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An energy-saving ethanol fermentation technology was developed using uncooked fresh sweet potato as raw material. A mutant strain of Aspergillus niger isolated from mildewed sweet potato was used to produce abundant raw starch saccharification enzymes for treating uncooked sweet potato storage roots. The viscosity of the fermentation paste of uncooked sweet potato roots was lower than that of the cooked roots. The ethanol fermentation was carried out by Zymomonas mobilis, and 14.4 g of ethanol (87.2% of the theoretical yield) was produced from 100g of fresh sweet potato storage roots. Based on this method, an energy-saving, high efficient and environment-friendly technology can be developed for large-scale production of fuel ethanol from sweet potato roots.

AbstractObjective: The marked increase in the prevalence of obesity in the United States has recently been attributed to the increased fructose consumption. To determine if and how fructose might promote obesity in an animal model, we measured body composition, energy intake, energy expenditure, substrate oxidation, and several endocrine parameters related to energy homeostasis in mice consuming fructose.Research Methods and Procedures: We compared the effects of ad libitum access to fructose (15% solution in water), sucrose (10%, popular soft drink), and artificial sweetener (0% calories, popular diet soft drink) on adipogenesis and energy metabolism in mice.Results: Exposure to fructose water increased adiposity, whereas increased fat mass after consumption of soft drinks or diet soft drinks did not reach statistical significance (n = 9 each group). Total intake of energy was unaltered, because mice proportionally reduced their caloric intake from chow. There was a trend toward reduced energy expenditure and increased respiratory quotient, albeit not significant, in the fructose group. Furthermore, fructose produced a hepatic lipid accumulation with a characteristic pericentral pattern.Discussion: These data are compatible with the conclusion that a high intake of fructose selectively enhances adipogenesis, possibly through a shift of substrate use to lipogenesis.

The increasing demand for lignocellulosic biomass for the production of biofuels provides value to vegetative plant tissue and leads to a paradigm shift for optimizing plant architecture in bioenergy crops. Plant height (PHT) is among the most important biomass yield components and is the focus of this review, with emphasis on the energy grasses maize (Zea mays) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor). We discuss the scientific advances in the identification of PHT quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and the understanding of pathways and genes controlling PHT, especially gibberellins and brassinosteroids. We consider pleiotropic effects of QTLs or genes affecting PHT on other agronomically important traits and, finally, we discuss strategies for applying this knowledge to the improvement of dual-purpose or dedicated bioenergy crops.

Abstract In the first side-by-side large-scale trials of these two C4 crops in the U.S. Corn Belt, Miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus) was 59% more productive than grain maize (Zea mays). Total productivity is the product of the total solar radiation incident per unit land area and the efficiencies of light interception (ϵ i) and its conversion into aboveground biomass (ϵ ca). Averaged over two growing seasons, ϵ ca did not differ, but ϵ i was 61% higher for Miscanthus, which developed a leaf canopy earlier and maintained it later. The diurnal course of photosynthesis was measured on sunlit and shaded leaves of each species on 26 dates. The daily integral of leaf-level photosynthetic CO2 uptake differed slightly when integrated across two growing seasons but was up to 60% higher in maize in mid-summer. The average leaf area of Miscanthus was double that of maize, with the result that calculated canopy photosynthesis was 44% higher in Miscanthus, corresponding closely to the biomass differences. To determine the basis of differences in mid-season leaf photosynthesis, light and CO2 responses were analyzed to determine in vivo biochemical limitations. Maize had a higher maximum velocity of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylation, velocity of phosphoenolpyruvate regeneration, light saturated rate of photosynthesis, and higher maximum quantum efficiency of CO2 assimilation. These biochemical differences, however, were more than offset by the larger leaf area and its longer duration in Miscanthus. The results indicate that the full potential of C4 photosynthetic productivity is not achieved by modern temperate maize cultivars.

The phenotypic and genotypic characterization of eight rhizobial isolates obtained from Arachis hypogaea nodules grown under stress environment was performed. Isolates were screened for their ability to tolerate different abiotic stresses (high temperature (60° C), salinity (1–5% (w/v) NaCl), and pH (1–12). The genomic analysis of 16S rRNA and housekeeping genes (atpD, recA, and glnII) demonstrated that native groundnut rhizobia from these stress soils are representatives of fast growers and phylogenetically related to Rhizobium sp. The phenotypic characterization (generation time, carbon source utilization) also revealed the isolates as fast-growing rhizobia. All the isolates can tolerate NaCl up to 3% and were able to grow between 20 and 37 °C with a pH between 5 to 10, indicating that the isolates were alkali and salt-tolerant. The tested isolates effectively utilize mono and disaccharides as carbon source. Out of eight, three rhizobial isolates (BN-20, BN-23, and BN-50) were able to nodulate their host plant, exhibiting their potential to be used as native groundnut rhizobial inoculum. The plant growth promoting characterization of all isolates revealed their effectiveness to solubilize inorganic phosphate (56–290 µg mL−1), synthesize indole acetic acid (IAA) (24–71 µg mL−1), and amplification of nitrogen fixing nifH gene, exploring their ability to be used as groundnut biofertilizer to enhance yield and N2-fixation for the resource poor farmers of rainfed Pothwar region.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi play key roles in plant nutrition and plant productivity. AM fungal responses to either plant identity or fertilization have been investigated. However, the interactive effects of different plant species and fertilizer types on these symbiotic fungi remain poorly understood. We evaluated the effects of the factorial combinations of plant identity (grasses Avena sativa and Elymus nutans and legume Vicia sativa) and fertilization (urea and sheep manure) on AM fungi following 2-year monocultures in a sown pasture field study. AM fungal extraradical hyphal density was significantly higher in E. nutans than that in A. sativa and V. sativa in the unfertilized control and was significantly increased by urea and manure in A. sativa and by manure only in E. nutans, but not by either fertilizers in V. sativa. AM fungal spore density was not significantly affected by plant identity or fertilization. Forty-eight operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of AM fungi were obtained through 454 pyrosequencing of 18S rDNA. The OTU richness and Shannon diversity index of AM fungi were significantly higher in E. nutans than those in V. sativa and/or A. sativa, but not significantly affected by any fertilizer in all of the three plant species. AM fungal community composition was significantly structured directly by plant identity only and indirectly by both urea addition and plant identity through soil total nitrogen content. Our findings highlight that plant identity has stronger influence than fertilization on belowground AM fungal community in this converted pastureland from an alpine meadow.

We evaluated whether fish oil or vitamin E administration affected ethanol-induced changes in membrane ATPases. Male Wistar rats (225-250 g) were fed, through a gastric tube a liquid diet containing fish oil (25% of calories) and ethanol for one month. Another group of animals was given supplemental vitamin E (300 u/kg). In the pair-fed control animals, ethanol-derived calories were replaced with dextrose. The blood ethanol levels were maintained between 150 and 350 mg/dL. At sacrifice, the red cells were immediately washed with ice-cold saline, membranes were prepared and ATPases measured. These was no difference in the Na+K+ ATPase, Ca2+ ATPase and Mg2+ ATPase activities between the fish oil-dextrose and corn oil-dextrose groups. A decrease in Ca2+ ATPase and an increase in Na+K+ ATPase was seen with ethanol feeding; these change are similar to those seen in corn oil-ethanol fed rats. In contrast, Vitamin E administration prevented the ethanol-induced changes in ATPase. This observation provides support for the role of lipid peroxidation in alcohol-induced changes in cell membrane ATPase activities.

The effect of carbon source on efficacy of anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) toward suppression of apple root infection by Rhizoctonia solani AG-5 and Pratylenchus penetrans was examined. Orchard grass (GR), rice bran (RB), ethanol (ET), composted steer manure (CM), and Brassica juncea seed meal (SM) were used as ASD carbon inputs, with plant assays conducted in natural and pasteurized orchard soils. Subsequent studies investigated the effect of GR application rate used in ASD on control of these pathogens. In general, apple root infection by R. solani AG-5 was significantly lower in ET, GR, RB, and SM ASD treatments compared with the control. Among different ASD treatments, apple seedling growth was significantly greater when GR or SM was used as the carbon input relative to all other ASD treatments. R. solani AG-5 DNA abundance was significantly reduced in all ASD treatments, regardless of amendment type, compared with the control. In independent experiments, ASD-GR was consistently superior to ASD-CM for limiting pathogen activity in soils. ASD treatment with a grass input rate of 20 t ha−1provided superior suppression of P. penetrans but grass application rate did not affect ASD efficacy in control of R. solani AG-5. The soil microbiome from ASD-GR-treated soils was clearly distinct from the control and ASD-CM-treated soils. In contrast, composition of the microbiome from control and ASD-CM-treated soils could not be differentiated. Comparative results from pasteurized and nonpasteurized soils suggest that there is potential for GR based ASD treatment to recruit microbial elements that persist over the anaerobic phase of soil incubation, which may functionally contribute to disease suppression. When ASD was conducted with GR, microbial diversity was markedly reduced relative to the control or ASD-CM soil suggesting that this parameter, typically associated with system resilience, was not instrumental to the function of ASD-induced soil suppressiveness.