Bioprospection of Natural Sources of Polyphenols with Therapeutic Potential for Redox-Related Diseases.

Plants are a reservoir of high-value molecules with underexplored biomedical applications. With the aim of identifying novel health-promoting attributes in underexplored natural sources, we scrutinized the diversity of (poly)phenols present within the berries of selected germplasm from cultivated, wild, and underutilized species. Our strategy combined the application of metabolomics, statistical analysis, and evaluation of (poly)phenols' bioactivity using a yeast-based discovery platform.

RNA-seq, de novo transcriptome assembly and flavonoid gene analysis in 13 wild and cultivated berry fruit species with high content of phenolics.

Background: Flavonoids are produced in all flowering plants in a wide range of tissues including in berry fruits. These compounds are of considerable interest for their biological activities, health benefits and potential pharmacological applications. However, transcriptomic and genomic resources for wild and cultivated berry fruit species are often limited, despite their value in underpinning the in-depth study of metabolic pathways, fruit ripening as well as in the identification of genotypes rich in bioactive compounds.

Application of HPLC-PDA-MS metabolite profiling to investigate the effect of growth temperature and day length on blackcurrant fruit.

Introduction: Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) is an excellent example of a "super fruit" with potential health benefits. Both genotype and cultivation environment are known to affect the chemical composition of blackcurrant, especially ascorbic acid and various phenolic compounds.

Impact of Conventional and Integrated Management Systems on the Water-Soluble Vitamin Content in Potatoes, Field Beans, and Cereals.

The reduction of the environmental footprint of crop production without compromising crop yield and their nutritional value is a key goal for improving the sustainability of agriculture. In 2009, the Balruddery Farm Platform was established at The James Hutton Institute as a long-term experimental platform for cross-disciplinary research of crops using two agricultural ecosystems. Crops representative of UK agriculture were grown under conventional and integrated management systems and analyzed for their water-soluble vitamin content.

Environmental and Genetic Factors Associated with Solanesol Accumulation in Potato Leaves.

Solanesol is a high value 45-carbon, unsaturated, all-trans-nonaprenol isoprenoid. Recently solanesol has received particular attention because of its utility, both in its own right and as a precursor in the production of numerous compounds used in the treatment of disease states. Solanesol is found mainly in solanaceous crops such as potato, tomato, tobacco and pepper where it accumulates in the foliage.

Impact of a snail pellet on the phytoavailability of different metals to cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus L.).

FePO4 based molluscicides (snail pellets) also contain a chelating agent. The influence of the chelating agent, which is intrinsically present in the molluscicide, on the phytoavailability of other metals present in the growth medium was investigated in the present study. Cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus) were grown in a hydroponic nutrient solution and exposed for one week to different metals in combination with a chelating agent containing molluscicide.

Metabolite profile shifts in the heathland lichen Cladonia portentosa in response to N deposition reveal novel biomarkers.

The heathland lichen Cladonia portentosa was collected from sites in mainland Britain differing either in rates of wet N deposition or in annual mean N concentration in rainfall based on a modelled data set. Methanolic extracts of thalli were analyzed by liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry to yield metabolic profiles. Differences between sites in metabolite concentration were quantified using multivariate statistical tools and used to identify potential biomarker molecules.

Alterations in the metabolic fingerprint of Cladonia portentosa in response to atmospheric nitrogen deposition.

Nitrogen availability has profound ecological consequences in nutrient-limited systems. In terrestrial settings these would include the upland heaths, sand dunes and blanket bogs of temperate latitudes. Understanding the physiological consequences of nitrogen enrichment is a first critical step in predicting possible consequences.

Alternative metabolic fates of phosphatidylinositol produced by phosphatidylinositol synthase isoforms in Arabidopsis thaliana.

PtdIns is an important precursor for inositol-containing lipids, including polyphosphoinositides, which have multiple essential functions in eukaryotic cells. It was previously proposed that different regulatory functions of inositol-containing lipids may be performed by independent lipid pools; however, it remains unclear how such subcellular pools are established and maintained. In the present paper, a previously uncharacterized Arabidopsis gene product with similarity to the known Arabidopsis PIS (PtdIns synthase), PIS1, is shown to be an active enzyme, PIS2, capable of producing PtdIns in vitro.