Phenolic concentrations and carbon/nitrogen ratio in annual shoots of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) after simulated herbivory
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Schrijvers-Gonlag M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC10911626 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Vegetative parts of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) are important forage for many boreal forest mammal, bird and insect species. Plant palatability to insects is affected by concentration of nutrients and defense compounds in plants. We expected that palatability of bilberry leaves to insect herbivores is influenced by light availability and soil productivity (both affecting nitrogen concentration and constitutive carbon-based defense compound concentration) and herbivory by mammals (affecting nitrogen concentration and induced carbon-based defense compound concentration). We studied bilberry leaf herbivory under different light availability, soil productivity and mammalian herbivory pressure in small sampling units (1m x 1m) in boreal forest in Norway. We used generalized linear mixed models and generalized additive mixed models to model insect herbivory on bilberry leaves as a function of shade, soil productivity and mammalian herbivory. Observed insect herbivory on bilberry leaves increased with increasing shade levels. Predicted insect herbivory increased with increasing previous mammalian herbivory at high shade levels and this response was magnified at higher soil productivity levels. At low to intermediate shade levels, this response was only present under high soil productivity levels. Our results indicate that light availability is more important for variation in bilberry leaf palatability than soil nutrient conditions.
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Project description:Bilberry fruit is regarded as one of the best natural sources of anthocyanins and is widely explored for its health-beneficial compounds. Besides anthocyanins, one of the major attributes that determine the berry quality is the accumulation of sugars that provide sweetness and flavor to ripening fruit. In this study, we have identified 25 sugar metabolism-related genes in bilberry, including invertases (INVs), hexokinases (HKs), fructokinases (FKs), sucrose synthases (SSs), sucrose phosphate synthases (SPSs), and sucrose phosphate phosphatases (SPPs). The results indicate that isoforms of the identified genes are expressed differentially during berry development, suggesting specialized functions. The highest sugar content was found in ripe berries, with fructose and glucose dominating accompanied by low sucrose amount. The related enzyme activities during berry development and ripening were further analyzed to understand the molecular mechanism of sugar accumulation. The activity of INVs in the cell wall and vacuole increased toward ripe berries. Amylase activity involved in starch metabolism was not detected in unripe berries but was found in ripe berries. Sucrose resynthesizing SS enzyme activity was detected upon early ripening and had the highest activity in ripe berries. Interestingly, our transcriptome data showed that supplemental irradiation with red and blue light triggered upregulation of several sugar metabolism-related genes, including α- and β-amylases. Also, differential expression patterns in responses to red and blue light were found across sucrose, galactose, and sugar-alcohol metabolism. Our enzymological and transcriptional data provide new understanding of the bilberry fruit sugar metabolism having major effect on fruit quality.
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Project description:The physical and chemical properties of wild berry fruits change dramatically during development, and the ripe berries host species-specific endophytic communities. However, the development of fungal endophytic communities during berry ripening is unknown. We studied bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), valuable natural resources in northern Europe and richest sources of phenolic compounds, to characterize dynamics of the fungal communities over fruit developmental stages (raw, veraison, and ripe). Our focus was to examine the changes in the fruit phenolic compounds associated with the fungal community structure using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for phenolic compounds and high-throughput sequencing technology targeting the internal transcribed spacer 2 ribosomal DNA region for endophytic fungi. We found that the fungal diversity increased with the ripening stages. The fungal profile changed dramatically through fruit development, and the veraison stage was a transition stage, where the core mycobiome of fruits changed. The fungal community structure and abundance of the most dominant genera in raw and ripe stages, Monilinia and Cladosporium, respectively, were driven by the bilberry phenolic profile. We conclude that sampling time, tissue age, and phenolic compounds play important roles in the development of fruit fungal community. Moreover, phenolic compounds could be the host's strategy to recruit beneficial microbes.
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Project description:BackgroundBilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) is one of the most abundant wild berries in the Northern European ecosystems. This species plays an important ecological role as a food source for many vertebrate and invertebrate herbivores. It is also well-recognized for its bioactive compounds, particularly substances involved in natural defenses against herbivory. These defenses are known to be initiated by leaf damage (e.g. chewing by insects) and mediated by activation of the jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathway. This pathway can be activated by exogenous application of methyl jasmonate (MeJA), the volatile derivative of JA, which is often used to stimulate plant defense responses in studies of plant-herbivore interactions at ecological, biochemical, and molecular organismal levels. As a proxy for herbivore damage, wild V. myrtillus plants were treated in the field with MeJA and changes in gene expression were compared to untreated plants.ResultsThe de novo transcriptome assembly consisted of 231,887 unigenes. Nearly 71% of the unigenes were annotated in at least one of the databases interrogated. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs), between MeJA-treated and untreated control bilberry plants were identified using DESeq. A total of 3590 DEGs were identified between the treated and control plants, with 2013 DEGs upregulated and 1577 downregulated. The majority of the DEGs identified were associated with primary and secondary metabolism pathways in plants. DEGs associated with growth (e.g. those encoding photosynthesis-related components) and reproduction (e.g. flowering control genes) were frequently down-regulated while those associated with defense (e.g. encoding enzymes involved in biosynthesis of flavonoids, lignin compounds, and deterrent/repellent volatile organic compounds) were up-regulated in the MeJA treated plants.ConclusionsEcological studies are often limited by controlled conditions to reduce the impact of environmental effects. The results from this study support the hypothesis that bilberry plants, growing in natural conditions, shift resources from growth and reproduction to defenses while in a MeJA-induced state, as when under insect attack. This study highlights the occurrence of this trade-off at the transcriptional level in a realistic field scenario and supports published field observations wherein plant growth is retarded and defenses are upregulated.
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Project description:The study investigated protein dynamics throughout fruit developmental and ripening process of blue-colored bilberry. The proteomic approach was applied to study at four different ripening stages, S2-small green fruit, S3- large green fruit, S4- purple ripening fruit, S5- ripe, blue fruit of bilberry. Regulatory network of plant hormones and physiological processes occurring during bilberry fruit ripening was revealed for the first time. The white-colored mutant bilberry, at the ripe stage, was also investigated differences compared to wild, blue-colored berries.
2024-09-18 | PXD047290 | Pride
Project description:Previous studies indicate that bilberry with high amounts of phenolic compounds can inhibit carcinogenic processes of colorectal cancer in vitro and in vivo. However, no studies have focused on the effects of bilberry on oral cancer. In this study, we aimed to examine the effects of bilberry powder on oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells using both in vitro and in vivo assays. The effects of 0, 1, 10, and 25 mg/mL of whole bilberry powder on the viability, proliferation, migration, and invasion of OSCC (HSC-3) cells were examined and compared with 0.01 mg/mL of cetuximab. Two oral keratinocyte cell lines served as controls. Tumor area was analyzed in zebrafish microinjected with HSC-3 cells and treated with 2.5, 10, or 25 µg/mL of bilberry powder. Metastases in the head or tail areas were counted. Bilberry powder inhibited the viability, proliferation, migration, and invasion of HSC-3 cells (p < 0.05), which was more pronounced with higher concentrations. Cetuximab had no effect on HSC-3 cell migration or invasion. Compared to controls, the tumor area in zebrafish treated with bilberry powder (10 and 25 µg/mL) was reduced significantly (p = 0.038 and p = 0.021, respectively), but the number of fish with metastases did not differ between groups. Based on our in vitro and in vivo experiments, we conclude that whole bilberry powder has anti-tumor effects on OSCC cells.
| S-EPMC8389301 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Berries of genus Vaccinium are rich in flavonoids and proanthocyanidins (PAs). We studied the PA composition and biosynthesis in bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) tissues and during fruit development. Soluble PAs, analyzed by UHPLC-MS/MS, were most abundant in stem and rhizome with the mean PA polymerization level varying between 4 and 6 in all tissues. Both A- and B-type PAs were present in all tissues. Procyanidin subunits were more common than prodelphinidin subunits in PAs. During fruit ripening, the amount of procyanidin subunits decreased while prodelphinidin subunits and F3'5'H expression increased, indicating a shift in biosynthesis toward the delphinidin branch of the flavonoid pathway. Epicatechin was the most abundant flavan-3-ol in all tissues. Expression of ANR and three isolated LAR genes, analyzed by qRT-PCR, showed connection to accumulation of PAs and flavan-3-ols biosynthesized from different flavonoid branches. Insoluble PAs accumulated during berry development, suggesting that PAs are not recycled after biosynthesis.
| S-EPMC7467716 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The nonanthocyanin phenolic compounds in juice and wine produced from fruits of white bilberry, a nonpigmented mutant of Vaccinium myrtillus, and blue bilberry (pigmented variety) were analyzed using liquid chromatography with a diode array detector (LC-DAD) and LC-DAD-electrospray ionization-quadrapole/time of flight hybrid mass spectrometry (ESI-QTOF-MS). On the basis of elution order, UV-vis spectra, accurate mass data, and fragmentation pattern and standards, 42 compounds including 22 phenolic acids, 15 flavonols, and 5 flavan-3-ols, were identified in juices and wines prepared from the two bilberry varieties. The levels of most individual nonanthocyanin phenolic compounds in white bilberry products were significantly lower than those in pigmented ones. In bilberry juices, phenolic acids were the most predominant, accounting for approximately 80% of total phenolic content, with p-coumaroyl monotropeins and caffeic acid hexoside being the major phenolic acids. After fermentation, the total contents of phenolic acids, flavonols, and nonanthocyanin phenolic compounds significantly increased, while the content of total flavan-3-ols decreased significantly. p-Coumaroyl monotropeins still dominated in the wine products, while caffeic acid content showed dramatic elevation with the significant drop of caffeic acid hexoside.
| S-EPMC7497633 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundCarotenoids are important pigments and precursors for central signaling molecules associated in fruit development and ripening. Carotenoid metabolism has been studied especially in the climacteric tomato fruit but the content of carotenoids and the regulation of their metabolism have been shown to be highly variable between fruit species. Non-climacteric berries of the genus Vaccinium are among the best natural sources of health-beneficial flavonoids but not studied previously for carotenoid biosynthesis.ResultsIn this study, carotenoid biosynthetic genes, PSY, PDS, ZDS, CRTISO, LCYB, LCYE, BCH and CYP450-BCH, as well as a carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase CCD1 were identified from bilberry (V. myrtillus L.) fruit and their expression was studied along with carotenoid composition during fruit development under different photoperiod and light quality conditions. Bilberry was found to be a good source of carotenoids among fruits and berries. The most abundant carotenoids throughout the berry development were lutein and β-carotene, which were accompanied by lower amounts of 9Z-β-carotene, violaxanthin, neoxanthin, zeaxanthin, antheraxanthin and β-cryptoxanthin. The expression patterns of the biosynthetic genes in ripening fruits indicated a metabolic flux towards β-branch of the carotenoid pathway. However, the carotenoid levels decreased in both the β-branch and ε,β-branch towards bilberry fruit ripening along with increased VmCCD1 expression, similarly to VmNCED1, indicating enzymatic carotenoid cleavage and degradation. Intense white light conditions increased the expression of the carotenoid biosynthetic genes but also the expression of the cleavage genes VmCCD1 and VmNCED1, especially in unripe fruits. Instead, mature bilberry fruits responded specifically to red/far-red light wavelengths by inducing the expression of both the carotenoid biosynthetic and the cleavage genes indicating tissue and developmental stage specific regulation of apocarotenoid formation by light quality.ConclusionsThis is the first report of carotenoid biosynthesis in Vaccinium berries. Our results indicate that both transcriptional regulation of the key biosynthetic genes and the enzymatic degradation of the produced carotenoids to apocarotenoids have significant roles in the determination of the carotenoid content and have overall effect on the metabolism during the bilberry fruit ripening.
| S-EPMC4839083 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The aim of this study was to establish correlation of chemical composition and antioxidant activity of bilberry plants from Montenegro. Total phenolic, tannin, flavonoid, procyanidin and anthocyanin contents were determined in fruits and leaves extracts using spectrophotometric methods, while the measurements of metal content was carried out in an Inductively Coupled Atomic Emission Spectrometer. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of major phenolics were achieved by HPLC. In the investigated extracts, the most abundant phenolic was chlorogenic acid, followed by protocatechuic acid, while resveratrol, isoquercetin, quecetin and hyperoside were also present in significant quantities. Antioxidant potential was evaluated using two in vitro assays-FRAP and DPPH-being in the accordance with the cyclic voltammetry tests, performed as well. The results revealed that all the investigated extracts were rich in phenolic and essential mineral constituents, with significant antioxidant activity, depending on the polyphenolic and mineral contents, which was confirmed by principal component analysis.
| S-EPMC6222815 | biostudies-literature