Spanish Varieties Research Articles

Modulation of genotoxicity by extra-virgin olive oil and some of its distinctive components assessed by use of the Drosophila wing-spot test

Olive oil is an important source of mono-unsaturated fat and a prime component of the Mediterranean diet. The beneficial health effects of olive oil are due to both its high content of mono-unsaturated fatty acids and its high content of anti-oxidative substances. The objective of this study was to investigate the basis for the epidemiological information relating to the health benefits associated with the consumption of extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO). For this purpose, the somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART) in wings of Drosophila melanogaster was applied to evaluate the antigenotoxic activity of six different EVOOs from four Spanish varieties (Hojiblanca, Nevadillo, Casta de Cabra, Picual). A two-level approach was followed: (1) determination of the lack of genotoxicity along with the antigenotoxic activity of EVOOs, through antigenotoxicity assays, with hydrogen peroxide as an oxidative genotoxin, and (2) evaluation of the properties of three major distinctive components of EVOOs that could be responsible for their antigenotoxic activity. The EVOOs tested are shown to be non-genotoxic; they exhibited antigenotoxic activity against the effects of hydrogen peroxide. Triolein, tyrosol and squalene did not show genotoxic effects in the proliferative imaginal cells of D. melanogaster. The three components were antigenotoxic when combined with soybean oil, only triolein and tyrosol showed a clear desmutagenic effect when combined with hydrogen peroxide. Our results confirm the safety of EVOOs and their health-protective effects.

Genetic variation, population structure and linkage disequilibrium in peach commercial varieties

BackgroundPeach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] is one of the most economically important fruit crops that, due to its genetic and biological characteristics (small genome size, taxonomic proximity to other important species and short juvenile period), has become a model plant in genomic studies of fruit trees. Our aim was an in-depth study of the extent, distribution and structure of peach genetic variation in North American and European commercial varieties as well as old Spanish varieties and several founders used in the early USA peach breeding programmes. For this we genotyped 224 peach cultivars using 50 SSRs evenly distributed along the 8 linkage groups of the Prunus reference map.ResultsGenetic distance analysis based on SSRs divided the peach cultivars in three main groups based mainly on their fruit characteristics: melting flesh peaches, melting flesh nectarines and non-melting varieties. Whereas non-melting flesh peaches had a higher number of alleles than melting peaches and nectarines, they were more homozygous. With some exceptions ('Admiral Dewey', 'Early Crawford' and 'Chinese Cling'), the founder US cultivars clustered together with the commercial melting peaches, indicating that their germplasm is well represented in modern cultivars. Population structure analysis showed a similar subdivision of the sample into subpopulations. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis in three unstructured, or barely structured, subpopulations revealed a high level of LD conservation in peach extending up to 13-15 cM.ConclusionsUsing a much larger set of SSRs, our results confirm previous observations on peach variability and population structure and provide additional tools for breeding and breeders' rights enforcement. SSR data are also used for the estimation of marker mutation rates and allow pedigree inferences, particularly with founder genotypes of the currently grown cultivars, which are useful to understand the evolution of peach as a crop. Results on LD conservation can be explained by the self-pollinating nature of peach cultivated germplasm and by a bottleneck that occurred at the beginning of modern breeding practices. High LD suggests that the development of whole-genome scanning approaches is suitable for genetic studies of agronomically important traits in peach.

Linguistic levelling in Spanish: The analogical strong preterites

AbstractCertain Peninsular Spanish varieties have two third-person plural forms in the simple past indicative of verbs with ‘strong’ (stem-stressed) preterites. While this phenomenon is documented in large-scale linguistic atlas surveys, its current geographic distribution and diachronic origins remain under-studied. This paper sets out to: 1) establish the geographic distribution of these variants; the differing methodologies and epochs of the data sources make them particularly interesting to compare, showing that these analogical strong preterites have suffered a drastic decline over the last century; 2) use historical corpus data to show that the vernacular variant is by no means a recent phenomenon; 3) examine external history as a source of explanation in linguistic reconstruction, showing that this process of analogical levelling took place after the reconquest and resettlement of these regions. These findings support the hypothesis of a feature which spread over the centuries by linguistic diffusion.

Miami Cuban Spanish Declarative Intonation

Abstract The current study is a phonetic description and phonological analysis, using the Autosegmental Metrical (AM) theory of intonational phonology, of broad focus (neutral) declarative utterances in the Spanish of three generations of Miami Cubans. No differences were found across these three generations indicating the maintenance of a robust intonational pattern for declarative utterances. The prenuclear (non-final) pitch accent is analyzed to be L*+H and the nuclear pitch accent is L+H*. This phonological analysis is similar to what has been found for many other varieties of Spanish. A high rate of deaccenting, however, was observed in conjunction with the final lexically stressed syllable. The prevalence of deaccented final stressed syllables is unique to what has been found for other Spanish varieties.

Efficacy of some plant extracts in the management of cercospora leaf spot of groundnut in the Sudan savanna of Nigeria

Field trials were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of neem seed, garlic clove, onion bulb, ginger rhizome and pawpaw leaf extracts applied as foliar spray in controlling cercospora leaf spot of groundnut in the Sudan savanna of Nigeria during the 2002 and 2003 cropping seasons. Ridomil was used as a positive check while the control was left untreated. Three spray regimes (once, twice and thrice) were evaluated. A strip plot design with three replications was used in setting up the experiments. Ex-Dakar, a cercospora leaf spot susceptible Spanish Valencia groundnut variety, was used as planting material. All the plant extracts reduced the incidence and severity of cercospora leaf spot in both seasons compared to the untreated crops. However, neem seed and garlic clove extracts significantly reduced the incidence and severity of the disease compared to the other plant extracts. Ridomil was more effective in controlling the disease than the plant extracts. Three sprays with the plant extracts gave better control of the disease than one or two sprays in the season. The highest seed yield of 3115 kg/ha and 3311 kg/ha in 2002 and 2003, respectively, were obtained with neem seed extract treatment while the lowest seed yield of 2134 kg/ha and 2334 kg/ha in 2002 and 2003, respectively, were recorded from the untreated crops. Also the highest seed yield of 3124 kg/ha and 3418 kg/ha in 2002 and 2003, respectively were obtained following three sprays compared to 2523 kg/ha and 2641 kg/ha for one spray in 2002 and 2003, respectively and 2840 kg/ha and 3085 kg/ha for two sprays in 2002 and 2003, respectively. The highest haulm yield of 4121 kg/ha and 4089 kg/ha in 2002 and 2003, respectively were also obtained following treatment with neem seed extract. The lowest haulm yield of 2951 kg/ha and 3045 kg/ha in 2002 and 2003 respectively, were recorded from the control. Three sprays gave higher haulm yield (4265 kg/ha and 4279 kg/ha in 2002 and 2003, respectively) than one and two sprays in the season. Neem seed extract could therefore be used to control cercospora leaf spot and to improve groundnut production in the Sudan savanna of Nigeria.

Recent Research on Latinos in the USA and Canada, Part 2: Spanish Varieties1

This article examines recent sociolinguistic research on the varieties of Spanish spoken in the USA and Canada, with emphasis on work in the variationist tradition.2 First, the increasing diversity of the North American Latino population is outlined. Representative studies of structural variation are then examined, with an emphasis on studies that examine lateral contact among Spanish dialects as well as contact between Spanish and English. The article then reviews recent studies that focus on the complexities of social identity in Latino communities, complexities that extend well beyond national origin or social class. Finally, we offer suggestions for future research.

¡Tú no me hables! Pronoun expression in conflict narratives

In their sociolinguistic analyses of the variable use of Spanish subject personal pronouns, researchers have noted that pronominal expression is conditioned by several linguistic and social variables such as a change in subject referent, the semantic class and person and number of the verb, formality of speech and speaker age. Recent studies have also reported that pronominal expression is also influenced by a speaker's exposure to English and contact with other Spanish varieties that exhibit elevated uses of overt pronominals. Based on Grimshaw's (Conflict talk, Cambridge University Press, 1990) and Labov and Fanshel's (Therapeutic discourse: Psychotherapy as conversation, Academic Press, 1977) tenets regarding conflict talk, in which they note that conflict involves speech acts such as defenses, retreats and challenges, and on Brenneis (Telling troubles, Oxford University Press, 1996), who maintains that the contents of conflict narratives are intertwined with the “narrator, audience, purposes and expectations”, this study hypothesizes that the presence of conflict in narratives mediates subject pronoun expression. It is posited here that because conflict contains such features, its presence will affect singular and plural subject pronoun forms, and it will strongly compete with the effect that another strong variable (a change in subject referent) has on pronominal expression. It is also posited that the robust effect that conflict exerts on pronominals will be attested in all speakers regardless of age.

La recategorización del adverbio medio en español

According to traditional descriptive grammars, Spanish medio (‘half’) is a variable category. It can be a noun (medio de vida), a numeral adjective (quantifier) (media docena), or an unstressed adverb (estaba medio cansado). However, medio takes an invariable form as an adverb in standard Spanish (estaba medio cansada). Making the adverb medio agree with the adjective it modifies (estaba *media cansada) is considered nonstandard. Numerous cases are attested where the adverb medio agrees, as though it were an adjective, with the noun or the adjective which it modifies. This process, known as ‘recategorization’ implies that an element is interpreted as belonging to one category (i.e. adjective) in some varieties and as part of another (here, adverb) in other varieties. The ‘adjectivization’ of medio is widely considered to be characteristic of Latin American Spanish varieties, but it is believed to be rare in Iberian Spanish. In this study I use unpublished dialect data from the ALPI (Atlas Linguistico de la Peninsula Iberica) to examine the precise geographical area of the phenomenon in Peninsular Spanish. These data clearly show that the distribution of this phenomenon is much wider than previously claimed, since it is attested not only in the Galician area but also in Leonese and in Andalusian, the latter being the probable source for the transfer of the phenomenon to Latin American Spanish. We also use historical and contemporary data from both Peninsular and Latin American texts (Corpus del espanol) to analyse some specific cases of adverbial medio with and without agreement (medio/media tonta), and to study the semantic interpretations associated with each variant.

Effect of irrigation and variety on oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) stable isotope composition of grapes cultivated in a warm climate

Background and Aims: δ13C values from Vitis vinifera leaves, whole grape, seed, pulp, skin and/or grape must sugars have been investigated as an integrated marker of vine water status or intrinsic water-use efficiency during berry growth and across region of origin, vintage and variety. The use of 18O/16O isotopic ratio as a marker of water addition, vintage and geographical origin has also been studied. This paper examines the effect of irrigation and grapevine variety on δ18O and δ13C of grape must from eight varieties, all cultivated in the same vineyard to reduce the effects from other variables. Methods and Results: Stable isotope compositions of grape must water and sugar were determined by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The result of the study showed statistically significant effects of irrigation and vine variety on both δ18O and δ13C. The effect of vintage on δ18O was only significant for non-irrigated vines. Conclusion: This research highlights the effect of variety and irrigation on δ13C and δ18O of grape. Significance of the Study: This is the first report to demonstrate that the varietal effect on δ13C and δ18O of grape is not due only to differences in the vegetative cycle of each variety. It further suggests that water exhibits a lower isotopic discrimination in the indigenous Spanish varieties studied than in non-indigenous varieties.

Pigment Profile in Non-Spanish Olive Varieties (Olea europaea L. Var. Coratina, Frantoio, and Koroneiki)

The analysis, for the first time, of the chlorophyll and carotenoid profile of olive fruits of the varieties Coratina, Frantoio, and Koroneiki has revealed important differences with Spanish varieties. First, a high chlorophylls/carotenoids ratio and a low chlorophyll a/b ratio imply that the photosynthetic apparatus has structural differences with respect to other olive varieties; second, in the carotenoid fraction, a low percentage of lutein, a high percentage of beta-carotene, and a high content in neoxanthin are signs that in these three olive varieties the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway is displaced, favoring the beta,beta series over the alpha,beta series. These differences in the chlorophyll and carotenoid profiles of the fruit are reflected in the corresponding virgin olive oils. It is proposed that the limits of the pigmentary parameters of authenticity of virgin olive oil previously established for the Spanish varieties be extended to obtain markers at a general level, independent of the geographical origin.

Marcación explícita de foco estrecho en español

En la variedad del español bogotano son de uso frecuente las construcciones en donde aparece ser, no como parte de las construcciones escindidas sino como una partícula que focaliza al constituyente que se ubica en una posición posverbal. El comportamiento sintáctico, semántico y pragmático del focalizador ser es similar a los que aparecen en lenguas africanas (bantú y mande) y el quechua, en donde, por lo general existe una correlación entre el orden de constituyentes y la estructura del foco. En el caso del español, la correlación se presenta entre la flexibilidad del orden de constituyentes y las restricciones del marcador ser. Es decir, un sujeto de una construcción transitiva sólo se puede focalizar si se mueve a una posición adecuada para que el focalizador ser pueda tener alcance sobre este constituyente.

Are you referring to me? The variable use of UNO and YO in oral discourse

The variable use of UNO ‘one’ and YO ‘I’ is examined among several speakers of distinct Spanish varieties in New Jersey and New York. Based on a small-scale study, the findings here depart from the perspective that UNO ‘one’ is merely an indefinite and generic pronoun. An exhaustive examination of the linguistic contexts in which the so-called indefinite UNO appears indicates that it alternates with the first person, Yo, the second person specific and non-specific informal tú, and deferential usted. This study centers on identifying several of the linguistic and social variables that mediate the use of UNO and examines the alternation between UNO and YO in two types of discourse: oral narratives of personal experience and therapeutic motivational interviews between a therapist and client. A finding among 12 bilingual speakers of the Puerto Rican, Mexican, Dominican, Colombian, Cuban and Uruguayan Spanish varieties suggests that the varying alternations between and UNO and YO are conditioned by discourse-pragmatic and social variables, not by the speaker’s distinct Spanish variety. The study reveals among other findings that the use of UNO is conditioned by the semantic clause type, the semantic verb type, the speakers’ age, and discourse type.

MexiRicans: Interethnic Language and Identity

Studies of Mexican and Puerto Rican communities living in the same United States cities suggest that a combination of historical factors and local conditions strongly influence to what extent these two groups interact and form a shared sense of pan-ethnic Latino unity. However, few studies have examined “MexiRican” individuals, those who have one Mexican and one Puerto Rican parent and who experience both cultures and dialects in their homes. This study examines various aspects of ethnolinguistic identity among 24 MexiRican individuals in Chicago, Illinois. It also formally assesses their Spanish proficiency and dialect characteristics. Almost all of the participants possessed a concept of identity that incorporated aspects of both Hispanic backgrounds, and none had experienced pressure to deemphasize or to stress one or the other. As found in other work on Spanish in the United States, Spanish proficiency declined with increasing generational presence. The primary factor related to the expression of Mexican or Puerto Rican features in the MexiRican participants' Spanish varieties was the dialect of the mother, although a few individuals evidenced highly hybridized dialects.

Effect of cultivar and ripening on minor components in Spanish olive fruits and their corresponding virgin olive oils

Phenolics and volatiles are the compounds mainly responsible for the desirable flavour of extra virgin olive oils and therefore to a large extent determine the degree of consumer preference for this highly regarded product. The effect of both (i) the nature of the cultivar and (ii) the degree of ripening of the olive fruit on the biophenolic and volatile profiles of six different Spanish varieties (Arbequina, Cornicabra, Morisca, Picolimon, Picudo and Picual) and their corresponding virgin olive oils was determined in this study. A clear and statistically significant difference was observed for the oleuropein content, the main phenolic component found in the olive varieties studied. Demethyloleuropein was only found in the Arbequina variety and its content doubled during the ripening process. Verbascoside steadily increased throughout fruit maturation and cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside was the most abundant anthocyanin in all the varieties studied. Within the same cultivar a relationship between the oleosides content in the fruit and the presence of secoiridoids in the virgin olive oils was observed; however, the ratio between biophenols content in the olive fruit and in the virgin olive oil varied significantly for each of the cultivars studied (ranging from 2.3 for Picudo and 28 for Picolimon). The major volatile component was the C6 aldehyde fraction whose content varied greatly between the different varieties studied: E-2-hexenal content ranged from 20.5 mg of internal standard (4-methyl-2-pentanol) per kg of oil in the Arbequina variety to 3.1 mg/kg for Cornicabra; the amount of hexanal ranged from 1.75 mg/kg in Morisca to 0.70 mg/kg for Picual samples.

Characterisation and assessment of genetic diversity in cultivated and wild carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) genotypes using AFLP markers

SummaryCarob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is a trioecious evergreen legume tree native to the Middle East and widespread throughout the Mediterranean as a crop, or as part of the maquis. Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used to estimate intra-specific genetic diversity among 41 carob genotypes from different areas of the eastern and western Mediterranean basin. Italian and Spanish cultivated varieties were included in the study for fingerprinting. A total of 96 unambiguous polymorphic loci were scored from seven Eco RI/Mse I primer combinations. Simple matching similarity coefficients between pairs of genotypes ranged from 0.542 to 1.000, indicating a high level of intra-specific diversity. AFLP markers clearly discriminated between all the accessions, except for two Sicilian varieties. An UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean) dendrogram and a Principal Co-ordinates Analysis revealed a broad relationship between the clusters and the geographic origin of the genotypes, with few exceptions. Most of the hermaphrodite varieties belonged to the same cluster, indicating that these cultivars were probably selected in a specific area, then distributed elsewhere. Moreover, an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed a high level of “within geographic area” differences.

A comprehensive study on the colour of virgin olive oils and its relationship with their chlorophylls and carotenoids indexes (II): CIELUV and CIELAB uniform colour spaces

The colour of up to 1700 virgin olive oil samples obtained from diverse Spanish varieties and from drupes at different maturity stages was analyzed by considering the CIELAB and CIELUV uniform colour spaces. When all the samples were considered altogether it was noticed that the range huv was considerably wider numerically than that of hab, and so was the range of Cab∗ to that of Cuv∗. Regarding the simple regressions analyses of the relationships colour coordinates-pigments it the best correlations were found between the carotenoid index and Cab∗ and b∗. When multiple linear regression analyses were applied considering the sets of scalar coordinates (L∗u∗v∗ and L∗a∗b∗) and angular coordinates (L∗Cuv∗huv and L∗Cab∗hab) separately as independent variables values of R2 nearing 0.9 were obtained. However, the strongest correlations of all (R2 > 0.9) were obtained by means of general linear model multiple regression models considering non-redundant CIELAB sets of coordinates and suv∗.

Old and modern durum wheat varieties from Italy and Spain differ in main spike components

Four field experiments comparing 24 durum wheat varieties grown at different periods during the 20th century in Italy and Spain were carried out to assess the changes caused by breeding activities on the number of grains per main spike and its determinants: number of spikelets per spike, number of grains per spikelet, fertile flowering and grain setting. Increases of 0.14 grains spike −1 year −1 (0.43% year −1 in relative terms) and 0.08 grains spike −1 year −1 (0.22% year −1) were observed in Italian and Spanish varieties, respectively. The overall change in the number of grains per spike in Italian germplasm (29.5%) was due to increases in both, the number of spikelets per spike (7.5%) and the number of grains per spikelet (20.3%), while in Spanish varieties the increase in the number of grains per spike (19.5%) was only attributed to the improvement of the number of grains per spikelet. The increase in the number of fertile florets per spike (about 12%) was similar in both countries, but while it explained more than 70% of the changes in the number of grains per spike in Spanish varieties, grain setting was responsible for most of the improvement in the number of grains per spike in the Italian germplasm. The percentage of florets setting grains was 68 and 64% in modern Italian and Spanish varieties, respectively. Most of the changes in the number of grains per spikelet were found in the upper part of the spike on Italian varieties, whilst they were more evenly distributed in the Spanish ones. The main achievement derived from the introduction of the Rht-B1 dwarfing gene was an increase in the number of grains per spikelet, but it did not have any effect on the number of spikelets on the main spike. The lack of genetic associations between grain setting and both the number of spikelets per spike and the number of fertile florets per spike suggests that future yield gains may be obtained through increases in the three components independently.

Genetic changes in durum wheat yield components and associated traits in Italian and Spanish varieties during the 20th century

Twelve field experiments comparing 24 durum wheat varieties from three periods—old (<1945), intermediate (1950–1985) and modern (1988–2000)—were carried out in order to ascertain the advances made in durum wheat yield components and related traits in Italian and Spanish germplasm. Grain yield improvements were based on linear increases in the number of grains per m2 and harvest index, while grain weight and biomass remained unchanged. Yield per plant increased at a rate of 0.36 and 0.44% y−1 and the number of grains per m2 improved by 39% and 55% in Italian and Spanish varieties, respectively. The mean rate of increase in the number of grains per m2 was 0.55% y−1. Plants per m2, spikes per plant and grains per spike contributed 20%, 29% and 51%, respectively, to the increase in the number of grains per m2. The enhance of the number of grains per m2 was due to the greater grain set in the modern varieties, since the number of spikelets per spike remained unchanged. Harvest index increased overall by 0.48% y−1 (0.40 and 0.53% y−1 in Italian and Spanish varieties, respectively). Plant height was the trait that suffered the most dramatic changes (it decreased at a rate of −0.81% y−1, with little difference between the varieties of the two countries), as consequence of the presence of the Rht-B1 dwarfing gene. Harvest index and plant height, which were the traits that most contributed to discriminating between periods, remained unchanged from 1980 to 2000. The higher rates of improvement in Spain are discussed in the context of the contrasting strategies followed to improve durum wheat yield in the two countries.

Variability in some texture characteristics and chemical composition of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

AbstractThe increase in the consumption of pulses in developed countries is strongly related to the availability of varieties with high‐quality sensory attributes. Local varieties show variability of this characteristic but the extent is unknown. This study aims to assess the variability in texture and chemical composition among traditional Spanish varieties of common beans. Texture differences among varieties found by panellists correspond to chemical variation, although chemical differences within varieties seem greater than those reported in sensory analyses. It seems reasonable to screen existing information on the chemical composition of common beans to identify promising varieties to be tested in sensory trials. Nevertheless, selection within varieties should be performed only after sensory tests on the degree of differences shown by extreme genotypes for components such as protein or starch. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry

Short Communication: Inactivation of Microbial Contaminants in Raw Milk La Serena Cheese by High-Pressure Treatments

La Serena cheese, a Spanish variety made from Merino ewes’ raw milk, has a high pH value, low salt content, and high moisture, conditions that are all favorable for growth and survival of contaminating microorganisms, including pathogens. To improve its microbiological quality and safety, high-pressure treatments at 300 or 400MPa for 10min at 10°C were applied to 2 batches of La Serena cheese on d 2 or 50 of ripening. Cheese treated on d 2 at 300MPa showed viable aerobic counts that were 0.99 log units lower than those for control cheese on d 3 and showed counts of enterococci, coagulase-positive staphylococci, gram-negative bacteria, and coliforms that were 2.05, 0.49, 3.14, and 4.13 log units lower, respectively, than control cheese. For cheese treated on d 2 at 400MPa, the respective reductions in counts were 2.02, 2.68, 1.45, 3.96, and 5.50 log units. On d 60, viable aerobic counts in cheese treated on d 50 at 300MPa were 0.50 log units lower than those in control cheese, and counts of enterococci, gram-negative bacteria, and coliforms were 1.37, 2.30, and 4.85 log units lower, respectively. For cheese treated on d 50 at 400MPa, the respective reductions in counts were 1.29, 1.98, 4.47, and>5 log units. High-pressure treatments at 300 or 400MPa on d 2 or 50 reduced significantly the counts of undesirable microorganisms, improving the microbiological quality and safety of La Serena cheese immediately after treatment and at the end of the ripening period.