Effects of dietary carotenoids on mouse lung genomic profiles and their modulatory effects on short-term cigarette smoke exposures

Male C57BL/6 mice were fed diets supplemented with either β-carotene (BC) or lycopene (LY) that were formulated for human consumption. Four weeks of dietary supplementations results in plasma and lung carotenoid (CAR) concentrations that approximated the levels detected in humans. Bioactivity of the CARs was determined by assaying their effects on the activity of the lung transcriptome (~8,500 mRNAs). Both CARs activated the cytochrome P450 1A1 gene but only BC induced the retinol dehydrogenase gene. The contrasting effects of the two CARs on the lung transcriptome were further uncovered in mice exposed to cigarette smoke (CS) for 3 days; only LY activated ~50 genes detected in the lungs of CS-exposed mice. These genes encoded inflammatory-immune proteins. Our data suggest that mice offer a viable in vivo model for studying bioactivities of dietary CARs and their modulatory effects on lung genomic expression in both health and after exposure to CS toxicants

A karyomorphological study of the genus Allium

This paper reports mitotic chromosome numbers of 19 taxa of Allium L. sect. Melanocrommyum Webb et Berthel. from Turkey. Karyotypes of 18 species of Allium sect. Melanocrommyum were diploid with 2n = 16, only A. cyrilli Ten. was tetraploid with 2n = 32. This study includes first reports for 11 Allium species (A. elmaliense I. G. Deniz et Sumbul, A. lycaonicum Siehe ex Hayek, A. asclepiadeum Bornm., A. nemrutdaghense Kit Tan & Sorger, A. colchicifolium Boiss., A. shatakiense Rech. fil., A. woronowii Miscz., A. nabelekii Kamelin et Seisums, A. stenopetalum Boiss. et Kotschy, A. noeanum Reuter ex Regel, A. tubergenii Freyn). The chromosome count of A. orientale, collected from Turkey, is also reported for the first time in this study. Four accessions (A. nemrutdaghense, A. colchicifolium, A. chrysantherum, and A. cardiostemon) have B-chromosomes. Seven parameters for analyzing karyotype asymmetry were assessed and karyotypic ideograms of 19 taxa of Allium (sect. Melanocrommyum) are given. Microphotographs of somatic metaphases are also provided. All karyotypes are symmetrical, consisting of metacentric and submetacentric chromosome pairs. Only A. nabelekii and A. tubergenii have subtelocentric chromosomes. Karyotype analysis according to Stebbins categories placed chromosomes of studied taxa in symmetric class of 2A, indicating a symmetric karyotype. Only A. noeanum was classified in group 2B. Analysis of karyotype formulae showed that, in general, species of sect. Melanocrommyum form a homogeneous group