Breed a better crop of wheat? That’s exactly what a team of researchers from Kansas State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture hope their research will lead to. In their study, appearing in the March 2009 issue of the journal GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org), they analyzed the type of wheat commonly used to make bread in an effort to understand why it is versatile enough to be used around the world and across different climates. This analysis provides important insights into why its genetic structure gives it a tremendous advantage over other competing species. Further, their analysis provides an important first step toward improving wheat crop yields to levels that can support ever-growing populations of people.

Unlike people who have only two copies of each gene—one from each parent—plants used for bread wheat have six copies of each gene—three copies are inherited from each “parent.” Just as is the case with people, these gene copies work in concert to produce characteristics and traits that allow the plant to survive and thrive. Understanding gene expression in wheat is complex, not only because there are so many variants of each gene which could be active at different times, but as the study shows, combinations of different genes may be active to produce entirely different plant characteristics than what each individual gene could on its own.

The researchers found that more than 1 in every 10 genes may be affected by the phenomenon, and that this is likely to be the cause of why the wheat used for bread is remarkably hearty. Furthermore, they found that a relatively high percentage (1.7 percent) of genes may be candidates for further study and selective breeding when trying to develop new strains of wheat with higher yields or more resistant to the environmental strain brought about by global warming.

“With the human population predicted to reach 9 billion by 2050, we must increase wheat yield at the rate of 2 percent per year per unit area,” said Bikram S. Gill of Kansas State University, and the senior scientist involved in the study. “Wheat is a human staple that holds the key for better quality of life for billions.”

To conduct this analysis, the authors attempted to recreate the evolutionary events leading to the spontaneous origin of bread wheat in nature. To do this, they crossed a diploid and tetraploid progenitor species and formed a synthetic strain of wheat in the laboratory. Then they simultaneously measured genetic expression of thousands of genes in the parent strains and the synthetic wheat offspring using a gene chip. The data then was used to test the commonly held notion that all wheat characteristics are simply different genes expressing themselves rather than some characteristics coming from a complex series of gene interactions.

“This paper is a beautiful example of yet another source of genetic variation that has led to the astounding diversity of life,” said Mark Johnston, Editor-in-Chief of the journal GENETICS. “The authors show that our ancestors, in their quest to feed themselves, exploited variation in the expression of genes in hybrid wheat. The need to foster sustainable agriculture remains unabated, and the authors here make an important contribution toward understanding a crop critical to our existence. This research gives entirely new meaning to ‘wonder bread.’”

Source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

Incipient sex chromosomes have been found in New Zealand’s eponymous export, the kiwifruit. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Genomics have mapped the kiwifruit genome and pin-pointed the sex-determining locus.

It has previously been suggested that, among the kiwifruit plant’s small (<1um) chromosomes, lie a pair of X/Y-like chromosomes that result in its dioecism. Now a team led by Lena Fraser and colleagues at the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research has confirmed this suggestion by mapping the genome of the golden kiwifruit.

The genome has been mapped with 644 microsatellite markers from three genetic libraries (two from the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research and one from the University of Udine, Italy). These showed 29 linkage groups, represented expression of 587 genes, and revealed that sex-linked sequence characterised amplified region (SCAR) markers and the flower sex phenotype were mapping to a subtelomeric region that bears the hallmarks of an early sex-determining locus.

The mapping of this sex-determining locus to a subtelomeric region fits with previous published work on chromosome pairing and also the authors own observations. Whilst studying kiwifruit karyotypes, the research team observed that in the pollen mother cells undergoing meiosis one of the 29 pairs of chromosomes did not pair tightly in a region close to one end. An absence of pairing means that the male-specific region on the Y is inherited as a unit, maintaining sexual dimorphism.

Based on the genetic structure they have now defined for this non-recombining sex-determining region, the authors suggest that at least two linked genes on the putative Y chromosome are responsible for dioecy: one suppressing pistil formation and one for pollen development.

Of more than 60 species of Actinidia (kiwifruit), only two have been widely cultivated so far, and there is potential for breeding new varieties. All Actinida species are dioecious, and the authors say they are likely to have similar sex-determining regions. The authors work in producing female, male and consensus genetic linkage maps for the golden kiwifruit, A. chinensis and identifying the sex-determining region may provide the key to fully exploiting this relatively recent cultivar.

According to Fraser, ‘The gene-rich map we have constructed will be a valuable resource for quantitative trait loci analysis to identify markers related to traits of importance in breeding new and novel kiwifruit for the markets of the world.’

Source: BioMed Central.

New England lobstermen have gone high tech by adding low-cost instruments to their lobster pots that record bottom temperature and provide data that could help improve ocean circulation models in the Gulf of Maine.

Environmental Monitors on Lobster Traps, or eMOLT, is a partnership involving NOAA, the Maine, Massachusetts, Downeast and Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Associations, the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, and the Marine Science Department at Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) in Portland, Maine.

The data collected from temperature sensors on the lobster pots and from GPS surface drifters deployed as part of the eMOLT program help ocean circulation modelers better understand processes in the Gulf of Maine, such as how lobster larvae and other planktonic animals and plants, including those that cause harmful algal blooms, drift and settle. This information may also help determine how ocean currents disperse, condense and transport pollutants, invasive species, and food for whales in portions of the Gulf of Maine.

“Local fishermen already spend their days at sea, have the biggest stake in preserving our coastal marine resources, and are the most knowledgeable of the local waters,” said Jim Manning, an oceanographer at the Woods Hole Laboratory of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), part of NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “They are interested, curious and enthusiastic to learn more about lobster science and the environment. It seemed like a natural fit, a win-win situation.”

Manning got the idea for eMOLT while conducting research on Georges Bank in the 1990s and seeing many lobster boats in the area. In 1995, he deployed some large moorings to collect oceanographic data, but soon recognized that this was a very expensive effort in terms of time and money. He realized lobstermen had many moorings of their own in the area at fixed locations and depths which could provide needed time-series data at more sites and at far less cost.

With the help of NEFSC port agent John Mahoney, Manning approached some local lobstermen in Sandwich and Hyannis, Mass. to see if they were interested in helping collect bottom environmental data, whenever their lobster pots were out. They agreed. The pilot project started with three lobstermen who each took the temperature-measuring devices and attached them via a plastic tie-wrap to one or two of their pots.

The devices, which cost about $150 each, internally record temperature every hour around the clock while the pots are in the water. At the end of the season when the pots are hauled out, the instruments are removed and shipped back to Manning in an envelope he provides. He downloads and processes the data and then puts the temperature information on the eMOLT web site. Each lobsterman has his/her own personal web page to see the data from their own pots, while everyone including the general public can see the overall data collected each year.

By 2000, results from the pilot study were encouraging enough for Manning to apply for funding from the Northeast Consortium to formally establish eMOLT. The Consortium has funded the project since. Each year, more lobstermen participate in the program and new instruments are tried, some with success and others that need further development.

One of the program’s successes has been low-cost surface drifters equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) chips, developed by Manning and since 2004 built by students in the marine science program at Southern Maine Community College (SMCC). The students build about 50 drifters a year, each costing about one third that of commercially-made instruments.

“About half of the cost goes to pay the students to build the drifters, so it gives them practical working experience plus the knowledge they are participating in marine research, and the other half is used for parts and other related expenses,” Manning said. The drifters have been deployed by students and researchers in studies by a number of colleges and universities, including Bowdoin College, the University of Southern Maine, University of New Hampshire, University of New England, Endicott College, and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has deployed some of the drifters for NOAA-funded studies on harmful algal blooms, commonly called red tides, in the Gulf of Maine. Other researchers have used the drifters for oceanographic studies ranging from where coastal currents in the Gulf of Maine could spread pollutants and invasive species to the distribution of plankton and zooplankton that serve as a major food for whales and other marine life.

Manning and colleagues published drifter observations in the journal Continental Shelf Research in January 2009. The temperature observations will be published in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of Operational Oceanography.

Close to 100 lobstermen have provided sensor data since the program started, and about 60 lobstermen have been long-term active participants. Manning says he is a bit surprised but very pleased so many lobstermen are interested in the project. The eMOLT partners have contributed to a database with more than three million hourly temperature records, 80,000 salinity records, and 260,000 satellite drifter fixes (locations).

Lobsterman Jason Day of Vinalhaven, Maine heard about eMOLT from his father, Walter Day, also a lobsterman and program participant. A year-round lobsterman, Jason Day puts his traps in the water in late April or early May and hauls them out in December. He became involved with eMOLT three years ago and has one trap equipped with a temperature sensor in shallow water near Vinalhaven.

“I’m interested in what is happening on the bottom, and eMOLT helps me keep up,” Day said. “The program covers a large area and provides a lot of data at a reasonable cost.” Day says he looks at the program’s web site, and although the data has been pretty much what he expected, he occasionally sees a change that he can relate to his catch.

What’s next? Manning says the partners are working on a real-time bottom temperature sensor attached to the traps that would wirelessly transmit data via satellite once the trap is hauled on deck. They are also working on a combined tilt meter-bottom current meter with digital compass to measure both bottom currents and the angle at which the trap rests on the seafloor. The information collected should provide insight in whether bottom currents affect how lobsters move, and whether currents influence lobsters to enter a trap. In the near future, Manning would like to add sensors to measure oxygen, nutrients, and pH to determine ocean acidification levels in the region.

“There used to be a debate on the docks about whether it was cold or warm on the bottom,” Manning said of the lobstermen, whom he meets regularly at their annual meetings and who send in updates. “Now there is no debate. The lobstermen see the data for themselves over time, and can take note of trends or changes that might affect their catches. It is a baseline that helps both lobster science and the scientists and ocean circulation modelers in the Gulf of Maine who, in partnership with the eMOLT lobstermen, constitute part of our nation’s integrated ocean observing systems.”

Source: NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service

MADISON, WI, MARCH 9, 2009 – Escherichia coli is a commonly used indicator organism for detecting the presence of fecal contamination in drinking water supplies. The importance of E. coli as an indicator organism has led to several studies looking at the transport behavior of this important microorganism in groundwater environments. Commonly only a single strain of E. coli is used in these studies, yet research has shown that a significant amount of genetic variability exists among strains of E. coli isolated from different host species and even from the same host species. If these genetic differences result in differences in cell properties that affect transport, different strains of E. coli may exhibit different rates of transport in the environment.

A scientist at the USDA-ARS Animal Waste Management Research Unit in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in collaboration with researchers at the University of California at Riverside, compared cell properties and transport behavior of 12 different E. coli isolates obtained from six different fecal sources. Results from this study were published in the March-April issue of Journal of Environmental Quality.

For all 12 E. coli isolates, the following cell properties known to affect bacterial transport in the environment were measured: surface charge, hydrophobicity, cell size and shape, and the composition of the extracellular polymeric substance. Transport behavior of the E. coli isolates was assessed by measuring the amount of cells that were able to pass through columns packed with clean aquifer sands. The measured breakthrough concentrations of the bacteria were then modeled so that transport parameters for each E. coli isolate could be estimated. Correlations between measured cell properties and transport parameters were investigated.

Although each E. coli isolate was subjected to the exact same storage and growth conditions, the researchers observed a large range in measured cell properties, bacterial recovery, and fitted transport parameters for the different isolates. For example, cell hydrophobicity and surface charge were observed to vary by over an order of magnitude for the 12 different E. coli isolates. The total amount of bacteria passing through the sand columns ranged from less than 2% for one of the horse isolates to 95% for one of the beef cattle isolates and the fitted model parameters ranged by a factor of 50 for the different E. coli isolates. The only cell property observed to be statistically correlated with transport behavior of the E. coli isolates was cell width.

Carl Bolster, the lead scientist on the study, stated “This diversity in transport behavior must be taken into account when making assessments of the suitability of using E. coli as an indicator organism for specific pathogenic microorganisms in groundwater. In addition, our results suggest that the modeling of E. coli in the environment will likely require a distribution of bacterial attachment rates, even when modeling E. coli movement from a single fecal source.”

Research is ongoing at USDA-ARS and UC Riverside to investigate the range in diversity in cell properties and transport behavior of E. coli under a variety of different experimental conditions; these include different growth conditions and types of sediment. Further research is needed to identify cell properties controlling E. coli transport in the environment.

Source: Crop Science Society of America

SEATTLE – The largest study of its kind to evaluate the effect of red versus white wine on breast-cancer risk concludes that both are equal offenders when it comes to increasing breast-cancer risk. The results of the study, led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, were published in the March issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

“We were interested in teasing out red wine’s effects on breast-cancer risk. There is reason to suspect that red wine might have beneficial effects based on previous studies of heart disease and prostate cancer,” said lead author Polly Newcomb, Ph.D., M.P.H., head of the Cancer Prevention Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center. “The general evidence is that alcohol consumption overall increases breast-cancer risk, but the other studies made us wonder whether red wine might in fact have some positive value.”

Instead, Newcomb and colleagues found no compelling reason to choose Chianti over Chardonnay.

“We found no difference between red or white wine in relation to breast-cancer risk. Neither appears to have any benefits,” Newcomb said. “If a woman drinks, she should do so in moderation – no more than one drink a day. And if a woman chooses red wine, she should do so because she likes the taste, not because she thinks it may reduce her risk of breast cancer,” she said.

The researchers found that women who consumed 14 or more drinks per week, regardless of the type (wine, liquor or beer), faced a 24 percent increase in breast cancer compared with non-drinkers.

For the study, the researchers interviewed 6,327 women with breast cancer and 7,558 age-matched controls about their frequency of alcohol consumption (red wine, white wine, liquor and beer) and other breast-cancer risk factors, such as age at first pregnancy, family history of breast cancer and postmenopausal hormone use. The study participants, ages 20 to 69, were from Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The frequency of alcohol consumption was similar in both groups, and equal proportions of women in both groups reported consuming red and white wine.

Source: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Scientists in Germany are reporting development of a new, more effective method to determine whether milk marketed as “organic” is genuine or just ordinary milk mislabeled to hoodwink consumers. Their report appears in the current edition of ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.

In the study, Joachim Molkentin and colleagues point out that organic milk has soared in popularity in many countries. Sales in Germany, for instance, rose by almost one-third between 2006 and 2007. Consequently, crooks may take advantage of the situation by marketing increasing quantities of fake organic milk. That situation created a need for better tests to detect the fraud.

To address the issue, the scientists developed a test based on an analysis of milk fat for the ratio of stable isotopes of carbon. They used it to identify milk samples from cows raised on feed containing a higher ration of maize. Such a feeding regimen is typical of conventional milk production. Organically raised cows are fed less maize but more pasture feed. In addition, the team identified a significant difference in the alpha-linolenic acid content of milk fat between organic and conventional milk samples. Organic milk typically has a higher alpha-linolenic acid content than conventional milk. -MB

Source: Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food, American Chemical Society.

Two food additives with previously unrecognized estrogen-like effects in two food additives Chemical Research in Toxicology

Scientists in Italy are reporting development and successful use of a fast new method to identify food additives that act as so-called “xenoestrogens” — substances with estrogen-like effects that are stirring international health concerns. They used the method in a large-scale screening of additives that discovered two additives with previously unrecognized xenoestrogen effects. Their report appears in the current edition of ACS’ Chemical Research in Toxicology, a monthly journal.

In the study, Pietro Cozzini and colleagues cite increasing concern about identifying these substances and about the possible health effects. Synthetic chemicals that mimic natural estrogens (called “xenoestrogens,” literally, “foreign estrogens”) have been linked to a range of human health effects. They range from reduced sperm counts in men to an increased risk of breast cancer in women.

The scientists used the new method to search a food additive database of 1,500 substances, and verified that the method could identify xenoestrogens. In the course of that work, they identified two previous unrecognized xenoestrogens. One was propyl gallate, a preservative used to prevent fats and oils from spoiling. The other was 4-hexylresorcinol, used to prevent discoloration in shrimp and other shellfish. “Some caution should be issued for the use of propyl gallate and 4-hexylresocrinol as food additives,” they recommend in the study. -MB

Source: University of Parma, Parma, Italy, American Chemical Society.

The anthropology world is all abuzz with a discovery in Africa that’s knocking scientists off their feet.

It’s the finding of 1.5 million-year-old fossilized human footprints in Kenya at Rutgers University’s Koobi Fora Field School.

Researchers say the ancient footprints show that some of the earliest humans walked just like we do today and also had anatomically modern feet.

The area around the human footprints was also littered with a range of animal prints, all discovered within two 1.5 million-year-old sedimentary layers near Ileret in northern Kenya.

Three footprint trails were found in the upper sediment layer. Two of them had two prints each, while the other had seven prints and numerous isolated prints. Perfectly preserved 15 feet below were one trail of two prints and a single isolated smaller print, possibly that of a child.

The discovery is detailed in this month’s issue of the journal Science.

What makes these footprints decidely human? Researchers say the big toe is parallel to the other toes, whereas in apes, it is separated for better grasping in the trees. What’s more, the footprints show a human-like arch and short toes, typically associated with walking upright. Other clues found to be within the range of modern humans were the size, spacing and depth of the impressions which provided estimates of weight, stride and gait.

The authors say the size of the footprints and their modern anatomical characteristics point to the hominid Homo ergaster, the name by which early Homo erectus is more generally known. This was the first hominid to have had the same body proportions (longer legs and shorter arms) as modern Homo sapiens. Other H. ergaster or H. erectus remains have been found in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa, at dates consistent with the Ileret footprints.

Credit: Photo by Richard H. Wallace

SAVANNAH, GA—Bananas, known most often as a healthy, convenient food, are also popular ornamental plants in the southern United States. Banana plants are highly prized by many as one of the most beautiful ornamentals used for creating a subtropical ambiance in gardens and pool environments.

A research study published in the American Society for Horticultural Science journal HortTechnology detailed a study of 33 commercial banana cultivars grown near Savannah, Georgia. The study was designed to determine suitability for ornamental and nursery production and to observe the bananas’ fruit production.

Gerard Krewer, Esendugue Greg Fonash, Mark Rieger, David Linvill, and Ben Mullinax of the University of Georgia, and Richard Wallace of Armstrong Atlantic University, undertook the multi-year research project with the objective of finding recommendations for income-producing ornamental banana cultivars for use by gardeners and nurseries in southern Georgia.

Many of the cultivars flowered and began producing fruit in late summer during the second year of the study. Of particular note were two cultivars named ‘Manzano’ and ‘1780′, which produced more than six high-quality suckers for nursery propagation, resulting in a potential income of more than $60 per plant.

The outcomes of the study can be helpful for home gardeners, landscape professionals, and nursery owners who want to expand the use of banana plants in the region. Krewer explained; “This research identified a number of outstanding cultivars of large, medium and small size adapted to the USDA middle 8b region. “

Source: American Society for Horticultural Science

Credit: Photo by Joseph C. Schreerens

WOOSTER, OH—Black raspberries have been studied for decades by scientists and medical researchers interested in the fruits’ apparent ability to limit the onset or severity of degenerative diseases, including cancer.

The fruit of many popular berries, including blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, elderberries, grapes, and plums, are known to have strong antioxidant capacity, mainly as a result of high levels of anthocyanins—chemicals that give plants their vibrant colors—and other phenolic compounds. The darker the fruit, the more anthocyanins are present. Anthocyanins appear to work by inhibiting compounds that weaken the immune system and stimulate tissue inflammation. They can also destroy harmful free-radical molecules that attack cells and cause aging, heart disease, and cancer.

The prospective health benefits of black raspberries and other antioxidant-rich produce has led to increased consumer awareness and demand for fresh, locally produced fruit.

A research study presented in the journal HortScience was designed to determine whether where black raspberries are grown influences the antioxidant level in the berries. The research group, headed by Mustafa Ozgen from the Department of Horticulture at Gaziosmanpa University, Tokat, Turkey, included Faith J. Wyzgoski, The Ohio State University at Mansfield, Artemio Z. Tulio, Jr., Aparna Gazula, A. Raymond Miller, and Joseph C. Scheerens from the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, R. Neil Reese from South Dakota State University, and Shawn R. Wright of The Ohio State University South Centers.

To estimate variability in phytonutritional quality of black raspberries, the researchers studied 19 samples representing four common Midwestern black raspberry cultivars harvested from eight production sites. Samples were frozen within 24 h of harvest in on-farm, conventional freezers. These materials were transported in their frozen state to the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and stored in 100-g batches at 29 °C until analyzed. The team then evaluated each of the cultivars to determine antioxidant levels.

According to the researchers; “Inverse relationships among black raspberry samples suggested that site differences may be partially attributable to fruit ripeness at harvest. Relationships among these parameters versus regional differences in soil temperatures were also significant, but weak.”

Variation in fruit phytonutrient contents related to growing location may prove important in future health-related studies or clinical applications, as well as affecting nutritional benefits to consumers.

The study also contains recommendations for black raspberry growers and marketers, indicating that phytonutrient levels may be affected by genetic, cultural, and/or environmental factors. “Black raspberry producers wishing to optimize antioxidant levels of their fruit products must consider how greatly antioxidant levels might vary among locally grown cultivars from harvest site to harvest site and, as a consequence, of how they are handled and marketed.” remarked Ozgen.

Based on this preliminary research, the team continues to explore the effects of culture, ripening, posthavest practices, heat, light, water, and other environmental stresses on the production of antioxidants in black raspberry and other berry fruits.

Source: American Society for Horticultural Science