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The Finnish Graduate School on Applied Bioscience: Bioengineering, Food & Nutrition, Environment Annual Report 2008 Issued by the Board of the ABS Graduate School Annual Report 2008 Issued by the Board of the ABS Graduate School Annual Report 2008 Contents Director´s Introduction .............................................................................................. 2 SUMMARY 2008 ..................................................................................................... 4 Organization .......................................................................................................... 4 Educational Programme ......................................................................................... 6 PhD Theses of ABS Students................................................................................. 7 Courses ............................................................................................................... 20 The Thirteenth Annual ABS Seminar for PhD Students ....................................... 22 Finance of the ABS Graduate School................................................................... 22 UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH INSTITUTES................................................. 23 1. University of Helsinki ......................................................................................... 23 Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry ..................................................................... 23 Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology....................................... 23 Department of Food Technology ..................................................................... 34 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine ........................................................................... 41 Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences ........................................................ 41 Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene ............................................ 45 2. University of Kuopio ........................................................................................... 51 Faculty of Medicine ............................................................................................. 51 Department of Clinical Nutrition / Food and Health Research Centre, School of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition ................................................................ 51 Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences ................................................... 55 Department of Biosciences .............................................................................. 55 3. University of Turku ............................................................................................. 57 Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences ...................................................... 57 Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry............................................ 57 4. Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) ........................................................... 60 Faculty of Chemistry and Materials Sciences ....................................................... 60 Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology................................. 60 5. MTT Agrifood Research Finland ......................................................................... 65 6. National Public Health Institute (KTL) ................................................................ 68 Department of Bacterial and Inflammatory Diseases ........................................ 68 Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention ................... 69 Department of Health and Functional Capacity ................................................ 70 7. Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira ................................................................... 72 Research Department ....................................................................................... 72 8. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland ......................................................... 74 The Associated Universities and Research Institutes of the ABS Graduate School ... 79 Director´s Introduction It is unbelievable that more that 14 Academy of Finland. Our doctors have years have passed from the starting been employed well both in the point of our Graduate School in the academia and also in the enterprise beginning of 1995. Time goes fast. sector, as the labour market survey of Even more amazing is that there are doctors who graduated from the ABS still many members of the original Graduate School in the period 1995- Management Board working today. 2007 showed. The total number of the This indeed proves commitment and graduated doctors was 182. sense of responsibility towards training of graduate students in Food Sciences. It was rewarding to see that ABS I would like to thank you all most doctors had a positive view on the sincerely! effects of education. They commented that Respectful thoughts are aimed at the the doctoral degree had contributed to an increase in salary and founder members of the ABS Graduate job requirements and had been a good School, too. They were far-sighted in investment for working life. seeing the importance of co-operation as a tool to improve the quality of When ABS doctors were asked, how training of PhD students and the the education should be developed, Ministry of Education made it possible their placement in working life had an in 1995. Since then, the ABS School effect on the answer. Doctors working has had training posts. In fact, we have in universities tend to face different had more ABS-funded students than expectations than doctors working in we have had training posts, as many private enterprise, and doctors working students have started their PhD studies in research or planning are required to with funding from some other source. have a different qualifications In my opinion, we can truthfully say that the ABS School has orientation from those and in management tasks. This will be a been challenge successful and this has also been the for the ABS Graduate School also in the coming years. opinion of the evaluators of the 2 The employers who took part in this director of the School was elected on survey said that doctors produce image the 4th of June. He is professor Hannu value for the enterprise or organisation. Korkeala from the Department of Food However, work requirements, not a and Environmental Hygiene in the doctoral Faculty degree, are decisive in of Veterinary Medicine. defining wages. Any exact estimation Professor Hely Tuorila (Department of of how many ABS doctors will be Food hired in the future cannot be done, but Agriculture and Forestry) was elected preparedness for recruitment exists in as vice-director of the School in the the enterprises and organisations. same meeting of the Management Technology, Faculty of Board. At the end of 2008 the ABS School had 175 registered students and 95 I thank all the members of the supervisors Management Board, all supervisors accepted by the Management Board. In 2008, 26 and coordinators doctoral theses were finalised, 8 of cooperation. From the bottom of my which were graded "approved with heart, distinction" (30 %). This fact can be Directors as well as the PhD students, regarded as an indication of the every success. I wish the for ABS excellent School, excellent quality of education and supervision. 16 new four-year training posts, which Lea Hyvönen Professor (Food Technology) Director of the School (1.1.199631.8.2009) Professor (Food Technology) Director of the School were granted to the ABS School this year ares a source of more good news. Announcement of the posts was advertised in June and decisions will be made in late autumn 2009. As I shall take retirement from my professorship in Food Technology in the University of Helsinki at the end of 2009, I left my duties at the ABS School at the end of August. A new 3 SUMMARY 2008 Organization The ABS Graduate School is subordinate to the University of Helsinki. The Director was Professor Lea Hyvönen (Food Technology). Professor Mirja Salkinoja-Salonen (Microbiology) acted as the Vice-Director until December 9th, 2008. MSc. Laila Huumonen was the coordinator of the School, and she was also the secretary of the Management Board. The highest authority in the ABS Graduate School is held by the Management Board (MB), where each associated university and research institute is represented (the addresses on pages 79-83). The Management Board had one meeting during the year 2008. Professor Kaisa Poutanen was elected as an ordinary member of Management Board to take the place of Professor Juha Ahvenainen who wanted to withdraw from the Management Board. Professor Vieno Piironen and Professor Anu KaukovirtaNorja were elected as new deputy members. The members of the Management Board and associated universities and the research institutes of the ABS Graduate School are: Universities 1. University of Helsinki Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology Department of Food Technology MB: Prof. Lea Hyvönen / Prof. Mirja Salkinoja-Salonen until December 9th, 2008 Professor Vieno Piironen as a depyty member since December 9th, 2008 Coordinator: MSc. Laila Huumonen Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences Division of Microbiology and Epidemiology Division of Pathology and Parasitology Division of Veterinary Physiology Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene MB: Prof. Airi Palva / Prof. Hannu Korkeala 2. University of Kuopio Faculty of Medicine Department of Clinical Nutrition Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences Department of Biosciences Institute of Applied Biotechnology MB: Prof. Hannu Mykkänen / Prof. Atte von Wright 4 3. University of Turku Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry MB: Prof. Heikki Kallio / Prof. Seppo Salminen 4. Helsinki University of Technology Faculty of Chemistry and Materials Sciences Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology Applied Biochemistry Applied Microbiology Bioprocess Engineering MB: Prof. Katrina Nordström / Prof. Matti Leisola Research institutes 5. MTT Agrifood Research Finland MB: Prof. Hannu Korhonen / Anne Pihlanto, Ph.D. 6. National Public Health Institute (KTL) Department of Bacterial and Inflammatory Diseases Enteric Bacteria Laboratory Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Nutrition Unit Department of Health and Functional Capacity Biomarker Laboratory MB: Doc. Liisa Valsta / Prof. Anja Siitonen 7. Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira Research Department MB: Prof. Tuula Honkanen-Buzalski / Prof. Vesa Myllys 8. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland MB: Prof. Juha Ahvenainen / Prof. Kaisa Poutanen until December 9th, 2008 Prof. Kaisa Poutanen / Prof. Anu Kaukovirta-Norja since December 9th, 2008 5 Educational Programme The ABS Graduate School (Applied Bioscience: Bioengineering, Food & Nutrition, Environment) was established in 1995 as a partnership between the institutions of four universities and four research institutes. The training of PhD students takes mainly place in research groups. The aim of the ABS Graduate School is to offer high quality training for students aiming at a doctor’s degree at a nationwide level. The strengths of the School are the multidisciplinary scientific approach, the interaction with the relevant business and social sectors, and international activities. The education offered by the School is focused on food and nutrition, food-related technologies, sustainable management of the environment and utilization of natural resources. There were 165 students registered in the School in 2008, at different stages of their studies for doctor’s degree. In the beginning of 1995 20 students could start their doctoral studies with a four-year grant. In the beginning of 1998 five new four-year grants were awarded to our students. The new four-year period began in 1999 when 15 grants were awarded to the School. In the beginning of 2002 the School received eight new four-year grants. In 2003 the School got funding for 19 new four-year positions for the period of 2003-2006. These 19 four-year grants were divided up among 29 students because many applicants had already started their postgraduate studies and needed shorter funding period than four years. In the beginning of 2006 six new four-year grants were divided up among 16 students. For the period 20072009 the School got funding for 19 three-year student positions and these positions were divided up among 29 students. In addition to these grants funded by the Ministry of Education, the ABS Graduate School has had three grants funded by the Academy of Finland. Other students are funded by the universities, research institutes, the Academy of Finland, research groups, through EU programmes, through TEKES programmes, private foundations and by food industry. There were 33 ABS students funded by the Ministry of Education in the School in 2008. Twenty six ABS students finished their PhD theses by the end of 2008. Seventeen of these were ABS-funded students. Nineteen new students were registered in the School in 2008. The School had 95 major supervisors (ABS supervisors) responsible for the training of the students in 2008. The requirements for doctor’s degree are those established by the associated university in which the student is registered for a doctor’s degree. The criteria when choosing the students to the School were previous success in graduate and in post graduate studies, field of research within the scope of the ABS School, and the quality of research plan written by the student. 6 PhD Theses of ABS Students Aarnisalo Kaarina. Equipment hygiene and risk assessment measures as tools in the prevention of Listeria monocytogenes -contamination in food processes. Helsinki University of Technology. 101 p. and appendices. I Aarnisalo, K., Tallavaara, K., Wirtanen, G., Maijala, R., and Raaska, L. 2006. The hygienic working practices of maintenance personnel and equipment hygiene in the Finnish food industry. Food Control 17: 1001-1011. II Aarnisalo, K., Autio, T., Sjöberg, A.-M., Lundén, J., Korkeala, H., and Suihko, M.-L. 2003. Typing of Listeria monocytogenes isolates originating from the food processing industry with automated ribotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Journal of Food Protection 66 (2): 249-255. III Aarnisalo, K., Raaska, L., and Wirtanen, G. 2007. Survival and growth of Listeria monocytogenes in lubricants used in the food industry. Food Control 18: 1019-1025. IV Aarnisalo, K., Lundén, J., Korkeala, H., and Wirtanen, G. 2007. Susceptibility of Listeria monocytogenes strains to disinfectants and chlorinated alkaline cleaners at cold temperatures. LWT Food Science and Technology 40: 1041-1048. V Aarnisalo, K., Sheen, S., Raaska, L., and Tamplin, M. 2007. Modelling transfer of Listeria monocytogenes during slicing of .gravad. salmon. International Journal of Food Microbiology 118: 69-78. VI Aarnisalo, K., Vihavainen, E., Rantala, L., Maijala, R., Suihko, M.-L., Hielm, S., Tuominen, P., Ranta, J., and Raaska, L. Use of results of microbiological analyses for risk-based control of Listeria monocytogenes in marinated broiler legs. International Journal of Food Microbiology. In press. Constantin Camelia. Cereulide producing Bacillus cereus and amylosin producing Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus mojavensis: Characterization of strains and toxigenicities. University of Helsinki. 88 p. and appendices. I Häggblom, M., Apetroaie, C., Andersson, M., and Salkinoja-Salonen, M. 2002. Quantitative analysis of cereulide, the emetic toxin of Bacillus cereus, produced under different conditions. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 68 (5): 2479-2483. II Apetroaie, C., Andersson, M., Spröer, C., Tsitko, I., Shaheen, R., Jääskeläinen, E., Wijnands, L., Heikkilä, R., and Salkinoja-Salonen, M. 2005. Cereulide producing strains of Bacillus cereus show diversity. Archives of Microbiology 184 (3): 141-151. III Apetroaie-Constantin, C., Shaheen, R., Andrup, L., Smidt, L., Rita, H., and Salkinoja-Salonen, M. 2008 Environment driven cereulide production by emetic strains of Bacillus cereus. International Journal of Food Microbiology 127: 60-67. 7 IV Apetroaie-Constantin, C., Mikkola, R., Andersson, M., Teplova, V., Suominen, I., Johansson, T., Salkinoja-Salonen, M. 2008. Food and food poisoning strains from Bacillus subtilis group produce the heat stable toxin, amylosin. Journal of Applied Microbiology. In press. Hakovirta Janetta. Modern techniques in detection, identification and quantification of bacteria and peptides from foods. University of Helsinki. 44 p. and appendices. I Kim, Y., Jett, J.H., Larson, E. J., Penttila, J.R., Marrone, B.L., , and Keller, R.A.. 1999. Bacterial fingerprinting by flow cytometry: bacterial species discrimination. Cytometry 36: 324-332. II Larson, E.J., Hakovirta, J.R., Jett, J.H., Burde, S., Keller, R.A., and Marrone, B.L. 2000. Rapid DNA fingerprinting of pathogens by flow cytometry. Cytometry 41: 203-208. III Velappan, N., Snodgrass, J.L., Hakovirta, J.R, Marrone, B.L., and Burde, S. 2001. Rapid identification of pathogenic bacteria by single-enzyme amplifi ed fragment length polymorphism analysis. Diagn. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 39: 77-83. IV Hakovirta, J., Reunanen, J., and Saris, P.E.J. 2006. Bioassay for nisin in milk, processed cheese, salad dressings, canned tomatoes, and liquid egg products. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 1001-1005. V Hakovirta, J.R., Hoornstra, D., Salkinoja-Salonen, M.S., and Saris, P.E.J. 2008. Microfl ora of customer returned wines – mitochondriotoxin producing Bacillus simplex in wine. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Submitted. Halttunen Teemu. Removal of cadmium , lead and arsenic from water by lactic acid bacteria. Universtity of Turku. 96 p. and appendices. I Halttunen, T., Kankaanpää, P., Tahvonen, R., Salminen, S., and Ouwehand, A. 2003. Cadmium removal by lactic acid bacteria. Bioscience and Microflora 22 (3): 93-97. II Halttunen, T., Tahvonen, R., and Salminen, S. 2007. Rapid removal of cadmium and lead from water by specific lactic acid bacteria. International Journal of Food Microbiology 114 (1): 30-35. III Halttunen, T., Finell, M., and Salminen, S. 2007. Arsenic removal by native and chemically modified lactic acid bacteria. International Journal of Food Microbiology 120 (1-2): 173-178. IV Halttunen, T., Collado, M.C., El-Nezami, H., Meriluoto, J., and Salminen, S. 2007. Combining strains of lactic acid bacteria may reduce their toxin and heavy metal 8 removal capacity. Letters in Applied doi:10.1111/j.1472-765X.2007.02276.x. Microbiology. Available online V Halttunen, T., Salminen, S., Meriluoto, J., and Tahvonen, R. 2007. Reversible surface binding of cadmium and lead by lactic acid and bifidobacteria. Submitted. Heikinheimo Annamari. Diagnostics and molecular epidemiology of cpe-positive Clostridium perfringens type A. University of Helsinki. 76 p. and appendices. I Heikinheimo, A., Lindström, M., and Korkeala, H. 2004. Enumeration and isolation of cpe-positive Clostridium perfringens spores from feces. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 3992-3997. II Heikinheimo, A., and Korkeala, H. 2005. Multiplex PCR assay for toxinotyping Clostridium perfringens isolates obtained from Finnish broiler chickens. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 40: 407-411. III Keto-Timonen, R., Heikinheimo, A., Eerola, E., and Korkeala, H. 2006. Identification of Clostridium species and DNA fingerprinting of Clostridium perfringens by amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 4057-4065. IV Heikinheimo, A., Lindström, M., Granum, P.E., and Korkeala, H. 2006. Humans as reservoir for enterotoxin gene-carrying Clostridium perfringens type A. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 12: 1724-1729. V Lahti, P., Heikinheimo, A., Johansson, T., and Korkeala, H. 2008. Clostridium perfringens type A isolates carrying plasmid-borne enterotoxin gene (genotypes IS1151-cpe or IS1470-like-cpe) are a common cause of food poisonings. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 371-373. Häkkinen Suvi. A functional genomics approach to the study of alkaloid biosynthesis and metabolism in Nicotiana tabacum and Hyoscyamus muticus cell cultures. Helsinki University of Technology. 90 p. and appendices. I Goossens, A., Häkkinen, S.T., Laakso, I., Seppänen-Laakso, T., Biondi, S., De Sutter, V., Lammertyn, F., Nuutila, A.M., Söderlund, H., Zabeau, M., Inzé, D., and Oksman-Caldentey, K.-M. 2003 a. A functional genomics approach toward the understanding of secondary metabolism in plant cells. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 100: 8595-8600. II Häkkinen, S.T., Rischer, H., Laakso, I., Maaheimo, H., Seppänen-Laakso, T., and Oksman-Caldentey, K.-M. 2004. Anatalline and other methyl jasmonate inducible nicotine alkaloids from Nicotiana tabacum cv. BY-2 cell cultures. Planta Med. 70: 936-941. 9 III Häkkinen, S.T., Tilleman, S., Wi tek, A., De Sutter, V., Rischer, H., Vanhoutte, I., Van Onckelen, H., Hilson, P., Inzé, D., Oksman-Caldentey, K.-M., and Goossens, A. 2007. Functional characterisation of genes involved in pyridine alkaloid biosynthesis in tobacco. Phytochemistry 68: 2773-2785. IV Häkkinen, S.T., Moyano, E., Cusidó, R.M., Palazón, J., Piñol, M.T., and OksmanCaldentey, K.-M. 2005. Enhanced secretion of tropane alkaloids in Nicotiana tabacum hairy roots expressing heterologous hyoscyamine-6 -hydroxylase. J. Exp. Bot. 56: 2611-2618. V Goossens, A., Häkkinen, S.T., Laakso, I., Oksman-Caldentey, K.-M., and Inzé, D. 2003 b. Secretion of secondary metabolites by ATPbinding cassette transporters in plant cell suspension cultures. Plant Physiol. 131: 1161-1164. Jääskeläinen Elina. Assessment and control of Bacillus cereus emetic toxin in food. University of Helsinki. 74 p. and appendices. I Andersson, M., Jääskeläinen, E., Shaheen, R., Pirhonen, T., Wijnands, L., and Salkinoja-Salonen, M. 2004. Sperm bioassay for rapid detection of cereulideproducing Bacillus cereus in food and related environments. International Journal of Food Microbiology. 94: 175-183. II Jääskeläinen, E., Häggblom, M., Andersson, M., Vanne, L., and Salkinoja-Salonen, M. 2003. Potential of Bacillus cereus for producing emetic toxin, cereulide, in bakery products: quantitative analysis by chemical and biological methods. Journal of Food Protection. 66: 1047-1054. III Jääskeläinen, E., Teplova, V., Andersson, M., Andersson, L.C., Tammela, P., Andersson, M.C., Pirhonen, T.I., Saris, N.-E.L., Vuorela, P., and Salkinoja- Salonen, M.S. 2003. In vitro assay for human toxicity of cereulide, the emetic mitochondrial toxin produced by food poisoning Bacillus cereus. Toxicology in Vitro 17: 737-744. IV Jääskeläinen, E.L., Häggblom, M.M., Andersson, M.A., and Salkinoja-Salonen, M.S. 2004. Atmospheric oxygen and other conditions affecting the production of cereulide by Bacillus cereus in food. International Journal of Food Microbiology 96: 75-83. Kariluoto Susanna. Folates in rye: Determination and enhancement by food processing. University of Helsinki. 86 p. and appendices. I Kariluoto, M.S., Vahteristo, L T., and Piironen, I.V. 2001. Applicability of microbiological assay and affinity chromatographic purification followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in studying folate contents in rye. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 81: 938-942. 10 II Kariluoto, S., Vahteristo, L., Salovaara, H., Katina, K., Liukkonen, K.-H, and Piironen, V. 2004. Effect of baking method and fermentation on folate content of rye and wheat breads. Cereal Chemistry 81: 134-139. III Kariluoto, S., Aittamaa, M., Korhola, M., Salovaara, H., Vahteristo, L., and Piironen, V. 2006. Effects of yeasts and bacteria on the levels of folates in rye sourdoughs. International Journal of Food Microbiology 106: 137-143. IV Kariluoto, S., Liukkonen, K.-H, Myllymäki, O., Vahteristo, L., Kaukovirta-Norja, A., and Piironen, V. 2006. Effect of germination and thermal treatments on folates in rye. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 54: 9522-9528. V Vahteristo, L., Kariluoto, S., Bärlund, S., Kärkkäinen, M., Lamberg-Allardt, C., Salovaara, H., and Piironen, V. 2002. Functionality of endogenous folates from rye and orange juice using human in vivo model. European Journal of Nutrition 41: 271-278. Kemmo Suvi. HPLC analysis of plant sterol oxidation products. University of Helsinki. 72 p. and appendices. I Säynäjoki, S., Sundberg, S., Soupas, L., Lampi, A.-M., and Piironen, V. 2003. Determination of stigmasterol primary oxidation products by high-performance liquid chromatography. Food Chem. 80: 415-421. II Kemmo, S., Soupas, L., Lampi, A.-M., and Piironen, V. 2005. Formation and decomposition of stigmasterol hydroperoxides and secondary oxidation products during thermo-oxidation. Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol. 107: 805-814. III Kemmo, S., Ollilainen, V., Lampi, A.-M., and Piironen, V. 2007. Determination of stigmasterol and cholesterol oxides using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Food Chem. 101: 1438-1445. IV Kemmo, S., Ollilainen, V., Lampi, A.-M., and Piironen, V. 2007. Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry for plant sterol oxide determination in complex mixtures. Eur. Food Res. Technol. Online. Keskitalo Kaisu. A matter of taste. Genetic and environmental influences on responses to sweetness. University of Helsinki. 77 p. and appendices. I Keskitalo, K., Silventoinen, K., Tuorila, H., Perola, M., Pietiläinen, K. H., Rissanen, A., and Kaprio, J. 2008. Genetic and environmental contributions to food use patterns of young adult twins. Physiology & Behavior 93: 235-242. II Keskitalo, K., Knaapila, A., Kallela, M., Palotie, A., Wessman, M., Sammalisto, S., Peltonen, L., Tuorila, H., and Perola, M. 2007. Sweet taste preferences are partly 11 genetically determined: identification of a trait locus on chromosome 16. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 86: 55-63. III Keskitalo, K., Tuorila, H., Spector, T.D., Cherkas, L.F, Knaapila, A., Silventoinen, K., and Perola, M. 2007. Same genetic components underlie different measures of sweet taste preference. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 86: 1663-1669. IV Keskitalo, K., Tuorila, H., Spector, T.D, Cherkas, L.F, Knaapila, A., Kaprio, J., Silventoinen, K., and Perola, M. 2008. Three-factor eating questionnaire, body mass index, and fatty foods: a twin study of genetic and environmental associations. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 88: 267-271. Keto-Timonen Riikka. Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis in strain typing and identification of Listeria and Clostridium species. University of Helsinki. 92 p. and appendices. I Keto-Timonen, R., Autio, T., and Korkeala, H. 2003. An improved amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) protocol for discrimination of Listeria isolates. System. Appl. Microbiol. 26: 236-244. II Keto-Timonen, R., Nevas, M., and Korkeala, H. 2005. Efficient DNA fingerprinting of Clostridium botulinum types A, B, E, and F by amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 1148-1154. III Keto-Timonen, R., Heikinheimo, A., Eerola, E., and Korkeala, H. 2006. Identification of Clostridium species and DNA fingerprinting of Clostridium perfringens by amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 4057-4065. IV Keto-Timonen, R., Tolvanen, R., Lundén, J., and Korkeala, H. 2007. An 8-year surveillance of the diversity and persistence of Listeria monocytogenes in a chilled food processing plant analyzed by amplified fragment length polymorphism. J. Food. Prot. 70: 1866-1873. V Autio, T., Keto-Timonen, R., Lundén, J., Björkroth, J., and Korkeala, H. 2003. Characterization of persistent and sporadic Listeria monocytogenes strains by pulsedfield gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). System. Appl. Microbiol. 26: 539-545. Knaapila Antti. Genetic and environmental influences on human responses to odors. University of Helsinki. 76 p. and appendices. I Knaapila, A., Keskitalo, K., Kallela, M., Wessman, M., Sammalisto, S., Hiekkalinna, T., Palotie, A., Peltonen, L., Tuorila, H., and Perola, M. 2007. Genetic component of identification, intensity and pleasantness of odours: a Finnish family study. European Journal of Human Genetics 15 (5): 596-602. 12 II Knaapila, A., Tuorila, H., Silventoinen, K., Wright, M.J., Kyvik, K.O., Cherkas, L.F., Keskitalo, K., Hansen, J., Martin, N.G., Spector, T.D., Kaprio, J., and Perola, M. 2008. Genetic and environmental contributions to perceived intensity and pleasantness of androstenone odor: an international twin study. Chemosensory Perception 1 (1): 34-42. III Knaapila, A., Tuorila, H., Silventoinen, K., Wright, M.J., Kyvik, K.O., Keskitalo, K., Hansen, J., Kaprio, J., and Perola, M. 2008. Environmental effects exceed genetic effects on perceived intensity and pleasantness of several odors: a three-population twin study. Behavior Genetics 38 (5): 484-492. IV Knaapila, A., Tuorila, H., Kyvik, K.O., Wright, M.J., Keskitalo, K., Hansen, J., Kaprio, J., Perola, M., and Silventoinen, K. 2008. Self-ratings of olfactory function reflect odor annoyance rather than olfactory acuity. Laryngoscope 118 (12): 2212-2217. Laaksonen Marika. Associations of gene polymorphisms and nutrition with calcium homeostasis and bone mineral density. - Studies on skeletal nutrigenetics. University of Helsinki. 116 p. and appendices. I Laaksonen, M.M.L., Impivaara, O., Viikari, J.S.A., Sievänen, H., Lehtimäki, T.J., Lamberg-Allardt, C.J.E., Kärkkäinen, M.U.M., Välimäki, M., Heikkinen, J., Kröger, L.M., Kröger, H.P.J., Jurvelin, J.S., Kähönen, M.A.P., Raitakari, O.T., and the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study Group. Associations of genetic lactase non-persistence and sex with bone loss in young adulthood. Bone. Submitted. II Laaksonen, M., Kärkkäinen, M., Outila, T., Rita, H., and Lamberg-Allardt, C. 2004. Vitamin D receptor gene start codon polymorphism (FokI) is associated with forearm bone mineral density and calcaneal ultrasound in Finnish adolescent boys but not in girls. J. Bone Miner. Metab. 22: 479-485. III Laaksonen, M., Kärkkäinen, M., Outila, T., Vanninen, T., Ray, C., and LambergAllardt, C. 2002. Vitamin D receptor gene BsmI polymorphism in Finnish premenopausal and postmenopausal women: its association with bone mineral density, markers of bone turnover and intestinal calcium absorption, with adjustment for lifestyle factors. J. Bone Miner. Metab. 20: 383-390. IV Laaksonen, M.M.L., Outila, T.A., Kärkkäinen, M.U.M., Kemi, V.E., Rita, H.J., Valsta, L., Perola, M., and Lamberg-Allardt, C.J.E. The associations of vitamin D receptor, calciumsensing receptor and parathyroid hormone gene polymorphisms with calcium homeostasis and peripheral bone density in adult Finns. Journal of Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics. In revision. Mager Ursula. The role of ghrelin in obesity and insulin resistance. University of Kuopio. 123 p. and appendices. 13 I Mager, U., Lindi, V., Lindström, J., Eriksson, J.G., Valle, T.T., Hämäläinen, H., Ilanne-Parikka, P., Keinänen-Kiukaanniemi, S., Tuomilehto J., Laakso, M., Pulkkinen, L., and Uusitupa, M. for the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study Group. 2006. Association of the Leu72Met polymorphism of the ghrelin gene with the risk of Type 2 diabetes in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study. Diabet. Med. 23 (6): 685-689. II Mager, U., Kolehmainen, M., Lindström, J., Eriksson, J.G., Valle, T.T., Hämäläinen, H., Ilanne-Parikka, P., Keinänen-Kiukaanniemi, S., Tuomilehto, J.O., Pulkkinen, L., and Uusitupa, M.I. for the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study Group. 2006.b Association between ghrelin gene variations and blood pressure in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance. Am. J. Hypertens.19 (9): 920-926. III Mager, U., Degenhardt, T., Pulkkinen, L., Kolehmainen, M., Tolppanen, A.-M., Lindström, J., Eriksson J., Carlberg ,C., Tuomilehto, J., and Uusitupa, M. for the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study Group. Variations in the ghrelin receptor gene associate with obesity and glucose metabolism in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance. PLoS ONE. Submitted. IV Mager, U., Kolehmainen, M., de Mello, V.D.F., Schwab, U., Laaksonen, D.E., Rauramaa, R., Gylling, H., Atalay, M., Pulkkinen, L., and Uusitupa, M. 2008. Expression of ghrelin gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and plasma ghrelin concentrations in patients with metabolic syndrome. Eur. J. Endocrinol. 158 (4): 499-510. Mertanen Enni. Ravintolaruoka asiakkaiden, ravintolakeittiön ja ravitsemuksen näkökulmasta. University of Kuopio. 312 p. and appendices. Monograph. Mikkilä Vera. Diet and the development of atherosclerosis: a whole-diet approach from childhood to adulthood. University of Helsinki. 90 p. and appendices. I Mikkilä, V., Räsänen, L., Raitakari, O.T., Pietinen, P., and Viikari, J. 2004. Longitudinal changes in diet from childhood into adulthood with respect to cardiovascular diseases: The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr .58: 1038-1045. II Mikkilä, V., Räsänen, L., Raitakari, O.T., Pietinen, P., and Viikari, J. 2005. Consistent dietary patterns identified from childhood to adulthood: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Br. J. Nutr. 93: 923-931. III Mikkilä, V., Räsänen, L., Raitakari, O.T., Marniemi, J., Pietinen, P., Rönnemaa, T., and Viikari, J. 2007. Longitudinal analysis on the associations between dietary patterns and risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. Br. J. Nutr. 98: 218-225. IV Mikkilä, V., Räsänen, R., Laaksonen, M.M.L., Juonala, M., Viikari, J., Pietinen, P., and Raitakari, O.T. Long-term dietary patterns, energy intake distribution and 14 carotid artery intima media thickness: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Submitted. Muukka Eija. Luomun tie päiväkotiin: Luomuruokailun toteutettavuus ja ravitsemuksellinen merkitys päiväkotilapsille. University of Kuopio. 168 p. and appendices. Monograph. Pakarinen Jaakko. Impact of the human bacterial environment on mycobacteriosis and allergy. University of Helsinki. 80 p. and appendices. I Nieminen, T., Pakarinen, J., Tsitko, I., Salkinoja-Salonen, M., Breitenstein, A., AliVehmas, T., and Neubauer, P. 2006. 16S rRNA targeted sandwich hybridization method for direct quantification of mycobacteria in soils. Journal of Microbiological Methods 67: 44-55. II Pakarinen, J., Nieminen, T., Tirkkonen, T., Tsitk, I., Ali-Vehmas, T., Neubauer, P., Salkinoja-Salonen, M.S. 2007. Proliferation of mycobacteria in a piggery environment revealed by Mycobacterium specific real-time quantitative PCR and 16S rRNA sandwich hybridization. Veterinary Microbiology 120: 105-112. III Alenius, H., Pakarinen, J., Saris, O., Andersson, M., Leino, M., Niemelä, J., Matikainen, S., Wolff, H., von Hertzen, L., Mäkelä, M., Haahtela, T., and SalkinojaSalonen, M. 2008. Contrasting immunological effects of two disparate dusts preliminary observations. International Archives of Allergy and Immunology. In press. IV Pakarinen, J., Hyvärinen, A., Salkinoja-Salonen, M., Laitinen, S., Nevalainen, A., Mäkelä, M.J., Haahtela, T., and von Hertzen, L. 2008. Predominance of Grampositive bacteria in house dust in the low-allergy risk Russian Karelia. Environmental Microbiology. DOI 10.1111/j.14622920.2008.01723.x. Partanen Riitta. Helsinki University of Technology. 92 p. and appendices. I Partanen, R., Marie, V., MacNaughtan, W., Forssell, P., and Farhat, I. 2004. 1H NMR study of amylose films plasticised by glycerol and water. Carbohydrate Polymers 56: 147-155. II Partanen, R., Yoshii, H., Kallio, H., Yang, B., and Forssell, P. 2002. Encapsulation of sea buckthorn kernel oil in modified starches. JAOCS 79 (3): 219-223. III Partanen, R., Hakala, P., Sjövall, O., Kallio, H., and Forssell, P. 2005. Effect of relative humidity on the oxidative stability of microencapsulated sea buckthorn seed oil. Journal of Food Science 70 (1): E37-E43. 15 IV Partanen, R., Raula, J., Seppänen, R., Buchert, J., Kauppinen, E., and Forssell, P. 2008. The effect of relative humidity on oxidation of flaxseed oil in spray dried whey protein emulsions. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 56: 5717-5722. V Partanen, R., Ahro, M., Hakala, M., Kallio, H., and Forssell, P. 2002. Microencapsulation of caraway extract in -cyclodextrin and modified starches. European Food Research and Technology 214: 242-247. Rajakangas-Tolsa Johanna. Diet, cell signalling, and intestinal tumourigenesis in multiple intestinal neoplasia mice. University of Helsinki. 85 p. and appendices. I Rajakangas, J., Basu, S, Salminen, I., and Mutanen, M. 2003. Adenoma growth stimulation by the trans-10, cis-12 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is associated with changes in mucosal NF- B and cyclin D1 protein levels in the Min mouse. J. Nutr. 133: 1943-1948. II Pajari, A.-M., Rajakangas, J., Päivärinta, E., Kosma, V.-M., Rafter, J., and Mutanen, M. 2003. Promotion of intestinal tumor formation by inulin is associated with an accumulation of cytosolic -catenin in Min mice. Int. J. Cancer 106: 653-660. III Rajakangas, J., Pajari, A.-M., Misikangas, M., and Mutanen, M. 2006. Nuclear factor B is downregulated and correlates with p53 in the Min mouse mucosa during an accelerated tumor growth. Int. J. Cancer 118: 279-283. IV Rajakangas, J., Misikangas, M., Päivärinta, E., and Mutanen, M. Chemoprevention by white currant reduces nuclear -catenin and NF- B levels in adenomas of Min mice. Eur. J. Nutr. Revised version submitted. Rokka Susanna. Bovine colostral antibodies and selected lactobacilli as means to control gastrointestinal infections. University of Turku. 73 p. and appendices. I Rokka, S., Marnila, P., Nousiainen, J., and Korhonen, H. 2001. Colostral whey concentrate supplement increases complement activity in the sera of neonatal calves. Journal of Dairy Research 68: 357-367. II Marnila, P., Rokka, S., Rehnberg-Laiho,L., Kärkkainen, P., Kosunen, T.U., Rautelin, H., Hänninen, M.-L., Syväoja, E.-L., and Korhonen, H.J.T. 2003. Prevention and suppression of Helicobacter felis infection in mice using colostral preparation with specific antibodies. Helicobacter 8: 192-201. III Wei, H., Loimaranta, V., Tenovuo, J., Rokka, S., Syväoja, E.-L., Korhonen, H., Joutsjoki, V., and Marnila, P. 2002. Stability and activity of specific antibodies against Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus in bovine milk fermented with Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain GG or treated at ultra-high temperature. Oral Microbiology and Immunology 17: 9-15. 16 IV Rokka, S., Pihlanto, A., Korhonen, H., and Joutsjoki, V. 2006. In vitro growth inhibition of Helicobacter pylori by lactobacilli belonging to the Lactobacillus plantarum group. Letters in Applied Microbiology 43: 508-513. V Rokka, S., Myllykangas, S., and Joutsjoki, V. 2008. Effect of specific colostral antibodies and selected lactobacilli on the adhesion of Helicobacter pylori on AGS cells and the Helicobacter induced IL-8 production. Scandinavian Journal of Immunology 68: 280-286. Selinheimo Emilia. Helsinki University of Technology. 114 p. and appendices. I Selinheimo, E., Saloheimo, M., Ahola, E., Westerholm-Parvinen, A., Kalkkinen, N., Buchert, J., and Kruus, K. 2006. Production and characterization of a secreted, Cterminally processed tyrosinase from the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei. FEBS J. 273: 4322-4335. II Selinheimo, E., Nieidhin, D., Steffensen, C., Nielsen, J., Lomascolo, A., Halaouli, S., Record, E., O.beirne, D., Buchert, J., and Kruus, K. 2007. Comparison of the characteristics of fungal and plant tyrosinases. J. Biotechnol. 130: 471-480. III Selinheimo, E., Lampila, P., Mattinen, M.-L., and Buchert, J. 2008. Formation of protein-oligosaccharide conjugates by laccase and tyrosinase. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56: 3118-3128. IV Selinheimo, E., Kruus, K., Buchert, J., Hopia, A., and Autio, K. 2006. Effects of laccase, xylanase and their combination on the rheological properties of wheat doughs. J. Cereal Sci. 43: 152-159. V Selinheimo, E., Kruus, K., Buchert, J., and Autio, K. 2007. Elucidating the mechanism of laccase and tyrosinase in wheat bread making. J. Agric. Food Chem. 55: 6357-6365. Sepponen Katri. Monocarboxylate transporters and heat shock proteins in domestic pigs in relation to stress and meat quality. University of Helsinki. 55 p. and appendices. I Sepponen, K., Koho, N., Puolanne, E., Ruusunen, M., and Pösö, A.R. 2003. Distribution of monocarboxylate transporter isoforms MCT1, MCT2 and MCT4 in porcine muscles. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 177: 79-86. II Sepponen, K., Ruusunen, M., Pakkanen, J.A., and Pösö, A.R. 2007. Expression of CD147 and monocarboxylate transporters MCT1, MCT2 and MCT4 in porcine small intestine and colon. The Veterinary Journal. 174: 122-128. 17 III Sepponen, K., and Pösö, A.R. 2006. The inducible form of heat shock protein 70 in the serum, colon and small intestine of the pig: comparison to conventional stress markers. The Veterinary Journal 171: 519-524. IV Sepponen, K., Honkavaara, M., Pösö, A.R., Ruusunen, M., and Reeben, M. Polymorphisms in hsp70.2 promoter region of Finnish Landrace and Yorkshire pigs. Submitted. Suokko Aki. The stress responses of probiotic lactobacilli and a bifidobacterium with special emphasis on Clp family proteins. University of Helsinki. 56 p. and appendices. I Suokko, A., Savijoki, K., Malinen, E., Palva, A., and Varmanen, P. 2005. Characterization of a mobile clpL gene from Lactobacillus rhamnosus. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 71: 2061-2069. II Savijoki, K., Suokko, A., Palva, A., Valmu, L., Kalkkinen, N., and Varmanen, P. 2005. Effect of heat-shock and bile salts on protein synthesis of Bifidobacterium longum revealed by [35S]methionine labelling and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. FEMS Microbiology Letters 248: 207-215. III Savijoki, K., Suokko, A., Palva, A., and Varmanen, P. 2006. New convenient defined media for [35S]methionine labelling and proteomic analyses of probiotic lactobacilli. Letters in Applied Microbiology 42: 202-209. IV Suokko, A., Poutanen, M., Savijoki, K., Kalkkinen, N., and Varmanen, P. 2008. ClpL is essential for induction of thermotolerance and is potentially part of the HrcA regulon in Lactobacillus gasseri. Proteomics. In press. Tossavainen Olli. Helsinki University of Technology. 74 p. and appendices. I Jelen, P., and Tossavainen, O. 2003. Low lactose and lactose-free milk and dairy products –prospects, technologies and applications, Aust. J. Dairy Technol. 58 (2): 161-165. II Tossavainen, O., and Kallioinen, H. 2007.Effect of lactose hydrolysis on furosine formation in skim milk during pasteurisation, Milchwissenschaft 62 (2): 188-191. III Kallioinen, H., and Tossavainen, O. Changes during storage of lactose hydrolysed extended shelf life (ESL) milk. Milchwissenschaft. Accepted for publication. IV Tossavainen, O., and Kallioinen, H. 2007. Proteolytic changes in lactose hydrolysed UHT milks during storage. Milchwissenschaft 62 (4): 410-415. V Tossavainen, O., and Kallioinen, H. 2008. Effect of lactose hydrolysis on furosine and available lysine in UHT skim milk. Milchwissenschaft 63 (1): 22-26. 18 VI Tossavainen, O., and Kallioinen, H. Furosine formation and proteolytic changes in carbohydrate reduced UHT-milks. Milchwissenschaft. Accepted for publication. Viljakainen Heli T. Defining adequate vitamin D intake – cross-sectional and intervention studies. University of Helsinki. 94 p. and appendices. I Viljakainen, H.T., Natri, A.M., Kärkkäinen, M., Huttunen, M.M., Palssa, A., Jakobsen, J., Cashman, K.D., Mølgaard, C., and Lamberg-Allardt, C. 2006. A positive dose-response effect of vitamin D supplementation on site-specific bone mineral augmentation in adolescent girls: a double-blinded randomized placebo-controlled 1year intervention. J. Bone Miner. Res. 21: 836-844. II Viljakainen, H.T., Palssa, A., Kärkkäinen, M., Jakobsen, J., Cashman, K.D., Mølgaard, C., and Lamberg-Allardt, C. 2006. A seasonal variation of calcitropic hormones, bone turnover and bone mineral density in early and mid-puberty girls - a cross-sectional study. Br. J. Nutr. 96: 124-130. III Viljakainen, H.T., Palssa, A., Kärkkäinen, M., Jakobsen, J., and Lamberg-Allardt, C. 2006. How much vitamin D3 do the elderly need? J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 25: 429-435. IV Viljakainen, H.T., Väisänen, M., Kemi, V., Rikkonen, T., Kröger, H., Laitinen, E.K.A., and Lamberg-Allardt, C. Wintertime vitamin D supplementation inhibits seasonal variation of calcitropic hormones and maintains bone turnover in healthy men. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Submitted on 18th January 2008. 19 Courses The Academy of Finland awarded the operating grant of 100 000 € for the period 2008-2009 to the ABS Graduate School. The grant was used for organizing the post graduate courses listed below. Because of the reform of Finnish degree structures and the replacement of the old credit system with an ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) -based system, in the course information below credits (Cr) correspond to the ECTS credits (1 Cr= 1 ECTS Cr). Credit units (Cu) are the credits (study weeks) of the old Finnish system. 1. Esiintymis- ja viestintätaitokurssi (in Finnish) (1 ECTS Cr / 0.7 Cu), 21-22 February 2008, Helsinki Teacher in speech communication Tuuli Nilsson Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki 2. SPSS ja monimuuttujamenetelmät (in Finnish) (2 ECTS Cr / 1 Cu), 17, 19 and 20 March 2008, Helsinki Dr Jarmo Heinonen Laurea Polytechnic, Vantaa 3. Functional Foods (3 ECTS Cr / 2 Cu), 13-16 May 2008, Helsinki Dr Marina Heinonen Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Helsinki 4. Food and Nutritional Toxicology Lecture Series 5: Food Safety. The farm to fork concept (3 ECTS Cr / 1.5 Cu, lectures only; 4 ECTS Cr / 2 Cu, lectures and written report), 11-13 August 2008, Kuopio Doc. Hani El-Nezami Department of Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio 5. Grant writing: how to write a competitive application to a funding agency (2 ECTS Cr / 1 Cu, lectures only; 4 ECTS Cr lectures / 2 Cu lectures and written report), 13-15 August 2008, Kuopio Prof. Hannu Mykkänen Department of Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio 20 In addition to these courses supported by the grant from the Academy of Finland, the universities offered the following courses funded by the department organizing the course: Elintarvikekemian jatko-opinnot, seminaari Prof. Vieno Piironen Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Helsinki Ravitsemustieteen jatko-opinnot (jatko-opiskelijaseminaarit, harjoitusopinnäytetöiden ohjaus) (1-10 ECTS Cr) Prof. Marja Mutanen Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Helsinki ja Elintarviketeknologian jatko-opiskelijaseminaari (3 ECTS Cr) University lecturer Tuula Sontag-Strohm Department of Food Technology, University of Helsinki Elintarvike- ja ympäristöhygienian tutkimusseminaarit Prof. Hannu Korkeala Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene, University of Helsinki Elintarvikkeiden välityksellä leviävien patogeenisten mikrobien molekyylibiologinen diagnostiikka Prof. Hannu Korkeala Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene, University of Helsinki Postgraduate Seminar (5 ECTS Cr) Prof. Matti Leisola Department of Chemical Technology, Helsinki University of Technology Postgraduate seminar on nutrition research (3 ECTS Cr) Prof. Helena Gylling Department of Clinical Nutrition, University of Kuopio Postgraduate student seminars (1-2 ECTS Cr) Prof. Heikki Kallio and Prof. Jyrki Heino Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry, University of Turku 21 The Thirteenth Annual ABS Seminar for PhD Students The thirteenth seminar for PhD students was held in August 26th, 2008 in Walter Hall, University of Helsinki, Agnes Sjöbergin katu 2 (Viikki), Helsinki. The topics of the seminar focused on the following subjects: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the climate change and the Nobel Peace Prize; the climate change and food production in Finland; ABS doctors in working life. Results of the enquiry for ABS doctors and their employers; working career presentations of two ABS doctors; what kind of know-how do doctors need from the point of view of the industry; the reconciliation of work and family life; how to be understood and misunderstood - Finnish European cultural differences. Vice-Rector Johanna Björkroth chose the best doctoral dissertation of the year 2007 in the ABS Graduate School. Nektaria Polychronaki, Ph.D. was awarded a prize for her thesis research work “Biomarkers of Aflatoxin Exposure and a Dietary Intervention. Studies in Infants and Children from Egypt and Guinea and Young Adults from China”. In total, seventeen PhD theses were finished in the ABS Graduate School in 2007. ABS student Katja Hätönen received the best poster prize. Her poster “The Glycemic and Insulinemic Responses of the Finnish Foods: measurement and modification” was selected for the best poster from among 22 posters on display by the participants of the seminar. Finance of the ABS Graduate School The funds directly available for the Graduate School are listed below. The Ministry of Education provided the main source of income for the salaries of 33 PhD students and a coordinator. The Academy of Finland granted the funding of 100 000 euro for postgraduate courses for the years 2008-2009. Income (€) in 2008: The Ministry of Education (+University of Helsinki) The Academy of Finland, courses Total (€): 737 214,15 50 000,00 787 214,15 Expenditure (€) in 2008: Salaries PhD students + coordinator PhD courses, including 13th ABS seminar Mobility of PhD students Overhead costs Total (€): 610 625,25 38 625,63 649 250,88 22 UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH INSTITUTES 1. University of Helsinki Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology 1. FOOD CHEMICAL RESEARCH focuses on the research of natural biomolecules such as vitamins, phenolic compounds, sterols and other lipids, oligosacccahrides and polysaccharides by applying the most recent methodology to study their composition, interaction reactions, isolation, different bioactivities in food, and food-related applications. Much of the research is collaboration with other fields of food and agricultural sciences, analytical and organic chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, nutrition, as well as food industry. Main research projects involving ABS students are: Functional properties of phenolic compounds from plant sources. Our previous investigations since 1996 have also shown that phenolic compounds derived from plant sources are effective antioxidants in preventing lipid oxidation as well as protein oxidation. Ca. 100 Finnish raw materials including berries, apples, vegetables, grains, rapeseed herbs, medicinal plants and various tree materials have been screened for their functional properties such as the antioxidant activity, antimicrobial effect and anti-inflammatory effects. These studies were in part funded by Tekes (Technology Research Agency), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and European Union. Anthocyanins, ellagitannins and procyanidins in berries, derivatives of sinapic acid in rapeseed and taxifolin, ferulic acid and lignans in pine bark were among the most effective bioactive plant phenolics. Collaborative research was completed regarding therapeutically active berry phenolics within a Tekes-funded project (Berry Drug 2005-2008, coordinator VTT) where Ph.D. training (Petri Kylli) was also included. Protein oxidation and interactions with lipids and phenolic compounds. The impact of lipid oxidation (antioxidant action) in foods has been investigated in our laboratory for decades using different approaches including various oxidation model systems (oils, emulsions, liposomes, LDL, meat patties) and different techniques to follow both formation of lipid hydroperoxides as well as volatile lipid oxidation products. Oxidation of food proteins, peptides and amino acids and their interactions with other food constituents has been focus of oxidation research since 2001 in projects funded by the Academy of Finland and ABS Graduate School. Further, the mechanisms of oxidation of proteins and the effect of plant phenolics toward oxidation has been investigated in model systems containing amino acids (tryptophan) and dipeptides. An HPLC system to follow the various oxidation products of tryptophan was developed in a Ph.D. work (under evaluation) by Hanna Salminen. Plant sterols. Our previous research focused on occurrence of individual sterols and their different bound forms in oil crops, cereals and vegetables and on new potential sterols sources. Furthermore, we have investigated possibilities to optimize plant 23 sterol contents and exploit sterol-rich materials. At present the focus is on reactivity and stability of plant sterols and their bound forms and on wheat and rye sterols. Suvi Kemmo defended her thesis on HPLC and LC-MS methods in research of oxidation mechanisms of free sterols. PhD student Mari Lehtonen continued her studies in 2008. Her research focused on developing methods for studying oxidation reactions of steryl esters. The research on sterol stability is essential when confirming the safety of elevated sterol contents in foods. Wheat and rye sterols and their phenolic acid esters have mainly been studied as a part of the Healthgrain project, which is an integrated th project of the 6 framework programme of the European Commission. Tanja Nurmi continued her PhD thesis on the effects of genetic and environmental factors on sterol levels in cereals. Her thesis will also focus on possibilities to optimise sterol levels in cereal foods by processing. The research on plant sterols was funded in 2008 by the Academy of Finland and the European Commission. Vitamins. Research on vitamins focuses on new methodologies for analysing of vitamins, examining their characteristics in foods and understanding their role in diets. Participation in international projects aiming at harmonising and standardising analytical methods and developing reference materials is active. Recently, our focus has been on folates and tocopherols and tocotrienols. Food folate research in our laboratory has strongly focused on analytical aspects and recently especially on rye and wheat folates. Rye folates, enhanching their levels by bioprocessing and folate bioavailability were studied in the PhD thesis of Susanna Kariluoto. The thesis was finalized and accepted in 2008. Vitamin research was funded in 2008 by the Academy of Finland and the European Commission. Polysaccharides. The research on polysaccharides has focused on cereal arabinoxylanderived oligosaccharides and mannan-based films. Different pure arabinooligosaccharides (AXOS) were produced and structurally characterised prior to studies on their fermentability by pure bifidobacteria and faces samples in Helena Pastell´s PhD study. The detail HPAEC-PAD analysis of the consumption of individual AXOS revealed clear differences between bifidobacteria species in their ability to ferment arabinoxylan-derived carbohydrates. The chemical structure of AXOS was found to have a clear effect, and highly branched AXOS were fermented the slowest. Mannans, especially galactoglucomannas (GGM) from spruce, were studied as raw materials for biodegradable films suitable for example for food packaging in collaboration with Food Technology and Åbo Akademi University within the PhD work of Kirsi Mikkonen. Reinforcement of mannan films by crystalline nanocellulose was found to result in fibrillar structures in films but not to improve the mechanical properties of films. Thorough study was conducted on permeability (oxygen gas, water vapour, aroma) and light transmittance properties of various mannan-based films. Films from spruce GGM showed promising oxygen gas and aroma barrier properties. The research was funded by the Academy of Finland and the Foundation for Research of Natural Resources in Finland. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Heinonen Marina*, Kivikari Riitta, Lampi Anna-Maija*, Ollilainen Velimatti*, Piironen Vieno*, Tenkanen Maija*, Tuomainen Päivi, Virta Marko* 24 ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS*= ABS-funded in 2008) Kariluoto Susanna, Kemmo Suvi (née Säynäjoki), Kokkonen Meri (Evira) (ABS*), Kylli Petri (ABS*), Kähkönen Marja, Lehtonen Mari, Lievonen Satu, Mikkonen Kirsi, Monogioudi Evanthia (VTT), Nurmi (née Achrenius) Tanja, Pastell Helena (née Rantanen), Salminen Hanna PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Kariluoto Susanna. 2008. Folates in rye: Determination and enhancement by food processing. Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Helsinki. EKT-series 1420. Helsinki University Print, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978952-10-4646-9 (paperback), ISBN 978-952-10-4647-6(pdf), ISSN 0355-1180. 86 p. + appendices. Kemmo Suvi. 2008. HPLC analysis of plant sterol oxidation products. Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Helsinki. EKT-series 1408. Helsinki University Print, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-952-10-4522-6 (paperback), ISBN 978-952-10-4523-3(pdf), ISSN 0355-1180. 72 p. + appendices. Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Estévez, M., Kylli, P., Puolanne, E., Kivikari, R., and Heinonen, M. 2008. Fluorescence spectroscopy as a novel approach for the assessment of myofibrillar proteins oxidation in oil-in-water emulsions. Meat Science 80: 1290-1296. Estévez, M., Kylli, P., Puolanne, E., Kivikari, R., and Heinonen, M. 2008. Effect on plant phenolics on the oxidation of myofibrillar proteins in oil-in-water emulsions. J. Agric. Food Chem.: 56: 10933-10940. Kemmo, S., Ollilainen, V., Lampi, A.-M., and Piironen, V. 2008. Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry for plant sterol oxide determination in complex mixtures. Eur. Food Res. Technol. 226: 1325-1334. http://www.springerlink.com/content/uu1052618194/?p=c28b4806c18c4a29a7d2ca14 329da270&pi=0. Kylli, P., Nousiainen, P., Biely, P., Sipilä, J., Tenkanen, M., and Heinonen, M. 2008. Antioxidant potential of hydroxycinnamic acid glycoside esters. J. Agric. Food Chem.: 56: 4797-4805. Laine, P., Kylli, P., Heinonen, M., and Jouppila, K. 2008. Storage stability of microencapsulated cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) phenolics. J. Agric. Food Chem.: 56: 4797-4805. Lampi, A.-M., Nurmi, T., Ollilainen, V., and Piironen, V. 2008. Tocopherols and tocotrienols in wheat genotypes in the HEALTHGRAIN diversity screen. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56: 9716-9721. 25 Mikkonen, K.S., Yadav, M.P., Willför, S., Hicks, K.B., and Tenkanen, M. 2008. Films from spruce galactoglucomannans blended with poly(vinyl alcohol), corn arabinoxylan and konjac glucomannan. BioResources 8: 3198-3205. Mikkonen, K.S., Tenkanen, M., Cooke, P., Xu, C., Rita, H., Willför, S., Holmbom, B., Hicks, K.B., and Yadav, M.P. Mannans as stabilizers of oil-in-water beverage emulsions, LWT - Food Science and Technology. In press. doi: 10.1016/j.lwt.2008.11.010. Nurmi, T., Nyström, L., Edelmann, M., Lampi, A.-M., and Piironen, V. 2008. Phytosterols in wheat genotypes in the HEALTHGRAIN diversity screen. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56: 9710-9715. Pastell, H., Tuomainen, P., Virkki, L., and Tenkanen, M. 2008. Step-wise enzymatic preparation and structural characterization of singly and doubly substituted arabinoxylo-oligosaccharides with non-reducing end terminal branches. Carbohydr. Res. 343: 3049-3057. Piironen, V., Edelmann, M., Kariluoto, S., and Zoltan, B. 2008. Folate in wheat genotypes in the HEALTHGRAIN diversity screen. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56: 9726-9731. Salminen, H., and Heinonen, M. 2008. Plant phenolics affect oxidation of tryptophan. J. Agric. Food Chem.: 56: 7472-7281. Salminen, H., Jaakkola, H., and Heinonen, M. 2008. Modification of tryptophan oxidation by plant phenolics and hexanal. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56: 11178-11186. 2. RESEARCH IN MICROBIOLOGY 1. Microbiological safety in food, industry and the environment The group is led by prof. Mirja Salkinoja-Salonen http://www.biocenter.helsinki.fi/ groups/salkinoja/. The group focuses on bioreactive substances related to food safety and health. Bacillus cereus is emerging as the most frequent causative bacterial agent of food poisonings also in Finland. The most dangerous toxin of B. cereus is cereulide, the emetic toxin. In 2008, we searched to answer the following questions: (i) During the shelf life of ready-to-eat foods the cereulide producing B. cereus type becomes dominant; (ii) When cereulide producing B. cereus strains are inoculated in food, the amount of toxin may vary 100-fold between foods, even if they all support growth of B. cereus equally. Why? Elina Jääskeläinen found that production of cereulide in food was dramatically influenced by the gas atmosphere and by certain food additives. Under nitrogen atmosphere little cereulide was produced, but an anoxic atmosphere combined with elevated carbon dioxide, promoted production of large amounts of cereulide. Thus, excluding oxygen does not ensure safety of packaged, ready-to-eat or heated foods. 26 She also showed that supplementing food with free amino acids (leucine, valine) increased cereulide production > 25 fold in 4 days. Adding the same amounts of these amino acids in peptide bonded form (pepton) caused no increase. The results of Elina Jääskeläinen and Ranad Shaheen showed that adding amino acids in free form boosts toxin production although a natural protein or peptides does not. This is of major concern, as adding free amino acids such as leucine and valine are not regulated by law (law 116/2006; www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/alkup/2007) and may be added to any amount, also to infant food formulas. It is believed in the literature that cereulide producing B. cereus prefer low temperature and would not produce cereulide at 37 °C. Camelia Apetroaie-Constantin found that the well-studied cereulide producers indeed stopped producing the toxin when exposed to body temperature. But, when she investigated strains isolated from the human gut (food poisoning patients) she found that these strains produced cereulide well also at 37 °C. Thus the human gut was at least transiently colonised by B. cereus capable of cereulide production at gut temperature. Camelia Apetroaie-Constantin was the first to explore cereulide from human gut isolates of B. cereus. Her results call for attention to the presence this type of cereulide producers in foods. Jaakko Pakarinen searched for the immunomodulatory properties on bacteria around us. It is known that early exposure to farm environment protects against atopy and allergy later in life. Jaakko Pakarinen investigated house dusts from Carelia, both sides of the Finnish-Russian border in Carelia. He cloned ca. 500 sequences of 16S rRNA gene from 20 dusts accross the border, where there is a 4-fold gradient of allergies, the Finnish side being high. He found a higher diversity of dustborn microbes on the Russian side, and the dust bacteria largely came from animals, whereas the dust from Finnish homes mainly contained human commensals and vegetation-connected bacteria. Possibly the human immune system did not get enough "microbiological fuel" in the Finnish homes to develop. Minna Peltola worked on clean paper and paperboard for packaging and Ranad Shaheen on Bacillus cereus biofilms in dairy environment. They showed that the major foulers are biofilms on the process machine surfaces. Some foulers occur massively (Meiothermus spp, Pseudoxanthomonas spp) whereas others (Deinococcus spp, Bacillus cereus) contribute at low quantitative level, but were extremely adhesive on stainless steel and survived even aggressive cleaning protocols. Biofilms contained 108 to >1010 bacteria per g. Collaboration partners in 2008: National Public Health Institute (KTL), EVIRA, VTT, Helsinki University Hospital for Allergy and Skin diseases; Occupational Health Institute. 2. Cyanobacteria research The cyanobacteria research group is led by academy professor Kaarina Sivonen and investigates cyanobacteria that cause massive blooms in Finnish lakes and reservoirs as well as in the Baltic Sea. Mass occurrences of cyanobacteria are often toxic rendering water, fish and water fowl unsafe for animal and human consumption and prevent the use of water for recreation. Current research is focused on the 27 development of rapid sensitive methods to detect toxic cyanobacteria in situ. Traditional microscopy can not differentiate toxic strains from non-toxic strains whereas molecular biological methods (PCR, qPCR and DNA chips) are excellent tools to monitor water for the presence of toxic cyanobacteria. The further development of these techniques is in progress. Interesting new bioactive compounds are screened and characterized from the cyanobacteria culture collection maintained by the project. The recently completed genome-project of Anabaena strain 90 from lake Vesijärvi will yield new in-depth information about this ecologically relevant, bioactive compound producing cyanobacterium. 3. Fungal Biotechnology Group: Biodegradation of lignin and lignocellulose, fungal metabolism and bioactive compounds, and fungal conversion of environmentally hazardous compounds The group leader is prof. Annele Hatakka. The novel white rot fungal isolate Physisporinus rivulosis T241i was selected for biopulping studies. Primary structures of two divergent manganese peroxidase (MnP) encoding genes (Pri-mnpA and PrimnpB) of P. rivulosus T241i were solved. The two new MnPs show similar protein properties as the two divergent MnPs from the white rot fungus Phlebia radiata 79. Transcription of the Pri-mnp genes were differentially regulated by addition of Mn2+ or spruce wood meal. Two MnP encodig genes from agaric basidiomycetes (Agaricus bisporus and Agrocybe praecox) were cloned, sequenced and characterized. These two MnPs are short-type enzymes but novel in their gene exon-intron structures. So far more than 100 wood rotting fungi were screened for inhibiting acetyl choline esterase (AchE) activity which is important for combatting Alzheimer’s disease. The group participates within a large EU-RTD project "Biorenew" for selection of the best fungi and fungal enzymes for modern biorefining and conversion of wood. Several wood-rotting fungi have shown potential in systematic enzyme activity screening experiments. 4. Molecular biology of lactic acid bacteria The group leader is Prof. Per Saris. The research is focused on potential benefits accociated with lactic acid bacteria and especially on antimicrobial effect of substances from lactic acid bacteria. In 2008 we isolated natural mutants of our nisin sensing Lactococcus lactis LAC275 strain using flow cytometry and cell sorting more sensitive strains were isolated. The detection limit for nisin, an antimicrobial food additive, could be lowered to 0.2 pg/ml. Bacteriocin producing strains from chicken intestines previously isolated based on activity against Camplylobacter spp. were further characterized and shown to have a broader spectra than previously known campylobacter inhibiting bacteriocins. The bacteriocin with the broadest activity was further purified and the mass and sequence was characterized showing that it was a novel bacteriocin. Group leaders Hatakka Annele, Lindström Kristina, Lyra Christina, Lundell Taina, SalkinojaSalonen Mirja, Saris Per, Sivonen Kaarina, Timonen Sari, Virta Marko 28 Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Hatakka, Annele*, Lyra Christina, Salkinoja-Salonen Mirja*, Saris Per*, Sivonen Kaarina* ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS* = ABS funded in 2008) Constantin (née Apetroaie) Camelia (ABS*), Galkin Sari, Hakovirta Janetta (ABS*), Hallanvuo Saija (THL), Jääskeläinen Elina (ABS*), Mentu Juha, Nakari Ulla-Maija (ABS*) (THL), Pakarinen Jaakko (ABS*), Peltola Minna (ABS*), Shaheen Ranad, Sihvonen Leila (THL) PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Constantin Camelia. 2008. Cereulide producing B. cereus and amylopsin producing B. subtilis and B. mojavensis: characterization of strains and toxigenicities. Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Helsinki. Dissertationes bioscientiarum molecularium Universitatis Helsingiensis in Viikki, 44/2008 Yliopistopaino, Helsinki, Finland. ISSN 1795-7079, ISBN 978-952-10-5041-1 (paperback), ISBN 978-952-10-5042-8 (pdf). 88 p. + appendices. (http://ethesis.helsinki.fi) Hakovirta Janetta. 2008. Modern techniques in detection, identification and quantification of bacteria and peptides from foods. Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Helsinki. Dissertationes bioscientiarum molecularium Universitatis Helsingiensis in Viikki, 19/2008. Yliopistopaino, Helsinki, Finland. ISSN 1795-7079, ISBN 978-952-10-4722-0 (paperback), ISBN 978-952-10-4723-7 (pdf). 44 p. + appendices. (http://ethesis.helsinki.fi) Jääskeläinen Elina. 2008. Dissertationes bioscientiarum molecularium Universitatis Helsingiensis in Viikki, 1/2008. Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Helsinki. Dissertationes bioscientiarum molecularium Universitatis Helsingiensis in Viikki, 1/2008. ISSN 1795-7079, ISBN 978-952-10-4458-8 (hardback), ISBN 978-952-10-4459-5 (pdf). 74 p. + appendices. (http://ethesis.helsinki.fi) Pakarinen Jaakko. 2008. Impact of the Human Bacterial Environment on Mycobacteriosis and Allergy. Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, Division of Microbiology, University of Helsinki. Dissertationes bioscientiarum molecularium Universitatis Helsingiensis in Viikki, 38/2008. Yliopistopaino, Helsinki, Finland. ISSN 1795-7079, ISBN 978-952-10-4996-5 (paperback), ISBN 978-952-10-5027-5 (pdf). 44 p. + appendices. 80 p. + appendices. (http://ethesis.helsinki.fi) Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Apetroaie-Constantin, C., Shaheen, R., Andrup, L., Smidt, L., Rita, H., and Salkinoja-Salonen, M. 2008. Environment driven cereulide production by emetic strains of Bacillus cereus. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 127 (1-2): 60-67. 29 Halinen, K., Fewer, D.P., Sihvonen, L.M., Lyra, C., Eronen, E., and Sivonen, K. 2008. Genetic diversity in strains of the genus Anabaena isolated from planktonic and benthic habitats of the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea). FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 64 (2): 199-208. Kangas, S., Takkinen, J., Hakkinen, M., Nakari, U.M., Johansson, T., Henttonen, H., Virtaluoto, L., Siitonen, A., Ollgren, J., and Kuusi, M. 2008. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis O:1 traced to raw carrots, Finland. Emerg Infect Dis. 14 (12): 1959-1961. Kanto Oqvist, C., Kurola, J., Pakarinen, J., Ekman, J., Ikävalko, S., Simell, J., and Salkinoja-Salonen, M. 2008. Prokaryotic microbiota of recycled paper mills with low or zero effluent. J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 35 (10): 1165-1173. Lambertz, S.T., Nilsson, C., and Hallanvuo, S. 2008. TaqMan-based real-time PCR method for detection of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in food. Appl Environ Microbiol. 74 (20): 6465-6469. Lambertz, S.T., Nilsson, C., Hallanvuo, S., and Lindblad, M. 2008. Real-time PCR method for detection of pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica in food. Appl Environ Microbiol. (19): 6060-6067. Nakari, U.M., Puhakka, A., and Siitonen A. 2008. Correct identification and discrimination between Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli by a standardized hippurate test and species-specific polymerase chain reaction. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 27 (7): 513-518. Pakarinen, J., Hyvärinen, A., Salkinoja-Salonen, M., Laitinen, S., Nevalainen, A., Mäkelä, M.J., Haahtela, T., and von Hertze, L. 2008. Predominance of Gram-positive bacteria in house dust in the low-allergy risk Russian Karelia. Environ. Microbiol. 10 (12): 3317-3325. Peltola, M., Kanto Oqvist, C., Ekman, J., Kosonen, M., Jokela, S., Kolari, M., Korhonen, P., and Salkinoja-Salonen, M. 2008. Quantitative contributions of bacteria and of Deinococcus geothermalis to deposits and slimes in paper industry. J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 35 (12): 1651-1657. Peltola, M., Neu, T.R., Raulio, M., Kolari, M., and Salkinoja-Salonen, M.S. 2008. Architecture of Deinococcus geothermalis biofilms on glass and steel: a lectin study. Environ. Microbiol. 10 (7): 1752-1759. Pitkänen, T., Miettinen, I.T., Nakari, U.M., Takkinen, J., Nieminen, K., Siitonen, A., Kuusi, M., Holopainen, A., and Hänninen, M.L. 2008. Faecal contamination of a municipal drinking water distribution system in association with Campylobacter jejuni infections. J. Water Health 6 (3): 365-376. 30 3. RESEARCH IN NUTRITION 1. Dietary Studies Research work carried out in this field has long traditions at the Division of Nutrition. At present the main interest is focused on the associations between diet and chronic diseases. Since 1980 scientists from the Division of Nutrition have been responsible for the repeated dietary surveys in connection with the LASERI project, a followup study on coronary heart disease risk factors in young Finns. The latest followup survey was performed in the autumn 2007. Since 2007 the longitudinal and cumulative data available are used in a new consortium project GENDI (Gene-diet interactions in the development of atherosclerosis and osteoporosis) which is a collaboration with the University of Turku and the University of Tampere. The main objectives of this research are to test gene-diet interactions in the development of atherosclerosis and osteoporosis, to find new gene-diet interaction effects and to obtain information on the mechanisms and congruensis in the etiology of atherosclerosis and osteoporosis. 2. Nutrition and Bone Physiology The incidence of bone fractures and osteoporosis is increasing all over the world. Many factors such as lifestyle factors, among them nutrition, have an impact on bone health. Researchers in the Calcium Research Unit at the Division of Nutrition are studying the effect of nutritional factors on bone by epidemiological approaches, intervention studies, mechanistical studies in humans and animals using a number of methods: among others, peripheral computerised tomography, relevant biomarkers, assessment of dietary intake if specific nutrients by food frequency questionnaires. In addition, cell culture studies for cellular mechanisms are carried out using i.e. relevant methods in molecular biology. 3. Diet and Diabetes The FinnDiaNut study is a part of the Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy Study (FinnDiane). The aims of the FinnDiaNut study are to collect information on the food and nutrient intakes of adult Finnish patients with type 1 diabetes and to study the associations between diet, other lifestyle factors and the incidence of diabetic complications. 4. Diet and Cancer The Min mouse, an animal model for colon cancer, is used to study how dietary factors epidemiologically related to colon cancer affect intestinal tumour development as well as the underlying cell signalling pathways. Currently the main objectives are to determine the dietrelated mechanisms and biomarkers of colon cancer by using either tumourpromotive dietary agents such as inulin or tumoursuppressive dietary compounds such as lignan precursors and wild berries. 5. Diet and nutritional status in Mozambique The Division of Nutrition has started, together with Mozambican collaborators, a new project called "Finnish-Mozambican research collaboration on foods, diet and 31 nutrition in Mozambique". In the first phase of the project, information is gathered on the food selection, food preparation methods and the use of wild plants as food in Zambezia province, Mozambique. Food samples of selected raw and prepared foods are collected for analysis of nutrient content. In the second phase, the aim is to study the food habits, dietary intake and nutritional status of Mozambican teen-aged girls in two different seasons. 6. Diet in early life and allergic diseases There is increasing evidence that many factors may exert their main influence on chronic diseases pathogenesis during the fetal life and early childhood. Optimisation of nutrition in early life might be important in the development of such diseases. We collaborate with National Institute for Health and Welfare and University of Tampere on the DIPP (Diabetes Prediction and Prevention) Nutrition Study which is a prospective birth cohort study that started in 1996. The diet of pregnant and lactating mothers and their children are followed, and the associations between diet and the development of type I diabetes and allergic diseases are studied. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Ahlström Mikael, Freese Riitta*, Lamberg-Allardt Christel*, Mutanen Marja*, Pajari Anne-Maria, Räsänen Leena* ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS*= ABSfunded in 2008) Ahola Aila, Hätönen Katja (THL) (ABS*), Kemi Virpi (ABS*), Koli Raika (THL), Korkalo Liisa, Laaksonen Marika, Marttinen Maija (ABS*), Mikkilä Vera, Rajakangas-Tolsa Johanna, Viljakainen Heli (ABS*) PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Laaksonen Marika. 2008. Associations of gene polymorphisms and nutrition with calcium homeostasis and bone mineral density. - Studies on skeletal nutrigenetics. Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology (Nutrition). University of Helsinki. Yliopistopaino, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-952-92-4371-6 (paperback), ISBN 978-952-10-4924-8 (pdf). 116 p. + appendices. Mikkilä Vera. 2008. Diet and the development of atherosclerosis: a whole-diet approach from childhood to adulthood. Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology (Nutrition). University of Helsinki. Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Turku. Yliopistopaino, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-952-92-3866-8 (paperback), ISBN 978-952-10-4700-8 (pdf). 90 p. + appendices. Rajakangas-Tolsa Johanna. 2008. Diet, cell signalling, and tumourigenesis in multiple intestinal neoplasia mice. Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology (Nutrition). University of Helsinki.Yliopistopaino, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-95292-3213-0 (paperback), ISBN 978-952-10-4451-9 (pdf). 85 p. + appendices. Viljakainen Heli. 2008. Defining adequate vitamin D intake – cross-sectional and intervention studies. Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology (Nutrition). 32 University of Helsinki.Yliopistopaino, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-952-92-3758-6 (paperback), ISBN 978-952-10-4663-6(pdf). 94 p. + appendices. Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Erkkilä, A., Schwab, U., de Mello, V., Lappalainen, T., Mussalo, H., Lehto, S., Kemi, V., Lamberg-Allardt, C. and Uusitupa, M. 2008. Effects of fatty and lean fish intake on blood pressure in subjects with coronary heart disease using multiple medications. Eur. J. Nutr. 47: 319-328. Islam, Md.Z., Kemi, V., Nevanlinna, A., Akhtaruzzaman, M., Laaksonen, M., Jehan, A.H., Jahan, K., Khan, H.U., Lamberg-Allardt, C. 2008. Vitamin D deficiency and low bone status in adult female garment factory workers in Bangladesh. Br. J. Nutr. 99: 1322-1329. Kemi, V., Kärkkäinen, M., Karp, H., Laitinen, K., and Lamberg-Allardt, C. 2008. Increased calcium intake does not completely counteract the effects of increased phosphorus intake on bone: an acute dose–response study in healthy females. Br. J. Nutr. 99: 832-839. Lamberg-Allardt, C., and Viljakainen, H. 2008. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and functional outcomes in adolescents. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 88: 534S-536S. Lehtimäki, T., Hutri-Kähönen, N., Kähönen, M., Hemminki, J., Mikkilä, V., Laaksonen, M., Räsänen, L., Mononen, N., Juonala, M., Marniemi, J., Viikari, J., and Raitakari, O. 2008. Adult-type hypolactasia is not a predisposing factor for the early functional and structural changes of atherosclerosis: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Clinical Science 115: 265-271 Misikangas, M., Tanayama, H., Rajakangas, J., Lindén, J., Pajari, A.-M., and Mutanen, M. 2008. Inulin results in increased levels of -catenin and cyclin D1 as the adenomas increase in size from small to large in the Min/+ mouse. Br. J. Nutr. 99: 963-970. Mutanen, M., Pajari, A.-M., Päivärinta, E., Misikangas, M., Rajakangas, J., Marttinen, M., and Oikarinen, S. 2008. Berries as chemopreventive dietary constituents: a mechanistic approach with the ApcMin/+ mouse. Asia pacific journal of clinical nutrition 17: 123-125. Rajakangas, J., Misikangas M., Päivärinta, E., and Mutanen, M. 2008. Chemoprevention by white currant is mediated by the reduction of nuclear betacatenin and NF-kappaB levels in Min mice adenomas. Eur. J. Nutr. 47: 115-122. Vähävihu, K., Ylianttila, L., Salmelin, R., Lamberg-Allardt, C., Viljakainen, H., Tuohimaa, P., Reunala, T., and Snellman, E. 2008. Heliotherapy improves vitamin D balance and atopic dermatitis. British Journal of Dermatology 158: 1323-1328. 33 Department of Food Technology Research at the Department of Food Technology is focused on food materials and processes. The aim of the research is at efficient utilization of plant and animal materials for safe, nutritious and palatable foods in processes of environmental and economical validity. International contacts and cooperation are established in all research areas described below. 1. PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY OF FOODS Physical Changes Related to Glass Transition This study investigates glass transition temperatures of food components and biopolymers using a number of techniques, such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dielectric analysis (DEA), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and the plasticization of food and related systems by water and other plasticizers. The results are used to establish state diagrams, which can be applied in other studies and characterization of food behavior in processing and storage. We have related several properties of food materials (e.g., mechanical properties and water vapor permeability of edible films, texture of extrudates, and storage stability of encapsulated compounds) and time-dependent changes of amorphous food materials (e.g., loss of crispness, crystallization of amorphous sugars and sugar alcohols, and formation of crystallinity in starch) to the glass transition temperature. Reaction Kinetics Related to Glass Transition Deterioration of low-moisture and frozen foods is controlled by several factors. The physical state of foods may affect reaction rates due to slow diffusion of reactants at low water contents. We have studied the effect of glass transition on rates of crystallization of amorphous sugars and sugar alcohols, nonenzymatic browning (particularly in model foods and milk powders), retention and loss of antioxidant activity of encapsulated ellagitannins, and storage stability of encapsulated tocopherol. We have also studied the effect of the glass transition on enzyme activity and kinetics in food systems. Moreover, the glass transition has been found to affect recrystallization of ice in frozen food systems and, thus, storage stability of frozen products. Effects of Glass Transition to Food Processing Glass transition affects quality changes in heating processes. Such changes include nonenzymatic browning, plasticization of starch in extrusion, stickiness in spray-drying, caking in agglomeration, and collapse in freeze-drying. In dehydration processes (e.g., freeze-drying and spray-drying), extrusion, and freezing, aroma compounds and lipids often become encapsulated in glassy food matrices which has been taken into account in studies of dehydrated, extruded, and frozen food stability. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Jouppila Kirsi*, Roos Yrjö* 34 ABS Postgraduate Students Laine Pia, Lievonen Satu Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Laine, P., Kylli, P., Heinonen, M., and Jouppila, K. 2008. Storage stability of microencapsulated cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) phenolics. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 56: 11251-11261. 2. CEREAL TECHNOLOGY Cereal proteins, dietary fibre, beta-glucan in particular, and technologies related to these cereal food components are the partly overlapping areas of research in the Cereal Technology Group. Development of methods is an essential part of the studies. The Cereal Technology Group is participating in two consortia of the Nutrition, Food and Health (ELVIRA) research programme administered by Academy of Finland. Our work on cereal proteins relates to the Manglin consortium (Management of gluten intolerance: novel insights in occurence, immunogenetics, food processing and safety). Degradation of cereal proteins in certain processes can potentially be used as a tool for removing protein fractions that are harmful to coeliac patients. Another topic in cereal protein research is evaluation and development of analytical methods for detecting gluten remnants and impurities in oat products. This is the topic of our PhD student Päivi Kanerva, who, however, is on maternal leave since December 2008. In the Folafibre consortium (Aqueous processing of oats and barley: In situ enhancement of folate and associated bioactive compounds while maintaining soluble dietary fibre physiologically active), also part of the ELVIRA programme, we are studying beta-glucan aiming at sustaining its physical properties. The work includes further development and evaluation of a viscometric method for dietary fibre analysis. The project also aims at understanding and controlling the technological role of betaglucan in aqueous foods based on barley and oats. A recent publication by Reetta Kivelä, a PhD student in our group, showed that a radical-mediated reaction may degrade -glucan, especially in the presence of ascorbic acid. In addition to Reetta Kivelä, two postdocs have been involved in this research. Current work, supported by the two postdocs, includes determination of molecular mass and aggregation using FFF (flow field fractionation), analysis of radical mediated degradation using ESR (electron spin resonance spectroscopy), and imaging -glucan in food systems by CLSM (confocal laser scanning microscopy). Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Loponen Jussi, Nyström Laura, Salovaara Hannu*, Sontag-Strohm Tuula* 35 ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS* = ABS-funded in 2008) Anttila Heli, Flander Laura, Häggman Marina, Kanerva Päivi (ABS*), Kivelä Reetta Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters) Flander, L., Rouau, X., Morel, M.-H., Autio, K., Seppänen-Laakso, T., Kruus, K., and Buchert, J. 2008. Effects of laccase and xylanase on the chemical and rheological properties of oat and wheat doughs. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56: 5732-5742. Häggman, M., and Salovaara, H. 2008. Effect of fermentation rate on endogenous leavening of Candida milleri in sour rye dough. Food Research International 41: 266-273. Häggman, M., and Salovaara, H. 2008. Microbial re-inoculation reveals differences in the leavening power of sourdough yeast strains. LWT - Food Science and Technology 41: 148-154. Kivelä, R., Nyström, L., and Sontag-Strohm, T. 2008. Gel structure protects cereal -glucan from radical induced degradation in aqueous systems. Annual transactionsof the Nordic Rheology Society 16: 185-188. Salovaara, H., Kanerva, P., Kaukinen, K., and Sontag-Strohm, T. Oats – an overview from a coeliac disease point of view. In: The Science of Gluten-Free Foods and Beverages. Arendt, E. (Ed.). AACC International, St. Paul, MN. In print. 3. SENSORY FOOD RESEARCH Recent research deals with genetics of food perceptions, acceptance of unfamiliar or otherwise new foods, and food and chemosensory perceptions in different age groups. The genetic backgrounds of food preferences and perceptions have been studied in a project funded by the Academy of Finland (2004-07) and by the Food Research Foundation, Finland (2008). The research has been conducted in collaboration with KTL Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and with the Department of Public Health, both on the Meilahti Campus. The PhD students Keskitalo and Knaapila defended their theses, the former on March 7 and the latter on August 21 (evaluation of both theses “with honours”. In terms of taste phenotypes, the major finding was that around half of the individual differences in sweet taste preference are genetically determined, whereas the degree of liking for salty taste is solely influenced by environmental factors, such as food habits. In addition, a genetic element influencing the use of sweet foods was found to be located on chromosome 16. The indicators of sweet taste preference (liking for a sweet solution, liking for sweet foods) were shown to correlate due to genetic factors, and correlations between liking for the solution, liking for sweet foods, craving for sweet food and their use frequenciy were due to both genetic and unshared environmental factors. The relationship between BMI and diet appeared to be 36 mediated through dieting behaviours, measured using a modified version ThreeFactor Eating Questionnaire. Genetic effects were significant for some specific odors, such as androstenone. However, in most cases individual environmental effects, such as exposure to odors and learning, explain a major part of inter-individual variation in odor perceptions. Self-ratings of olfactory function reflect odor annoyance rather than actual olfactory acuity or genetic involvement. Results of non-genetic analyses supported the notions regarding women's superior olfactory abilities, age-related deterioration of olfactory function and role of experience in responses to odors. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Tuorila Hely*, Markus Perola ABS Postgraduate Students Keskitalo Kaisu, Knaapila Antti PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Keskitalo Kaisu. 2008. A matter of taste : genetic and environmental influences on responses to sweetness. Department of Food Technology, University of Helsinki. Publications of the National Public Health Institute A5/2008. ISBN 978-951-740-7816, ISSN 0359-3584, ISBN 978-951-740-782-3 (pdf), ISSN 1458-6290 (pdf). Yliopistopaino, Helsinki , Finland. 77 p. + appendices. Doctoral thesis, http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-740-782-3 Knaapila Antti. 2008. Genetic and environmental influences on human responses to odors. Department of Food Technology, University of Helsinki. Publications of the National Public Health Institute A19/2008. ISBN 978-951-740-836-3, ISSN 03593584, ISBN 978-951-740-837-0 (pdf), ISSN 1458-6290 (pdf), Yliopistopaino, Helsinki, Finland. 80 p. + appendices. Doctoral thesis, http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-740-837-0 Scientific papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Keskitalo, K., Tuorila, H., Spector, T.D., Cherkas, L.F., Knaapila, A., Kaprio, J., Silventoinen, K., and Perola, M. 2008. Three-factor eating questionnaire, body mass index, and responses to sweet and salty fatty foods: a twin study of genetic and environmental associations. Am. J. Clin. Nutr.:88: 263-271. Keskitalo, K., Silventoinen, K., Tuorila, H., Perola, M., Pietiläinen, K.H., Rissanen, A., and Kaprio, J. 2008. Genetic and environmental contributions to food use patterns of young adult twins. Physiol. Behav.:93: 235-242. Knaapila, A., Tuorila, H., Kyvik, K., Wright, M.J., Keskitalo, K., Hansen, J., Kaprio, J., Perola, M., and Silventoinen, K. 2008. Self-ratings of olfactory function reflect odor annoyance rather than olfactory acuity. Laryngoscope 118: 2212-2217. 37 Knaapila, A, Tuorila, H., Silventoinen, K., Wright, M.J., Kyvik, K.O., Cherkas, L.F., Keskitalo, K., Hansen, J., Martin, N.J., Spector, T.D., Kaprio, J., and Perola, M. 2008. Genetic and environmental contributions to perceived intensity and pleasantness of androstenone odor: an international twin study. Chemosensory Perception 1: 34-42. Knaapila, A., Tuorila, H., Silventoinen, K., Wright, M.J., Kyvik, K.O., Keskitalo, K., Hansen, J., Martin, N.J., Kaprio, J., and Perola, M. 2008. Environmental effects exceed genetic effects on perceived intensity and pleasantness of several odors: a cross-cultural twin study. Behav. Gen. 38: 484-492. 4. HEMICELLULOSES, ESPECIALLY MANNANS, AS POTENTIAL BIODEGRADABLE FILM FORMING POLYMERS AND EMULSION STABILIZERS Hemicelluloses, mannans and xylans, have much been neglected as potential raw materials for value added products, such as biodegradable films and emulsions. Both mannans and xylans may form films upon dehydration from a solution if properly mixed with suitable plasticizers, warmed and cast on a smooth surface. Sprucederived galactoglucomannan is known to stabilize lipophilic extractives in wood pulp, but its use in food systems has not been studied previously. In this project we focus on the film forming properties of mannans (glucomannans, galactomannans and galactoglucomannans) and on the stabilization of beverage model emulsions by mannans and xylans. An increase of mechanical strength and flexibility of mannanbased films is sought by blending mannan with other polymers. Nano-sized crystalline cellulose is also studied as reinforcement of mannan films. The permeability properties of spruce galactoglucomannan films are compared to those of films from other mannans. The research is carried out in collaboration with the Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology of the University of Helsinki, Laboratory of Wood and Paper Chemistry of Åbo Akademi, United States Department of Agriculture, Philadelphia, USA, and the Technical University of Luleå, Skellefteå, Sweden. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Helén Harry, Hyvönen Lea*, Tenkanen Maija* ABS Postgraduate Students Alanko Tessa (MTT), Mikkonen Kirsi, Pennanen-Kok Mari Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Mikkonen, K.S., Yadav, M.P., Cooke, P., Willför, S., Hicks, K.B., and Tenkanen, M. 2008. Films from spruce galactoglucomannan blended with poly(vinyl alcohol), corn arabinoxylan, and konjac glucomannan. BioResources 3 (1): 178-191. 38 Mikkonen, K.S., Yadav, M.P., Mathew, A., Oksman, K., Willför, S., and Tenkanen, M. 2008. Blend films and composites from spruce galactoglucomannan, 10th European workshop on lignocellulosic and pulp (EWLP), August 25-28 2008, Stockholm, Sweden. Proceedings, pp. 64-67. 5. MEAT TECHNOLOGY Properties of intramuscular connective tissue in pork and poultry with special reference to loose structure (Ph.D. thesis, M.Sc. Liisa Voutila) The thesis summarises the results presented in four scientific papers, of which two have been published in Meat Science (2007, 2008). The third paper was accepted for publication and the fourth paper was submitted, both into Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (2008). The thesis will be completed in spring 2009. Loose structure in light muscles from pigs and poultry seems a result of a gradual change in the role of intramuscular connective tissue in keeping the meat cohesiveness. Therefore it is difficult to detect with the traditional chemical methods concentrating (only) on the properties (amount, solubility) of intramuscular collagen. These properties seem to have been neglected when monitoring the changes in muscles during breeding lasting for decades. The extremity of the loose structure is detectable by visual assessment in raw porcine SM muscles at the perimysial level. In addition, when the pHu of those muscles is low, the shrinkage temperature of intramuscular connective tissue seems slightly lowered. However, this hardly is the underlying trigger for the loose structure in meat. The general opinion seems to be that loose structure in raw pork can be prevented by preventing the PSE (pale, soft exudative) meat, but similar solution has not been presented for poultry. However, the final explanation to why the strip of muscle can be pulled by hand in the raw loose structured meat but not in the normal meat has not been presented in the literature yet. It was not possible in the present study either, but the role of intramuscular connective tissue in the loose structured meat should be emphasised more than until now. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Puolanne Eero*, Ruusunen Marita* ABS Postgraduate Students Salonen Mira, Voutila Liisa Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Voutila, L., Ruusunen, M., and Puolanne, E. 2008. Comparison of the thermal characteristics of connective tissue in loose structured and normal structured porcine M. semimembranosus. Meat Sci. 80: 1024-1030. 39 6. DAIRY TECHNOLOGY Composition and structure of triacylglycerols (TAGs) in milk fat TAGs are the major lipid class in milk fat. Composition and structure of TAGs influence on the chemical, technological, and nutritional properties of milk fat. In the current study, novel analytical methods have been developed for the analysis of molecular species of TAGs in milk fat. Especially, structure and composition of shortchain TAG species have been studied by chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods. The most important research partner in cooperation has been the Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology. Growth and monitoring of Lactobacillus and Clostridium in Emmental cheese environment Emmental cheese ripening is a complex microbiological process where LAB starters including Streptococcus thermophilus and particular Lactobacillus species and propionibacteria interplay together in the curd and cheese matrix and produce the characteristic texture and flavour of this cheese. If the raw milk quality is not good enough and contains too much spores of clostridia, especially C. tyrobutyricum, butyric acid fermentation can occur later during cheese ripening period causing late blowing defects in Emmental cheese. The goal of the project is (i) to study effects of specific factors (e.g. importance of copper supplement in cheese milk) involved in Emmental cheese manufacture on growth of starters and spoilage bacteria, and (ii) to develop specific, sensitive and rapid monitoring methods to follow the growth of these bacteria and their effects on texture of the ripening Emmental cheese. Novel monitoring methods to be developed include antibody-based methods for these bacteria and ultrasound-based texture analysis of ripening Emmental cheese. USbased monitoring method has been done in close collaboration with Dept. of Physical Sciences (Univ. of Helsinki) and two Finnish Emmental cheese manufacturers. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Alatossava Tapani* ABS Postgraduate Students Alavuotunki Antti, Ercili Cura Dilek (VTT), Isohanni Pauliina (Ruralia Institute, University of Helsinki), Kemppinen Asmo, Mato Rordiguez Lourdes, Simões Catarina (VTT) Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Mato Rodriguez, L., and Alatossava, T. 2008. Effects of copper supplement on growth and viability of strains uesed as starters and adjunct clutures for Emmental cheese manufacture. J. Appl. Microbiol. 105: 1098-1106. 40 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences DIVISION OF MICROBIOLOGY AND EPIDEMIOLOGY Human and animal intestinal microbiota research This project focuses on the characterization of intestinal microbiota in health and disease and development of high-throughput molecular methods for the monitoring of these bacteria as well as intestinal pathogens and certain probiotics. In 2008, we continued analysing the extensive 16S rRNA gene sequence data obtained from selected fractions of guanine plus cytosine profiled faecal bacterial DNA of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients and all fractions of healthy controls and diarrhoea predominant IBS patients. Several differences between the faecal microbiotas of healthy individuals and IBS subgroups (diarrhoea, constipation and mixed type) were revealed. Phylum level differences in the bacterial phylotype diversity were observed in the comparative sequence library analysis of all the fractions of diarrhoea predominant IBS patients and healthy subjects. More detailed analyses with real-time PCR have further confirmed statistically significant quantitative differences in certain bacterial phylotypes from the faecal samples of IBS patients and healthy controls in assays designed based of the sequence data of selected fractions. A multispecies probiotic intervention trial performed previously was monitored with real-time PCR for changes in the GI microbiota and several bacterial phylotypes were found to be affected by probiotic supplementation. Our studies on the pig GI lactobacilli have also been continued. Preliminary identification by partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of over 90 pig lactobacillar strains isolated from various parts of the swine intestine was performed, after which the putative interdependence between various strain characteristics (e.g. resistance to bile acids and low pH, antagonism towards pathogens, adherence to the swine intestinal epithelium) were evaluated. Based on the results, several strains of the isolates could be considered as promising candidates for use in probiotic products. It however appears that at least in the swine it is not possible to perform a reliable preliminary screening of the candidate isolates based on the isolation site or the species identity, although there were some differences between the identification groups. The in 2007 started optimisation of faecal sample preparation within a metaproteomics approach for studying the activity of human intestinal microbiota was continued. The data of a reproducibility study of the whole wet-lab workflow (protein extraction – protein fractionation by 1D-gel - LC-MS measurement) is being analysed at the moment. The bioinformatical part of this project was emphasised in 2008. Peter Schaap (Wageningen University, the Netherlands) implemented a peptide identification platform containing intestinal microbiota specific sequence databases including metagenomic data, the most specific data available for intestinal metaproteomics. Sample comparison on LC-MS level based data was started. Different software is tested. The general interest in the research field of intestinal metaproteomics was proven by the selection for oral presentation to three (inter)national conferences. 41 Vaccine development against porcine post-weaning diarrhoea and oedema disease The aim of this study was to develop lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains for mucosal immunization studies against post-weaning diarrhoea and oedema disease in piglets caused by enterotoxigenic or shigatoxic Escherichia coli strains that express F18 fimbriae for adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells. Two LAB strains that surface display the receptor binding domain of FedF, the adhesin of F18 fimbria, were used to immunize groups of mice by the oral or intranasal routes. Pre- and post-immunization samples (blood, faeces and intestinal lavage) were collected and analyzed with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to determine the concentration of total secretory IgA and relative amount of FedF-specific immunoglobulins. In addition, FedF mediated adhesion of the two LAB strains to porcine intestinal epithelial cells was studied in vitro with the IPEC-1 cell line. Rodent-borne infections: Orthopox and Borna disease virus infections Orthopoxviruses are large DNA viruses, some of which are zoonotic. In Finland we have previously characterized the first human cowpox virus isolate and demonstrated infection serologically in rodents, cats, dogs and horses. In real-time PCR studies, we have recently found an OPV-DNA positive rodent in Southern Finland and detected a case in an infant after visit to Cyprus. We have also found antibodies in Russian and German wild rodents. More PCR and phylogenetic studies and an isolation trial have been planned. Borna disease virus (BDV) is a negative-stranded RNA virus and the causative agent Borna disease, a classically progressive fatal meningoencephalomyelitis, reported originally in horses in Germany more than 200 years ago. BDV has been reported to infect and cause clinical disease worldwide in a wide range of vertebrates, including humans. BDV has been found in the limbic system from people with affective psychotic disorders in post mortem studies but the causal relationship to psychiatric disorders is under debate. We have demonstrated BDV infection of horses, cats and wild rodents in Finland and also humans. Specificity of these antibodies was confirmed using recombinant BDV proteins and peptide arrays. This is the first finding of BDV infection in wild rodents, which may be the reservoir of BDV. We have recently performed an infection trial in wild rodents in the BSL3 laboratory; the preliminary results verify the previous serological findings and also suggest that the virus is shed to the urine from infected bladder cells. We have also been developing microarrays for BDV antibody detection together with Ale Närvänen in University of Kuopio and have obtained BDV sequence from a Borna-diseased horse in Southern Finland and pursued isolation trials. In addition, we have continued screening of rodent samples from Finland, Germany and Russia for both orthopoxviruses and BDV. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Palva Airi*, Vapalahti Olli*, de Vos Willem* 42 ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS*= ABS-funded in 2008) Kassinen Anna (ABS*), Kinnunen Paula (ABS*), Kolmeder Carolin, KrogiusKurikka Lotta (ABS*), Lindholm Agneta, Lähteinen Tanja, Rinttilä Teemu DIVISION OF PATHOLOGY AND PARASITOLOGY Bacterial stress responses In this project we are studying the complex responses of bacterial cell to environmental stress conditions. The timely expression of stress proteins is crucial for probiotic bacteria to maintain viability under harsh conditions during the industrial processes and in the gut. On the other hand the pathogenic bacteria are equally dependent on stress responses in order to survive in the presence of antibiotics and to be virulent. In our study, we use the tools of molecular biology in molecular level mechanistic research as well as proteomic approaches for global scale stress protein expression analyses. The organisms under study include probiotic Lactobacillus species as well as the model lactic acid bacteria, Lactococcus lactis. Of the pathogenic bacteria, most our work so far has been conducted with, Streptococcus uberis, Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase negative staphylococci. Toxoplasma gondii in Finland The objectives of Toxoplasma research are to characterize Toxoplasma prevalence and genotypes in Finnish game ruminants and, of production animals, in mutton and pork. Also parasite’s adaptation to different hosts will be examined. Comparison of the genotypes in meat and human infections may reveal the national source for this zoonosis and allow estimating the risk in different meat. Information of genotype variation in different host species is essential to recognize molecular background in host adaptation mechanisms. Moreover, identifying these mechanisms is a step towards targeting toxoplasmosis prevention and therapy. Toxoplasma- research started in 2007 autumn by setting up cell culture cultivation for Toxoplasma tachyzoites and analysing serological samples with direct agglutination test for Toxoplasma-IgG antibodies. During the hunting season 2008, 1383 samples from game ruminants were received and anlysed. The serology revealed 11% total seroprevalence in these samples. In sheep (n=1940) the seroprevalence was 25%. At the beginning of year 2009, a multiplex-PCR-based microsatellite method for Toxoplasma genotyping was adopted in our laboratory. At the moment, genotype data of the Finnish Toxoplasma isolates is produced. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Sukura Antti*, Näreaho Anu, Oksanen Antti, Varmanen Pekka* ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS*= ABS-funded in 2008) Jokelainen Pikka, Koskenniemi Kerttu, Suokko Aki (ABS*) 43 PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Suokko Aki. 2008. The stress responses of probiotic lactobacilli and a Bifidobacterium with special emphasis on Clp family proteins. Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences, University of Helsinki. TEMA-TEAM 11638-08, Turku, Finland. ISBN 9789529232703 (paperback, ISBN 9789521044854 (pdf). 57 p. + appendices. (http://ethesis.helsinki.fi) Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Suokko, A., Poutanen, M., Savijoki, K., Kalkkinen, N., and Varmanen, P. 2008. ClpL is essential for induction of thermotolerance and is potentially part of the HrcA regulon in Lactobacillus gasseri. Proteomics. 5: 1029-1041. DIVISION OF VETERINARY PHYSIOLOGY Physiological capacity of pigs Due to the rapid growth rate and the limited possibilities to move freely the aerobic capacity of the modern pig is very low and the pigs are easily stressed. The purpose of this project has been to study two aspects of stress (i) how the porcine muscles cope with the acidification caused by anaerobic metabolism and (ii) whether heat shock proteins (HSP) that are synthesized due to stress could be used as indicators of stress at the farm where they are raised or during transport to slaughterhouse. The project is finished. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Puolanne Eero*, Pösö Reeta ABS Postgraduate Students Sepponen Katri PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Sepponen Katri. 2008. Monocarboxylate transporters and heat shock proteins in domestic pigs in relation to stress and meat quality. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland. Yliopistopaino, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-952-92-4228-3 (nid.), ISBN 978-95210-4849-4 (pdf). 55 p. + appendices. 44 Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene 1. FOOD HYGIENE A. Food-borne Pathogenic Bacteria The main focus has been the molecular diagnostics, genomics, virulence mechanisms and molecular epidemiology of spore-forming and/or psychrotrophic Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium perfringens, Listeria monocytogenes, Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Reservoirs of these pathogens have been determined. Various food items associated with food hygienic risks of C. botulinum, L. monocytogenes, Y. enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis have been identified. Molecular epidemiology is used for the identification and investigation of food poisoning outbreaks. In order to improve prevention of food poisoning outbreaks, we have studied sources and contamination routes of these food-borne pathogenic bacteria in primary production, in the food industry, and at the retail market. The genetic diversity of these pathogens has been studied. For these purposes we have applied ribotyping, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and DNA microarrays. We have studied the functional genomics of C. botulinum, L. monocytogenes and Yersinia using the microarray technique, qPCR and gene knockout technology. B. Lactic Acid Bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae associated with food spoilage We have mainly focused our research on psychrotrophic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) causing food spoilage. We study the origins of these LAB, how they contaminate foods and what can be done to prevent this in order to maintain good food quality through predicted shelf lives. The systematics of food-associated LAB species and their metabolism are also important research topics. In addition to LAB, we have established an identification database for psychrotrophic Enterobacteriaceae and coagulase-negative staphylococci. Both conventional and various DNA-based techniques have been applied to these studies. For tracing down bacterial contamination at various food processing premises, we have been using rRNA gene restriction analyses (ribotypes) and macro restriction analysis. Specific spoilage organisms have been characterized further using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, AFLP or other suitable techniques in order to evaluate intra-specific variation. The metabolic properties of a specific spoilage LAB, Leuconostoc gasicomitatum is studied together with the Institute of Biotechnology. In this project, we have sequenced the genome of LMG 18811 to provide information on its genomic content. This information is used in studies dealing with the metabolic activities of this LAB under various circumstances related to marinating, packaging etc. As new genomic projects, we have sequenced the genome of Lactobacillus oligofermentans, Lactococcus sp. and another L. gasicomitatum isolate. This data is used in our transcriptomics studies utilizing microarray techniques. In addition, we develop culture-independent approaches for studying psychrotrophic LAB and Enterobacteriaceae communities. 45 2. ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE Campylobacter and Helicobacter research Studies on the genetic characterisation of Finnish Campylobacter jejuni strains for tracing sources and epidemiology of domestic infections, ecology and adaptation to various foods as well as to exploration of differences in the virulence between various strains have been continued. A specific focus has been on the association of poultry and bovine isolates with human infections. A population genetic study on C. jejuni using Multi-Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) for analysis of Finnish human chicken and bovine strains has continued and includes now approximately 700 strains. Statistical analysis of population structure is in progress. Antimicrobial resistance has been an increasing problem in public health. Especially use of fluoroquinolones (FQ) in animals has increased the level of resistance in Campylobacter. We have studied the mechanisms of the development of antimicrobial resistance for several important antimicrobials in C. jejuni and C. coli. In addition, we have studied the role of efflux pump (CmeABC) and some other genetic targets in the development of resistance. Phylogenetic and taxonomic genomic level characterisation and comparison of Helicobacter spp. has continued. Using polyphyletic approach we have been able to show that most of the species colonising in the gastric area were already early in the evolution separated from the species colonising the lower parts of gastrointestinal tract. Environmental and food virology Hepatitis E virus in Finland Hepatitis E virus (HEV) has been increasingly acknowledged also in industrialized countries since it has become clear that the virus resides in many animal reservoirs, preferentially in pigs. Our aim has been to find out the occurrence of HEV in Finnish pigs on one hand and of human endemic infections originating from animal sources on the other hand. On patient materials we collaborate with HUSLAB virology department. The research on porcine HEV is done with the FABA research institute and abatoirs for sample collection. We have screened Finnish pigs for hepatitis E viruses. The prevalence of HEV in pigs in Finland has not been studied thoroughly. At the FABA research institute we obtained sequential samples from pigs during their growth. The transmission of the viruses from pig-to-pig did not occur easily at the conditions of a seemingly high level of hygiene at the research institute. Younger pigs were most susceptible to infection, and genotype 3 viruses prevailed in the porcine samples. The follow-up study will be repeated with some modifications to confirm the results. For human hepatitis E cases serum samples of acute hepatitis patients were screened for both antibodies and presence of the genome. A manuscript describing the human findings has been submitted for publication. Of the 105 serum samples, 27,6% were 46 positive for anti-HEV antibodies and 7,6% contained RNA and anti-HEV IgM and/or IgG antibodies. Most human cases were linked to travelling in endemic regions, but one case had a travel history in Spain, which is not regarded as an endemic region for hepatitis E. Genotype 1 viruses were found in humans. The sequences will be compared to those obtained from the pigs to establish whether these viruses could cause endemic infections/epidemics in humans in Finland, too. So far, zoonotic transmission of hepatitis E virus has not been shown in Finland. Subsequently, persons handling pigs are studied for signs of HEV infection by antibody testing. Other possible animal reservoirs of these viruses are searched for. Mostly molecular methods are used in studies. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR, but also methods like nested PCR and nucleotide sequence determination are applied for genetic characterisation of the viruses. Antibody and immunoblot assays are also used. The detection of noroviruses in foodstuff Detection of viruses in other food items than shellfish is still challenging. The aim for the project is to develop more sensitive methods for revealing noroviruses in some risk products like vegetables, berries and cold cuts. A comparison of four published methods used in the sample handling in viral analysis of foodstuff with different concentration procedures but identical nucleic acid and gene amplification techniques has been performed. Valuable experience about the drawbacks and benefits of each method application has been obtained. Data analysis is still going on. Using the developed methods we intend to determine the frequency of noroviral contamination in commercially offered batches of the foodstuffs. The role of animals as a source for noroviruses and in their spread is also investigated. The virus strains from different sources are compared by sequence analysis. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Björkroth Johanna*, Fredriksson-Ahomaa Maria, Hänninen Marja-Liisa*, Korkeala Hannu*, Lindström Miia*, Lundén Janne, Maunula Leena* ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS*= ABS-funded in 2008) Derman Yagmur, Hannula (née Laatu) Minna (ABS*), Heikinheimo Annamari, Hellström Sanna, Hinderink Katja (ABS*), Juntunen Pekka, Kangas Susanna, Kantala Tuija (ABS*), Keto-Timonen Riikka, Kiviniemi Katri, Laukkanen Riikka, Markkula Annukka (ABS*), Mattila Mirjami, Myllykoski Jan, Niskanen Taina, Nousiainen Liina-Lotta (Evira), Ortiz Martinez Pilar, Palonen Eveliina, Perko-Mäkelä Päivikki (Evira), Pohjanvirta Tarja, Praakle-Amin Kristi, Ridell Jouko, Summa Maija, Söderholm Henna (ABS*), Tolvanen Riina, Tolvanen Tiina, Vaarala Auli, Vihavainen Elina 47 PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Heikinheimo Annamari. 2008. Diagnostics and molecular epidemiology of cpepositive Clostridium perfringens type A. University of Helsinki, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene. Helsinki University Print, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-952-92-3582-7 (paperback), ISBN 978-952-104602-5 (pdf). 76 p. + appendices. Keto-Timonen Riikka. 2008. Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis in strain typing and identification of Listeria and Clostridium species. University of Helsinki, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene. Helsinki University Print, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-952-92-3804-0 (paperback), ISBN 978-952-10-4682-7 (pdf). 92 p. + appendices. Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Aarnisalo, K., Vihavainen, E., Rantala, L., Maijala, R., Suihko, M.-L., Hielm, S., Tuominen, P., Ranta, J., and Raaska, L. 2008. Use of results of microbiological analyses for risk-based control of Listeria monocytogenes in marinated broiler legs. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 121: 275-284. Aittamaa, M., Auvinen, P., Hinderink, K., Kiviniemi, K., Korkeala, H., Leppäranta, O., Lindström, M., Mattinen, L., Myllys, V., Nevas, M., Nykäsenoja, S., Pirhonen, M., Rantala, L., Somervuo, P., and Valkonen, J.P.T. 2008. Plant, animal and food pathogens analyzed using genome-wide microarrays: towards improved diagnostics and control of bacterial pathogens. In: Agricultural biomarkers for array technology. Frey, J.E. and Pasquer, F. (Ed.). ISBN 978-3-033-01770-2. COST Action 853, COST Office/Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW, Switzerland. p. 47-51. Gonzalez, M., Hakkinen, M., Rautelin, H., and Hänninen, M.-L. Bovine Campylobacter jejuni strains differ from human and chicken strains in an analysis of certain molecular genetic markers. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. In press. Hannula, M., and Hänninen, M.-L. 2008. Effect of putative efflux pump inhibitors and inducers on the antimicrobial susceptiblity of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. J. Med. Microbiol. 57: 851-855. Hannula, M., and Hänninen, M.-L. 2008. Effects of low-level ciprofloxacin challenge in the in vitro development of ciprofloxacin resistance in Campylobacter jejuni. Microb. Drug Resist. 14: 197-201. Heikinheimo, A., Lindström, M., Korkeala, H., and Liu, D. Clostridium. In: Molecular detection of foodborne pathogens. Liu, D. (Ed.). Taylor & Francis CRC Press. p. 141-151. In press. Hellström, S. 2008. Minne menet eläinlääkäri? [Varthän är du på väg veterinär?]. Pääkirjoitus. Suom. Eläinlääkäril. 114: 135, 138. 48 Hellström, S., Kiviniemi, K., Autio, T., and Korkeala, H. 2008. Listeria monocytogenes is common in wild birds in Helsinki region and genotypes are frequently similar with those found along the food chain. J. Appl. Microbiol. 104: 883-888. Hinderink, K., Lindström, M., and Korkeala, H. Group I Clostridium botulinum strains show significant variation in growth at low and high temperatures. J. Food Prot. In press. Kangas, S., Takkinen, J., Hakkinen, M., Nakari, U.-M., Johansson, T., Henttonen, H., Virtaluoto, L., Siitonen, A., Ollgren, J., and Kuusi, M. 2008. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis O:1 traced to raw carrots, Finland [letter]. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 14: 1959-1961. Lahti, P., Heikinheimo, A., Johansson, T., and Korkeala, H. 2008. Clostridium perfringens type A strains carrying a plasmid-borne enterotoxin gene (genotypes IS1151-cpe or IS1470-like-cpe) as a common cause of food poisoning. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 371-373. Laukkanen, R., Ortiz Martínez, P., Siekkinen, K.-M., Ranta, J., Maijala, R., and Korkeala, H. 2008. Transmission of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in the pork production chain from farm to slaughterhouse. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 5444-5450. Lindström, M., Hinderink, K., Somervuo, P., Kiviniemi, K., Nevas, M., Chen, Y., Auvinen, P., Carter, A.T., Mason, D.R., Peck, M.W., and Korkeala, H. Comparative genomic hybrization analysis of two predominant Nordic group I (proteolytic) Clostridium botulinum type B populations. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. In press. Lundén, J., Tolvanen, R., and Korkeala, H. 2008. Acid and heat tolerance of persistent and nonpersistent Listeria monocytogenes food plant strains. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 46: 276-280. Makary, P., Maunula, L., Niskanen, T., Kuusi, M., Virtanen, M., Pajunen, S., Ollgren, J., and Tran Minh, N.N. Multiple norovirus outbreaks among workplace canteen users in Finland, July 2006. Epidemiol. Infect. In press. Matero, P., Pasanen, T., Laukkanen, R., Tissari, P., Tarkka, E., Vaara, M., and Skurnik, M. Real-time multiplex PCR assay for detection of Yersinia pestis and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. APMIS. In press. Myllykoski, J., Lindström, M., Keto-Timonen, R., Söderholm H., Jakala, J., Kallio, H., Sukura, A., and Korkeala, H. Type C bovine botulism outbreak due to carcass contaminated non-acidified silage. Epidemiol. Infect. In press. Niskanen, T., Laukkanen, R., Fredriksson-Ahomaa, M., and Korkeala, H. 2008. Distribution of virF/IcrF-positive Yersinia pseudotuberculosis serotype O:3 at farm level. Zoonoses Public Health 55: 214-221. 49 Niskanen, T., Laukkanen, R., Murros, A., Björkroth, J., Skurnik, M., Korkeala, H., and Fredriksson-Ahomaa, M. Characterisation of non-pathogenic Yersinia pseudotuberculosis-like strains isolated from food and environmental samples. Int. J. Food Microbiol. In press. Ranta, J., Siekkinen, K.-M., Nuotio, L., Laukkanen, R., Hellström, S., Korkeala, H., and Maijala, R. Hidden Markov latent variable model of pathogenic contamination from pig to pork. Statistical Modelling: An International Journal. In press. Rossi, M., Hänninen, M.L., Revez, J., Hannula, M., and Zanoni, R.G. 2008. Occurrence and species level diagnostics of Campylobacter spp., enteric Helicobacter spp. and Anaerobiospirillum spp. in healthy and diarrheic dogs and cats. Vet. Microbiol. 129: 304-314. Ruohoniemi, M., Luukkanen, L., Laukkanen, R., and Ryhänen, S. 2008. Uusi eläinlääketieteen lisensiaatin tutkinto. Suom. Eläinlääkäril. 114: 582-586. Tolvanen, R., Hellström, S., Elsser, D., Morgenstern, H., Björkroth, J., and Korkeala, H. 2008. Survival of Listeria monocytogenes strains in a dry sausage model. J. Food Prot. 71: 1550-1555. Tolvanen R., Lundén, J., Hörman, A., and Korkeala, H. Pilot-scale continuous ultrasonic cleaning equipment reduces Listeria monocytogenes levels on conveyor belt. J. Food Prot. In press. Vihavainen, E.J., Murros, A.E., and Björkroth, K.J. 2008. Leuconostoc spoilage of vacuum-packaged vegetable sausages. J. Food Prot. 71: 2312-2315. 50 2. University of Kuopio Faculty of Medicine Department of Clinical Nutrition / Food and Health Research Centre, School of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition The research activities of the Department are focusing on the interaction of diet and other life style factors with genetic factors in the etiology of chronic diseases (obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases). In addition, many projects on health effects of individual foods or food components (e.g. effects of rye and other cereals on glucose and lipid metabolism, interaction of probiotics with mycotoxins, and bioactive polyphenols in berries and their health effects) are being carried out utilizing also the facilities of the ETTK (Food and Health Research Centre). The aim of all these studies is to define an optimal diet for the prevention and treatment of nutrition related chronic diseases. Following progress has been made in the projects of students funded by the ABS Graduate School: - Otto Mykkänen studies the potential health benefits and target genes of dietary consumption of bilberries. The animal experiments with parameters describing obesity-associated metabolic disturbances have been carried out, and several phenotypic changes (insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, blood pressure, blood lipids, energy metabolism and activity, body fat content and distribution) have been measured. Tissue samples (liver, adipose tissue, muscle, brain, eyes) were collected for gene expression analyses. Microarray analyses of liver, fat and retina are underway. Preliminary results on the phenotypic changes were reported in a NUGO meeting and a manuscript is under preparation. - The first manuscript by Tiina Lappalainen reporting serum concentrations and expressions in adipose tissue of SAA and leptin in the Genobin study has been published, and another manuscript reporting the association of the FTO gene variant with body weight in the DPS study has been accepted for publication. The manuscript regarding the association of the FTO gene variant with CVD risk is under preparation. Analysis regarding the role of the FTO gene in inflammation is going on. - Anna-Maija Tolppanen’s dissertation aims to study the genetic association of the TNMD gene with features of metabolic syndrome. During 2008 she studied the associations of TNMD SNPs with quality and quantity of lipids. She finalized her 3rd publication on these findings, and studied also the association of the TNMD SNPs with age-related macular degeneration. She found at least two risk alleles and one protective allele for AMD and wrote the last report of her doctoral work on these results. Supervisors El-Nezami Hani*, Gylling Helena*, Järvinen Ritva*, Karhunen Leila*, Kolehmainen Marjukka, Mykkänen Hannu*, Poutanen Kaisa*, Pulkkinen Leena*, Schwab Ursula*, Törrönen Riitta*, Uusitupa Matti*, Vidgren Helvi* 51 ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS*= ABS-funded in 2008) Kallio Petteri, Koponen Jani (ABS*), Juvonen Kristiina, Lappalainen Tiina (ABS*), Lappi Jenni, Lankinen Maria, Mager Ursula, Mertanen Enni, Muukka Eija, Mykkänen Otto (ABS*), Orell-Kotikangas Helena, Piekkola Sanna, Tolppanen Anna-Maija (ABS*) PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Mager Ursula. 2008. The role ghrelin in obesity and insulin resistance. University of Kuopio. 123 p. Mertanen Enni. 2008. Ravintolaruoka asiakkaiden, ravintolakeittiön ja ravitsemuksen näkökulmasta. University of Kuopio. 312 p. Muukka Eija. 2008. Luomun tie päiväkotiin. Luomuruokailun toteutettavuus ja ravitsemuksellinen merkitys päiväkotilapsille. Kuopio University Publications D. Medical Sciences 437. ISBN 978-951-27-0957-1, ISBN-951-27-1054-6 (pdf), ISSN 1235-0303. 168 p. + appendices. Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) De Mello, V., Kolehmainen, M., Pulkkinen, L., Schwab, U., Mager, U., Laaksonen, D.E., Niskanen, L., Gylling, H., Atalay, M., Rauramaa, R., and Uusitupa, M. 2008. Downregulation of genes involved in NFkappaB activation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells after weight loss is associated with the improvement of insulin sensitivity in individuals with the metabolic syndrome: the GENOBIN study. Diabetologia 51: 2060-2067. De Mello, V.D.F., Kolehmainen, M., Schwab, U., Mager, U., Laaksonen, D.E., Pulkkinen, L., Niskanen, L., Gylling, H., Atalay, M., Rauramaa, R., and Uusitupa, M. 2008. Effect of weight loss on cytokine messengaer RNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of obese subjects with the metabolic syndrome. Metab. Clin. Exp. 57: 192-199. Dembinska-Kiec, A., Mykkänen, O., Kiec-Wilk, B., and Mykkänen, H. 2008. Antioxidant phytochemicals against type 2 diabetes. Br. J. Nutr. Suppl. 99: ES109-ES117. Erkkilä, A.T., Schwab, U.S., De Mello, V.D.F., Lappalainen, T., Mussalo, H., Lehto, S., Kemi, V., Lamberg-Allardt, C., and Uusitupa M.I.J. 2008. Effects of fatty and lean fish intake on blood pressure in subjects with coronary heart disease using multiple medications. Eur. J. Nutr. 47: 319-328. Karhunen, L.J., Juvonen, K.R., Huotari, A., Purhonen, A.K., Herzig, K.H. 2008. Effect of protein, fat, carbohydrate and fibre on gastrointestinal peptide release in humans. Regul. Pept. 149: 70-78. 52 Kilpeläinen, T.O., Lakka, T.A., Laaksonen, D.E., Mager, U., Salopuro, T., Kubaszek, A., Todorova, B., Laukkanen, O., Lindström, J., Eriksson, J.G., Hämäläinen, H., Aunola, S., Ilanne-Parikka, P., Keinänen-Kiukaanniemi, S., Tuomilehto, J., Laakso, M., and Uusitupa, M. 2008. Interaction of single nucleotide polymorphisms in ADRB2, ADRB3, TNF, IL6, IGF1R, LIPC, LEPR, and GHRL with physical activity on the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus and changes in characteristics of the metabolic syndrome. The Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study. Metab. Clin. Exp. 57: 428-436. Kolehmainen, M., Salopuro, T., Schwab, U.S., Kekäläinen, J., Kallio, P., Laaksonen, D.E., Pulkkinen, L., Lindi, V.I., Sivenius, K., Mager, U., Siitonen, N., Niskanen, L., Gylling, H., Rauramaa, R., and Uusitupa, M. 2008. Weight reduction modulates expression of genes involved in extracellular matrix and cell death: the GENOBIN study. Int. J. Obes. 32: 292-303. Koponen, J.M., Buchert, J., Poutanen, K.S., and Törrönen, A.R. 2008. Effect of pectinolytic juice production on the extractability and fate of bilberry and black currant anthocyanins. Eur. Food. Res. Technol. 227: 485-494. Koponen, J.M., Happonen, A.M., Auriola, S., Kontkanen, H., Buchert, J., Poutanen, K.S., and Törrönen R. 2008. Characterization and fate of black currant and bilberry flavonols in enzyme-aided processing. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56: 3136-3144. Lappalainen, T., Kolehmainen, M., Schwab, U., Pulkkinen, L., Laaksonen, D.E., Rauramaa, R., and Uusitupa, M. 2008. Serum concentrations and expressions of serum amyloid A and leptin in adipose tissue re interrelated: the Genobin study. Eur. J. Endocrinol. 158: 333-341. Mager, U., Degenhardt, T., Pulkkinen, L., Kolehmainen, M,. Tolppanen, A.-M., Lindström, J., Eriksson, J.G., Carlberg, C., Tuomilehto, J., Uusitupa, M. 2008. Variations in the ghrelin receptor gene associate with obesity and glucose metabolism in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance. PLoS ONE 3 (8): e2941. Mager, U., Kolehmainen, M., de Mello, V.D.F, Schwab, U., Laaksonen, D.E., Rauramaa, R., Gylling, H., Atalay, M., Pulkkinen, L., and Uusitupa, M. 2008. Expression of ghrelin gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and plasma ghrelin concentrations in patients with metabolic syndrome. Eur. J. Endocrinol. 158: 499-510. Mattila, P.H., Törrönen, A.R., Koponen, J.M., Sinkko, H., Hellström, J.K., Reivuo, H., Ovaskainen, M.-L. 2008. Dietary intake of polyphenols in Finland. In: EscribanoBailón, T.M., González-Manzano, S., González-Paramás, A.M., Duenas-Patón, M., Santos-Buelga, C. (Eds). XXIV the International conference on polyphenols. Polyphenols communications 2008, Salamanca, 8th - 11th, July. Globalia artes gráficas, SL, Spain: Vol. 2. p. 731-732. Ovaskainen, M.L., Törrönen, R., Koponen, J.M., Sinkko, H., Hellström, J., Reinivuo H., and Mattila P. 2008. Dietary intake and major food sources of polyphenols in Finnish adults 1-3. J. Nutr. 138: 562-566. Tolppanen, A.-M., Pulkkinen, L., Herder, C., Koenig, W., Kolehmainen, M., Lindström, J., Tuomilehto, J., and Uusitupa, M, for the Finnish diabetes study group. 53 2008. The genetic variation of the tenomodulin gene (TNMD) is associated with serum levels of systemic immune mediators - the Finnish diabetes prevention study. Genet. Med. 10: 536-544. Tolppanen, A.-M., Pulkkinen, L., Kuulasmaa, T., Kolehmainen, M., Schwab, U., Lindström, J., Tuomilehto, J., Uusitupa, M., and Kuusisto, J. 2008. The genetic variation in the tenomodulin gene is associated with serum total and LDL cholesterol in a body size-dependent manner. Int. J. Obes. 32: 1868-1872. Turner, P.C., Wu, Q.K., Piekkola S., Gratz, S., Mykkänen, H., and El-Nezami, H. 2008. Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain GG restores alkal,ine phosphatase activity in differentiating Caco-2 cells dosed with the potent mycotoxin deoxynivalenol. Food Chem.Toxicol. 46: 2118-2123. 54 Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences Department of Biosciences From January 1st 2007 onwards, the former Institute of Applied Biotechnology formed, together with the departments of Biochemistry and Chemistry Department of Biosciences. The main fields of research in the novel department are Animal Biotechnology, Plant Biotechnology, Food and Nutrition Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, Biological Chemistry and Biochemistry. The Department combines the expertise and research capabilities of Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Applied Zoology, and Nutrition Sciences present at the University. The Institute is situated at the Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences. The activities are complementary to the A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences which concentrates more on fundamental research and researcher training in biotechnology. During the year 2008 preparations were started for merging the Universities of Kuopio and Joensuu to form a new University of Eastern Finland. Since the Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences will be one of the faculties spanning the two campuses, these developments naturally also concern the Department of Biosciences. However, no major changes in the focus are to be expected in the immediate future. NUTRITIONAL AND FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY Nutritional and food biotechnology (launched in 1998) has just celebrated its first decennium in University of Kuopio. The main food related research interests are food safety, food toxicology, functional foods and the interactions of diet and intestinal microflora. Particularly human and animal probiotics and the factors affecting their colonisation and adhesion to the colonic mucosa form a central part of the research activities. An emerging research area is hygiene and food safety, where the emphasis is on the mechanisms of virulence of pathogenic bacteria as well novel approaches in their control. Studies on probiotics A joint Tekes-funded project with VTT on the formulation of probiotics (Study director Dr. Maria Saarela, VTT) is going on. Another probiotic-related study is done in collaboration with the Food and Health Research Centre in the Department of Clinical Nutrition together with Dr Pirkka Kirjavainen (a Research Fellow of the Academy of Finland) Hygiene and food safety Cell-culture based tests to screen the virulence of Listeria monocytogenes as well as different mastitis-associated bacteria are being development along with a research project on the role of lactoferrin in the prevention of infections and food-associated pathogens. This work is done in cooperation with the faculty of Veterinary Medicine of The University of Helsinki. 55 A Tekes-EAKR project BIOSTIMUL has been started to study the functional properties of wood-associated stilbenes as potential novel antimicrobial food additives. VTT and Åbo Akademi (Department of Wood Chemistry) act as subcontractor in this project. Acadamy Professor Markku Laakso (Department of Clinical Medicine) is one of the partners in Kuopio University to study the effects of stilbenes on SIRT1-expression and the possible prevention of type II diabetes. Other projects The analytics and functional properties of plant phenolics and flavonoids are being studied. These studies will form an integral part of the functions of the new Mediteknia research complex of the University. This is continuation of the PhD project of Kaisu Riihinen (completed in 2005). Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Hyvönen Paula, von Wright Atte* Post-doc Scientists Riihinen Kaisu, Plumed-Ferrer Carme ABS Postgraduate Students Korhonen Jenni Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Danielsen, M., Mayrhofer, S., Domig, K.J., Amtmann, E., Mayer, H.K., Belen Florez, A., Mayo, B., Korhonen, J., and Tosi, L. 2008. Assessment of antimicrobial wildtype minimum inhibitory concentration distributions of species of the Lactobacillus delbrueckii group. Dairy Science and Technology 88: 183-191. Gugliemetti, E., Korhonen, J., Heikkinen, J., Morelli, L., and von Wright, A. 2008. Transfer of plasmid mediated resistance to tetracycline in pathogenic bacteria from fish and aquaculture environments. FEMS Microbiology Letters. In press. Korhonen, J., Danielsen, M., Mayo, B., Egervärn, M., Axelsson, L., Huys G., and von Wright, A. 2008. . Animicrobial susceptibility and proposed microbiological cutoff values of lactobacilli by phenotypic determination. International Journal of Prebiotics and Probiotics 3: 257-268. 56 3. University of Turku Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry 1. RESEARCH IN FOOD CHEMISTRY AND FUNCTIONAL FOODS A. Food lipids The composition, stability and functions of food lipids are of major interest. The aim is to enhance understanding of the chemical, technological and nutritional properties of edible fats, oils, and polymeric plant lipids. Molecular composition of various seed oils and cuticular lipid polymers are under investigation by chromatographic (GC, HPLC, SFC), mass spectrometric (MS, MS/MS) and NMR methods. New and fast HPLC-MS and NMR methods of analysis of native and oxidized lipids in biological samples have been developed and applied. Research activities include analysis and nutritional properties of fats and oils containing e.g. -linolenic, stearidonic and other special fatty acids. The oxidation of oils and fats has been studied in addition by sensory evaluation methods. B. Composition and properties of foods The common goal is to develop and apply novel chromatographic (GC, SFC, HPLC), mass spectrometric, NMR, bio-affinity and sensory methods for food composition analysis. In addition to lipids also phenolics, aroma and flavour compounds, and other secondary metabolites have been investigated. Sensory science is an independent and supporting part of food chemistry. Research is focused on raw materials of foods for special nutritional and sensory targets. Fruits, potatoes, vegetables, cereals and eggs are of common interest. Several topics are projects with respected international Universities; University of Toronto (Canada), University of Iceland, Shenyang Agricultural University (China), University of Aveiro (Portugal) and Jinan University (China). C. Probiotic, prebiotics and functional foods Specific probiotic lactic acid bacteria, bifidobacteria and their viability and impact in foods and the human intestinal tract are characterized as means of influencing intestinal microecology and strengthening gut barrier mechanisms. Intestinal microbiota characterization and identification of compoonents and activity associated with health and atopic disease in collaboration with the University of Turku research program on nutrition, allergy, mucosal immunology and intestinal microbiota. Special goal is Bifidobacterium and Clostridium composition and activity assessment using molecular methods. Adhesion properties of probiotic bacteria, colonization of human intestinal tract, intestinal microbiota aberrancies and effects of probiotics and prebiotics on human immune function are assessed also in collaboration with the research team of professor Airi Palva and FiDiPro Professor Willem de Vos. The goal is to characterize new target-specific and site-specific probiotic microbes with 57 scientifically demonstrated clinical efficacy and safety. New applications with probiotics in environmental contaminant detoxification have been conducted in collaboration with the Åbo Akademi University, University of Kuopio and University of Indonesia. One major target is to validate the in vitro methods developed in our laboratory and to correlate them to the outcome of clinical studies conducted by our clinical collaborators. International collaboratorion with post-graduate study visits are an important part of the graduate school activities (e.g. University of Melbourne, Australia, National University of Singapore, and Japan Collection of Micro-organism, Riken, Japan, EU project collaborators) forms an important part of research programme. D. Degree Program on Healthbiosciences Food development from the degree programme on Healthbiosciences coordinated by the faculties of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and Medicine participates in the graduate school programme. ABS students have possibilities for participating in the Food Development curriculum conducting short projects with the Functional Foods Forum, a special research unit of the University of Turku. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Huopalahti Rainer, professor*; Kallio Heikki, professor*; Laitinen Kirsi, docent*; Lilius Esa-Matti, docent*; Ouwehand Arthur, docent*; Salminen Seppo, professor*; Sandell (née Hakala) Mari, Dr*; Tahvonen Raija, professor* ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS*= ABS-funded in 2008) Grzeskowiak Lukasz, Halttunen Teemu, Hiidenhovi Jaakko (MTT), Jalonen Lotta, Järvinen (née Nieminen) Riikka (ABS*), Kankaanpää Pasi, Kilpi Maaria, Larmo Petra (ABS*), Lehtonen Henna-Maria, Leskinen (née Huotari) Heidi (ABS*), Mäkeläinen Henna, Mäkivuokko Harri, Pengzhan Liu, Pihlava Juha-Matti (MTT), Piirainen Tarja, Pohjanheimo Terhi (ABS*), Rantanen (née Parhiala) Riikka, Rokka Susanna (MTT), Suomalainen Tarja, Tamminen Marja, Tuomasjukka Saska, Vorne Virpi (MTT), Vähämiko Sanna, Zheng Jie (ABS*) PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Halttunen Teemu. 2008. Removal of cadmium, lead and arcenic from water by lactic acid bacteria. Functional Foods Forum/ Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry, University of Turku. Painosalama Oy, Turku, Finland. ISBN 978-951-293457-7(paperback), ISBN 978-951-29-3458-4 (pdf). 96 p. + appendices. Rokka Susanna. 2008. Bovine colostral antibodies and selected lactobacilli as means to control gastrointestinal infections. MTT Agrifood Research Finland / Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry, University of Turku. Tampereen Yliopistopaino, Juvenes Print Oy, Tampere, Finland. ISBN 978-952-487-190-7 (paperback), ISBN 978-952-487-191-4(pdf). 73 pages + appendices. 58 PhD Degrees of ABS Postgraduate Students Halttunen Teemu, Mäkivuokko Harri, Rokka Susanna Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Halttunen, T., Salminen, S., Meriluoto, J., Tahvonen, R., and Lertola, K. 2008: Reversible surface binding of cadmium and lead by lactic acid and bifidobacteria. International Journal of Food Microbiology 125: 170-175. Halttunen, T., Collado, M.C., El-Nezami, H., Meriluoto, J., and Salminen, S. 2008. Combining strains of lactic acid bacteria may reduce their toxin and heavy metal removal efficiency from aqueous solution. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 46 (2): 160-165. Larmo, P., Alin, J.A., Salminen, E.K., Kallio, H.P., and Tahvonen, R.L. 2008: Efficacy of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) in prevention and treatment of common cold and other infections: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 62: 1123-1130. Leskinen, H., Suomela, J.-P., Pinta, J., and Kallio, H. 2008: Regioisomeric structure determination of - and -linolenoyldilinoleoylglycerol in blackcurrant seed oil by silver ion high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Analytical Chemistry 80 (15): 5788-5793. Järvenpää, E., Pihlava, J.-M., Aro, H., Hietaniemi, V., and Huopalahti, R. 2008: Lutein content of egg yolk fractions produced using supercritical fluid techniques.Proceedings 5th International Congress on Pigments in Food- For Quality and Health, Helsinki, Finland. pp. 58-60 Ouwehand, A.C., Bergsma, N., Parhiala, R., Lahtinen, S., Gueimonde, M., FinneSoveri, H., Strandberg, T., Pitkala, K., and Salminen, S. 2008. Bifidobacterium microbiota and parameters of immune function in elderly subjects. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 53 (1): 18-25. Sandell, M., Tiitinen, K., Pohjanheimo, T., Kallio, H., and Breslin, P.A.S. 2008. Why naturally healthy berries may be seen as unpleasant and non-appetitive. In: Food Flavour. Chemistry, Sensory Evaluation and Biological Activity. Takeoka, G.,. Ebler, S., Kubota, K., and Tamura, H. (Eds.). American Chemical Society, Oxford University Press. pp. 219-228. Smith, R., Mann, N., Mäkeläinen, H., Roper, J., Braue, A., and Varigos, G.. 2008. A pilot study to determine the short-term effects of a low glycemic load diet on hormonal markers of acne: a nonrandomized, parallel, controlled feeding trial. Mol Nutr. Food Res. 52 (6): 718-726. Tuomasjukka, S. 2008: Vaihtoehtoja hypertriglyseridemiselle ruokavaliolle. Erikoislääkäri 18 (4): 188-191. 59 4. Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) Faculty of Chemistry and Materials Sciences Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology Applied Microbiology TKK offers degrees in Doctor of Science in Science of Technology (D.Sc.) which is the degree equivalent of a Ph.D. and is pursued by the majority of students with a Masters in Technology (M.Sc. Technol.). A Ph.D. degree may also be awarded by TKK. The total number of students pursuing a doctoral degree at this laboratory varies between 58 annually. There are also a number of external students who work as researchers at institutions such as VTT, KCL and the Public Health Laboratories and complete their degree with TKK. A brief introduction of the ongoing research is given below and further and most current information may be obtained at http://chemtech.tkk.fi/fi or by contacting professor [email protected]. Professor Katrina Nordström is the head of the Applied Microbiology group and also the Deputy Head of the Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology. REACH and environmentally friendly production of chemicals. Control of microbial hygiene during the production of many chemicals requires the use of a wide selection of environmentally toxic biocides. However, due to emerging EU – legislation, the chemical industry is looking for new solutions for production chain management, prevention and control of microbial contamination. The research aims at finding new solutions for the reduction of use of biocides. The effects of solvent elimination on the long-term quality of products is also studied with the aim of development of new environmentally friendly unit operations in accordance to the emerging legislative requirements. Regulation and product development of new food concepts The focus of the research is on the Food Industry and the emphasis is on the market perceived value of food products. The aim is to develop a standardized methodology for evaluation of the market value and added value of new food products. The product development of functional foods, foods with added health benefits and novel foods with reference to the constraints and opportunities of the current and emerging EUlegislation is studied. This research is conducted in collaboration with industrial partners. Microbial risk management of biopharmaceuticals, tissue engineering products and gene therapy. The main focus is on the development of biopharmaceuticals and - devices, but the regulatory issues concerning GMP, GLP and risk evaluation of biological products, namely TE are included. Risk management protocols for prevention and control of microbial infections are developed in accordance to the EU-regulatory initiatives. 60 Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Nordström Katrina* ABS Postgraduate Students Aanisalo Kaarina, Häkkinen Suvi, Maukonen Johanna, Sarlin Tuija PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Aarnisalo Kaarina. 2007. Equipment hygiene and risk assessment measures as tools in the prevention of Listeria monocytogenes-contamination in food processes. VTT Publications 669. Edita Prima Oy, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-951-38-7069-0; ISSN 1235-0621. 101 p. + appendices. Häkkinen Suvi T. 2008. A functional genomics approach to the study of alkaloid biosynthesis ans metabolism in Nicotiana tabacum and Hyoscyamus muticus cell cultures. VTT Publications 696. Edita Prima Oy, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-951-387123-9; ISSN 1235-0621. 90 p. + appendices. Applied Biochemistry TKK offers degrees in Doctor of Science in Science of Technology (D.Sc.) which is the degree equivalent of a Ph.D. and is pursued by the majority of students with a Masters in Technology (M.Sc. Technol.). A Ph.D. degree may also be awarded by TKK. The total number of students pursuing a doctoral degree at this laboratory varies between 58 annually. There are also a number of external students who work as researchers at institutions such as VTT, KCL and the Public Health Laboratories and complete their degree with TKK. A brief introduction of the ongoing research is given below and further and most current information may be obtained at http://chemtech.tkk.fi/fi or by contacting professor [email protected]. Prevention and control of oxidation of cereal products during processing The shelf-life of cereal products can be prolonged remarkably by prevention of oxidation of cereal compounds. The focus of the research is on the development of antioxidative strategies for cereal processing. Extrusion technologies for value-added cereal products are also studied. Cereal hydrocolloids The research focuses on the development of -glucan rich cereal fractions with functionality in food and microbiological applications. More specifically the development work aims at hydrocolloids, which protect micro-organisms and prevent lipid oxidation in food processing and storage, and at the development of industrial large-scale processes. Bioactive lipids: Production and mechanisms of action New strategies for the enrichment of foods with health-beneficial lipids have been developed in our research group. The research focuses on 1) production of bioactive lipids, especially conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), in food materials employing natural, 61 biological processes, and 2) isomeric-specific mechanisms of action of CLA using Saccharomyces yeast as a eukaryotic model organism. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Laakso Simo* ABS Postgraduate Students Hokkanen (née Jaakola) Sanna, Lehto Satu, Pöyri Saara Bioprocess Engineering The focus of teaching and research is in unit processes and unit operations of the biotechnical and food manufacturing industries, microbial production processes and enzyme technology. 1. ENZYME TECHNOLOGY One novel research area of the laboratory is large-scale crystallization of enzyme proteins, their cross-linking and use in specific separations. Further a proteinengineering project has been initiated to improve the thermal and alkaline stabilities of industrially important enzymes. We have also studied enzyme catalysis and crystallization under high-pressure conditions. 2. FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY The laboratory has initiated a systematic study on production of lactic acid, xylitol and mannitol in continuous and immobilized cultures with special emphasis on cellular metabolic control and flux analysis. Improvement and use of enzymes in food and feed processes is a central field of investigation. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are widely used in dairy and food industry. We study the metabolic engineering, metabolic modelling and regulation of gene expression of LAB with the objective of rare sugar and sugar alcohol production. Gene expression is investigated under different conditions using micro-array technique. The resulting information can be used in metabolic engineering for predicting and simulating the distribution of metabolic fluxes. Much of the research in food engineering has been carried out in cooperation with the industry and VTT Biotechnology. Research cooperation has also been carried out with German and Japanese research laboratories. 3. BIOENGINEERING AND FERMENTATION TECHNOLOGY We are studying batch, fed-batch, continuous and immobilized microbial production processes and scale-up of microbial cultivations up to 200-litre scale and various down-stream processes like membrane and chromatographic separations and 62 crystallizations. Process models for simulation control and scale-up purposes and optimization of product and/or biomass yield in various cases and monitoring the yield and product quality during the cultivation and down stream process steps. Industrial utilization of solid state fermentation techniques concentrates on developing new solid state fermentation processes to recycle fibre containing industrial solid minor flows. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Leisola Matti*, Nyyssölä Antti* ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS*= ABS-funded in 2008) Etuaho Kirsikka, Helanto Miia, Hujanen Mervi, Lille Martina (VTT), Moilanen Ulla (ABS*), Partanen Riitta (VTT), Santala Outi (VTT), Selinheimo Emilia (VTT), Usvalampi (née Pihlajaniemi) Anne (ABS*), Vikman Minna (VTT) PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 Partanen, Riitta. 2008. Mobility and oxidative stability in plasticised food matrices. The role of water. VTT, Espoo. VTT Publications 697. Edita Prima Oy, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-951-38-7117-8 (soft back ed.), ISSN 1235-0621 (soft back ed.), ISBN 978-951-38-7118-5, ISSN 1455-0849. 92 p. + appendices. http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/publications/2008/P697.pdf Selinheimo, Emilia. 2008. Tyrosinase and laccase as novel crosslinking tools for food biopolymer. 2008. VTT, Espoo. VTT Publications 693. Edita Prima Oy, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-951-38-7117-8 (soft back ed.), ISSN 1235-0621 (soft back ed.), ISBN 978-951-38-7118-5, ISSN 1455-0849. 114 p. + appendices. http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/publications/2008/P693.pdf Tossavainen Olli. 2008. Heat induced changes in lactose hydrolysed milks. TKK Dissertations 125. Yliopistopaino, Helsinki Finland. ISBN 978-951-22-9398, ISBN 978-951-22-9399-5 (pdf), ISSN 1795-2239, ISSN 1795-4584 (pdf). 74 p. and appendices. Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Partanen, R. 2008. Mobility and oxidative stability in plasticised food matrices. The role of water. Dissertation. VTT Publications 697. Espoo. 93 p.+app. 43 p. Partanen, R., Raula, J., Seppänen, R., Buchert, J., Kauppinen, E., and Forssell, P. 2008. The effect of relative humidity on oxidation of flaxseed seed oil in spray dried whey protein emulsions. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 56: 5717-5722. Partanen, R., Autio, K., Myllärinen, P., Lille, M., Buchert, J., and Forssell, P. 2008. Structure and syneresis of neutral and acidic transglutaminase-induced sodium caseinate gels. International Dairy Journal 18: 414-421. 63 Mattinen, M.-L., Lantto, R., Selinheimo, E., Kruus, K., and Buchert, J. 2008. Oxidation of peptides and proteins by Trichoderma reesei and Agaricus bisporus tyrosinases. J. Biotechnol. 133: 395-402. Selinheimo, E., Lampila, P., Mattinen, M.-L., and Buchert J. 2008. Formation of protein oligosaccharide conjugates by laccase and tyrosinase. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56: 3118-3128. Winquist, E., Moilanen, U., Mettälä, A., Leisola, M., and Hatakka, A. 2008. Production of lignin modifying enzymes on industrial waste material by solid-state cultivation of fungi. Biochem Eng. J. 42: 128-132. 64 5. MTT Agrifood Research Finland Biotechnology and Food Research 1. ISOLATION PROTEINS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF EGG ALBUMEN Today’s consumers are increasingly interested in the healthiness of foods, as food products are expected to maintain good health and prevent diseases. This trend has increased the need to develop health-promoting, so-called functional foods. A major aim of research in the functional food sector is to separate and characterise food compounds with bioactive properties, such as glycoproteins. Glycoproteins are macromolecules having one or more carbohydrate chains, glycans, linked to a peptide chain. The proportion of carbohydrates in the glycoproteins varies between 1 % and 80 %. Glycoproteins are involved in various biological cell functions, including structural, barrier, reproduction, transport, protection, and immunological functions. One rich source of glycoproteins is hen’s egg albumen, which contains various glycoproteins such as ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, ovomucoid and ovomucin. Egg albumen has high potential for food and non-food applications due to its high biological quality and relatively low price. Ovomucin is a particularly interesting protein, because it has been reported to have antiviral and antitumour properties. This study is divided into three parts: 1) development of fractionation and purification methods for ovomucin and its peptides produced by enzymatic hydrolysis on a pilot/process scale, 2) characterisation of the chemical and physical properties of ovomucin and its peptides produced by enzymatic hydrolysis, and 3) investigation of the bioactive properties of enzymatic hydrolysates. The ultimate objective of this study is to develop novel health-promoting foods, which have a beneficial effect on the intestinal microflora and which may carry other health-enhancing effects, as well. During the year 2008, manufacturing process for ovomucin-derived bioactive peptides was further optimized. It was found that several enzymes could produce antiviral activity even after short-term hydrolysis. Preliminary studies to up-scale the manufacturing process into pilot scale were also conducted. 2. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF HELICOBACTER INFECTION BY SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES AND PROBIOTIC BACTERIA Streptococcus mutans and Helicobacter pylori belong to the most common bacterial pathogens of humans. They infect more than 50% of the world’s population. Further, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is regarded as the most common bacterial cause of diarrhoea worldwide. Colostrum is essential for a newborn by providing nutrition but also immunological protection. Immunoglobulins and complement system are considered as the major antimicrobial agents in bovine colostrum. By immunizing a cow it is possible to produce specific antibodies in serum and lacteal secretions against microbes. These 65 antibodies have proven effective in preventing many gastrointestinal microbial diseases. Probiotic bacteria are often used in fermented dairy products because of their beneficial effects on human health. Some probiotic bacteria, especially lactobacilli, can inhibit growth and colonization of pathogens. Probiotic bacteria like Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) also reduce the side effects of antibiotic treatment. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of bovine colostrum and specific colostral antibodies, and some lactic acid bacteria on gastrointestinal infections, especially H. pylori induced gastritis and dental caries caused by S. mutans. The effect of colostrum on the activity of the complement system in neonatal calves was also studied. It was possible to increase substantially complement and opsonization activities of serum by feeding colostral whey concentrate to neonatal calves. A colostral immune preparation (IP) containing specific antibodies against H. felis prevented but did not eradicate an experimental H. felis infection in mice. However, the IP combined with amoxicillin lowered the level of inflammation and colonization more than amoxicillin alone. The specific anti-cariogenic antibodies of IP remained active and functional when added to UHT milk or fermented with and stored for an extended time. Further, the combination of IP and LGG prevented the adherence of Streptococcus mutans effectively. Lactobacillus plantarum MLBPL1 isolated from sauerkraut showed anti-Helicobacter activity mainly associated with cell wall, from where it can be extracted into the culture supernatant. Colostral preparations, and acidifying microbes (L. plantarum MLBPL1 and LGG) reduced the adhesion of H. pylori on human gastric adenocarcinoma cells. They also reduced the IL-8 production of the infected cells. IL8 secretion is a primary response to H. pylori infection. Supplementation of an antibiotic treatment with a food product containing probiotic lactobacilli and/or IP could offer a potential complementary means to suppress gastrointestinal infections. PhD Theses of Susanna Rokka was presented for public criticism in the University of Turku on September 26th, 2008. 3. BIOACTIVE PEPTIDES DERIVED FROM FOOD PLANT PROTEINS In recent years it has been recognized that dietary proteins provide a rich source of biologically active peptides. It is now well established that physiologically active peptides are produced from several food proteins during gastrointestinal digestion and fermentation of food materials with lactic acid bacteria. Upon oral administration, bioactive peptides may affect the major body systems – namely, the cardiovascular, digestive, immune and nervous systems. The activity is based on their inherent amino acid composition and sequence. The size of active sequences may vary from two to twenty amino acid residues, and many peptides are known to reveal multi-functional properties. The beneficial health effects may be attributed to known peptide sequences 66 exhibiting, e.g. antimicrobial, antioxidative, antithrombotic, antihypertensive and immunomodulatory activities. The aim of this study is to investigate the occurrence of bioactive peptides, e.g. ACEinhibitory, antioxidative and antimicrobial peptides, in some plant sources upon enzymatic hydrolysis. Samples of barley, rapeseed and linseed were used as sources of plant proteins. Samples were hydrolyzed with alcalase, subtilisin, pepsin and trypsin. Some of the enzymes released ACE-inhibitory hydrolysates from all tested protein sources. Especially alcalase produced efficiently high ACE-inhibition with used protein sources. Inhibition of lipid peroxidation and antimicrobial activity was found in some hydrolysates. Plant samples were fermented with different microbes. Especially, Lactobacillus helveticus and Bacillus subtilis produced bioactive compounds during fermentation. The molecular mass distribution profiles of active hydrolysates and fermentates were analysed. During the year 2008, the hydrolysates and fermentaes were fractionated to isolate the active compounds. The applicable hydrolysates to food was tested with hydrolysates. The project ended as the researcher moved to another employer. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Korhonen Hannu*, Pihlanto Anne*, Ryhänen Eeva-Liisa* ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS*= ABS funded in 2008) Alanko Tessa, Hiidenhovi Jaakko, Rokka Susanna PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Rokka Susanna. 2008. Bovine colostral antibodies and selected lactobacilli as means to control gastrointestinal infections. Agrifood Research Reports 131. Tampereen Yliopistopaino – Juvenes Print Oy. ISBN 978-952-487-190-7, ISBN 978-952-487191-4, ISSN 1458-5073 (Printed version), ISSN 1458-5081 (Electronic version). 73 p. + appendices. Diss: Turun Yliopisto. http://www.mtt.fi/met/pdf/met131.pdf Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Rokka, S., Myllykangas, S., and Joutsjoki, V. 2008. Effect of specific colostral antibodies and selected lactobacilli on the adhesion of Helicobacter pylori on AGS cells and the helicobacter-induced IL-8 production. Scandinavian Journal of Immunology 68 (3): 280-286. 67 6. National Public Health Institute (KTL) Department of Bacterial and Inflammatory Diseases Enteric Bacteria Laboratory FOOD- AND WATER-BORNE BACTERIAL PATHOGENS The research has focused on thorough phenotypic and molecular characterization of the enteric bacterial pathogens of public health importance. Especially, the biodiversity and virulence properties of Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter jejuni/coli, enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), Shigella spp., Yersinia spp. and Listeria monocytogenes are studied. These strains are the most common zoonotic strains that are transmitted via contaminated food or water and cause gastrointestinal infections, often leading to various post-infectious complications. To find out the potential reservoirs of the Campylobacter jejuni strains that cause human infections, the genotypes of the domestic human isolates and the isolates from the Finnish production animals were compared in collaboration with Evira. In addition, to see if the C. jejuni strains isolated from domestic and imported infections differed, the phenotypic properties of the strains were compared. To improve the primary diagnostics and epidemiology of yersiniosis, a flow chart for identification of Yersinia enterocolitica findings from human infections was developed and launched to the Finnish clinical microbiology laboratories. The molecular typing of the biotype (BT) 1A strains of Y. enterocolitica was harmonized between KTL and Evira. In addition, a multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) method was set up and successfully exploited to type the strains of the pathogenic BTs of Y. enterocolitica. Also, the typing of the strains by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) method using the genes adk, argA, aroA, glnA, tmk and trpE, was started. The MLVA method, validated for the strains of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium definite phage type DT 104, was harmonized between KTL and the Statens Serum Institute, Kopenhagen, Denmark. The strains of this phage type are mainly associated with imported infections in Finland and may cause more serious infection in humans than the strains of the other phage types. The strains of the Salmonella Typhimurium DT 1 that are endemic in Finland, were further subtyped by a novel phenotype microarray technique in collaboration with the Veterinarian Laboratory Agency, Waybridge, UK. To enhance the detection, laboratory-based surveillance and epidemiological tracing of the life-threatening EHEC infections, the 5’-nuclease real-time PCR (RT-PCR) method was validated. This method allows the detection of the stx virulence genes and the most common O serogroups of the EHEC strains during one working day. In addition, the applicability of a multiplex-PCR method for faster serotyping and the MLVA method for more effective genotyping of Listeria monocytogenes strains, were investigated. 68 Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Haukka Kaisa, Siitonen Anja* ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS*= ABS-funded in 2008) Hallanvuo Saija, Nakari Ulla-Maija (ABS*), Sihvonen Leila Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Kangas, S., Takkinen, J., Hakkinen, M., Nakari, U-M, Johansson, T., Henttonen, H., Virtaluoto, L., Siitonen, A., Ollgren, J., and Kuusi, M. 2008. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis O:1 traced to raw carrots, Finland. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 14: 1959-1960. Nakari, U.-M., Puhakka, A., and Siitonen, A. 2008. Correct identification and discrimination between Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli by a standardized hippurate test and species-specific polymerase chain reaction. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 27: 513-518. Pitkänen, T., Miettinen, I.T., Nakari, U.-M., Siitonen, A., Kuusi, M., Takkinen, J., Nieminen, K., Holopainen, A., and Hänninen, M.-L. 2008. Faecal contamination of a municipal drinking water distribution system in association with Campylobacter jejuni infections. Journal of Water and Health 6 (3): 365-376. Sihvonen, L.M., Haukka, K., Kuusi, M., Virtanen, M.J., Siitonen, A., and YE study group. 2008. Yersinia enterocolitica and Y. enterocolitica-like species in clinical stool specimens of humans: identification and prevalence of bio/serotypes in Finland. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. In press. Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Nutrition Unit FOODS AND DIETARY GLYCEMIC LOAD: METABOLIC RESPONSES AND RISK OF CHRONIC DISEASES The present project aims to study associations of dietary glycemic load with the insulin-like growth factor system, inflammatory and satiety markers, and risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and coronary heart disease. The effects of carbohydrates' glycemic quality as well as processing and storage conditions of the food on serum responses of biomarkers of glucose and insulin metabolism are studied among normal weight and overweight subjects in a postprandial setting. The aim is to assess the associations between glycemic load of the diet and risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and coronary heart disease in two well characterized cohort studies. To enable these studies, more data on the glycemic and insulinemic responses of Finnish foods and food combinations are collected from published sources as well as by testing the 69 glycemic indexes (GIs) of the most important carbohydrate sources of the Finnish diet postprandially according to international standards. This study includes compilation of GI databases of Finnish foods for the study cohorts. The results of the project provide more detailed knowledge on dietary carbohydrate sources, which may associate with decreased risk of overweight and chronic diseases. In 2008, the results of the interlaboratory study on GI testing were published. Also the article on the compilation of the first GI database was published. Main results on the effect of body size and glucose tolerance on glycemic responses and measured GI values were presented as a poster in the 5th World Congress on Prevention of Diabetes and its Complications in Helsinki in June 2008. In addition, the study group carried out two postprandial studies related to the glycemic and insulinemic responses on beverages as well as on methodological aspects on GI testing. Analyses and reporting of the previous study periods were continued. In 2008, Katja Hätönen was on maternity leave between 1.1.-15.4.2008. Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Eriksson Johan, Valsta Liisa*, Virtamo Jarmo* ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS*= ABS-funded in 2008) Hätönen Katja (ABS*) Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Student has been highlighted in bold letters.) Similä, M.E., Valsta, L.M., Virtanen, M.J., Hätönen, K.A., and Virtamo, J. 2008. Glycemic index database for the epidemiological Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study. Br. J. Nutr. 25: 1-6. [Epub ahead of print]. Wolever, T.M.S., Brand-Miller, J.C., Abernethy, J., Astrup, A., Atkinson, F., Axelsen, M., Björck, I., Brighenti, F., Brown, R., Brynes, A., Casiraghi, M.C., Cazaubiel, M., Daniela, E., Delport, L., Frost, G., Granfeldt, Y., Hampton, S., Hätönen, K.A. et al. 2008. Measuring the glycemic index of foods: interlaboratory study. Am. J. Clin. Nutr.87 (Suppl): 247S-57S. Department of Health and Functional Capacity Biomarker Laboratory THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF A DIET RICH FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND BERRIES: FOCUS ON POLYPHENOLS It is well established that a diet rich in plant-based foods is beneficial. However, the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects and the role of specific foods and compounds, such as polyphenols, are poorly known. The associations between the 70 above-mentioned and risk factors of chronic diseases are also incompletely understood. At the Disease Risk Unit, these issues are being investigated in dietary intervention studies as well as in epidemiological settings. During the dietary intervention studies, berries and other polyphenol-rich food sources are consumed by subjects at risk. Bioavailability of polyphenols and their effects on cardiovascular biomarkers, as well as the development of new biomarkers of dietary intake, are in focus. In the epidemiological studies the associations between dietary biomarkers and the risk of chronic diseases are explored. The research is being funded by the institute, as well as the Academy of Finland, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, TEKES and foundations. Supervisors Alfthan Georg*, Erlund Iris ABS Postgraduate Students Koli Raika Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 Erlund, I., Koli, R., Alfthan, G., Marniemi, J., Puukka, P., Mustonen, P., Mattila, P., and Jula, A. 2008. Favorable effects of berry consumption on platelet function, blood pressure, and HDL cholesterol. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 87: 323-331. 71 7. Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira Research Department RESEARCH IN FOOD SAFETY Mycotoxins Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi, which occur mainly in grains and feed. Mycotoxins can evoke a broad range of toxic properties including carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity as well as reproductive and developmental toxicity. Therefore feed contaminated with mycotoxins may adversely affect on the health of animals and thereby also decrease their productivity. Mycotoxins may also bioaccumulate and thus contaminate foods of animal origin. Aims of the present studies are to develop chemical and biological methodology for the determination of mycotoxins in different food and feed matrices. Analytical techniques used for mycotoxin research include e.g. gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A so-called multitoxin-method for the simultaneous determination of several mycotoxins with different chemical properties has been developed and validated recently. The biological methods used and being further developed cover cytotoxicity assays using different cell lines and end-points of toxicity. The on-going studies provide knowledge of the prevalence and concentration levels of different mycotoxins in Finland, as well as more information on the factors affecting their production and toxicology. On-going Projects - New survey of the Fusarium mycobiota of Finnish cereals (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) - Detection of Fusarium trichothecene biosynthesis using a novel transcript analysis VTT-TRAC (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) - Reduced risk of Fusarium and mycotoxin contamination in Norwegian cereals by the development of a rapid screening system (Bioforsk, Norway) - Application of modern molecular techniques to investigate the mode of action of highly prevalent Fusarium avenaceum –mycotoxins (Academy of Finland) - Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli in broiler chicken; importance in human infections and characterization by genotyping. International co-operation - Nordic Network-project: New Emerging Mycotoxins and Secondary Metabolites in Toxigenic Fungi of Northern Europe (Nordic Research Board) Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Jestoi Marika, Peltonen Kimmo* 72 ABS Postgraduate Students (ABS*= ABS-funded in 2008) Kokkonen Meri (ABS*), Nousiainen Liina-Lotta, Perko-Mäkelä Päivikki Scientific papers by ABS postgraduate students (ABS postgraduate students have been highlighted in bold letters) Jestoi, M., and Kokkonen, M. 2008. Comparison of two sample preparation techniques for the determination of ochratoxin A in grains. J. Liq. Chrom. Rel. Technol. 31 (6): 912-925. Kokkonen, M., Ojala, L., Parikka, P., and Jestoi, M.2008. The effect of different aw/temperature -combinations on the Mycotoxin production of Fusarium-strains isolated from Finnish grains. 10th International Fusarium Workshop, Alghero, Italia 30.8-2.9.2008. Journal of Plant Pathology 30 (3, Suppl.): 83. Yli-Mattila, T., Lahtinen, T., Rämö, S., Kokkonen, M., Rizzo, A., Jestoi, M., and Hietaniemi, V. 2008. Real-time PCR quntification of Fusarium DNA and correlation to mycotoxin levels in Finnish cereals.10th International Fusarium Workshop, Alghero, Italia, 30.8-2.9.2008. Journal of Plant Pathology 30 (3, Suppl.): 68. 73 8. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland 1. MICROBIOLOGY VTT has experience in applying and controlling bacteria, yeasts and moulds in food processes. VTT uses microbes in a controlled way for improved products and to effectively prevent harmful microbial growth in processes. VTT is also specialised in microbiological risk assessment and the management of food processes. VTT creates solutions that ensure process reliability, process hygiene and product safety in our clients processes. VTT’s probiotic research focuses on the improvement of viability of microbes during production and in foods. We also characterise novel, potential probiotic strains and study the interactions between probiotics and gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota. In environmental biotechnology VTT has expertise in the following areas: biodegradability and compostability, composting, ecotoxicity, bioremediation, and molecular biological tools for environmental monitoring. Application areas: - Characterisation, viability and stability of probiotic bacteria; technological properties Analysis of gastrointestinal microbiota Protective cultures and starter applications Management of bacteria, yeasts and moulds in food processes Combating biofilms Cereal based functional foods, feeds and beverages Hygienic equipment design and material choices Computational fluid dynamics Optimization of cleaning and disinfection programs Monitoring environmental microbiological processes Public projects in 2008: - MoniQA: Towards the harmonisation of analytical methods for monitoring food quality and safety in the food supply chain, Network of Excellence HEALTHGRAIN: Exploiting bioactivity of European cereal grains for improved nutrition and health benefits Utilisation of fibres and prebiotics in improving probiotic stability The composition and stability of clostridia and related bacterial communities in the intestinal tract and their role in intestinal microbiota imbalance Food Safety and Hygiene Networking within New Member States and Associated Candidate Countries (SAFOODNET) Pathogen & ugly microbe free food industry network (SAFEFOODERA-PUFFIN) Molecular biology and MVOC analysis as indicating tools for biodeterioration Geobiochemistry of deep subsurface bed rock of Finland (GEOMOL) Metagenomics of deep subsurface microbial ecology (METAGENO) 74 - Tailored sourdough technology for enhancement of nutritional value and texture of cereal products - Detection of harmful microbes and their toxins in feeds and cereals using a novel transcriptional profiling method ABS PhD Areas - Maukonen Johanna: Characterization of human GI-tract microbiota with molecular techniques Sarlin Tuija: Characterization and detection of gushing factors Simões Catarina: Fibres and probiotics - Enhancement of probiotic viability and stability with fibres during processing, in foods and in the GI-tract Vikman Minna: Evaluation and development of biodegradability test methods for polymers targeted for packaging materials Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Alakomi Hanna-Leena, Itävaara Merja*, Laitila Arja, Saarela Maria*, Storgårds Erna, Wirtanen Gun * ABS Postgraduate Students Aarnisalo Kaarina (defended her doctoral thesis in January 2008), Maukonen Johanna, Piskonen Reetta, Sarlin Tuija, Simões Catarina, Vikman Minna PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Aarnisalo Kaarina. 2007. Equipment hygiene and risk assessment measures as tools in the prevention of Listeria monocytogenes-contamination in food processes. VTT Publications 669. Edita Prima Oy, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-951-38-7069-0; ISSN 1235-0621. 101 p. + appendices. Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Aarnisalo, K., Vihavainen, E., Rantala, L., Maijala, R., Suihko, M.-L., Hielm, S., Tuominen, P., Ranta, J., and Raaska, L. 2008. Use of results of microbiological analyses for risk-based control of Listeria monocytogenes in marinated broiler legs. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 121: 275-284. 10.1016/j.ijfood micro.2007.11.037 Maukonen, J., Mättö, J., Kajander, K., Mattila-Sandholm, T., and Saarela, M. 2008. Diversity and temporal stability of fecal bacterial populations in elderly subjects consuming galacto-oligosaccharide containing probiotic yoghurt. Int. Dairy J. 18: 386-395. 10.1016/j.idairyj.2007.10.003 Maukonen, J., Mättö, J., Suihko, M.-L., and Saarela, M. 2008. Intra-individual diversity and similarity of salivary and faecal microbiota. J. Med. Microbiol. 57: 1560-1568. 10.1099/jmm.0.47352-0 75 Mättö, J., Maukonen, J., Alakomi, H.-L., Suihko, M.-L., and Saarela, M. 2008. Influence of oral doxycycline therapy on the diversity and antibiotic susceptibility of human intestinal bifidobacterial population. J. Appl. Microbiol. 105: 279-289. 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2008.03792.x Nyyssönen, M., Piskonen, R., and Itävaara, M. 2008. Monitoring aromatic hydrocarbon biodegradation by functional marker genes. Environ. Pollut. 154: 192-202. 10.1016/j.envpol.2007.10.009 Piskonen, R., Nyyssönen, M., and Itävaara, M. 2008. Evaluating the biodegradation of aromatic hydrocarbons by monitoring of several functional genes. Biodegradation 19: 883-895. 10.1007/s10532-008-9190-6 Small, J., Nykyri, M., Helin, M., Hovi, U., Sarlin, T., and Itävaara, M. 2008. Experimental and modelling investigations of the biogeochemistry of gas production from low and intermediate level radioactive waste. Appl. Geochem. 23: 1383-1418. 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2007.11.020 Vikholm-Lundin, I., and Piskonen, R. 2008. Binary monolayers of single-stranded oligonucleotides and blocking agent for hybridisation. Sensor. Actuat. B-Chem. 134: 189-192. 10.1016/j.snb.2008.04.027 Yli-Mattila, T., Paavanen-Huhtala, S., Jestoi, M., Parikka, P., Hietaniemi, V., Gagkaeva, T., Sarlin, T., Haikara, A., Laaksonen, S., and Rizzo, A. 2008. Real-time PCR detection and quantification of Fusarium poae, F. graminearum, F. sporotrichioides and F. langsethiae in cereal grains in Finland and Russia. Arch. Phytopathol. Plant Protect. 41: 243-260. 10.1080/03235400600680659 2. BIOTECHNOLOGY VTT is specialised in use of enzymes and starter cultures in modification of food material properties, especially biopolymer engineering, and in using plant biotechnology for production of new bioactive ingredients. The main objective is to develop new bioprocessing tools for tailoring sensory quality, stability and physiological responses of the food matrix. We screen for new enzymes and microorganisms suitable for specific modifications of food quality. The aim has been to develop improved microbial strains and enzymes using genetic engineering combined with more traditional biotechnical methodologies for industrial applications. Understanding of enzymatic reactions leading to modification and degradation of biological raw materials is also a prerequisite for successful control and application of these reactions for industrial use. In hybrid processing the biotools are combined with physical, mechanical and thermal processing to deliver new food ingredients and new food quality attributes. VTT is equipped with pilot facilities for food processing, including baking, malting, brewing, fermentation, drying, extrusion and high pressure processing, and with versatile analytical methodology, such as HPLC-MS, GC, NMR, light and fluorescence microscopy. 76 In 2008, the research of the ABS-students focused in three main areas: enzymatic engineering of food proteins for dairy and baking applications (Dilek Ercili, Evanthia Monogioudi, Emilia Selinheimo), in enzymatic modification and water interactions of cereal polysaccharides (Laura Flander, Outi Santala, Riitta Partanen), and in alkaloid biosynthesis in plant cell cultures (Suvi Häkkinen). Supervisors (ABS supervisors marked with *) Buchert Johanna, Forssell Pirkko*, Kruus Kristiina, Nakari-Setälä Tiina, OksmanCaldentey Kirsi-Marja*, Poutanen Kaisa* ABS Postgraduate Students Ercili Cura Dilek, Flander Laura, Häkkinen Suvi, Lille Martina, Monogioudi Evanthia, Partanen Riitta, Selinheimo Emilia, Santala Outi PhD Theses of ABS Postgraduate Students Häkkinen Suvi T. 2008. A functional genomics approach to the study of alkaloid biosynthesis ans metabolism in Nicotiana tabacum and Hyoscyamus muticus cell cultures. VTT Publications 696. Edita Prima Oy, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-951-387123-9; ISSN 1235-0621. 90 p. + appendices. http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/publications/2008/P696.pdf Partanen, Riitta. 2008. Mobility and oxidative stability in plasticised food matrices. The role of water. VTT, Espoo. VTT Publications 697. Edita Prima Oy, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-951-38-7117-8 (soft back ed.), ISSN 1235-0621 (soft back ed.), ISBN 978-951-38-7118-5, ISSN 1455-0849. 92 p. + appendices. http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/publications/2008/P697.pdf Selinheimo, Emilia. 2008. Tyrosinase and laccase as novel crosslinking tools for food biopolymer. 2008. VTT, Espoo. VTT Publications 693. Edita Prima Oy, Helsinki, Finland. ISBN 978-951-38-7117-8 (soft back ed.), ISSN 1235-0621 (soft back ed.), ISBN 978-951-38-7118-5, ISSN 1455-0849. 114 p. + appendices. http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/publications/2008/P693.pdf Scientific Papers by ABS Postgraduate Students in 2008 (ABS Postgraduate Students have been highlighted in bold letters.) Flander, L., Rouau, X., Morel, M.-H., Autio, K., Seppänen-Laakso, T., Kruus, K., and Buchert, J. 2008. Effects of laccase and xylanase on the chemical and rheological properties of oat and wheat doughs. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56: 5732-5742. 10.1021/jf800264a Mattinen, M.-L., Lantto, R., Selinheimo, E., Kruus, K., and Buchert, J. 2008. Oxidation of peptides and proteins by Trichoderma reesei and Agaricus bisporus tyrosinases. J. Biotechnol. 133: 395-402. 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2007.10.009 Oey, I., Lille, M., Van Loey, A., and Hendrickx, M. 2008. Effect of high-pressure 77 processing on colour, texture and flavour of fruit and vegetable based food products: a review. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 19 (6): 320-328. 10.1016/j.tifs.2008.04.001 Partanen, R., Autio, K., Myllärinen, P., Lille, M., Buchert, J., and Forssell, P. 2008. Effect of transglutaminase on structure and syneresis of neutral and acidic sodium caseinate gels. Int. Dairy J. 18: 414-421. 10.1016/j.idairyj.2007.10.002 Partanen, R., Raula, J., Seppänen, R., Buchert, J., Kauppinen, E.I., and Forssell, P. 2008. Effect of relative humidity on oxidation of flaxseed oil in spray dried whey protein emulsions. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56: 5717-5722. 10.1021/jf8005849 Selinheimo, E., Lampila, P., Mattinen, M.-L., and Buchert, J. 2008. Formation of protein-oligosaccharide conjugates by laccase and tyrosinase. J. Agric. Food Chem. 56: 3118-3128. 10.1021/jf0730791 78 The Associated Universities and Research Institutes of the ABS Graduate School Universities: 1. University of Helsinki (http://www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto) Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry (http://www.mm.helsinki.fi) Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology (http://www.mm.helsinki.fi/mmkem) Visiting address Postal address Chemistry and biochemistry Latokartanonkaari 11 P.O. Box 27 Helsinki FI-00014 University of Helsinki Tel. +358 9 1911 (operator) Fax +358 9 191 58475 (office) Food Chemistry Latokartanonkaari 11 P.O. Box 27 Helsinki FI-00014 University of Helsinki Tel. +358 9 191 58400 (office) Fax +358 9 191 58475 (office) Microbiology Biocenter 1, Viikinkaari 9 P.O. Box 56 Helsinki FI-00014 University of Helsinki Tel. +358 9 1911 (operator) Fax +358 9 191 59322 (office) Nutrition Agnes Sjöbergin katu 2 P.O. Box 66 Helsinki FI-00014 University of Helsinki Tel. +358 9 191 58262 (office) Fax +358 9 191 58269 (office) Department of Food Technology (http://www.mm.helsinki.fi/mmett) Visiting address Postal address Agnes Sjöbergin katu 2 P.O. Box 66 Helsinki FI-00014 University of Helsinki Tel. +358 9 1911 (operator) Fax +358 9 191 58460 (office) 79 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (http://www.vetmed.helsinki.fi) Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences (http://www.vetmed.helsinki.fi/pell) Division of Microbiology and Epidemiology Division of Pathology and Parasitology Division of Veterinary Physiology Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene (http://www.vetmed.helsinki.fi/elintar) Visiting address Postal address Agnes Sjöbergin katu 2 P.O. Box 66 Helsinki FI-00014 University of Helsinki Tel. +358 9 1911 (operator) Fax +358 9 191 57161 (faculty office) 2. University of Kuopio (http://www.uku.fi) Faculty of Medicine (http://www.uku.fi/laake) Department of Clinical Nutrition (http://www.uku.fi/laitokset/klravi) Visiting address Postal address Yliopistonranta 1 C E-step P.O. Box 1627 CANTHIA-building FI-70211 Kuopio Kuopio Tel. +358 20 787 2211 (operator) Fax +358 17 162 792 Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences (http://www.uku.fi/lyt) Department of Biosciences (http://www.uku.fi/biotieteet) Nutritional and Food Biotechnology (http://www.uku.fi/sbi/) Visiting address Postal address Neulamiehentie 2 (Bioteknia 2) P.O. Box 1627 Kuopio FI-70211 Kuopio Tel. +358 20 787 2211 (operator) Fax +358 17 163 752 80 3. University of Turku (http://www.utu.fi) Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (http://www.utu.fi/ml) Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry (http://www.sci.utu.fi/biokemia) Visiting address Postal address Biochemistry and Food Chemistry Vatselankatu 2 FI-20014 University of Turku Turku Tel. +358 2 333 6841 (Biochemistry) Tel. +358 2 333 6840 (Food Chemistry) Fax +358 2 333 6860 Biotechnology Biocity, Tykistökatu 6 A Turku Tel. +358 2 333 8053 Fax. +358 2 333 8050 Tykistökatu 6 FI-20520 Turku 4. Helsinki University of Technology (http://www.tkk.fi) Faculty of Chemistry and Materials Sciences (http://chemat.tkk.fi/fi) Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology Applied Biochemistry Applied Microbiology Bioprocess Engineering Visiting address Postal address Kemistintie 1 P.O. Box 6100 Espoo, Otaniemi FI-02015 TKK Tel. +358 9 4511 (operator) Fax +358 9 462 373 Research institutes 5. MTT Agrifood Research Finland (http://www.mtt.fi) Food Chemistry Food Technology Visiting address Postal address Jokioinen FI-31600 Jokioinen Tel. +358 3 41 881 (operator) Fax +358 3 4188 2222 81 6. National Institue for Health and Welfare (http://www.thl.fi) Department of Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control (Former: Department of Bacterial and Inflammatory Diseases) Visiting address Postal address Gastrointestinal Infections Unit Mannerheimintie 166 P.O. Box 30 Helsinki FI-00271 Helsinki Tel. +358 20 610 600 (operator) Department of Lifestyle and Participation (Former: Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention) Visiting address Postal address Nutrition Unit Mannerheimintie 166 P.O. Box 30 Helsinki FI-00271 Helsinki Tel. +358 20 610 600 (operator) Department of Chronic Disease Prevention (Former: Department of Health and Functional Capacity) Visiting address Postal address Disease Risk Unit Mannerheimintie 166 P.O. Box 30 Helsinki FI-00271 Helsinki Tel. +358 20 610 600 (operator) 7. Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira (http://www.evira.fi) Research Department Former: Department of Animal Diseases and Food Safety Research Visiting address Postal address Mustialankatu 3 Mustialankatu 3 Helsinki FI-00790 Helsinki Tel. +358 20 772 003 (operator) Fax +358 20 772 4350 82 8. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (http://www.vtt.fi) Visiting address Postal address Vuorimiehentie 3 P.O. Box 1000 Espoo FI-02044 VTT Tel. +358 20 722 111 (operator) Fax +358 20 722 7001 Director in Charge: Professor Hannu Korkeala Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene Faculty of Veterinary Medicine P.O. Box 66 FI-00014 University of Helsinki Finland Tel. +358 9 191 57100 E-mail: [email protected] Coordinator: Laila Huumonen, M.Sc. Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene Faculty of Veterinary Medicine P.O. Box 66 FI-00014 University of Helsinki Finland Tel. +358 9 191 58213 Fax +358 9 191 57170 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage of the ABS Graduate School: http://www.vetmed.helsinki.fi/abs/ 83