ACS agricultural science & technology最新文献

This study evaluated the effect of soybean expeller (SBE) dietary supplementation on plasma antioxidant status in beef heifers during a four-month natural breeding season. Thirty-two heifers were assigned into two groups over two consecutive years. One group grazed on Rhodes grass without SBE supplementation during the breeding season (LSBE; n = 16), while the other received SBE supplementation at 0.6% of body weight (BW) during the breeding season (HSBE; n = 16). Plasma was analyzed for total phenolic compounds, flavonoids, antiradical activity, and overall antioxidant capacity. Oxidative stress was measured using the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay to assess malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. Heifers receiving SBE had significantly higher antioxidant levels and lower oxidative stress, as indicated by reduced MDA levels, compared to the LSBE group. However, no significant differences were found on pregnancy rates, calving attributes, or postparturition recovery between the groups. These findings suggest that SBE supplementation enhances plasma antioxidant capacity and reduces oxidative damage in beef heifers without affecting reproductive outcomes.

To reduce the negative effects of excessive pesticide use, advancements have been made in the development and application of seed coating agents that require low application rates while maintaining prolonged efficacy. However, the distribution of systemic pesticides in seed coating agents across various parts of the crop can be uneven. Therefore, it is important to study the distribution and transport of systemic pesticides in seed coating agents during crop growth. This study used high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry to analyze the growth rate of corn treated with seed coating agents containing three commonly used triazole fungicides: difenoconazole, tebuconazole, and flusilazole. The differences in the absorption and transport of these triazole fungicides were examined, and a chronic dietary risk assessment was conducted. Results showed that all three triazole fungicides were absorbed into corn via roots and were subsequently transported to the stems and leaves; however, the absorption and transport rates of the different pesticides varied significantly. The concentrations of the fungicide residues were consistently the highest in the roots, with tebuconazole being transported upward and difenoconazole exhibiting minimal upward transport. Dietary risk assessment revealed that the chronic risk quotients for difenoconazole, flusilazole, and tebuconazole in corn were 76.625, 55.143, and 36.095%, respectively, indicating that these fungicides posed no significant risk to human health in China. This study provides an important reference for the scientific application of triazole fungicide seed coating agents in corn.

Grain storage is an essential component of grain supply chain management that guarantees food security within the nation. Inaccurate diagnosis of insect infestation during grain storage might lead to misinterpretation of fumigation, resulting in substantial qualitative and quantitative losses of grains. This work introduces a new deep learning model called “Rice-YOLO” (You Only Look Once) that addresses the shortcomings of existing insect detection methods. The model offers a high level of accuracy and real-time performance. This model has been optimized to accurately identify Tribolium castaneum and Rhyzopertha dominica in stored rice grains, under different background and lighting circumstances. YOLOv7 (YOLOv7 and x) and YOLOv8 (l/m/x/s/n) were the models used to train, test, and validate the insect data sets. The performance of these state-of-the-art deep learning models was assessed. YOLOv8 obtained remarkable outcomes on the Rice data set. It achieved 97.7% mean average precision (mAP) and 97.5% recall for T. castaneum, as well as a precision of 95.5%. R. dominica scored a mAP of 96.2% and a recall of 93%. The model took around 7.68 min to process and detect T. castaneum and R. dominica. The top-performing YOLOv8n model was then deployed on a laptop achieving a detection speed of 22 fps and an inference time of 6.4 ms. The findings indicated that the algorithm was rapid and effective in detecting, identifying, and quantifying insect pests in stored grains. This could facilitate the automatic identification of insects in warehouses and grain storage facilities involved in effective postharvest management.

AtGUS, identified in the genome of Aspergillus terreus Li-20, can hydrolyze glycyrrhetinic (GL) into glycyrrhetinic acid monoglucuronide (GAMG) and glycyrrhetinic acid (GA). However, the poor substrate specificity of AtGUS often limits its further application. In this study, the highly conserved Glu416 and Glu507 residues were identified as the catalytic sites of AtGUS, while Glu158, Asp163, and Arg565, which form hydrogen bonds with the substrate, play critical roles in the enzymatic activity, with Arg565 being particularly important. When Arg565 on loop 8 of the surface of the TIM barrel was mutated to glutamate, GAMG became the sole catalytic product, and the yield of GAMG from GL conversion was up to 85%. When the hydrolysis reaction was terminated, the yield of GAMG was 7.32-fold higher than that of the wild enzyme. Molecular docking and dynamic simulation analyses revealed that the affinity for the mutant R565E (K_m = 0.192 mmol/L) to the substrate GL was improved, but with reduced catalytic efficiency toward GAMG (k_cat = 5.515 ± 0.07 mmol^–1 L s^–1). This study provides new insights into understanding the catalytic mechanism and new ideas for efficient enzymatic preparation of GAMG.

The present study systemically investigated the influence of crop oil concentrate (COC) on the pesticide behavior on apples. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering was employed to monitor the persistence and penetration of carbaryl (a systemic insecticide) and thiram (a nonsystemic fungicide). The results revealed that COC significantly enhanced the penetration depth of carbaryl by 38.7% and increased the relative Raman intensity within plant tissue (Z = −120 μm) by 81.3% after 1-day exposure. Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry confirmed that COC increased the internalized carbaryl residues by 176.6%. For thiram, COC reduced its persistence when exposed to NaHCO₃ hydrolysis, decreasing removal efficiency by 38.96% after 1 day and 38.13% after 3 days, while not affecting its penetration profile. These findings highlight COC’s potential to enhance systemic pesticide penetration while facilitating the removal of surface residue, offering valuable insights for developing safer and more effective pesticide application strategies.

Sclerotium rolfsii, an omnivorous soil fungus, is responsible for diseases in a large number of agricultural and horticultural crops, resulting in huge financial losses. Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis, a wilt fungus, is a devastating soil-borne pathogen that causes huge economic losses to the muskmelon crop, hampering not only its production but also affects its fruit quality. There is a need to develop new antifungal agents owing to the increasing resistance in existing fungicides. In the present study, a series of 21 2-imidazolylchromone derivatives 6a–6u were synthesized and characterized with the help of IR, NMR (¹H & ¹³C), and LC-HRMS spectroscopic methods. Out of the 21 synthesized compounds, 17 are reported for the first time in the literature. In vitro fungicidal bioassay results indicated that all synthesized compounds exhibited fungicidal activity against both F. oxysporum and S. rolfsii. Among all synthesized compounds, 6r (6,8-dichloro-2-imidazol-1-yl-chromen-4-one) was found to be the most active against S. rolfsii (ED₅₀ = 6.78 mg L^–1) and F. oxysporum (ED₅₀ = 29.72 mg L^–1).

With the increase in global demand for sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel consumption, the development of green technologies and novel materials in various industries is becoming crucial. Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), derived from abundant and renewable sources such as wood and agricultural residues, have received enormous interest in various industries due to their exceptional mechanical, thermal, and rheological properties, tunable surface chemistry, and enhanced economic and environmental benefits. Due to the variation in production technologies and process parameters, CNFs exhibit characteristic crystallinity and surface chemistry, leading to different quality and performance of the final product. This review delves into the diverse aspects of CNFs, including their sources, pretreatment approaches, and production techniques, aiming to provide a better understanding of the production-structure-functionality-application correlations, thus making it possible to more efficiently utilize biomass and their CNFs. Then, the recent emerging applications of CNFs are summarized to explore more possibilities for the next generation of advanced materials. Finally, the challenges and opportunities, as well as future perspectives, of CNFs are outlined.

Four common orange cultivars (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) were studied to determine the effects of harvest time and cultivar on the antioxidant activity and phytochemical composition in four common orange cultivars grown in the south of Spain. “Hamlin” oranges exhibited the highest antioxidant activity and polyphenol content in all seasons and ascorbic acid in the late season, while “Bernalina” showed the lowest antioxidant activity and polyphenol content. Our results suggest that both harvest time and cultivar have a significant influence on the nutritional quality of orange fruits, impacting their antioxidant properties and ascorbic acid levels. Canonical discriminant analysis (DA) was performed to identify the compounds that could be used to determine the optimal harvest time. Limonin was significant in all cultivars analyzed. These findings underscore the importance of considering both harvest time and cultivar to optimize the nutritional and functional quality of oranges. This approach moves beyond the traditional focus on production and sensory quality.

The extensive production of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO₂ NPs) for agro-industrial purposes has led to their inevitable release into the environment, yet their ecological and threshold implications on plants are not fully understood. This study investigated the hormetic effects of CeO₂ NPs (0.125–4 mg·L^–1) on Allium sativum L. and how extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) modulate their effects. From the results, CeO₂ NPs exerted a hormetic effect on growth, physiological, and biochemical parameters, i.e., stimulatory at low concentration (0.25 mg·L^–1) and inhibitory at the highest concentration (4 mg·L^–1). Further, the toxicity observed at higher concentrations was alleviated upon EPS addition, resulting in an overall improved growth and reduced oxidative stress. Hence, our findings aim to depict the possible outcomes of EPS-NP-plant interaction that could prevail in the environment, offering insights for safer and more effective usage of NPs in agriculture to improve food safety.

Plant infiltration techniques, particularly agroinfiltration, have transformed plant science and biotechnology by enabling transient gene expression for genetic engineering of plants or genomic studies. Recently, the use of infiltration has expanded to introduce nanomaterials and polymers in plants to enable nonnative functionalities. Despite its wide use, the impact of the infiltration process per se on plant physiology needs to be better understood. This study investigates the effect of syringe infiltration, a commonly employed technique in plants, using a typical infiltration buffer solution. Noninvasive and real-time monitoring methods, including high-resolution thermal imaging and a porometer/fluorometer, were used to study the physiological responses and stress levels of the infiltrated plants. Our results revealed localized cell damage at the infiltration site due to syringe compression, but the overall cell viability and tissue integrity were largely unaffected. Thermography showed a temporary temperature increase of the leaves and stomatal conductance alterations postinfiltration, with leaf recovery in 3-6 days. Additionally, fluorescence measurements indicated a 6% decrease in maximum quantum efficiency (F _v/F _m) and a 34% decrease in photosystem II (ΦPSII) quantum yield, persisting for 5 days after infiltration, suggesting sustained photosystem efficiency changes. Our work highlights the need to consider the effect of infiltration when performing biological studies and aims to facilitate the optimization of protocols commonly used in plant science and biotechnology.