Project description:Microbial community Diversity and Structure within Organic and Conventional Farming systems in Central Highlands of Kenya
| PRJEB32433 | ENA
Project description:Nitrogen forms and cropping systems influence soil prokaryotic diversity within organic and conventional farming systems in the Central Highlands of Kenya
| PRJNA1227412 | ENA
Project description:Farming systems comparison in central highlands of Kenya
| PRJNA523223 | ENA
Project description:DNA-Seq of Prokaryotes: Long term Farming System trials in Central highlands of Kenya
| PRJNA473992 | ENA
Project description:Soil microbiome from organic and conventional farming
Project description:Quinoa is widely recognized for its exceptional nutritional properties, particularly its complete protein content. This study, for the first time, investigates the effects of processing methods (boiling and extrusion) and farming conditions (conventional and organic) on the quinoa’s proteomic profile. Following a label-free shotgun proteomics approach, a total of 1,796 proteins were identified and quantified across all quinoa samples. Regarding processing, both boiling and extrusion produced protein extracts with lower total protein content, with the number of identified proteins decreasing from 1,695 in raw quinoa to 957 in processed quinoa. Boiling led to a reduction in protein diversity and expression, while extrusion, which involves high temperatures and pressures, specifically decreased the abundance of high molecular mass proteins. Concerning cultivation practices, organic farming was associated with a broader protein diversity, especially proteins related to translation (28% vs. 5%), while conventional farming showed a higher abundance of catalytic and enzymatic proteins (67% vs. 46%). These findings highlight the distinct proteomic changes induced by different processing methods and farming conditions, offering valuable insights to manage quinoa’s nutritional, bioactive, and functional properties across various production practices.
Project description:This study investigates the impact of stress on muscle physiology and meat quality in broiler chickens by comparing protein expression profiles between organic and conventional farming systems using label-free quantitative (LFQ) proteomics. Muscle samples were analyzed via nanoLC-ESI-MS/MS coupled with comprehensive bioinformatics to identify differences in protein abundance associated with rearing conditions.A total of 7,221 proteins were identified, with 1,645 proteins upregulated and 1,612 downregulated in organic chickens compared to conventional ones. Functional analyses including Gene Ontology (GO) and STRING network analyses revealed that proteins upregulated in organic chickens were predominantly involved in oxygen transport, oxygen binding, and muscle structural organization, indicating enhanced oxygen metabolism and muscle development consistent with improved animal welfare. Conversely, proteins related to ribosomal function and RNA binding were enriched in conventional chickens, suggesting stress-related alterations in protein synthesis. KEGG pathway analysis showed significant enrichment of carbon metabolism, amino acid biosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism, and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle pathways in organic chickens, while glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, and ribosomal pathways were downregulated. Key differentially expressed proteins identified as potential biomarkers distinguishing organic from conventional meat include downregulated PGM1, AMPD1, LDHA, ENO3, and PKLR, and upregulated COL1A1, COL1A2, TTN, TPM2, CA3, MB, HSPB1, ACO2, ACAA2, and TF. These proteins are involved in muscle structure and energy metabolism and may serve as indicators of meat quality linked to stress and welfare conditions. Overall, this proteomic analysis provides novel insights into how stress modulates the muscle proteome in broiler chickens and supports the adoption of welfare-focused organic poultry production practices to improve meat quality.
Project description:Decomposition of soil organic matter in forest soils is thought to be controlled by the activity of saprotrophic fungi, while biotrophic fungi including ectomycorrhizal fungi act as vectors for input of plant carbon. The limited decomposing ability of ectomycorrhizal fungi is supported by recent findings showing that they have lost many of the genes that encode hydrolytic plant cell-wall degrading enzymes in their saprophytic ancestors. Nevertheless, here we demonstrate that ectomycorrhizal fungi representing at least four origins of symbiosis have retained significant capacity to degrade humus-rich litter amended with glucose. Spectroscopy showed that this decomposition involves an oxidative mechanism and that the extent of oxidation varies with the phylogeny and ecology of the species. RNA-Seq analyses revealed that the genome-wide set of expressed transcripts during litter decomposition has diverged over evolutionary time. Each species expressed a unique set of enzymes that are involved in oxidative lignocellulose degradation by saprotrophic fungi. A comparison of closely related species within the Boletales showed that ectomycorrhizal fungi oxidized litter material as efficiently as brown-rot saprotrophs. The ectomycorrhizal species within this clade exhibited more similar decomposing mechanisms than expected from the species phylogeny in concordance with adaptive evolution occurring as a result of similar selection pressures. Our data shows that ectomycorrhizal fungi are potential organic matter decomposers, yet not saprotrophs. We suggest that the primary function of this decomposing activity is to mobilize nutrients embedded in organic matter complexes and that the activity is driven by host carbon supply. Comparative transcriptomics of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) versus brown-rot (BR) fungi while degrading soil-organic matter