Mature Pulp Research Articles

Biochemical Characterization of New Sweet Orange Mutants Rich in Lycopene and β-Carotene Antioxidants.

Carotenoid-rich foods such as citrus fruits have a wide range of functions in human health. They primarily exert antioxidant effects, but individual carotenoids may also act through other health-promoting mechanisms such as β-carotene as pro-vitamin A. Here, we show that red-fleshed sweet oranges grown in tropical climates are 4-9 times richer in carotenoids than their orange-fleshed counterparts, regardless of their maturation stage. The most significant difference observed between both varieties was the presence of lycopene at moderate concentrations (around 8 µg/g FW) in the mature pulp of the red varieties, which was absent in the blond ones. This is because the red-fleshed sweet oranges grown in tropical climates with high temperatures increase lycopene and β-carotene concentrations in their pulp during fruit maturation. Due to lycopene accumulation, red orange juice offers a promising addition to popular blond-orange, with the new varieties Carrancas and Pinhal being perfectly suitable for blending to enhance juice colour. Sao Paulo, one of the world's leading citrus orange juice producers, as well as other tropical citrus regions could benefit from cultivating using such lycopene-rich cultivars and industrially.

Antioxidant potential and mineral elemental profiling of young and mature fruit and leaf of Carica papaya L. cultivar 'Red Lady'

IntroductionCarica papaya is an economically important fruit crop belonging to the family Caricaceae. In this study, we assessed the antioxidant potential and mineral element composition of mature and young fruits, as well as leaves, of the ‘Red Lady’ cultivar of C. papaya. Materials and methodsThe DPPH free radical scavenging assay and the FRAP assay were used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the crude methanolic extract and its butanolic fraction from the mature and young fruit parts and leaf of the C. papaya. The mineral elemental composition was analyzed through ICP-MS analysis. ResultsDPPH assay showed that butanolic fraction of young leaves (97±1.155%) and seeds (96.33± 0.8819%) exhibited superior antioxidant potential, followed by mature leaves (81.33 ± 1.856%), mature seeds (72.67± 0.8819%), mature pulp (51±1.155%), young pulp (43.67±2.028%), young peel (34.33±1.202%), and mature peel (30±2.309%). Assessment of metal reducing activity using FRAP assay revealed a similar pattern of antioxidant potential as demonstrated by the DPPH assay. The IC-PMS analysis identified eleven elements in both mature and young fruit parts and leaves of the plant. These elements include potassium (K), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), and cobalt (Co). In both mature and young parts of the fruit, as well as in young leaves, potassium (33,874.68 ± 0.0013 mg kg-1 to 8365.31 ± 0.00049 mg kg-1) was the most abundant element. It was followed by magnesium (14,255.82 ± 0.000282 mg kg-1 to 474.92 ± 0.00125 mg kg-1) and then calcium (9857.51 ± 0.00049 mg kg-1 to 366.84 ± 0.00088 mg kg-1). However, in mature leaves, magnesium (14,255.82 ± 0.000282 mg kg-1) was the most prevalent, followed by calcium (9857.51 ± 0.00049 mg kg-1). ConclusionThis research revealed the antioxidant and metal-reducing properties of both mature and young C. papaya fruit and leaves. These findings underscore the nutraceutical potential of C. papaya in combating diseases related to oxidative stress. Furthermore, the presence of essential mineral nutrients in both the young and mature fruit and leaves enhances their health benefits.

Cpne7 deficiency induces cellular senescence and premature aging of dental pulp.

Once tooth development is complete, odontoblasts and their progenitor cells in the dental pulp play a major role in protecting tooth vitality from external stresses. Hence, understanding the homeostasis of the mature pulp populations is just as crucial as understanding that of the young, developing ones for managing age-related dentinal damage. Here, it is shown that loss of Cpne7 accelerates cellular senescence in odontoblasts due to oxidative stress and DNA damage accumulation. Thus, in Cpne7-null dental pulp, odontoblast survival is impaired, and aberrant dentin is extensively formed. Intraperitoneal or topical application of CPNE7-derived functional peptide, however, alleviates the DNA damage accumulation and rescues the pathologic dentin phenotype. Notably, a healthy dentin-pulp complex lined with metabolically active odontoblasts is observed in 23-month-old Cpne7-overexpressing transgenic mice. Furthermore, physiologic dentin was regenerated in artificial dentinal defects of Cpne7-overexpressing transgenic mice. Taken together, Cpne7 is indispensable for the maintenance and homeostasis of odontoblasts, while promoting odontoblastic differentiation of the progenitor cells. This research thereby introduces its potential in oral disease-targeted applications, especially age-related dental diseases involving dentinal loss.

Screening of lupeol, mangiferin and β-carotene contents in pulp of mango (Mangifera indica L.) varieties at edible ripe stage

Mango fruits are an amazing source of numerous bioactive phytonutrients like lupeol (a novel anti-inflammatory and anticancer dietary triterpene), mangiferin (an antidiabetic, anti-HIV, anticancer, immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory agent) and β-carotene (a significant carotenoid that functions as a precursor to vitamin A, the conscientious reason for our vision). In the present study, ripe pulp of 23 mango varieties was examined for their contents of lupeol, mangiferin and β-carotene using high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detector (HPLC-PAD). Mulgoa had the highest lupeol concentration, measuring 42.52 µg/g and Langra stands second with 36.33 µg/g followed by Pairi (33.56 µg/g), Sensation (28.69 µg/g) and Dashehari with 28.22 µg/g. Mangiferin content was highest in variety Arunika (49.58 µg/g) followed by Ambika (34.80 µg/g), Dashehari (33.31 µg/g), Sensation (29.66 µg/g) and Neelum (27.93 µg/g). Sensation's mature pulp has the highest quantity of β-carotene (109.58 µg/g), followed by Kesar (96.87 µg/g), Dashehari (82.13 µg/g), Mulgoa (79.99 µg/g), Arunika (74.26 µg/g), and Amrapali (70.12 µg/g). The pulp of Dashehari, Sensation, Mulgoa, Arunika, Kesar and Amrapali possessed good to moderate amount of these nutraceuticals and are beneficial for consumption at ripe stage. This study has showed the importance of nutraceutical components present in mango; meanwhile it also encourages mango growers to grow these varieties for better profitability.

Simultaneous Determination of Thirteen Iridoid Glycosides in Crude and Processed Fructus Corni from Different Areas by UPLC-MS/MS Method.

Fructus Corni (F. Corni) is the dried mature pulp of Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc.(Cornaceae), which is rich in iridoids. In this study, a simple, sensitive and rapid UPLC-MS/MS method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 13 iridoid glycosides of F. Corni from different areas. Specifically, we included five new compounds (cornusdiridoid C, cornusdiridoid E, cornusdiridoid F, 3'',5''-dehydroxycornuside and 2'-O-p-coumaroyl-kingiside) and isomers (2'-O-p-E-coumaroylloganin and 2'-O-p-Z-coumaroylloganin) for the first time in the quality markers of F. Corni. A total of 13 compounds and two pairs of isomers were well isolated and tested within just 14min. All calibration curves showed good linear regression (r2 ≥ 0.99) within the tested concentration ranges. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were in the range of 0.19-1.90and 0.38-3.76ng/mL, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precision were <3.21% and 12.49%, the RSD values of repeatability did not exceed 6.81% and the average recoveries were 90.95-113.59% for the analytes. All iridoid glycosides stabilized within 12h (RSD < 10.99%). This method has been successfully applied to the quality evaluation of crude and processed F. Corni from different areas. The determination of characteristic iridoid glycosides and isomers will provide a more reliable and comprehensive method for the evaluation of F. Corni.

Single-cell transcriptome analysis reveals development atlas of mouse molar pulp cells

Objective: Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) was used to analyze the developing mouse molars, in order to construct a spatiotemporal development atlas of pulp cells, and further to reveal the developmental process and regulatory mechanism of tooth development. Methods: Ten mandibular first molars from C57BL/6 mice in postnatal day (PN) 0 and 3 were respectively dissected and digested to obtain single-cell suspensions. scRNA-seq was performed on 10× Genomics platform. PN 7 mouse molar scRNA-seq data were obtained from our previous study. PN 0, 3, and 7 scRNA-seq data were integrated for following analysis. The initial quality control, mapping and single cell expression matrix construction were performed by Cell Ranger. Quality control, standardization, dimensional reduction and cluster analysis were performed by using Seurat. Monocle was used to generate the pseudotime trajectory. Scillus was used to perform gene ontology analysis. In order to detect the spatiotemporal change of different population of pulp cells, the marker genes of each cluster were demonstrated by RNAscope in situ hybridization. Results: There were twenty-six cell clusters within mouse molars, which were identified as eight different cell types, including dental pulp cells, dental follicle cells, epithelial cells, immune cells, endothelial cells, perivascular cells, glial cells and erythrocytes. We further re-clustered and analyzed dental pulp cells. Cluster 0 were mature pulp cells, which located at the upper portion of crown. The main functions of cluster 0 were osteogenesis and extracellular structure organization. Cluster 1 were apical papilla cells, which located at the apical part of roots, whose main functions were extracellular structure organization and organ development. Cluster 2 were cycling cells, which were actively proliferated, resided in the lower portion of the crown. Cluster 3 and 4 were preodontoblasts and odontoblasts, respectively. Their functions were closely related to biomineralization. The proportion of mature pulp cells increased with the development process, while the proportion of cycling cells and odontoblast lineage decreased. According to the expression pattern of marker genes of each cluster, we constructed a cell atlas of dental pulp. Pseudotime trajectory analysis found there were two development trajectories within dental pulp. They both started from SPARC related modular calcium binding 2 (Smoc2)+ dental papilla cells, then went through DNA topoisomerase Ⅱ alpha (Top2a)+ cycling cells, and finally divided into coxsackie virus and adenovirus receptor (Cxadr)+ mature pulp cells or dentin sialophosphoprotein (Dspp)+ odontoblasts two lineages. Conclusions: scRNA-seq could fully discover the intercellular heterogeneity of cells on transcriptome level, which provides a powerful tool to study the process and regulatory mechanism of organ development.

Determination of phenolic compound contents in fruits of Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae) from Chad

Momordica charantia L. (cucurbitaceae), is a plant whose fruits are widely consumed in Chad. Seeds, green and ripe pulps of the fruits of this plant were subject of this study. The total polyphenols, antioxidants, flavonoids and anthocyanins were evaluated by the Folin - Ciocalteu, DPPH, iron trichloride and pH-differential methods respectively. The total polyphenol obtained were 9.368 mg GAE/g for the seeds extract, 9.068 mg GAE/g for the green pulp extract and 8.505 mg GAE/g for the mature pulp extract. The total antioxidant were 2.351, 2.074 and 1.365 mg QE/g for seeds, green pulp and ripe pulp respectively. The total flavonoid was 0.818 mg QE/g for seeds, 0.812 mg QE/g for green pulp and 0.808 mg EQ/g for ripe pulp. The total anthocyanin for seed, green and ripe pulp extracts were 0.360, 0.318 and 0.238 mg/g, respectively. The results of the polyphenol assays of the samples after traditional culinary transformed, show that the thermal transformation has a negative impact which is characterized by a decrease in the polyphenol contents. Percentages of total polyphenols after culinary transformation were 11.28; 8.84 and 8.26% respectively for the extracts of green pulp, seeds and ripe pulp.

A low capital method for silicon interference in bamboo kraft pulping alkaline recovery system

The problem posed by the silicon interference in bamboo pulp black liquor has been troubling bamboo pulp mills as well as hindering the development of non-wood pulp mills. Silica is separated from bamboo pulp black liquor by acid precipitation, accompanied by the sediment of lignin, which is disadvantageous to alkali recovery system. The amount of carboxylate increases through the oxidation of lignin, and the solubility of lignin increases. So the lignin precipitation and the removal of silica can be quantified by the combination of acidification and light oxidation. For solving the problem, we separate the silicon in the black liquor through oxygen oxidation and carbon dioxide acidification without affecting the stability of the alkali recovery system. TG, combustion calorific value and visible light absorption are tested after oxidation and acidification. Finally, by comparing with the mature pulp black liquid alkali recovery system, it is concluded that when taking economic capital into consideration, oxidizing to pH 12.45(at 80 °C) and acidifying to pH 10 (at 50 °C) are suitable for our goal. In this case, the silicon removal rate reaches 76.41 wt%; the amount of separated lignin is 17.58 wt% and the calorific value loss of black liquor reaches 26.47%.

Multiomics-based dissection of citrus flavonoid metabolism using a Citrus reticulata \xd7 Poncirus trifoliata population

Deciphering the genetic basis of plant secondary metabolism will provide useful insights for genetic improvement and enhance our fundamental understanding of plant biological processes. Although citrus plants are among the most important fruit crops worldwide, the genetic basis of secondary metabolism in these plants is largely unknown. Here, we use a high-density linkage map to dissect large-scale flavonoid metabolic traits measured in different tissues (young leaf, old leaf, mature pericarp, and mature pulp) of an F1 pseudo-testcross citrus population. We detected 80 flavonoids in this population and identified 138 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for 57 flavonoids in these four tissues. Based on transcriptional profiling and functional annotation, twenty-one candidate genes were identified, and one gene encoding flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H) was functionally verified to result in naturally occurring variation in dihydrokaempferol content through genetic variations in its promoter and coding regions. The abundant data resources collected for diverse citrus germplasms here lay the foundation for complete characterization of the citrus flavonoid biosynthetic pathway and will thereby promote efficient utilization of metabolites in citrus quality improvement.

English

Pumpkin is one of the underutilized fruit-vegetables in Uganda although it is one of the crops believed to have carotenoids with pro-vitamin A activity that are not common to many other crops. While other crops are being bred or fortified to increase their nutritional benefits of β-carotene and other micro nutrients required for healthy growth and care for immunosuppressed people, the value of pumpkins in this regard remains under researched. This study sought to determine the nutritional physico-chemical parameters of selected pumpkin cultivars grown in Uganda. The seeds of 14 cultivars of pumpkin from four agro-ecological zones of Uganda were grown under similar conditions. Their mature pulp was then analyzed for their proximate, mineral and carotenoid composition including glucose, starch, crude fibre, crude fat, ash, crude protein, moisture, iron, zinc, calcium, potassium, lutein, α-carotene, trans-β-carotene, cis-β-carotene, total carotenoid and total pro-vitamin A carotenoid content using standard procedures. The proximate, calcium, potassium and the carotenoid content varied significantly across all the accessions (PE‚0.05) while the iron and zinc content did not vary significantly across all the accessions (PEƒ0.05) respectively. The results from the study show that pumpkin pulp is a good source of dietary fibre, protein, calcium, potassium, iron and carotenoids with pro-vitamin A activity. Therefore, pumpkin can be utilized in the food processing industry as a food supplement and for several other value addition avenues such as wine and flour production. Key words: Accession, carotenoid, cultivar, proximate, pumpkin, value addition.

Process and Environmental Benefit of Recycling of Waste Papers

Paper is a fundamental part of most aspects of society; worldwide a total of approximately three hundred million tons of paper are produced each day and approximately 90% of this paper is produced from mature pulp wood. In addition, the demand of paper is expected to increase. Today the finest of paper are produced all over the world. But one dismaying fact is that millions of trees are fell in a day to make paper. Increase demands of paper production and limited wood resources have directed researchers to look for appropriate additional resources of non-wood material (waste papers) for pulp and paper manufacturing. Setting up of handmade paper unit has the capability of recycling waste paper and cotton rags into fine quality handmade paper. Not only does this initiative conserve environmental resources but also helps in providing employment to pupil from the unskilled and marginalized strata of society.

Fruit Morphological Characteristics and β-carotene Content of Three Indonesian Dessert and Cooking Banana Cultivars

Approximately, 325 cultivars of bananas were found in Indonesia. They have variation in shape, taste, color of fruit pulp, essential vitamins and mineral. The β-carotene is one of essential nutrient in banana with various concentration in every cultivar. The aims of this research were to describe the morphological characteristics and to analyze β-carotene content of mature fruits of three different genomic groups of Indonesian dessert and cooking banana cultivars namely Berlin (AA/dessert), Barangan (AAA/dessert), and Kepok (ABB/cooking). Morphological characterizations of fruits were conducted according to Descriptor for Banana from International Plant Genetic Resources Institute. The β-carotene content of mature banana pulp was analyzed using High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with three replications. Banana fruit characters were analyzed based on 15 descriptors. The bananas were then subjected to clustering analysis. The result showed that β-carotene content were 27 μg 100g-1, 5 µg 100g-1, and 3 μg 100g-1 fresh weight respectively. Berlin showed the highest value of β-carotene. Cluster analyses formed two groups. The first group consists of Berlin and Barangan while the second one consists of Kepok. This study can be used as a a reference for people to consume bananas with high content of β-carotene in meeting the needs of vitamin A and as a consideration for the plant breeding especially for β-carotene improvement purpose.

Folic acid content and fruit characteristics of five Indonesian dessert banana cultivars

Ningsih R, Megia R. 2019. Folic acid content and fruit characteristics of five Indonesian dessert banana cultivars. Biodiversitas 20: 144-151. Folic acid plays an important role in the many metabolic functions of organism, especially pregnant women. Whereas banana is a fruit that rich in nutrients, high productivity, high diversity, well known, and widely consumed in many countries and by various communities from infants to elderly. The research aimed to analyze folic acid content and describe the morphology of mature fruits at three different genomic groups of five Indonesian dessert banana cultivars namely Ambon Kuning (AAA), Ambon Lumut (AAA), Raja Sereh (AAB), Raja Bulu (AAB), and Lampung (AA). The folic acid content of fruit was analyzed using HPLC equipped with a UV-vis detector. Fruit characters were analyzed based on 21 descriptors then subjected to clustering analysis. The result shows that folic acid content of mature stage was 22.26; 21.39; 22.59; 21.2; and 24.58 μg/100 g fresh weight for those five banana cultivars respectively. Lampung cultivar showed the highest value. Analysis of variance followed by DMRT at 5% probability showed that folic acid, bunch weight, fruit weight, and fruit length were significantly diverse among those five cultivars. Clustering analyses revealed that two groups were formed. The first comprises of Ambon Kuning and Ambon Lumut while the second of Raja Sereh, Lampung, and Raja Bulu. Lampung cultivar was closely related to Raja Sereh than the other cultivars. Adjusted Rand Index analyzed concluded that the immature peel color, mature pulp color, and predominant taste were the best distinctive characters. This knowledge can be used as a consideration for the plant breeding program especially in nutrition improvement.

Effect of different reverse transcription aproaches in Pru p 3 transcripts semiquantitative amplification

Reverse transcriptase transcribes the cDNA based on its previous extraction and standardization. Reverse transcription step is considered to be critical in the workflow of quantification of transcribed genes. The aim of the study was to extract total RNA by different methods and to analyse the results of the subsequent reverse transcription reaction when different commercial RT kits were used to process RNA extracted from pulp of matured peach fruit. Mature peach pulp was used in the study. The fruit of variety Vistarich was collected in summer 2017 in the orchard of Dvory nad Žitavou. Two RNA extraction methods, TRIzol® Reagent and GeneJET Plant RNA Purification Kit, were tested in to determine the suitable method for peach fruit RNA extraction. Three different cDNA reagent sets were used to transcribe 115 ng/500 ng total RNA or 11 ng/115 ng, respectively. Both variants of the primers, random hexamers as well as oligo (dT) 18, were used to anneal the target mRNA of Pru p 3 allergen following the manufacturer instructions. No specific effect was obtained in the case of peach fruit when using ethanol-extracted tissue treatment and the effect of the used extraction method was more significant. The A260/230 ratios were similar for three from four tested methods. In the case of these three methods, the A260/A230 ratios for all the extracted samples were higher than 1.9 which indicates high purity without contamination by polyphenols and polysaccharides. The specificity of obtained amplicons was proved by restriction cleavage using Tse I restriction endonuclease. This provided the cleavage of the 179 bp long product in all amplicons. Working with mature fruit meet a specific situation in the field of RNA extraction and subsequently all the downstream applications. That is, why choosing the most fitting methods and kits is a crucial step. Here, the method for the semi-quantitative analysis of the Pru p 3 allergen expressions was set up in the way that will be directly applicable for Pru p 3 expression analyses.

English

Ximenia americana popularly known as wild plum grow wildly in Brazilian semiarid region and its fruit were harvested in two maturity stages and evaluated for quality. The experimental design was completely randomized with three treatments (immature, mature pulp and seeds), and treatment effect&nbsp;was&nbsp;evaluated&nbsp;for pulp&nbsp;fraction (composed of both mesocarp and exocarp or peel) in maturation stages: immature (largest size with green colored peel), mature (largest size with yellow colored peel) and seeds of&nbsp;mature fruits,&nbsp;from&nbsp;eight&nbsp;repetitions of&nbsp;25 fruits each,&nbsp;totaling 200&nbsp;fruits per&nbsp;treatment. Fruit were separated and evaluated for physical and physicochemical variables, mineral composition, bioactive compounds content and total antioxidant activity (TAA). The X. americana grown in Brazilian semiarid region presents a great potential to further commercial exploitation. The pulp, aside its maturation stage contains high levels of lipids, proteins, sugars, starch, titratable acidity, vitamin C, yellow flavonoids, polyphenols and antioxidant activity. The seed also presents high levels of lipid, protein, starch, total extractable polyphenols and antioxidant activity. Imature pulp stands out for acidity, polyphenol, flavonoid and anthcyanin levels, while mature fruit pulp has higher yield, sugar and vitamin C levels. Seeds have higher starch, protein and lipi levels. The antioxidant activity found for wild plum pulp could be attributed to polyphenol and vitamin C contents; meanwhile, the antioxidant activity of seeds was dependent only on polyphenolic content. Pulp had higher Na, K, Mg, Ca and Fe levels, however, both seed and pulp fractions have substantial contents of P, K, Cu and Mn. &nbsp; Key words: Development, bioactive compounds, antioxidant activity, minerals, quality.

A rare case of bilateral complex odontomas: Clinical, radiological and histopathological findings

Odontoma is the most common odontogenic tumor that is radiographically and histologically characterized by the production of mature enamel, dentin, cementum and pulp tissue. It grows slowly and has nonaggressive behavior. This case report presents clinical, radiological and pathological findings of bilateral complex odontoma that is rarely in literature in a 30-year-old female patient.

The relationship between cell proliferation and differentiation and mapping of putative dental pulp stem/progenitor cells during mouse molar development by chasing BrdU-labeling

Human dental pulp contains adult stem cells. Our recent study demonstrated the localization of putative dental pulp stem/progenitor cells in the rat developing molar by chasing 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeling. However, there are no available data on the localization of putative dental pulp stem/progenitor cells in the mouse molar. This study focuses on the mapping of putative dental pulp stem/progenitor cells in addition to the relationship between cell proliferation and differentiation in the developing molar using BrdU-labeling. Numerous proliferating cells appeared in the tooth germ and the most active cell proliferation in the mesenchymal cells occurred in the prenatal stages, especially on embryonic Day 15 (E15). Cell proliferation in the pulp tissue dramatically decreased in number by postnatal Day 3 (P3) when nestin-positive odontoblasts were arranged in the cusped areas and disappeared after postnatal Week 1 (P1W). Root dental papilla included numerous proliferating cells during P5 to P2W. Three to four intraperitoneal injections of BrdU were given to pregnant ICR mice and revealed slow-cycling long-term label-retaining cells (LRCs) in the mature tissues of postnatal animals. Numerous dense LRCs postnatally decreased in number and reached a plateau after P1W when they mainly resided in the center of the dental pulp, associating with blood vessels. Furthermore, numerous dense LRCs co-expressed mesenchymal stem cell markers such as STRO-1 and CD146. Thus, dense LRCs in mature pulp tissues were believed to be dental pulp stem/progenitor cells harboring in the perivascular niche surrounding the endothelium.

Mapping of BrdU label-retaining dental pulp cells in growing teeth and their regenerative capacity after injuries

Recent studies have demonstrated that human dental pulp contains adult stem cells. A pulse of the thymidine analog BrdU given to young animals at the optimal time could clarify where slow-cycling long-term label-retaining cells (LRCs), putative adult stem cells, reside in the pulp tissue. This study focuses on the mapping of LRCs in growing teeth and their regenerative capacity after tooth injuries. Two to seven peritoneal injections of BrdU into pregnant Wistar rats revealed slow-cycling long-term dense LRCs in the mature tissues of born animals. Numerous dense LRCs were postnatally decreased in number and reached a plateau at 4 weeks after birth when they mainly resided in the center of the dental pulp, associating with blood vessels. Mature dental pulp cells were stained with Hoechst 33342 and sorted into (<0.76%) side population cells using FACS, which included dense LRCs. Some dense LRCs co-expressed mesenchymal stem cell markers such as STRO-1 or CD146. Tooth injuries caused degeneration of the odontoblast layer, and newly differentiated odontoblast-like cells contained LRCs. Thus, dense LRCs in mature pulp tissues were supposed to be dental pulp stem cells possessing regenerative capacity for forming newly differentiated odontoblast-like cells. The present study proposes the new hypothesis that both granular and dense LRCs are equipped in the dental pulp and that the dense LRCs with proliferative capacity play crucial roles in the pulpal healing process following exogenous stimuli in cooperation with the granular LRCs.

Industry- and company-level factors influencing the development of the forest energy business — insights from a Delphi Study

The global business environment of today requires industries to be increasingly agile in order to create added value. There is a particularly urgent need to innovate and redefine business models in the mature pulp and paper industry, which is continually announcing mill closures and reporting persistent profitability problems. This paper focuses on the emerging forest energy business, which appears to offer many novel opportunities for both the forest and the energy industry. We conducted a qualitative dissensus-based online Delphi study and carried out themed expert interviews in order to identify the main industry- and company-level factors that are most likely to influence the bioenergy sector, its value-creation potential and forest and energy companies' future roles in it. The Delphi technique proved to be a valuable research tool with which we were able to obtain comprehensive information on a subject that lacks historical and financial data, and yet requires input from many quarters. The results suggest that the complementary resources held by forest and energy companies make collaboration in the bioenergy business favorable. Moreover, the procurement and logistics of forest raw material appear to be key success factors in terms of yielding the most synergetic gains. Uncertainty about policy interventions nevertheless causes concern given their relatively rapid effect on the prospects of the bioenergy business.

Resveratrol Content in Strawberry Fruit Is Affected by Preharvest Conditions

This study investigated the occurrence of resveratrol in Fragaria x ananassa Duchesne and the effect of preharvest conditions on resveratrol content. Both cis- and trans-resveratrol were detected in strawberry achenes (seeds) and pulp (receptacle tissue). Resveratrol was found to be higher in achenes than in fruit pulp. The levels of resveratrol were affected by genotype variations, fruit maturation, cultural practices, and environmental conditions. High growing temperature (25 and 30 degrees C) or enriched CO 2 in the atmosphere significantly enhanced resveratrol content of strawberries. Advancing maturation also increased resveratrol content. The mature pulp and achenes contained higher amounts of resveratrol than the immature fruit. Adding compost as a soil supplement or preharvest application of methyl jasmonate (MJ) also significantly enhanced the level of resveratrol in strawberry fruit. Among the plants grown in hill plasticulture, fruits of 'Ovation (B28)', 'Mohawwk', 'Earliglow', and 'B35' had higher amounts of resveratrol than fruits of other genotypes. 'Ovation' contained the highest amount of resveratrol among strawberries grown in matted row, whereas 'Latestar' contained the least. Ten of 14 tested genotypes (all except 'Allstar', 'Delmarvel', 'Northeaster', and 'MEUS 8') had higher amounts of resveratrol when grown in hill plasticulture compared to matted row.