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Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is an important source of health beneficial compounds, including tocopherols and lutein. Seeds with elevated concentrations of these health beneficial compounds may be required to meet the increasing needs of the functional food market. A study was conducted for a period of 11 years in Ottawa, ON, Canada to examine the relationship between temperature and precipitation during specific growth stage intervals (GSI) and the concentration of tocopherol (toc) and lutein in the seeds at harvest. Tocopherol concentrations in soybean were most influenced by air temperature changes, while lutein concentration was more sensitive to precipitation. Heat stress via the accumulation of temperatures greater than 31°C during the mid‐vegetative to physiological maturity GSI was positively correlated (r2 = 0.94) with α‐toc concentration. Lutein concentration was negatively correlated (r2 = 0.61) with mean cumulative precipitation (cppt) during the seed development to maturation GSI. Overall, reproductive stages were more responsive to climatic variables than vegetative stages. In addition, the cultivars with higher toc or lutein concentrations were less affected by climatic variables than cultivars with lower concentrations. Climatic factors and abiotic stress during specific growth stages may have significant impact on concentrations of health beneficial compounds in mature seeds and this should be considered in the production of soybean for the functional food market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-1990s, the decline of the yellow perch population of Lake Saint-Pierre (hereinafter LSP) in Quebec, Canada has been the subject of several research programs. The combined effect of habitat deterioration, the presence of invasive species, and poor water quality negatively affected the yellow perch population in this lake. In 2013, we sampled yellow perch (larvae, juveniles and adults) at six sites along the St. Lawrence River representing a gradient of increasing human influences from upstream to downstream and measured several biomarkers including retinoid compounds (vitamin A). In the most contaminated sites (LSP, north and south shores), we found that retinoid stores were decreased in all three stages of development. To corroborate these results and to test other biomarkers, we once again sampled yellow perch (adults only) from the same sites. Results from our 2014 and 2015 samplings confirmed that LSP yellow perch appeared to be at a disadvantage compared to fish from upstream populations. Individuals from LSP have lower acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity as well as lower retinoid levels in liver and plasma. These fish were also marked by lower levels of antioxidants such as lycopene and vitamin E. A discriminant analysis of this set of results confirmed that the yellow perch of the LSP could be easily discriminated from those of the other sites (2014 and 2015) on the basis of liver retinoid and, to a lesser extent, of the liver tocopherol and protein concentration of the muscle, as well as AChE activity and DROH (all-trans-3,4-dehydroretinol) measured in plasma., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)