Innovations within the organic food sector – basis for novel business relations between agricultural and processing enterprises

Innovations within the processing sector may stimulate new, and extend and stabilize existing business relations with agricultural enterprises along the market chain. Due to their regional focus, small and medium-sized businesses in organic food production are eminently dependent on collaboration. On the basis of the evaluation of 140 applications for the Innovation Contest, this paper demonstrates how new and sustainable revenues can be built up by entering economic collaborations with innovative businesses of the processing sector

Modulation of the stability of the Salmonella fourU-type RNA thermometer

RNA thermometers are translational control elements that regulate the expression of bacterial heat shock and virulence genes. They fold into complex secondary structures that block translation at low temperatures. A temperature increase releases the ribosome binding site and thus permits translation initiation. In fourU-type RNA thermometers, the AGGA sequence of the SD region is paired with four consecutive uridines. We investigated the melting points of the wild-type and mutant sequences. It was decreased by 5°C when a stabilizing GC basepair was exchanged by an AU pair or increased by 11°C when an internal AG mismatch was converted to a GC pair, respectively. Stabilized or destabilized RNA structures are directly correlated with decreased or increased in vivo gene expression, respectively. Mg2+ also affected the melting point of the fourU thermometer. Variations of the Mg2+ concentration in the physiological range between 1 and 2 mM translated into a 2.8°C shift of the melting point. Thus, Mg2+ binding to the hairpin RNA is regulatory relevant. Applying three different NMR techniques, two Mg2+ binding sites were found in the hairpin structure. One of these binding sites could be identified as outer sphere binding site that is located within the fourU motif. Binding of the two Mg2+ ions exhibits a positive cooperativity with a Hill coefficient of 1.47. Free energy values delta G for Mg2+ binding determined by NMR are in agreement with data determined from CD measurements. Physiological Mg2+ concentrations reduce enthalpy and entropy values of uncorrelated base pair opening processes for almost all nucleobases

The Unfocused Focus Group: Benefit or Bane?

Facilitating successful focus groups requires both science and art. One element that can fully challenge focus group facilitators includes how to handle the unfocused focus group. This article describes “unfocus” and the benefits and disadvantages of unfocus in focus groups. Lessons learned from and approaches taken on this journey are shared to enhance focus group facilitation best practices

Materialien zum Aufsatz "Zwei Pater noster-Vertonungen von Melchior Vulpius und die Missa V. vocum super Pater noster qui es in Coelis Melchioris Vulpii von Georg Vintz" - Begleitmaterial zum Aufsatz im Tagungsband

Im Aufsatz "Zwei Pater noster-Vertonungen von Melchior Vulpius und die Missa V. vocum super Pater noster qui es in Coelis Melchioris Vulpii von Georg Vintz" werden Pater noster-Vertonungen aus dem OPUSCULUM NOVUM SELECTISSIMARVUM CANTIONVM SACRARVM (Erfurt 1610) und aus der PARS PRIMA CANTIONVM SACRARVM (Jena 1602) des Weimarer Kantors und Komponisten Melchior Vulpius (1570 - 1615) besprochen und miteinander verglichen. Ebenso wird untersucht, in welcher Weise der Naumburger Organist Georg Vintz (ca. 1580 - ca. 1635) eine dieser Motetten als Grundlage für die Parodiemesse "MISSA V. VOCUM,Super Pater noster [...] Melchioris Vulpii" genutzt und bearbeitet hat. Der Aufsatz beruht auf einem Vortrag bei einer Tagung über Vulpius, die 2015 in Meiningen stattfand. Der Tagungsband, den Maren Goltz herausgeben wird, erscheint vermutlich 2018. Da im Band nicht genügend Platz für ausführliche Notenbeispiele ist, werden die besprochenen Kompositionen vollständig als Noten- und Klangdateien durch diesen Permalink zur Verfügung gestellt

Sind Ökotypen von Welschem Weidelgras für den Ökolandbau besser geeignet als Zuchtsorten?

Ten ecotype populations of Italian ryegrass collected in permanent grassland in different regions of Switzerland were compared to two currently recommended cultivars in plot trials under both organic and conventional conditions. On average, the ecotypes had similar yields as the cultivars under organic conditions, but significantly outyielded them under conventional conditions. However, some of the best ecotype populations appeared to be also very suitable for organic agriculture. All ecotypes were extremely susceptible to crown rust. Therefore, targeted selection is needed to exploit their potential for use in organic agriculture

Wachsen mit den Werten: Wertewandel im Ökolandbau – ein Ländervergleich

The enormous growth of the organic branche in Germany and its European neighbouring countries has led to far reaching structural changes. The large demand for organically produced goods has led to mass production, monopolisation and long-distance transports. Some producers, suppliers and consumers fear that the eco-social ideas and ethical values, which are inseparably connected to organic agriculture, might be overrun by these developments. The following essay illustrates the shift of values within the organic branche in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The authors point out the different strategies of the three countries in order to meet these challenges and make an argument for a self-confident return to basic values and normative statements of the organic food movement

The Role of Evaluation in Determining the Public Value of Extension

Extension has developed a strong evaluation culture across the system for the last 15 years. Yet measures are still limited to the private value of programs, looking at problems in a linear way and at isolated efforts. Across the country, Extension evaluators and administrators need to step up to help answer the so what? question about complex issues and related programming through stronger evaluation that leads to articulating the public value of Extension work

Bifunctionality: New Insights into the Class of (6-4)Photolyases and animal-like Cryptochromes

The cryptochrome/photolyase family (CPF) is a huge protein family of blue-light photoreceptors, which occur in all kingdoms of life. All members of this family utilize a flavin chromophore as catalytic cofactor and show high sequence and structural similarity, although they have different functions inside the living organism. Photolyases use the energy of light to repair UV-light induced DNA lesions like the cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD) or the pyrimidine-(6-4)-pyrimidone photoproduct ((6-4)PP). Cryptochromes, on the other hand, are involved in many different blue-light regulated mechanisms, like the photoperiodic flowering in plants and the entrainment of the circadian rhythm in animals. This study focuses on the characterization of the photoreduction and (6-4) repair mechanism of the subclass of animal cryptochromes and (6-4) photolyases on the basis of the animal-like cryptochrome from the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (CraCRY). Through multiple sequence alignment with other CPFs and mutational studies, the specific residues involved in the photoreduction mechanism were successfully identified, leading to the discovery of a tyrosine as distal electron donor at the end of the conserved tryptophan triad. The photoreduction, with regard to the formation and decay of a tyrosyl radical, was extensively studied with several spectroscopic methods. All analyses resulted in the observation of an unusually long-lived tyrosyl radical upon photoreduction. As it turned out, CraCRY is not only a cryptochrome, but also has (6-4) photolyase function, which makes it a bifunctional member of this group. To study structure-function relationships, the 3D structure of CraCRY in complex with its chromophores as well as a (6-4)PP was solved by X-ray crystallography. The structure reveals a new binding mode of the DNA lesion and provides insight into the active site. One of the essential residues for DNA repair (His1) exhibits a different conformation as in the common model, which may indicate an alternative mechanism for (6-4)PP repair. The main knowledge about cryptochrome structures derived from the comparison with photolyases, but cryptochromes contain a highly variable C-terminal extension (CTE), which is missing in photolyases. In CraCRY this CTE is about 100 amino acids long and not shown in the solved crystal structure. For analysis of the CTE, hydrogen-deuterium-exchange coupled with mass spectrometry was used including a comparison of different reduction. Although, the coverage of the CTE was incomplete, there were significant changes between the oxidized and fully reduced state FADH− detectable. It was concluded, that the photoreduction process and the formation of the tyrosyl radical is triggering a structural change in the region between the loop carrying the tyrosyl radical and the C-terminal α22-helix. For further investigation of the intramolecular changes upon photoreduction and DNA repair, time-resolved crystal measurements of a class II CPD photolyase (MmCPDII) and CraCRY were performed within a joint project at the free electron laser SACLA. So far, the different conformations of the flavin cofactor of MmCPDII in its different oxidation states have been successfully derived. In future, it is expected to show the whole repair mechanism for the CPD lesion as well as for the (6 4)PP by time-resolved SFX