So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to

Human biochemical genetics

Sustainable production of renewable energy is being hotly debated globally since it is increasingly understood that first generation biofuels, primarily produced from food crops and mostly oil seeds are limited in their ability to achieve targets for biofuel production, climate change mitigation and economic growth. These concerns have increased the interest in developing second generation biofuels produced from non-food feedstocks such as microalgae, which potentially offer greatest opportunities in the longer term. This paper reviews the current status of microalgae use for biodiesel production, including their cultivation, harvesting, and processing. The microalgae species most used for biodiesel production are presented and their main advantages described in comparison with other available biodiesel feedstocks. The various aspects associated with the design of microalgae production units are described, giving an overview of the current state of development of algae cultivation systems (photo-bioreactors and open ponds). Other potential applications and products from microalgae are also presented such as for biological sequestration of CO 2 , wastewater treatment, in human health, as food additive, and for aquaculture.

/pdf/microalgae-for-biodiesel-production-and-other-applications-a-54vmwufrsu.pdf

Microalgae for biodiesel production and other applications: A review

LEARNING The objectives of BIOS 781 are to present: OBJECTIVES: 1. basic population and quantitative genetic principles, including classical genetics, chromosomal theory of inheritance, and meiotic recombination 2. an exposure to QTL mapping methods of complex quantitative traits and linkage methods to detect co-segregation with disease 3. methods for assessing marker-disease linkage disequilibrium, including case-control approaches 4. methods for genome-wide association and stratification control.

Genetic Data Analysis

Essential oils are aromatic and volatile liquids extracted from plants. The chemicals in essential oils are secondary metabolites, which play an important role in plant defense as they often possess antimicrobial properties. The interest in essential oils and their application in food preservation has been amplified in recent years by an increasingly negative consumer perception of synthetic preservatives. Furthermore, food-borne diseases are a growing public health problem worldwide, calling for more effective preservation strategies. The antibacterial properties of essential oils and their constituents have been documented extensively. Pioneering work has also elucidated the mode of action of a few essential oil constituents, but detailed knowledge about most of the compounds’ mode of action is still lacking. This knowledge is particularly important to predict their effect on different microorganisms, how they interact with food matrix components, and how they work in combination with other antimicrobial compounds. The main obstacle for using essential oil constituents as food preservatives is that they are most often not potent enough as single components, and they cause negative organoleptic effects when added in sufficient amounts to provide an antimicrobial effect. Exploiting synergies between several compounds has been suggested as a solution to this problem. However, little is known about which interactions lead to synergistic, additive, or antagonistic effects. Such knowledge could contribute to design of new and more potent antimicrobial blends, and to understand the interplay between the constituents of crude essential oils. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of current knowledge about the antibacterial properties and antibacterial mode of action of essential oils and their constituents, and to identify research avenues that can facilitate implementation of essential oils as natural preservatives in foods.

/pdf/essential-oils-in-food-preservation-mode-of-action-synergies-26gwz54pww.pdf

Essential oils in food preservation: mode of action, synergies, and interactions with food matrix components.

http://www.ipb.pt/~htgomes/FCT115275/Ref23.pdf

Sub- and supercritical fluid extraction of functional ingredients from different natural sources: Plants, food-by-products, algae and microalgae: A review

Entre as ervas aromaticas, o manjericao possui importância economica no Brasil, sendo seu consumo tanto in natura quanto para processamento industrial, na obtencao de oleo essencial. Porem, as informacoes quanto a qualidade aromatica dessas plantas em funcao das tecnicas de cultivo sao escassas. Avaliou-se a produtividade de duas especies de manjericao, de folha estreita (Ocimum minimum L.) e de folha larga (Ocimum basilicum L.) em ambiente protegido. Os sistemas de cultivo utilizados foram: 1) hidroponia (floating); 2) substrato preparado e 3) substrato comercial. As amostragens foram realizadas durante o periodo de florescimento das plantas. O experimento foi realizado em Campinas (SP), em casa de vegetacao com controle de umidade e iluminacao naturais, utilizando-se o delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com tres repeticoes. Foram avaliados tambem o rendimento e composicao quimica dos oleos essenciais das plantas. O sistema hidroponico apresentou a maior produtividade de massa verde, aproximadamente 44% superior aos outros dois tipos de cultivo, para ambas as especies estudadas. Nao houve diferenca significativa entre as formas de cultivo quanto ao rendimento e composicao quimica dos oleos essenciais dentro da mesma especie. Quanto a producao de oleo essencial, as plantas de manjericao de folha estreita apresentaram rendimento aproximadamente 10% mais elevado em relacao as de folha larga, alem de diferencas significativas na composicao dos oleos essenciais entre as especies.

/pdf/cultivo-de-manjericao-em-hidroponia-e-em-diferentes-47ugon5zmj.pdf

Cultivo de manjericão em hidroponia e em diferentes substratos sob ambiente protegido

Agronomical Sciences College Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, Sao Paulo, CEP, 18.603-970

Influence of different drying temperatures on the amount of essential oils and citral content in Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Stapf. - Poaceae

This study aimed to determine the composition of the essential oil of
 Mentha x villosa and to evaluate its biological effects in
 vitro on adult worms of S. mansoni. Rotundifolone (70.96 %),
 limonene (8.75 %), trans-caryophyllene (1.46 %), and β-pinene
 (0.81 %) were shown to be the major constituents of this oil. Adult worms of
 S. mansoni were incubated with different concentrations of the
 essential oil (1, 10, 100, 250, 500, and 1000 µg/mL) and of its constituents
 rotundifolone (0.7, 3.54, 7.09, 70.96, 177.4, 354.8, and 700.96 µg/mL),
 limonene (43.75 µg/mL), trans-caryophyllene (7.3 µg/mL), and β-pinene
 (4.03 µg/mL). No schistosomicidal activity was identified at the
 trans-caryophyllene and β-pinene concentrations studied. However, use
 of the essential oil (10 µg/mL), rotundifolone (7.09 µg/mL), and limonene
 (43.75 µg/mL) resulted in decreased worm motility continuing until 96 hours
 of observation. At higher concentrations (100 and 70.96 µg/mL,
 respectively), both the essential oil and rotundifolone caused mortality
 among adult worms of S. mansoni. The positive control praziquantel
 caused the death of all parasites after 24 h of evaluation. The results from
 this study suggest that the essential oil of Mentha x villosa
 presents schistosomicidal efficacy.

/pdf/in-vitro-evaluation-of-schistosomicidal-activity-of-1iieo2f7sk.pdf

In vitro evaluation of schistosomicidal activity of essential oil of Mentha x villosa and some of its chemical constituents in adult worms of Schistosoma mansoni.

Lippia alba (Verbenaceae) is a shrub whose essential oil has important biological, pharmacological, and aromatizing properties. To reach the sustained cultivation of new species with economic potential, the present study aimed to evaluate L. alba performance for fresh leaf matter (FM), leaf dry matter (DM), virus symptoms (VS - Cucumber mosaic virus, CMV), oil yield (OY), and oil chemical composition (OC), and to evaluate DM stability and adaptability. Ten genotypes of four chemical groups (chemotypes) were evaluated in six experiments designed as randomized blocks with two plants per plot, over the whole State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. A 2.0 x 0.4 x 1.6 m spacing was used in Monte Alegre do Sul and Pindorama, while a 1.0 x 0.4 x 0.6 m spacing was used in Campinas, where four experiments were established under different irrigation and fertilization conditions. The genotype effect was significant (p < 0.05) for all traits evaluated, with high leaf productivity of IAC-16 (citral chemotype), best OY means in the linalool and limonene/carvone chemotypes, and susceptibility of the latter chemotype to CMV. The genotype performance oscillations in the six environments were significant for FM and DM, and despite their significance for phytochemical traits (OY and OC), they were of low magnitude. No qualitative variation was detected for OC. The IAC-2 (linalool) and IAC-13 (limonene/carvone) genotypes showed high stability and wide adaptability, and are recommended to establish initial cultivations of this species. This research also indicated genetic sources to start Lippia alba genetic breeding programs.

/pdf/performance-of-ginger-grass-lippia-alba-for-traits-related-3anspebpny.pdf

Marcia Ortiz Mayo Marques

Papers

Cultivo de manjericão em hidroponia e em diferentes substratos sob ambiente protegido

Influence of different drying temperatures on the amount of essential oils and citral content in Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Stapf. - Poaceae

In vitro evaluation of schistosomicidal activity of essential oil of Mentha x villosa and some of its chemical constituents in adult worms of Schistosoma mansoni.

PERFORMANCE OF GINGER GRASS (Lippia alba) FOR TRAITS RELATED TO THE PRODUCTION OF ESSENTIAL OIL

Influência de cinco temperaturas de secagem no rendimento e composição do óleo essencial de citronela (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt)