Plant development, yielding properties and kernel composition of winter wheat in relation to soil type and irrigation treatment under an organically elevated temperature

C

Impact of crop husbandry practices and environmental conditions on wheat composition and quality : a review

The increasing interest in the production of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with specific quality traits requires a shift from the current breeding goal, being yield, to improved compositional and, consequently, functional traits. Since wheat is a key food crop, this must be attained while maintaining or even further increasing yield. Furthermore, as compositional requirements for specific applications are not well-defined, both protein and gluten content as well as the enzymatic activity remain most important. Given that these traits are majorly impacted by both genotype and environment, it is very complex to predict and ultimately control them. Different strategies, such as applying optimized agronomic practices, can temper these uncontrollable determinants which are equally important to steer wheat quality. As current research on their contribution to specific traits is highly fragmented, this report provides a comprehensive review of the influence of crop husbandry and environmental conditions on wheat yield and composition

The structural versatility of hydrotalcites as engineering tool for an efficient nanoparticle stabilization in the Pd catalyzed Suzuki cross coupling

It was shown that the hydrotalcite structure have a significant effect on the NP size and catalytic performance of HT supported Pd-NP catalysts. The effect of (i) metal loading method (i.e., co-precipitation versus impregnation), (ii) calcination (i.e., calcined versus uncalcined support), (iii) support basicity (i.e., a Mg/Al ratio 3 versus 2) was studied. Also, the first catalytic results of hydrotalcite supported PdCu nanoparticle catalysts were mentioned

The potential of Brassicaceae biofumigant crops to manage Pleiochaeta setosa in sustainable lupin cultivation

Lupin is prone to infection by Pleiochaeta setosa (Kirchn.) Hughes causing brown spot and root rot in Lupinus species. The control of these diseases is crucial to limit yield losses, but an increased public awareness and European legislative restrictions have resulted in a drastic reduction of allowed pesticides and many research groups invest in alternative biocontrol strategies. In the current study, the inhibitory effect of volatiles, released by two members of the Brassicaceae family (white mustard (Sinapis alba) and fodder radish (Raphanus sativus)), on brown spot and root rot in Lupinus species was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. The in vitro trial showed that root tissue of Brassicaceae was more effective in reducing the vegetative growth of Pleiochaeta setosa than leaf and stem tissues. Furthermore, R. sativus was more effective than S. alba. The GC-MS analysis revealed that dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide were predominantly emitted by the tissues of both Brassicaceae. Additionally, the ground root tissue of R. sativus emitted 4-isothiocyanato-1-(methylthio)-1-butene, whereas the stem + leaf tissue emitted benzyl isothiocyanate. Benzyl isothiocyanate was also released by the ground S. alba root tissue, whereas the leaf + stem tissue emitted 3-butenyl isothiocyanate. In vitro trials with pure dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide confirmed the antifungal effect of the volatiles released by these sulfides. For dimethyl disulfide 7.95 mg per Petri dish was necessary to (almost) completely inhibit mycelium growth, whereas for dimethyl trisulfide 1.20 mg per Petri dish was sufficient to prevent fungal growth. In addition, a trial with allyl isothiocyanate showed that for this compound even lower doses (0.50 mg per Petri dish) stopped the growth of the fungus. The results obtained with the pot trial illustrated that the amendment of Brassicaceae species significantly reduced the P. setosa infection level. Also in the field, incorporation of Brassicaceae species suppressed P. setosa. From this study, it can be concluded that Brassicaceae species are a powerful tool to manage P. setosa in lupin cultivation. However, it should be combined with other control practices since the amendment of these biofumigant crops could not completely inhibit symptom development

Enhancing the performance of heterogeneous palladium based catalysts in the mild reductive depolymerization of soda lignin through addition of a non-noble metal and tuning of the preparation strategy

Research towards mild reductive depolymerization of lignin is gaining momentum because of its potential for producing sustainable functionalized aromatics, but achieving high yields still relies on expensive noble metal catalysts. This study aims to improve the catalysts' cost effectiveness through addition of a non-noble metal to a Pd nanoparticle catalyst, supported on γ-Al2O3. Six Pd based catalysts (Pd, PdCu, PdNi, PdFe, PdCo, and PdMo) were synthesized and prepared through either calcination or thermal reduction, and their activity and selectivity in lignin depolymerization were evaluated as a function of batch time. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the entire datapool revealed that, albeit to varying degrees, the addition of a secondary metal shifts the behavior of a Pd catalyst more towards that of pure solvolysis and that the preparation strategy has no effect on Pd and PdMo. Regarding activity, it was found that the addition of Cu, Ni, Fe, Co and Mo significantly enhances the catalyst's activity and that the preparation strategy is also important, with calcination being preferred for PdCu and PdFe and thermal reduction for PdNi and PdCo. Using a plethora of analysis techniques to assess the selectivity at increasing depths, it was revealed that the shift in selectivity, as identified in the PCA results, is caused by variations in dehydration of aliphatic OH groups and hydrogenation of aliphatic double bonds. Moreover, due to a size exclusion effect during the reaction, differences in selectivity between the catalysts are most pronounced at lower molecular weights

Synthesis of size-controlled nanoparticles by tuning the support properties

In this work, NP stabilization is achieved by using hydrotalcites (HTs), i.e., steric stabilization, and ion exchange resins (IEX), i.e., steric and electrostatic stabilization, as supports due to highly structural tunability of the former and the large variety of different types of functionalities of the latter. Size-controlled NPs were synthesized by tuning the HT structure as well as by varying the reduction temperature. Furthermore, the IEX functionality was varied in order to achieve well-controlled NP sizes

Social representations of risks among winter sports participants: a focus on the influence of sports practice and style in the French Alps

International audienc