scholarly journals Rational design yields molecular insights on leaf binding of the anchor peptide Macaque Histatin

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Dittrich ◽  
Christin Brethauer ◽  
Liudmyla Goncharenko ◽  
Jens Bührmann ◽  
Viktoria Zeisler-Diehl ◽  
...  

In times of a constantly growing world population and increasing demand for food, sustainable agriculture is crucial. To reduce the amount of applied nutrients, herbicides, and fungicides, the rainfastness of plant protection agents is of pivotal importance. As a result of protective agent wash-off, plant protection is lost, and soils and groundwater are severely polluted. To date, rainfastness of plant protection products is achieved by adding polymeric adjuvants to the agrochemicals. However, polymeric adjuvants will be regarded as microplastics in the future, and environmentally friendly alternatives are needed. Anchor peptides (APs) are promising biobased and biodegradable adhesion promoters. While the adhesion of anchor peptides to artificial surfaces, such as polymers, has already been investigated in theory and experimentally, exploiting the adhesion to biological surfaces remains challenging. The complex nature and composition of biological surfaces such as plant leaf and fruit surfaces complicate the generation of accurate models. Here, we present the first detailed three-layered atomistic model of the surface of apple leaves and use it to compute free energy profiles of the adhesion and desorption of APs to and from that surface. Our model is validated by a novel fluorescence-based MTP assay that mimicks these complex processes and allows quantifying them. For the AP Macaque Histatin, we demonstrate that aromatic and positively charged amino acids are essential for binding to the waxy apple leaf surface. The established protocols should generally be applicable for tailoring the binding properties of APs to biological interfaces.

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 4-11
Author(s):  
Jadranka Deže ◽  
Jelena Kristić

Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) is a widespread herb since it grows on different types of soil making it an interesting culture for intensive production. Increasing demand for medical herbs as well as chamomile launches entrepreneurial ideas that need to be checked through market analysis, technical equipment analysis, agrotechnics analysis and economic analysis for efficiency of the business venture. The aim of the paper is to identify the meaning of entrepreneurship in chamomile production, analyse input and output prices, and establish technological procedures for expected production results and economic efficiency. In this paper, analytical procedures are applied for determining the economic efficiency of chamomile production as an entrepreneurial opportunity. The first part of the paper contains the recommendation of agrotechnics that is necessary to gain the expected yields in chamomile production. It was found that chamomile is drought tolerant, grows on very poor soils, enriches the soil with humus, improves soil structure, and does not require use of plant protection products or special previous crop. The second part of the paper consists of analytical methods used for checking entrepreneurial idea in order for the chamomile production to really become an entrepreneurial opportunity. The results of the analysis confirm economic (1.31) and profitable (23.72%) production. Positive financial results can be achieved with relatively low investment, and chamomile production has a total assets profitability of 31.09%. By planning and analysing, entrepreneurs can acquire a complete information database for achieving the economic efficiency of the business venture


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 370
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Artyszak ◽  
Dariusz Gozdowski ◽  
Alicja Siuda

Water shortage and drought are a growing problem in Europe. Therefore, effective methods for limiting its effects are necessary. At the same time, the “field to fork” strategy adopted by the European Commission aims to achieve a significant reduction in the use of plant protection products and fertilizers in the European Union. In an experiment conducted in 2018–2020, the effect of the method of foliar fertilization containing silicon and potassium on the yield and technological quality of sugar beet roots was assessed. The fertilizer was used in seven combinations, differing in the number and time of application. The best results were obtained by treating plants during drought stress. The better soil moisture for the plants, the smaller the pure sugar yield increase was observed. It is difficult to clearly state which combination of silicon and potassium foliar application is optimal, as their effects do not differ greatly.


Author(s):  
Gavin Lewis ◽  
Axel Dinter ◽  
Charlotte Elston ◽  
Michael Thomas Marx ◽  
Christoph Julian Mayer ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian J. Kuster ◽  
Nicola J. Hewitt ◽  
Clare Butler Ellis ◽  
Christian Timmermann ◽  
Thomas Anft

Author(s):  
Marco Grella ◽  
Fabrizio Gioelli ◽  
Paolo Marucco ◽  
Ingrid Zwertvaegher ◽  
Eric Mozzanini ◽  
...  

AbstractThe pulse width modulation (PWM) spray system is the most advanced technology to obtain variable rate spray application without varying the operative sprayer parameters (e.g. spray pressure, nozzle size). According to the precision agriculture principles, PWM is the prime technology that allows to spray the required amount where needed without varying the droplet size spectra which benefits both the uniformity of spray quality and the spray drift reduction. However, some concerns related to the effect of on–off solenoid valves and the alternating on/off action of adjacent nozzles on final uneven spray coverage (SC) have arisen. Further evaluations of PWM systems used for spraying 3D crops under field conditions are welcomed. A tower-shaped airblast sprayer equipped with a PWM was tested in a vineyard. Twelve configurations, combining duty cycles (DC: 30, 50, 70, 100%) and forward speeds (FS: 4, 6, 8 km h−1), were tested. Two methodologies, namely field-standardized and real field conditions, were adopted to evaluate the effect of DC and FS on (1) SC variability (CV%) along both the sprayer travel direction and the vertical spray profile using long water sensitive papers (WSP), and (2) SC uniformity (IU, index value) within the canopy at different depths and heights, respectively. Furthermore, the SC (%) and deposit density (Nst, no stains cm−2), determined using short WSP, were used to evaluate the spray application performances taking into account the spray volumes applied. Under field-controlled conditions, the pulsing of the PWM system affects both the SC variability measured along the sprayer travel direction and along the vertical spray profile. In contrast, under real field conditions, the PWM system does not affect the uniformity of SC measured within the canopy. The relationship between SC and Nst allowed identification of the ranges of 200–250 and 300–370 l ha−1 as the most suitable spray volumes to be applied for insecticide and fungicide plant protection products, respectively.


2019 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Matyjaszczyk

Abstract In the central part of the European Union soybean, lupin and camelina are minor agricultural crops. The paper presents analysis of plant protection products availability for those crops in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Data from year 2019 show that availability of products is generally insufficient. For camelina in some countries, there are no chemical products available whatsoever. For lupin and soybean, there are not always products available to control some pest groups. However, the products on the market differ significantly among the member states. The results show that in protection of soybean, lupin and camelina, no single active substance is registered for the same crop in all the analysed member states. In very numerous cases, active substance is registered in one out of eight analysed member states only.


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