Opportunities and Challenges of Plant Bioactive Compounds for Food and Agricultural-Related Areas

The growing development of biological products highlights the social and environmental responsibility that several industrial companies are facing in recent years. In this context, the advancement of bioprocessing as an alternative for exploring the potential of ecologically based products, especially in biofuels, food, and agro-industrial business, exposes the rational efficiency of the application of renewable sources in different industrial segments. Industries strongly associated with food production concentrate large amounts of wastes rich in bioactive compounds. A range of highly effective technologies has been highly explored to recover large concentrations of prominent compounds present in these materials. The advances in this scenario assurance value addition to these by-products, in addition to highlighting their various technological applications, considering the biorefinery and ecologically based production concepts. Accordingly, this review article described a detailed and systematic approach to the importance of using bioactive compounds and exploring the main sources of these elements. Also, some recent and innovative research that has achieved encouraging results was highlighted. Furthermore, the study included the main extraction technologies that have been investigated as a strategy of prospecting the application of bioactive compounds and optimizing the processes for obtaining natural compounds from plant sources. Finally, future outlooks were presented to contribute to the innovative opportunities and applicability of highly promising technologies and manipulations of bioactive compounds from a range of perspectives.     

Potential benefits and harms: a review of poisonous mushrooms in the world

Mushrooms have long been considered as delicacies as well as used as important dietary supplements and food. However, there are major concerns with poisonous mushrooms as these pose threats to public health and safety. In this paper, we provide a review focusing on poisonous mushrooms, their toxins, symptoms and utilizations. In addition, this paper establishes a poisonous mushroom list which includes 643 species from two phyla, 16 orders, 51 families and 148 genera. The toxicity of all these species was verified and 332 species were ranked as P1 signifying that these species have toxic studies and or clinical poisoning case records and 311 species were P2 meaning they had previously been recorded as poisonous in other studies. Furthermore, we discuss advances in technology including how genomic studies could be used as a breakthrough tool in the field of toxic mushrooms. With this comprehensive review, we aim to promote public awareness of poisonous mushrooms, including how to avoid mushroom poisoning, and how to better utilize poisonous mushroom resources.     

Differential responses to artificial selection on oviposition site preferences in Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans

The preference–performance relationship in plant–insect interactions is a central theme in evolutionary ecology. Among many insects, eggs are vulnerable and larvae have limited mobility, making the choice of an appropriate oviposition site one of the most important decisions for a female. We investigated the evolution of oviposition preferences in Drosophila melanogaster Meigen and Drosophila simulans Sturtevant by artificially selecting for the preference for 2 natural resources, grape and quince. The main finding of our study is the differential responses of D. melanogaster and D. simulans. Although preferences evolved in the experimental populations of D. melanogaster, responses were not consistent with the selection regimes applied. In contrast, responses in D. simulans were consistent with expectations, demonstrating that this species has selectable genetic variation for the trait. Furthermore, crosses between D. simulans divergent lines showed that the genetic factors involved in grape preference appear to be largely recessive. In summary, our artificial selection study suggests that D. melanogaster and D. simulans possess different genetic architectures for this trait.     

Genetic characterization of Uruguayan Pampa Rocha pigs with microsatellite markers

In this study, we genetically characterized the Uruguayan pig breed Pampa Rocha. Genetic variability was assessed by analyzing a panel of 25 microsatellite markers from a sample of 39 individuals. Pampa Rocha pigs showed high genetic variability with observed and expected heterozygosities of 0.583 and 0.603, respectively. The mean number of alleles was 5.72. Twenty-four markers were polymorphic, with 95.8% of them in Hardy Weinberg equilibrium. The level of endogamy was low (F_IS = 0.0475). A factorial analysis of correspondence was used to assess the genetic differences between Pampa Rocha and other pig breeds; genetic distances were calculated, and a tree was designed to reflect the distance matrix. Individuals were also allocated into clusters. This analysis showed that the Pampa Rocha breed was separated from the other breeds along the first and second axes. The neighbour-joining tree generated by the genetic distances D_A showed clustering of Pampa Rocha with the Meishan breed. The allocation of individuals to clusters showed a clear separation of Pampa Rocha pigs. These results provide insights into the genetic variability of Pampa Rocha pigs and indicate that this breed is a well-defined genetic entity.     

An Integrated Approach for Analyzing Clinical Genomic Variant Data from Next-Generation Sequencing

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies provide the potential for developing high-throughput and low-cost platforms for clinical diagnostics. A limiting factor to clinical applications of genomic NGS is downstream bioinformatics analysis for data interpretation. We have developed an integrated approach for end-to-end clinical NGS data analysis from variant detection to functional profiling. Robust bioinformatics pipelines were implemented for genome alignment, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), small insertion/deletion (InDel), and copy number variation (CNV) detection of whole exome sequencing (WES) data from the Illumina platform. Quality-control metrics were analyzed at each step of the pipeline by use of a validated training dataset to ensure data integrity for clinical applications. We annotate the variants with data regarding the disease population and variant impact. Custom algorithms were developed to filter variants based on criteria, such as quality of variant, inheritance pattern, and impact of variant on protein function. The developed clinical variant pipeline links the identified rare variants to Integrated Genome Viewer for visualization in a genomic context and to the Protein Information Resource’s iProXpress for rich protein and disease information. With the application of our system of annotations, prioritizations, inheritance filters, and functional profiling and analysis, we have created a unique methodology for downstream variant filtering that empowers clinicians and researchers to interpret more effectively the relevance of genomic alterations within a rare genetic disease.     

U.S. National Institutes of Health Core Consolidation–Investing in Greater Efficiency

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) invests substantial resources in core research facilities (cores) that support research by providing advanced technologies and scientific and technical expertise as a shared resource. In 2010, the NIH issued an initiative to consolidate multiple core facilities into a single, more efficient core. Twenty-six institutions were awarded supplements to consolidate a number of similar core facilities. Although this approach may not work for all core settings, this effort resulted in consolidated cores that were more efficient and of greater benefit to investigators. The improvements in core operations resulted in both increased services and more core users through installation of advanced instrumentation, access to higher levels of management expertise; integration of information management and data systems; and consolidation of billing; purchasing, scheduling, and tracking services. Cost recovery to support core operations also benefitted from the consolidation effort, in some cases severalfold. In conclusion, this program of core consolidation resulted in improvements in the effective operation of core facilities, benefiting both investigators and their supporting institutions.     

Plant Volatilome in Greece: a Review on the Properties,Prospects, and Chemogeography

Knowing plant volatile chemodiversity and its distribution is essential in order to study biological processes, to estimate the plants' value in use, and to establish sustainable exploitation practices. Yet, attempts to collect and assess data on scent diversity and properties in well‐defined geographical areas are rare. Here, we developed a geo‐referenced database of the plant volatilome in Greece by consolidating the results included in 116 research articles published in the last 25 years. The data set compiled includes 999 volatile organic compounds distributed into 178 plant taxa, 59 genera, and 19 families. Distillation is the acquisition method almost exclusively used, whereas headspace techniques that would allow the study of subtle ecological processes are generally lacking. Sesquiterpenes show the greatest richness of compounds, followed by monoterpenes and aliphatics. We assess the volatility of the compounds using the normal boiling point (nBP) as its reverse indicator, and we present the volatility spectra of the blends of the genera studied. Mean nBPs vary among genera, with maximal differences as wide as 118.4°. Finally, we feature basic chemodiversity maps for three aromatic plants, and discuss their importance and prospects as a special case of natural resources maps.     

不同地域野生欧李及其近缘植物亲缘关系的RAPD分析

利用RAPD分子标记技术对21个不同地域欧李及其近缘种属植物(桃、杏、李、樱桃)进行了遗传亲缘关系及分类研究。结果表明,用于不同地域野生欧李分析的25条引物中,共扩增出441个清晰可用的DNA片段,其中多态性位点366个,多态性比为82.99%。在遗传相似系数为0.71时,可将中国野生欧李资源划分为3个大的区域,分别为东北分布群、华北华东分布群与中西部分布群。用于欧李及其近缘种属植物分析的20条引物中,共扩出多态性带683条,多态性比率为98.99%。聚类分析表明,在遗传相似系数为0.61时,欧李与其近缘种属植物分为3大类;欧李与麦李的亲缘关系最近,与桃亲缘关系最远。     

菜豆种质资源抗普通细菌性疫病鉴定

采用针刺叶片接种法、温室地面水层保湿方式,对146份普通菜豆种质资源进行抗普通细菌性疫病鉴定和评价,结果表明,该接种方法简便实用,保湿方式效果良好,鉴定结果准确;从146份普通菜豆种质中筛选出抗病种质(R)2份、中抗(MR)种质50份、感病(S)种质81份、高感种质(HS)13份。本研究表明针刺叶片接种、温室地面水层自然蒸发保持湿度可以作为大规模菜豆抗普通细菌性疫病鉴定的适宜方法。