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PubMed2005

Crop yield and light/energy efficiency in a closed ecological system: Laboratory Biosphere experiments with wheat and sweet potato.

Two crop growth experiments in the soil-based closed ecological facility, Laboratory Biosphere, were conducted from 2003 to 2004 with candidate space life support crops. Apogee wheat (Utah State University variety) was grown, planted at two densities, 400 and 800 seeds m-2. The lighting regime for the wheat crop was 16 h of light-8 h dark at a total light intensity of around 840 micromoles m-2 s-1 and 48.4 mol m-2 d-1 over 84 days. Average biomass was 1395 g m-2, 16.0 g m-2 d-1 and average seed production was 689 g m-2 and 7.9 g m-2 d-1. The less densely planted side was more productive than the denser planting, with 1634 g m-2 and 18.8 g m-2 d-1 of biomass vs. 1156 g m-2 and 13.3 g m-2 d-1; and a seed harvest of 812.3 g m-2 and 9.3 g m-2 d-1 vs. 566.5 g m-2 and 6.5 g m-2 d-1. Harvest index was 0.49 for the wheat crop. The experiment with sweet potato used TU-82-155 a compact variety developed at Tuskegee University. Light during the sweet potato experiment, on a 18 h on/6 h dark cycle, totaled 5568 total moles of light per square meter in 126 days for the sweet potatoes, or an average of 44.2 mol m-2 d-1. Temperature regime was 28 +/- 3 degrees C day/22 +/- 4 degrees C night. Sweet potato tuber yield was 39.7 kg wet weight, or an average of 7.4 kg m-2, and 7.7 kg dry weight of tubers since dry weight was about 18.6% wet weight. Average per day production was 58.7 g m-2 d-1 wet weight and 11.3 g m-2 d-1. For the wheat, average light efficiency was 0.34 g biomass per mole, and 0.17 g seed per mole. The best area of wheat had an efficiency of light utilization of 0.51 g biomass per mole and 0.22 g seed per mole. For the sweet potato crop, light efficiency per tuber wet weight was 1.33 g mol-1 and 0.34 g dry weight of tuber per mole of light. The best area of tuber production had 1.77 g mol-1 wet weight and 0.34 g mol-1 of light dry weight. The Laboratory Biosphere experiment's light efficiency was somewhat higher than the USU field results but somewhat below greenhouse trials at comparable light levels, and the best portion of the crop at 0.22 g mol-1 was in-between those values. Sweet potato production was overall close to 50% higher than trials using hydroponic methods with TU-82-155 at NASA JSC. Compared to projected yields for the Mars on Earth life support system, these wheat yields were about 15% higher, and the sweet potato yields averaged over 80% higher.

Biomass↗
PubMed2006

Efficient conversion of wheat straw wastes into biohydrogen gas by cow dung compost.

Efficient conversion of wheat straw wastes into biohydrogen gas by cow dung compost was reported for the first time. Batch tests were carried out to analyze influences of several environmental factors on biohydrogen production from wheat straw wastes. The performance of biohydrogen production using the raw wheat straw and HCl pretreated wheat straw was then compared in batch fermentation tests. The maximum cumulative hydrogen yield of 68.1 ml H2/g TVS was observed at 126.5 h, the value is about 136-fold as compared with that of raw wheat straw wastes. The maximum hydrogen production rate of 10.14 ml H2/g TVS h was obtained by a modified Gompertz equation. The hydrogen content in the biogas was 52.0% and there was no significant methane observed in this study. In addition, biodegradation characteristics of the substrate were also discussed. The experimental results showed that the pretreatment of the substrate plays a key role in the conversion of the wheat straw wastes into biohydrogen by the composts generating hydrogen.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Delayed exposure to wheat and barley proteins reduces diabetes incidence in non-obese diabetic mice.

Dietary gluten, vitamin D3, and fish-oil are suggested to influence the incidence of autoimmune diabetes. To determine whether modification of their intake could reduce diabetes incidence and autoimmunity in mice, pups from female non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice were fed diets modified for protein source, fatty acid content, and/or vitamin D3 content and were followed for diabetes development, insulin autoantibodies (IAA), and insulitis. Replacement of wheat and barley with poultry as the major protein source significantly affected diabetes development. Diabetes onset was delayed and diabetes incidence was significantly reduced in female mice that received the wheat and barley protein-free diet throughout life (45% by age 32 weeks vs. 88% in control mice; P < 0.01), from weaning (42%; P < 0.005), or from 3 to 10 weeks of age only (36%; P < 0.01), and diabetes development was not completely restored by gliadin supplementation of the wheat and barley protein-free diet (58%; P < 0.05). Insulin autoantibodies (P < 0.01) and insulitis scores (P < 0.02) were reduced, and intra-pancreatic IL-4 mRNA increased (P < 0.05) in wheat and barley protein-deprived mice. Diabetes incidence was neither reduced by fish-oil or vitamin D3 supplementation alone, nor in mice fed a wheat and barley protein-free diet that was supplemented with fish-oil and vitamin D3. These data support a link between dietary wheat and barley proteins and the development of autoimmune diabetes.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Intraspecific responses in grain quality of 10 wheat cultivars to enhanced UV-B radiation under field conditions.

Field studies were conducted to determine the potential for intraspecific responses in grain quality of 10 wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivars to enhanced ultraviolet-B (UV-B, 280-315 nm) radiation. The plants were exposed to 5 kJm(-2) supplemental UV-B radiation, simulating a depletion of 20% stratospheric ozone. In wheat cultivars tested, intraspecific responses in 16 amino acid contents and total amino acid contents in grains were found. Out of tested wheat cultivars, Dali 905, Mianyang 20, Wenmai 3, Chuxiong 8807 and Huining 18 showed significant increase in proteins, and Yunmai 39 and Huining 18 showed significant increase while Dali 905 and Chuxiong 8807 showed significant decrease in total sugar, respectively. No wheat cultivar showed significant change in rough starch content. Out of 10 cultivars 9 had a positive quality response index (QRI), while only Yunmai 39 showed negative response (QRI -1.19). According to QRI, the tolerance of 10 wheat cultivars to UV-B radiation had the following sequence, Huining 18>Mianyang 20>Mianyang 26>Wenmai 3>Dali 905>Longchun 16>Fengmai 24>Liaochun 9>Chuxiong 8807>Yunmai 39. Intraspecific responses in grain quality of 10 wheat cultivars to enhanced UV-B radiation existed under field conditions.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed2005

Cloning and characterization of a wheat vacuolar cation/proton antiporter and pyrophosphatase proton pump.

Sodium at high millimolar levels in the cytoplasm is toxic to plant and yeast cells. Sequestration of Na+ ions into the vacuole through the action of tonoplast proton pumps (an H+ -ATPase in the case of yeast, and either a H+ -pyrophosphatase (H+ -PPase) or H+ -ATPase in the case of plants) and a Na+/H+ antiporter is one mechanism that confers salt tolerance to these organisms. The cloning and characterization of genes encoding these tonoplast transport proteins from crop plants may contribute to our understanding of how to enhance crop plant response to saline stress. We cloned wheat orthologs of the Arabidopsis genes AtNHX1 and AVP1 using the polymerase chain reaction and primers corresponding to conserved regions of the respective coding sequences, and a wheat cDNA library as template. The wheat NHX cDNA cloned by this approach was a variant of the previously reported TNHX1 gene. The vacuolar H+ -PPase pump we cloned (TVP1) is the first member of this gene family cloned from wheat; it is deduced translation product is homologous to proteins encoded by genes in barley, rice, and Arabidopsis. Function of TNHX1 as a cation/proton antiporter was demonstrated using the nhx1 yeast mutant. TNHX1 was capable of suppressing the hyg sensitivity of nhx1. Functional characterization of the wheat H+ -PPase TVP1 was demonstrated using the yeast ena1 (plasma membrane Na+ -efflux transporter) mutant. Expression of TVP1 in ena1 suppressed its Na+ hypersensitivity. Expression analysis of salt-stressed wheat plants showed substantial up-regulation of TNHX1 transcript levels as compared to control plants, while transcript accumulation for TVP1 was not greatly affected by exposure of plants to salt stress.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2006

ESR detection of wheat flour before and after irradiation.

We revealed free radicals in wheat flour before and after gamma-ray irradiation and their thermal behavior during heat-treatment using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. The ESR spectrum of wheat flour before irradiation consists of a sextet centered at g = 2.0 and a singlet signal at the same g-value position. The first one is attributable to a signal with hyperfine (hf) interactions of Mn2+ ion (hf constant: 7.4 mT). The second is originated from carbon-centered radical. Upon gamma-ray irradiation, however, a new signal with two triplet lines at the low and high field ends was detected in wheat flour on top of the Mn2+ sextet lines. We analyzed the triplet ESR lines as powder spectra (rhombic g-tensor symmetry) with nitrogen (14N) hyperfine interactions. This indicates that a new organic radical was induced in the conjugated protein portion of wheat flour by the gamma-ray irradiation. Intensity of the organic free radical at g = 2.0 detected in irradiated wheat flour increased monotonically by the thermal treatment. The analysis of the time-dependent evolution and decay process based on the theory of transient phenomena as well as the nonlinear least-squares numerical method provided a unique time constant for the radical evolution and decay in wheat flour during the heat-treatment.

Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation↗
PubMed2006

Long-term mobility of fallout 90Sr in ploughed soil, and 90Sr uptake by wheat grain.

In this study, we evaluated the mobility of 90Sr in ploughed upland soil, which affects the residual amount in the soil and plant uptake on the basis of long-term monitoring data. Paired samples of soil and wheat grain were taken annually from 1961 to 1995 from 8 agricultural fields in Japan, and the concentrations of exchangeable 90Sr in soil and total 90Sr in wheat grain were determined. The concentration of exchangeable 90Sr in ploughed soil decreased exponentially with time. The environmental factor responsible for the decrease of exchangeable 90Sr in the ploughed layer, lambda(e), was determined from the monitoring data of exchangeable 90Sr in the ploughed soil and the amount of fallout-derived deposition. The lambda(e) was larger from 1970 to 1980 than it was from 1980 to 1995, suggesting that an easily removable fraction of 90Sr in soil was preferentially lost from ploughed soil. Among various soil properties that we investigated, the main factor controlling the long-term mobility of 90Sr from ploughed upland soil and 90Sr uptake by wheat grain was the cation-exchange capacity (CEC) of soil. Our experimental results indicate that the entrapment of 90Sr on a cation-exchange site retards the downward migration and wheat uptake of 90Sr from ploughed soil. The empirical parameters that we obtained based on the long-term observation of a wheat-cultivated upland field in Japan could be used as reference data in order to roughly estimate the mobility of 90Sr in ploughed soil and soil-borne 90Sr transfer to wheat grain in the humid Japanese climate.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2026

Genetic legacy effects in a mungbean-wheat rotation reveal potential to breed for system-level yield gains.

Legume crops provide protein-rich food, serve as critical disease breaks in cereal rotations, and contribute to soil fertility through symbiotic nitrogen fixation. However, crop improvement programs typically focus on within-crop performance rather than system-level benefits. We hypothesize that legacy effects (the influence of one crop's genotype on subsequent crop performance) are under genetic control and could be targeted in breeding programs. To test this, we evaluated how 309 genetically diverse mungbean genotypes influenced subsequent wheat performance. The mungbean panel was grown, followed by a single wheat cultivar sown in the same plots. Remarkably, wheat yield varied by nearly 1 t ha-1 (2.52-3.49 t ha-1), depending solely on the preceding mungbean genotype. Legacy effects showed moderate heritability (H2: 0.43-0.65), suggesting untapped genetic potential for breeding. However, these estimates were derived from a single site and season and require validation across environments. Analyses of mungbean traits, soil properties, and volatile organic compounds identified root architecture, symbiotic nitrogen fixation, and the soil microbiome as potential contributors to legacy effects, although these mechanisms remain to be tested directly. Haplotype mapping identified genomic regions in mungbean associated with wheat yield and, to a lesser extent, grain protein, revealing trade-offs between within-crop performance and legacy effects. Genetic simulations based on empirically derived marker effects compared genomic selection strategies targeting mungbean yield, wheat yield, or both simultaneously. A selection strategy placing equal weight on mungbean yield and subsequent wheat yield (50:50 weighting) achieved simultaneous gains in both crops (19.5% and 7.6%), highlighting the potential to breed for system-level productivity with reduced input requirements.

crop rotations↗
PubMed2006

High-density mapping and comparative analysis of agronomically important traits on wheat chromosome 3A.

Bread wheat chromosome 3A has been shown to contain genes/QTLs controlling grain yield and other agronomic traits. The objectives of this study were to generate high-density physical and genetic-linkage maps of wheat homoeologous group 3 chromosomes and reveal the physical locations of genes/QTLs controlling yield and its component traits, as well as agronomic traits, to obtain a precise estimate of recombination for the corresponding regions and to enrich the QTL-containing regions with markers. Physical mapping was accomplished by 179 DNA markers mostly representing expressed genes using 41 single-break deletion lines. Polymorphism survey of cultivars Cheyenne (CNN) and Wichita (WI), and a substitution line of CNN carrying chromosome 3A from WI [CNN(WI3A)], with 142 RFLP probes and 55 SSR markers revealed that the extent of polymorphism is different among various group 3 chromosomal regions as well as among the homoeologs. A genetic-linkage map for chromosome 3A was developed by mapping 17 QTLs for seven agronomic traits relative to 26 RFLP and 15 SSR chromosome 3A-specific markers on 95 single-chromosome recombinant inbred lines. Comparison of the physical maps with the 3A genetic-linkage map localized the QTLs to gene-containing regions and accounted for only about 36% of the chromosome. Two chromosomal regions containing 9 of the 17 QTLs encompassed less than 10% of chromosome 3A but accounted for almost all of the arm recombination. To identify rice chromosomal regions corresponding to the particular QTL-containing wheat regions, 650 physically mapped wheat group 3 sequences were compared with rice genomic sequences. At an E value of E < or = 10(-5), 82% of the wheat group 3 sequences identified rice homologs, of which 54% were on rice chromosome 1. The rice chromosome 1 region collinear with the two wheat regions that contained 9 QTLs was about 6.5 Mb.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed2001

Augmentative releases of parasitoid wasps in stored wheat reduces insect fragments in flour.

Field studies were conducted to assess the effectiveness of the parasitoid wasp, Theocolax elegans, for reducing insect fragments in flour by suppressing populations of Rhyzopertha dominica in six bins, each containing 27 tonnes of wheat. Beetles were released into all the six bins at monthly intervals for 3 months. Parasitoid wasps were released into three of the bins, 21 days after the first beetle release. Wheat samples from the bins were milled to determine the effects of parasitoid releases on insect fragment counts in flour. In the first year of the study, after 198 days of storage, insect fragment counts were 9.4 and 31 per 50 g flour in the treatment and control bins. However, because of high variability, the means were not significantly different. New grain was used in the second year of the study, and higher numbers of beetles were released. After 131 days of storage, fragment counts averaged 56 and 487/50 g in the treatment and control bins, a reduction in the former of 89%. In the second year of the study, insect myosin in the treatment and control bins averaged 0.27 and 3.23 ng/well, a percentage reduction in the treated bin of 92%. The number of insect damaged kernels (IDK) was significantly lower in the treatment than in the control bins in both years of the study. In the first year, IDK was 6 and 15 IDK/100 g wheat in the treatment and control bins respectively, a reduction in the former of 61%. In the second year, IDK was 12 and 148 IDK/100 g wheat, in the treatment and control bins respectively, a reduction of 92%. This study showed that augmentative releases of parasitoid wasps into bins of stored wheat reduced damage to wheat kernels and the number of insect fragments in flour.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Microbiology of wheat and flour milling in Australia.

A survey was undertaken to determine the microbiological status of Australian wheat and the distribution of microorganisms in the flour milling fractions and end products. A total of 650 milling process and end product samples was obtained from nine flour mills located in New South Wales (4), Queensland (2), Victoria (2) and Western Australia (1) during the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 wheat seasons. Most frequent (modal) counts in wheat and flour were, respectively, as follows: aerobic mesophilic plate count, 10(5) and 10(2) colony forming units/gram (cfu/g); coliforms, 10 and 1 most probable number/gram (MPN/g); Bacillus spp., 10(4) and 10(2) cfu/g; B. cereus, 1 and 0.1 MPN/g; mesophilic aerobic spores, 10 and 1 cfu/g; aerobic thermophiles, both 10 cfu/g; yeasts, 10(3) and 10(2) cfu/g, and moulds, 10(3) and 10(2) cfu/g. Bacillus spp., coliforms, yeasts and moulds were the most frequently detected microorganisms throughout the survey. The most common moulds isolated were Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium and Eurotium spp. Environmental serovars of Salmonella were isolated from two samples. Escherichia coli and B. cereus were present at very low levels, a majority of positive samples being at the minimum level of detection (3 and 0.3 MPN/g, respectively). As wheat grain layers are separated, surface-adhering contaminants are concentrated in end product bran, wheat germ and pollard, which comprise the outer layers of the grain. Consequently, the inner endosperm fraction contains lower microbial counts, and flour is the cleanest end product of the milling process. Higher microbiological counts midstream in the milling process indicate that equipment contamination may contribute to microbiological contamination; however, the microbiological quality of incoming wheat has a strong influence on the ultimate quality of milling end products.

Australia↗
PubMed2003

Molecular cloning and characterization of cDNAs encoding hemoglobin from wheat (Triticum aestivum) and potato (Solanum tuberosum).

Hemoglobins (Hbs) are heme proteins encountered in all five kingdoms of living organisms. In plants, two different classes of Hbs have been identified: nonsymbiotic (class I) from both monocot and dicot species and symbiotic (class II) Hbs from nitrogen-fixing plants. This work reports the cloning and analysis of three nonsymbiotic Hb genes from wheat (Triticum aestivum) and potato (Solanum tuberosum). The Hb cDNAs were amplified by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using consensus oligonucleotide primers for nonsymbiotic Hbs.A wheat Hb cDNA (TaHb1) was isolated and shows a very high similarity to nonsymbiotic Hbs from Hordeum vulgare (98%) and Zea mays (83%). Another wheat Hb cDNA, designated TaHb2, exhibited strong similarity to truncated bacterial Hbs, the so-called 2-on-2 Hbs. In addition, a third Hb was cloned from potato, StHb. Expression analysis by RT-PCR demonstrated a very high expression level of the TaHb1 gene only in wheat roots. In contrast, the other wheat hemoglobin gene, TaHb2, was demonstrated to be constitutively expressed although differences in expression level in different tissues were observed. The expression of the TaHb1 gene is induced in wheat roots exposed to microaerobic conditions. The potato Hb gene, StHb, was highly expressed in roots and also in tubers and stem tissue although at much reduced levels.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

Molecular cloning of three homoeologous cDNAs encoding orthologs of the maize KNOTTED1 homeobox protein from young spikes of hexaploid wheat.

The plant knotted1 (kn1)-like homeobox genes are known to play important roles in the maintenance of shoot apical meristem (SAM), determination of cell fate and differentiation of vegetative tissues. To study structural diversity of the three homologous loci encoding a KN1-like homeobox protein in the hexaploid wheat genome, we isolated clones from a cDNA library of young spikes of Japanese common wheat cultivar 'Norin 26'. Three different but highly homologous cDNAs were isolated and their sequences were determined. The mean homology of the deduced amino acid sequences was 96% as compared to the barley ortholog KNOX3. The wheat kn1-like homeobox proteins named WKNOX1 are encoded by a single set of homologous genes on the homologous group 4 chromosomes in the three component genomes of common wheat, i.e. 4A, 4B and 4D. The nucleotide sequence data and the Southern blot pattern suggested that the three homologous loci of wknox1 genes are highly conserved through polyploid evolution of wheat. They were expressed in SAM-containing shoots and young spikes but not in developed leaves, glumes and lemmas and callus tissues. The ectopic expression of the wknox1 was observed in lemma of wheat Hooded (Hd) mutants. The result suggested that the Hd gene is a dominant allele of the wknox1 locus on chromosome 4A.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2006

Screening and applying wheat microsatellite markers to trace individual Haynaldia villosa chromosomes.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) microsatellite markers were screened for detecting Haynaldia villosa L. chromosomes introduced into wheat background. Two hundred and seventy six primer pairs mapped on 7 homeologous groups of wheat were used to amplify the gDNA of T. aestivum and H. villosa. The results showed that 148 of 276 microsatellite primers amplified polymorphic bands between common wheat cv. Chinese Spring and H. villosa. Primers wmc49 (1BS), wmc25 (2BS), gdm36 (3DS), gdm145 (4AL), wmc233 (5DS), wmc256 (6AL) and gwm344 (7BL) produced a specific polymorphic DNA fragment on chromosome 1V to 7V of H. villosa, respectively. In addition, gwm469 (6DS) detected a specific band on 2V; gdm107 (2DS) amplified a specific band on 6V. These microsatellite markers were effective in identifying individual H. villosa chromosomes in other T. aestivum-H. villosa chromosome addition, substitution and translocation lines involved in different H. villosa accessions and wheat backgrounds. Therefore, these chromosome-specific microsatellite markers could be used as molecular markers for detection of chromosomes of H. villosa in common wheat.

Agropyron↗
PubMed2002

Cytogenetic studies on the effect of feeding mice with stored wheat grains treated with malathion.

The cytogenetic effect of malathion residues in wheat grains stored for different periods of time (4, 12, 24 weeks) was evaluated in Swiss mice. The studies included: (1) chromosomal aberrations analysis in bone-marrow and spermatocyte cells; (2) chromosomal aberrations and sister chromatid exchange (SCE) analysis in spleen cell culture from mice fed with stored wheat grains. The tested doses were 8.36 (applied dose), 25.08 and 41.80 mg malathion kg(-1) wheat grains. The results demonstrated that the cytogenetic effect induced in different mouse tissues by malathion residues was dose-dependent and increased with increasing of both feeding and storage periods. Feeding mice with wheat grains stored for 4 weeks had a non-significant effect with respect to the induction of chromosomal aberrations or SCEs. Significant chromosome damage and increase of SCEs were observed in mice fed with wheat grains stored for 12 weeks. The maximum effect was recorded in mice fed for 12 weeks with the grains treated with the highest tested dose and stored for 24 weeks. However, mitomycin C i.p.-injected in mice at 1 mg kg(-1) body weight (b.w.) (positive control) induced a higher effect. The percentage of chromosome aberrations reached 13.60+/-0.98, 13.60+/-0.77 and 11.73+/-0.98 (P<0.01) in bone-marrow, cultured spleen cells and spermatocytes, respectively. The significant increase of abnormalities in spermatocytes was seen for univalent formation only, predominantly of the sex chromosomes. The frequency of SCEs was 10.76+/-0.62 per cell (P<0.01) in cultured spleen cells compared with 5.46+/-0.45 per cell for control and 14.66+/-0.54 per cell for the positive control. The obtained results indicate that malathion residues in stored wheat grains have potential genotoxic effect in mice under the conditions tested.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Intermolecular interactions and phase structures of plasticized wheat proteins materials.

The intermolecular interactions and phase structures of thermally processed wheat proteins with glycerol and water as plasticizers were studied by dynamic mechanical analysis and solid-state high-resolution NMR spectroscopy. The results of phase structures at scales of molecular level to tens of nanometers were correlated with the mechanical properties of the materials. The strong hydrogen bonding intermolecular interactions between the components in wheat proteins and the plasticizers resulted in a significant change in molecular motions of wheat protein materials. The plasticized systems, however, still presented a wide distribution of chain mobility at a scale from the molecular level to 20-30 nm, and the plasticizing effect was different for each wheat protein system. High protein content systems tended to be plasticized relatively easily especially when lipid content is high, but the existence of residual starch would require more plasticizers to reach a similar level of chain mobility. On a scale of 20-30 nm, plasticized vital wheat gluten (WG) and the deamidated wheat proteins (WP-I) were heterogeneous with each component exhibiting its individual mobility, whereas the plasticized insoluble protein system (WP-II) with poor mechanical properties was homogeneous. Both WG and WP-I systems showed excellent mechanical polymeric properties in tensile strength and elasticity despite the heterogeneity. The strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions and soluble protein components in the materials could provide an adhesion among different components and act as a continuous matrix in the systems. Therefore, these materials displayed excellent mechanical properties via coordination effects among different components.

Plant Proteins↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Electrospun fibers from wheat protein: investigation of the interplay between molecular structure and the fluid dynamics of the electrospinning process.

In the present work, we demonstrate the ability to electrospin wheat gluten, a polydisperse plant protein polymer that is currently available at roughly 0.50 dollars/lb. A variety of electrospinning experiments were carried out with wheat gluten from two sources, at different solution concentrations, and with native and denatured wheat gluten to illustrate the interplay between protein structure and the fluid dynamics of the electrospinning process. The presence of both cylindrical and flat fibers was observed in the nonwoven mats, which were characterized using both polarized optical microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Retardance images obtained by polarized optical microscopy exhibited evidence of molecular orientation at the surface of the fibers. We believe that fiber formation by electrospinning is a result of both chain entanglements and the presence of reversible junctions in the protein, in particular, the breaking and re-forming of disulfide bonds that occur via a thiol/disulfide interchange reaction. The presence of the highest molecular weight glutenin polymer chains in the wheat protein appeared to be responsible for the lower threshold concentration for fiber formation, relative to that of a lower molecular weight fraction of wheat protein devoid of the high molecular weight glutenin component. Denaturation of the wheat protein, however, clearly disrupted this delicate balance of properties in the experimental regimes we investigated, as electrospun fibers from the denatured state were not observed.

Glutens↗
PubMed2001

Screening spring wheat for midge resistance in relation to ferulic acid content.

The concentration of ferulic acid (FA), the major phenolic acid in the wheat kernel, was found to differ significantly in the mature grain of six wheat cultivars known to have a range of tolerance to the orange wheat blossom midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana). Differences in FA content were correlated with floret infestation level of the cultivars. The wheat cultivars ranked similarly in FA content at the four locations where they were tested, despite a significant effect of environment. Ferulic acid was synthesized mainly during the early stages of grain filling but at different rates among cultivars. Ferulic acid was concentrated primarily in the shorts and bran fractions in an insoluble-bound form. A high correlation was obtained between FA contents as determined by GLC, fluorometry, UV, and colorimetry. The colorimetric procedure was modified as a qualitative, simple, and rapid test for identifying midge-resistant wheat and evaluated in several field trials. The method should provide a rapid tool in the preliminary screening of experimental lines in the development of midge-resistant wheat cultivars.

Animals↗