Salinity is a major limiting factor for plant growth and development. To evaluate the impact of P5CS gene expression under in vitro salt stress condition, transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana plumbaginifolia) carrying P5CS gene and non-transgenic plants were treated with 0, 100, 150, 200 or 250 mM NaCl for 28 days. Proline content, lipid peroxidation and the activity of some antioxidant enzymes after ...

The use of microcystins (MCs) contaminated water to irrigate crop plants represents a human health risk due to their bioaccumulation potential. In addition, MCs cause oxidative stress and negatively influence photosynthetic activities in plants. The present study was aimed at investigating the effect of MCs on photosynthetic parameters and antioxidative response of lettuce. Furthermore, the bio...

Background: In Addis Ababa, where irrigation water for vegetable production is commonly derived from the highly polluted Akaki river, information on microbial contamination of water and irrigated vegetable is scanty. An assessment was done to determine the microbiological quality of irrigation water and lettuce harvested from 10 urban farming sites of Addis Ababa. The efficacy of 5 lettuce wash...

Ready-to-eat baby-leaf vegetables market has been growing and offering to consumers convenient, healthy and appealing products, which may contain interesting bioactive compounds. In this work, the composition and the evolution of the phenolic compounds from different baby-leaf vegetables during refrigerated storage was studied. The phenolic compounds were extracted using pressurized liquid extr...

Carotenoids in the photosynthetic membranes of plants typically contain two b-rings (e.g., b-carotene and zeaxanthin) or one «and one b-ring (e.g., lutein). Carotenoids with two «-rings are uncommon. We reported earlier that the Arabidopsis thaliana lycopene «-cyclase (LCYe) adds one «-ring to the symmetrical linear substrate lycopene, whereas the structurally related lycopene b-cyclase (LCYb) ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Lipid transfer protein (LTP) sensitization is the most common cause of food allergy in the Mediterranean area, with peach allergy acting as the primary sensitizer in most cases. Lettuce has been described as a common offending food in patients with LTP syndrome. The aim of the study was to investigate the frequency and clinical expression of LTP syndrome in a sample of ...

Chitin was used as soil amendment in fiberglass field microplots, alone or with one or a combination of two to three species of Hirsutella rhossiliensis, Paecilomyces marquandii, Verticillium chlamydosporium, Bacillus thuringiensis, and Streptomyces costaricanus. Sudangrass and rapeseed were planted as cover crops and incorporated into soil as green manure amendments. Chitin amendment alone inc...

Bacterial spot disease of lamb's lettuce [Valerianella locusta (L.) Laterr.] was first observed in fields in 1991. This new bacterial disease is localized in western France in high-technology field production of lamb's lettuce for the preparation of ready-to-use salad. Nineteen strains isolated in 1992 and 1993 from typical black leaf spots of naturally infected lamb's lettuce were characterize...

The microbiological safety of fresh produce is a significant concern of consumers and industry. After applying at an inoculated level (about 10(6) CFUg(-1)) of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica serovars Typhimurium on shredded iceberg lettuce and water samples individually, they were stored at 4 degrees C for 14 days and 22 degrees C for 7 days to monitor the growth and survival of pathog...

The land, water, and energy requirements of hydroponics were compared to those of conventional agriculture by example of lettuce production in Yuma, Arizona, USA. Data were obtained from crop budgets and governmental agricultural statistics, and contrasted with theoretical data for hydroponic lettuce production derived by using engineering equations populated with literature values. Yields of l...