An edible gall is formed between the third and fourth nodes beneath the apical meristem near the base of
Zizania latifolia
shoots. This gall is harbored by and interacts with the smut fungus
Ustilago ...esculenta
. The gall is also a valuable vegetable called “white bamboo,”
jiaobai
or
gausun
in China and
makomotake
in Japan. Five samples of the galls harvested at different stages of swelling were used to isolate microorganisms by culturing. Isolated fungal and bacterial colonies were identified by DNA sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–time-of-flight mass spectrometry, respectively. Several strains of
U. esculenta
as well as 6 other species of fungi and 10 species of bacteria were isolated. The microbiome was also evaluated by simple and outlined DNA profiling with automated rRNA intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA), and the amount of DNA of
U. esculenta
was determined by qPCR. At least 16 species of fungi and 40 species of bacteria were confirmed by ARISA of the overall sample. Interestingly, the greatest bacterial diversity, i.e., 18 species, was observed in the most mature sample, whereas the fungal diversity observed in this sample, i.e., 4 species, was rather poor. Based on qPCR,
U. esculenta
occurred in samples from all stages; however, the abundance of
U. esculenta
exhibited unique U-shaped relationships with growth. These results may explain why the interaction between
U. esculenta
and
Z. latifolia
also influences the unique microbial diversity observed throughout the growth stages of the swollen shoot, although the limited sample size does not allow conclusive findings.
White bamboo is the swollen stem of Zizania latifolia parasitized by the smut fungus Ustilago esculenta. Five samples of galls were harvested at different stages of swelling, along with young ...seedlings of Z. latifolia and isolated colonies of U. esculenta. The inhibition capacity of boiling water or 50% ethanol extracts on NO release by RAW264 cells, which was stimulated with lipopolysaccharide, was evaluated as anti-inflammatory activity, while the NO induction capacity was evaluated as immunostimulatory activity. Total polyphenol (TPP) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity were also measured. The anti-inflammatory effect, as well as TPP and DPPH, was comprehensively detected in the ethanol extracts. The immunostimulating activity was observed in the boiled extracts at different levels, depending on the swelling stage, and was especially high in the top (apical) part. These data may indicate that functional components could be dynamically induced by interactions between Z. latifolia and U. esculenta.
There has been a growing interest in organic farming as a countermeasure to the environmental burden caused by chemical pesticides. We analyzed and compared the fungal diversity of lemon fruits from ...organic and conventional cultivation by automated rRNA intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA), accompanied by isolation of cultured colonies and metagenomic analysis. Lemon peels were cut out and subjected to the analyses at purchase and after accelerated storage at 28 °C. The organic lemons did not decay even after 14 weeks, while most of the conventional lemons did decay. The fungal colony counts were not significantly different, although the number of fungal species together with the Shannon index, considering the abundance of each species, clearly showed more diversity in organic lemons than in conventional lemons (
p
= 0.011).
Fusarium
sp. (putative
F. solani
) accounted for as much as 90% of the relative abundance in the decayed conventional lemons. Metagenomic analysis also supported the lack of fungal diversity in conventional lemons. These results may suggest that organic cultivation maintains the diversity of native fungal flora in lemon fruit and could contribute to preventing decay during ambient storage.
Microorganisms, including native yeasts, are abundant in vineyard fields. Herein, we studied the possibility of using vineyard-derived wild yeast as a microbial pesticide against
Botrytis cinerea
, a ...pathogen that causes grape gray mold disease, to boost the initial alcohol production of spontaneously fermented wine. We identified the
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
strain KONDO170908, which showed the most effective antifungal activity in an ex vivo yeast dripping experiment on grape berries. This strain was utilized in an in vivo spray test on grape bunches in vineyard fields and was proven to significantly suppress gray mold disease on the grape berries in test plot #16 when the yeast was sprayed during both the flowering and ripening periods (morbidity 11.2% against 15.3% of the control plot, χ
2
test,
p
< 0.0001). However, in test plot #17, spraying the yeast during only the ripening period had no effect (morbidity 16.3%). The grapes from each test plot were also submitted for spontaneous wine fermentation. Alcoholic fermentation of the grapes from test plot #16 provided the most active bubbling of CO
2
gas and the highest ethanol production and colony counts over seven days of fermentation. Unique changes in the different strains of
S. cerevisiae
among the plots were observed throughout the early fermentation stage. Thus, yeast spraying during the flowering period might trigger modification of the entire microbiota and could ultimately contribute to promoting alcohol production in the spontaneously fermented wine, although it decreased the grape yield by 20%.
A series of new 7,8-dimethoxy-α-naphthoflavones were synthesized using 1,5-dihydroxynaphthalene as the starting material. These compounds exhibited potent inhibitory effects on recombined human ...CYP1A1 enzyme in vitro.
The flavonoids as inhibitors of CYP1A1 exhibit chemopreventive effects against certain procarcinogens and have been considered as the promising cancer preventive agents. A series of novel 7,8-dimethoxy-α-naphthoflavones as the substrate analogs were designed and prepared. The enzyme assay suggested that all of these new flavones were stronger inhibitors of CYP1A1 than the lead compound α-naphthoflavone. Among the tested ones, 3h showed the most potent inhibitory effects.
White bamboo is the swollen stem of Zizania latifolia parasitized by the smut fungus Ustilago esculenta. Five samples of galls were harvested at different stages of swelling, along with young ...seedlings of Z. latifolia and isolated colonies of U. esculenta. The inhibition capacity of boiling water or 50% ethanol extracts on NO release by RAW264 cells, which was stimulated with lipopolysaccharide, was evaluated as anti-inflammatory activity, while the NO induction capacity was evaluated as immunostimulatory activity. Total polyphenol (TPP) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity were also measured. The anti-inflammatory effect, as well as TPP and DPPH, was comprehensively detected in the ethanol extracts. The immunostimulating activity was observed in the boiled extracts at different levels, depending on the swelling stage, and was especially high in the top (apical) part. These data may indicate that functional components could be dynamically induced by interactions between Z. latifolia and U. esculenta.
