Seed meets technology Amphasys Thumbnail sprouting seed

Amphasys Speaking at Seed Meets Technology

Seed Meets Technology

Seed meets Technology is an event where the focus is on innovative seed technology, variety assortment and adding value to horticultural seed. The initiators, together with other companies associated with the seed industry, want to strengthen the program of open days in week 39 with themes such as seed treatment, phenotyping, seed processing equipment, breeding support, sustainable crop protection and cultivation systems. Participants are required to actually demonstrate new products or services in the exhibition hall or on the demo field. The event “Seed meets technology” will take place from Tuesday, September 27, 2022 to Thursday, 29 September 2022 in Zwaagdijk, Netherlands.

Lecture on "How to Harness Pollen Information to Enhance Plant Breeding and Seed Production Efficiency"

On September, 27, 2PM Dr. Georg Roell will hold a lecture on the importance of pollen quality monitoring.

Abstract

The impacts of climate change with heat, drought and extreme weather conditions put even more pressure on plant breeding and seed production activities which are struggling already with higher yields and disease resistance. Pollen information plays therefore an important role to detect impacts caused by environmental stress, select bad pollinator lines in breeding or secure efficient hybrid seed production.

Pollen viability, pollen amount and pollen shed dynamics provide important information in breeding and seed production as they can be indicators for stress and low performance. Maximizing pollen viability and quantity is therefore an important goal and essential to produce seeds in an efficient way.

Successful pollination is directly linked to the yield in seed production. Having a tool for rapid detection of pollination issues helps to exclude weak pollinating genotypes or adapt the seed production conditions.

In his lecture, Dr. Georg Roell talks about how the information retrieved from pollen quality measurements improves breeding and makes seed production more efficient. He showcases the latest product innovations, ranging from a new lab-based instrument to the first fully portable pollen analyzer for in-field pollen analysis and explains, how pollen quality monitoring can create value, save costs and increase yield.

Discover: 

  1. how the new generation of Amphasys instruments simplifies pollen analysis
  2. practical applications of the technology from research to seed production
  3. how Amphasys enables systematical pollen viability screening
Portrait of Georg Roell

Dr. Georg Roell

Product Manager

Flyer of Amphasys being at Seed Central Innovator Showcase 2022

Amphasys at 6th Seed Central’s Innovator Showcase

Because Pollen Quality Matters!

Seed Central’s Innovator Showcase is a joint event by Seed Central, UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food & Health, UC Davis Microbiome Special Research Program and UC Davis Venture Catalyst.

The event offers a platform to innovative companies and startup’s working in the seed, agricultural, agbiotech, microbiome and food/health sector.

Amphasys is excited to participate with a 3 minute pitch on January 27th and an in-depth online company visit on February 3rd. If you did not have the chance to attend these events live, please watch the recordings below.

Pitch - Why Pollen Quality Matters

Play Video about Front picture of a 3 min pitch

Virtual Company Visit- Why Pollen Quality Matters

Play Video about Amphasys virtual Company visit invitation
Invitación para la visita virtual

Visita virtual en Español – Porque la calidad del polen ¡importa!

Porque la qualidad del polen ¡importa!

En esta sesión del Dr. Gorka Santos habla de los aspectos fundamentales del control de la calidad del polen de diferentes especies. Explica cómo el control de la calidad del polen puede crear valor, ahorrar costes y aumentar el rendimiento. Descubra por qué:

– La tecnología de Amphasys va más allá de la viabilidad del polen. Averigüe una serie de aplicaciones prácticas

– Caracterizar y optimizar la cadena de suministro de polen tiene el potencial de aumentar el rendimiento de la producción de semillas

– La validación de los protocolos de almacenamiento de polen es esencial para garantizar una calidad constante del mismo.

– El control estandarizado para el envío y el comercio de polen es fundamental.

Si desea conocer el importante papel de la calidad del polen en el cultivo de plantas y la producción de semillas, vea la grabación de nuestro seminario web

Because Pollen Quality Matters!

  • In 2020 Amphasys has organized a series of sessions on the importance of pollen quality monitoring. This ‘Virtual Amphacademy’ was a huge success and enabled us to reach an international audience of experts and researchers engaged in plant breeding and seed production.

Based on our participants’ feedback and with an increasing customer base in Latin America, we have decided to organize our first webinar in Spanish.

Use this link, to watch a recording of the English version of our webinar.

a picture of hazelnut catkins shedding pollenins

New Study on Hazelnut Pollen Phenotyping Using the Pollen Analyzer

Plant Phenotyping - The Science of Crop Characterization

Modern plant phenotyping is a rapidly emerging research area concerned with the quantitative measurement of the structural and functional properties of plants. It provides essential information to plant breeders and crop management when selecting the best genotypes that will become future cultivars well-adapted to different environments [1].

Non-destructive high-throughput methods have replaced tedious classical assays, now generating large amount of multiparametric data in a very short time. One example used for pollen phenotyping is our Ampha Z32 Pollen Analyzer, capable of analyzing thousands of pollen grains in just a few seconds.

Impedance Flow Cytometry Reveals Large Differences in Hazelnut Pollen Sterility

In a recent study, the Ampha Z32 Pollen Analyzer was used to systematically investigate two important aspects of hazelnut biology: Pollen viability and pollen sterility. Those parameters were assessed in 33 cultivars used for hazelnut production and compared to wild genotypes. The measurements allowed the researchers to reliably classify pollen grains into viable, dead and sterile in a high throughput. Interestingly, both the pollen viability and the degree of sterility were strongly cultivar-specific, and both parameters varied over a surprisingly wide range. Importantly, only a small amount of dead pollen was observed. This suggests that pollen sterility is a key determinant of pollen quality in hazelnut, and therefore deserves particular attention when selecting suitable pollinators.

Congratulations to Lorenzo Ascari and his team for this impressive work and for demonstrating the power and potential of Impedance Flow Cytometry in plant science.

If you are interested in reading the full article, please click on the button below.

Clostridium difficile bacteria

Quantifying Bacterial Spore Germination by Impedance Flow Cytometry

Ampha Z32 Used as a Diagnostic Tool for the Determination of Host Susceptibility to CDI (Clostridioides difficile infection)

CDI can occur as a result of antibiotic administration and consequent impairment of the gut microbiome, providing best growth conditions to C. diffiicile. This gram-positive bacterium produces toxins that can lead to severe intestinal diseases. Even though C. difficile can be treated with specific antibiotics, its spores are resistant to that treatment and can survive in the intestine. Therefore, CDI recurrence is quite frequent (20-30%!) and due mainly to germination of the dormant spores into vegetative bacteria.

The group of Prof. Nathan Swami at the University of Virginia has impressively shown how it is possible to determine the predisposition for CDI by measuring the germination of C. difficile spores to vegetative bacteria using Amphasys’ Impedance Flow Cytometer (Ampha Z32) on ex vivo cultured samples. This method is much faster (4-5 hours) and more sensitive than conventional, microbiological techniques, which normally need 24 hours for a reliable determination of the microbiome susceptibility to C. difficile spore germination. This underlines the potential of Impedance Flow Cytometry (IFC) as a point-of-care screening tool for CDI-vulnerable patients.

Please contact us, if you would like to read the full article!

Corn pollen on corn tassel

Improved Buffer for Corn Pollen Measurement

New AF8/AF9 Buffer for Pollen Analysis on the Ampha Z32 Pollen Analyzer

The Ampha Z32 Pollen Analyzer allows for a fast, reproducible and highly accurate determination of pollen viability along the pollen supply chain.

Our Amphasys R&D experts have developped two new and improved buffer for the analysis of large pollen such as corn, pumpkin, squash, zucchini and cotton. 

The new AmphaFluid buffer AF8 and AF9 improve sample preparation as they reduce sedimentation. Furthermore, a more accurate concentration measurement is enabled thanks to the new formula of the new buffers.

More information and recommendations for the measurement of pollen or microspores can be found in our “Pollen Analysis Instructions”. 

Art illustration of nanoparticles

Nanotoxicity Screening by Impedance Flow Cytometry

Impedance Flow Cytometry: An Effective and Reliable Tool for Nanotoxicity Screening

Nanomaterials (NMs) have gained enormous attention due to their unique properties and have found use everywhere in daily life applications.

However, this widespread use resulted in an increased release of NMs and raised concerns on their adverse impact on the environment and on human health.

Until recently, there was a lack of standardized methods to assess the toxicity potential of these NMs as traditional toxicity assays have been shown to interfere with NMs resulting in false negatives or false positives.

In a recent study, published in the renowned scientific journal ‘Scientific Reports’, the reliability and applicability of label-free impedance flow cytometry for in-vitro nanotoxicity screening were investigated. The study concludes that IFC is a robust and reliable tool that is less prone to interferences due to the advantage of being label-free (1).

"Label-free impedance flow cytometry for nanotoxicity screening"

Abstract:

The development of reliable and cost-efficient methods to assess the toxicity of nanomaterials (NMs) is critical for the proper identification of their impact on human health and for ensuring a safe progress of nanotechnology. In this study, we investigated the reliability and applicability of label-free impedance flow cytometry (IFC) for in vitro nanotoxicity screening, which avoids time-consuming labelling steps and minimizes possible NM-induced interferences. U937 human lymphoma cells were exposed for 24 h to eight different nanomaterials at five concentrations (2, 10, 20, 50, and 100 μg/mL). The NMs’ effect on viability was measured using IFC and the results were compared to those obtained by trypan blue (TB) dye exclusion and conventional flow cytometry (FC). To discriminate viable from necrotic cells, the IFC measurement settings regarding signal trigger level and frequency, as well as the buffer composition, were optimised. A clear discrimination between viable and necrotic cells was obtained at 6 MHz in a sucrose-based measurement buffer. Nanomaterial-induced interferences were not detected for IFC. The IFC and TB assay results were in accordance for all NMs. The IFC was found to be robust, reliable and less prone to interferences due to the advantage of being label-free.

(1) Label-free impedance flow cytometry for nanotoxicity screening. Available from: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-56705-3 [accessed Feb 27 2020].

Tomato in greenhouse

Impact of Pollen Quality on Tomato Seed Production

Large-Scale Research Project with Rijk Zwaan

In a recent customer research project, the Ampha Z32 Pollen Analyzer was used to evaluate the pollen quality of over 800 plants in 500 m2 greenhouse area.

The conclusions of the study show:

  • – A clear and distinctive correlation between pollen viability and seed set
  • – Pollen Viability needed to obtain optimum seed set varies per line
  • – The Ampha Z32 is more precise, faster and less prone to human bias than germination assays

If you are keen to know more about this project, please download the file for free.

Amphasys at ASTA Seed Meeting 2019

Amphasys at ASTA Seed Congress 2019

On-Demand Pollination for Corn Seed Production

Discover the benefits of pollen analysis in seed production:

  • – Higher yields
  • – Increased purity
  • – Lower cost of goods

Pollen quality analysis is the key to optimizing the pollination process and hence drive yield improvements, save production costs and increase the quality of your seed. Come see our solutions on the Seed Expo Tour on Thursday at 10:00 am and at the Ag Innovative Showcase on Tuesday at 1:00 pm.

Visit the pollen experts at booths #1123 and #1125 at the ASTA Seed Congress and we are happy to show you the technologies that make the difference!

PowerPollen harnesses optimum pollen management by providing seed producers better pollination at lower costs, resulting in a higher return on investment.

The heart of the PowerPollen solution is Amphasys’s high throughput pollen analyzer that enables data-driven pollen quality monitoring and drives yield in plant breeding and seed production.

Neutec Group offers state of the art technologies to enhance any lab performance in the Biotechnology and Agriculture laboratories. Their equipment offers unprecedented analysis for seeds, pollen, and Agro studies. At ASTA they will showcase the Ampha™ Z32 pollen analyzer, manufactured by Amphasys and utilized by Power Pollen – come see it on the Innovation Tour Thursday, December 12, 2019, 10:00 am – 11:30 am.