Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

About: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is a facility organization based out in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Soil water. The organization has 10921 authors who have published 21332 publications receiving 748193 citations. The organization is also known as: Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Soyasapogenol A and B distribution in soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) in relation to seed physiology, genetic variability, and growing location.

Abstract: An efficient analytical method utilizing high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) was developed to isolate and quantify the two major soyasaponin aglycones or precursors in soybeans, triterpene soyasapogenol A and B. Soaking of seeds in water up to 15 h did not change the content of soyasapogenols. Seed germination had no influence on soyasapogenol A content but increased the accumulation of soyasapogenol B. Soyasapogenols were mainly concentrated in the axis of the seeds as compared with the cotyledons and seed coat. In the seedling, the root (radicle) contained the highest concentration of soyasapogenol A, while the plumule had the greatest amounts of soyasapogenol B. In 10 advanced food-grade soybean cultivars grown in four locations in Ontario, total soyasapogenol content in soybeans was 2 ± 0.3 mg/g. Soyasapogenol B content (1.5 ± 0.27 mg/g) was 2.5−4.5-fold higher than soyasapogenol A content (0.49 ± 0.1 mg/g). A significant variation in soyasapogeno...

Genetic control of fatty acid biosynthesis in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

Abstract: Isolation of rapeseed plants containing no erucic acid in their seed oil gave simultaneous selection for low eicosenoic acid. Genetic analy-sis of populations segregating for erucic acid content indicated that the synthesis of these fatty acids was controlled, in the developing embryo, by two genes which displayed no domi-nance and acted in an additive manner. As the genetic capacity for erucic acid synthesis de-creased, there was an increase in percentage of oleic acid with no corresponding decrease in total oil content. The percentage of eicosenoic acid re-mained relatively constant with decreasing erucic acid except in the zero erucic acid genotype where only 1% eicosenoic was detected instead of approx 12%. These observations were in-terpreted to mean that eicosenoic and erucic acids were formed by a genetically controlled carbon chain lengthening system operating by the addi-tion of acetate molecules to the carboxyl end of oleic acid. This hypothesis was supported by data obtained from the injection of radioactive sodium acetate into immature rapeseed pods. In the monoene fraction of the oil, eicosenoate had three times the specific activity of oleate and erucate had twice the activity of eicosenoate. On oxidation, the monocarboxylic fragments of these three acids had low and similar specific activities while in the dicarboxylic acids, where chain elongation has presumably taken place, activity increased in the ratio of 1:5:19.

Soil microbial populations and activities as influenced by legume green fallow in a semiarid climate

Abstract: Tilled fallow–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (F–W) is the most commonly used cropping system in the semiarid Canadian prairie. However, because frequent fallowing degrades soil, a partial fallow with annual legumes as green manure [i.e. ‘green fallow’ (GF)] has been proposed as a soil conserving and more bio-resource efficient alternative to bare fallow. We conducted a 6-year study to compare the influence of four GF–W, a F–W and a continuous W (Cont. W) system, on soil microbial communities, microbial biomass (MB) and activities in an Orthic Brown Chernozem, silt loam (Aridic Haploboroll) at Swift Current, Sask., Canada. The four GF legumes used were black lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus), Tangier flatpea (Lathyrus tingitanus L.), chickling vetch (Lathyrus sativus L.) and feedpea (Pisum sativum L.). They were grown to full bloom and then incorporated with a tandem disk. Analysis of soil taken from 0 to 10 cm depth after growing wheat in the sixth year of the experiment (i.e. 15 months after the most recent legume GF had been turned under) showed that most of the soil biochemical and microbiological attributes assessed were significantly improved (compared to F–W) by increasing cropping intensity (Cont. W), and even more by using the GF systems. The average improvement gained from the four GF legumes relative to F–W, was 385% for number of bacteria, 210% for filamentous fungi, 170% for MB-C, 191% for MB-N, 205% for cumulative C mineralization in 30 days at 21 °C, 202% for dehydrogenase, 171% for phosphatase, and 287% for arylsulfatase activity. The biologically active C and N, when expressed as ratios of MB-C or MB-N to total soil C or N, increased from 1.6 and 2.0% in F–W to 1.9 and 2.6% in Cont. W and to an average of 2.4 and 3.5% in GF–W. A sensitivity analysis (ratio of other treatment values to value for F–W) showed that Cont. W, and the GF–W systems even more, increased all major soil biological attributes tested. Among the GF systems, lentil-W consistently increased sensitivity the most, while Tangier flatpea-W usually increased it the least. The dynamic direct and indirect microbiological attributes were more sensitive indicators of changes in soil productivity than total organic C or N. The sensitivity of the attributes decreased in the sequence: Bacteria>Arylsulfatase>Filamentous fungi≈Cumulative C mineralization≈Dehydrogenase>MB-N>Phosphatase≈MB-C. Compared to the earlier published sensitivities of select physical and chemical attributes of soil quality to these same agronomic treatments, the microbiological attributes proved to be far more sensitive and more responsive to the beneficial influence of legume green fallowing in this semiarid loam.

Anthocyanin content and profile within and among blueberry species

Abstract: Anthocyanins in ripe fruit of four Vaccinium species and genotypes within these species were compared, revealing substantial inter- and intra-species variability among these commercial and non-comm...