Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2011
Authors
Arnold ArnoldussenAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Jihong Liu ClarkeAbstract
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Abstract
In Norway spruce, the temperature during zygotic embryogenesis appears to adjust an adaptive epigenetic memory in the progeny that may regulate bud phenology and cold acclimation. Conditions colder than normal advance the timing whilst temperatures above normal delay the onset of these processes and altered performance is long lasting in progeny with identical genetic background. As a step toward unraveling the molecular mechanism behind an epigenetic memory, transcriptional analysis was performed on seedlings from seeds of six full-sib families produced at different embryogenesis temperature?cold (CE) vs warm (WE) under long and short day conditions. We prepared two suppressive subtractedcDNAlibraries, forward and reverse, representing genes predominantly expressed in plants from seeds obtained after CE and WE embryogenesis following short day treatment (inducing bud set). Sequencing and annotation revealed considerable differences in the transcriptome of WE versus CE originated plants. By using qRT-PCR we studied the expression patterns of 32 selected candidate genes chosen from subtractive cDNA libraries analysis and nine siRNA pathways genes by a direct candidate approach. Eight genes, two transposons related genes, three with no match to Databases sequences and three genes from siRNA pathways (PaDCL1 and 2, PaSGS3) showed differential expression in progeny from CE andWEcorrelated with the family phenotypic differences. These findingsmaycontribute to our understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms underlying adaptive changes acquired during embryogenesis.
Abstract
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Authors
Christian PedersenAbstract
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Authors
Grete Helen Meisfjord Jørgensen Knut Egil Bøe Inger Lise Andersen Øystein HolandAbstract
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Authors
Eirik NordhagenAbstract
We studied drying of wood chips by surplus heat from two hydroelectric plants in the western part of Norway. The wood was chipped and loaded into the dryer; a tractor-trailer and a container were used. The dryers had perforated floors where warm air from the plants was funnelled into the dryer, using an electric fan of 4 kW. Four separate trials were conducted in September and October 2009. The drying capacity of the trailer and the container was roughly 11.5 m3 and 29 m3 loose respectively. The effective height at which drying took place was 1.2 m and 1.9 m. The average temperatures of the air channelled into the dryers was 15–18 °C in the trailer and 24–26 °C in the container. The fan was operated for 139 hours (twice) for the trailer and 121.5 and 67.5 hour periods for the container. The fan used 556 kWh (twice), 486 kWh and 270 kWh of electricity respectively. The chips located at the bottom dried first, and chips located above dried later. The water content in the chip was measured to 66.1 to 52.1% (wet base) before and 9.6 to 6.9% (wet base) after drying. The amount of water removed from the container was approximately 28 kg per hour and 22 kg per hour from the trailer. For the container, drying cost roughly 9 Euro per MWh; the cost of the trailer was nearly twice as much. This indicates that the drying volume should be as high as possible. Drying determines net calorific value and hence market value of wood chip.
Abstract
In 2005 an extensive test program including field tests was set up in order to obtain more data on the durability and long term performance of modified wood and semi-durable wood species. One of the main challenges for modified wood is to predict accurate service life time in UC3 (Use use class 3, above ground) and UC4 (use class 4, in soil or fresh water contact). So far, data from in-service conditions are rare, while several studies have evaluated the durability in lab or field test exposure. However, there is still a lack of studies comparing replicate modified wood products in both field and lab exposure. This study evaluates the efficacy of modified wood in AWPA E10, three different types of soil in lab (ENV 807), three test fields in-ground (EN 252) and two close to ground (horizontal double layer test) set-ups at two test sites. The test material includes furfurylated, acetylated and thermally modified wood in addition to reference treated and control samples. In laboratory, both furfurylated, acetylated and thermally modified pine (212ºC) performed well. The modified wood samples performed at the same level, or better, than the reference CC and CCA preservatives in retentions for UC4 applications. In the horizontal double layer test, five years is still too short time to be able to draw firm conclusions. However, in the most accelerated HDL set-up, all controls have failed or are moderately to severely decayed whereas most preservative treated, furfurylated and acetylated wood are sound or only slightly decayed. After 5 years of testing CCA-preserved wood performs better in-ground in field tests than in lab tests, whereas modified wood generally performs slightly poorer. Just like in the lab tests, however, acetylated wood performs equal to CCA-preserved wood in UC4. Furfurylated wood performs equal to or better than UC3 level preservative treated wood. Thermally modified wood actually performs much poorer than all preservative treated wood references. Finally, natural durability classification of the same treatment in different lab and field tests was surprisingly similar.
Abstract
A rapid increase in the frequency of Dutch elm disease (DED), a wilting disease of elm trees caused by bark-beetle vectored fungi, was observed in the early 1990s on several wych elm stands around Oslofjord, southern Norway. To examine the current status of the disease and its impacts on elm population, disease frequency and size distribution of elms were recorded at four locations. Northern parts of Lier, a municipality most affected by DED in Norway 15 years ago, showed in the survey season 4% disease frequency, whereas 13.8% of trees were dead, the dead trees having accumulated over several years in the unmanaged stands. In southern parts of the municipality the mean disease and death percentages were 1.9 and 2.4%. Compatible with their low disease incidence in early 1990s, the other two areas now examined, municipality of Larvik and district of Grenland, showed comparably low frequency of DED. Northern part of Lier showed significantly higher overall density of elm trees per hectare than the other examined areas, and also the small elms below 5 cm in d.b.h. were most frequent in this region. In contrast, the density of large trees was lower in northern Lier than in the other examined areas. These data suggest that regeneration of the tree is not prohibited owing to the disease but that the large trees have been locally reduced in frequency as a result of DED. The superior general density of elm trees in northern Lier, owing to the exceptionally rich soil in the warm southern slopes of the region,> may have contributed to the rapid increase of DED in the area 15 years ago and to the subsequent settlement of the disease outbreak as a chronic stage.