BACKGROUND: Sorbus rufopilosa, a tsema rowan, is a species of the small ornamental trees in the genus Sorbus and the family Rosaceae found in East Asia. The bioactivities of S. rufopilosa have not yet been fully determined. The objective of this study is to evaluate the antioxidant and anticancer effects of ethanol extract of S. rufopilosa (EESR) and to determine the molecular mechanism of its anticancer activity in human colon carcinoma HT29 cells. METHODS: To examine the antioxidant activity of EESR, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity assay was performed. Inhibitory effect of EESR on cancer cell growth and proliferation was determined by water-soluble tetrazolium salt assay. To investigate the mechanism of EESR-mediated cytotoxicity, HT29 cells were treated with various concentrations of EESR and the induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry, 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining, and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: EESR showed significant antioxidant activity and inhibitory effect on HT29 cell growth in a dose-dependent manner. EESR induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase in a dose-dependent manner by modulating cyclin B, cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1), and CDK inhibitor p21 expression. EESR-induced apoptosis was associated with the upregulation of p53, a death receptor Fas, and a pro-apoptotic protein Bax and the activation of caspase 3, 8, and 9, resulting in the degradation of PARP. CONCLUSIONS: EESR possessing antioxidant activity efficiently inhibits proliferation of HT29 cells by inducing both cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. EESR may be a possible candidate for the anticancer drug development.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Apoptosis* ; Blotting, Western ; Caspase 3 ; CDC2 Protein Kinase ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints* ; Cell Cycle* ; Colon* ; Cyclin B ; Ethanol ; Far East ; Flow Cytometry ; HT29 Cells* ; Humans* ; Rosacea ; Rosaceae ; Sorbus* ; Trees ; Up-Regulation

Diets high in fruits and vegetables are recommended to maintain health. However, accurate fruit intake evaluation is hard and high sugar content in most of the fruits suggest possible negative relationships with health indices. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the fruit intake status of adolescents and to examine the relationship between fruit intake and body mass index (BMI). For this, 400 middle and high school students were surveyed for their fruit eating attitude, preference, and intake level for fruit along with the evaluation of their relationship with anthropometric measures. As for fruit preference, the most frequent answer was 'like very much' (60.0%) and the preference of fruit was significantly higher in females than in males (p < 0.01). The highest answer to the reason to like fruits was 'delicious' (67.0%). The highest proportion of subjects replied that the amount of fruit intake was similar in both school meals and at home (39.3%) and unlikable feeling of fruits was 'sour' (47.0%). The favorite fruit was the apple followed by oriental melon, grape, Korean cherry, cherry, tangerine/orange, hallabong, plum, mango, persimmon, peach, pear/kiwi, apricot, Japanese apricot, and fig in order. As for the number of serving sizes per person were 2.9 times/day for male students and 3.0 times/day for female students showing no significant difference. The frequency of eating fruits in the evening showed a significant positive correlation with body weight (p < 0.05) and BMI (p < 0.01), respectively. In summary of these study findings, it was found that the fruit preference of adolescents was relatively high and their fruit intake level satisfied the recommended number of intake. The number of evening fruit intake had a significantly positive correlation with body weight and BMI. Further studies are required to examine the relationship between fruit intake and health indicators.
Adolescent* ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Body Mass Index* ; Body Weight ; Cucurbitaceae ; Diet ; Diospyros ; Eating ; Female ; Fruit* ; Humans ; Male ; Mangifera ; Meals ; Prunus armeniaca ; Prunus persica ; Prunus domestica ; Serving Size ; Vegetables ; Vitis

PURPOSE: Pollen-food allergy syndrome (PFAS) is an immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergy in pollinosis patients caused by raw fruits and vegetables and is the most common food allergy in adults. However, there has been no nationwide study on PFAS in Korea. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and clinical characteristics of PFAS in Korea. METHODS: Twenty-two investigators participated in this study, in which patients with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and/or bronchial asthma with pollen allergy were enrolled. The questionnaires included demographic characteristics, a list of fruits and vegetables, and clinical manifestations of food allergy. Pollen allergy was diagnosed by skin prick test and/or measurement of the serum level of specific IgE. RESULTS: A total of 648 pollinosis patients were enrolled. The prevalence of PFAS was 41.7% (n = 270). PFAS patients exhibited cutaneous (43.0%), respiratory (20.0%), cardiovascular (3.7%) or neurologic symptoms (4.8%) in addition to oropharyngeal symptoms. Anaphylaxis was noted in 8.9% of the PFAS patients. Seventy types of foods were linked to PFAS; e.g., peach (48.5%), apple (46.7%), kiwi (30.4%), peanut (17.4%), plum (16.3%), chestnut (14.8%), pineapple (13.7%), walnut (14.1%), Korean melon (12.6%), tomato (11.9%), melon (11.5%) and apricot (10.7%). Korean foods such as taro/taro stem (8.9%), ginseong (8.2%), perilla leaf (4.4%), bellflower root (4.4%), crown daisy (3.0%), deodeok (3.3%), kudzu root (3.0%) and lotus root (2.6%) were also linked to PFAS. CONCLUSIONS: This was the first nationwide study of PFAS in Korea. The prevalence of PFAS was 41.7%, and 8.9% of the PFAS patients had anaphylaxis. These results will provide clinically useful information to physicians.
Adult ; Ananas ; Anaphylaxis ; Arachis ; Asthma ; Codonopsis ; Crowns ; Cucurbitaceae ; Food Hypersensitivity ; Fruit ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity* ; Immunoglobulin E ; Immunoglobulins ; Juglans ; Korea ; Lotus ; Lycopersicon esculentum ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Perilla ; Pollen ; Prevalence ; Prunus armeniaca ; Prunus domestica ; Prunus persica ; Pueraria ; Research Personnel ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal* ; Skin ; Vegetables

The purpose of this study was to identify dietitians' perception and purchasing pattern of fruits in elementary school lunch program. This study was conducted using mail survey from September 15 to October 30, 2006. Survey questionnaire was developed based on in-depth interview with three school food service dietitians. A total of 100 school food service dietitians in Seoul were participated. Based on the frequency analysis results, over half of respondents(69%) provides fruits every week, and 23% of respondents provides them twice a week. Strawberry, watermelon, apple, and mandarin were identified as the most frequently served fruits in Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, respectively. Sixty two percent of respondents indicated they offered imported fruits, such as banana and pineapple, less than 10% of total fruits. Ninety three percent of respondents selected private contract when they purchase fruits, and forty four percent of dietitians decided fruits purchasing procedure by themselves. Respondents addressed "Apples and Pears were appropriate for a dessert." and "Apples and Pears supply nutrition such as calorie and vitamin." as the advantages of offering apples and pears in school lunch menu. They also indicated difficulty in preparation work and many leftovers as the disadvantages of offering apples and pears. When purchasing apples and pears, dietitians considered taste as the first criteria and price as the second. Respondents perceived that elementary school students preferred apples and pears in a neutral level. Respondents also had higher preference for an-sim apples which can be eaten without peeling for school lunch menu and higher intentions to provide in school lunch menu. The survey results also found that respondents' intention to offer apples in school lunch menu was higher than intentions to offer pears. The implications to increase the chance of fruits offering in school lunch menu were discussed.
Ananas ; Citrullus ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Food Services ; Fragaria ; Fruit* ; Humans ; Intention ; Lunch* ; Malus* ; Musa ; Nutritionists ; Postal Service ; Pyrus* ; Seoul

Eight species of Marssonina parasitic on 21 species of host plants from Korea are described and illustrated. They are Marssonina brunnea (Ellis & Everh.) Magnus, M. capsulicola (Rostr.) Magnus, M. celastri H.D. Shin & H.T. Lee, M. coronaria (Ellis & Davis) Davis, M. fragariae (Lib.) Kleb., M. juglandis (Lib.) Magnus, M. rosae (Lib.) Died. and M. sennenis (Gonz. Frag.) Vassiljevsky & Karak. Of these, M. capsulicola and M. coronaria sometimes poss three-celled conidia and M. sennenis is characterized by a short appendage at the basal end of the conidia. Morphological features of conidia and host ranges were of taxonomic values for species delimitation.
Fragaria ; Host Specificity ; Korea* ; Rosa ; Spores, Fungal

Plants have a memory function for the environmental stress they have suffered. When they are subjected to repeated environmental stress, they can quickly and better activate the response and adaptation mechanism to environmental stress, thus realizing long-term stable reproduction. However, most of the relevant studies are applied to crops and Arabidopsis thaliana rather than medicinal plants about the improvement of plant growth status and the effect on phytoalexin biosynthesis. In this study, yeast extract(YE) was used as an elicitor to simulate biotic stress, and the changes in biomass and the content of some secondary metabolites were measured by giving repeated stresses to Sorbus aucuparia suspension cell(SASC). The results showed that the accumulation levels of biomass and some secondary metabolites in SASC subjected to repeated stress are significantly increased at some time points compared with single stress. A phenomenon that SASC can memorize biotic stress is confirmed in this study and influences phytoalexin accumulation in SASC. Furthermore, the work laid the groundwork for research into the transgenerational stress memory mechanism of medicinal plant.
Cells, Cultured ; Secondary Metabolism ; Sorbus ; Stress, Physiological

Docynia longiunguis is a plant uniquely present in China and is of high edible and medicinal value. The analysis of its chloroplast genome will help clarify the phylogenetic relationship among Docynia and facilitate the development and utilization of D. longiunguis resources. Based on the alignment of chloroplast genome sequences of related species, the phylogeny and codon preference were analyzed. The total length of D. longiunguis chloroplast genome sequence was 158 914 bp (GenBank accession number is MW367027), with an average GC content of 36.7%. The length of the large single-copy (LSC), the small single-copy (SSC), and inverted repeats (IRs) are 87 020 bp, 19 156 bp, and 26 369 bp, respectively. A total of 102 functional genes were annotated, including 72 protein-coding genes, 26 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. The best model for constructing phylogenetic tree was TVM+F+R2. D. longiunguis and Docynia indica were clustered into a single group, while Docynia and Malus were clustered into a single group. Comparison of the chloroplast genome sequences of D. longiunguis and its five related species revealed that trnY (GUA)-psbD, ndhC-trnV (UAC), accD-psaI, psbZ-trnfM (CAU), ndhF-trnL gene regions varied greatly. The nucleic acid diversity analysis showed that there were 11 high variation areas with nucleotide variability > 0.01, all were located in the LSC and SSC regions. Except for D. longiunguis, the trnH genes in other sequences were located at the IRs/LSC junction and did not cross the boundary. Codon preference analysis showed that D. longiunguis chloroplast genome has the largest number of isoleucine (Ile) codons, up to 1 205. D. longiunguis has the closest genetic relationship with Malus baccata, Malus sieboldii, Malus hupehensis and Chaenomeles sinensis. Its chloroplast genome codon prefers to end with A/T. The chloroplast genome of D. longiunguis and other Rosaceae chloroplast genomes showed great differences in gene distribution in four boundary regions, while relatively small differences from the chloroplast genomes of Docynia delavayi and D. indica of the same genus were observed. The genome annotation, phylogenetic analysis and sequence alignment of chloroplast genome of D. longiunguis may facilitate the identification, development and utilization of this species.
Codon Usage ; Genome, Chloroplast ; Genomics ; Phylogeny ; Rosaceae

The aims of this study were to develop strategies and algorithms of calculating food commodity intake suitable for exposure assessment of residual chemicals by using the food intake database of Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). In this study, apples and their processed food products were chosen as a model food for accurate calculation of food commodity intakes uthrough the recently developed Korea food commodity intake calculation (KFCIC) software. The average daily intakes of total apples in Korea Health Statistics were 29.60 g in 2008, 32.40 g in 2009, 34.30 g in 2010, 28.10 g in 2011, and 24.60 g in 2012. The average daily intakes of apples by KFCIC software was 2.65 g higher than that by Korea Health Statistics. The food intake data in Korea Health Statistics might have less reflected the intake of apples from mixed and processed foods than KFCIC software has. These results can affect outcome of risk assessment for residual chemicals in foods. Therefore, the accurate estimation of the average daily intake of food commodities is very important, and more data for food intakes and recipes have to be applied to improve the quality of data. Nevertheless, this study can contribute to the predictive estimation of exposure to possible residual chemicals and subsequent analysis for their potential risks.
Eating ; Korea* ; Malus ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Risk Assessment

Malus floribunda Siebold. (Malus) is widely cultivated all over the world, which is of high ornamental value and breeding significance. Comparative analysis of the chloroplast genome can help enrich the phylogenetic relationship and facilitate germplasm utilization of Malus. Based on the whole genome sequencing data, a complete chloroplast genome (M. floribunda) with tetrad structure was assembled. The chloroplast genome (160 037 bp) was composed of a large single-copy (LSC) region (88 142 bp), inverted repeat (IR) B (26 353 bp), a small single-copy (SSC) region (19 189 bp), and IRA (26 353 bp). A total of 111 genes were annotated: 78 protein-coding genes, 29 tRNA genes and 4 rRNA genes. In addition, a large number of repeat sequences were identified in the genome, which was slightly different from that of M. sieboldii and M. toringoides. As for the relative synonymous codon usage, 30 high-frequency codons were found, and the codons tended to end with A/T. The results of interspecific sequence alignment and boundary analysis suggested the sequence variation of the LSC region was large, and the expansion and contraction of the SC region and IR region of the eight Malus species were generally similar. According to the phylogenetic analysis of chloroplast genome sequences, M. floribunda, M. hupehensis, and M. toringoides were grouped into one clade. The findings in this study can provide data support for the development of genetic markers and utilization of germplasm resources in the future.
Genome, Chloroplast ; Malus ; Phylogeny ; Plant Breeding ; Codon

Pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 component subunit beta-1 (PDHB-1) is a gene encoding the β-subunit of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, which plays an important role in fruit acid accumulation. The aim of this study was to investigate the evolution characteristics of apple PDHB-1 family and its expression in apples with different acid contents. Bioinformatics analysis was performed using databases including NCBI, Pfam and software including ClustalX, MEGA, and TBtools. By combining titratable acid content determination and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), the expression of this family genes in the peel and pulp of apple 'Asda' and 'Chengji No.1' with different acid content were obtained, respectively. The family members were mainly located in chloroplast, cytoplasm and mitochondria. α-helix and random coil were the main factors for the formation of secondary structure in this family. Tissue-specific expression profiles showed that the expression of most members were higher in fruit than in other tissues. qRT-PCR results showed that the expression profile of most members was consistent with the profile of titratable acid contents. In the peel, the expression levels of 14 members in 'Asda' apples with high acid content were significantly higher than that in 'Chengji No.1' apples with low acid content, where the expression difference of MdPDHB1-15 was the most significant. In the pulp, the expression levels of 17 members in 'Asda' apples were significantly higher than that in 'Chengji No.1' apples, where MdPDHB1-01 was the most highly expressed. It was predicted that PDHB-1 gene family in apple plays an important role in the regulation of fruit acidity.
Malus/metabolism* ; Fruit/genetics* ; Protein Structure, Secondary