The distribution of orbicules was investigated for eleven taxa of six genera in Lamiaceae and four taxa of three genera in Verbenaceae using scanning electron microscopy. A literature survey to evaluate the phylogenetic potential of the orbicules and their possible correlations with tapetum types was also conducted. The orbicules are consistently absent in all investigated taxa of Lamiaceae, while small orbicules of an average size of less than 1 µm are densely distributed in Verbenaceae. In fact, orbicules appear consistently in 123 of 150 angiosperm families when investigated in at least one species. Thus, the distribution patterns of orbicules could be a useful diagnostic character in angiosperms. In addition, orbicules occur in 84% taxa of the secretory tapetum type, while they are commonly absent in the amoeboid tapetum type (ca. 80%). The presence of orbicules may be correlated with the secretory tapetum type. However, the study of orbicules is restricted in 150 families and the tapetum type within these families can be applied for 92 families out of a total of 416 angiosperm families. Thus, further investigation of orbicules is necessary in extended taxa to address the questions pertaining to orbicules.

The purpose of this study was to verify feasibility of using a ATP Luminometer, real-time hygiene monitoring tool for food contact surfaces in foodservices. For this, 54 cutting boards, 70 knives, 21 rubber gloves in 4 institutional foodservices were studied. ATP (RLU: relatively light unit) values by ATP Luminometer were compared with APC (CFU: colony forming unit) of swabbing culture method using aerobic count plates of 3M petrifilm. ATP ranged from 0 RLU/cm 2 to 64693 RLU/cm 2 on knives, from 0.1 RLU/cm 2 to 6743.6 RLU/cm 2 on cutting boards and from 31 RLU/cm 2 to 465635 RLU/cm 2 on the rubber gloves. APC ranged from 0 CFU/cm 2 to 166667 CFU/cm 2 on knives, from 0 CFU/cm 2 to 1000 CFU/cm 2 on cutting boards and from 0 CFU/cm 2 to 730000 CFU/cm 2 on the rubber gloves. To express the degree of association between ATP and APC, a linear regression was performed. There were significant positive correlations found between log RLU and log CFU on the knives (r=0.84, p<0.001), the cutting boards (r=0.79, p<0.001), the rubber gloves (r=0.78, p<0.001). Results of this study showed the possibility that ATP bioluminescence technique can be used as the monitoring tool for surface hygiene in foodservices.

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