Atmospheric nitrogen dioxide at ambient levels stimulates growth and development of horticultural plants

Botany ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suaad E.H. Adam ◽  
Jun Shigeto ◽  
Atsushi Sakamoto ◽  
Misa Takahashi ◽  
Hiromichi Morikawa

We recently discovered that atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) at ambient levels acts as a signal to Nicotiana plumbaginifolia Viviani, causing these plants to double both their biomass and all of the cell contents. Herein, we addressed whether this effect of NO2 is also observed in various horticultural plants. Lettuce ( Lactuca sativa L.), sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L.), cucumber ( Cucumis sativus L.), and pumpkin ( Cucurbita moschata Duch. ex Lam.) were grown with 50, 200, 100, and 200 µL·L–1, respectively, of air supplemented with stable isotope-labelled (15N) NO2, for 5−6 weeks. Control plants were grown without NO2 (<5 µL·L–1). All plants were irrigated with nonlabelled nitrate. The presence of NO2 doubled both the aboveground and belowground biomass in sunflowers compared with their growth in the absence of NO2, whereas lettuce, cucumber, and pumpkin doubled in aboveground biomass only. Contents per shoot of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) were almost doubled during the “NO2-enhanced” growth in lettuce, but not in other plants. Mass spectrometry analysis of 15N/14N indicated that only a minor proportion (0.2%–14%) of total plant N was derived from NO2, implying that exogenous NO2 acts as a signal rather than a significant nutrient source in horticultural plants.

Botany ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suaad E.H. Adam ◽  
Jun Shigeto ◽  
Atsushi Sakamoto ◽  
Misa Takahashi ◽  
Hiromichi Morikawa

1991 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.P. Murphy ◽  
H. Brouwer ◽  
M.E. Fox ◽  
E. Nagy

Abstract Eighty-one sediment cores were collected to determine the extent of coal tar contamination in a toxic area of Hamilton Harbour. Over 800 samples were analyzed by a UV spectrophotometric technique that was standardized with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis. The coal tar distribution was variable. The highest concentrations were near the Stelco outfalls and the Hamilton-Wentworth combined sewer outfalls. The total concentration of the 16 polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 48,300 m3 of near-surface sediments exceeded 200 µg/g.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Kanamoto ◽  
Takashi Tachibana ◽  
Yasushi Kitaoka ◽  
Toshio Hisatomi ◽  
Yasuhiro Ikeda ◽  
...  

Purpose. To investigate the effect of ocular hypertension-induced isomerization of aspartic acid in retinal proteins. Methods. Adult Wistar rats with ocular hypertension were used as an experimental model. D-β-aspartic acid-containing proteins were isolated by SDS-PAGE and western blot with an anti-D-β-aspartic acid antibody and identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. The concentration of ATP was measured by ELISA. Results. D-β-aspartic acid was expressed in a protein band at around 44.5 kDa at much higher quantities in the retinas of rats with ocular hypertension than in those of normotensive rats. The 44.5 kDa protein band was mainly composed of α-enolase, S-arrestin, and ATP synthase subunits α and β, in both the ocular hypertensive and normotensive retinas. Moreover, increasing intraocular pressure was correlated with increasing ATP concentrations in the retinas of rats. Conclusion. Ocular hypertension affected the expression of proteins containing D-β-aspartic acid, including ATP synthase subunits, and up-regulation of ATP in the retinas of rats.


Foods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 144
Author(s):  
Immacolata Faraone ◽  
Daniela Russo ◽  
Lucia Chiummiento ◽  
Eloy Fernandez ◽  
Alka Choudhary ◽  
...  

The genus Minthostachys belonging to the Lamiaceae family, and is an important South American mint genus used commonly in folk medicine as an aroma in cooking. The phytochemical-rich samples of the aerial parts of Minthostachys diffusa Epling. were tested for pharmacological and health-promoting bioactivities using in vitro chemical and enzymatic assays. A range of radical scavenging activities of the samples against biological radicals such as nitric oxide and superoxide anion and against synthetic 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radicals, the ferric reducing antioxidant power and the lipid peroxidation inhibition were determined and ranked using the ‘relative antioxidant capacity index’ (RACI). The ethyl acetate fraction showed the highest RACI of +1.12. Analysis of the various fractions’ inhibitory ability against enzymes involved in diabetes (α-amylase and α-glucosidase), and against enzymes associated with Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s diseases (acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase) also suggested that the ethyl acetate fraction was the most active. Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry analysis of the ethyl acetate fraction showed more than 30 polyphenolic compounds, including triterpenes. The inhibitory cholinesterase effects of the triterpenes identified from M. diffusa were further analysed by in silico docking of these compounds into 3D-structures of acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase. This is the first study on pharmacological activities and phytochemical profiling of the aerial parts of M. diffusa, showing that this plant, normally used as food in South America, is also rich in health-promoting phytochemicals.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (15) ◽  
pp. 4699
Author(s):  
Mubashir Mintoo ◽  
Amritangshu Chakravarty ◽  
Ronak Tilvawala

Proteases play a central role in various biochemical pathways catalyzing and regulating key biological events. Proteases catalyze an irreversible post-translational modification called proteolysis by hydrolyzing peptide bonds in proteins. Given the destructive potential of proteolysis, protease activity is tightly regulated. Dysregulation of protease activity has been reported in numerous disease conditions, including cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, inflammatory conditions, cardiovascular diseases, and viral infections. The proteolytic profile of a cell, tissue, or organ is governed by protease activation, activity, and substrate specificity. Thus, identifying protease substrates and proteolytic events under physiological conditions can provide crucial information about how the change in protease regulation can alter the cellular proteolytic landscape. In recent years, mass spectrometry-based techniques called N-terminomics have become instrumental in identifying protease substrates from complex biological mixtures. N-terminomics employs the labeling and enrichment of native and neo-N-termini peptides, generated upon proteolysis followed by mass spectrometry analysis allowing protease substrate profiling directly from biological samples. In this review, we provide a brief overview of N-terminomics techniques, focusing on their strengths, weaknesses, limitations, and providing specific examples where they were successfully employed to identify protease substrates in vivo and under physiological conditions. In addition, we explore the current trends in the protease field and the potential for future developments.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document