Tools to integrate organoleptic quality criteria into breeding programs

This technical booklet provides methodologies and guidance to implement sensory evaluations for organoleptic quality assessment in multi-actor-projects for organic agriculture. It presents five detailed tests that can be used in sensory evaluation, methodologies on how to prepare the samples and a glossary. This booklet has been developed under Solibam project and updated during Diversifood project

State of organic seeds in France

A comprehensive range of investigations carried out between 2010 and 2012 provided information on the state of organic seeds in France. Results fit with the hypothesis that the market is a significant factor influencing the choice of seeds and cultivars (local cultivars, landraces, modern cultivars). Expectations and practices of producers selling on a local market (i.e., direct sale) differ radically from those of producers selling to long food supply chains. This study showed that the availability and use of organic seeds have significantly improved over the last three years. A vast majority of organic producers willingly use organic seeds, with, on average, 45-70 % (cereals), and 75%-100 % (vegetables) of organic seeds being planted on farms. However, the total number of derogations remained quite high: there is still space for improvement in organic seed use and supply in France. Several limiting factors and levers were identified during the study, as well as farmers’ expectations for the future on cereals, forage crops and vegetables. This study described an action plan, which must be carefully implemented. The organic sector depends on the development of a wide and adapted range of organic seeds

Organic seeds and plant breeding: Stakeholders' uses and expectations - French inputs on vegetables

All organic agricultural systems suffer from a lack of plant cultivars adapted to organic production. Within the framework of the European project SOLIBAM (Strategies for Organic and Low Input Breeding and Management) a study was undertaken to determine which cultivars farmers grow, why they grow them, and the expectations in plant breeding of organic stakeholders. A comprehensive range of investigations carried out between 2010 and 2012 provided information on the state of organic seed in France. Results fit with the hypothesis that the market is a significant factor influencing the choice of seeds and cultivars (local cultivars, landraces, modern cultivars). Expectations and practices of producers selling on a local market (i.e., direct sale) differ radically from those of producers selling to long food supply chains. This study shows that the availability and use of organic seeds have significantly improved over the last three years. A vast majority of organic producers willingly use organic seeds, with, on average, 45-70% (cereals) and 75%-100% (vegetables) of organic seeds being planted on farms. However, the total number of derogations remains quite high: there is still space for improvement in organic seed use and supply in France. Several limiting factors and levers were identified during the study, as well as farmers' expectations for the future on horticultural crops. The case study on tomatoes states the differences between producers selling on a local market and those of producers selling in long food supply chains regarding their practices (open field vs greenhouses) and the kind of cultivar they use or wish to have

Zinc marine biogeochemistry in seawater: a review

The interest in trace element biogeochemistry has arisen from the well demonstrated iron hypothesis that revealed the central role that iron exerts on oceanic primary and associated biogeochemical cycles. The essentiality of zinc for key biological enzymes, coupled with a nutrient-like vertical distribution with low dissolved concentrations in many marine surface waters, provided motivation to study zinc in marine systems. Laboratory studies have confirmed the importance of zinc to sustain phytoplankton growth and its influence on the composition of the phytoplankton community. However, mixed results were obtained in the field, which suggest a more subtle effect of zinc on oceanic phytoplankton growth than iron. As a consequence, consensus on its biological role, mechanisms at play or regional versus global relevance is currently lacking and highlights the need for new conceptual models of zinc in marine systems. The recent GEOTRACES program is generating new data approaches to discuss and understand further zinc behaviour in the ocean

MXCuBE2 : the dawn of MXCuBE Collaboration

MXCuBE2 is the second-generation evolution of the MXCuBE beamline control software, initially developed and used at ESRF – the European Synchrotron. MXCuBE2 extends, in an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI), the functionalities and data collection methods available to users while keeping all previously available features and allowing for the straightforward incorporation of ongoing and future developments. MXCuBE2 introduces an extended abstraction layer that allows easy interfacing of any kind of macromolecular crystallography (MX) hardware component, whether this is a diffractometer, sample changer, detector or optical element. MXCuBE2 also works in strong synergy with the ISPyB Laboratory Information Management System, accessing the list of samples available for a particular experimental session and associating, either from instructions contained in ISPyB or from user input via the MXCuBE2 GUI, different data collection types to them. The development of MXCuBE2 forms the core of a fruitful collaboration which brings together several European synchrotrons and a software development factory and, as such, defines a new paradigm for the development of beamline control platforms for the European MX user community