Search

Aronia is a group of deciduous fruiting shrubs, of the Rosaceae family, native to eastern North America. Interest in Aronia has increased because of the high levels of dietary antioxidants in Aronia fruits. Using Illumina RNA-seq transcriptome analysis, this study investigates the molecular mechanisms of polyphenol biosynthesis during Aronia fruit development. Six A. melanocarpa (diploid) accessions were collected at four fruit developmental stages. De novo assembly was performed with 341 million clean reads from 24 samples and assembled into 90,008 transcripts with an average length of 801 bp. The transcriptome had 96.1% complete according to Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCOs). The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in flavonoid biosynthetic and metabolic processes, pigment biosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolic processes, and polysaccharide metabolic processes based on significant Gene Ontology (GO) biological terms. The expression of ten anthocyanin biosynthetic genes showed significant up-regulation during fruit development according to the transcriptomic data, which was further confirmed using qRT-PCR expression analyses. Additionally, transcription factor genes were identified among the DEGs. Using a transient expression assay, we confirmed that AmMYB10 induces anthocyanin biosynthesis. The de novo transcriptome data provides a valuable resource for the understanding the molecular mechanisms of fruit anthocyanin biosynthesis in Aronia and species of the Rosaceae family., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Interest in nutrient-rich berry juices is growing, but their high polyphenol levels render them sensorily unappealing. Fifty adults, who were assessed for sensory phenotype and dietary behaviors, provided sensory and palatability ratings of juices from 'Viking' aronia berries for each of seven harvest weeks. By peak harvest, juice preference increased two-fold, averaging neither like/dislike. This hedonic shift was associated with: increases in juice sugars paralleling increases in perceived sweetness (maximum = weak); reductions in percent acidity paralleling reductions in sourness (minimum = moderate), astringency (minimum = to just above weak) and bitterness (minimum = just below weak). About 25% of adults liked the aronia juice, including adults who also liked an aqueous citric acid solution (average rating = moderately sour) or those who reported adventurous eating behaviors. Bitter taste phenotype, measured by propylthiouracil or quinine bitterness, failed to explain significant variation in juice sensation or preference. We also collected sensory and preference ratings from juice collected at peak harvest blended with sugar and/or sweet olfactory flavoring (10 ppm ethyl butyrate). Increasing juice sweetness by adding 5% sucrose decreased sourness and improved preference from weak dislike to weak like. Adding sweet olfactory flavoring decreased juice sourness without changing preference. Adding sweet flavoring and 3% sucrose resulted in reduction of sourness and improvements in preference ratings comparable to 5% added sucrose. Neither added sugar nor flavoring blocked juice astringency. In summary, these findings suggest that aronia juice, even from berries picked at peak harvest, appealed to only a few adults (sour likers or adventurous eaters). Although enhanced sweetness, with added sugar and sweet olfactory flavoring, improved aronia juice preference, broader sensory approaches are required to blunt astringency for greater consumer appeal., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The goal of this work was to characterize how the date of harvest of 'Viking' aronia berry impacts juice pigmentation, sugars, and antioxidant activity. Aronia juice anthocyanins doubled at the fifth week of the harvest, and then decreased. Juice hydroxycinnamic acids decreased 33% from the first week, while proanthocyanidins increased 64%. Juice fructose and glucose plateaued at the fourth week, but sorbitol increased 40% to the seventh harvest week. Aronia juice pigment density increased due to anthocyanin concentration, and polyphenol copigmentation did not significantly affect juice pigmentation. Anthocyanin stability at pH 4.5 was similar between weeks. However, addition of quercetin, sorbitol, and chlorogenic acid to aronia anthocyanins inhibited pH-induced loss of color. Sorbitol and citric acid may be partially responsible for weekly variation in antioxidant activity, as addition of these agents inhibited DPPH scavenging 13-30%. Thus, aronia polyphenol and non-polyphenol components contribute to its colorant and antioxidant functionality., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Managing patients with inflammatory bowel disease requires multidisciplinary coordination. Technological advances have enhanced access to care for patients and improved physician interactions. The primary aim of our project was to convene diverse institutions and specialties through a multisite virtual conferencing platform to discuss complex patient management., Methods: The case conference is designed to include multiple institutions to exchange ideas, review evidence-based data, and provide input on the management of patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Technology is supplied and coordinated by an information technology specialist and Chorus Call, Inc., an international teleconferencing service provider. The Inflammatory Bowel Disease Live Interinstitutional Interdisciplinary Videoconference Education (IBD LIVE) initiative is accredited by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Center for Continuing Education in the Health Sciences for 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit per weekly session., Results: IBD LIVE began in 2009 comprising only adult gastroenterology and pediatric gastroenterology from UPMC Presbyterian and Children's Hospitals. Participation steadily increased from 5 sites in 2010 to 11 sites in 2014. Maximum attendance for a single conference was 73 participants with a median of 48. The Continuing Medical Education scores (1 = worst to 5 = best) have a high median overall score (4.6, range 3.2-5.0) with positive responses with regard to the degree to which the conference changed practice., Conclusions: IBD LIVE has been successful and continues to grow. Implementation of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America Virtual Preceptor Program using the IBD LIVE platform will provide expanded national physician access to this professional education activity.

Polyphenols from underutilized black, purple, and red aronia (Aronia melanocarpa, Aronia prunifolia, and Aronia arbutifolia) and 'Viking' (Aronia mitschurinii) berries were characterized. Anthocyanin and nonanthocyanin flavonoids were quantitated by UHPLC-DAD-MS and proanthocyanidins by normal-phase HPLC. On a dry weight basis, anthocyanins were mainly cyanidin-3-galactoside, highest in black aronia (3.4-14.8 mg/g) and lowest in red aronia (0.5-0.8 mg/g) as cyandin-3-galactoside equivalents. Berries from 'Viking' and the red accession UC021 had substantially more proanthocyanidins than the other accessions, with 3.3 and 3.8 mg catechin equiv/g, respectively. Chlorogenic acids and quercetin glycosides were most abundant in purple UC047 berries, at 17.3 and 1.3 mg/g, respectively. In contrast to anthocyanin content, total phenol values were highest in berries from red and purple accessions and attributed to phenolic acid and proanthocyanin content. Thus, red, purple, and black aronia berries are rich sources of polyphenols with various levels of polyphenol classes.

Premise of the Study: Microsatellite markers were isolated and characterized in Berberis thunbergii, an invasive and ornamental shrub in the eastern United States, to assess genetic diversity among populations and potentially identify horticultural cultivars., Methods and Results: A total of 12 loci were identified for the species. Eight of the loci were polymorphic and were screened in 24 individuals from two native (Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures, Japan) and one invasive (Connecticut, USA) population and 21 horticultural cultivars. The number of alleles per locus ranged from three to seven, and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.048 to 0.636., Conclusions: These new markers will provide tools for examining genetic relatedness of B. thunbergii plants in the native and invasive range, including phylogeographic studies and assessment of rapid evolution in the invasive range. These markers may also provide tools for examining hybridization with other related species in the invasive range.

Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii DC.) is a widespread invasive plant that remains an important landscape shrub represented by ornamental, purple-leaved forms of the botanical variety atropurpurea. These forms differ greatly in appearance from feral plants, bringing into question whether they contribute to invasive populations or whether the invasions represent self-sustaining populations derived from the initial introduction of the species in the late 19th century. In this study we used amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers to determine whether genetic contributions from B. t. var. atropurpurea are found within naturalized Japanese barberry populations in southern New England. Bayesian clustering of AFLP genotypes and principal coordinate analysis distinguished B. t. var. atropurpurea genotypes from 85 plants representing five invasive populations. While a single feral plant resembled B. t. var. atropurpurea phenotypically and fell within the same genetic cluster, all other naturalized plants sampled were genetically distinct from the purple-leaved genotypes. Seven plants from two different sites possessed morphology consistent with Berberis vulgaris (common barberry) or B. ×ottawensis (B. thunbergii × B. vulgaris). Genetic analysis placed these plants in two clusters separate from B. thunbergii. Although the Bayesian analysis indicated some introgression of B. t. var. atropurpurea and B. vulgaris, these genotypes have had limited influence on extant feral populations of B. thunbergii.

Container production of nursery crops is intensive and a potential source of nitrogen release to the environment. This study was conducted to determine if trickle irrigation could be used by container nursery producers as an alternative to standard overhead irrigation to reduce nitrogen release into the environment. The effect of overhead irrigation and trickle irrigation on leachate nitrate N concentration, flow-weighted nitrate N concentration, leachate volume, and plant growth was investigated using containerized rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense Michx. 'Album') supplied with a controlled-release fertilizer and grown outdoors on top of soil-monolith lysimeters. Leachate was collected over two growing seasons and overwinter periods, and natural precipitation was allowed as a component of the system. Precipitation accounted for 69% of the water entering the overhead-irrigated system and 80% of the water entering the trickle-irrigated system. Leachate from fertilized plants exceeded the USEPA limit of 10 mg L(-1) at several times and reached a maximum of 26 mg L(-1) with trickle irrigation. Average annual loss of nitrate N in leachate for fertilized treatments was 51.8 and 60.5 kg ha(-1) for the overhead and trickle treatments, respectively. Average annual flow-weighted concentration of nitrate N in leachate of fertilized plants was 7.2 mg L(-1) for overhead irrigation and 12.7 mg L(-1) for trickle irrigation. Trickle irrigation did not reduce the amount of nitrate N leached from nursery containers when compared with overhead irrigation because precipitation nullified the potential benefits of reduced leaching fractions and irrigation inputs provided under trickle irrigation.

Evidence in the literature suggests that von Willebrand's disease constitutes part of a mesenchymal syndrome accompanied by coagulopathy. The cases of two patients with symptomatic intestinal angiodysplasia and concurrent von Willebrand's disease are summarized along with the eight cases previously reported in the literature. All ten cases were in adults ranging in age from 34 to 80 years (average, 58 years). The vascular lesions were located in the stomach or duodenum (four cases), right colon (three cases), and terminal ileum (two cases). One patient had angiodysplasia of the stomach, jejunum, and sigmoid colon. While the prevalence is unknown, these ten cases linking gastrointestinal angiodysplasia with von Willebrand's disease appear to reflect an association greater than more coincidence. Coagulation testing, including determination of template bleeding time and partial thromboplastin time, should probably be performed in all patients bleeding from gastrointestinal angiodysplasia to screen for von Willebrand's disease.

Metastatic breast carcinoma commonly remains silent for many years following initial diagnosis and mastectomy, and then appears as metastases at various locations. Gastrointestinal involvement is not uncommon and includes any site along the whole length of the gut, the liver, and the biliary tree; it occasionally simulates other diseases and causes difficulty in diagnosis. The radiographic features and differential diagnoses are discussed.

We report four patients with bloody diarrhea and colitis from Campylobacter fetus subspecies jejuni. Two patients had dogs with Campylobacter fetus in their stools. All patients responded rapidly and completely to erythromycin therapy. Campylobacter fetus subspecies jejuni is now a relatively common cause of enterocolitis, more common than salmonella or shigella. When the organism causes short-lived water diarrhea, a definitive diagnosis is not necessary. In a patient with bloody diarrhea and acute colitis, the clinician should pursue Campylobacter fetus as a potential offender, recognizing that acute colitis from Campylobacter fetus is clinically and and pathologically indistinguishable from any other acute colitis.

The predominant site of bleeding intestinal angiodysplasia in elderly patients will be the cecum or ascending colon, but recent experience in the Yale-Affiliated Gastroenterology Program in 1 year indicates that elderly patients may have bleeding acquired angiodysplasia (AD) confined to the small intestine only. A review of the literature confirms that symptomatic small intestinal AD is infrequent and occurs at an average age of 32 years in some series. Five patients with symptomatic small intestinal AD diagnosed during 1981 at Yale were older, with an average of 62 years. Three of the five cases (all female) had lesions in the duodenum, with two (males) having lesions in the ileum. Noncolonic AD in the elderly may be acquired during life, as in the classic situation in the right colon, but may be difficult to distinguish clinically and pathologically from the vascular lesions of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.