Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Metabolite Analysis Combined with Transcriptomics Reveals Genes Involved in Wax Biosynthesis in Allium fistulosum L.

Cuticular waxes are essential for protecting plants from various environmental stresses. Allium fistulosum serves as an excellent model for investigating the regulatory mechanisms underlying cuticular wax synthesis with notable epidermal wax characteristics. A combination of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolite analysis and transcriptomics was used to investigate variations in metabolites and gene expression patterns between the wild type (WT) and glossy mutant type (gl2) of A. fistulosum. The WT surface had a large number of acicular and lamellar waxy crystals, whereas the leaf surface of gl2 was essentially devoid of waxy crystals. And the results revealed a significant decrease in the content of 16-hentriacontanone, the principal component of cuticular wax, in the gl2 mutant. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 3084 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between WT and gl2. Moreover, we identified 12 genes related to fatty acid or wax synthesis. Among these, 10 DEGs were associated with positive regulation of wax synthesis, whereas 2 genes exhibited negative regulatory functions. Furthermore, two of these genes were identified as key regulators through weighted gene co-expression network analysis. Notably, the promoter region of AfisC5G01838 (AfCER1-LIKE1) exhibited a 258-bp insertion upstream of the coding region in gl2 and decreased the transcription of the AfCER1-LIKE1 gene. This study provided insights into the molecular mechanisms governing cuticular wax synthesis in A. fistulosum, laying the foundation for future breeding strategies.

Effects of Drought Stress on Abscisic Acid Content and Its Related Transcripts in Allium fistulosum-A. cepa Monosomic Addition Lines.

Climate change has resulted in an increased demand for Japanese bunching onions (Allium fistulosum L., genomes FF) with drought resistance. A complete set of alien monosomic addition lines of A. fistulosum with extra chromosomes from shallot (A. cepa L. Aggregatum group, AA), represented as FF + 1A-FF + 8A, displays a variety of phenotypes that significantly differ from those of the recipient species. In this study, we investigated the impact of drought stress on abscisic acid (ABA) and its precursor, ß-carotene, utilizing this complete set. In addition, we analyzed the expression levels of genes related to ABA biosynthesis, catabolism, and drought stress signal transduction in FF + 1A and FF + 6A, which show characteristic variations in ABA accumulation. A number of unigenes related to ABA were selected through a database using Allium TDB. Under drought conditions, FF + 1A exhibited significantly higher ABA and ß-carotene content compared with FF. Additionally, the expression levels of all ABA-related genes in FF + 1A were higher than those in FF. These results indicate that the addition of chromosome 1A from shallot caused the high expression of ABA biosynthesis genes, leading to increased levels of ABA accumulation. Therefore, it is expected that the introduction of alien genes from the shallot will upwardly modify ABA content, which is directly related to stomatal closure, leading to drought stress tolerance in FF.

Effects of dietary Allium mongolicum Regel powder supplementation on the growth performance, meat quality, antioxidant capacity and muscle fibre characteristics of fattening Angus calves under heat stress conditions.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary Allium mongolicum Regel powder (AMRP) supplementation on the growth performance, meat quality, antioxidant capacity and muscle fibre characteristics of fattening Angus calves. Growth performance data and longissimus thoracis (LT) samples were collected from four groups of fattening Angus, which were fed either a basal diet (CON) or a basal diet supplemented with an AMRP dose of 10 (LAMR), 15 (MAMR), or 20 g/animal/day AMRP (HAMR) for 120 days before slaughter. AMRP addition to the feed improved growth performance and meat quality and altered muscle fibre type. Some responses to AMRP supplementation were dose dependent, whereas others were not. Together, the results of this study demonstrated that dietary supplementation with 10 g/animal/day AMRP was the optimal dose in terms of fattening calf growth performance, while 20 g/animal/day AMRP supplementation was the optimal dose in terms of meat quality.

Effects of supplemental dried wild leek (Allium scorodoprasum L. subsp. rotundum) leaves on laying performance, egg quality characteristics, and oxidative stability in laying hens.

This study aimed to examine the effect of dietary supplementation of dried wild leek (Allium scorodoprasum L. subsp. rotundum) leaves on laying performance, egg traits, antioxidant status, and oxidative stability in laying hens. For this purpose, a total of 96 Lohmann White laying hens aged 22 weeks allocated into four treatment groups each containing 24 hens. Hens were fed a diet supplemented with 0 (control), 1 (WL1), 2 (WL2), and 3 (WL3) g/kg dried wild leek (DWL) leaves. During the 10-week trial, egg weight was increased and feed efficiency was improved with 2 and 3 g/kg DWL leaves. No significant differences were observed among groups for egg production, feed intake, internal and external egg quality characteristics, and egg yolk cholesterol concentration. Levels of malondialdehyde and total antioxidant-oxidant status of egg yolk were not affected from DWL supplementation. However, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity was increased and oxidative stress index was decreased in egg yolk. Superoxide dismutase enzyme activity was increased in the group of WL3, and total antioxidant status levels were increased in the groups of WL2 and WL3 in serum. DWL supplementation reduced serum cholesterol concentration significantly. No marked changes were observed in other blood parameters. In conclusion, DWL is considered to be high antioxidant supplement due to having high antioxidant capacity and important bioactive compounds. Dietary supplementation of DWL leaves at 3 g/kg could be a viable and beneficial feed additive to improve egg weight and feed efficiency, increase DPPH radical scavenging activity in egg yolk and antioxidant status of hen. Therefore, the usage of DWL leaves in the laying hen diets will be beneficial for egg producers and poultry nutritionists to produce functional eggs having low cholesterol and high antioxidants.

Leaf cuticular waxes of wild-type Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum L.) and a wax-deficient mutant: Compounds with terminal and mid-chain functionalities.

Plant cuticles cover aerial organs to limit non-stomatal water loss and protect against insects and pathogens. Cuticles contain complex mixtures of fatty acid-derived waxes, with various chain lengths and diverse functional groups. To further our understanding of the chemical diversity and biosynthesis of these compounds, this study investigated leaf cuticular waxes of Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum L.) wild type and a wax-deficient mutant. Leaf waxes were extracted with chloroform, separated using thin layer chromatography (TLC), and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The extracts contained typical wax compound classes found in nearly all plant lineages but also two uncommon compound classes. Analyses of characteristic MS fragmentation patterns followed by comparisons with synthetic standards identified the latter as very-long-chain ketones and primary ketols. The ketols were minor compounds, with chain lengths ranging from C28 to C32 and carbonyls mainly on C-18 and C-20 in wild type wax, and a C28 chain with C-16 carbonyl in the mutant. The ketones made up 70% of total wax in the wild type, consisting mainly of C31 isomers with carbonyl group on C-14 or C-16. In contrast, the mutant wax comprised only 4% ketones, with chain lengths C27 and C29 and carbonyls predominantly on C-12 and C-14, respectively. A two-carbon homolog shift between wild type and mutant was also observed in the primary alcohols (a major wax compound class), whilst alkanes exhibited a four-carbon shift. Overall, the compositional data shed light on possible biosynthetic pathways to wax ketones that can be tested in future studies.

Isotope-Guided Metabolomics Reveals Divergent Incorporation of Valine into Different Flavor Precursor Classes in Chives.

Plants of the genus Allium such as chives, onions or garlic produce S-alk(en)yl cysteine sulfoxides as flavor precursors. Two major representatives are S-propenyl cysteine sulfoxide (isoalliin) and S-propyl cysteine sulfoxide (propiin), which only differ by a double bond in the C3 side chain. The propenyl group of isoalliin is derived from the amino acid valine, but the source of the propyl group of propiin remains unclear. Here, we present an untargeted metabolomics approach in seedlings of chives (Allium schoenoprasum) to track mass features containing sulfur and/or 13 C from labeling experiments with valine-13 C5 guided by their isotope signatures. Our data show that propiin and related propyl-bearing metabolites incorporate carbon derived from valine-13 C5 , but to a much lesser extent than isoalliin and related propenyl compounds. Our findings provide new insights into the biosynthetic pathways of flavor precursors in Allium species and open new avenues for future untargeted labeling experiments.

Potential effects of Alliaceae and Brassicaceae edible plants on blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is one of the main leading causes of mortality worldwide, and its global prevalence will increase within the next years. Many pre-clinical studies demonstrated the potential effects of edible plants from Alliaceae and Brassicaceae on the regulation of blood glucose levels. Of note, secondary metabolites from Alliaceae and Brassicaceae share the ability to slowly release hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which is emerging as a crucial modulator of the "glucose-insulin system". However, the results of clinical studies evaluating the effects of such edible plants on glycaemic control in patients with T2D are quite conflicting. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials, both parallel and cross-over, searching four databases (Pubmed, Embase, Scopus and the Cochrane library). Only English-written papers evaluating the effects of Alliaceae and Brassicaceae on glycaemic parameters in diabetic patients have been included. 16 studies met the inclusion criteria, and 12 were included in the random-effects meta-analysis. Consumption of Alliaceae or Brassicaceae significantly reduced fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels compared with the placebo group (mean reduction: -12.67 mg/dl [95% confidence interval (CI) - 19.66; - 5.68]). Moreover, Alliaceae and Brassicaceae significantly improved the effects of standard antidiabetic therapy (mean reduction in FBG levels in patients receiving combination therapy compared with patients only receiving standard antidiabetic therapy: -6.75 mg/dl [-12.62; -0.88]). Overall, the regular consumption of these edible plants was safe and well-tolerated. We suggest that edible plants containing organosulfur compounds are endowed with promising nutraceutical potential in the treatment of T2D.

Protective effects of Allium hirtifolium extract against foodborne toxicity of Zinc oxide nanoparticles in Common carp (Cyprinus carpio).

The use of nano-sized materials is increasingly growing, while consequent health and environmental risks are still disputed. On the other hand, plant extracts have been reported to improve fish general health status and enhance antioxidant capacity. Thus, the present study was aimed to assess potential effects of Allium hirtifolium extract (AHE) to fortify antioxidant responses of Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) exposed to foodborne Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs). Five hundred and forty fish were randomly allocated into 18 tanks and received six diets including a basal diet (as control), basal diet incorporated with either 13 mg/kg (ZnO-25) or 26 mg/kg (ZnO-50) of ZnO-NPs, 1.5% AHE (AHE-1.5), and similar concentrations of ZnO-NPs plus AHE (ZnO-25-AHE) and (ZnO-50-AHE) for a period of 30 days. Results revealed that blood indices, stress biomarkers (glucose and cortisol), and antioxidant parameters and genes in AHE-1.5 group were significantly modulated and improved when compared to other groups (P < 0.05). In AHE-enriched groups, serum and liver tissue antioxidative parameters were enhanced as reflected in a noticeable decrease in malondialdehyde value and an increase in catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase. However, current results showed that diets incorporated with ZnO-NPs elevated the stress parameters besides a significant reduction for most measured biochemical parameters and AHE supplementation ameliorated these effects in terms of improving antioxidant parameters. In ZnO-25-AHE, and ZnO-50-AHE, the values for expression of GPx were found significantly (P < 0.05) different from that of ZnO-25 and ZnO-50. On the contrary, SOD showed a non-significant difference (P > 0.05) among control, ZnO-25, and ZnO-50-AHE, also in-between ZnO-25 and ZnO-25-AHE. The present results indicate that AHE supplementation could trigger antioxidant responses both at tissue and molecular levels suggesting its outstanding protective effects against foodborne toxicity of ZnO-NPs in Common carp.

The Allium triquetrum L. Leaves Mitigated Hepatotoxicity and Nephrotoxicity Induced by Lead Acetate in Wistar Rats.

The aim of this study was to scrutinize the possible mitigating role of leaves' Allium triquetrum L. against the toxicity of lead acetate on liver and kidney markers of Wistar rat. Lead acetate (Pb) and leaves' aqueous extracts (L) were orally administrated for 3 weeks. Rats were divided into the control, Pb group (500 mg/kg body weight/day), positive controls L (2g, 3g, 4g/kg BW/day), along with three combined groups of the same doses (Pb-L1, Pb-L2, Pb-L3). The levels of plasma aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total proteins (TP), albumin (ALB), urea, creatinine (Cr), and uric acid (UA), as well as the hepatic and the renal malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), were estimated. Results exhibited a significant increase in plasma AST, ALT, ALP, urea, creatinine, uric acid, and MDA levels of the Pb group compared to the control, with the exception of TP, ALB, GSH levels, and GPx activities that were significantly diminished, though the co-administration of garlic extracts (Pb-L) revealed a significant decrease in all mentioned markers, excluding the TP, ALB, GSH, and GPx levels. Likewise, Pb caused histological injuries in the hepatic and renal tissues of rats, while the co-administration of leaves' wild garlic has reduced such effect. Thought, the Pb-L has attenuated the Pb-induced toxicity in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, the aqueous extracts of A. triquetrum have the potential to alleviate Pb hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity through the modulation of most biomarkers in Wistar rat.

Chemical constituents and medicinal properties of Allium species.

Allium species, belonging to Alliaceae family, are among the oldest cultivated vegetables used as food. Garlic, onions, leeks and chives, which belong to this family, have been reported to have medicinal properties. The Allium species constituents have been shown to have antibacterial and antioxidant activities, and, in addition, other biological properties. These activities are related to their rich organosulfur compounds. These organosulfur compounds are believed to prevent the development of cancer, cardiovascular, neurological, diabetes, liver diseases as well as allergy and arthritis. There have also been reports on toxicities of these compounds. The major active compounds of Allium species includes, diallyl disulfide, diallyl trisulfide, diallyl sulfide, dipropyl disulfide, dipropyl trisulfide, 1-propenylpropyl disulfide, allyl methyl disulfide and dimethyl disulfide. The aim of this review is to focus on a variety of experimental and clinical reports on the effectiveness, toxicities and possible mechanisms of actions of the active compounds of garlic, onions, leek and chives.

Transcriptome and phytochemical analyses provide insights into the organic sulfur pathway in Allium hirtifolium.

Allium is one of the well-known genera of the Amaryllidaceae family, which contains over 780 species. Onions, garlic, leeks, and shallots are the most important species of this genus. Allium hirtifolium (shallot) is a rich source of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids, and bioactive compounds such as organic sulfur compounds with an expansive range of biological activities and medicinal attributes. To identify the putative compounds and genes involved in the organic sulfur pathway, we applied GC-MS and RNA-seq techniques for the bulb, stem, and flower tissues of A. hirtifolium. The essential oil analysis revealed the maximum amount of sulfur compounds in stem against flower and bulb tissues. Transcriptome profiling showed 6155, 6494, and 4259 DEGs for bulb vs. flower, bulb vs. stem, and flower vs. stem, respectively. Overall, more genes were identified as being up-regulated rather than down-regulated in flower tissue compared to the stem and bulb tissues. Our findings in accordance with other results from different papers, suggest that carbohydrates are vital to bulb formation and development because a high number of identified DEGs (586 genes) were mapped to carbohydrate metabolism. This study has detected the genes in the organic sulfur pathway and indicated that the alliinase gene shows a high variability among different tissues. In general, this study formed a useful genomic resource data to explore tissue-specific sulfur pathway in A. hirtifolium, which is helpful for functional breeding.

Comparative phytochemical profile of the elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. holmense) and the common garlic (Allium sativum) from the Val di Chiana area (Tuscany, Italy) before and after in vitro gastrointestinal digestion.

This study is aimed to comparatively investigate the phytochemical profiles, focusing on the nutritional and phytochemical properties of common garlic (Allium sativum L.; CG) and elephant garlic (EG) (Allium ampeloprasum var. holmense) collected from the Val di Chiana area (Tuscany, Italy). The results showed a lower amount of fibers, demonstrating a higher digestibility of the bulb, and sulfur-containing compounds in EG rather than in CG. Untargeted metabolomic profiling followed by supervised and unsupervised statistics allowed understanding the differences in phytochemical composition among the two bulbs, both as raw bulbs, processed following the in vitro gastrointestinal digestion process. Typical sulfur-containing compounds, such as alliin and N-gamma-glutamyl-S-allyl cysteine, could notably be detected in lower amounts in EG. EG maintains a distinct phytochemical signature during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. Our findings support the distinct sensorial attributes of the bulbs.

A Detailed Chemical and Biological Investigation of Twelve Allium Species from Eastern Anatolia with Chemometric Studies.

Allium species are widely consumed as food all over the world. The phenolic profile of ethanol extracts of aerial parts and roots of 12 Allium species, collected from five different Eastern Anatolia regions, were studied using LC-MS/MS. In vitro antioxidant, anticholinesterase, cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities were also tested. The multivariate analyses were performed using principal component and hierarchical cluster analyses. Seventeen of 27 standard compounds were detected in all Allium species. The major components were mainly identified as quinic acid, malic acid, vanillin, and p-coumaric acid. The aerial parts possessed better antioxidant activity than roots. Aerial parts of A. atroviolaceum, A. chrysantherum, A. kharputense, and A. shirnakiense exhibited high cytotoxic activity against DLD-1 colon cancer cell lines (IC50 12.5 µg/mL). A. shatakiense and A. vineale demonstrated good antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and E. coli (MIC 75 µg/mL). According to chemometric analysis, differences were detected between aerial parts and the roots. The aerial parts of A. atroviolaceum, A. chrysantherum, A. kharputense, and A. shirnakiense could be potent in the pharmaceutical industry while A. shatakiense and A. vineale in the food industry after further investigations.

Nutritive value and ruminal degradation of seven Chinese herbs as forage for Tan sheep.

Tan sheep is an indigenous ovine breed of China known for its high meat quality and pleasing taste. Seven herbs of traditional Chinese medicine, namely, Ephedra sinica, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Caragana korshinskii, Allium mongolicum, Thymus vulgaris, Astragalus membranaceus, and Lespedeza bicolor are commonly grazed by Tan sheep. It has been widely believed that these herbs are of high nutritive value, which may significantly contribute to the high meat quality and distinct flavor of Tan sheep. However, the nutritive values of these herbs have not been evaluated to date. In this study, samples of the seven herbs were collected from the steppe of Yanchi County of Ningxia Autonomous Region of China. The dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), ash (Ash), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) of these herbs were measured using locally cultivated alfalfa as the standard forage. Digestion of the dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and crude protein in the rumen of Tan sheep was examined using the nylon bag method, in order to evaluate their feeding nutritional value. Our results show that all the seven herbs meet the nutritional needs of ruminants based on the standard forage alfalfa. However, Ephedra, Glycyrrhiza, Caragana, Allium, Astragalus, and Lespedeza have higher nutritive value than Thymus (P < 0.05). According to the ruminal degradation rates of dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and crude protein, the nutritive value of Caragana, Allium, and Lespedeza is higher than that of Ephedra, Glycyrrhiza, Astragalus, and Thymus (P < 0.05). The overall nutritive value of Allium is the highest among the seven herbs and therefore Allium is recommended to better meet the nutritional needs of Tan sheep.

Identification and expression analysis of S-alk(en)yl-L-cysteine sulfoxide lyase isoform genes and determination of allicin contents in Allium species.

Alliinase is the key enzyme in allicin biosynthesis pathway. In the current study, the identification and sequencing of alliinase genes along with determination of allicin contents were reported for Allium species with a novel report for Iranian endemic species. The presence of different isoforms in the Allium being discovered for the first time. In bulbs tissue, the highest allicin concentration was in Allium sativum, A. umbilicatum, and A. fistolosum (1.185%, 0.367%, and 0.34%, respectively), followed by A. spititatum (0.072%), A. lenkoranicum (0.055%), A. atroviolaseum (0.36%), A. rubellum (0.041%), and A. stamineum (0.007%). The highest allicin content in the leaves and roots were in A. sativum (0.13%), and A. stamineum (0.195%), respectively. The ORFs length ranged from 1416 in A. sativum (iso-alliinase2; ISA2) to 1523 bp in A. sativum (alliinase); the identity with A. sativum (alliinase) varies from 95% to 68% for A. ampeloprasum, and A. sativum (iso-alliinase1, ISA1) respectively. These data suggested that both ISA1 and ISA2 had a high expression in the roots and bulbs compared to A. sativum as the control in all species. Note that ISA1 and ISA2 were not expressed in the leaves. The results showed that isoforms expression patterns among different tissues in Allium species were variable. The presence of various isoforms is a possible explanation for the difference between the species in terms of obtained results, especially the amount of allicin.

Raw garlic consumption is inversely associated with prehypertension in a large-scale adult population.

Previous studies have shown that allicin can lower blood pressure (BP) by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation. However, the association between habitual raw garlic intake (as allicin source) and prehypertension are unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate how raw garlic consumption is associated with prehypertension in an adult population. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 22,812 adults (mean [standard deviation] age: 39.4 [10.7] years; males, 47.7%) in Tianjin, China. Raw garlic consumption was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. BP was measured at least twice by trained nurses using an automatic device. Prehypertension was defined as systolic BP of 120-139 mmHg and/or diastolic BP of 80-89 mmHg without taking antihypertensive medication. Multiple logistic regression models were used to assess the association between raw garlic consumption and prehypertension. The prevalence of prehypertension was 49.9%. After fully adjusting for potential confounders, the ORs (95% confidence intervals) of having prehypertension by increasing frequency of raw garlic consumption were 1.00 (reference) for ≤3 times/week, 0.96 (0.87, 1.06) for 4 times/week to 1 time/day, and 0.69 (0.52, 0.90) for ≥2 times/day (p for trend = 0.06). In contrast, no associations were observed between other kinds of allium vegetables consumption and prehypertension. In conclusion, our results suggested that a more frequent consumption of raw garlic was inversely associated with prehypertension. This is the first large-scale study on the association between raw garlic consumption and prehypertension in the general population.

The effects of thiosulfinates on methane production from anaerobic co-digestion of waste activated sludge and food waste and mitigate method.

Thiosulfinates, a natural antibiotic, existed in all parts of Allium, therefore might be accumulated in large amounts in food waste (FW). FW was often added into waste activated sludge (WAS) anaerobic digestion process as a kind of supplement for nutrition balance. However, the impact of thiosulfinates on methane production and the possible approach to mitigate its inhibition on the co-digestion process could be available in few literatures. This work was carried out in a series of batch experiment at pH 7.0 ±â€¯0.2 and 35 ±â€¯1.0 ℃ to promote the further understanding of this process. The experimental results showed that the methane accumulation decreased from 270.6 ±â€¯13.4 to 16.7 ±â€¯7.0 mL/g VSS (volatile suspended solids) when the initial concentration of thiosulfinates increased from 0 to 2.5 µg/g VSS. The activities of functional enzymes (F420 and CoM) were inhibited by 99.06% and 99.82% compared with control group when reactor contained 2.5 µg/g VSS thiosulfinates. Furthermore, different temperature, pH, and combination pretreat were applied to impair the inhibition of thiosulfinate. Compared with no pretreatment group, methane yield was increased by 2.26, 32.18 and 42.2-fold, respectively which group was under pretreatment method of heat (100 ℃), alkali (pH 9) and combination.

Converting waste Allium sativum peel to nitrogen and sulphur co-doped photoluminescence carbon dots for solar conversion, cell labeling, and photobleaching diligences: A path from discarded waste to value-added products.

Proper waste utilization in order to promote value added product is a promising scientific practice in recent era. Inspiring from the recurring trend, we propose a single step oxidative pyrolysis derived fluorescent carbon dots (C-dots) from Allium sativum peel, which is a natural, nontoxic, and waste raw material. Because of its excellent optical properties, and photostability this C-dots have been used in versatile area of applications. Due to its immediate water dispersing character, C-dots reinforced Poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) films revealed improvement in uniaxial stretching behavior and can be used as transparent sunlight conversion film. The nanocomposite film has been tested against rigorous simulated sunlight which proved almost identical sunlight conversion behavior with no photo-bleachable character which is definitely added an extra quality of transparent polymer films. Moreover, the C-dots dispersion has been used as in vitro biomarker for living cells owing to its ease in solubility, biocompatibility, non-cytotoxicity and bright fluorescence even in subcutaneous environment. For this case, adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) have been chosen and injected to rabbit ear skin to perform two-photon imaging experiment. The present work opens a new avenue towards the large-scale synthesis of bio-waste based fluorescent C-dots, paving the way for their versatile applications.

Widely targeted metabolome and transcriptome landscapes of Allium fistulosum-A. cepa chromosome addition lines revealed a flavonoid hot spot on chromosome 5A.

Here, we report a comprehensive analysis of the widely targeted metabolome and transcriptome profiles of Allium fistulosum L. (FF) with the single extra chromosome of shallot [A. cepa L. Aggregatum group (AA)] to clarify the novel gene functions in flavonoid biosynthesis. An exhaustive metabolome analysis was performed using the selected reaction monitoring mode of liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry, revealing a specific accumulation of quercetin, anthocyanin and flavone glucosides in AA and FF5A. The addition of chromosome 5A from the shallot to A. fistulosum induced flavonoid accumulation in the recipient species, which was associated with the upregulation of several genes including the dihydroflavonol 4-reductase, chalcone synthase, flavanone 3-hydroxylase, UDP-glucose flavonoid-3-O-glucosyltransferase, anthocyanin 5-aromatic acyltransferase-like, pleiotropic drug resistance-like ATP binding cassette transporter, and MYB14 transcriptional factor. Additionally, an open access Allium Transcript Database (Allium TDB, http://alliumtdb.kazusa.or.jp ) was generated by using RNA-Seq data from different genetic stocks including the A. fistulosum-A. cepa monosomic addition lines. The functional genomic approach presented here provides an innovative means of targeting the gene responsible for flavonoid biosynthesis in A. cepa. The understanding of flavonoid compounds and biosynthesis-related genes would facilitate the development of noble Allium varieties with unique chemical constituents and, subsequently, improved plant stress tolerance and human health benefits.

Effects of dietary Allium mongolicum Regel polysaccharide on growth, lipopolysaccharide-induced antioxidant responses and immune responses in Channa argus.

The present study evaluated the effects of dietary Allium mongolicum Regel polysaccharide (AMRP) on growth, lipopolysaccharide-induced antioxidant responses and immune responses in Channa argus. A basal diet was supplemented with AMRP at 0, 1, 1.5 or 2 g/kg feed for 56 days. After the 56 days feeding period, weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly increased or decreased (P < 0.05) by dietary AMRP, with the highest WG, SGR and the minimum FCR occurring in 1.5 g/kg AMRP group. Furthermore, AMRP supplementation conferred significant protective effects against LPS challenge by preventing alterations in the levels of complements 3 (C3) and complements 4 (C4), lysozyme, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) while regulating the expression of immune-related genes including heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), SOD, GST, IL-1 and TNF-α. Finally, AMRP supplementation significantly increased serum total protein, albumin and globulin concentrations and reduced mortality after LPS challenge. Taken together, our results suggest that the administration of AMRP could attenuate LPS-induced negative effects in C. argus, with 1.5 g/kg considered a suitable dose.