Does elevated atmospheric CO2 allow for sufficient wheat grain quality in the future?

To identify future impacts on biomass production and yield quality of important C3 crops, spring wheat was grown in association with 13 weed species in a Mini-FACE (free-air carbon dioxide (CO2) enrichment) system under ambient (375 μl l-1) and elevated (526 μl l-1) CO2 concentrations. Wheat productivity was assessed at maturity and grain yield was subjected to various chemical analyses and baking quality tests.CO2 enrichment acted as carbon ‘fertiliser’ and increased the aboveground biomass production of wheat by 18.8% as there was a trend towards higher stem biomass. Although not statistically significant, wheat grain yield was increased by 13.4% due to a significant establishment of more grains per unit ground area. At the same time, thousand grain weight was non-significantly shifted towards smaller grain size classes, which may result in negative consequences for the crop market value. As a result of the CO2- induced physiological and biochemical modifications, concentration of total grain protein was significantly decreased by 3.5%, reducing the wheat grain quality with potentially far-reaching impacts on the nutritional value and use for processing industry. Although often not significant, the concentrations of amino acids per unit of flour were decreased by 0.2 to 8.3% due to elevated CO2 thereby affecting the composition of proteinogenic amino acids.Furthermore, gluten proteins tended to decline. Within the significant decreased gliadins, α- and ω5-gliadins were significantly reduced under CO2 enrichment; there was also a negative trend for ω1,2- and γ-gliadins. Changes in certain essential minerals were found as well, although not statistically significant. Concentrations of sodium, calcium, phosphorus and sulphur were slightly lowered and those of potassium and magnesium were slightly increased due to CO2 enrichment. The micro-element molybdenum was increased, while concentrations of iron, zinc, copper, manganese and aluminium were decreased. With regard to rheological and baking parameters defining the cereal quality for industrial processing, the resistance of the dough was significantly reduced by about 30%, while the extensibility was non-significantly increased by 17.1% under CO2 enrichment. Moreover, the bread volume was decreased non-significantly by about 9%. Elevated CO2 is obviously affecting grain characteristics important for consumer nutrition and health, industrial processing and marketing. Experimental evidence for these changes is still poor but deserves further attention

Rapid detection of Ganoderma-infected oil palms by microwave ergosterol extraction with HPLC and TLC

Detection of basal stem rot (BSR) by Ganoderma of oil palms was based on foliar symptoms and production of basidiomata. Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays-Polyclonal Antibody (ELISA-PAB) and PCR have been proposed as early detection methods for the disease. These techniques are complex, time consuming and have accuracy limitations. An ergosterol method was developed which correlated well with the degree of infection in oil palms, including samples growing in plantations. However, the method was capable of being optimised. This current study was designed to develop a simpler, more rapid and efficient ergosterol method with utility in the field that involved the use of microwave extraction. The optimised procedure involved extracting a small amount of Ganoderma, or Ganoderma-infected oil palm suspended in low volumes of solvent followed by irradiation in a conventional microwave oven at 70 °C and medium high power for 30 s, resulting in simultaneous extraction and saponification. Ergosterol was detected by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and quantified using high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection. The TLC method was novel and provided a simple, inexpensive method with utility in the field. The new method was particularly effective at extracting high yields of ergosterol from infected oil palm and enables rapid analysis of field samples on site, allowing infected oil palms to be treated or culled very rapidly. Some limitations of the method are discussed herein. The procedures lend themselves to controlling the disease more effectively and allowing more effective use of land currently employed to grow oil palms, thereby reducing pressure to develop new plantations.This project was supported by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), administered through the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (Grant No: 5524175)

Pilzbesatz und Mykotoxine in Futtermitteln

.Ausarbeitung einer Methode zur Quantifizierung und Identifizierung von Ergosterin in Getreide, Mischfutterkomponenten und Futtermischungen. Getreideproben des Erntejahres 1987 (84 Weizen-, 44 Gerste-, 56 Haferproben) wurden nach der Ernte von Betrieben des Regierungsbezirkes Stuttgart gezogen und untersucht. Die Koerner wiesen einen hohen Besatz mit Fusarium auf. An Fusarientoxinen wiesen die Proben hauptsaechlich Deoxynivalenol und Zearalenon auf. Eine Abhaengigkeit von der Getreidesorte deutet sich anSIGLEAvailable from: Hohenheim Univ., D-70593 Stuttgart (Germany). Universitaetsbibliothek, Garbenstr. 15 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Kalibration und Magnetfeld-Abschirmung eines Aerogel-Cherenkov-Zaehlers am SAPHIR-Detektor

SIGLECopy held by FIZ Karlsruhe; available from UB/TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Rechtsfragen des grenzüberschreitenden rechtsgeschäftlichen Erwerbs von Kulturgütern

Dem beständig angewachsenen Handel mit Kunstgegenständen steht das verstärkte Interesse am Schutz von Kulturgütern gegenüber. Bei Geschäften des Kunsthandels mit Auslandsberührung führt dies zu einer Reihe von besonderen Rechtsproblemen. Die Untersuchung der Frage, inwieweit das deutsche Internationale Privatrecht beim grenzüberschreitenden Erwerb von besonders geschützten oder gestohlenen Kulturgütern dem Interesse an uneingeschränkter Handelbarkeit einerseits und dem Schutzinteresse andererseits entspricht, steht im Mittelpunkt dieser Schrift. Zur Diskussion kommen dabei neben dem geltenden Recht auch alternative internationalprivatrechtliche und sachrechtliche Lösungsvorschläge

Different sample treatment approaches for the analysis of T-2 and HT-2 toxins from oats-based media

A LC-DAD method is proposed for the determination of the T-2 and HT-2 toxins in cultures of Fusarium langsethiae in oat-based and other in vitro media. Test media consisted of freshly prepared milled oats to which T-2 and HT-2 toxin stock solutions were added. Different mixtures of extraction solvent (acetonitrile:water and methanol water), extraction times (30', 60' or 90') and drying methods were investigated. Results showed that extraction with methanol: water (80:20, v/v) for 90 min, drying with N-2 and subsequent analysis by LC-DAD was the fastest and most user friendly method for detecting HT-2 and T-2 toxins production by F. langsethiae strains grown on oat-based media at levels of 0.459 and 0.508 mg of toxin/kg of agar, respectively. The proposed method was used to investigate toxin production of 6 F. langsethiae strains from northern Europe and provided clear chromatograms with no interfering peaks in media with and without glycerol as water activity modifier. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved