Giant Embryo Research Articles

Effect of gaba extract of black sticky rice with giant embryo on alcohol craving in social drinkers: randomized placebo-controlled trial

Effect of gaba extract of black sticky rice with giant embryo on alcohol craving in social drinkers: randomized placebo-controlled trial

Creation and gene expression analysis of a giant embryo rice mutant with high GABA content.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-022-01353-1.

Response of yield and quality of giant embryo rice to nitrogen application and analysis of lipid-lowering effect.

Giant embryo rice is known as a highly nutritious functional rice because it is rich in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which has various regulatory functions in the human body. To study the response of giant embryo rice yield and quality to nitrogen (N) application, and to verify the effect of giant embryo brown rice on alleviating hyperlipidemia in rats. In this study, field experiments were conducted in 2020 and 2021 using the giant embryo rice varietiers J20 (japonica) and Koshihikari (japonica) rice as experimental materials and five N levels, 0 (N0), 90 (N1), 135 (N2), 180 (N3) and 225 (N4) kg ha-1. The results showed that the yield of both varieties increased with increasing N and the maximum values were observed under the N2 treatment. As more N was gradually applied, the brown rice rate, milled rice rate, head rice rate and GABA content of both varieties first increased and then decreased, while the chalky grain rate and chalkiness showed the opposite trend. The optimal values of these indexes were observed under the N2 treatment. The peak viscosity and breakdown value of J20 decreased, while its setback value and pasting temperature increased with increasing N. In contrast, Koshihikari showed the opposite trend. The protein content and protein component contents of both varieties showed an increasing trend with increasing N, among which gliadin was the most sensitive protein component to N fertilizer. Animal experiments results showed that J20 brown rice could significantly slow the rate of weight gain of rats, reduce serum total cholesterol and triglyceride levels and increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Therefore, increasing N could effectively enhance J20 yield and improve processing, appearance and nutritional quality but decrease cooking and eating quality. The brown rice J20 had the effect of slowing the rate of weight gain and reducing the hyperlipidemia level of rats, the optimal N application rate for achieving high yield, high quality and good functional characteristics in the giant embryo rice J20 was 135 kg ha-1. These findings will provide a theoretical and technical foundation for the popularization and application of giant embryo rice in the future.

Effect of Extract of Black Sticky Rice with Giant Embryo on Alcohol Cravings of Korean Social Drinkers: A 12-Week Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

We investigated the effect of black sticky rice with giant embryo (BSRGE) extract known to contain high levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on alcohol cravings in social drinkers. A total of 41 subjects were divided into a BSRGE extract group (G group: n = 21) and a placebo group (P group: n = 20), and a randomized placebo-controlled experiment was performed for 12 weeks. The G group took the BSRGE extracts that contained 30 mg of GABA per day. (1) In the Pennsylvania Alcohol Craving Scale, there was a tendency for time and group interaction between the two groups (P = .087) on the total score. (2) In the Obsessive-Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS), there was a significance for time and group interaction between the G and P groups (P = .011) on the obsessive subscale. The total score of the OCDS showed significant time and group interactions between the G and P groups (P = .011). Our results showed that the extract of BSRGE containing a high level of GABA significantly reduced alcohol cravings in Korean social drinkers.

The Development of Two High-Yield and High-Quality Functional Rice Cultivars Using Marker-Assisted Selection and Conventional Breeding Methods.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important crop worldwide. Functional rice has exhibited health benefits. The aim of this study was to use marker-assisted selection (MAS) to introgress two genes, GE (giant embryo) and OsALDH7 (aldehyde dehydrogenase, golden-like endosperm) into colored rice and obtain high yield functional rice. CNY103108 and CNY103107 are two rice lines with golden-like endosperms and giant embryos. They were used as the donor parents. CNY922401, an elite purple waxy rice line, and TNGSW26, an indica red waxy rice cultivar were used as the recurrent parents. Foreground selection of the progenies was completed using functional markers for GE and OsALDH7, and background selection was completed using molecular markers to recover the background of the recurrent parents. MAS results showed a purple functional rice population (PFR) (CNY922401/CNY103108), with the recovery rate of the recurrent parental genome as 91.3%, and a red functional rice population (RFR) (TNGSW26/CNY103107) with the recovery as 89.8%. After five-season yield trials and several antioxidant activities analyses, PFR32 and RFR13 lines, which have similar yields and antioxidant activities, were selected as the recurrent parents with a golden-like endosperm and a giant embryo. For a biofortification purpose, they can become valuable products and be adapted to the current agricultural community.

‘Keunpum’: A Mid-Late Maturing, High Yielding, Giant Embryo Rice Cultivar with Resistance to Multiple Diseases and Used as Germinated Brown Rice

Eok-Keun Ahn*, Ung-Jo Hyun, Kuk-Hyun Jung, Yong-Jae Won, Ha-Cheol Hong, Hyang-Mi Park, Jae-Ki Chang, Jeong-Heui Lee, Jeom-Ho Lee, Nak-Sig Sung, Jung-Pil Suh, Sea-Kwan Oh, and Mi-Ra Yoon. Korean J. Breed. Sci. 2021;53:515-25. https://doi.org/10.9787/KJBS.2021.53.4.515

Comparative studies on physicochemical properties of rice with germinated dark purple giant embryo rice and normal embryo rice

AbstractBackground and objectivesAs a cultivar developed by breeding, pigmented rice Keunnunjami has a dark purple pericarp and a giant embryo and has been found to possess strong antioxidant properties. The present study investigated the effect of 72‐hr germination on the physicochemical properties of Keunnunjami, in comparison with that of its parental pigmented normal embryo cultivar, Heukjinju, and ordinary normal brown rice.FindingsGermination generally increased the amounts of reducing sugar, amino acids isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, valine, alanine, cysteine, glycine, proline, and tyrosine, and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus while it decreased the levels of histidine, lysine, methionine, threonine, arginine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, and potassium in the rice grains. The germinated Keunnujami exhibited higher amounts of essential and non‐essential amino acids and reducing sugar than the germinated Heukjinju and normal brown rice. The starch granules from all rice samples showed holes and pits on the surface after germination.ConclusionsThese changes in the chemical composition and morphological properties are possibly due to partial hydrolysis of starch and protein caused by enzymes that were activated during germination.Significance and noveltyResults of this study could serve as the baseline information for evaluating the quality and possible food industry applications of germinated Keunnunjami.

Identification of a New Giant Emrbryo Allele, and Integrated Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Analysis of Giant Embryo Development in Rice.

Rice embryos are rich in high-quality protein, lipid, vitamins and minerals, representing the most important nutritional part of brown rice. However, the molecular mechanism of rice embryo development is poorly understood. In this study, two rice cultivars with contrasting embryo size (the giant embryo cultivar Dapeimi and the normal embryo cultivar 187R) were used to explore excellent genes controlling embryo size, and the developed near-isogenic lines (NILs) (NIL-D, which has the giant embryo phenotype, and its matching line, NIL-X) were used to explore transcript and metabolic properties in the earlier maturation stage of giant embryo development under natural conditions. The map-based cloning results demonstrated that Dapeimi is a novel allelic mutant of the rice GIANT EMBRYO (GE) gene, and the functional mutation site is a single cytosine deletion in the exon1. A total of 285 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) and 677 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between NIL-D and NIL-X. The analysis of DAMs indicated that plants lacking GE mainly promoted energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and lipid metabolism pathways in the rice embryo. Pearson correlation coefficient showed that 300 pairs of gene-metabolites were highly correlated. Among them, OsZS_02G0528500 and OsZS_12G0013700 were considered to be key genes regulating L-Aspartic acid and L-Tryptophan content during rice giant embryo development, which are promising to be good candidate genes to improve rice nutrition. By analyzing rice embryo development through a combination of strategies, this research contributes to a greater understanding of the molecular mechanism of rice embryo development, and provides a theoretical foundation for breeding high-nutrition varieties.

Effect of Germinated Black Sticky Rice with Giant Embryo on Alcohol Intake in C57BL/6 Mice

Effect of Germinated Black Sticky Rice with Giant Embryo on Alcohol Intake in C57BL/6 Mice

Oral Administration of Germinated, Pigmented, Giant Embryo Rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Keunnunjami) Extract Improves the Lipid and Glucose Metabolisms in High-Fat Diet-Fed Mice.

Obesity is a significant risk factor for chronic diseases. The effect of ethanol extract from germinated Keunnunjami, blackish-purple rice with a giant embryo, compare to ordinary brown rice, on the body weight and lipid and glucose metabolism in high-fat diet-fed mice was analyzed. Mice were fed with a high-fat diet-fed for 3 weeks and then orally administered with either distilled water (HF) or extract (0.25%, w/w) from brown, germinated brown, Keunnunjami, and germinated Keunnunjami rice for 4 weeks. Control mice were fed with a normal diet and orally administered with distilled water. The HF group showed markedly higher body weight and triglyceride, cholesterol, fatty acid, glucose, and insulin levels than the control group. However, the oral administration of rice extracts ameliorated this high-fat diet-induced obesity, hyperlipidemia, and hypoglycemia through the modulation of adipokine production, lipogenic and glucose-regulating enzyme activities, and mRNA expression of genes associated with lipid and glucose metabolism. The germinated Keunnunjami extract exhibited greater hypolipidemic, hypoglycemic, and body weight-lowering effects than the other rice extracts. The results demonstrated that germination could further enhance the physiological properties of rice and that germinated Keunnunjami extract has a strong therapeutic potential against high-fat diet-induced obesity, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia.

Hypolipidemic and antioxidant efficacy of giant embryo brown rice in high-fat-fed guinea pigs

Hypolipidemic and antioxidant efficacy of giant embryo brown rice in high-fat-fed guinea pigs

Study on the Chalkiness Character of Giant Embryo Rice and Observation on Its Microstructure in Grains

Grain chalkiness greatly affects the grain appearance and milling, eating, cooking, and nutritional qualities, thus it is one of the most important traits of grain qualities. Based on the study of chalkiness characters in endosperm of different giant embryo rice, the relationship between the differences of chalkiness characters in endosperm of different giant embryo rice and the morphological structure, arrangement and development of starch granules in endosperm was clarified, which will lay a solid foundation for further revealing the formation mechanism of chalkiness characters in giant embryo rice and cultivating excellent new varieties of giant embryo rice. In this study, the chalkiness of endosperm (including chalkiness rate, chalkiness degree and chalkiness area) of 16 different rice varieties were investigated and analyzed. The results showed that the chalkiness of endosperm was closely related to the morphological structure and arrangement of starch granules in endosperm cells of different kinds of giant embryo rice, and there were significant differences between the chalkiness of different parts of the same giant embryo rice and the morphological structure and arrangement of starch granules in endosperm cells. Therefore, the results of this study will provide important information for the improvement of quality characters and the breeding of new rice varieties.

Detection and Analysis of Mineral Elements in Giant Embryo Rice

Mineral elements are essential micronutrients necessary to constitute human tissue and maintain normal physiological functions. Micronutrient deficiencies are an important issue currently faced in the world. The best strategy to solve this problem is to breed special functional types of rice varieties rich in trace elements (special rice for short). A special type of rice that can produce rich nutrients. In order to explore the nutritional value of giant embryo rice, the contents of 17 mineral elements ((K, Ca, Fe, Se, Zn, Cu, Na, Mn, Mg, Ni, Cr, Co, Pb, As, Cd, Ag, Al)) in 5 kinds of giant embryo rice (white giant embryo, giant japonica-GB-12, giant japonica-GB-11 and giant japonica-GB-5, giant japonica-GB-1) were detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. After comparison with ordinary rice, it was found that the content of the same mineral element in different samples has a large variation, suggesting that different rice varieties have different absorption, transformation and storage efficiency of the same element; different giant embryo brown rice in some mineral elements (such as Cr, Ni, Cu and Zn) are extremely low in content and almost undetectable. Meanwhile, the brown rice of giant embryo rice has a more powerful enrichment effect on some mineral elements, which means that embryo rice has a unique advantage in cultivating new rice varieties with special functions rich in minerals.

Gochujang prepared using rice and wheat koji partially alleviates high-fat diet-induced obesity in rats.

The aim of this study was to compare whether gochujang products prepared using giant embryo rice koji (rice gochujang, RG) and wheat koji (wheat gochujang, WG) have anti‐obesity effects on rats fed a high‐fat diet (HFD), who served as a model for obesity. The nutritional composition of RG and WG including proximate constituents, amino acid and fatty acid compositions were investigated. Consequently, the secondary fermented metabolites were analyzed in RG and WG by ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Rats were fed a HFD containing 10% RG powder (HFD‐RG) or 10% WG powder (HFD‐WG) for 8 weeks. Body weight gain, weights of liver, epididymal, retroperitoneal, perirenal, and total white fat pads, and levels of serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol, low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, and leptin were lower in all gochujang groups than in the HFD group. Furthermore, RG and WG treatment decreased the hepatic TG content and lipid accumulation and significantly reduced the size of epididymal adipocytes. These effects are probably mediated through inhibition of hepatic fatty acid synthase, acetyl CoA carboxylase, malic enzyme, and adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase activities. The anti‐obesity effect was slightly greater in the HFD‐RG group than in the HFD‐WG group. This effect may be attributed to secondary metabolites, such as capsaicin, genistein, daidzein, soyasaponin, and lysophosphatidylcholines, contained in gochujang prepared using giant embryo rice or wheat koji.

Black rice with giant embryo ameliorates serum C-reactive protein in adults with metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is well known to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. We have reported that phytochemicals rich black rice with giant embryo reduced fat mass and metabolic disorders in an animal model. However, such effects have not been evaluated in humans. Subjects with metabolic syndrome (n = 49, 38 male, 44.3 ± 6.1 years) were randomly assigned into two groups and ingested roasted black-rice with giant embryo (BR, n = 26, 20 male) or white-rice (WR, n = 23, 18 male) powders mixed with water for breakfast for three months. Subjects were evaluated for various metabolic parameters before and after intervention. All parameters were not significantly different between groups before starting the intervention. After three months of consumption of either BR or WR, changes of body weight in BR vs WR groups (–1.54 kg vs –1.29 kg, p = 0.649) as well as waist circumference (–1.63 cm vs –1.02 cm, p = 0.365) were not significantly different between groups. However, changes in highly-sensitive C reactive proteins in BR vs WR groups (–0.110 mg/dl vs 0.017 mg/dl, p = 0.003) had significant differences. Three months of meal replacement with BR had a significant reduction of highly-sensitive C reactive protein compared to those with WR in adults with metabolic syndrome.

Using Giant Scarlet Runner Bean (Phaseolus coccineus) Embryos to Dissect the Early Events in Plant Embryogenesis.

The giant embryo of the scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) has been used historically to investigate the molecular and developmental processes that control the early events of plant embryo development. In more recent years, our laboratory has been using scarlet runner bean embryos to uncover the genes and regulatory events that control embryo proper and suspensor region differentiation shortly after fertilization. In this chapter we describe methods that we have developed to isolate scarlet runner bean embryos at the globular stage of development, and capture embryo proper and suspensor regions by either hand dissection or laser capture microdissection (LCM) for use in downstream genomic analysis. These methods are also applicable for use in investigating the early events of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) embryo development, a close relative of scarlet runner bean, which also has a giant embryo in addition to a sequenced genome.

A rice mutant with a giant embryo has increased levels of lipophilic antioxidants, E vitamers, and γ‐oryzanol fraction

AbstractBackground and objectiveLipophilic compounds in rice bran have health beneficial and functional properties. These lipophilic antioxidants in a giant embryo mutant (GEDrew) derived from a tropical japonica variety Drew were determined to evaluate its potential as a specialty variety.FindingsGEDrew had double the size of embryo and lower kernel weight than Drew. The majority of the tocols in the embryo were in the form of tocopherols with α‐tocopherol accounting for approximately 70%, while the tocopherols in bran ranged from 22% to 43% of total tocols. On a per embryo basis, GEDrew had a higher quantity of tocols compared with Drew; however, on a weight basis, the concentration of tocols in GEDrew was less than Drew. The γ‐oryzanol concentration in embryos was the same for both the mutant and wild type. The smaller brown rice kernel size and bigger embryo size of GEDrew resulted in higher proportion of bran + embryo (w/w), which led to higher total tocopherols, tocotrienols, and γ‐oryzanol in the whole grain of GEDrew relative to Drew.ConclusionA rice mutant with a large embryo had an elevated level of γ‐oryzanol and tocols, both as a group and as individual homologs, in whole grains as compared to the wild type.Significance and noveltyGEDrew has the potential to be grown as a specialty rice variety for the purposes of isolating its bran, oil, and lipophilic antioxidants for use by the food and cosmetic industries.

Characteristics of Giant Embryo Rice and Research Prospect of Its Processing and Utilization

Giant embryo rice is a special kind of functional rice which can produce eutrophic rice. It conforms to people's concept of food consumption and healthy life. Giant embryo rice and its intensively processed products have been widely used in food, medicine, health products and other fields. They have extremely important scientific significance and economic value, and have become one of the most nutritional and health-care functional rice in the future. In recent years, a series of important advances have been made in the research of giant embryo rice. The special nutrients, agronomic characteristics and products developed by giant embryo rice have attracted the attention of rice breeders and consumers at home and abroad. In this paper, the research contents and new advances in the creation and breeding of giant embryo rice germplasm, the characteristics of nutrient changes, important agronomic traits and the processing and utilization of giant embryo rice were summarized, and the application prospect of giant embryo rice was prospected, all of which could provide important reference for the development and sustainable utilization of giant embryo rice.

Genetic Basis of Giant Embryo Traits and Effects of Environmental Factors on Giant Embryo Rice

Giant embryo rice (GMR) is a special rice which can produce eutrophic functional rice. Giant embryo rice and its intensive processing products have been widely used in food, medicine, health care products and other fields, with extremely important scientific significance and economic value. In recent years, a series of important advances have been made in the research of giant embryo rice, and its achievements have attracted the attention of rice breeders and consumers at home and abroad. In this paper, the genetic basis of giant embryo traits and the effects of environmental factors on giant embryo rice were reviewed and analyzed, and the application prospect of giant embryo rice was also prospected, these will provide important reference for genetic improvement and application promotion of giant embryo rice.

The Effect of Oral Administration of Black Sticky Rice with Giant Embryo on Brain GABA Concentrations

ObjectiveBlack sticky rice with giant embryo (BSRGE) contains high GABA content and affects alcohol-related indices among social drinkers, and alcohol intake and anxiety-related behavior of mice. However, it is unknown whether the intake of BSRGE affects GABAergic activity of brain directly. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the effect of oral administration of BSRGE on brain GABA concentrations compared with commercially available GABA compound and regular feeds. MethodsTwenty-one male C57BL/6 mice were assigned to BSRGE, a regular feed (AIN-76) lacking GABA, and a regular feed containing GABA compound. After feeding freely for 48 h, the cortex and striatum were separated from the brain. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was conducted to measure GABA and glutamate concentrations in mouse brain. ResultsThe GABA concentration of the BSRGE group was higher than that of regular feed and GABA compound group (p<0.001). However, the GABA compound group showed no significant difference from the regular feed group (p=0.50). ConclusionIntake of BSRGE containing high GABA content increased GABA concentrations in mouse brain compared with regular feed unlike GABA compound. The results of this study constitute an important basis for further investigations into the clinical applications of BSRGE.