Potential CO2 Emission Reduction by Development of Non-Grain-Based Bioethanol in China

Assessment of the potential CO2 emission reduction by development of non-grain-based ethanol in China is valuable for both setting up countermeasures against climate change and formulating bioethanol policies. Based on the land occupation property, feedstock classification and selection are conducted, identifying sweet sorghum, cassava, and sweet potato as plantation feedstocks cultivated from low-quality arable marginal land resources and molasses and agricultural straws as nonplantation feedstocks derived from agricultural by-products. The feedstock utilization degree, CO2 reduction coefficient of bioethanol, and assessment model of CO2 emission reduction potential of bioethanol are proposed and established to assess the potential CO2 emission reduction by development of non-grain-based bioethanol. The results show that China can obtain emission reduction potentials of 10.947 and 49.027 Mt CO2 with non-grain-based bioethanol in 2015 and 2030, which are much higher than the present capacity, calculated as 1.95 Mt. It is found that nonplantation feedstock can produce more bioethanol so as to obtain a higher potential than plantation feedstock in both 2015 and 2030. Another finding is that developing non-grain-based bioethanol can make only a limited contribution to China's greenhouse gas emission reduction. Moreover, this study reveals that the regions with low and very low potentials for emission reduction will dominate the spatial distribution in 2015, and regions with high and very high potentials will be the majority in 2030.

Synthesis of dodecenyl succinic anhydride (DDSA) corn starch

Dodecenly succinic anhydride (DDSA) starches were prepared commercially by the base catalyzed reaction of DDSA in pre-emulsion with starch granular in aqueous slurry. The results indicated that the degree of substitution and reaction efficiency were 0.0256% and 42.7%, respectively, at the parameters for the preparation of DDSA starches in starch slurry 30%, DDSA/starch radio 10% (wt/wt), pH 8.5-9.0, reaction temperature 313 K. After modification, product surface chemical composite had been changed which was prone to migrate into less polar solution. The chemical structural characteristics were investigated by methods of FTIR and H-1 NMR. The results of X-ray diffraction showed the native A-type crystalline pattern, indicating that reaction of corn starch with DDSA caused no change in the crystalline structure. Compared to native starch, the hydrophobic performance of esters was greatly increased. With the DS increasing, contact angles were gradually increased, however, the adhesion works were decreased. The maximum contact angle of DDSA starch could attend to 123 degrees, and the corresponding adhesion work was 33.2 mJ m(-2).

Predicting interpretability of metabolome models based on behavior, putative identity, and biological relevance of explanatory signals

Enot, D. P., Beckmann, M., Overy, D., Draper, J. (2006). Predicting interpretability of metabolome models based on behavior, putative identity, and biological relevance of explanatory signals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 103(40), 14865-14870. Sponsorship: BBSRC RAE2008

Evaluation of rhizobacterial colonisation and the ability to induce Globodera pallida hatch

Three bacterial isolates, SB13 (Acinetobacter sp.), SB14 (Arthrobacter sp.) and SB15 (Bacillus sp.), were previously isolated from the rhizosphere of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris) plants and shown to increase hatch of potato cyst nematodes in vitro. In this study, the three isolates were assayed for rhizosphere competence. Each isolate was applied to seeds at each of four concentrations (105-108 CFU ml−1) and the inoculated seeds were planted in plastic microcosms containing coarse sand. All three isolates were shown to colonise the rhizosphere, although to differing degrees, with the higher inoculation densities providing significantly better colonisation. The isolates increased sugar beet root and shoot dry weight. Isolates SB14 and SB15 were analysed for their ability to induce in vivo hatch of Globodera pallida in non-sterile soil planted with sugar beet. After 4 and 6 weeks, both isolates had induced significantly greater percentage hatch compared to controls.

Papas Chips XI : materia seca, peso específico, rendimiento y fijación de aceite, parámetros de calidad

p.145-150

Distribución de nematodes en suelos de cultivo de papas en los valles andinos de la Argentina

p.141-148

Papas chips XII : tratamiento con CIPC de tubérculos almacenados : su incidencia en la composición química y su relación con la calidad de la chip

p.41-50

Acción del CIPC y otros factores en la pérdida de peso durante el almacenamiento de papa para la industria

p.103-113

Artificial neural networks in modelling osmotic dehydration of foods

Artificial neural network (ANN) models for water loss (WL) and solid gain (SG) were evaluated as potential alternative to multiple linear regression (MLR) for osmotic dehydration of apple, banana and potato. The radial basis function (RBF) network with a Gaussian function was used in this study. The RBF employed the orthogonal least square learning method. When predictions of experimental data from MLR and ANN were compared, an agreement was found for ANN models than MLR models for SG than WL. The regression coefficient for determination (R2) for SG in MLR models was 0.31, and for ANN was 0.91. The R2 in MLR for WL was 0.89, whereas ANN was 0.84.Osmotic dehydration experiments found that the amount of WL and SG occurred in the following descending order: Golden Delicious apple > Cox apple > potato > banana. The effect of temperature and concentration of osmotic solution on WL and SG of the plant materials followed a descending order as: 55 > 40 > 32.2C and 70 > 60 > 50 > 40%, respectively.

Morphological and molecular characteristics of a new species of Pasteuria parasitic on Meloidogyne ardenensis

A species of the hyper-parasitic bacterium Pasteuria was isolated from the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne ardenensis infecting the roots of ash (Fraxinus excelsior). It is morphologically different from some other Pasteuria pathogens of nematodes in that the spores lack a basal ring on the ventral side of the spore and have a unique clumping nature. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the clumps of spores are not random aggregates but result from the disintegration of the suicide cells of the thalli. Sporulation within each vegetative mycelium was shown to be asynchronous. In addition to the novel morphological features 16S rRNA sequence analysis showed this to be a new species of Pasteuria which we have called P. hartismeri. Spores of P. hartismeri attach to juveniles of root-knot nematodes infecting a wide range of plants such as mint (Meloidogyne hapla), rye grass (unidentified Meloidogyne sp.) and potato (Meloidogyne fallax).

Phenotypical characterization in "Plasmopara halstedii" (sunflower downy mildew) isolates of several races

Phenotypic variation (morphological and pathogenic characters), and genetic variability were studied in 50 isolates of seven Plasmopara halstedii (sunflower downy mildew) races 100, 300, 304, 314, 710, 704 and 714. There were significant morphological, aggressiveness, and genetic differences for pathogen isolates. However, there was no relationship between morphology of zoosporangia and sporangiophores and pathogenic and genetic characteristics for the races used in our study. Also, our results provided evidence that no relation between pathogenic traits and multilocus haplotypes may be established in P. halstedii. The hypothesis explaining the absence of relationships among phenotypic and genetic characteristics is discussed.

Non-nematode-derived double-stranded RNAs induce profound phenotypic changes in Meloidogyne incognita and Globodera pallida infective juveniles

Nine non-nematode-derived double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs), designed for use as controls in RNA interference (RNAi) screens of neuropeptide targets, were found to induce aberrant phenotypes and an unexpected inhibitory effect on motility of root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita J2s following 24 h soaks in 0.1 mg/ml dsRNA; a simple soaking procedure which we have found to elicit profound knockdown of neuronal targets in Globodera pallida J2s. We have established that this inhibitory phenomenon is both time- and concentration-dependent, as shorter 4 h soaks in 0.1 mg/ml dsRNA had no negative impact on M. incognita J2 stage worms, yet a 10-fold increase in concentration to 1 mg/ml for the same 4 h time period had an even greater qualitative and quantitative impact on worm phenotype and motility. Further, a 10-fold increase of J2s soaked in 0.1 mg/ml dsRNA did not significantly alter the observed phenotypic aberration, which suggests that dsRNA uptake of the soaked J2s is not saturated under these conditions. This phenomenon was not initially observed in potato cyst nematode G. pallida J2s, which displayed no aberrant phenotype, or diminution of migratory activity in response to the same 0.1 mg/ml dsRNA 24 h soaks. However, a 10-fold increase in dsRNA to 1 mg/ml was found to elicit comparable irregularity of phenotype and inhibition of motility in G. pallida, to that initially observed in M. incognita following a 24 h soak in 0.1 mg/ml dsRNA. Again, a 10-fold increase in the number of G. pallida J2s soaked in the same volume of 1 mg/ml dsRNA preparation did not significantly affect the observed phenotypic deviation. We do not observe any global impact on transcript abundance in either M. incognita or G. pallida J2s following 0.1 mg/ml dsRNA soaks, as revealed by reverse transcriptase-PCR and quantitative PCR data. This study aims to raise awareness of a phenomenon which we observe consistently and which we believe signifies a more expansive deficiency in our knowledge and understanding of the variables inherent to RNAi-based investigation.

Dilute acid hydrolysis of Lignocellulosic biomass

The overall aim of this work was to establish the optimum conditions for acid hydrolysis of hemicellulosic biomass in the form of potato peel. The hydrolysis reaction was undertaken in a 1l high pressure pilot batch reactor using dilute phosphoric acid. Analysis of the decomposition rate of hemicellulosic biomass (namely Cellulose, Hemicellulose and lignin) was undertaken using HPLC of the reaction products namely, 5 and 6 carbon sugars. Process parameters investigated included, reactor temperature (from 135 degrees C to 200 degrees C) and acid concentration (from 2.5% (w/w) to 10% (w/w)). Analysis of the reactor products indicated that high conversion of cellulose to glucose was apparent although arabinose conversion was quite low due to thermally un-stability. However, an overall sugar yield is 82.5% was achieved under optimum conditions. This optimum yield was obtained at 135 degrees C and 10% (w/w) acid concentration. 55.2 g sugar/100 g dry potato peel is produced after a time of 8 min. The work indicates that the use of potato peel may be a feasible option as a feed material for the production of sugars for biofuel synthesis, due its low cost and high sugar yields. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Short interfering RNA-mediated gene silencing in Globodera pallida and Meloidogyne incognita infective stage juveniles

The analysis of gene function through RNA interference (RNAi)-based reverse genetics in plant parasitic nematodes (PPNs) remains inexplicably reliant on the use of long double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) silencing triggers; a practice inherently disadvantageous due to the introduction of superfluous dsRNA sequence. increasing chances of aberrant or off-target gene silencing through interactions between nascent short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and non-cognate mRNA targets. Recently, we have shown that non-nematode, long dsRNAs have a propensity to elicit profound impacts on the phenotype and migrational abilities of both root knot and cyst nematodes. This study presents, to our knowledge for the first time, gene-specific knockdown of FMRFamide-like peptide (flp) transcripts, using discrete 21 bp siRNAs in potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida, and root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita infective (J2) stage juveniles. Both knockdown at the transcript level through quantitative (q)PCR analysis and functional data derived from migration assay, indicate that siRNAs targeting certain areas of the FMRFamide-like peptide (FLP) transcripts are potent and specific in the silencing of gene function. In addition, we present a method of manipulating siRNA activity through the management of strand thermodynamics. Initial evaluation of strand thermodynamics as a determinant of RNA-induced Silencing Complex (RISC) strand selection (inferred from knockdown efficacy) in the siRNAs presented here suggested that the purported influence of 5' stand stability on guide incorporation may be somewhat promiscuous. However, we have found that on strategically incorporating base mismatches in the sense strand of a G. pallida-specific siRNA we could specifically increase or decrease the knockdown of its target (specific to the antisense strand), presumably through creating more favourable thermodynamic profiles for incorporation of either the sense (non-target-specific) or antisense (target-specific) strand into a cleavage-competent RISC. Whilst the efficacy of similar approaches to siRNA modification has been demonstrated in the context of Drosophila whole-cell lysate preparations and in mammalian cell cultures, it remained to be seen how these sense strand mismatches may impact on gene silencing in vivo, in relation to different targets and in different sequence contexts. This work presents the first application of such an approach in a whole organism; initial results show promise. (C) 2009 Australian Society for Parasitology Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.