•Establishment of wild Taraxacum koksaghyz (Tks) in the field by transplanting in two seasons.•Plant losses were high.•Comparison of ridge and flat bed cultivation revealed an advantage of ridge ...cultivation in one season.•There is an effect of different planting densities on biomass, rubber, and inulin.•Transplant production and management of Tks for field cultivation need optimization.
As shown for other valuable crops, transplanting of wild rubber-producing Taraxacum koksaghyz (Tks) could be an option to counteract poor field emergence and stand establishment after direct seeding. Field trials (spring planting, autumn harvest) were conducted in 2012 and 2013 on a loamy soil (Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany) to investigate the influence of different planting beds (flat, ridge) and planting densities (222,222 plants/ha, 88,889/133,333 plants/ha) on the yield performance of Tks. Between planting date and harvest significant plant losses of 43–48% occurred across all treatments in both trial years. Major plant losses occurred within the first month after transplanting. The achieved planting density (APD) at harvest was significantly influenced by year, targeted planting density (TPD) and type of planting bed. Nearly all yield parameters were significantly influenced by the year of cultivation. There was a significant advantage of ridge over flat bed cultivation regarding achieved planting density, fresh root yield per hectare, and fresh/dry root yield per plant in the season 2013 and within the reduced planting density. In ridge cultivation root yield parameters were increased by 5–13%. Furthermore planting density had a significant effect on biomass yield. There were weak to strong positive linear correlations (r = −0.35 to 0.75) between achieved planting density and biomass per hectare (fresh/dry root/leaf) and moderate negative correlations (r = −0.49 to 0.57) with individual plant yield (fresh/dry root/leaf, rubber/inulin). The presented study demonstrates that transplanting of Tks on ridges can be an option to increase root yield of Tks and that the focus of future research activities should be laid on an optimization of Tks transplant production and management in the field.
Two polysaccharides were obtained from dandelion roots (DPR) and dandelion leaves (DPL) via water extraction and ethanol precipitation. Both DPR and DPL were an acid heteropolysaccharide, with a ...molecular weight of 5.89 × 10
4
and 28.2 × 10
4
Da, respectively. Monosaccharide composition results showed that both DPR and DPL contained Man, Glc, Rha, GalA, Glc, Gal, and Ara with a molar ratios of 2.98:1.00:3.67:6.41:2.98:16.70:2.48 and 1.23:1.00:1.06:5.74:2.88:8.59:1.84, respectively. Methylation and NMR analysis showed DPR and DPL, with triple-helix conformations, were mainly composed of 4-ɑ-Gal
p
and 4-ɑ-GalA
p,
terminated with t-ɑ-Ara
f
, t-ɑ-Rha
p
, t-ɑ-Glc
p
and t-ɑ-Man
p
. DPL showed an immunoprotective effect in cyclophosphamide (Cy)-induced black-bone silky chickens by improving chicken growth performance, increasing the spleen, thymus, and bursa of Fabricius indices, and promoting blood lymphocyte proliferation, the secretion of cytokines (IL-2, IL-6, and INF-γ) and serum immunoglobulin (IgA, IgG, and IgM) levels in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the oxidative stress damage in immunosuppressed chickens was significantly reformed after DPL treatment. These findings provide useful information on the potential for application of dandelion polysaccharides as natural nutrients to enhance chicken immune and antioxidant functions.
Graphical Abstract
Vargön Alloys in Western Sweden is one of the largest producers of ferrochrome slag in Europe. Ferrochrome slag is a by-product from the production of ferrochrome, an essential component in stainless ...steel. Extensive tests have been carried out on the physical properties of the ferrochrome slag from Vargön Alloys and it was found to be highly suitable as road construction material. The composition and leaching tests of the ferrochrome slag show that the chromium content is high, 1–3%, although leaching under normal conditions is very low. With the exception of potassium (K), which had a potential leaching capacity (availability test) of around 16%, the leaching of chromium, nickel, zinc and other elements was just a few per cent. However, all these tests were conducted in the laboratory. What happens out in the field, under the influence of acid rain and biological activity, and how does this compare with the laboratory results? To answer this question an investigation was carried out to study the environmental impact of ferrochrome slag in roads that were built in 1994. The investigation includes soil sampling (total content and leachable amounts of metals) and groundwater analysis (filtered and non-filtered samples). In addition, a new method involving the bio-uptake of chromium and other metals by the roots of the dandelion (
Taraxacum officinale) was tested. The results show that there was a low migration of particles from the slag to the underlying soil and that the leaching into the groundwater was also low for all the elements analysed. However, there seemed to be a significant uptake of Cr by plants growing with their roots in the slag. An investigation of plant uptake was an important complement to laboratory leaching tests on alternative materials.
A serine proteinase from roots of Taraxacum officinale Webb S. L. was isolated by affinity chromatography and gel-filtration on Superose 6R using FPLC. The enzyme is a 67-kD glycoprotein containing ...54% carbohydrate which we have named taraxalisin. The substrate specificity of taraxalisin toward synthetic peptides and oxidized insulin B-chain is comparable with that of cucumisin from Cucumis melo and the subtilisin-like serine proteinase macluralisin from Maclura pomifera. The proteinase is inactivated by DFP and PMSF. Taraxalisin exhibits maximal activity at pH 8.0. The pH range for stability of the enzyme is narrow--6.0-9.0. The temperature optimum for the subtilisin-like activity is 40 degrees C. The N-terminal sequence of taraxalisin has 40% of its residues identical to those of subtilisin Carlsberg. Thus, the serine proteinase from dandelion roots is a member of the subtilisin family, which is evidently widespread in the plant kingdom.
PDF
