Global Challenges and Solutions in the Early Warning,Monitoring and Toxicity Assessment of Biotoxins in the Food and Feed Chain

There is a massive and urgent need to ensure safety and security of the food supply of the world´s growing population.However,global agriculture and food industries continue to be vulnerable to problems of contamination with biotoxins produced by plants,algae and particularly by fungi;with global warming and extreme weather events making the occurrence of these toxic metabolites even more unpredictable.In this paper we summarize the multidisciplinary,multi-sectoral complementary competencies needed to innovate in various scientific fields and approaches,so strongly needed to develop improved early warning,monitoring and toxicity assessment of biotoxins in the food and feed chain.These include big data approaches using satellite and drone images,portable monitoring devices and(combined)toxicity testing of(emerging)biotoxins using proteomics and transcriptomics.

Comprehensive Evaluation of New Maize Varieties for Grain and Fodder Based on Membership Function Method

To screen new maize(Zea mays L.)varieties suitable for food and fodder dual-purpose in Du'an Yao Autonomous County of Guangxi,the agronomic characters,yield and quality indexes of 12 new maize varieties were measured,and the correlation between various indexes were analyzed,and the comprehensive performance of tested varieties was evaluated by membership function method.The results showed that Guidan 671 had the highest grain yield and whole-plant biomass at 10908 and 49965 kg/hm^(2),respectively,and the second was Zhaoyu 215 with a grain yield and whole-plant biomass of 10086 and 47175 kg/hm^(2),respectively.Grain yield was highly significantly positively correlated with ear diameter and 100-grain weight(P<0.01),and significantly correlated with whole-plant biomass,starch content,ear length and grain number per row(P<0.05);and the whole-plant biomass was highly significantly correlated with the number of grains per row(P<0.01),and significantly correlated with starch content,panicle length,plant height and panicle height(P<0.05).The comprehensive performance scores of the tested varieties from high to low were Guidan 671,Zhaoyu 215,Guidan 669,Guidan 6208,Guidan 666,Guidan 6205,Guidan 660,Guidan 6203,Guidan 6206,Guidan 162,Guidan 668 and Guidan 673.According to the values of membership function and combined with various indexes,Guidan 671 and Zhaoyu 215 had good comprehensive performance,and could be used as the first choice for food and fodder dual-purpose maize varieties in Du'an Yao Autonomous County.

SYBR~ Green qPCR Screening Methods for Detection of Anti-herbicide Genes in Genetically Modified Processed Products

The use of genetically modified organisms （GMOs） as food products becomes more and more widespread. The European Union has implemented a set of very strict procedures for the approval to grow, import and/or utilize GMOs as food or food ingredients. Thus, analytical methods for detection of GMOs are necessary in order to verify compliance with labelling requirements. There are few effective screening methods for processed GM （genetically modified） products. Three anti-herbicide genes （CP4- EPSPS, BAR and PAT） are common exogenous genes used in commercialized transgenic soybean, maize and rice, In the present study, a new SYBR Green qPCR screening method was developed to simultaneously detect the three exogenous anti-herbicide genes and one endogenous gene in a run. We tested seven samples of representative processed products （soya lecithin, soya protein powder, chocolate beverage, infant rice cereal, maize protein powder, maize starch, and maize jam） using the developed method, and amplicons of endogenous gene and transgenic fragments were obtained from all the processed products, and the sensitivity was 0.1%. These results indicated that SYBR Green qPCR screening method was appropriate for qualitative detection of transgenic soybean, maize and rice in processed products.

Contribution of microbial phytases to the improvement of plant growth and nutrition: A review

Phytases belong to the class of phosphohydrolases that begin the step-wise hydrolysis of phosphates from phytates. Phytates are a derivative of myo-inositol, which is the primary storage form of organic phosphorus in plant cells. Phytase has been used globally to diminish phosphorus pollution and to enhance nutrition in monogastrics. In this review, the classification, sources, and diversity of microbial phytases, and their practical applications, as well as supplementation of the soil with transgenic and wild types of microbial strains, which can release phytase to enhance phosphorus availability for plant uptake and reduce the need for fertilizers, are discussed. The overexpressed microbial phytases in transgenic plants enhance the growth capacity of co-cultivated plants and can therefore be employed in agricultural and biotechnological practices, such as intercropping. The introduction of phytases into the soil for improved plant growth and enhanced crop yield can be accomplished without extra cost. A diverse group of photoautotrophic microalgae can synthesize phytase and will likely be useful in many human food and animal industries.