Crude peroxidase from onion solid waste as a tool for organic synthesis. Part II: Oxidative dimerization-cyclization of methyl p-coumarate, methyl caffeate and methyl ferulate

The ability of a crude onion peroxidase preparation to act as a biocatalyst for the oxidative dimerization-cyclization of methyl p-coumarate, methyl caffeate and methyl ferulate is presented. The products of the reaction have been fully characterized and were found to possess potent antioxidant activity in a ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Integration of ethnobotany and population genetics uncovers the agrobiodiversity of date palms of Siwa Oasis (Egypt) and their importance to the evolutionary history of the species

Crop diversity is shaped by biological and social processes interacting at different spatiotemporal scales. Here we combined population genetics and ethnobotany to investigate date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) diversity in Siwa Oasis, Egypt. Based on interviews with farmers and observation of practices in the field, we collected 149 date palms from Siwa Oasis and 27 uncultivated date palms from abandoned oases in the surrounding desert. Using genotyping data from 18 nuclear and plastid microsatellite loci, we confirmed that some named types each constitute a clonal line, i.e. a true-to-type cultivar. We also found that others are collections of clonal lines, i.e. ethnovarieties, or even unrelated samples, i.e. local categories. This alters current assessments of agrobiodiversity, which are visibly underestimated, and uncovers the impact of low-intensity, but highly effective, farming practices on biodiversity. These hardly observable practices, hypothesized by ethnographic survey and confirmed by genetic analysis, are enabled by the way Isiwans conceive and classify living beings in their oasis, which do not quite match the way biologists do: a classic disparity of etic vs. emic categorizations. In addition, we established that Siwa date palms represent a unique and highly diverse genetic cluster, rather than a subset of North African and Middle Eastern palm diversity. As previously shown, North African date palms display evidence of introgression by the wild relative Phoenix theophrasti, and we found that the uncultivated date palms from the abandoned oases share even more alleles with this species than cultivated palms in this region. The study of Siwa date palms could hence be a key to the understanding of date palm diversification in North Africa. Integration of ethnography and population genetics promoted the understanding of the interplay between diversity management in the oasis (short-time scale), and the origins and dynamic of diversity through domestication and diversification (long-time scale)

Les services culturels récréatifs et éducatifs des zones humides en Méditerranée : des services sous-estimés malgré les avantages qu'ils procurent, résultats d'études en Méditerranée

Cette synthèse donne un aperçu des principaux résultats et analyses des études conduites en France et au Maghreb entre 2012 et 2014 sur les services culturels récréatifs et éducatifs que procurent les zones humides méditerranéennes. L'Observatoire des zones humides méditerranéennes (OZHM), géré par la Tour du Valat dans le cadre de l'initiative méditerranéenne de Ramsar (MedWet), en a coordonné le travail. En partenariat avec l'Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier (IAMM), la synthèse des neuf sites étudiés a été réalisée en 2015, ce qui a permis une première analyse régionale et sous-régionale. Ce travail a aussi pour vocation d'établir un premier état de référence qualitatif utile pour les suivis ultérieurs. Ce travail n'aurait pas pu être réalisé sans la participation active des gestionnaires et associations des neufs sites étudiés et des institutions publiques qui ont facilité le travail: la Direction générale des Forêts en Algérie et en Tunisie et le Haut Commissariat des Eaux et Forêts et de la Lutte contre la Désertification au Maroc