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Abstract
Naturally-occurring compounds are acknowledged for their broad antiviral efficacy. Little is however known about their mutual cooperation. Here, we evaluated in vitro efficacy of the defined mixture of agents against the RdRp complex of the original SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron variant. This composition of vitamin C, N-acetylcysteine, resveratrol, theaflavin, curcumin, quercetin, naringenin, baicalin, and broccoli extract showed to inhibit activity of RdRp/nsp7/nsp8 both these variants. In vitro exposure of recombinant RdRp complex to individual compounds of this composition pointed to quercetin as the driving inhibitory compound. The outcome of this study supports the motion of antiviral efficacy of natural compounds against SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron and implies that their reciprocal or mutual interaction may augment antiviral action through simultaneous effect on different mechanisms. Consequently, this makes it more difficult for an infectious agent to evade all these mechanisms at the same time. Considering the urgency in finding effective prevention, but also side-effects free treatment of COVID-19 our results call for clinical affirmation of the benefits of this micronutrient combination in both preventive and therapeutic aspects. Whether observed effects can be achieved, by concentrations of the active agents used in these in vitro experiments, in in vivo or clinical setting warrants further study.
Abstract
To overcome the problems of seasonality and geographical location in fruit production and processing, the production of aseptic semi-finished juice is an excellent solution. Even without refrigeration, aseptic pressing has a shelf life of more than a year, making it possible to produce finished products all year round. The production technology involves the addition of ascorbic acid to the pulp to fix or preserve colour. There is an increasing customer demand for ascorbic acid substitutes on the international market. In Hungary, one of the most important exports is aseptic sour cherry juice. In our work, ascorbic acid used for colour fixation was replaced by acerola concentrate. The anthocyanin content and colour coordinate values (L*, a*, b*, H, C) of aseptically filled sour cherry juice were determined and compared with the control sample during the 12 months of storage.
As a means of assisting the selection of promising soil classification systems, a set of criteria were presented and tested. Inside the studied slightly saline plot World Reference Base (WRB) and Hungarian soil classification (HU) were compared at all four levels in terms of class separability, correlation to biomass, parsimony and homogeneity of classes. WRB surpassed HU in terms of the very important homogeneity of classes only, but HU performed better in terms of class separability, correlation to biomass and parsimony of classes. With many possible classification units WRB categorized the soil into a large number of classes, but 67% and 78% of them were single-profile classes at levels 3 and 4, respectively inside the ca 0.9 km2 area.
Szarvasmarhatartó telepen alkalmazott ivarzásindukáló hormonok megjelenése a hígtrágyában
Appearance of on-farm bovine reproductive hormones in the resulting slurry
A review of the international literature also found that the amount and the presence in slurry of oestrus inducer hormone preparations used in intensive dairy cattle production has not been investigated. In our study, we followed the path of 5 different sex-inducing drugs (alfaglandin, PGF, dinolytic, gonavet, ovarelin) including three active pharmaceutical ingredients (D-Phe6-Gonadorelin, Kloprostenol and Dinoprost-tromethamine) used in a cattle farm in Pest County from their use until their appearance in the slurry from 2017 to 2020. The study included a review of drug consumption and a seasonal analysis of the hormonal effects of slurry produced on the farm in quarterly cycles each year. We also tested separately the hormonal effects of the hormone preparations used on the farm. For the estrogenic effect tests, the yeast test with the human estrogenic receptor was used according to ISO 19040. Statistical evaluation of the results (Pearson correlation and Principal Component Analysis) was used to identify relationships between the use of sex inducers, the reproductive biology of the colony and the estrogenic effect of the slurry. We found that the estrogenic effects of slurry and sludge are strongly correlated. All three pharmaceuticals tested showed a strong correlation with the estrogenic effect of slurry/sludge. Our investigations confirm that slurry among other reasons due to its hormone and drug content shall be considered as a material that needs to be disposed of by new treatment methods before application to the field, because of its environmental and health risks.
Abstract
Black plum sawfly (Hoplocampa minuta) is an important pest species of plum (Prunus domestica). In organic plum orchards, the yield loss caused by H. minuta larval damage can reach almost 100% occasionally. Adults feed on pollen and nectar of the plum flower; therefore, we hypothesize that, besides visual cues, also olfaction plays an important role in habitat and host finding. To understand the chemical communication mediated by flower volatiles to black sawflies, we investigated the chemical signals released from plum flowers, which can trigger the peripheral physiological responses of adult sawflies. First, using gas chromatography coupled with electroantennography (GC-EAD), we selected 18 physiologically active compounds from the headspace volatile collection of plum flowers, which triggered the H. minuta male and female antennae. Subsequently, we determine the volatilome of plum flower and identified those compounds, which elicited physiological responses, using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). These antennally active components in flower volatiles could be candidates for potential kairomone, which could later be used for attracting males and females of H. minuta and could contribute to developing pesticide-free, effective monitoring and lure and kill strategy against this pest.
Abstract
Consumption of infected plant tissues by decomposing organisms is an important part of ecosystem services. We tested how the common woodlouse (Porcellionides pruinosus, Isopoda: Oniscidea) may contribute to the decomposition process in a laboratory experiment in which Mycosphaerella pyri-infected pear leaves with or without the aecia of Gymnosporangium sabinae were offered as food. We recorded the loss of healthy and infected leaf tissues. Isopod survival rate was also monitored. We found (1) a certain pattern of preference in the consumption of infected leaf material; and (2) that the presence of G. sabinae reduced leaf consumption but had no effect on the ingestion of Mycosphaerella-infected spots; and (3) the mortality of P. pruinosus was adversely influenced by G. sabinae, but the results were highly dependent on confinement conditions. Our results suggest that woodlice consume plant pathogenic fungi, and therefore offer the ecosystem service of neutralizing infective plant remnants during decomposition.
Cover crops serve as an essential source of nutrients in the soil and generally improve the soil’s properties. Cover crops’ production is considered a benefit of the soil quality; by protecting the soil from erosion, reducing the weeds and the so-called soil-borne plant pathogens. Different varieties of cover crops can be cultivated such as legumes, non-legumes, brassica, and grass-type of plants with a variability of the symbiosis. A pot experiment was carried out with five cover crops, as non-symbiont (Brassica carinata B.c.), single-symbiont with arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) (Phacelia tanacetifolia P.t., Avena strigosa A.s.) and double symbiont with AMF and nitrogen-fixing bacteria (Vicia benghalensis V.b., Vicia faba V.f.) crops; and a mixture of the five species, placed in sandy soil (arenosol) in plastic pots (5000 g soil) in 4 repetitions. One of the pots with mixed cover crops was inoculated by AM fungi industrial product. We measured soil biological activity of dehydrogenase (DHA) and fluorescein-diacetate (FDA) enzymes, the frequency of AM fungi (F%), the all protein, glomalin content and electrical conductivity (EC) of the soils. Mixture of all the cover crops resulted maximum EC and significantly enhanced the enzymatic, DHA, FDA activities in comparison with single plants. Mycorrhiza colonization frequency was high in all cover crops except the mustard (B.c.), as nonsymbiont. Vetch (V.b.), as double symbiont was responding very positively to AMF inoculation, and enhanced the performance of its growth. It was found in the pot experiment, that vetch, has the highest capacity to retain soil-protein, glomalin concentration, as well. The mixture of five cover crops could be suggested to use, due to the synergistic positive performance of the individual crops, and the better functioning of beneficial fungal / bacterial symbiosis.
Open-field small plot long-term experiment was set up during 2011 with willow (Salix triandra × S. viminalis ‘Inger’), grown as a short rotation coppice energy crop in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. The sandy loam Cambisol with neutral pH was treated three times (2011, 2013, and 2016) with 15 t ha–1 municipal sewage sludge compost (MSSC) and with 600 kg ha–1 (2011, 2013) or 300 kg ha–1 (2016) wood ash (WA). In 2018 the MSSC-treated plots were amended with 7.5 t ha–1 municipal sewage sediment (MSS), and 300 kg ha–1 WA. MSSC and WA or MSS and WA were also applied to the soil in combinations during all treatments. Control plots remained untreated since 2011. Repeated application of wastewater solids (MSSC, MSS) and wood ash (WA) significantly enhanced the amounts of As (up to +287%), Ba, Cd (up to +192%), Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn in the topsoil of willows. The combined application of MSSC+MSS+WA resulted in significantly higher Mn and Zn and lower As Ba, Cd Cr, and Pb concentrations in topsoil than MSSC+MSS treatment of soil without WA. Nitrogen concentrations in leaves of treated plants were generally slightly lower or similar to control. All soil treatments significantly enhanced the uptake or accumulation of nutrient elements (Ca, K, Mg, P) and potentially toxic elements (As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in the leaves of willows during 2018, 2019, and 2020. Significantly higher Mn or Zn concentrations were measured in MSSC+MSS+WA than in MSSC+MSS treatments. Significant amounts of Cd (up to 1.11 mg kg–1) or Zn (up to 183 mg kg–1) can be translocated (phytoextracted) from a soil amended with wastewater solids or wood ash to willow leaves. In 2018 the treatments decreased the chlorophyll fluorescence values, while in 2019 and 2020 the light adapted fluorescence yield (Y) values were higher in treated than in control plants.
In this study PTEs, [potentially toxic elements (Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn)] were investigated in the upper layer of floodplain soils that occurred as a result of accident in the area of two mine tailings in Northwestern Romania. A large amount of sediment was deposited on the soil of floodplains along the Hungarian section of River Tisza, which could represent a threat to the environment. Floodplain soil samples were collected from four locations in Hungary from an area of the river stretching to about 250 km. BCR (Bureau Communautaire de Référence) sequential extraction method was used to analyze both post-flood and present samples. Most of the analyzed elements (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) were found in the residual fraction, but there is a notable soluble amount in hydroxylammonium chloride extractable fraction. The results allow a comparison of the changes that have taken place over time, in addition to serving as a basis for further studies.
Abstract
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a four-carbon non-protein amino acid, is widely known to have multiple physiological functions. The present study aimed to investigate the cultivation parameters for GABA production by a lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strain isolated from a tuna gut sample. Among 60 tuna gut LAB, only 7 Limosilactobacillus fermentum isolates, i.e. NG01, NG12, NG13, NG14, NG16, NG23, and NG27, were capable of GABA fermentation, with NG16 being the most potent GABA producer. The GABA production by isolate NG16 was therefore thoroughly characterised. The optimal batch culture conditions for GABA production were an initial cell density of 5×106 CFU mL−1, a monosodium glutamate concentration of 2%, an initial pH of 7, a fermentation temperature of 35 °C, and an incubation time of 96 h. Under this cultivation conditions, NG16 produced a maximum GABA yield of 25.52 ± 0.41 mM.
