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Abiotic environmental stresses have a negative impact on the yield and quality of crops. Understanding these stresses is an essential enabler for mitigating breeding strategies and it becomes more important as the frequency of extreme weather conditions increases due to climate change. This study analyses the response of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) to a heat wave during grain filling in three distinct stages: the heat wave itself, the return to a normal temperature regime, and the process of maturation and desiccation. The properties and structure of the starch produced were followed throughout the maturational stages. Furthermore, the key enzymes involved in the carbohydrate supply to the grain were monitored. We observed differences in starch structure with well-separated effects because of heat stress and during senescence. Heat stress produced marked effects on sucrolytic enzymes in source and sink tissues. Early cessation of plant development as an indirect consequence of the heat wave was identified as the major contributor to final yield loss from the stress, highlighting the importance for functional stay-green traits for the development of heat-resistant cereals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diacetyl (2,3-butanedione) is an important metabolic marker of several cancers, as well as an important off-flavour component produced during fermentation. As a small molecule in a complex mixture with many other analytes, existing methods for identification and quantitation of diacetyl invariably involves a chromatographic separation step followed by signal integration with an appropriate stoichiometric detector. Here we demonstrate that the chemical reaction of diacetyl with a 1,2-phenylenediamine derivative yields a chemical adduct, 1,4-quinoxaline which can be conjugated on BSA. The BSA-diacetyl adduct can be used to select an adduct-specific monoclonal antibody in a Fab-format from a 45-billion member phage-display library. The availability of this antibody allowed the development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diacetyl, based on the 1,4-quinoxaline competition for the antibodies with the diacetyl adduct immobilized on the plate. The described ELISA assay can detect the captured diacetyl in micromolar concentrations, both in water samples and in cell culture medium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermostable branching enzyme (BE, EC 2.4.1.18) from Rhodothermus obamensis in combination with amylomaltase (AM, EC 2.4.1.25) from Thermus thermophilus was used to modify starch structure exploring potentials to extensively increase the number of branch points in starch. Amylose is an important constituent in starch and the effect of amylose on enzyme catalysis was investigated using amylose-only barley starch (AO) and waxy maize starch (WX) in well-defined ratios. All products were analysed for amylopectin chain length distribution, α-1,6 glucosidic linkages content, molar mass distribution and digestibility by using rat intestinal α-glucosidases. For each enzyme treatment series, increased AO content resulted in a higher rate of α-1,6 glucosidic linkage formation but as an effect of the very low initial branching of the AO, the final content of α-1,6 glucosidic linkages was slightly lower as compared to the high amylopectin substrates. However, an increase specifically in short chains was produced at high AO levels. The molar mass distribution for the enzyme treated samples was lower as compared with substrate WX and AO, indicating the presence of hydrolytic activity as well as cyclisation of the substrate. For all samples, increased amylose substrate showed decreased α- and β-amylolysis. Surprisingly, hydrolysis with rat intestinal α-glucosidases was higher with increasing α-1,6 glucosidic linkage content and decreasing M ¯ w indicating that steric hindrance towards the α-glucosidases was directed by the molar mass rather that the branching density of the glucan per se. Our data demonstrate that a higher amylose content in the substrate starch efficiently produces α-1,6 glucosidic linkages and that the present of amylose generates a higher M ¯ w and more resistant product than amylopectin. The combination of BE → AM → BE provided somewhat more resistant α-glucan products as compared to BE alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[reaction: see text] A new a versatile catalyst for hydrogenation reactions wherein palladium on carbon is encapsulated in POEPOP(1500)-resin is described. This polymer-supported catalyst has been successfully used in solution phase hydrogenation of a double and a triple bond as well as hydrogenolysis of a benzyl-protecting group. While the activity of the new catalyst is marginally lower than standard 10% Pd/C, it has the advantage of being reused several times without significant loss of reactivity.