The global warming potential of a kilo of pork varies from 3.9 to 10 kilos of CO₂-equivalents; that of a kilo of chicken from 3.7 to 6.9 kilos. The impact of beef on the environment lies between 14 and 32 kilos of CO₂-equivalents. The production of a kilo of beef also requires a bigger land area and more fossil energy. Studies into chicken and pork have shown that chicken scores just a little better than pork.

The differences in environmental impact among chickens, pigs and cattle are caused by differences in animal feed and reproduction. 'The environmental impact will be less serious when animal feed is used more efficiently, or when the female animal can produce more offsprings', de Boer explains.

Meat directive
The meat directive announced a few months ago that chicken is better for the environment than pork, while beef does the most damage. The directive is based on LCA studies done by Blonk Milieuadvies. However, De Boer and De Vries point to the risks of using LCA results directly in an instrument such as the meat directive. A LCA does not account for the fact that pigs and chickens consume products that humans also eat, such as grain, maize and soya, while grazing cattle do not do that.

If environmental impact caused by a kilo of protein is compared, beef tops the list of products. However, the differences among milk, chicken, eggs and pork seem to be less straightforward. There was only one study which compared the environmental impact of chicken and pork to that of milk and eggs. To arrive at definitive conclusions will require more comparative studies.

Harmonization
'It would also be useful', adds De Boer, 'if LCA studies in Europe can be made more comparable in the future.' She is involved in bringing together various institutes which produce life cycle assessments of animal products, such as INRA in France, SIK in Sweden and ART Zurich in Switzerland. Blonk Milieuadvies has also been invited to join this group. 'We want to see a harmonization of the methods and data used. This will also benefit the discussion about the carbon footprint of products', says De Boer. 'We want to help to make animal farming more sustainable and consumers more environment conscious. This process would require openness about research methods and justification of the data collected.' / Albert Sikkema

Selection process
The pig was domesticated by man nineteen thousand years ago. What changes had the pig genome undergone during the selection process? Groenen hopes to find the answer using DNA fragments of a pig from an archeological dig. The comparison of pig species in various parts of the world would throw light into the genetic process of species formation. Groenen also wants to find out how pig breeding has affected the pig genome. To do this, he will compare the DNA of a present pig population to animals of the same population ten generations ago.

The enormous amount of data which will result will be sorted out by Groenen, two PhD students and two postdocs using bio-informatic programmes. 'We want to find out in which areas of the genome changes have taken place, and which genes are involved in the process.'

Two hundred species
The research team's vast knowledge of the pig genome will come in handy. In the past two years, the Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre had already compared a part of the DNA of more than two hundred pig species. Groenen made use of this knowledge in a powerful research proposal to the European Research Council, which in January gave credit to the proposal by awarding him a personal subsidy of 2.5 million euros for the coming five years. Groenen's research programme has begun on 1 March.

Leaps and bounds
Later this year, a researchers' consortium - including Groenen - will publish the complete pig DNA sequence. That will be a very good foundation on which subsequent research can be built, says Groenen. For example, he wants to know more about the genetic background of growth, fertility and resistance to pig diseases.

Six years ago, Groenen was co-author of the chicken DNA sequence. The amount of DNA information is growing by leaps and bounds. 'You can scan more and more genetic information faster and faster at lower and lower costs. The knowledge of base pairs in the world doubles every five months. This knowledge increase goes faster than the increase in computing capacity of computers.' Groenen will contribute 1.2 trillion base pairs to the gene pool in the coming years. 'We're going to trace the genetic variations. We're very good at that.' / Albert Sikkema

Education
Kikulwe concluded that the higher their education and income, the more negative Ugandan consumers were about GM technology. Most of the opponents to GM technology in Uganda, 42 percent, live in the cities. GM's supporters, the other 58 percent, live in the rural areas. The rural population, with low incomes and large households, expect the disease-resistant banana species to raise their incomes. The urban population, with their higher incomes, are wary of the health and environmental risks. So education has a negative impact on willingness to pay for GM bananas, claims Kikulwe.

Cautious
The research makes it clear that GM technology mainly benefits the poor in Africa, says Kikulwe. He also concludes that the introduction of GM bananas would be advantageous for all Ugandans. But in view of the expected resistance from the urban population, he argues for a cautious introduction of the GM banana after safety assessments.
Kikulwe's research has been financed by the Rockefeller foundation and the Belgian government. He obtains his PhD on 19 March; his supervisor was environmental economist Ekko van Ierland. The chair group is organizing a symposium on the role of GM technology in development on 18 March. / Albert Sikkema

More efficient energy utilisation in greenhouse horticulture will require the best possible utilisation of all available heat. New techniques are therefore studied in the context of the programme Greenhouse as Energy Source. One of those techniques is the thermo-electric generator (TEG). This device is based on the principle that temperature differences between two materials result in an electric current. TEGs are currently, e.g.,  used for generating electricity at very remote places and in the space industry.

Heat loss
Energy loss in the form of residual heat occurs in different places in greenhouse horticulture. Utilisation of this heat is desirable to make the most efficient use of fossil fuels. The possibilities of TEG in combination with Heat Power Coupling, tube heating, heat buffers and lighting have been assessed in the desk study.
Technical possibilities for generating electricity with residual heat were identified for all situations. Practicability at the moment, however, is limited. The main bottleneck in case of tube heating and heat buffers is the fact that the temperature difference with the environment is not large; this means that electricity generation cannot be efficient. In combination with lighting, TEC is technically very complicated. At the moment only a combination with Heat Power Coupling seems to be feasible but the current costs of the systems are still very high, resulting in long cost recovery times. The researchers do not expect application of the TEG technology in horticulture before a considerable price decrease of TEGs per produced Watt. 

The study has been carried out for the Product Board for Horticulture and the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, in cooperation with KEMA and Gasterra.

Two very harmful longhorn beetle species are considered as quarantine organism in the Netherlands. These longhorn-beetles originate from Asia and may be present in materials such as wooden packaging materials. The chance of the longhorn-beetle escaping from packaging material, and thus the chance of settlement in the Netherlands, increased considerably as result of the increasing trade with countries such as China.
Around Mid December 2009 trees infested by the East Asian longhorn beetle were found in Boskoop. This was the reason for destroying everything in a radius of one hundred metres around the infested trees. And at the end of January 2010 a buffer zone with a radius of two kilometres was established around the place where the insect had been found. There are two hundred holdings in this area with at least one of the seventeen plant species in which the longhorn beetle can reproduce. Inspections have meanwhile, however, shown that longhorn beetles are no longer present in the area. But alertness remains required.

Detection
“A preliminary investigation shows that it is possible to scan suspected objects by means of X ray imaging and thus automatically detect boreholes. These images are then analysed by means of special software for image recognition. This enables quantification of the extent of infestation,” explains scientist Roel Jansen. “This technique can, after further development, in principle be used for inspection purposes. After our preliminary investigation we now wish to establish the feasibility of detection equipment for several types of wood and for other types of infestation.”
Jansen conducts this research in cooperation with Willem Jan de Kogel (PRI), Hans Helsper (PRI) and Henk Jalink (WUR Greenhouse Horticulture). The next steps the group wishes to make concern the development of equipment for use in the field and the further development of the current equipment now already used at airports. The research is financed by the Dutch Ministry of LNV (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality).

Drainage is relatively common practice in rose cultivation to prevent unwanted growth inhibition and salt accumulation. This is in conflict with the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) which stipulates that the quality of surface water must be improved. The sector has therefore agreed that emissions from greenhouse horticulture must be reduced to virtually zero by 2027. Drainage or discharge must be prevented which makes water recirculation desirable.
Continuous recirculation in rose cultivation requires water treatment to solve problems such as growth inhibition and pesticides residues. A new technique based on advanced oxidation with hydrogen peroxide and UV treatment seems to offer perspectives.

Research in practice
Laboratory experiments in 2009 showed that water treatment with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in combination with UV cleans water sufficiently to limit growth inhibition in a biotest. The next step is testing this treatment in a long-term experiment in practice.
Such an experiment will be carried out in the greenhouses of Meewisse Roses in Bleiswijk with the Grand Prix cultivar. The following three water treatments are compared:

“We see it as our responsibility to ensure that this valuable stripe rust collection, which includes a range of historical physiological races of the fungus, is fully available for research and training of scientists and plant breeders,” says Gert Kema of Plant Research International (part of the Plant Sciences Group). “The recently established Global Rust Reference Centre is an excellent location for our collection, as it aims to facilitate the research and training of scientists.” Mogens Støvring Hovmøller, manager of the Global Rust Reference Centre: "The material from Wageningen is a very important addition to our own collection. It contains many well characterised isolates from the past. These will be of great value to our users and will help to fight the increasing problems with yellow rust epidemics  in many parts of the world"

Stripe rust on a wheat leaf

The Wageningen collection of stripe rust includes unique ‘old’ races of the fungus. These strains of the fungus date back to the time when resistant wheat varieties rarely if ever impeded the fungus from growing and spreading in Europe and many developing countries. These races make the collection eminently suitable for performing DNA research into the genetic differences between races and their development and origin. Kema: “Recent biological and technological developments in DNA research will enable to map the genomes of dozens of races. This knowledge could greatly stimulate the development of wheat varieties with new resistances that this fungus will find hard to break.”

This image shows the fungus growing through a leaf, as seen through a microscope.

Stripe rust is one of the major wheat pathogens globally. This is why plant breeders develop varieties that are resistant to the fungus that causes the disease, Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici. In return, the fungus tries to circumvent the resistance, which is the main reason for the development of so many different races around the world.

Every race is capable of affecting several specific wheat varieties. Which varieties are involved is what characterises the race, making it important for plant breeders to use properly characterised fungus material in their research and breeding and selection programmes. 

The former DLO-Research Institute for Plant Protection (IPO) took the initiative for the collection as a result of studies by renowned Wageningen professor Jan Carel Zadoks, who was awarded his doctoral degree in 1961 for research into the epidemiology of the fungus. The collection and the research into the collection came to global prominence when the Wageningen scientists Ron Stubbs (deceased) and Cor van Silfhout and their colleagues collected and characterised thousands of fungus samples from all over the world in cooperation with CIMMYT in Mexico. Since then, the collection has been intensively used for research and training purposes.

At the end of the previous century, the number of Dutch wheat breeding companies declined considerably. Partly in view of this development, Wageningen also scaled down its research into stripe rust. This is another reason why Plant Research International decided to present the collection to the Global Rust Reference Centre. Established in 2008, the centre is a joint initiative of the Aarhus University in Denmark and the international research institutes ICARDA in Syria and CIMMYT in Mexico.

The collection of Wageningen UR was transported using a special container with liquid nitrogen.	The collection of Wageningen UR at its new site: the Global Rust Reference Centre in Aarhus, Denmark

The transport of the collection from Wageningen to Aarhus was arranged by the company Linde Gas, which has both the expertise and the equipment required.

Photo: Phytoplasma in strawberry

The phytoplasm COST action should yield strategies that help preventing the spreading of diseases through phytoplasmas, e.g., by searching for good detection methods for the recognition of phytoplasmas in a plant.

In Europe phytoplasmas cause a lot of damage in grape cultivation in particular. Phytoplasmas also cause damage in the Netherlands. This is why Martin Verbeek and Annette Dullemans (PRI) have now for over two years been working on phytoplasmas in fruit cultivation (apple proliferation) and strawberry cultivation. Maarten de Kock and Khan Pham (PPO) are working on phytoplasmas in bulb crops, pears and peaches.

Phytoplasmas are bacterial types of plant parasites that are lodging in plants. Phytoplasmas are good at hiding in a plant, which makes detection difficult.
Many phytoplasmas are so-called quarantine organisms: very harmful organisms than may not, or to a limited extent, be present in European countries because they may cause large economic damage.

The phytoplasma COST action is led by Prof. Dr. Assunta Bertaccini of the University of Bologna and Dr. Mogens Nicolaisen of the University of Aarhus. Both are heading the phytoplasma working package in the European QBOL project of which Peter Bonants (PRI) is project leader. QBOL maps DNA barcodes of existing collections of quarantine organisms, including phytoplasmas.

More information about the phytoplasma COST action: www.costphytoplasma.eu

A consortium of Dutch, Ukrainian and Belgian institutes and companies led by Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research is to develop a business model for producing certified sustainable biomass pellets in the Ukraine for export markets and for local fuel production. The project responds to the growing demand for sustainable biomass on the energy markets and explores the largely untapped potential of the Ukraine.

Biomass Chains
Researchers will investigate biomass chains based on currently underutilized byproducts; straw and reed. Also potential biomass chains based on switchgrass and Miscanthus will be researched because of their low input /high yield energy properties. The chains will be assessed for compliance with sustainability standards (NTA-8080) and for desired economic impact.

Ukraine’s potential
The project aims to develop the potential of 1 to 5 million of hectares of land that are currently un- or underutilized in the Ukraine (as in other countries in Eastern Europe). Switchgrass and Miscanthus field experiments will be carried out in different soil types, with varying levels of fertility and management systems. By using this surplus land undesired competition for food and agricultural land should be avoided. Straw availability is estimated at more than 10 million tons yearly, much of which is currently burned in the field. Reed from natural areas is also often burned. The project will develop methods for harvesting this underutilized biomass in a sustainable way, thus opening possibilities for tapping into large biomass potentials for production of electricity, heat and second generation biofuels and chemicals.

Sustainable Biomass Import
This project responds to the observed mismatch between on the one hand a growing demand for biomass on the Dutch and E.U. energy markets for generation of "green energy" and on the other hand huge amounts of biomass currently not utilised in the Ukraine, a country plagued by economic depression, land degradation, depopulation and lack of economic heating fuel on the local level. The use of this biomass as an energy source should reduce the emission of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. At the same time, it will generate local employment and address local energy needs.

Consortium
In this consortium, research institutes Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research, Alterra-part of Wageningen UR- and Poltava State Agrarian Academy take part, as well as the companies Tuzetka (Bel), Phytofuels (UA) and Control Union (NL). On March 11 the Minister of Economic affairs (Maria van der Hoeven) presented the subsidies to the 7 awarded projects. Funding comes from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs under the Sustainable Biomass Import programme. The Sustainable Biomass Import programme aims to give an impulse to the development of an economy based on biomass for chemistry, transportation fuels and energy.

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Ronny Joosen, scientist at the Plant Physiology chair group of the Plant Sciences Group, is one of the developers of the Germinator system and the principal author of the article in The Plant Journal. “Germinator is an intelligent combination of three elements,” Joosen explains. “Firstly, it involves designing the test and creating the administration required for the research to ensure that the samples are studied in sufficient repeats and ‘at random’. Germinator then uses image analysis to determine the ungerminated seeds in a fast and reliable way. Unlike other systems Germinator does not require precise positioning of the seeds and this flexibility means the system can be used effectively in large-scale experiments. Thirdly the system rapidly calculates hundreds of germination curves, allowing for the comparison of the germination characteristics of large numbers of seed samples.” 

Germination capacity is a very important characteristic of plant seeds. Seeds that do not germinate sufficiently affect the initial phase of the crop, which eventually results in lower yields or a lower yield quality. The germination percentage of seeds is so vital that seed batches can be rejected because of it. Rejected seed batches are unsellable and represent an enormous loss for seed companies.

The research group that developed Germinator studies the genetic background of seed quality using thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana), among other species. Thale cress is a model plant that is often used for biological research. However, seeds of thale cress are very small and the challenge of manually counting the germination has prevented it from being deployed in large-scale experiments. The development of Germinator means this time-consuming and mind-numbing process is a thing of the past and many seed laboratories have already started using the system.

In addition to thale cress, Germinator is also being used to evaluate rape seed germination and it is expected that the system will be suitable for many more plant species. Calculating germination curves is a separate module and thus applicable to all plant species.

The scientists have also used Germinator in their own research, including a successful study into the natural variation of saline-tolerance in the germination of thale cress seeds. Joosen: “This study proved that by using Germinator a single person could easily evaluate thousands of germination tests in one day. Now we can finally start focussing on some very large-scale experiments.”

• The complete package including instructions is available for free via: www.wageningenseedlab.nl/germinator
• Publication:"germinator: a software package for high-throughput scoring and curve fitting of Arabidopsis seed" 

Haverkort expects the gene technology Modena potato of Avebé to also be approved shortly. This potato also produces amylopectine. 'BASF has introduced an extra antibiotic marker gene. Avebé uses a more modern, marker-less technique. I expect the Avebé potato to have even less constraints.' Farmers may cultivate Amflora potatoes only if they can keep these clearly separated from normal potatoes.

Phythophthora
Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic are expected to be interested in cultivating the transgenetic potato. 'This is the first time recognition is given to a transgenetic vegetation specially developed for the European market', says Haverkort.

He sees more hopeful developments ahead. This summer, the European Commission will determine which genetic techniques continue to be classified under genetic modification. Haverkort is curious if cisgenesis (modification with genes of the same species), acclaimed by Wageningen plant scientists, would be labelled as genetic modification.

His research group is involved in the development of a cisgenetic potato resistant to the disease Phythophthora. In the research programme DuRPh , PRI is studying disease resistance with three or four genes simultaneously. The institute has in the meanwhile signed an agreement with the international potato institute CIP in Peru and Cornell University in the U.S. to develop a cisgenetic potato in Africa. 'The introduction of transgenetic and cisgenetic potatoes is a slow process, but it's moving.'  / Albert Sikkema

Nothing to it
The costs of converting cell walls into alcohol are currently too high. The bottleneck lies in the first step of this process: the breaking down of cellulose in the cell walls. Cellulose consists of a lengthy and robust chain of sugar molecules which require expensive enzymes to be separated from one another. As for the rest of the process, there's nothing to it: the individual sugar molecules can be easily fermented into bio-alcohol, which is suitable as a fuel. Torres Salvador therefore wants to find ways to cultivate maize plants whose cellulose can be broken down more efficiently. 'I am concentrating on cell wall properties which can influence the breaking down and fermentation process', the PhD student explains. 'In addition, it is essential for us to identify the genes which determine the properties of the cell walls.' With this approach, he hopes to change the maize plant in such a way that it can produce bio-alcohol which can compete with fossil fuels.

Virgin forests
Gene technology is another useful tool whereby energy from maize plants can be extracted more efficiently, says Torres Salvador. 'It would be ideal if we can cultivate a plant which produces enzymes to break down their own cell walls. But this wouldn't be easy to do.' Despite the enormous possibilities, there is also much resistance to the use of agricultural land for fuel production, as evident from the arguments put up by several members of the audience during the symposium: the planting of alcohol-producing vegetation can threaten food production and encourage the felling of virgin forests. To tackle this problem, Torres Salvador wants, for example, to make plants which can grow on marginal land where very little else can grow on. 'Despite problems which can arise, we have to remain optimistic', is his belief. 'What I really want to say is that plant breeding can be an excellent contribution to the transition to a sustainable biobased economy.' / Hans Wolkers

Order
'The genes are not next to each other by coincidence; there is an order to it', says Groenen. He guesses that the clustering of high expression genes makes them more accessible and is therefore efficient for the cell.
These insights do not have any immediate practical applications for the breeding of chickens. 'But with more knowledge of the genome we will be able to select more specifically and to make decisions about integrating genes with positive or negative characteristics in the breeding process', says Crooijmans. Haisheng Nie will receive his PhD from Groenen on 8 March. / Albert Sikkema

Hypophysis
Weijers isolated - in the young embryo of Arabidopsis - the genes which are activated by Menopteros, the so-called 'Target of Monopteros' (TMO). By doing this, he discovered the gene TM07, with the codes for a small protein which is transported to the future hypophysis. This shows that the signal transmitted by the surrounding cells to form the hypophysis is a protein. Earlier on, his research group had already shown that the plant hormone auxine, which turns on the activator Monopteros, is also transported to the future hypophysis. Therefore, at least two signals are sent to the nearby cell to define it as the hypophysis.

'The meristems are the key to plant growth', says Weijers. 'Understanding how this key works will open up possibilities for research into how to enable plants to grow better. How do plant cells in the young embryo know what they have to become? We know the answer to this now: the nearby cells tell them by sending a gene activator. We now have direct evidence of the communication during embryogenesis, the process by which the embryo is formed after fertilization.' This communication makes sure that the meristems are at the right places, to enable stem cells to form roots at these places.

VIDI grants
The publication in Nature is the result of research that Weijers began at the university in Tübingen in Germany, which he subsequently carried out mainly in Wageningen. The first author is his German PhD student Alexandra Schlereth; the second author is the Wageningen PhD student Barbara Möller. Weijers received a VIDI grant in 2006 from the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme for this research. He has recently been named a member of the young Academy of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. / Albert Sikkema

Monday March 29^th, 20:00
Hofsteezaal, Leeuwenborch ( Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen )

“I especially value the opportunity to talk to like minded, inspiring persons with
different backgrounds.”
Heleen Klinkert – Wageningen University, 2009 participant

The course is built on two blocks. The first week consists of lectures, taught by the best experts from the field, self-study hours by the participants, group assignments and case presentations on international politics and policy, law and diplomacy, and negotiation and management. In the second week, participants will join the existing International Programme on the Management of Sustainability (IPMS), which has been organized by SCF in the
Netherlands for more than 16 years, and taught by Fletcher staff and other international faculty . This program consists of negotiation theory and tools, consensus building exercises, simulation games and actual case discussions.

The course takes place on location (Wageningen and Zeist, The Netherlands). Participants are expected to stay in all-inclusive accommodation for the entire two weeks. The venue will fulfill the highest standards in terms of surroundings and comfort.

The Estimated fee: 10,500 Euro for professionals. Accepted students will receive a grant (besides paying a contribution of 250 Euro).

• Piet Schenkelaars, Founder/CEO of Schenkelaars Biotechnology Consultancy
• Haifen Hu, Founder/CEO of Hyphen Projects
• Marcel Schuttelaar, Founder/CEO of Schuttelaar & Partners 
• Ronald Hiel, Director of the Wageningen Office of Schuttelaar & Partners

You will be inspired by their important personal contribution in bringing science to commercialization and societal impact.

No entrance fee: information and registration via www.dafne-entrepreneurship.nl
Venue: FORUM Building Wageningen Campus