Tocopherol contents and antioxidant activity in grape pomace after fermentation and alcohol distillation.

The wine industry in Georgia produces vast amounts of grape pomace that is currently mostly wasted, while only a minor amount is used for distilling alcohol. The study was carried out on the grape pomace from the three most widely used grapevine sorts (Vitis vinifera var. Rkatsiteli, V. vinifera var. Saperavi, V. labrusca var. Isabella)  in Georgia, and quantities of tocopherols and antioxidants were evaluated. The antioxidant activity was assessed by diphenyl-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and measurement of visible light absorption at 515 nm, and tocopherol was measured by absorption at 470 nm via a spectrophotometer. The results indicated that the grape pomace contains considerable tocopherols and antioxidant activity. However, the antioxidant activity had slightly been decreased. These results suggest that grape pomace can be an economically attractive resource for the pharmaceutical and food industries. Utilization of grape pomace for producing pharmaceutical and cosmetic goods with tocopherol and antioxidants can solve two problems: it can recycle waste and develop new profitable businesses in biotechnology.

Complete chloroplast genomes of Aegilops tauschii Coss. and Ae. cylindrica Host sheds light on plasmon D evolution.

Hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L., genomes AABBDD) originated in South Caucasus by allopolyploidization of the cultivated Emmer wheat T. dicoccum (genomes AABB) with the Caucasian Ae. tauschii ssp strangulata (genomes DD). Genetic variation of Ae. tauschii is an important natural resource, that is why it is of particular importance to investigate how this variation was formed during Ae. tauschii evolutionary history and how it is presented through the species area. The D genome is also found in tetraploid Ae. cylindrica Host (2n = 28, CCDD). The plasmon diversity that exists in Triticum and Aegilops species is of great significance for understanding the evolution of these genera. In the present investigation the complete nucleotide sequence of plasmon D (chloroplast DNA) of nine accessions of Ae. tauschii and two accessions of Ae. cylindrica are presented. Twenty-eight SNPs are characteristic for both TauL1 and TauL2 accessions of Ae. tauschii using TauL3 as a reference. Four SNPs are additionally observed for TauL2 lineage. The longest (27 bp) indel is located in the intergenic spacer Rps15-ndhF of SSC. This indel can be used for simple determination of TauL3 lineage among Ae. tauschii accessions. In the case of Ae. cylindrica additionally 7 SNPs were observed. The phylogeny tree shows that chloroplast DNA of TauL1 and TauL2 diverged from the TauL3 lineage. TauL1 lineage is relatively older then TauL2. The position of Ae. cylindrica accessions on Ae. tauschii phylogeny tree constructed on chloroplast DNA variation data is intermediate between TauL1 and TauL2. The complete nucleotide sequence of chloroplast DNA of Ae. tauschii and Ae. cylindrica allows to refine the origin and evolution of D plasmon of genus Aegilops.

Recent plant diversity changes on Europe's mountain summits.

In mountainous regions, climate warming is expected to shift species' ranges to higher altitudes. Evidence for such shifts is still mostly from revisitations of historical sites. We present recent (2001 to 2008) changes in vascular plant species richness observed in a standardized monitoring network across Europe's major mountain ranges. Species have moved upslope on average. However, these shifts had opposite effects on the summit floras' species richness in boreal-temperate mountain regions (+3.9 species on average) and Mediterranean mountain regions (-1.4 species), probably because recent climatic trends have decreased the availability of water in the European south. Because Mediterranean mountains are particularly rich in endemic species, a continuation of these trends might shrink the European mountain flora, despite an average increase in summit species richness across the region.