Estudio del empleo de cubiertas vegetales temporales para la regulación del régimen hídrico, crecimiento y manejo sostenible del viñedo

RESUMEN El ensayo se llevo a acabo en un viñedo de Syrah durante 8 años y en un viñedo de Merlot durante 3 años. Ambos viñedos regados y situados en Colmenar de Oreja (Madrid) (40º 8’N, 3º 23’W) con clima típicamente Mediterráneo. Siete tratamientos con cubiertas vegetales se han comparado con dos tratamientos con suelo desnudo usados como control. Las cubiertas vegetales fueron seis tratamientos de cereales (Centeno) y un tratamiento de enyerbado autosembrado (Bromus spp) y los tratamientos de suelo desnudo fueron uno manejado con laboreo y otro manejado con herbicida. Los seis tratamientos de centeno se han manejado de seis formas distintas. La primera sembrada todos los años y eliminada en brotación mediante herbicida de post-emergencia. La segunda sembrada todos los años y eliminada un mes después de la brotación mediante siega. La tercera sembrada todos los años y eliminada en floración mediante siega. La cuarta sembrada todos los años y eliminada en brotación mediante herbicida de post-emergencia. La quinta sembrada todos los años y eliminada un mes después de la brotación mediante siega. La sexta sembrada todos los años y eliminada en floración mediante siega. La utilización de cubiertas vegetales ha tenido efectos beneficiosos sobre el contenido en materia orgánica, la compactación y la infiltración del suelo, mejorando las condiciones para el desarrollo de las raíces. Estas mejoras y la escasa competencia de la competencia durante el crecimiento del sistema radical de la vid han producido un incremento del sistema radical en las plantas mantenidos con cubierta vegetal. La competencia de las cubiertas vegetales ha reducido la disponibilidad hídrica de la vid, incrementándose la absorción en zonas con mayor disponibilidad hídrica (como la línea) antes de floración. El mayor desarrollo radical de las vides con cubierta autosembrada ha permitido agotar más intensamente las reservas de agua en el suelo. La competencia de las cubiertas ha reducido en mayor medida el desarrollo vegetativo que el productivo. Lo que ha disminuido, en algunas cubiertas vegetales, el consumo hídrico de la vid, aumentando el potencial hídrico foliar y la fotosíntesis durante la maduración. Sin embargo, el incremento en la fotosíntesis no ha compensado el mayor desarrollo foliar de los tratamientos con suelo desnudo, lo que ha provocado que estos tratamientos presenten la producción de materia seca más elevada. El empleo de cubiertas vegetales ha reducido la producción principalmente limitando el número de bayas por racimo, ya que el aporte de riego ha minimizado los efectos del manejo del suelo sobre el tamaño de baya. La utilización de cubiertas vegetales temporales ha mejorado la iluminación de los racimos, lo que ha producido un aumento de la síntesis de antocianos durante las primeras fases de la maduración, pero un incremento de la degradación de los mismos al final de la maduración. Esto ha provocado que durante la vendimia los tratamientos de suelo desnudo presenten un mayor contenido de antocianos por baya que los tratamientos mantenidos con cubierta temporal. Estos resultados muestran que el efecto del manejo del suelo depende en gran medida de las condiciones del medio, y que sus efectos en climas calidos y secos son muy distintos a los observados en climas frescos y húmedos. ABSTRACT The trial was conducted over a period of 8 years in a Syrah vineyard and over a period of 3 years in a Merlot vineyard. Both vineyards were irrigated and situated near Colmenar de Oreja (Madrid) (40º 8’N, 3º 23’W) a typical Mediterranean climate. Seven Annual cover crops treatments were compared to two bare soil treatments, used as control. Cover crops were six cereals treatments (Rye) and one auto-sowing treatment (Bromus spp) and the treatments of bare soil were one tilled management treatment and another with herbicide treatment. The six Cereal treatments were managed in different manners. First sowing every year and were eliminated in bud breaking with post-emergency herbicide. The second sowing annually and were eliminated one month after bud breaking through harvesting. The third sowing annually and were eliminated in flowering by mowing. The fourth sowing annually and were eliminated with post-emergency herbicide in bud breaking. The fifth sowing annually and were eliminated by mowing one month after bud breaking. . The third sowing annually was eliminated by mowing in flowering. The use of annual cover crop have improved soil organic matter, soil infiltration rate and soil solidity, resulting in a more favourable environment for roots growth. These improvements and low competitive ability during root growing have increases grapevine root density in plant management with cover crop. The Cover crop ability reduced plant available water, increasing root water uptake in the soil with more available water (such us line) before flowering. More growth of grapevine root density with auto-sowed cover crops has allowed using the water under soil more rapidly. The cover crop ability has reduced vegetative growth more than yield. What has been reduced in some vegetative cover crop has been the consumption of water, and increasing the leaf water potential and foliar and photosynthesis during growth activity. Moreover, the increased in photosynthesis activity could not “Compensate” higher leaf growth of treatment of bare soil, where these treatments had resulted in the greatest amount of dry material. The use of cover crops has reduced the crop mainly reducing the fruit set, because the irrigation had reduced the cover crop effect in the berry growth. The use of temporary cover crop increased berry sunlight exposure and skin anthocyanin synthesis during early rippenig, but excessively high temperature increased anthocyanin degradation during last part of ripenning. So, at the vineyard harvest period the treatments with bare soil plant had a more anthocyanin content per grape than the temporary cover crop plant treatments. These results suggest that the effects of soil handling mainly depends on the environmental condition, and their effects in hot and dry climate are so different from the effects in cold and moist climates.

Potencial de la producción de bioelectricidad de las Comarcas Agrarias de la Comunidad de Madrid en base a centeno y triticale

En el presente trabajo se estudia la producción potencial de biomasa procedente de los cultivos de centeno y triticale en las seis comarcas agrarias de la Comunidad de Madrid (CM) y la posibilidad de su aplicación a la producción de bioelectricidad en cada una de ellas. En primer lugar se realiza un estudio bibliográfico de la situación actual de la bioelectricidad. Uno de los principales datos a tener en cuenta es que en el PER 2011- 2020 se estima que el total de potencia eléctrica instalada a partir de biomasa en España en el año 2020 sea de 1.350 MW, unas dos veces y media la existente a finales de 2010. Además, se comenta el estado de la incentivación del uso de biomasa de cultivos energéticos para producción de electricidad, la cual se regula actualmente según el Real Decreto-ley 9/2013, de 12 de Julio, por el que se adoptaron medidas urgentes para garantizar la estabilidad financiera del sistema eléctrico, y se consideran los criterios de sostenibilidad en el uso de biocombustibles sólidos. Se realiza una caracterización de las seis comarcas agrarias que forman la Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid: Área Metropolitana, Campiña, Guadarrama, Lozoya- Somosierra, Sur-Occidental y Vegas, la cual consta de dos partes: una descripción de la climatología y otra de la distribución de la superficie dedicada a barbecho y cultivos herbáceos. Se hace una recopilación bibliográfica de los modelos de simulación más representativos de crecimiento de los cultivos (CERES y Cereal YES), así como de ensayos realizados con los cultivos de centeno y triticale para la producción de biomasa y de estudios efectuados mediante herramientas GIS y técnicas de análisis multicriterio para la ubicación de centrales de bioelectricidad y el estudio de la logística de la biomasa. Se propone un modelo de simulación de la productividad de biomasa de centeno y de triticale para la CM, que resulta de la combinación de un modelo de producción de grano en base a datos climatológicos y a la relación biomasa/grano media de ambos cultivos obtenida en una experiencia previa. Los modelos obtenidos responden a las siguientes ecuaciones (siendo TN = temperatura media normalizada a 9,9 ºC y PN = precipitación acumulada normalizada a 496,7 mm): - Producción biomasa centeno (t m.s./ha) = 2,785 * [1,078 * ln(TN + 2*PN) + 2,3256] - Producción biomasa triticale (t m.s./ha) = 2,595 * [2,4495 * ln(TN + 2*PN) + 2,6103] Posteriormente, aplicando los modelos desarrollados, se cuantifica el potencial de producción de biomasa de centeno y triticale en las distintas comarcas agrarias de la CM en cada uno de los escenarios establecidos, que se consideran según el uso de la superficie de barbecho de secano disponible (25%, 50%, 75% y 100%). Las producciones potenciales de biomasa, que se podrían alcanzar en la CM utilizando el 100% de la superficie de barbecho de secano, en base a los cultivos de centeno y triticale, se estimaron en 169.710,72 - 149.811,59 - 140.217,54 - 101.583,01 - 26.961,88 y 1.886,40 t anuales para las comarcas de Campiña - Vegas, Sur - Occidental - Área Metropolitana - Lozoya-Somosierra y Guadarrama, respectivamente. Se realiza un análisis multicriterio basado en la programación de compromiso para definir las comarcas agrarias con mejores características para la ubicación de centrales de bioelectricidad en base a los criterios de potencial de biomasa, infraestructura eléctrica, red de carreteras, espacios protegidos y superficie de núcleos urbanos. Al efectuar el análisis multicriterio, se obtiene la siguiente ordenación jerárquica en base a los criterios establecidos: Campiña, Sur Occidental, Vegas, Área Metropolitana, Lozoya-Somosierra y Guadarrama. Mediante la utilización de técnicas GIS se estudia la localización más conveniente de una central de bioelectricidad de 2,2 MW en cada una de las comarcas agrarias y según el uso de la superficie de barbecho de secano disponible (25%, 50%, 75% y 100%), siempre que exista potencial suficiente. Para el caso de la biomasa de centeno y de triticale en base seca se considera un PCI de 3500 kcal/kg, por lo que se necesitarán como mínimo 17.298,28 toneladas para satisfacer las necesidades de cada una de las centrales de 2,2 MW. Se analiza el potencial máximo de bioelectricidad en cada una de las comarcas agrarias en base a los cultivos de centeno y triticale como productores de biomasa. Según se considere el 25% o el 100% del barbecho de secano para producción de biomasa, la potencia máxima de bioelectricidad que se podría instalar en cada una de las comarcas agrarias variaría entre 5,4 y 21,58 MW en la comarca Campiña, entre 4,76 y 19,05 MW en la comarca Vegas, entre 4,46 y 17,83 MW en la comarca Sur Occidental, entre 3,23 y 12,92 MW en la comarca Área Metropolitana, entre 0,86 y 3,43 MW en la comarca Lozoya Somosierra y entre 0,06 y 0,24 MW en la comarca Guadarrama. La potencia total que se podría instalar en la CM a partir de la biomasa de centeno y triticale podría variar entre 18,76 y 75,06 MW según que se utilice el 25% o el 100% de las tierras de barbecho de secano para su cultivo. ABSTRACT In this work is studied the potential biomass production from rye and triticale crops in the six Madrid Community (MC) agricultural regions and the possibility of its application to the bioelectricity production in each of them. First is performed a bibliographical study of the current situation of bioelectricity. One of the main elements to be considered is that in the PER 2011-2020 is estimated that the total installed electric power from biomass in Spain in 2020 was 1.350 MW, about two and a half times as at end 2010. Also is discussed the status of enhancing the use of biomass energy crops for electricity production, which is currently regulated according to the Real Decreto-ley 9/2013, of July 12, by which urgent measures were adopted to ensure financial stability of the electrical system, and there are considered the sustainability criteria in the use of solid biofuels. A characterization of the six Madrid Community agricultural regions is carried out: Area Metropolitana, Campiña, Guadarrama, Lozoya-Somosierra, Sur-Occidental and Vegas, which consists of two parts: a description of the climatology and another about the distribution of the area under fallow and arable crops. It makes a bibliographic compilation of the most representative crop growth simulation models (CERES and Cereal YES), as well as trials carried out with rye and triticale crops for biomass production and studies conducted by GIS tools and techniques multicriteria analysis for the location of bioelectricity centrals and the study of the logistics of biomass. Is proposed a biomass productivity simulation model for rye and triticale for MC that results from the combination of grain production model based on climatological data and the average relative biomass/grain of both crops obtained in a prior experience. The models obtained correspond to the following equations (where TN = normalized average temperature and PN = normalized accumulated precipitation): - Production rye biomass (t d.m./ha) = 2.785 * [1.078 * ln (TN + 2*PN) + 2.3256] - Production triticale biomass (t d.m./ha) = 2,595 * [2.4495 * ln (TN + 2*PN) + 2.6103] Subsequently, applying the developed models, the biomass potential of the MC agricultural regions is quantified in each of the scenarios established, which are considered as the use of dry fallow area available (25%, 50%, 75 % and 100%). The potential biomass production that can be achieved within the MC using 100% of the rainfed fallow area based on rye and triticale crops, were estimated at 169.710,72 - 149.811,59 - 140.217,54 - 101.583,01 - 26.961,88 and 1.886,40 t annual for the regions of Campiña, Vegas, Sur Occidental, Area Metropolitana, Lozoya- Somosierra and Guadarrama, respectively. A multicriteria analysis is performed, based on compromise programming to define the agricultural regions with better features for the location of bioelectricity centrals, on the basis of biomass potential, electrical infrastructure, road network, protected areas and urban area criteria. Upon multicriteria analysis, is obtained the following hierarchical order based on criteria: Campiña, Sur Occidental, Vegas, Area Metropolitana, Lozoya-Somosierra and Guadarrama. Likewise, through the use of GIS techniques, the most suitable location for a 2,2 MW bioelectricity plant is studied in each of the agricultural regions and according to the use of dry fallow area available (25%, 50% , 75% and 100%), if there is sufficient potential. In the case of biomass rye and triticale dry basis is considered a PCI of 3500 kcal/kg, so it will take at least 17,298.28 t to satisfy the needs of each plant. Is analyzed the maximum bioelectricity potential on each of the agricultural regions on the basis of the rye and triticale crops as biomass producers. As deemed 25% or 100% dry fallow for biomass, the maximum bioelectricity potential varies between 5,4 and 21,58 MW in the Campiña region, between 4,76 and 19,05 MW in the Vegas region, between 4,46 and 17,83 MW in the Sur Occidental region, between 3,23 and 12,92 MW in the Area Metropolitana region, between 0,86 and 3,43 MW in the Lozoya-Somosierra region and between 0,06 and 0,24 MW in the Guadarrama region. The total power that could be installed in the CM from rye and triticale biomass could vary between 18.76 and 75.06 MW if is used the 25% or 100% of fallow land for rainfed crop.

Diagnosis and Management of Grain-Induced Asthma

Grain-induced asthma is a frequent occupational allergic disease mainly caused by inhalation of cereal flour or powder. The main professions affected are bakers, confectioners, pastry factory workers, millers, farmers, and cereal handlers. This disorder is usually due to an IgE-mediated allergic response to inhalation of cereal flour proteins. The major causative allergens of grain-related asthma are proteins derived from wheat, rye and barley flour, although baking additives, such as fungal α-amylase are also important. This review deals with the current diagnosis and treatment of grain-induced asthma, emphasizing the role of cereal allergens as molecular tools to enhance diagnosis and management of this disorder. Asthma-like symptoms caused by endotoxin exposure among grain workers are beyond the scope of this review. Progress is being made in the characterization of grain and bakery allergens, particularly cereal-derived allergens, as well as in the standardization of allergy tests. Salt-soluble proteins (albumins plus globulins), particularly members of the α-amylase/trypsin inhibitor family, thioredoxins, peroxidase, lipid transfer protein and other soluble enzymes show the strongest IgE reactivities in wheat flour. In addition, prolamins (not extractable by salt solutions) have also been claimed as potential allergens. However, the large variability of IgE-binding patterns of cereal proteins among patients with grain-induced asthma, together with the great differences in the concentrations of potential allergens observed in commercial cereal extracts used for diagnosis, highlight the necessity to standardize and improve the diagnostic tools. Removal from exposure to the offending agents is the cornerstone of the management of grain-induced asthma. The availability of purified allergens should be very helpful for a more refined diagnosis, and new immunomodulatory treatments, including allergen immunotherapy and biological drugs, should aid in the management of patients with this disorder.

Amino acid availability in ruminants of cereals and cereal co-products

Microbial corrected in situ estimatesof the ruminal undegraded fraction (RU) and intestinal effectivedigestibility (IED) of amino acids (AA), except tryptophan, of rye, wheat and corn grains, wheat bran, wheat and barley distilled dried grains and corn gluten feed were measured on three rumen- and duodenum-cannulated wethers using 15N-labelling techniques and considering ruminal rates of particle comminution and outflow.

The use of geographic information systems for the optimal location of biomass power plants in the Madrid Community (Spain)

This article has been extracted from the results of a thesis entitled “Potential bioelectricity production of the Madrid Community Agricultural Regions based on rye and triticale biomass.” The aim was, first, to quantify the potential of rye (Secale Cereale L.) and triticale ( Triticosecale Aestivum L.) biomass in each of the Madrid Community agricultural regions, and second, to locate the most suitable areas for the installation of power plants using biomass. At least 17,339.9 t d.m. of rye and triticale would be required to satisfy the biomass needs of a 2.2 MW power plant, (considering an efficiency of 21.5%, 8,000 expected operating hours/year and a biomass LCP of 4,060 kcal/kg for both crops), and 2,577 ha would be used (which represent 2.79% of the Madrid Community fallow dry land surface). Biomass yields that could be achieved in Madrid Community using 50% of the fallow dry land surface (46,150 ha representing 5.75% of the Community area), based on rye and triticale crops, are estimated at 84,855, 74,906, 70,109, 50,791, 13,481, and 943 t annually for the Campiña, Vegas, Sur Occidental, Área Metropolitana, Lozoya-Somosierra, and Guadarrama regions. The latter represents a bioelectricity potential of 10.77, 9.5, 8.9, 6.44, 1.71, and 0.12 MW, respectively.

Wheat allergy in celiac children

Gluten is the main structural protein complex of wheat with equivalent toxic proteins found in other cereals (rye, barley, and oats) which are responsible for different immunologic responses with different clinical expressions of disease. The spectrum of gluten-related disorders has been classified according to pathogenic, clinical, and epidemiological differences in three main forms: (i) wheat allergy (WA), an IgE-mediated disease; (ii) autoimmune disease, including celiac disease (CD), dermatitis herpetiformis, and gluten ataxia; and (iii) possibly immune-mediated, gluten sensitivity [1]. WA is an immunologic Th2 response with typical manifestations which can vary from dermatological, respiratory, and/or intestinal to anaphylactic reactions. In contrast, CD is an autoimmune disorder, a gliadin-specific T-cell response which is enhanced by the action of intestinal tissue transglutaminase (tTG), with a wide clinical spectrum including symptomatic cases with either intestinal (e.g., chronic diarrhea, weight loss) or extraintestinal features (e.g., anemia, osteoporosis, neurologic disturbances) and silent forms that are occasionally discovered as a result of serological screening [1]. We studied wheat allergy in two children with early diagnosis of CD, who developed immediate allergic symptoms after eating small amounts of wheat flour.

Quantitative characterization of five cover crop species

The introduction of cover crops in the intercrop period may provide a broad range of ecosystem services derived from the multiple functions they can perform, such as erosion control, recycling of nutrients or forage source. However, the achievement of these services in a particular agrosystem is not always required at the same time or to the same degree. Thus, species selection and definition of targeted objectives is critical when growing cover crops. The goal of the current work was to describe the traits that determine the suitability of five species (barley, rye, triticale, mustard and vetch) for cover cropping. A field trial was established during two seasons (October to April) in Madrid (central Spain). Ground cover and biomass were monitored at regular intervals during each growing season. A Gompertz model characterized ground cover until the decay observed after frosts, while biomass was fitted to Gompertz, logistic and linear-exponential equations. At the end of the experiment, carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and fibre (neutral detergent, acid and lignin) contents, and the N fixed by the legume were determined. The grasses reached the highest ground cover (83–99%) and biomass (1226–1928 g/m2) at the end of the experiment. With the highest C:N ratio (27–39) and dietary fibre (527–600 mg/g) and the lowest residue quality (~680 mg/g), grasses were suitable for erosion control, catch crop and fodder. The vetch presented the lowest N uptake (2·4 and 0·7 g N/m2) due to N fixation (9·8 and 1·6 g N/m2) and low biomass accumulation. The mustard presented high N uptake in the warm year and could act as a catch crop, but low fodder capability in both years. The thermal time before reaching 30% ground cover was a good indicator of early coverage species. Variable quantification allowed finding variability among the species and provided information for further decisions involving cover crop selection and management.

Transcriptional abnormality in myotonic dystrophy affects DMPK but not neighboring genes

Myotonic dystrophy (DM) is caused by the expansion of a trinucleotide repeat, CTG, in the 3′ untranslated region of a protein kinase gene, DMPK. We set out to determine what effect this expanded repeat has on RNA processing. The subcellular fractionation of RNA and the separate analysis of DMPK transcripts from each allele reveals that transcripts from expanded DMPK alleles are retained within the nucleus and are absent from the cytoplasm of DM cell lines. The nuclear retention of DMPK transcripts occurs above a critical threshold between 80 and 400 CTGs. Further analysis of the nuclear RNA reveals an apparent reduction in the proportion of expansion-derived DMPK transcripts after poly(A)+ selection. Quantitative analysis of RNA also indicates that although the level of cytoplasmic DMPK transcript is altered in DM patients, the levels of transcripts from 59 and DMAHP, two genes that immediately flank DMPK, are unaffected in DM cell lines.

Tumor necrosis factor-α induces adhesion molecule expression through the sphingosine kinase pathway

The signaling pathways that couple tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) receptors to functional, especially inflammatory, responses have remained elusive. We report here that TNFα induces endothelial cell activation, as measured by the expression of adhesion protein E-selectin and vascular adhesion molecule-1, through the sphingosine kinase (SKase) signaling pathway. Treatment of human umbilical vein endothelial cells with TNFα resulted in a rapid SKase activation and sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) generation. S1P, but not ceramide or sphingosine, was a potent dose-dependent stimulator of adhesion protein expression. S1P was able to mimic the effect of TNFα on endothelial cells leading to extracellular signal-regulated kinases and NF-κB activation, whereas ceramide or sphingosine was not. Furthermore, N,N-dimethylsphingosine, an inhibitor of SKase, profoundly inhibited TNFα-induced extracellular signal-regulated kinases and NF-κB activation and adhesion protein expression. Thus we demonstrate that the SKase pathway through the generation of S1P is critically involved in mediating TNFα-induced endothelial cell activation.

Morphology of the Yeast Endocytic Pathway

Positively charged Nanogold (Nanoprobes, Stony Brook, NY) has been developed as a new marker to follow the endocytic pathway in yeast. Positively charged Nanogold binds extensively to the surface of yeast spheroplasts and is internalized in an energy-dependent manner. Internalization of gold is blocked in the end3 mutant. During a time course of incubation of yeast spheroplasts with positively charged Nanogold at 15°C, the gold was detected sequentially in small vesicles, a peripheral, vesicular/tubular compartment that we designate as an early endosome, a multivesicular body corresponding to the late endosome near the vacuole, and in the vacuole. Experiments examining endocytosis in the sec18 mutant showed an accumulation of positively charged Nanogold in approximately 30–50 nm diameter vesicles. These vesicles most likely represent the primary endocytic vesicles as no other intermediates were detected in the mutant cells, and they correspond in size to the first vesicles detected in wild-type spheroplasts at 15°C. These data lend strong support to the idea that the internalization step of endocytosis in yeast involves formation of small vesicles of uniform size from the plasma membrane.