Ecocycles (E-Journal - European Ecocycles Society)
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Functional, health protecting and health maintaining food products
Full text linkFunctional foods contain sufficient quantities of ingredients that have a positive effect on life functions, contribute to the prevention of diseases, they have a health-protective effect and overall have a positive effect on the human body. In terms of functional foods, we need to look at what kind of food ingredient is given, what impact it can be expected from such a food, what component it is expected to be, and what the product will be for the consumer. The physiological effects of functional foods, consumer expectations on these foods, processes in which we are preparing functional foods, food safety in relation to functional foods, and statutory regulation should be clarified. Within food production is a new area has been defined, where technology is being developed, its effects are being accepted by buyers and producers and consumers together manage the processes that can be incorporated into traditional food production in a few years. In the first half of our communication, we discuss the basic concepts, and readers will get to know the functional foods produced by food supplements
Geographical and ecological outline of metal(loid) accumulating plants in Italian vascular flora
Full text linkThe decontamination of heavy metal polluted soils is one of the major challenges that our industrialized world has to face. Remediation technologies are being developed and employed in order to reduce the potential hazards of metal and metalloid contamination. Plants capable of uptaking metals and metalloids in their tissues can be an effective tool to remove such pollutants from contaminated soils. The use of this plant-driven process (Phytoremediation) requires the knowledge of the right phytoextractors to use when facing different types of contamination. The aim of this paper is to provide an inventory of phytoextractors that can be used in Phytoremediation procedures in Italy. The checklist includes 172 native or non-invasive alien accumulating and hyperaccumulating plants. An ecological outline of the accumulating flora was done by using the Ellenberg indicator values (EIVs). The high ecological plasticity of these species in different environmental conditions offers a wide spectrum of phytoextractors to choose from for any phytoremediation procedure
In Memory of Professor John E. Casida (1929-2018): Look for the Unusual
Full text linkThis is the obituary of Professor John E. Casida (1929-2018)
Regenerative strategies for climate justice
Full text linkThe starting-point for this paper is a growing concern about the strong and creative tension between what is global and what is local in the context of climate change and food systems. The global expression is undoubtedly powerful, based on large-scale, resource-intensive, agribusiness enterprises operating globally and seeking continued international expansion. But a tide is rising, which is reinforcing the local manifestation and provoking a strengthened commitment to local food systems while enhancing the resilience to climate change. Tragically it is those who have contributed the least to green house gas emissions who are suffering the worst effects of climate change. This paper will feature a project in the Koraput district of the state of Odisha in India, where 70% of the population is dependent on agriculture in a region where late and erratic Monsoon rains are impacting the course of farming. The region is known for its abundance of paddy fields as well as many varieties of millets, yam, and tuber crops, which are gradually vanishing due to the introduction of cash crops and GM seeds, and the increasing impact of climate change. The constant change in the environment of tribal communities in the region creates an imperative for constant learning. In this context the paper will analyse a project-based-learning and grass-roots campaign ‘Grow your own Food’ led by the tribal Women’s Federation Orissa Nari Samaj, and the local NGO THREAD, to counteract the so called “Climate-Smart Agriculture” (CSA) techniques. CSA in the region is encouraging the use of modified seeds, chemical pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers, as well as high-risk technologies such as synthetic biology, and geo-engineering. This imposition of new biotechnology has been particularly damaging for the local farmers. The paper will analyse how new climate resilient agriculture approaches combined with traditional ways of food growing and drought tolerant plants are improving the productivity of their soils and the nutrition of their meals. The paper concludes by considering the role of Education for Sustainable Development in supporting indigenous communities in climate-vulnerable regions to develop locally adapted agro-ecological responses, while attempting to address the deeper structural changes needed to tackle the root causes of poverty and climate change in the Global South
How mushrooms break through the evolutionary dead end? Genetics and the roles of mushrooms in the global carbon cycle
No full textGenes, genetics, genomics, and the roles of mushrooms and toadstools in the global carbon cycle are reviewed here.
Fungi – similar to wood eating insects – are the main decomposers (a type of consumers or heterotrophs), and consequently recyclers of biomass produced by photosynthetic organisms (i.e., the producers or autotrophs).
Photosynthesis is driven by the solar energy day by day (of Photoautotrophs) (i.e., primary producers), and night by night (of Chemoautotroph bacteria) for billions of years. Only photosynthetic organisms can produce organic materials in the Earth to supply food and feed to the Heterotrophs (animals, including Human), and Saprotrophs (i.e., decomposers) including fungi and bacteria. The crucial excess oxygen the photosynthesis produces oxygenates and maintains the life in the Earth.
Mushrooms were found to have 100-1000 times smaller genomes than plants or animals, however, enormous genome expansions of Armillarias (Eng./Hung.: honey mushrooms / tuskógombák) have indicated recently that fungi tend to break out from their closed evolutionary dead end.
Comparative genome analyses of Polyporales mushrooms have recently identified an ongoing transitioning evolutionary stage from white-rot (WR) towards brown-rot (BR) life style with loss of genes encoding enzymes to decay cell wall components of plants and trees including cellulose, hemicellulases, lignin (the three together also called lignocelluloses), and pectin. In the case of lignin, ligninase enzyme genes were evolved only in fungi to decay lignin of plants.
A tripartite symbiosis among achlorophyllous (i.e., parasitic) mycoheterotrophic plants ? mycorrhizal fungi ? and autotrophic green plants were re-discovered recently.
Here we review all of these new achievements in the research of Dicaria true fungi (Eumycota) of both Ascomycota (Eng./Hung.: Sac fungi / Töml?sgombák) and Basidiomycota (Eng./Hung.: Club fungi / Bazidiumosgombák) with special emphasis on genes, genetics, genomics and evolutionary relationships
Tourist safety and security in the Central Region of Ghana - overview and case study
Full text linkAs a result of the sharp rise in the interest for tourism activities, safety and security matters have also become one of the forces causing vicissitudes in the tourism industry in the world. Since tourism sector is contributing greatly to environmental sustainability, tourist safety is also now critical to tourism growth. In the travel and tour experiences, the satisfaction of a tourist is discussed as part of a tourist’s post-procured and consumed assessment of the destination. Review of the three most prominent tourism plans in Ghana was conducted in this study. It was discovered that there was no tourist safety policy and establishment of tourism office in most of the MMDAs. This situation has bred weak governmental administrative linkages and neglect of tourist safety and security at the MMDAs. Three tourist facilities in the Central Region of Ghana were chosen for the review-study. Responses of 550 tourists were reviewed in the study. Chi-square test was used to test whether the feeling of safety at the destination was influenced by their purpose of visit. The lingering thought-provoking question about these visits is, how safe and secured are the tourists and visitors in these facilities? It is recommended that GTA should lead the campaign exercise in these three facilities to produce a digital tourist safety and security documentary about each facility and this can assist and boost the confidence of potential tourists to appraise the safety and security of the destination before traveling
Recreational mountain biking - a new tool in rural development
Full text linkCentral Europe landscape has been used by humans for many centuries. Balanced cultural landscape provides numerous services from which recreation becomes more and more important. One of the recreation forms is still increasingly popular mountain biking. Mountain bike destinations are placed in the landscape to provide this form of short-term recreation. There are some examples of these destination in the Czech Republic (e.g. Singltrek pod Smrkem as a first Singltrek brand MTB destination in the Czech Republic, Rychleby trails, Cyklo arena Vyso?ina, Singletrail Moravský kras).
Close to nature trails (singletrails) represent one-way trails in width for one bike. These singletrails go around natural obstacles such as trees, stones, rocks and take advantage of the natural landscape modelling. Singletrails compared to conventional roads and paths blend with the surrounding terrain and present undisruptive element in the landscape. Singletrails are constructed from natural materials, the pavement is formed from materials permeable for water. The driving along these trails has its own rules to prevent possible dangerous situations and user collision. Singletrails allow the managed recreation with minimal negative impacts on ecosystems and user conflicts.
In 2015, the intention to implement a destination for mountain biking near the city of Písek in the natural parkt of Písecké hills was presented to the representatives and citizens of the City of Písek. The representatives of the city of Písek addressed an expert group from the Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Mendel University in Brno to prepare a feasibility study of the mountain bike destination intention. The partial results from this feasibility study - financial analysis and socio-economic impact analysis - are presented in this paper.
In conclusion, despite all positive results of the feasibility study the intention of the mountain bike destination on the territory of a natural park Písecké hills was rejected by the Council of the City of Písek in 2016.
 
Research directions in plant protection chemistry
Full text linkThis Opinion paper briefly summarizes the views of the authors on the directions of research in the area of plant protection chemistry. We believe these directions need to focus on (1) the discovery of new pesticide active ingredients, and (2) the protection of human health and the environment. Research revenues are discussed thematically in topics of target site identification, pesticide discovery, environmental aspects, as well as keeping track with the international trends. The most fundamental approach, target site identification, covers both computer-aided molecular design and research on biochemical mechanisms. The discovery of various classes of pesticides is reviewed including classes that hold promise to date, as well as up-to-date methods of innovation, e.g. utilization of plant metabolomics in identification of novel target sites of biological activity. Environmental and ecological aspects represent a component of increasing importance in pesticide development by emphasizing the need to improve methods of environmental analysis and assess ecotoxicological side-effects, but also set new directions for future research. Last, but not least, pesticide chemistry and biochemistry constitute an integral part in the assessment of related fields of plant protection, e.g. agricultural biotechnology, therefore, issues of pesticide chemistry related to the development and cultivation of genetically modified crops are also discussed
IN MEMORIAM: Professor András Nagymarosy (1949-2016)
Full text linkIn the present obituary, we would like to pay last honors to Professor Andras Nagymarosy, a distinguished, founding member of the European Ecocycles Society and member of the Editorial Board of its international open access scientific journal ECOCYCLES
Increased glutathione S-transferase activity in 35S(CaMV)-Zmgstf4 transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana
Full text linkClones of 35S-Zmgstf4 transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana expressing the glutathione S-transferase F4 gene of Zea mays, were tested for stress-inductive GST (glutathione S-transferase) activity following treatments with the heavy metals Zn (150 and 1500 ?M), Cd (20 and 30 ?M) and chloroacetanilide herbicide metolachlor (2000 ?M). The overexpression of Zmgstf4 gene in Arabidopsis resulted in an extreme resistance to all treatments. The GST activity of the transgenic plants was almost the double compared to the wild type plant in the untreated samples. After Cd (20 and 30 ?M), and Zn (150 and 1500 ?M) exposure the stress response activity of GSTs increased in both wild type and transgenic plants, however with significantly higher levels in transgenic plants with extreme level at 20 ?M CdSO4 treatment (0.24 in transgenic and 0.13 in wild-type). To compare GST responsivity, Zn treatments was less inductive compared to Cd. Metolachlor (200 ?M) was totally tolerated by transgenic plants, compared to wild type plants, which died in 11 days