Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2016
Authors
Leif Egil Loe Inger Maren Rivrud Erling Meisingset Silje Bøe Martine Hamnes Vebjørn Veiberg Atle MysterudAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of chitosan and methoxysilane in the prevention of surface mold growth on rubberwood. Three different chitosan samples were tested; C1 (Mw 37 kDa), C2 (Mw 5.4 kDa) and C3 (Mw 3.5 kDa). Radial growth inhibition assay of the chitosan samples was investigated at concentrations ranging from 0.063 to 0.5 %w/v against Aspergillus niger BAM 4 and Penicillium decumbens CBS 121928. Chitosan samples C1 and C3 exhibited strong antifungal activity against both molds. Rubberwood samples were either vacuum or dip treated with varying concentrations of chitosan or silane solution. The content of chitosan in wood showed that after the leaching test, chitosan was well retained in both vacuum and dip treated wood. The concentration of silicon in wood showed similar results. The vacuum treated wood samples with chitosan C1 and C3 at 1 %w/v concentration had strong resistance against A. niger BAM 4. However, dip treated rubberwood samples with 2 %w/v chitosan solutions showed lower resistance against A. niger BAM 4. On the other hand, both vacuum and dip treated rubberwood samples with chitosan had no resistance against P. decumbens CBS 121928. The silane treated wood samples showed no resistance to fungal growth.
Authors
Yuka Kojima Aniko Varnai Takuya Ishida Naoki Sunagawa Dejan Petrovic Kiyohiko Igarashi Jody Jellison Barry Goodell Gry Alfredsen Bjørge Westereng Vincent Eijsink Makoto YoshidaAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
C. A. Baroffio V. Guibert P. Richoz A. Rogivue A. K. Borg-Karlsson J. Cross M. Fountain D. Hall B. Ralle L. Sigsgaard Nina Trandem Atle WibeAbstract
In the absence of effective control measures, the strawberry blossom weevil (Anthonomus rubi) (SBW) and the raspberry beetle (Byturus tomentosus) (RB) cause large (10 - >80%) losses in yield and quality in organically grown raspberry. Attractive lures for both pests were combined into a single multitrap for the economical management of both of these pests at the same time. This is one of the first approaches to pest management of non-lepidopteran insect pests of horticultural crops using semiochemicals in the EU, and probably the first to target multiple species from different insect orders. The aim is to develop optimized lures and cost-effective trap designs for mass trapping and to determine the optimum density and spatial and temporal patterns of deployment of the traps for controlling these pests by mass trapping. The combination between an aggregation pheromone that attracts Anthonomus rubi and a raspberry flower volatile that attracts Byturus tomentosus seems to be the best combination.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Ma Xingzhu Baoku Zhou Alice Budai Alhaji S. Jeng Xiaoyu Hao Dan Wei Yulan Zhang Daniel RasseAbstract
Biochar is a carbon-rich solid product obtained by pyrolysis of biomass. Here, we investigated multiple biochars produced under slow pyrolysis (235–800 °C), flash carbonization, and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), using Scanning Electron Microscope—Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) in order to determine whether SEM-EDX can be used as a proxy to characterize biochars effectively. Morphological analysis showed that feedstock has an integrated structure compared to biochar; more pores were generated, and the size became smaller when the temperature increased. Maximum carbon content (max. C) and average carbon content (avg. C) obtained from SEM-EDX exhibited a positive relationship with pyrolysis temperature, with max. C correlating most closely with dry combustion total carbon content. The SEM-EDX O/C ratios displayed a consistent response with the highest treatment temperature (HTT). The study suggests that SEM-EDX produces highly consistent C, oxygen (O), and C/O ratios that deserve further investigation as an operational tool for characterization of biochar products.
Authors
A. Lagomarsino A. E. Agnelli R. Pastorelli G. Pallara Daniel Rasse Hanna Marika SilvennoinenAbstract
The water management system of cultivated paddy rice soils is one of the most important factors affecting the respective magnitudes of CH4 and N2O emissions. We hypothesized an effect of past management on soil microbial communities and greenhouse gas (GHG) production potential. The ob- jectives of this study were to i) assess the influence of water management history on GHG production and microbial community structure, ii) relate GHG production to the microbial communities involved in CH4 and N2O production inhabiting the different soils. Moreover, the influence of different soil condi- tioning procedures on GHG production was determined. To reach these aims, we compared four soils with different water management history, using dried and sieved, pre-incubated and fresh soils. Soil conditioning procedures strongly affected GHG production: drying and sieving induced the highest production rates and the largest differences among soil types, probably through the release of labile substrates. Conversely, soil pre-incubation tended to homogenize and level out the differences among soils. The water management history strongly affected microbial community structure, which was itself tightly linked to CH4 and N2O production. N2O production was the highest in aerobic soil, which also exhibited the strongest evidence for active nitrifying communities (NirK). Drying and rewetting aerobic soil enhanced the production of nitrate, which was further reduced to N2O through denitrification. As expected, CH4 production was the lowest in aerobic soil, which showed a less abundant archaeal com- munity. This work supports the hypothesis that microbial communities in paddy soils progressively adapt to water management practices, thereby reinforcing potential differences in GHGs production.
Abstract
There is limited knowledge on the toxicological, physiological, and molecular effects attributed to organophosphate (OP) compounds currently used as flame retardants or additives in consumer products. This study investigated the effects on oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation in juvenile Atlantic salmon liver and brain samples after exposure to two OP compounds, tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP) and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP). In this study, groups of juvenile Atlantic salmon were exposed using a semistatic experimental protocol over a 7-d period to 3 different concentrations (0.04, 0.2, or 1 mg/L) of TBOEP and TCEP. When toxicological factors such as bioaccumulation and bioconcentration, and chemical structural characteristics and behavior, including absorption to solid materials, are considered, these concentrations represent environmentally relevant concentrations. The concentrations of the contaminants were derived from levels of their environmental occurrence. The expression of genes related to oxidative stress—glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione S-transferase (GST)—and to lipid peroxidation—peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR)—were determined using quantitative (real-time) polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The presence of PPAR proteins was also investigated using immunochemical methods. Levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) in liver were used as a measure of lipid peroxidation. Overall, our data show an increase in lipid peroxidation, and this was associated with an augmented expression of genes from the glutathione family of responses. Interestingly, PPAR expression in liver after exposure to TBOEP and TCEP was consistently decreased compared to controls, while expression in brain did not show a similar trend. The results suggest that OP contaminants may induce oxidative stress and thus production of reactive oxygen substances (ROS), and modulate lipid peroxidation processes in organisms.
Abstract
Wood protection against fungal decay is mainly based on chemical protection. Nontoxic protection methods have become more important in Europe due to environmental concerns. A method using electric fields to inhibit wood decay by fungi has been investigated in laboratory trials and wood mass loss and moisture content after exposure to fungal attack were determined. The results show significantly reduced mass loss for wood samples exposed to a low pulsed electric field (LPEF), while wood samples connected to alternating and direct current displayed higher mass loss compared to LPEF. Changing the electrode material reduced the mass increase due to metal ion transfer into the wood samples for LPEF-exposed samples. The use of conductive polymer instead of metal electrodes and carbon fibers was preferable as no ions were transferred and the integrity of the material persisted. Decay of pre-exposed wood samples to white rot could be stopped or slowed down by means of LPEF.