Regulation of tomato fruit ripening

Fruit ripening is a sophisticatedly orchestrated developmental process, unique to plants, that results in major physiological and metabolic changes, ultimately leading to fruit decay and seed dispersal. Because of their strong impact on fruit nutritional and sensory qualities, the ripeningassociated changes have been a matter of sustained investigation aiming at unravelling the molecular and genetic basis of fruit ripening. Tomato rapidly emerged as the model of choice for fleshy fruit research and a wealth of genetic resources and genomics tools have been developed, providing new entries into the regulatory mechanisms involved in the triggering and coordination of the ripening process. Some of the key components participating in the control of tomato fruit ripening have been uncovered, but our knowledge of the network of signalling pathways engaged in this complex developmental process remains fragmentary. This review highlights the main advances and emphasizes issues still to be addressed using the rapidly developing ‘omics’ approaches

Molecular Markers for Genetic Diversity Studies in African Leafy Vegetables

African leafy vegetables are becoming important crops in tackling nutrition and food security in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, since they provide important micronutrients and vitamins, and help resource-poor farm families bridge lean periods of food shortage. Genetic diversity studies are essential for crop improvement programmes as well as germplasm conservation efforts, and research on genetic diversity of these vegetables using molecular markers has been increasing over time. Diversity studies have evolved from the use of morphological and biochemical markers to molecular markers. Molecular markers provide valuable data, since they detect mostly selectively neutral variations at the DNA level. They are well established and their strengths and limitations have been described. New marker types are being developed from a combination of the strengths of the basic techniques to improve sensitivity, reproducibility, polymorphic information content, speed and cost. This review discusses the principles of some of the established molecular markers and their application to genetic diversity studies of African leafy vegetables with a main focus on the most common Solanum, Amaranthus, Cleome and Vigna species.BMBF/HORTINLEABM

Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy: approaches to diagnosis and treatment

Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy (MNGIE) is an ultra-rare disease caused by mutations in TYMP, the gene encoding for the enzyme thymidine phosphorylase. The resulting enzyme deficiency leads to a systemic accumulation of thymidine and 2’-deoxyuridine and ultimately mitochondrial failure due to a progressive acquisition of secondary mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations and mtDNA depletion. MNGIE is characterised by gastrointestinal dysmotility, cachexia, peripheral neuropathy, ophthalmoplegia, ptosis and leukoencephalopathy. The disease is progressively degenerative and leads to death at an average age of 37.6 years. Patients invariably encounter misdiagnoses, diagnostic delays, and non-specific clinical management. Despite its rarity, MNGIE has invoked much interest in the development of therapeutic strategies, mainly because it is one of the few mitochondrial disorders where the molecular abnormality is metabolically and physically accessible to manipulation. This review provides a résumé of the current diagnosis and treatment approaches and aims to increase the clinical awareness of MNGIE and thereby facilitate early diagnosis and timely access to treatments, before the development of untreatable and irreversible organ damage

Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) activation during ruminant mammary development and function : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

This thesis examines the abundance of total and activated mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway components in the developing and functional ruminant mammary gland. mTOR pathway activation is stimulated by a wide range of intra- and extracellular signals, such as amino acids (AA) and hormones, making the mTOR pathway a potential candidate for the development of intervention strategies designed to increase ruminant lactation potential. Tissues from two trials shown to improve lactation potential; dam-fetal nutrition and exogenous growth hormone (GH) administration during lactation, were used to measure changes in total and activated mTOR pathway protein abundance. Results show mammary glands of d 140 fetal lambs carried by maintenance fed dams and dairy cows administered exogenous GH, had increased abundance of total and activated mTOR and mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway proteins. Increased abundance was associated with changes in biochemical indices. In the GH study MAPK pathway activation was stimulated by IGF-1 signaling whilst mTOR pathway activation was proposed to be mediated by AA signalling. Data from the GH study shows, L-arginine a known activator of the mTOR pathway, was the only AA reduced in both plasma and the lactating gland. Upstream factors were not identified for the phenotype observed in the dam-fetal nutrition study, but similar mechanisms were proposed. To elucidate the potential regulation of mTOR pathway activation by L-arginine and examine the effect on milk production, in vitro bovine cell culture models were evaluated. Results show that none of the models evaluated produced a lactating phenotype – a pre-requisite to accurately study the lactating gland in vitro. Finally, this thesis shows L-arginine administration from d 100 to d 140 of pregnancy, in twin bearing ewes had no effect on mTOR protein abundance or activation. However, administration from d 100 to parturition improved maternal gland health. In summary, this thesis associates improved lactation potential with increased total and activated mTOR pathway protein abundance, and the administration of L-arginine during late gestation with improved gland health. These findings provide fundamental knowledge that may lead to the development of novel technologies to increase ruminant gland performance and health

Regulation of genes involved in carnitine homeostasis by PPARa across different species (rat, mouse, pig, cattle, chicken, and human)

Recent studies in rodents convincingly demonstrated that PPAR-alpha is a key regulator of genes involved in carnitine homeostasis, which serves as a reasonable explanation for the phenomenon that energy deprivation and fibrate treatment, both of which cause activation of hepatic PPAR-alpha, causes a strong increase of hepatic carnitine concentration in rats. The present paper aimed to comprehensively analyse available data from genetic and animal studies with mice, rats, pigs, cows, and laying hens and from human studies in order to compare the regulation of genes involved in carnitine homeostasis by PPAR-alpha across different species. Overall, our comparative analysis indicates that the role of PPAR-alpha as a regulator of carnitine homeostasis is well conserved across different species. However, despite demonstrating a well-conserved role of PPAR-alpha as a key regulator of carnitine homeostasis in general, our comprehensive analysis shows that this assumption particularly applies to the regulation by PPAR-alpha of carnitine uptake which is obviously highly conserved across species, whereas regulation by PPAR-alpha of carnitine biosynthesis appears less well conserved across species

FABP-2 and PPAR-γ Haplotype as Risk Factors for Dyslipidemia in a Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Population of Santa Rosa del Conlara, San Luis, Argentina

Introduction: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a complex disorder caused by the interaction between genetic predisposition and environmental factors. Genetics plays an important role on lipid homeostasis. Many genes are involved in the lipid metabolism, such as FABP-2 and PPAR-γ. Aim: To evaluate the association between specific SNPs and haplotypes of the FABP-2 and PPAR-γ genes with T2DM and lipid profile in an Argentinean population. Methods: The FABP-2 (rs1799883) and PPAR-γ (rs1801282) polymorphisms were genotyped and analyzed in association with lipid profile and T2DM, separately and also combined in haplotypes. Results: The frequency of the rare Thr54 allele of the FABP-2 polymorphism in control (0.33) was not different from the frequency in T2DM (0.27), whereas the frequency of the rare Ala12 allele of the PPAR-γ polymorphism in control was different from the frequency in T2DM (0.26 and 0.14, respectively; p = 0.0031). Frequencies of haplotypes for these two single-nucleotide polymorphisms differed significantly in control and T2DM. Haplotype association analysis showed the associations between ThrPro haplotype and TG levels (OR = 2.520; 95% CI = 1.139 - 5.575; p = 0.027) and between ThrPro haplotype and TC and LDL-c levels when compared to AlaPro haplotype (difference = 0.175, 95% CI = 0068 - 0.499, p < 0.0001; difference = 0.052, 95% CI = 0.017 - 0.158, p < 0.0001, respectively). Conclusions: These results from a haplotype analysis show for the first time that genetic combinations of alleles of the FABP-2 and PPAR-γ gene could play a role in the susceptibility to develop dyslipemia in T2DM.Fil: Siewert, Susana Elfrida. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Departamento de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas. Laboratorio de Diabetes; ArgentinaFil: Olmos Nicotra, Maria Florencia. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Departamento de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas. Laboratorio de Diabetes; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez, Irma Ines. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Departamento de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas. Laboratorio de Diabetes; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, Gustavo. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Departamento de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas. Laboratorio de Diabetes; ArgentinaFil: Ojeda, Marta Susana. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Departamento de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas. Laboratorio de Diabetes; Argentin

Complex of Chemical-technological and Sanitary-hygienic Quality Indicators of the New Pastry Products of Special Nutrition

The complex of chemical-technological and sanitary-hygienic quality indicators of new pastry products of special nutrition was studied. The original recipes of meat pastries for special nutrition, enriched with biologically active components at the expanse of vitaminized blended vegetable oils (VBVO) and protein-fatty emulsions (PFE) on their base, were elaborated. There were elaborated four recipes of pastries of chicken and Turkey with PFE, included in recipes in the amount 15…20 % and with vitaminized blended vegetable oils of two-component and three-component composition in the amount 10 %. Pastry samples, prepared according to SSTC 4432:2005 were used as a control.VBVO composition and fat-soluble vitamins content in them was determined by the gasochromatographic method.Molecular-genetic methods were used for the accelerated diagnostics of pastries safety by agents of food intoxications– Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus, number of mesophyl aerobic and facultative-anaerobic microorganisms (NMAFAnM), classic ones – colon bacillus group bacteria (CBGB), sulphite reductive clostridia, Staphylococcus aureus, L.monocytogenes, Salmonella. The storage term of products was prolonged in 2 times (48 against 24 hours) according to SSTC). The expedience of their introduction in production was proved