Gorse (Ulex europeaus) wastes with 5,6-dimethyl benzimidazole supplementation can support growth of vitamin B12 producing commensal gut microbes.

Many commensal gut microbes are recognized for their potential to synthesize vitamin B12, offering a promising avenue to address deficiencies through probiotic supplementation. While bioinformatics tools aid in predicting B12 biosynthetic potential, empirical validation remains crucial to confirm production, identify cobalamin vitamers, and establish biosynthetic yields. This study investigates vitamin B12 production in three human colonic bacterial species: Anaerobutyricum hallii DSM 3353, Roseburia faecis DSM 16840, and Anaerostipes caccae DSM 14662, along with Propionibacterium freudenreichii DSM 4902 as a positive control. These strains were selected for their potential use as probiotics, based on speculated B12 production from prior bioinformatic analyses. Cultures were grown in M2GSC, chemically defined media (CDM), and Gorse extract medium (GEM). The composition of GEM was similar to CDM, except that the carbon and nitrogen sources were replaced with the protein-depleted liquid waste obtained after subjecting Gorse to a leaf protein extraction process. B12 yields were quantified using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. The results suggested that the three butyrate-producing strains could indeed produce B12, although the yields were notably low and were detected only in the cell lysates. Furthermore, B12 production was higher in GEM compared to M2GSC medium. The positive control, P. freudenreichii DSM 4902 produced B12 at concentrations ranging from 7 ng mL-1 to 12 ng mL-1. Univariate-scaled Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of data from previous publications investigating B12 production in P. freudenreichii revealed that B12 yields diminished when the carbon source concentration was ≤30 g L-1. In conclusion, the protein-depleted wastes from the leaf protein extraction process from Gorse can be valorised as a viable substrate for culturing B12-producing colonic gut microbes. Furthermore, this is the first report attesting to the ability of A. hallii, R. faecis, and A. caccae to produce B12. However, these microbes seem unsuitable for industrial applications owing to low B12 yields.

Phytochemical Analysis and Antiproliferative Activity of Ulex gallii Planch. (Fabaceae), a Medicinal Plant from Galicia (Spain).

The genus Ulex comprises thirteen accepted species of perennial shrubs in the family Fabaceae. In Galicia (Spain) many of these are considered spontaneous colonizing species, which are easy to establish and maintain. Among them, Ulex gallii Planch. is used in traditional medicine for the same anti-infective, hypotensive and diuretic purposes as Ulex europaeus L., which is the most studied species. Likewise, some studies have described the antitumoral properties of several species. However, there are few scientific studies that justify the use of Ulex gallii Planch. and nothing has been reported about its composition to date. In our study, the entire plant was extracted with methanol and the crude extract was subjected to liquid phase extraction with distinct solvents, yielding three fractions: hexane (H), dichloromethane (D) and methanol (M), which were subsequently fractionated. The dichloromethane (D5, D7 and D8) and methanol (M4) sub-fractions showed antiproliferative activity on A549 (lung cancer) and AGS (stomach cancer) cell lines, and caspase 3/7 activity assessment and DNA quantification were also performed. Targeted analysis via UHPLC-QToF, in combination with untargeted analysis via MS-Dial, MS-Finder and Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS), allowed us to tentatively identify different metabolites in these sub-fractions, mostly flavonoids, that might be involved in their antiproliferative activity.

Phytotoxic activity of Ulex europaeus, an invasive plant on Chilean ecosystems: separation and identification of potential allelochemicals.

Despite its worldwide relevance as an invasive plant, there are few studies on Ulex europaeus (gorse) and its allelopathic activity is almost unexplored. The allelochemical profile of gorse was analysed through methanolic extract of pods and roots, and its phytotoxic effects on Lactuca sativa germination. The methanolic extract of pods had no effect in germination, while extract of roots resulted in a U-shaped dose-response curve: reducing the germination at concentration 0.5 mg mL-1. GC-MS analysis detected compounds with proven antimicrobial and antioxidant activities in the pods and cytotoxic compounds in the roots, which could explain the bioassay results. The quinolizidine alkaloids (QAs) composition was evaluated to predict possible biological functions. It showed the presence of QAs in gorse that are absent in their native range, indicating broad defense strategies against bacteria, fungi, plants, and insects in the Chilean ecosystem. This could explain the superiority of gorse in the invaded areas.

From gorse to ngahere: an emerging allegory for decolonising the New Zealand health system.

Prior to colonisation, Maori had a well-developed holistic health system based on maintaining balance between people, place and spirit. The colonial imposition of British economic, religious, educational, legal, health and governance, through warfare, immigration, legislation and social coercion had a devastating effect on Maori health outcomes. With the release of the WAI 2575 Waitangi Tribunal report exposing the failings of our health system in relation to Maori health, the need to decolonise our health system becomes more pressing. A key difficulty in this work is the poverty of transformative language, concepts and frameworks in our workforce. This paper is the product of an anti-racism think tank that occurred in April 2019. While working through a system change analysis on our colonial health system, Maori and Tauiwi activists and scholars created an allegory-from gorse to ngahere. The allegory depicts the ongoing impact of the colonial health system as represented by gorse, and the possibilities of a decolonised health system represented by ngahere-a self-sustaining and flourishing native forest. Racism has a geographic specificity. The allegory we developed is a mechanism for conceptualising decolonisation for the context of Aotearoa. It serves to reinforce the different roles and responsibilities of the descendants of the colonisers and the colonised in the pursuit of decolonisation.

Cytisus scoparius and Ulex europaeus Produce Volatile Organic Compounds with Powerful Synergistic Herbicidal Effects.

New herbicides based on natural products are claimed to address weed resistance and environmental concerns related to synthetic herbicides. In our previous studies, certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by Ulex europaeus and Cytisus scoparius were argued to be responsible for the phytotoxicity of both shrub species. Interactions among VOCs were hypothesized to explain the inconsistency between the effects of the identified pure compounds and those naturally emitted from fresh plant material. In this work, eugenol, verbenone, terpinen-4-ol, α-terpineol, and linalool were assayed as binary mixtures of Amaranthus retroflexus and Digitaria sanguinalis. Powerful synergistic inhibitory effects were revealed for germination and early growth. Only 3.1 ppm of verbenone was enough to inhibit A. retroflexus germination when paired to other VOCs. Eugenol was capable of exacerbating the effects of terpinen-4-ol on A. retroflexus, even though it was innocuous when acting alone at 12.5 ppm. The verbenone and linalool pair produced very significant synergistic effects in terms of D. sanguinalis germination. The synergistic effects were predominantly irreversible for D. sanguinalis, since seeds exposed to paired VOCs were unable to recover their germination capacity after removing the phytotoxins or produced damaged seedlings. Both shrub species have been revealed as sources of natural herbicide molecules, with promising synergistic modes of action that deserve to be studied in depth.

Constructing more informative plant-pollinator networks: visitation and pollen deposition networks in a heathland plant community.

Interaction networks are widely used as tools to understand plant-pollinator communities, and to examine potential threats to plant diversity and food security if the ecosystem service provided by pollinating animals declines. However, most networks to date are based on recording visits to flowers, rather than recording clearly defined effective pollination events. Here we provide the first networks that explicitly incorporate measures of pollinator effectiveness (PE) from pollen deposition on stigmas per visit, and pollinator importance (PI) as the product of PE and visit frequency. These more informative networks, here produced for a low diversity heathland habitat, reveal that plant-pollinator interactions are more specialized than shown in most previous studies. At the studied site, the specialization index [Formula: see text] was lower for the visitation network than the PE network, which was in turn lower than [Formula: see text] for the PI network. Our study shows that collecting PE data is feasible for community-level studies in low diversity communities and that including information about PE can change the structure of interaction networks. This could have important consequences for our understanding of threats to pollination systems.

Callus induction and plant regeneration of Ulex europaeus

A callus induction and plant regeneration protocol was developed from leaf and thorn explants for the plant Ulex europaeus. Explants were incubated on 2 percent sucrose half-strength Murashige and Skoog Medium (MS) with various combinations of plant growth regulators and antioxidants. The best frequency of callus and shoot formation was obtained with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) 1 mg/l x kinetin (Kin) 0.2 mg/l (DK Medium; callus induction) and zeatin (Z) 1 mg/l (DK medium; shoot induction). Both media were supplemented with ascorbic acid 200 mg/l to prevent browning and death of the explants. The regenerated shoots transferred to rooting medium (half-strength MS Medium, 2 percent sucrose) showed rapid growth and development of roots (100 percent). Rooted plantlets were successfully transferred to soil in pots containing a 3:1 mixture of soil and vermiculite.

[Effects of plant species combination and water body nutrient level on the biomass accumulation and allocation of three kinds functional plants].

Four nutrient levels, i.e., 0.5 mg N x L(-1) and 0.1 mg P x L(-1) (I), 1.5 mg N x L(-1) and 0.3 mg P x L(-1) (II), 4.5 mg N x L(-1) and 0.9 mg P x L(-1) (III), and 13.5 mg N x L(-1) and 2.7 mg P x L(-1) (IV), were installed to study the effects of water body's nutrient level, plant species combination, and their interactions on the biomass accumulation and allocation of invasive floating species Eichhornia crassipes, native rooted leaf-floating species Jussiaea stipulacea, and submerged plant Vallisneria spiralis. The total, root, stem, and leaf biomass of E. crassipes and J. stipulacea, either in monoculture or in mixed-culture, increased with increasing water body's nutrient level, their total biomass in treatments III and IV being averagely 54.47% and 102.63% higher than that in treatments I and II, respectively. Under different plant species combination, the total, root, stem, and leaf biomass of V. spiralis showed a declining trend with the increase of nutrient level, and the total biomass of V. spiralis in treatments III and IV was averagely 45.88% lower than that in treatments I and II. The results of two-way ANOVA showed that water body's nutrient level had significant positive effects on the biomass of E. crassipes and J. stipulacea but negative effects on that of V. spiralis, and the effects of plant species combination varied with target plant species.

Lectins as endocytic ligands: an assessment of lectin binding and uptake to rabbit conjunctival epithelial cells.

PURPOSE: To investigate the binding and uptake pattern of three plant lectins in rabbit conjunctival epithelial cells (RCECs) with respect to their potential for enhancing cellular macromolecular uptake. METHODS: Three fluorescein-labeled plant lectins (Lycoperison esculentum, TL; Solanum tuberosum, STL; and Ulex europaeus 1, UEA-1) were screened with respect to time-, concentration-, and temperature-dependent binding and uptake. Chitin (30 mg/ml) and L-alpha-fucose (10 mM) were used as inhibitory sugars to correct for nonspecific binding of TL or STL and UEA-1, respectively. Confocal microscopy was used to confirm internalization of STL. RESULTS: The binding and uptake of all three lectins in RCECs was time-dependent (reaching a plateau at 1-2 h period) and saturable at 1-h period. The rank order of affinity constants (km) was STL>TL>UEA-1 with values of 0.39>0.48>4.81 microM, respectively. However, maximal, specific binding/uptake potential was in the order UEA-1>STL>TL with values of 53.7, 52.3, and 15.0 nM/mg of cell protein, respectively. Lectins showed temperature dependence in their uptake, with STL exhibiting the highest endocytic capacity. Internalized STL was visualized by confocal microscopy to be localized to the cell membrane and cytoplasm. CONCLUSION: Based on favorable binding and uptake characteristics, potato lectin appears to be a useful candidate for further investigation as an ocular drug delivery system.

[Enhancing effect of Ulex europaeus agglutinin I modified liposomes on oral insulin absorption in mice].

AIM: To investigate the enhancing effect on insulin absorption through GI. tract in mice by using the Ulex europaeus agglutinin I (UEA1) modified liposomes as the carrier. METHODS: UEA1 modified phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) was prepared by conjugating method of 1-ethyl-3-(3'-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC), then the modified compound (PE-UEA1) was incorporated into the conventional liposomes of insulin to obtain UEA1 modified liposomes. The agglutination test was performed to examine the UEA1 biological activities after synthesis and modification. When liposomes were applied to healthy mice or diabetic mice at insulin dose of 350 u x kg(-1) orally, the hypoglycemic effect was investigated according to the blood glucose level determination. RESULTS: The blood glucose levels of the healthy mice reduced by UEA1 modified liposomes were (84 +/- 15)% at 4 h, (78 +/- 11)% at 8 h and (90 +/- 12)% at 12 h after oral administration. The conventional liposomes and saline showed no effect. The blood glucose levels of the diabetic mice reduced by UEA1 modified liposomes were (73 +/- 7)% at 4 h, (74 +/- 9)% at 8 h, (86 +/- 9)% at 12 h after oral administration. CONCLUSION: The UEA1 modified liposomes promote the oral absorption of insulin due to the specific-site combination on M cell membrane.

Enhancing effect of Ulex europaeus agglutinin I modified liposomes on oral insulin absorption in mice / 药学学报

<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the enhancing effect on insulin absorption through GI. tract in mice by using the Ulex europaeus agglutinin I (UEA1) modified liposomes as the carrier.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>UEA1 modified phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) was prepared by conjugating method of 1-ethyl-3-(3'-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC), then the modified compound (PE-UEA1) was incorporated into the conventional liposomes of insulin to obtain UEA1 modified liposomes. The agglutination test was performed to examine the UEA1 biological activities after synthesis and modification. When liposomes were applied to healthy mice or diabetic mice at insulin dose of 350 u x kg(-1) orally, the hypoglycemic effect was investigated according to the blood glucose level determination.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The blood glucose levels of the healthy mice reduced by UEA1 modified liposomes were (84 +/- 15)% at 4 h, (78 +/- 11)% at 8 h and (90 +/- 12)% at 12 h after oral administration. The conventional liposomes and saline showed no effect. The blood glucose levels of the diabetic mice reduced by UEA1 modified liposomes were (73 +/- 7)% at 4 h, (74 +/- 9)% at 8 h, (86 +/- 9)% at 12 h after oral administration.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The UEA1 modified liposomes promote the oral absorption of insulin due to the specific-site combination on M cell membrane.</p>