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4-coumarate: CoA ligase (4CL) is not only involved in the biosynthetic processes of flavonoids and lignin in plants but is also closely related to plant tolerance to abiotic stress. UV irradiation can activate the expression of 4CL genes in plants, and the expression of 4CL genes changed significantly in response to different phytohormone treatments. Although the 4CL gene has been cloned in potatoes, there have been fewer related studies of the 4CL gene family on the potato genome-wide scale. In this study, a total of 10 potato 4CL genes were identified in the potato whole genome. Through multiple sequence alignment, phylogenetic analysis as well as gene structure analysis indicated that the potato 4CL gene family could be divided into two subgroups. Combined with promoter cis-acting element analysis, transcriptome data, and RT-qPCR results indicated that potato 4CL gene family was involved in potato response to white light, UV irradiation, ABA treatment, MeJA treatment, and PEG simulated drought stress. Abiotic stresses such as UV, ABA, MeJA, and PEG could promote the up-regulated expression of St4CL6 and St4CL8 but inhibits the expression of St4CL5. The above results will increase our understanding of the evolution and expression regulation of the potato 4CL gene family and provide reference value for further research on the molecular biological mechanism of 4CL participating in response to diverse environmental signals in potatoes.

Fiber length, fiber strength, and fiber micronaire are the main fiber quality parameters in cotton. Thus, mining the elite and stable loci/alleles related to fiber quality traits and elucidating the relationship between the two may accelerate genetic improvement of fiber quality in cotton. Here, genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) was performed for fiber quality parameters based on phenotypic data, and 56,010 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using 242 upland cotton accessions under 12 field environments were obtained. Phenotypic analysis exhibited that fiber length (FL) had a positive correlation with fiber strength (FS) and had a negative correlation with fiber micronaire (Mic). Genetic analysis also indicated that FL, FS, and Mic had high heritability of more than 80%. A total of 67 stable quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified through GWAS analysis, including 31 for FL, 21 for FS, and 22 for Mic. Of them, three pairs homologous QTLs were detected between A and D subgenomes, and seven co-located QTLs with two fiber quality parameters were found. Compared with the reported QTLs, 34 co-located with previous studies, and 33 were newly revealed. Integrated with transcriptome analysis, we selected 256, 244, and 149 candidate genes for FL, FS, and Mic, respectively. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that most of the genes located in QTLs interval of the three fiber quality traits were involved in sugar biosynthesis, sugar metabolism, microtubule, and cytoskeleton organization, which played crucial roles in fiber development. Through correlation analysis between haplotypes and phenotypes, three genes (GH_A05G1494, GH_D11G3097, and GH_A05G1082) predominately expressed in fiber development stages were indicated to be potentially responsible for FL, FS, and Mic, respectively. The GH_A05G1494 encoded a protein containing SGS-domain, which is related to tubulin-binding and ubiquitin-protein ligase binding. The GH_D11G3097 encoded 20S proteasome beta subunit G1, and was involved in the ubiquitin-dependent protein catabolic process. The GH_A05G1082 encoded RAN binding protein 1 with a molecular function of GTPase activator activity. These results provide new insights and candidate loci/genes for the improvement of fiber quality in cotton.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition of the seed, pulp, flesh, and peel of spaghetti squash (SS) in order to assess its nutritional and health benefits. Results showed that several of the following nutrients were found in significant amounts in different parts of SS: fat, protein, amino acids like cystine, vitamins, and mineral elements like selenium in the seeds; vitamin C and trigonelline in the flesh; and calcium and tartronic acid in the peel. Analysis of the index of nutritional quality for Ca, P, K, Na, Fe, Zn, VA, VB1, VB2, VC, non-fiber carbohydrate, protein, fat, and dietary fiber revealed that the SS seed, pulp, flesh, and peel are excellent sources of protein, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and minerals. The seed was a source of several nutritional components that could improve the growth and development in children, the flesh contained components that help to maintain blood glucose stability and assist hypoglycemic function, and the peel contributes calcium and weight-loss products to help increase bone density and reduce weigh respectively. These results suggest that spaghetti squash makes a source of valuable nutraceuticals.

The antioxidant activities in vitro and hepatoprotective effects against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced acute liver injury in vivo of myristic acid acylated derivative of phloridzin (PZM) were investigated. The PZM was obtained by enzymatic acylation of myristic acid and phloridzin (PZ). The antioxidant capability of PZM in vitro was evaluated by the ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP), 2,2′-Azinobis- 3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonate (ABTS+·) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH·) radical scavenging assay. Mice were intragastrically treated with control or PZM (20, 40, and 80 mg/kg) for 5 days and intra-peritoneal injection with CCl4. The enzymatic acylated synthesis of myristic acid and phloridzin was region-selective taken place on 6″-OH of phloridzin glycoside moiety and achieved 93% yield. PZM had a significantly higher total antioxidant ability, same scavenging ABTS+· ability and weaker scavenging DPPH· ability when compared to the parent PZ. The of aminotransferase serum activity and malondialdehyde hepatic activity were elevated (P < 0.015) after treatment with CCl4, while the related liver enzymatic activities and glutathione concentration were lower. These changes were enhanced by PZM. Further studies showed that PZM reduced the interleukin-6 expression and stimulated liver regeneration caused by CCl4. PZM attained good antioxidant capacity in vitro and had excellent hepatoprotective effects in vivo and better bioactivity compared to the parent phloridzin. The significance of hepatoprotective effect of phloridzin derivative against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in mice is an important and new finding.

Red-fleshed kiwifruits are receiving increasing attention because of their high phenolic contents. However, detailed information on their phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacities remains scarce. Here, six red-fleshed and six green-fleshed kiwifruits were investigated to determine their contents of phenolic compounds and their antioxidant capacities. The results showed chlorogenic acid, p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid were the main phenolic compounds found in kiwifruit. Most of red-fleshed kiwifruits contain higher amounts of total phenolics and anthocyanins, as well as higher activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD). Moreover, they exhibited stronger antioxidant capacities than green-fleshed kiwifruits in ABTS, DPPH and FRAP assays. Furthermore, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) inhibition assay showed the phenolics extracted from red-fleshed kiwifruit can better protect tobacco leaves against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative damage. This is because of their abundant anthocyanins which in vitro contribute more to H2O2 scavenging than the other phenolic compounds. Based on these findings, it is fair to conclude the red-fleshed kiwifruits are promising sources of antioxidants in human nutrition.

Salt was applied to surfaces coated with sugars and oils to test their adhesion. There was no difference in adhesion between 70% solutions of sucrose, glucose and fructose. Below 70%, adhesion by glucose was greater than for sucrose. Adhesion increased from propylene glycol with two hydroxyl groups to glycerol with three, but there was no change in adhesion from glycerol to sorbitol, which has six hydroxyl groups. The adhesion of glycerol and sorbitol was not different from sucrose. In corn syrups, adhesion increased with increasing dextrose equivalent. Increasing oil content increased adhesion up to 0.2 mg/cm2, then plateaued. Oils produced a similar adhesion to solutions of 70% sugar. Adhesion varied with the type of oil. Most likely, the differences in adhesion were due to the presence of natural surfactants. When lecithin was added, the adhesion increased significantly. The addition of other surfactants did not significantly increase the adhesion. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Sugar and oil are frequently used to adhere powders and small particulates, such as seasonings and spices, to a food surface. The desire for low calorie foods means minimizing the sugar and oil used for adhesion. Glucose was shown to have greater adhesion than sucrose, therefore less of it could be used to achieve the same adhesion. Addition of lecithin to oils increased its adhesion. Certain oils had higher adhesion than others, due to natural surfactants. Most of the fat replacers tested did not show significant adhesion. Using this information, current tack agents could be replaced with other sugars or oils to produce the same adhesion at a lower concentration.

In order to assess quickly and non-destructively the fracturability and chewiness of apple fruit by FT-NIR spectra in the wavelength range of 4000 cm(-1)-12000 cm(-1), multivariate models were built using multiple linear regression (MLR), partial least squares regression (PLSR), and principal component regression (PCR). Fracturability and chewiness reference data were instrumentally measured using a Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) test. The effects of various pre-processing methods of the spectroscopic data on the performance of the multivariate models were analyzed. Standard normal variate transformation (SNV), multiplicative scatter correction (MSC), Min-Max normalization(MMN) and first derivative (FD) were tested. The performance of the fracturability prediction models was better for the PLSR model (R(2) = 0.91, RMSEP = 101.90) than for the PCR and MLR models. With regard to chewiness, the performance of the PCR model (R(2) = 0.88, RMSEP = 13.46) was similar to the one of the PLSR model but better than the one of the MLR model. The results demonstrated that NIR spectra together with stoichiometry could determine precisely fracturability and chewiness of apple, and the predictive ability of the models developed by other methods may be improved in the future.