Search results for "hole"

Novel subpopulations in date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) identified by population-wide organellar genome sequencing

2019

Background The date palm is one of the oldest cultivated fruit trees. The tree can withstand high temperatures and low water and the fruit can be stored dry offering nutrition across the year. The first region of cultivation is believed to be near modern day Iraq, however, where and if the date palm was domesticated is still a topic of debate. Recent studies of chloroplast and genomic DNA revealed two major subpopulations of cultivars centered in both the Eastern range of date palm cultivation including Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and parts of South Asia, and the Western range, including North Africa. Results To better understand the origins of date palm cultivation we sequenced and analyzed ov…

Sterol and ecdysteroids profiles of Serratula tinctoria (L.) : plant and cell cultures producing steroids

1993

Abstract Cell suspension cultures have been obtained from Serratula tinctoria, a plant producing ecdysteroids. Sterol profiles and ecdysteroid contents have been analysed and compared in plants and cell cultures. In particular, the composition of free and esterified sterols was investigated using appropriate analytical techniques. In plants, esterified sterols were more abundant (50–70% of the total sterol) than in cell cultures (13–36%). A selectivity for sterol esterification was noted: in plants, the triterpenes (as amyrins) were esterified, whereas it was the 4-desmethylsterols (sitosterol and cholesterol) in cell cultures. Ecdysteroids were present in higher quantities in plant (0.1–1.…

Self-assembled multivalent (SAMul) ligand systems with enhanced stability in the presence of human serum

2019

Self-assembled cationic micelles are an attractive platform for binding biologically-relevant polyanions such as heparin. This has potential applications in coagulation control, where a synthetic heparin rescue agent could be a useful replacement for protamine, which is in current clinical use. However, micelles can have low stability in human serum and unacceptable toxicity profiles. This paper reports the optimi- sation of self-assembled multivalent (SAMul) arrays of amphiphilic ligands to bind heparin in competitive conditions. Specifically, modification of the hydrophobic unit kinetically stabilises the self-assembled nanostructures, preventing loss of binding ability in the presence of…

A solar assisted seasonal borehole thermal energy system for a non-residential building in the Mediterranean area

2019

Abstract Solar heating and cooling systems are reliable and feasible solutions among renewable energy technologies. Indeed, solar thermal devices help reduce primary energy consumption and can reduce electricity demand, thus representing one of the best options for satisfying heating and/or cooling energy supply. The Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES) represents one of the best promising option among the various storage technologies, because the size of the storage can be easily extended by drilling additional boreholes and simply connecting the pipes to the existing boreholes; the overall energy efficiency of this system is about 40–60%. In this paper, the authors present an applicatio…

Cold adaptation drives population genomic divergence in the ecological specialist, Drosophila montana

2020

Funding: UK Natural Environment Research Council (Grant Number(s): NE/L501852/1, NE/P000592/1); Academy of Finland (GrantNumber(s): 267244, 268214, 322980), Ella ja Georg Ehrnroothin Säätiö. Detecting signatures of ecological adaptation in comparative genomics is challenging, but analysing population samples with characterised geographic distributions, such as clinal variation, can help identify genes showing covariation with important ecological variation. Here, we analysed patterns of geographic variation in the cold-adapted species Drosophila montana across phenotypes, genotypes and environmental conditions and tested for signatures of cold adaptation in population genomic divergence. We…

Generation of oxysterols formed by free radicals and enzymes by electrochemical oxidation

2016

International audience; It is commonly accepted that cholesterol oxide derivatives, also named oxysterols, are 27 carbon-atom molecules deriving either from enzymatic and non-enzymatic oxidation of cholesterol. Most of these compounds can be synthesized by more or less difficult and time consuming chemical reactions, and some of them have been discovered before the identification of the enzymes [mainly cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP enzymes)] involved in their biosynthesis. A wide range of biological activities depends on oxysterols. Some oxysterols are also involved in the synthesis of cholesterol metabolites which have various properties. The paper by Weber et al. in this issue of European …

2021

Proteins play a crucial role in metabolism, in maintaining fluid and acid-base balance and antibody synthesis. Dietary proteins are important nutrients and are classified into: 1) animal proteins (meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy), and, 2) plant proteins (legumes, nuts and soy). Dietary modification is one of the most important lifestyle changes that has been shown to significantly decrease the risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD) by attenuating related risk factors. The CVD burden is reduced by optimum diet through replacement of unprocessed meat with low saturated fat, animal proteins and plant proteins. In view of the available evidence, it has become acceptable to emphasize the …

Safe intake of a plant sterol-enriched beverage with milk fat globule membrane: Bioaccessibility of sterol oxides during storage

2018

Abstract Sterols in foods are susceptible to oxidation to form oxysterols. It is interesting for consumer health to know real intake and the possible associated adverse effects associated to oxysterols. This study measured oxysterol formation and bioaccessibility (BA) in a plant sterol (PS)-enriched milk-based fruit beverage with milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) added at 0, 3 and 6 months of storage at room temperature. The same cholesterol (COPs) and phytosterol oxidation products (POPs) (exclusively from β-sitosterol) (7α/β-hydroxy, α/β-epoxy, triol and 7-keto) were detected in the beverage and its bioaccessible fraction. Total COPs and POPs contents were maintained during storage, and th…

Impact of colonic fermentation on sterols after the intake of a plant sterol-enriched beverage: A randomized, double-blind crossover trial

2017

Summary Background Cholesterol microbial transformation has been widely studied using in vitro fermentation assays, but less information is available on the biotransformation of plant sterols (PS). The excretion percentage of animal sterols (AS) (67–73%) is considerably greater than that of PS (27–33%) in feces from healthy humans following a Western diet. However, a lower content of AS in feces from subjects following a vegetarian, vegan or low-fat animal diet has been seen when compared to omnivorous subjects. Although only one human study has reported fecal sterol excretion after the consumption of PS-enriched food (8.6 g PS/day), it was found that the target group showed an increase in …

Sterols in human milk during lactation: bioaccessibility and estimated intakes.

2018

Human milk (HM) is the exclusive food during the first 4–6 months of an infant's life. Breastfeeding has been related to significant health benefits for infants, and hence it is of interest to study the bioactive compounds present in HM, such as sterols (cholesterol being the most abundant). The aim of this study was to determine the contents of sterols (cholesterol, desmosterol, lathosterol, lanosterol, campesterol, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol) in 10 pools of colostrum, transitional milk, and 1, 3 and 6 month HM obtained from Spanish volunteers from two different geographical areas (coastal and central) and to estimate the intake and bioaccessibility (BA) of sterols in order to ascertain…