Effects of temperature and water activity change on ecophysiology of ochratoxigenic Aspergillus carbonarius in field-simulating conditions.
Ochratoxin A (OTA) is the primary mycotoxin threat in wine and dried vine fruits. Its presence in grape and wine is strongly related to climatic conditions and the expected climate change could represent a risk of increasing fungal colonization and OTA contamination in grapes. In this regard, the interacting effect of i) different conditions of water availability (0.93 and 0.99aw) and ii) different 10 h/14 h dark/light alternating temperature conditions simulating a nowadays (18/31 °C) and climate change scenario (20/37 °C) in high OTA risk areas of Apulia region, were studied. Lag phases prior to growth, mycelial growth rate, the expression of biosynthesis, transcription factors and regulatory genes of OTA cluster and OTA production were analysed in Aspergillus carbonarius ITEM 5010 under the combined effect of different climatic factors. At 18/31 °C and under water stress conditions (0.93 aw) the growth rate was slower than at 0.99 aw; on the contrary, at 20/37 °C a higher growth rate was observed at 0.93 aw. An over-expression of OTA genes and genes belonging to the global regulator Velvet complex was observed at 18/31 °C and 0.99 aw, with the specific OTA pathway transcription factor bZIP showing the highest expression level. The up-regulated transcription profile of the genes positively correlated with OTA production higher at 18/31 °C than at 20/37 °C and 0.99 aw; while no OTA production was detected at 0.93 aw at each of the temperature conditions tested. These findings provide preliminary evidence that the possible increase of the temperature, likely to happen in some areas of the Apulia region, may results in a reduction of both A. carbonarius spoilage and OTA production in grapes.
Prediction of survival ratios of Cadra cautella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) different life stages after treated with ultraviolet radiation in dates.
Date palm, is a tree of economic importance which is grown around the world, including Saudi Arabia. Its fruit is nutritious and possesses medicinal benefits. Almond moth, is a serious date fruits pest in the field as well as in the storage and causes severe economic losses. In the given research, ultraviolet radiation type B (UV-B, 315 nm) harmful effects were evaluated against all developmental stages of C. cautella. One and 3-d-old eggs, 12 and 18-d-old larvae, 1-d and 6-d-old pupae, and 1-d-old adults, were exposed to UV-B for different intervals. Eggs were exposed for 0-30 min and 0% hatchability was achieved both for 1-d and 3-d-old eggs after 30 min. The larvae were exposed for 6-24 h, and after 24 h, mortality was 100 and 97% for 12 and 18-d-old larvae, respectively. Similarly, the pupae were exposed for 0-30 h, and 100% mortality was achieved after 30 h for 1-d-old pupae. Furthermore, none of the 6-d-old pupae emerged as an adult after 12 h of exposure. When adults were exposed for 1-4 d, no mortality was observed; however, UV-B reduced fecundity and hatchability in the treated adults. The susceptibility order was as follows: eggs > larvae > pupae > adults. Several uncharacteristic behaviors of C. cautella were noted, such as females depositing eggs openly on food items and containers, mature larvae exiting from food, larvae starting to wander for pupation, and pupation occurring typically outside the food. The application of UV-B could be an effective management strategy because all developmental stages of C. cautella were susceptible to UV-B that might be helpful to protect the dates from C. cautella infestation.
Plant extracts such as pine nut shell, peanut shell and jujube leaf improved the antioxidant ability and gas permeability of chitosan films.
In order to develop the antioxidant and gas permeability packaging film, the effects of three plant extracts (pine nut shell, peanut shell and jujube leaf) on the physical, antioxidative and structural properties of chitosan based biodegradable films were studied. The results showed that three plant extracts improved the antioxidant capacity of films. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of chitosan-jujube leaf films increased by 3.8 times compared with the control films. The chitosan-pine nut shell films had the highest water vapor and oxygen permeability, while chitosan-peanut shell films showed greatest increase in CO2 permeability with a value of 1.71 × 104 cm3/(m2·24h) under standard test. In addition, three plant extracts reduced the homogeneity and caused porous structure of chitosan films. Chitosan-peanut shell films had the highest thermal stability compared with the control and other two films. X-ray diffraction and FTIR indicated three plant extracts changed the hydrogen bonding of film matrix and caused the changes of crystal and chemical structure. The study provided a reference for the preparation of polysaccharide-based active films with strong antioxidant and gas permeability.
Effects of Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction on the Physicochemical Properties of Different Walnut Proteins.
The effects of ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE, 200 W, 20 min) on the yield and physicochemical properties of different walnut proteins (WNPs, including albumin, globulin, and glutelin) were investigated. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis indicated that UAE could result in protein molecular fragmentation of albumin, but did not affect the major bands of globulin and glutelin. The CD spectra demonstrated that different WNPs obtained by UAE had different changes in their secondary structure. Under UAE, there was an increase in surface hydrophobicity (H0) of albumin and gluten and no change in the fluorescence intensity, while decreases were observed in the H0 and fluorescence intensity of globulin; and the contents of total and surface free sulfhydryl in albumin dramatically decreased. UAE reduced the size of the particles and the dimension of the microstructures in albumin and gluten, indicating that ultrasound could unfold protein aggregates. In addition, UAE increased the solubility, emulsifying activity (EA), foaming capacity (FC), and foam stability (FS) of the obtained proteins. The above results indicate that ultrasound extraction is a promising approach to improve the extraction yield and properties of walnut proteins.
High-methylated pectin from walnut processing wastes as a potential resource: Ultrasound assisted extraction and physicochemical, structural and functional analysis.
The ultrasound-assisted extraction of pectin from walnut processing waste was optimized by Box-Behnken design. The highest extraction yield (12.78±0.83%) was obtained at ultrasound power of 200 W, sonication time of 10 min, pH of 1.5 and LS ratio of 15 v/w. The resulting pectin in these conditions was rich in galacturonic acid (69.44%) and was high in degree of esterification (59.21%) which was confirmed by NMR and FTIR spectra. In addition, the molecular weight distribution analysis showed that the obtained pectin had a heterogeneous natural with low molecular weight (6.30-158.48 kDa). The XRD spectrum of the walnut pectin showed an amorphous structure with few crystalline portions. Furthermore, walnut green husk pectin had good emulsifying properties, water and oil holding capacities, and radical-scavenging activity. Given that the obtained result, the extraction of pectin from this by-product in addition to being able to reduce environmental problems, it can also provide financial benefits for the walnut production sector.
Electrocoagulation and electrooxidation pre-treatment effect on fungal treatment of pistachio processing wastewater.
The effect of electrochemical pre-treatment on fungal treatment of pistachio processing wastewater (PPW) was investigated. Electrocoagulation (EC) and electrooxidation (EO) were used as electrochemical pre-treatment step before fungal treatment of PPW. Aluminum (Al/Al), iron (Fe/Fe), and stainless steel (SS/SS) electrode pairs were selected as anode/cathode for EC whereas boron doped diamond (BDD/SS) was preferred as anode/cathode electrode pairs for EO experiments in this study. The impact of current density (50-300 A/m2) and operating time (0-240 min) were tested for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total phenol removal. After pre-treatment of PPW, four different fungus species (Coriolus versicolor, Funalia trogii, Aspergillus carbonarius, and Penicillium glabrum) were tested for further treatment. Penicillium glabrum supplied maximum COD and total phenol removal efficiency compared to other fungus strains. The combined electrochemical-assisted fungal treatment process supplied 90.1% COD and 88.7% total phenol removal efficiency when supported with EO pre-treatment. Pre-treatment of PPW with EO method provided better results than EC method for fungal treatment. Operating cost of the combined process was calculated as 6.12 US$/m3. The results indicated that the proposed combined process supplied higher pollutant removal compared to the individual electrocoagulation, electrooxidation, and fungal treatment process.
Antioxidant Evaluation of Extracts of Pecan NutShell (Carya illinoensis) in Soybean Biodiesel B100.
Biodiesel is subject to radical reactions that promote degradation. To decrease the speed of these degradation reactions and increase oxidative stability, either natural or synthetic antioxidants are added to biodiesel. Thus, the objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of extracts of pecan nutshell (Carya illinoensis) as natural antioxidants derived from biomass using water, ethanol, and methanol/water (50/50) as a solvent for extraction. The addition of these antioxidants is performed during the soybean biodiesel washing process in an unconventional manner. The results obtained are statistically analyzed and compared to the control. The induction time (IT) for the biodiesel samples washed with ethanolic extract of pecan nutshell (5 g L-1), aqueous extract of pecan nutshell (12 g L-1) and methanol/water extract of pecan nutshell (12 g L-1), are, respectively, 9.46, 7.60, 7.43 h. The activation energy and the storage time of the biodiesel samples washed with the extracts are also studied. The order of reaction of the oxidation kinetics of biodiesel is first order.
Comparison of different annotation tools for characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Corylus avellana cv Tombul.
Background: Several bioinformatics tools have been designed for assembly and annotation of chloroplast (cp) genomes, making it difficult to decide which is most useful and applicable to a specific case. The increasing number of plant genomes provide an opportunity to accurately obtain cp genomes from whole genome shotgun (WGS) sequences. Due to the limited genetic information available for European hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) and as part of a genome sequencing project, we analyzed the complete chloroplast genome of the cultivar 'Tombul' with multiple annotation tools. Results: Three different annotation strategies were tested, and the complete cp genome of C. avellana cv Tombul was constructed, which was 161,667 bp in length, and had a typical quadripartite structure. A large single copy (LSC) region of 90,198 bp and a small single copy (SSC) region of 18,733 bp were separated by a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 26,368 bp. In total, 125 predicted functional genes were annotated, including 76 protein-coding, 25 tRNA, and 4 rRNA unique genes. Comparative genomics indicated that the cp genome sequences were relatively highly conserved in species belonging to the same order. However, there were still some variations, especially in intergenic regions, that could be used as molecular markers for analyses of phylogeny and plant identification. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) analysis showed that there were 83 SSRs in the cp genome of cv Tombul. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that C. avellana cv Tombul had a close affinity to the sister group of C. fargesii and C. chinensis, and then a closer evolutionary relationship with Betulaceae family than other species of Fagales. Conclusion: In this study, the complete cp genome of Corylus avellana cv Tombul, the most widely cultivated variety in Turkey, was obtained and annotated, and additionally phylogenetic relationships were predicted among Fagales species. Our results suggest a very accurate assembly of chloroplast genome from next generation whole genome shotgun (WGS) sequences. Enhancement of taxon sampling in Corylus species provide genomic insights into phylogenetic analyses. The nucleotide sequences of cv Tombul cp genomes can provide comprehensive genetic insight into the evolution of genus Corylus.
Application of FTIR-ATR spectroscopy to confirm the microwave assisted synthesis and curing of Cashew nut shell liquid derived nanostructured materials.
The present work reports the development of nanostructured material from Cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL, an agro byproduct of cashew industry, 87% cardanol) to evaluate their potential in antibacterial applications as a substitute of petroleum feedstock via an energy-efficient method. The nanostructured material was synthesized by coordination polymerization reaction of cardanol and divalent Mn(II) salt with the aid of microwave irradiations. FTIR spectroscopy was used to confirm the proposed structure of the synthesized materials. FTIR-ATR spectroscopy was employed to verify the curing of material by comparing the spectra of the cured samples with the frequencies of uncured samples. Magnetic moment and UV-visible spectroscopy were used to confirm the proposed structure of the material further. Morphology of the synthesized material was investigated by XRD, optical microscopy, SEM and TEM and thermal behaviour by TGA/DTG/DSC technique. Agar diffusion method was utilized to investigate the antibacterial activity of the synthesized material against bacterial strains E. coli, K. pneumoniae, B. subtilis and S. aureus. N2 adsorption-desorption was investigated to check BET specific surface area and BJH pore size distribution of the same. The results revealed that the synthesized materials were obtained as semicrystalline, porous, thermally stable and nanostructured film forming materials with moderate to good antibacterial activity against different nosocomial bacteria. They can be used as thermally stable antibacterial agents in the field of films/coatings for health care applications.
Sustained Successful Peanut Oral Immunotherapy Associated with Low Basophil Activation and Peanut-Specific IgE.
Background: Oral immunotherapy (OIT) can successfully desensitize many peanut allergic subjects, but clinical tolerance diminishes over time upon discontinuation, or low dose maintenance, of peanut. Therefore, in order to improve the efficacy and sustainability of such therapy, we sought to identify biomarkers and clinical tools that can predict therapeutic outcomes and monitor treatment responses. Objective: We evaluated whether basophil activation in whole blood, and plasma levels of peanut-specific immunoglobulins, are useful biomarkers for peanut OIT. Methods: We longitudinally measured, before, during and after OIT, basophil activation in whole blood ex vivo in response to peanut stimulation, and peanut-specific IgE and IgG4, in a large, single-site, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 2 peanut OIT study. We compared basophil responsiveness and peanut specific immunoglobulins between those who were clinically reactive vs. tolerant to peanut oral challenges. Results: Peanut OIT significantly decreased basophil activation, peanut-specific, Ara h 1, Ara h 2 and Ara h 3 IgEs, and sIgE/total IgE, but increased sIgG4/sIgE. Participants who became reactive to 4 g of peanut 13 weeks off active OIT exhibited higher peanut-induced basophil activation ex vivo and higher peanut-specific IgEs and sIgE/total IgE, but lower sIgG4/sIgE. Notably, participants entering the study with low basophil responsiveness were more likely to achieve treatment success. Substantial suppression of basophil activation was required to maintain long-term clinical tolerance after peanut OIT. Conclusion: Assessments of peanut-specific basophil activation and peanut-specific immunoglobulins can help to predict treatment outcomes, and to differentiate transient desensitization vs. sustained unresponsiveness after OIT.