Plant Food Sources Research Articles

We Are What We Eat: A Stoichiometric and Ecometabolomic Study of Caterpillars Feeding on Two Pine Subspecies of Pinus sylvestris.

Many studies have addressed several plant-insect interaction topics at nutritional, molecular, physiological, and evolutionary levels. However, it is still unknown how flexible the metabolism and the nutritional content of specialist insect herbivores feeding on different closely related plants can be. We performed elemental, stoichiometric, and metabolomics analyses on leaves of two coexisting Pinus sylvestris subspecies and on their main insect herbivore; the caterpillar of the processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa). Caterpillars feeding on different pine subspecies had distinct overall metabolome structure, accounting for over 10% of the total variability. Although plants and insects have very divergent metabolomes, caterpillars showed certain resemblance to their plant-host metabolome. In addition, few plant-related secondary metabolites were found accumulated in caterpillar tissues which could potentially be used for self-defense. Caterpillars feeding on N and P richer needles had lower N and P tissue concentration and higher C:N and C:P ratios, suggesting that nutrient transfer is not necessarily linear through trophic levels and other plant-metabolic factors could be interfering. This exploratory study showed that little chemical differences between plant food sources can impact the overall metabolome of specialist insect herbivores. Significant nutritional shifts in herbivore tissues could lead to larger changes of the trophic web structure.

FoodOn: a harmonized food ontology to increase global food traceability, quality control and data integration

The construction of high capacity data sharing networks to support increasing government and commercial data exchange has highlighted a key roadblock: the content of existing Internet-connected information remains siloed due to a multiplicity of local languages and data dictionaries. This lack of a digital lingua franca is obvious in the domain of human food as materials travel from their wild or farm origin, through processing and distribution chains, to consumers. Well defined, hierarchical vocabulary, connected with logical relationships—in other words, an ontology—is urgently needed to help tackle data harmonization problems that span the domains of food security, safety, quality, production, distribution, and consumer health and convenience. FoodOn (http://foodon.org) is a consortium-driven project to build a comprehensive and easily accessible global farm-to-fork ontology about food, that accurately and consistently describes foods commonly known in cultures from around the world. FoodOn addresses food product terminology gaps and supports food traceability. Focusing on human and domesticated animal food description, FoodOn contains animal and plant food sources, food categories and products, and other facets like preservation processes, contact surfaces, and packaging. Much of FoodOn’s vocabulary comes from transforming LanguaL, a mature and popular food indexing thesaurus, into a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) OWL Web Ontology Language-formatted vocabulary that provides system interoperability, quality control, and software-driven intelligence. FoodOn compliments other technologies facilitating food traceability, which is becoming critical in this age of increasing globalization of food networks.

Plant and supplementary food sources effect the development of Dicyphus errans (Hemiptera: Miridae)

Dicyphus errans (Wolff) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an omnivorous predator of several pests attacking tomato and other vegetable crops. The nymphal development of D. errans was studied in the presence of Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) eggs with or without a water source and in the presence of a leaf of cucumber, eggplant or tomato supplemented with variable food types (E. kuehniella eggs, Artemia sp. cysts, pollen or milk powder) or without the provision of any food. Water provision was found to be essential for the completion of nymphal development even when animal food was offered to predators. When nymphs foraged on leaves in the absence of any food type, development was significantly more favoured on eggplant and cucumber than on tomato. E. kuehniella eggs and Artemia sp. cysts enhanced development of D. errans in comparison to milk powder and pollen. Development and female weight were improved when the food types were offered to the nymphs on a plant leaf than when were provided together with only water. This study contributes to understanding the importance of water vs. plant feeding for the development of D. errans and reveals implications for its mass rearing and application in biological control.

Diet selectivity in a terrestrial forest invertebrate, the Auckland tree wētā, across three habitat zones.

Insects are important but overlooked components of forest ecosystems in New Zealand. For many insect species, information on foraging patterns and trophic relationships is lacking. We examined diet composition and selectivity in a large‐bodied insect, the Auckland tree wētā Hemideina thoracica, in three habitat zones in a lowland New Zealand forest. We asked whether H. thoracica selectively forage from available plant food sources, and whether these choices were lipid‐rich compared to nonpreferred available plants. We also identified the proportion of invertebrates in their frass as a proxy for omnivory. From reconnaissance plot sampling, together with fecal fragment analysis, we report that more than 93% of individual tree wētā had eaten invertebrates before capture. Additionally, wētā in the highest elevation hillslope habitat zone consumed significantly fewer species of plants on average than wētā on the low‐elevation terrace habitat. Upper hillslope wētā also had the highest average number of invertebrate fragments in their frass, significantly more than wētā in the low‐elevation terrace habitat zone. Wētā showed high variability in the consumption of fruit and seeds across all habitat zones. Generally, we did not observe diet differences between the sexes (although it appears that male wētā in the mid‐hillslope habitat ate fruits and seeds more voraciously than females), suggesting that the sexes have similar niche breadths and display similar degrees of omnivorous behavior. Extraction of leaf lipids demonstrated a range of lipid content values in available plants, and Ivlev's Electivity Index indicated that plant species which demonstrated high electivity tended to have higher concentrations of lipids in their leaves. Our findings indicate that H. thoracica forage omnivorously and selectively, and hence play multiple roles in native ecosystems and food webs.

Abstract MP053: Dietary Trimethylamine Intake and Cardiovascular Mortality Among Urban Chinese Adults

Background: Trimethylamine (TMA)-containing nutrients (choline, betaine and carnitine) are dietary precursors of a gut microbial-derived metabolite, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO). Studies have suggested that elevated TMAO contributes to atherosclerosis and increased mortality in cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients. However, epidemiological evidence remains limited regarding whether high TMA intake may increase CVD mortality. No population-based study has evaluated animal vs. plant food-derived TMA in relation to CVD. Objective: We examined dietary TMA, from animal-source foods (e.g., eggs, red meat and fish) and/or from plant foods (e.g., soy foods, legumes and vegetables), in association with total CVD mortality and mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) and ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. We also evaluated whether the associations were modified by food sources of TMA and by major CVD risk factors. Methods: Included were 73216 women and 61190 men from two prospective cohort studies of Chinese adults. They were 40-74 years of age, free of cancer and with a plausible energy intake at baseline. Usual diets were assessed using food-frequency questionnaires. Dietary TMA intake was calculated using the USDA database. Vital status and cause of death were obtained via linkages with the vital statistics registry. Cox model was used to estimate HRs and 95% CIs. Results: During a mean follow-up of 12.5 years, we documented 3740 CVD deaths. After adjusting for potential confounders, including sociodemographics, lifestyle, disease history, and other dietary risk factors, high TMA intake was associated with increased mortality from total CVD and CHD–HR (95% CI) in the highest vs. lowest quintile of TMA intake was 1.33 (1.15, 1.53) for CVD mortality and 1.60 (1.25, 2.06) for CHD mortality; both p-trend=0.0001. A positive trend of association was also observed for ischemic stroke mortality (HR [95% CI] =1.31 [0.99, 1.74]), but not for hemorrhagic stroke mortality. With mutual adjustment, animal- and plant-sourced TMA showed similar magnitude of positive associations with CVD and CHD mortality–HR (95% CI) in the highest vs. lowest quintile was 1.13 (0.99, 1.29) for animal-TMA and 1.19 (1.07, 1.33) for plant-TMA related to CVD mortality, and 1.33 (1.05, 1.67) for animal-TMA and 1.29 (1.07, 1.57) for plant-TMA related to CHD mortality. The TMA-CVD mortality association seemed more evident in men than in women and among adults with higher socioeconomic status, higher waist-hip ratios, higher refined carbohydrate intakes, or diabetes, although no interactions were statistically significant. Conclusion: Our study suggests that high TMA intake, from either animal or plant food sources, is associated with increased mortality from atherosclerotic CVD among urban Chinese adults. Potential mechanism involving gut microbial production of TMAO needs to be investigated in future studies.

β-carotene Content of Some Commonly Consumed Vegetables and Fruits Available in Delhi, India

Most of the vitamin A in the diet comes from plant food sources in developing countries. This study was designed with an objective of determining β-carotene content of a total of 26 types of green leafy vegetables, tubers, other vegetables and fruits obtained from four wholesale markets in Delhi, India using HPLC. There was a wide variation in β-carotene content of green leafy vegetables, with means ranging from 2199 μg/100 g in Basella rubra to 7753 μg/100 g in Amaranthus gangeticus. A large variation was observed in β-carotene content of fruits and the mango varieties tested, ranging from undetectable levels in strawberry and 808.60 μg/100 g in totapuri mango up to 11789 μg/100 g in alphonso mango. Approximately 65 g and 100 g of a green leafy vegetable would meet daily requirement of a preschooler and older child/adult respectively. Mango has considerable amount of β-carotene, and consuming a medium-sized bowl by preschool children would meet 99% of Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA). The information generated is useful in identifying types of fruits and vegetables with higher concentration of the provitamin A in low income economies where fruits and vegetables are expensive. Individuals need to consume only small quantities of these vitamin A rich foods to meet daily requirement.

Changes in Polyphenol Content of Newly Released Varieties of Wheat during Different Processing Methods

Background: Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is the most important food crop in India and most important cereal grain. It is widely consumed in northern India. It is the leading source of all the macronutrients like proteins (especially vegetable protein), energy and carbohydrates and micronutrients like minerals (iron, calcium, zinc, potassium etc.) and B vitamins. It is currently second to rice in terms of total production (tonnes) as the main human food crop. The wheat flour besides various nutrients also contains anti-nutrients like phytates, oxalates, polyphenols, tannins etc. Polyphenol are the phytochemicals i.e., compounds which are found abundantly in natural plant food sources that have antioxidant properties. These phytochemicals are found in many types of plant foods, such as grains like wheat, pearl millet, maize etc., legumes like peanuts and soybeans, nuts, and seeds. There are various factors which affect the polyphenol content of plants and these include environmental factors, degree of ripeness at the time of harvesting, processing and storage. Polyphenolic content of the foods are greatly affected by environmental factors as well as edaphic factors like soil type, sun exposure, rainfall etc. Methods: The treatments like soaking, roasting, sprouting and malting reduce the polyphenolic content in wheat varieties. Two newly released varieties of wheat (WH-1080 and WH-1025) and one conventional wheat variety C-306 were collected from the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, CCS HAU, Hisar in a single lot. All the three wheat varieties obtained were cleaned, washed well under running tap water to get rid of all the dust, soil particles and foreign matter adhered to the grains, dried and ground to flour using conventional flour mill and processed in three different ways roasting, sprouting and malting and then used for nutritional evaluation of raw and processed wheat varieties and interpretation. Results: Polyphenol content in wheat varieties which were unprocessed ranged from 234.15-338.4 mg/100 g (on dry weight basis) and in processed wheat varieties from 218.98-338.4 mg/100 g. Processing treatments showed significant decrease in the polyphenol levels. Lowest polyphenol content was found in sprouted WH-1080 variety 218.98 mg/100 g. Sprouting significantly (P<0.05) reduced the polyphenol content as compared to malting and roasting. Conclusion: Sprouting treatment was found to be most advantageous in reducing the polyphenol content in all the wheat varieties when compared to other treatments like roasting and malting.

Plant MicroRNAs-Novel Players in Natural Medicine?

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) represent a class of small non-coding RNAs that act as efficient gene expression regulators and thus play many important roles in living organisms. Due to their involvement in several known human pathological and pathogenic states, miRNA molecules have become an important issue in medicine and gained the attention of scientists from the pharmaceutical industry. In recent few years, a growing number of studies have provided evidence that miRNAs may be transferred from one species to another and regulate gene expression in the recipients’ cells. The most intriguing results revealed that stable miRNAs derived from food plants may enter the mammals’ circulatory system and, after reaching the target, inhibit the production of specific mammalian protein. Part of the scientific community has perceived this as an attractive hypothesis that may provide a foundation for novel therapeutic approaches. In turn, others are convinced about the “false positive” effect of performed experiments from which the mentioned results were achieved. In this article, we review the recent literature that provides evidence (from both fronts) of dietary, plant miRNA uptake and functionality in various consumers. Additionally, we discuss possible miRNA transport mechanisms from plant food sources to human cells.

Romanian knowledge and attitudes regarding dietary fibers

Introduction: Presently, the scientists recognize the health benefits of food fibers in the menu and also plant food sources are at high interest both for general population and food companies. The food companies are responsible for a clear nutrition labelling that will assist consumers to make informed and healthy choices and health providers has to inform the population about the benefits of fibers. The aim of our study was to evaluate the Romanian knowledge and attitudes regarding dietary fibers from food products.Materials and methods: We made a qualitative survey based on a questionnaire applied in 2015, over a period of 6 months, over 670 Romanian consumers. It was focused on testing the attitudes and knowledge towards ingestion of foods rich in fibers. For all data analysis we used the software SPSS, from IBM Inc.Results and Discussions: Our results showed that the knowledge about dietary fibers and also the ingestion of food products rich in fibers were low, and most of the subjects didn’t have any interest to read the nutritional information from food labels related to fibers. The female participants ate more whole grains and fruits than males and pay more attention to food labelling, the Romanian people prefer to stay and eat home than at restaurants especially in rural areas, and the knowledge about fibers benefits was significantly related to education and urban location.Conclusion: We underline the needs for more efficient community interventions and proper information about the importance of dietary fibers for our health and also to improve and disseminate our nutritional standards and diet recommendation among population.

Isotopic evidence of breastfeeding and weaning practices in a hunter–gatherer population during the Late/Final Jomon period in eastern Japan

Jomon hunter–gatherers in Japan commonly show Neolithic characteristics, such as intensive utilization of potteries, grinding stones, and many plant food sources. In this study, breastfeeding and weaning practices in a Jomon hunter–gatherer population are investigated to evaluate two hypotheses concerning the relations between utilization of potteries/plant foods and early weaning and children's diet around and after the weaning process. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were investigated for 46 subadult and 47 adult human skeletons excavated from the Yoshigo site of the Late/Final Jomon period (approximately 4000–2300 years BP) in eastern Japan. A new analytical procedure was developed and residuals of nitrogen isotope ratios were calculated to cancel out the effect of positive correlation in the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios. Age changes in the residuals showed that the age at the end of weaning in the Yoshigo population was 3.5 years (2.3–5.5 years in 95% credible interval), which is not younger than that in typical non-industrialized populations and the other skeletal hunter–gatherer populations. Furthermore, most infants were probably weaned using a combination of the same food sources as those eaten by adults. These results suggest that the utilization of pottery and plant food per se is not a sole determinant of the age at the end of weaning in past human populations, and a special diet was not always applied during and just after the weaning process.

Utilization of plant food resources by phytoseiid mite species with different feeding habits

To examine the utilization of plant food resources by the phytoseiid mite species Amblyseius eharai Amitai & Swirski, Euseius sojaensis (Ehara), and Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor) (Acarina: Phytoseiidae), we collected phytoseiid mites on peach leaves in Japanese peach orchards. Then, phytoseiid mite samples that had been estimated to contain a single phytoseiid mite species using quantitative sequencing were selected. Simultaneously, we surveyed pollen available for phytoseiid mites in peach orchards and selected Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koeler (Poales: Poaceae), Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. (Poales: Poaceae), and Pinus densiflora Siebold & Zucc. (Pinales: Pinaceae) as pollen source plants. Subsequently, the internal transcribed spacer sequences of ribosomal genes or the non-coding region of the chloroplast DNA of the three plant species were amplified from phytoseiid mite samples using polymerase chain reaction. Results showed that phytoseiid mite species with different feeding habits use plant food sources, possibly pollens, of D. ciliaris and P. densiflora.

Plant food sources and stone tools’ function at the site of Shunshanji based on starch grain analysis

The upper-middle Huai River valley (HRV) is located in the transition zone in the middle of eastern China. Previous studies have shown that the past populations in the upper HRV obtained plant food through gathering and cultivation of both rice and millet during the middle Neolithic. However, for the middle HRV it is not very clear what methods were used by humans to obtain plant food in that time. In this paper, starch grain analysis was carried out on 17 stone tools and 29 cauldron pottery sherds unearthed at Shunshanji (8.5–7.0 kyr BP), which is known as the earliest Neolithic site in the middle HRV excavated so far. Here, ancient starches from Coix lacryma-jobi, Triticeae, Oryza sativa, Trichosanthes kirilowii and one unidentified specie were recovered. This study contributes to the limited knowledge of food strategies as observed in the middle HRV. It demonstrates that both gathering and cultivation of rice took place during the middle-Neolithic. Among the identified species, Coix lacryma-jobi appears to have been the main plant food at Shunshanji. Moreover, it is clear that Oryza sativa was not consumed as much as other plant species according to the occurrence frequency of different starch grains. Starch grains were also found on the used surfaces of grinding stone implements as well as pestles, which means that these stone tools were used for food processing. In addition, axes from Shunshanji may also have been used for food processing as well as wood working because starches were also found on the edge of axes. Information about subsistence strategies and tool use at Shunshanji will also be helpful to understanding the utilization of plants and agricultural development in the middle HRV during the early-middle Neolithic period.

Pickleworm (Diaphania nitidalis Cramer) Neonate Feeding Preferences and the Implications for a Push-Pull Management System.

Push-pull cropping approaches for pest management target the oviposition behavior of adult females. However, insect larvae may move from the natal host and undermine the effectiveness of this approach. We investigated the longevity and feeding preference of pickleworm neonates (Diaphania nitidalis Cramer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)) in relation to a potential push-pull cropping approach incorporating squash as a trap crop (pull) and watermelon as a deterrent intercrop (push) to protect a main crop of cantaloupe. Neonates could survive between 24 to 64 h without food, indicating they have some initial energy reserves to keep alive while in search of a suitable feeding site. To assess neonate feeding preferences, naive neonates were given the choice of five foods; leaves of squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, bean, and a pinto bean-based artificial diet. To assess if previous feeding experience influences neonate food source preference, neonates were allowed to feed on one of the five foods for 24 h and then given the same choice of the five food sources. The neonates, with or without previous feeding experience, did not appear to have a significant preference for any of the cucurbits: squash, cantaloupe, or watermelon, but they did prefer a cucurbit to the bean leaf or artificial diet. Feeding experience on one of these non-host foods made neonates more accepting of these food sources in the choice arena even when host plant food sources became available. It appears that neonate feeding preferences of pickleworm would neither hinder nor enhance the potential success of the proposed cucurbits to be used in a potential push-pull cropping approach for pickleworm management.

DNA barcode for the identification of the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis plant feeding preferences in a tropical urban environment.

Little is known about the feeding behavior of hematophagous insects that require plant sugar to complete their life cycles. We studied plant feeding of Lutzomyia longipalpis sand flies, known vectors of Leishmania infantum/chagasi parasites, in a Brazilian city endemic with visceral leishmaniasis. The DNA barcode technique was applied to identify plant food source of wild-caught L. longipalpis using specific primers for a locus from the chloroplast genome, ribulose diphosphate carboxylase. DNA from all trees or shrubs within a 100-meter radius from the trap were collected to build a barcode reference library. While plants from the Anacardiaceae and Meliaceae families were the most abundant at the sampling site (25.4% and 12.7% of the local plant population, respectively), DNA from these plant families was found in few flies; in contrast, despite its low abundance (2.9%), DNA from the Fabaceae family was detected in 94.7% of the sand flies. The proportion of sand flies testing positive for DNA from a given plant family was not significantly associated with abundance, distance from the trap, or average crown expansion of plants from that family. The data suggest that there may indeed be a feeding preference of L. longipalpis for plants in the Fabaceae family.

English

Mineral deficiency especially that of iron and zinc has continuously emerged as a public health issue in developing countries, probably due to the over dependence on plant food sources, which contain more than enough minerals to meet the daily requirement but have a low bioavailability for physiological purposes. Experiments on in-vitro bioavailability were carried out on dry and green shelled beans. In-vitro bioavailability of iron and zinc in bean samples was determined by HCl-pepsin (HCl-P) and pepsin-pancreatin (P-P) method. The amount of the proxy bioavailable minerals were obtained by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. In both minerals there was a small but significant (P=0.009) and (P=0.0003) increase in in-vitro bioavailability after cooking. The average increase for all the varieties was 3.2 to 3.4% for iron and 1.3 to 1.6% for zinc. The two minerals were more available in cooked green shelled beans compared to dry ones. The highest difference for iron bioavailability was observed in Maharagi soja (12.9%) while lowest was in TY 3396-12 (1.4%). The highest observed for zinc was 3% in G59/1-2. Vulnerable groups who suffer from iron and zinc deficiency should be encouraged to consume green shelled beans more often in comparison to dry beans to improve their mineral uptake. Key words: In-vitro bioavailability, green, shelled, dry beans, minerals.

Molecular Cloning and the Expression Profile of Vitellogenin in Relation to Tissue and Food Source inApolygus lucorum(Hemiptera: Miridae)

Vitellogenin proteins (Vgs) are precursors of the major egg yolk proteins in many oviparous vertebrates and invertebrates. Here we cloned the full-length cDNA of the Vg gene of Apolygus lucorum , an omnivorous mirid bug that feeds on various agricultural crops and small insects. The gene has 6,131 base pairs (bp) with an open reading frame (ORF) of 5,988 bp, encoding a protein with 1,996 amino acids, with molecular mass 218.3 kDa and isoelectric point 9.02. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Vg gene has a high similarity with that in Hemiptera insects and was most closely related to the rice leaf bug, Trigonotylus caelestialium . The expression of Vg gene was significantly higher in the fat body than in other tissues in females (ovary, hemolymph, gut, and malpighian tubule). Vg gene expression was extremely low in newly emerged adult females and increased with age. The effect of different food sources on the expression level of Vg in adult females was investigated after they were fed on green bean pods (Gb), H. armigera eggs (He), or a combination of green bean pods and H. armigera eggs (GbHe). The results showed that transcript level of Vg gene in females was significantly higher on the GbHe diet than on Gb or He. Our results demonstrate that A. lucorum can acquire nutrients from both plant and animal origin food sources, and the combined food sources significantly facilitated Vg synthesis.

Folic acid supplementation at lower doses increases oxidative stress resistance and longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans

Folic acid (FA) is an essential nutrient that the human body needs but cannot be synthesized on its own. Fortified foods and plant food sources such as green leafy vegetables, beans, fruits, and juices are good sources of FA to meet the daily requirements of the body. The aim was to evaluate the effect of dietary FA levels on the longevity of well-known experimental aging model Caenorhabditis elegans. Here, we show for first time that FA extends organism life span and causes a delay in aging. We observed that FA inhibits mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and insulin/insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling pathways to control both oxidative stress levels and life span. The expression levels of stress- and life span-relevant gerontogenes, viz. daf-16, skn-1, and sir. 2.1, and oxidative enzymes, such as glutathione S-transferase 4 (GST-4) and superoxide dismutase 3 (SOD-3), were also found to be highly enhanced to attenuate the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage and to delay the aging process. Our study promotes the use of FA to mitigate abiotic stresses and other aging-related ailments.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate in inflammatory bowel disease and colitis-associated colon cancer: the fat's in the fire.

Colitis-associated colon cancer (CAC) is a pathological condition defined by the development of colon cancer in patients afflicted by Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC), two idiopathic diseases of the gut which together comprise the disease group called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). When IBD involves the colon, affected patients face an increased risk of developing colon cancer compared to the general population. The phenomenon of CAC represents one of the most convincing forms of evidence linking the processes of inflammation, oxidative stress and carcinogenesis. A greater understanding of the molecular events driving CAC could reveal new strategies to treat IBD and reduce the incidence of CAC. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive lipid produced through degradation of endogenous and dietary mammalian sphingolipids containing the long chain base sphingosine. S1P signals through a family of five G protein-coupled receptors. In addition, it activates nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), two transcriptional regulators that serve as master switches in inflammation and carcinogenesis. Through these and other mechanisms, a causal role for S1P in inflammatory conditions including colitis and CAC has been implicated. In contrast to S1P, dietary sphingolipids called sphingadienes derived from plant food sources cannot be converted to S1P and exhibit anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive activities, reducing colitis and CAC in mouse models. In this review, we summarize recent findings implicating S1P signaling and metabolism in the pathogenesis of IBD and CAC. The potential role of oxidative stress in modulating S1P is also discussed. Further, we propose the hypothesis that dietary sphingolipids may promote or prevent CAC depending on their ability to be converted to S1P.

Main nutrient patterns are associated with prospective weight change in adults from 10 European countries.

Various food patterns have been associated with weight change in adults, but it is unknown which combinations of nutrients may account for such observations. We investigated associations between main nutrient patterns and prospective weight change in adults. This study includes 235,880 participants, 25-70years old, recruited between 1992 and 2000 in 10 European countries. Intakes of 23 nutrients were estimated from country-specific validated dietary questionnaires using the harmonized EPIC Nutrient DataBase. Four nutrient patterns, explaining 67% of the total variance of nutrient intakes, were previously identified from principal component analysis. Body weight was measured at recruitment and self-reported 5years later. The relationship between nutrient patterns and annual weight change was examined separately for men and women using linear mixed models with random effect according to center controlling for confounders. Mean weight gain was 460g/year (SD 950) and 420g/year (SD 940) for men and women, respectively. The annual differences in weight gain per one SD increase in the pattern scores were as follows: principal component (PC) 1, characterized by nutrients from plant food sources, was inversely associated with weight gain in men (-22g/year; 95% CI -33 to -10) and women (-18g/year; 95% CI -26 to -11). In contrast, PC4, characterized by protein, vitamin B2, phosphorus, and calcium, was associated with a weight gain of +41g/year (95% CI +2 to +80) and +88g/year (95% CI +36 to +140) in men and women, respectively. Associations with PC2, a pattern driven by many micro-nutrients, and with PC3, a pattern driven by vitamin D, were less consistent and/or non-significant. We identified two main nutrient patterns that are associated with moderate but significant long-term differences in weight gain in adults.

The Enterobacterium Trabulsiella odontotermitis Presents Novel Adaptations Related to Its Association with Fungus-Growing Termites.

Fungus-growing termites rely on symbiotic microorganisms to help break down plant material and to obtain nutrients. Their fungal cultivar, Termitomyces, is the main plant degrader and food source for the termites, while gut bacteria complement Termitomyces in the degradation of foodstuffs, fixation of nitrogen, and metabolism of amino acids and sugars. Due to the community complexity and because these typically anaerobic bacteria can rarely be cultured, little is known about the physiological capabilities of individual bacterial members of the gut communities and their associations with the termite host. The bacterium Trabulsiella odontotermitis is associated with fungus-growing termites, but this genus is generally understudied, with only two described species. Taking diverse approaches, we obtained a solid phylogenetic placement of T. odontotermitis among the Enterobacteriaceae, investigated the physiology and enzymatic profiles of T. odontotermitis isolates, determined the localization of the bacterium in the termite gut, compared draft genomes of two T. odontotermitis isolates to those of their close relatives, and examined the expression of genes relevant to host colonization and putative symbiont functions. Our findings support the hypothesis that T. odontotermitis is a facultative symbiont mainly located in the paunch compartment of the gut, with possible roles in carbohydrate metabolism and aflatoxin degradation, while displaying adaptations to association with the termite host, such as expressing genes for a type VI secretion system which has been demonstrated to assist bacterial competition, colonization, and survival within hosts.