| 1. |
- Sanli, Kemal, et al.
(författare)
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Metagenomic Sequencing of Marine Periphyton: Taxonomic and Functional Insights into Biofilm Communities
- 2015
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Microbiology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-302X. ; 6:1192
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Periphyton communities are complex phototrophic, multispecies biofilms that develop on surfaces in aquatic environments. These communities harbor a large diversity of organisms comprising viruses, bacteria, algae, fungi, protozoans and metazoans. However, thus far the total biodiversity of periphyton has not been described. In this study, we use metagenomics to characterize periphyton communities from the marine environment of the Swedish west coast. Although we found approximately ten times more eukaryotic rRNA marker gene sequences compared to prokaryotic, the whole metagenome-based similarity searches showed that bacteria constitute the most abundant phyla in these biofilms. We show that marine periphyton encompass a range of heterotrophic and phototrophic organisms. Heterotrophic bacteria, including the majority of proteobacterial clades and Bacteroidetes, and eukaryotic macro-invertebrates were found to dominate periphyton. The phototrophic groups comprise Cyanobacteria and the alpha-proteobacterial genus Roseobacter, followed by different micro- and macro-algae. We also assess the metabolic pathways that predispose these communities to an attached lifestyle. Functional indicators of the biofilm form of life in periphyton involve genes coding for enzymes that catalyze the production and degradation of extracellular polymeric substances, mainly in the form of complex sugars such as starch and glycogen-like meshes together with chitin. Genes for 278 different transporter proteins were detected in the metagenome, constituting the most abundant protein complexes. Finally, genes encoding enzymes that participate in anaerobic pathways, such as denitrification and methanogenesis, were detected suggesting the presence of anaerobic or low-oxygen micro-zones within the biofilms.
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| 2. |
- Ahlman, Linnéa, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Stress Detection Using Proximal Sensing of Chlorophyll Fluorescence on the Canopy Level
- 2021
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Ingår i: AgriEngineering. - : MDPI AG. - 2624-7402. ; 3:3, s. 648-668
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chlorophyll fluorescence is interesting for phenotyping applications as it is rich in biological information and can be measured remotely and non-destructively. There are several techniques for measuring and analysing this signal. However, the standard methods use rather extreme conditions, e.g., saturating light and dark adaption, which are difficult to accommodate in the field or in a greenhouse and, hence, limit their use for high-throughput phenotyping. In this article, we use a different approach, extracting plant health information from the dynamics of the chlorophyll fluorescence induced by a weak light excitation and no dark adaption, to classify plants as healthy or unhealthy. To evaluate the method, we scanned over a number of species (lettuce, lemon balm, tomato, basil, and strawberries) exposed to either abiotic stress (drought and salt) or biotic stress factors (root infection using Pythium ultimum and leaf infection using Powdery mildew Podosphaera aphanis ). Our conclusions are that, for abiotic stress, the proposed method was very successful, while, for powdery mildew, a method with spatial resolution would be desirable due to the nature of the infection, i.e., point-wise spread. Pythium infection on the roots is not visually detectable in the same way as powdery mildew; however, it affects the whole plant, making the method an interesting option for Pythium detection. However, further research is necessary to determine the limit of infection needed to detect the stress with the proposed method.
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| 3. |
- Stedt, Kristoffer, 1991, et al.
(författare)
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Post-harvest cultivation with seafood process waters improves protein levels of Ulva fenestrata while retaining important food sensory attributes
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Marine Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-7745.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Seaweed aquaculture can provide the growing human population with a sustainable source of proteins. Sea-based cultivation is an effective method for farming seaweeds on a large scale and can yield high biomass output. However, the quality and biochemical composition of the biomass is seasonally dependent, which limits the harvests to certain periods of the year. Here we show the possibility to extend the sea-based cultivation season of Ulva fenestrata when aiming for high protein levels, by post-harvest treatment in herring production process waters. We harvested U. fenestrata at an optimal period in terms of yield, but suboptimal in terms of protein content. We then cultivated the seaweed in onshore tank systems with the nutrient-rich process waters for 14 days. We monitored biomass yield, crude protein content, amino acid composition, and content of the health concerning metals arsenic, mercury, lead, and cadmium, as well as the sensory properties of the dried biomass. After cultivation in the process waters, biomass yields were 30 - 40% higher (210 – 230 g fresh weight) compared to in seawater (160 g fresh weight). Also, the crude protein and amino acid content increased three to five times in the process waters, reaching 12 - 17 and 15 – 21% dry weight, respectively. The protein enriched biomass followed food graded standards for heavy metal content, and consumption of the biomass does not exceed health based reference points. Additionally, no sensory attributes regarded as negative were found. This rapid, post-harvest treatment can help extend the cultivation season of sea-based seaweed farms, maximizing their output of sustainable proteins.
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| 4. |
- Steinhagen, Sophie, et al.
(författare)
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Harvest time can affect the optimal yield and quality of sea lettuce (Ulva fenestrata) in a sustainable sea-based cultivation : Seasonal Cultivation of Ulva fenestrata
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Marine Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-7745. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Seaweed biomass is a renewable resource with multiple applications. Sea-based cultivation of seaweeds can provide high biomass yields, low construction, operation, and maintenance costs and could offer an environmentally and economically sustainable alternative to land-based cultivations. The biochemical profile of sea-grown biomass depends on seasonal variation in environmental factors, and the optimization of harvest time is important for the quality of the produced biomass. To identify optimal harvest times of Swedish sea-based cultivated sea lettuce (Ulva fenestrata), this study monitored biomass yield, morphology, chemical composition, fertility, and biofouling at five different harvesting times in April - June 2020. The highest biomass yields (approx. 1.2 kg fw [m rope]-1) were observed in late spring (May). The number and size of holes in the thalli and the amount of fertile and fouled tissue increased with prolonged growth season, which together led to a significant decline in both biomass yield and quality during summer (June). Early spring (April) conditions were optimal for obtaining high fatty acid, protein, biochar, phenolic, and pigment contents in the biomass, whereas carbohydrate and ash content, as well as essential and non-essential elements, increased later in the growth season. Our study results show that the optimal harvest time of sea-based cultivated U. fenestrata depends on the downstream application of the biomass and must be carefully selected to balance yield, quality, and desired biochemical contents to maximize the output of future sea-based algal cultivations in the European Northern Hemisphere.
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| 5. |
- Sweetlove, Lee J., et al.
(författare)
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Engineering central metabolism – a grand challenge for plant biologists
- 2017
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Ingår i: Plant Journal. - : Wiley. - 0960-7412 .- 1365-313X. ; 90:4, s. 749-763
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The goal of increasing crop productivity and nutrient-use efficiency is being addressed by a number of ambitious research projects seeking to re-engineer photosynthetic biochemistry. Many of these projects will require the engineering of substantial changes in fluxes of central metabolism. However, as has been amply demonstrated in simpler systems such as microbes, central metabolism is extremely difficult to rationally engineer. This is because of multiple layers of regulation that operate to maintain metabolic steady state and because of the highly connected nature of central metabolism. In this review we discuss new approaches for metabolic engineering that have the potential to address these problems and dramatically improve the success with which we can rationally engineer central metabolism in plants. In particular, we advocate the adoption of an iterative ‘design-build-test-learn’ cycle using fast-to-transform model plants as test beds. This approach can be realised by coupling new molecular tools to incorporate multiple transgenes in nuclear and plastid genomes with computational modelling to design the engineering strategy and to understand the metabolic phenotype of the engineered organism. We also envisage that mutagenesis could be used to fine-tune the balance between the endogenous metabolic network and the introduced enzymes. Finally, we emphasise the importance of considering the plant as a whole system and not isolated organs: the greatest increase in crop productivity will be achieved if both source and sink metabolism are engineered.
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| 6. |
- Johansson, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
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Impact of food processing on rye product properties and their in vitro digestion
- 2018
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Ingår i: European Journal of Nutrition. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1436-6207 .- 1436-6215. ; 57:4, s. 1651-1666
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rye products have been reported to elicit postprandial insulin and glucose responses which may be beneficial for prevention of type-2 diabetes. However, mechanisms underlying variations in responses related to processing techniques are not fully understood.
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| 7. |
- Teixeira, Cristina, 1986, et al.
(författare)
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Application of a dynamic gastrointestinal in vitro model combined with a rat model to predict the digestive fate of barley dietary fibre and evaluate potential impact on hindgut fermentation
- 2017
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Ingår i: Bioactive Carbohydrates and Dietary Fibre. - : Elsevier BV. - 2212-6198. ; 9, s. 7-13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Processing affects the composition, structure and physico-chemical characteristics of dietary fibres, and further changes can occur along the gastro-intestinal tract before entering the colon where undigested carbohydrates may serve as a substrate for the microbiota. To elucidate the effects of dietary fibre characteristic and the impact of processing on the digestive fate of dietary fibre components, in the stomach and the small intestine, a dynamic gastrointestinal in vitro model (TIM-1) was used. Three barley malt and one brewers’ spent grain, with different contents of soluble fibre, arabinoxylan (total and soluble), and β-glucan with varying Calcofluor average molecular weight (Mcf) and molecular weight distribution were evaluated in the in vitro model. Additionally, a rat model was used to study the colonic fermentation of the dietary fibre components in the barley products. The transit time through the stomach and small intestine of the in vitro model was slowest for barley malts with the highest content of soluble fibre and β-glucan. The β-glucan Mcf decreased with digestion time for all test meals, and the molecular weight distributions in the various barley products differed markedly. The highest β-glucan Mcf was found for Cinnamon malt, which also contained the highest proportion of soluble fibre. The hindgut fermentation of fibre and the proportions of caecal propionic acid were highest in rats fed barley products high in soluble fibre, β-glucan (content and Mcf), soluble arabinoxylan, and with slowest transit during digestion in the in vitro model.
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| 8. |
- Lindskog, Cecilia, et al.
(författare)
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The human cardiac and skeletal muscle proteomes defined by transcriptomics and antibody-based profiling
- 2015
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Ingår i: BMC Genomics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2164. ; 16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: To understand cardiac and skeletal muscle function, it is important to define and explore their molecular constituents and also to identify similarities and differences in the gene expression in these two different striated muscle tissues. Here, we have investigated the genes and proteins with elevated expression in cardiac and skeletal muscle in relation to all other major human tissues and organs using a global transcriptomics analysis complemented with antibody-based profiling to localize the corresponding proteins on a single cell level. Results: Our study identified a comprehensive list of genes expressed in cardiac and skeletal muscle. The genes with elevated expression were further stratified according to their global expression pattern across the human body as well as their precise localization in the muscle tissues. The functions of the proteins encoded by the elevated genes are well in line with the physiological functions of cardiac and skeletal muscle, such as contraction, ion transport, regulation of membrane potential and actomyosin structure organization. A large fraction of the transcripts in both cardiac and skeletal muscle correspond to mitochondrial proteins involved in energy metabolism, which demonstrates the extreme specialization of these muscle tissues to provide energy for contraction. Conclusions: Our results provide a comprehensive list of genes and proteins elevated in striated muscles. A number of proteins not previously characterized in cardiac and skeletal muscle were identified and localized to specific cellular subcompartments. These proteins represent an interesting starting point for further functional analysis of their role in muscle biology and disease.
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| 9. |
- Johansson, Mathias, et al.
(författare)
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Mixed legume systems of pea protein and unrefined lentil fraction: Textural properties and microstructure
- 2021
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Ingår i: LWT - Food Science and Technology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1096-1127 .- 0023-6438. ; 144
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Within the context of circular economy, there is an increasing interest to utilise agrifood by-products. However, extensive extraction and purification steps make the valorisation of side streams not always cost effective. Therefore, an increased knowledge of the functionality of unrefined side streams could increase their utilisation in food products. We investigated the thermal gelation of mixed legume systems containing a commercial pea protein isolate (Pisum sativum) and the unrefined fraction remaining after protein extraction from lentils (Lens culinaris). The unrefined lentil fraction contained mainly starch (~45 g/100 g) and insoluble cell wall polysaccharides (~50 g/100 g) with minor amounts of soluble protein (4 g/100 g) and polyphenols (<1 mg GAE/g). The addition of the unrefined lentil fraction increased the strength and Young's modulus of pea protein gels in the pH range 3–4.2, and also increased the gels’ elastic modulus G'. The microstructure could be described as a mixed network of swollen protein particles of different sizes (5–50 μm), gelatinised starch and cell wall fragments. The results demonstrate that unrefined side streams from lentils could be used for textural modification of plant protein gels, with implications for the design of novel plant-based foods.
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| 10. |
- Dang, Binh, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Carbohydrate content of black liquor and precipitated lignin at different ionic strengths in flow-through kraft cooking
- 2018
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Ingår i: Holzforschung. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 1437-434X .- 0018-3830. ; 72:7, s. 539-547
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The influence of sodium ion concentration [Na+] on the dissolution of carbohydrates in black liquor (BL) during flow-through kraft cooking of Scots pine wood meal (Pinus sylvestris) was studied. Fractions of BL were collected at different times and the carbohydrate content of the various fractions was analysed. Lignin was precipitated from the BL by lowering the pH, and the carbohydrate content of the precipitated lignins (Lprec) was also examined. The molecular weight distribution (MWD) of the Lprecsamples was analysed. Xylose (Xyl) was found to be the most predominant sugar in BL aside from arabinose (Ara) and galactose (Gal), while the amounts of these sugars decreased with increasing levels of [Na+] in the cooking liquor. The minor amounts of mannose (Man) found in BL was not influenced by the [Na+]. The effects of NaCl and Na2CO3on the carbohydrate dissolution were similar, but slightly lower concentrations of Ara and Xyl were found in the case of NaCl application. All of the Lprecsamples contained some carbohydrate residues, the contents of which increased with increasing cooking time and decreased with higher [Na+]. It can be concluded that arabinoglucuronoxylan (AGX) along with arabinogalactans (AG) and arabinan, are covalently linked to lignin. The glucose (Glc) residue detected in Lprecmay originate from 1,3-β-glucan linked to lignin.
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