substantially diminish the extent and richness of Europe's high-latitude mountain flora. Interestingly, species' biogeographic histories affect their vulnerability to climate change. The vulnerability of true Arctic and endemic species marks them as highly important for conservation decisions.Peer reviewe

Luomukaura - terveellistäkö?

Kuluttaja arvostaa elintarvikkeissa hyvää makua, terveellisyyttä, turvallisuutta, puhtautta ja luonnonmukaisuutta. Luomutuotteissa kuluttajat arvostavat ravitsevuutta, terveellisyyttä, ympäristöystävällisyyttä ja vähäistä lisäaineiden määrää. Mutta miten terveellistä on luomukaura?vokKV

Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of circulating omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids with lipoprotein particle concentrations and sizes: population-based cohort study with 6-year follow-up

Peer reviewe

Structure and characterization of a novel chicken biotin-binding protein A (BBP-A)

BACKGROUND: The chicken genome contains a BBP-A gene showing similar characteristics to avidin family genes. In a previous study we reported that the BBP-A gene may encode a biotin-binding protein due to the high sequence similarity with chicken avidin, especially at regions encoding residues known to be located at the ligand-binding site of avidin. RESULTS: Here, we expand the repertoire of known macromolecular biotin binders by reporting a novel biotin-binding protein A (BBP-A) from chicken. The BBP-A recombinant protein was expressed using two different expression systems and purified with affinity chromatography, biochemically characterized and two X-ray structures were solved – in complex with D-biotin (BTN) and in complex with D-biotin D-sulfoxide (BSO). The BBP-A protein binds free biotin with high, "streptavidin-like" affinity (K(d )~ 10(-13 )M), which is about 50 times lower than that of chicken avidin. Surprisingly, the affinity of BBP-A for BSO is even higher than the affinity for BTN. Furthermore, the solved structures of the BBP-A – BTN and BBP-A – BSO complexes, which share the fold with the members of the avidin and lipocalin protein families, are extremely similar to each other. CONCLUSION: BBP-A is an avidin-like protein having a β-barrel fold and high affinity towards BTN. However, BBP-A differs from the other known members of the avidin protein family in thermal stability and immunological properties. BBP-A also has a unique ligand-binding property, the ability to bind BTN and BSO at comparable affinities. BBP-A may have use as a novel material in, e.g. modern bio(nano)technological applications

Analysis of primary microRNA loci from nascent transcriptomes reveals regulatory domains governed by chromatin architecture

Changes in mature microRNA (miRNA) levels that occur downstream of signaling cascades play an important role during human development and disease. However, the regulation of primary microRNA (pri-miRNA) genes remains to be dissected in detail. To address this, we followed a data-driven approach and developed a transcript identification, validation and quantification pipeline for characterizing the regulatory domains of pri-miRNAs. Integration of 92 nascent transcriptomes and multilevel data from cells arising from ecto-, endo- and mesoderm lineages reveals cell type-specific expression patterns, allows fine-resolution mapping of transcription start sites (TSS) and identification of candidate regulatory regions. We show that inter- and intragenic pri-miRNA transcripts span vast genomic regions and active TSS locations differ across cell types, exemplified by the mir-29a∼29b-1, mir-100∼let-7a-2∼125b-1 and miR-221∼222 clusters. Considering the presence of multiple TSS as an important regulatory feature at miRNA loci, we developed a strategy to quantify differential TSS usage. We demonstrate that the TSS activities associate with cell type-specific super-enhancers, differential stimulus responsiveness and higher-order chromatin structure. These results pave the way for building detailed regulatory maps of miRNA loci