A diet supplemented with husks of Plantago ovata reduces the development of endothelial dysfunction, hypertension, and obesity by affecting adiponectin and TNF-alpha in obese Zucker rats.
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The aim of the present study was to analyze whether consumption of a fiber-supplemented diet containing 3.5% Plantago ovata husks prevented many of the abnormalities clustered in the metabolic syndrome, including obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension and endothelial dysfunction. For this purpose, obese Zucker rats, a model of type 2 diabetes, and their lean littermates were studied. Rats consumed a standard control diet or that diet supplemented with 3.5% P. ovata husks for 25 wk. Body weights were measured weekly. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured monthly. At the end of the treatment, plasma concentrations of triglycerides, total cholesterol, FFAs, glucose, insulin, adiponectin, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) were determined, and studies on vascular function were performed using aortic rings. Rats fed the P. ovata husk-supplemented diet had a significantly reduced body weight gain compared with those fed the standard diet. Decreased endothelium-dependent relaxation in response to acetylcholine (ACh) by aortic rings from obese Zucker rats was improved in those fed the fiber-supplemented diet. The greater SBP, higher plasma concentrations of triglycerides, total cholesterol, FFA, glucose, insulin, and TNF-alpha, and the hypoadinectinemia that occurred in obese Zucker rats that consumed the control diet were significantly improved in those fed the fiber-supplemented diet. We conclude that intake of a P. ovata husk-supplemented diet prevents endothelial dysfunction, hypertension, and obesity development, and ameliorates dyslipidemia and abnormal plasma concentrations of adiponectin and TNF-alpha in obese Zucker rats. (+info)
Bacteria associated with spores of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Glomus geosporum and Glomus constrictum.
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Spores of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) Glomus geosporum and Glomus constrictum were harvested from single-spore-derived pot cultures with either Plantago lanceolata or Hieracium pilosella as host plants. PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis revealed that the bacterial communities associated with the spores depended more on AMF than host plant identity. The composition of the bacterial populations linked to the spores could be predominantly influenced by a specific spore wall composition or AMF exudate rather than by specific root exudates. The majority of the bacterial sequences that were common to both G. geosporum and G. constrictum spores were affiliated with taxonomic groups known to degrade biopolymers (Cellvibrio, Chondromyces, Flexibacter, Lysobacter, and Pseudomonas). Scanning electron microscopy of G. geosporum spores revealed that these bacteria are possibly feeding on the outer hyaline spore layer. The process of maturation and eventual germination of AMF spores might then benefit from the activity of the surface microorganisms degrading the outer hyaline wall layer. (+info)
Multiple major increases and decreases in mitochondrial substitution rates in the plant family Geraniaceae.
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BACKGROUND: Rates of synonymous nucleotide substitutions are, in general, exceptionally low in plant mitochondrial genomes, several times lower than in chloroplast genomes, 10-20 times lower than in plant nuclear genomes, and 50-100 times lower than in many animal mitochondrial genomes. Several cases of moderate variation in mitochondrial substitution rates have been reported in plants, but these mostly involve correlated changes in chloroplast and/or nuclear substitution rates and are therefore thought to reflect whole-organism forces rather than ones impinging directly on the mitochondrial mutation rate. Only a single case of extensive, mitochondrial-specific rate changes has been described, in the angiosperm genus Plantago. RESULTS: We explored a second potential case of highly accelerated mitochondrial sequence evolution in plants. This case was first suggested by relatively poor hybridization of mitochondrial gene probes to DNA of Pelargonium hortorum (the common geranium). We found that all eight mitochondrial genes sequenced from P. hortorum are exceptionally divergent, whereas chloroplast and nuclear divergence is unexceptional in P. hortorum. Two mitochondrial genes were sequenced from a broad range of taxa of variable relatedness to P. hortorum, and absolute rates of mitochondrial synonymous substitutions were calculated on each branch of a phylogenetic tree of these taxa. We infer one major, approximately 10-fold increase in the mitochondrial synonymous substitution rate at the base of the Pelargonium family Geraniaceae, and a subsequent approximately 10-fold rate increase early in the evolution of Pelargonium. We also infer several moderate to major rate decreases following these initial rate increases, such that the mitochondrial substitution rate has returned to normally low levels in many members of the Geraniaceae. Finally, we find unusually little RNA editing of Geraniaceae mitochondrial genes, suggesting high levels of retroprocessing in their history. CONCLUSION: The existence of major, mitochondrial-specific changes in rates of synonymous substitutions in the Geraniaceae implies major and reversible underlying changes in the mitochondrial mutation rate in this family. Together with the recent report of a similar pattern of rate heterogeneity in Plantago, these findings indicate that the mitochondrial mutation rate is a more plastic character in plants than previously realized. Many molecular factors could be responsible for these dramatic changes in the mitochondrial mutation rate, including nuclear gene mutations affecting the fidelity and efficacy of mitochondrial DNA replication and/or repair and--consistent with the lack of RNA editing--exceptionally high levels of "mutagenic" retroprocessing. That the mitochondrial mutation rate has returned to normally low levels in many Geraniaceae raises the possibility that, akin to the ephemerality of mutator strains in bacteria, selection favors a low mutation rate in plant mitochondria. (+info)
Characterization and physical mapping of ribosomal RNA gene families in Plantago.
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BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The organization of rRNA genes in cultivated Plantago ovata Forsk. and several of its wild allies was analysed to gain insight into the phylogenetic relationships of these species in the genus which includes some 200 species. METHODS: Specific primers were designed to amplify the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1 and ITS2) regions from seven Plantago species and the resulting fragments were cloned and sequenced. Similarly, using specific primers, the 5S rRNA genes from these species were amplified and subsequently cloned. Fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) was used for physical mapping of 5S and 45S ribosomal RNA genes. RESULTS: The ITS1 region is 19-29 bp longer than the ITS2 in different Plantago species. The 5S rRNA gene-repeating unit varies in length from 289 to 581 bp. Coding regions are highly conserved across species, but the non-transcribed spacers (NTS) do not match any database sequences. The clone from the cultivated species P. ovata was used for physical mapping of these genes by FISH. Four species have one FISH site while three have two FISH sites. In P. lanceolata and P. rhodosperma, the 5S and 45S (18S-5.8S-25S) sites are coupled. CONCLUSIONS: Characterization of 5S and 45S rRNA genes has indicated a possible origin of P. ovata, the only cultivated species of the genus and also the only species with x = 4, from a species belonging to subgenus Psyllium. Based on the studies reported here, P. ovata is closest to P. arenaria, although on the basis of other data the two species have been placed in different subgenera. FISH mapping can be used as an efficient tool to help determine phylogenetic relationships in the genus Plantago and show the interrelationship between P. lanceolata and P. lagopus. (+info)
Evolution of host resistance: looking for coevolutionary hotspots at small spatial scales.
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Natural plant populations are often found to be extremely diverse in their resistance to pathogens. While the potential of pathogens in driving the evolution of resistance in hosts has been widely recognized, empirical evidence linking disease dynamics to host population genetic structure has remained scarce. Here I show that current coevolutionary selection for resistance can be divergent even on a very fine spatial scale. In a natural plant-pathogen metapopulation, disease occurrence patterns were highly aggregated over space and time within host populations. A laboratory inoculation experiment showed higher resistance within areas of the host populations where encounter rates with the pathogen have been high. Higher resistance to sympatric than to allopatric strains of the pathogen suggests that this change has taken place as a response to local selection. These results constitute evidence of adaptive microevolution of resistance resulting from disease epidemics in natural plant-pathogen associations, and highlight the importance of finding the relevant scale at which to address questions of current coevolutionary selection. (+info)
Nutrient availability and atmospheric CO2 partial pressure modulate the effects of nutrient heterogeneity on the size structure of populations in grassland species.
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BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Size-asymmetric competition occurs when larger plants have a disproportionate advantage in competition with smaller plants. It has been hypothesized that nutrient heterogeneity may promote it. Experiments testing this hypothesis are inconclusive, and in most cases have evaluated the effects of nutrient heterogeneity separately from other environmental factors. The aim of this study was to test, using populations of Lolium perenne, Plantago lanceolata and Holcus lanatus, two hypotheses: (a) nutrient heterogeneity promotes size-asymmetric competition; and (b) nutrient heterogeneity interacts with both atmospheric CO2 partial pressure (P(CO2)) and nutrient availability to determine the magnitude of this response. METHODS: Microcosms consisting of monocultures of the three species were grown for 90 d in a factorial experiment with the following treatments: P(CO2) (37.5 and 70 Pa) and nutrient availability (NA; 40 and 120 mg of N added as organic material) combined with different spatial distribution of the organic material (NH; homogeneous and heterogeneous). Differences in the size of individual plants within populations (size inequality) were quantified using the coefficient of variation of individual above-ground biomass and the combined biomass of the two largest individuals in each microcosm. Increases in size inequality were associated with size-asymmetric competition. KEY RESULTS: Size inequality increased when the nutrients were heterogeneously supplied in the three species. The effects of NH on this response were more pronounced under high nutrient supply in both Plantago and Holcus (significant NA x NH interactions) and under elevated P(CO2) in Plantago (significant P(CO2) x NA x NH interaction). No significant two- and three-way interactions were found for Lolium. CONCLUSIONS: Our first hypothesis was supported by our results, as nutrient heterogeneity promoted size-asymmetric competition in the three species evaluated. Nutrient supply and P(CO2) modified the magnitude of this effect in Plantago and Holcus, but not in Lolium. Thus, our second hypothesis was partially supported. (+info)
Common plantain. A collection of expressed sequence tags from vascular tissue and a simple and efficient transformation method.
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The vascular tissue of higher plants consists of specialized cells that differ from all other cells with respect to their shape and size, their organellar composition, their extracellular matrix, the type of their plasmodesmata, and their physiological functions. Intact and pure vascular tissue can be isolated easily and rapidly from leaf blades of common plantain (Plantago major), a plant that has been used repeatedly for molecular studies of phloem transport. Here, we present a transcriptome analysis based on 5,900 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and 3,247 independent mRNAs from the Plantago vasculature. The vascular specificity of these ESTs was confirmed by the identification of well-known phloem or xylem marker genes. Moreover, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, macroarray, and northern analyses revealed genes and metabolic pathways that had previously not been described to be vascular specific. Moreover, common plantain transformation was established and used to confirm the vascular specificity of a Plantago promoter-beta-glucuronidase construct in transgenic Plantago plants. Eventually, the applicability and usefulness of the obtained data were also demonstrated for other plant species. Reporter gene constructs generated with promoters from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) homologs of newly identified Plantago vascular ESTs revealed vascular specificity of these genes in Arabidopsis as well. The presented vascular ESTs and the newly developed transformation system represent an important tool for future studies of functional genomics in the common plantain vasculature. (+info)
Effects of soluble fiber (Plantago ovata husk) on plasma lipids, lipoproteins, and apolipoproteins in men with ischemic heart disease.
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BACKGROUND: New dietary strategies to reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk include the addition of fiber to the diet. The effect of soluble-fiber consumption derived from Plantago ovata husk on lipid risk factors in patients with CVD is unknown. OBJECTIVE: We compared the effects of soluble fiber (P. ovata husk) with those of insoluble fiber (P. ovata seeds) on plasma lipid, lipoprotein, and apolipoprotein (apo) concentrations within a CVD secondary prevention program. DESIGN: In a randomized, crossover, controlled, single-blind design, 28 men with CVD (myocardial infarction or stable angina) and an LDL-cholesterol concentration +info)