The seed of Cannabis sativa L. is an expanding source of proteins and oil for both humans and animals. In this study, the proximate composition of a collection of hemp cultivars and accessions of different geographical origins grown under the same conditions for 1 year was analyzed in order to identify potential accessions to improve hemp cultivars. Fatty acids, tocopherols, and antinutritional components, as well as concentrations of crude protein and oil were quantified. The seed oil concentrations varied between 285 and 360 g kg−1 dry seed (DS), while crude protein ranged between 316 and 356 g kg−1 dry matter (DM). The seed oil was mainly composed of unsaturated fatty acids and, as expected, the dominant fatty acids were linoleic and α-linolenic acid. A high variability among the cultivars and accessions was also detected for polyphenolic content which ranged from 5.88 to 10.63 g kg−1 DM, cv. Felina was the richest, whereas cv. Finola had the lowest polyphenolic content. Regarding antinutritional compounds in seed, a high variability was detected among all genotypes analyzed and phytic acid was particularly abundant (ranging between 43 and 75 g kg−1 DM). In conclusion, our results reveal noticeable differences among hemp seed genotypes for antinutritional components, oil and protein content. Collectively, this study suggests that the hemp seed is an interesting product in terms of protein, oil and antioxidant molecules but a reduction of phytic acid would be desirable for both humans and monogastric animals. The high variability detected among the different genotypes indicates that an improvement of hemp seed might be possible by conventional and/or molecular breeding.

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Fat supplementation plays an important role in defining milk fatty acids (FA) composition of ruminant products. The use of sources rich in linoleic and α-linolenic acid favors the accumulation of conjugated linoleic acids isomers, increasing the healthy properties of milk. Ruminal microbiota plays a pivotal role in defining milk FA composition, and its profile is affected by diet composition. The aim of this study was to investigate the responses of rumen FA production and microbial structure to hemp or linseed supplementation in diets of dairy goats. Ruminal microbiota composition was determined by 16S amplicon sequencing, whereas FA composition was obtained by gas-chromatography technique. In all, 18 pluriparous Alpine goats fed the same pre-treatment diet for 40±7 days were, then, arranged to three dietary treatments consisting of control, linseed and hemp seeds supplemented diets. Independently from sampling time and diets, bacterial community of ruminal fluid was dominated by Bacteroidetes (about 61.2%) and Firmicutes (24.2%) with a high abundance of Prevotellaceae (41.0%) and Veillonellaceae (9.4%) and a low presence of Ruminococcaceae (5.0%) and Lachnospiraceae (4.3%). Linseed supplementation affected ruminal bacteria population, with a significant reduction of biodiversity; in particular, relative abundance of Prevotella was reduced (-12.0%), whereas that of Succinivibrio and Fibrobacter was increased (+50.0% and +75.0%, respectively). No statistically significant differences were found among the average relative abundance of archaeal genera between each dietary group. Moreover, the addition of linseed and hemp seed induced significant changes in FA concentration in the rumen, as a consequence of shift from C18 : 2n-6 to C18 : 3n-3 biohydrogenation pathway. Furthermore, dimethylacetal composition was affected by fat supplementation, as consequence of ruminal bacteria population modification. Finally, the association study between the rumen FA profile and the bacterial microbiome revealed that Fibrobacteriaceae is the bacterial family showing the highest and significant correlation with FA involved in the biohydrogenation pathway of C18 : 3n-3.

Plants develop in a microbe-rich environment and must interact with a plethora of microorganisms, both pathogenic and beneficial. Indeed, such is the case of Pseudomonas , and its model organisms P. fluorescens and P. syringae , a bacterial genus that has received particular attention because of its beneficial effect on plants and its pathogenic strains. The present study aims to compare plant-beneficial and pathogenic strains belonging to the P. syringae species to get new insights into the distinction between the two types of plant–microbe interactions. In assays carried out under greenhouse conditions, P. syringae pv. syringae strain 260-02 was shown to promote plant-growth and to exert biocontrol of P. syringae pv. tomato strain DC3000, against the Botrytis cinerea fungus and the Cymbidium Ringspot Virus . This P. syringae strain also had a distinct volatile emission profile, as well as a different plant-colonization pattern, visualized by confocal microscopy and gfp labeled strains, compared to strain DC3000. Despite the different behavior, the P. syringae strain 260-02 showed great similarity to pathogenic strains at a genomic level. However, genome analyses highlighted a few differences that form the basis for the following hypotheses regarding strain 260-02. P. syringae strain 260-02: (i) possesses non-functional virulence genes, like the mangotoxin-producing operon Mbo ; (ii) has different regulation pathways, suggested by the difference in the autoinducer system and the lack of a virulence activator gene; (iii) has genes encoding DNA methylases different from those found in other P. syringae strains, suggested by the presence of horizontal-gene-transfer-obtained methylases that could affect gene expression.

The development of new sustainable containment strategies of plant diseases is very important to guarantee food security while reducing the environmental impact of agriculture. Research of new biocontrol agents is a long and difficult process that involves several steps that start from the identification of possible candidates which, for example, show antibiotic activities, and ends with in field, large scale trials. In this study, the plant growth promoting potential and antifungal effect exerted by a novel, putative candidate biocontrol agent, strain R16, identified as Paenibacillus pasadenensis by sequence analysis of 16S rRNA and rpoB genes, against three important plant pathogenic fungi (Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium verticillioides, and Phomopsis viticola), were assessed. Biochemical assays to determine plant growth promoting potential gave negative results for siderophore production and phosphate solubilization, and positive results for ACC-deamination and IAA production. Further biochemical assays for endophytic lifestyle and antifungal activity gave positive results for catalase and chitinase activity, respectively. In vitro antagonism assays showed that strain R16 is effective against B. cinerea, reducing mycelial growth both in dual-culture and through volatile substances, characterized to be mostly composed by farnesol, and inhibiting conidia germination. Good antagonistic potential was also observed in vitro towards P. viticola, but not towards F. verticillioides. Moreover, in vivo assays confirmed the strain R16 activity reduced the infection rate on B. cinerea-inoculated berries. The obtained results firstly proved that P. pasadenesis strain R16 is a putative plant growth promoter and effective against phytopathogenic fungi. Further studies will be needed to investigate the possible application of this strain as a biocontrol agent.

Summary -A centripetal temperature gradient takes place in Grana Padano (GP) during moulding because of the slow heat transfer within the cheese and the fast cooling of the outer part. This gradient, in combination with the low pH value, induces a centripetal inactivation of alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Throughout the ripening process, the activity of the enzyme keeps > 3 10 5 mU/kg cheese in the peripheral zones and < 300 mU in the core. The objective of the present study was to determine whether the presence of heat load gradients and ALP inactivation improves the analytical distinction between GP and imitation hard cheeses and affects the ripening behaviour. DifferentIy ripened sampies of traditional GP, grana cheese of reduced size, or made from pasteurized milk following GP technology, or collected at the market were submitted to a stratigraphie study. For each cheese sample, subsequent portions collected from the rind to the core were analyzed for moi sture and water activity, a w ' ALP activity, furosine, free ami no acids (FAA), casein phosphopeptides (CPPs) and free fatty acids (FFA). Regarding cheese characterization, thermal treatments of cheese milk can be recognized in GP only by determining the enzyme activity in the most peripheral portions. When the size of the cheese is reduced, cooling in moulding is faster and ALP inactivation in the core is lower. When the moulded cheese is heated, inactivation of the enzyme also takes place in the outer parts. The furosine values, which describe the extent of heat load in dairy systems, increase from the outer part to the GP core (from 10 mg to 60 mg/lOO g protein). This gradient is unaffected by prolonged ripening, but changes when modifications in technoIogical parameters such as pasteurization of milk, forced heating in moulding and reduction of cheese size are introduced. The distribution of ALP and furosine values within the cheese constitutes a distinctive parameter between GP and its imitation products. Regarding chee se ripening, ail the values of chemical indices adopted for describing the ripening of GP show a progressive increase from the inner to the outer portions of nine-or 15-month-old chee se samples. These patterns are more pronounced for most of the FAA, and are marked for free serine which increases in the outer zones up to 50% more than in the core. The amount of 'enzyme resistant' CPP~-CN(f16-22)3P, the accumulation of whieh requires the presence of active phosphatases and aminopeptidases, has the same stratigraphie behaviour as that of FAA. The close Résumé -Effets du gradient de chaleur, pendant le moulage, sur la caractérisation et l'affinage du Grana Padano. Pendant le moulage du Grana Padano (GP), on constate un lent transfert de chaleur dans le fromage et un rapide refroidissement de la périphérie. Ces conditions. en combinaison avec la basse valeur du pH, déterminent un gradient centripète d'inactivation de la phosphatase alcaline (ALP) qui montre, pendant tout le temps de l'affinage, une activité supérieure à 3 10 5 mU par kilo de...

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