Project description:Canker disease caused by Neoscytalidium dimidiatum is the most serious disease that attacks the pitaya industry. One pathogenic fungus, referred to as ND8, was isolated from the wild-type red-fleshed pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus) of Hainan Province. Here, we studied mainly the host responses of red-fleshed pitaya (H. polyrhizus) cultivars against N. dimidiatum using Illumina RNA-Seq technology.
Project description:New mechanisms-of-action of anthocyanins (ACNs) provided by a red-fleshed apple compared with a white-fleshed apple ACN-poor, and with an ACN-rich extract on the proteome profile of aorta and heart as cardiovascular key tissues were determined. Hypercholesterolemic Wistar rats were separated into the corresponding groups to analyze the proteomic profile of the aorta and heart tissues using nano-liquid chromatography coupled to mass-spectrometry. Red-fleshed apple downregulated CRP, C1QB and CFP related-inflammation. White-fleshed apple reduced C1QB, CFB, CFD, C3, and C9 related to the complement system, reduced MB and CP related to iron metabolism, and increased ME1, PKM, and PC related to energy homeostasis. ACN-rich extract increased FMOD, TAGLN, and CAP1 related to cellular structure and decreased PRKACA, IQGAP1, and HSP90AB1 related to cellular signaling. Red-fleshed apple rich in ACNs suggested an anti-inflammatory effect while white-fleshed apple reduced the complement system protein-related. An apple matrix effect reduced inflammatory proteins regardless their ACN content.
Project description:To further explore the molecular mechanisms of flowering regulation in pitaya, we used de novo RNA sequencing-based transcriptomic analysis for four stages of pitaya subjected to light induction. We assembled 68113 unigenes in total, of which 29782 unigenes with functional annotations in the Nr database, 20716 annotations in SwissProt, 18088 annotations in KOG, and 11059 annotations in Kegg
Project description:Pitaya is a new fruit crop, whose exotically colored fruits have excellent nutritional and antioxidant properties. In this study, the primary metabolite profiles of three pitaya cultivars i.e. 'Guanhuahong' (red peel with red pulp), 'Guanhuabai' (red peel with white pulp) and 'Guanhuahongfen' (red peel with pink pulp) were investigated using GC-MS and Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. In the fruit pulp, levels of starch, organic acids, and inositol decreased as the fruit matured. Glucose, fructose, sucrose and sorbitol contents increased gradually during fruit maturation and reached their highest levels in the pulp at the mature stage. Citramalic acid was identified for the first time in the pulp of Hylocereus species. Higher levels of total phenols, flavonoids and antioxidant activities were detected in the peel than in the pulp during fruit maturation of all three cultivars. The finding of higher levels of total phenols and flavonoids in the pitaya peel than in the pulp at the mature stage suggests that pitaya peels are a good source of natural phenols and flavonoids.
Project description:Rice is a major component of the human diet and feeds more than 50 million people across the globe. Therefore, efforts are being made to improve the nutritional quality of rice seeds in order to make a super-rice cultivar rich in antioxidants and vitamins. We previously developed two rice cultivars, Super-hongmi (red seeds) and Super-jami (black seeds), that were highly rich in antioxidants and exhibited high levels of radical scavenging activities. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the color development and accumulation of different antioxidants in these rice cultivars remains largely elusive. Here, we report the proteome profiles of mature Super-hongmi, and Super-jami seeds and compared with the Hopum (white seeds) using a label-free quantitative proteomics approach. This approach led to the identification of 5127 rice seed proteins of which 1628 showed significant changes (ANOVA, Benjamini-Hochberg FDR ≤ 0.01, fold change ≥ 1.5). Functional annotation of the differentially modulated proteins led to the identification of a phytoene desaturase (PDS3) that was highly enriched in the red seeds and was decreased in the black seeds as compared to the control white seeds. PDS3 is involved in the conversion of phytoene to ζ-carotene which may be responsible for the accumulation of red color in red seeds. Moreover, black seeds seem to accumulate higher levels of anthocyanins because of the higher abundance of dihydroflavonol 4-reductase. In addition, proteins associated with lignin and tocopherol biosynthesis were found to be highly increased in both red and black cultivars. Taken together, these data report the seed proteome of three different colored rice seeds and identify novel components associated with pigment accumulation.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of Arabidopsis far-red light pulse treated seeds comparing luh mutant with wild type (Col-0). Seeds were imbibed within 1 hr under white light and treated far-red light pulse for 5 min followed by 12 hr dark incubation. Goal was to determine the effects of LUH as transcriptional co-regulator during seed germination process.
Project description:The pathogenic fungus Neoscytalidium dimidiatum (Nd) is the causal agent of pitaya canker and causes significant yield losses. The mechanism by which Nd invades pitaya stems remains largely unknown. Here, quantitative proteomic analysis was employed to investigate pitaya immune responses against Nd infection. A total of 2766 proteins including 244 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified during the infection cycle. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that the DEPs were associated with photosynthesis, phytohormone activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis and pathogenic defense responses. This study demonstrates that comparative proteomics is an effective strategy for providing new perspective on biotic stress from fungal pathogens in pitaya.
Project description:For gene expression analysis, RNA-seq was performed in seeds of Dongjin (white rice), Heukseol (black rice) and Jeokjinju (red rice) at 20 days after heading