scholarly journals Betaine Supplementation May Improve Heat Tolerance: Potential Mechanisms in Humans

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2939
Author(s):  
Brandon D. Willingham ◽  
Tristan J. Ragland ◽  
Michael J. Ormsbee

Betaine has been demonstrated to increase tolerance to hypertonic and thermal stressors. At the cellular level, intracellular betaine functions similar to molecular chaperones, thereby reducing the need for inducible heat shock protein expression. In addition to stabilizing protein conformations, betaine has been demonstrated to reduce oxidative damage. For the enterocyte, during periods of reduced perfusion as well as greater oxidative, thermal, and hypertonic stress (i.e., prolonged exercise in hot-humid conditions), betaine results in greater villi length and evidence for greater membrane integrity. Collectively, this reduces exercise-induced gut permeability, protecting against bacterial translocation and endotoxemia. At the systemic level, chronic betaine intake has been shown to reduce core temperature, all-cause mortality, markers of inflammation, and change blood chemistry in several animal models when exposed to heat stress. Despite convincing research in cell culture and animal models, only one published study exists exploring betaine’s thermoregulatory function in humans. If the same premise holds true for humans, chronic betaine consumption may increase heat tolerance and provide another avenue of supplementation for those who find that heat stress is a major factor in their work, or training for exercise and sport. Yet, this remains speculative until data demonstrate such effects in humans.

2015 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magaji G. Usman ◽  
Mohd Y. Rafii ◽  
Mohd Razi Ismail ◽  
Mohammad Abdul Malek ◽  
Mohammad Abdul Latif

Experiments were carried out to study the mechanisms for heat tolerance in chili pepper (Capsicum annuum). To assess these mechanisms, six genotypes were evaluated for cellular membrane thermostability (CMT) and for HSP70 gene expression. The plants were grown in an experimental plant growth chamber. The mean value of CMT indicates that membrane integrity was not damaged by the high temperature treatment (50 °C) in most of the genotypes. The genotypes were classified as follows: heat-tolerant (greater than 60%), moderately tolerant (30% to 60%), and susceptible (less than 30%). The heat-tolerant plants recorded the highest CMTs at 89.27%, 88.03%, and 85.10% for AVPP0702, AVPP0116, and AVPP9905, respectively, which might be the reason for the change in their cell membrane thermostability. AVPP9703 and AVPP0002 showed CMTs of 15.87% and 18.43%, which might indicate their sensitivity to heat stress. Heat shock protein 70 kDa was identified and found to be differentially expressed under the heat stress. Under heat stress, significantly increased levels of the HSP70 gene were detected after 2 h of temperature treatment at 42 °C, which indicated that this gene is quickly and sharply induced by heat shock. This was true for all genotypes tested, which were significantly up-regulated by more than 36.9-, 7.10-, 3.87-, and 3-fold for AVPP0702, AVPP0116, AVPP0002, and AVPP9703, respectively. The HSP70 gene was found to be significantly down-regulated under heat stress in ‘Kulai’. AVPP0702, AVPP9905, and AVPP0116 could be considered as heat-tolerant genotypes, whereas ‘Kulai’ and AVPP9703 were found to be heat-sensitive genotypes in this investigation.


HortScience ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 601a-601
Author(s):  
Rajeev Arora ◽  
S.P. Dharmalingam ◽  
B.C. Bearce

Evidence is accumulating in favor of a linkage at the cellular level between various abiotic stresses. We conducted a study to evaluate the effect of water stress on the heat tolerance of zonal geraniums. Water-stress was imposed as previously described. Leaf water potential (LWP, MPa), relative water content (RWC, percent), and heat-stress tolerance (HST; LT50, defined as temperature causing half maximal percent injury based on electrolyte leakage) were measured in control, stressed, and recovered (watering restored as in controls) plants. Proteins were extracted from the leaves following the treatments. SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting were performed using standard procedures. Immunoblots were probed with antibodies to dehydrin (T. Close) and 70-kDa heat shock cognate (HSC 70 of spinach) proteins (C. Guy). Data indicate that 1) LXWP and RWC in control and stressed plants were –0.378 and –0.804 MPa and 92.31% and 78.69%, respectively; 2) stressed plants exhibited a significant increase in HST compared to control (LT50 of 55°C vs. 51°C), which was associated with the accumulation of several heat-stable, dehydrin proteins (26 to 50 kDa), and of cytosolic and ER luminal (BiP) HSC 70 proteins; 3) in recovered plants, LXWP, RWC, and HST reversed back to the levels of control concomitant with the disappearance or reduction of dehydrins and HSC 70 proteins. These results suggest that specific stress proteins may play a role in development of heat stress tolerance.


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola S. Cottee ◽  
Iain W. Wilson ◽  
Daniel K. Y. Tan ◽  
Michael P. Bange

Diurnal or prolonged exposure to air temperatures above the thermal optimum for a plant can impair physiological performance and reduce crop yields. This study investigated the molecular response to heat stress of two high-yielding cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars with contrasting heat tolerance. Using global gene profiling, 575 of 21854 genes assayed were affected by heat stress, ~60% of which were induced. Genes encoding heat shock proteins, transcription factors and protein cleavage enzymes were induced, whereas genes encoding proteins associated with electron flow, photosynthesis, glycolysis, cell wall synthesis and secondary metabolism were generally repressed under heat stress. Cultivar differences for the expression profiles of a subset of heat-responsive genes analysed using quantitative PCR over a 7-h heat stress period were associated with expression level changes rather than the presence or absence of transcripts. Expression differences reflected previously determined differences for yield, photosynthesis, electron transport rate, quenching, membrane integrity and enzyme viability under growth cabinet and field-generated heat stress, and may explain cultivar differences in leaf-level heat tolerance. This study provides a platform for understanding the molecular changes associated with the physiological performance and heat tolerance of cotton cultivars that may aid breeding for improved performance in warm and hot field environments.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Shi ◽  
Luiz Fernando Brito ◽  
Aoxing Liu ◽  
Hanpeng Luo ◽  
Ziwei Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The effect of heat stress on livestock production is a worldwide issue. Animal performance is influenced by exposure to harsh environmental conditions potentially causing genotype-by-environment interactions (G × E), especially in highproducing animals. In this context, the main objectives of this study were to (1) detect the time periods in which heifer fertility traits are more sensitive to the exposure to high environmental temperature and/or humidity, (2) investigate G × E due to heat stress in heifer fertility traits, and, (3) identify genomic regions associated with heifer fertility and heat tolerance in Holstein cattle. Results Phenotypic records for three heifer fertility traits (i.e., age at first calving, interval from first to last service, and conception rate at the first service) were collected, from 2005 to 2018, for 56,998 Holstein heifers raised in 15 herds in the Beijing area (China). By integrating environmental data, including hourly air temperature and relative humidity, the critical periods in which the heifers are more sensitive to heat stress were located in more than 30 days before the first service for age at first calving and interval from first to last service, or 10 days before and less than 60 days after the first service for conception rate. Using reaction norm models, significant G × E was detected for all three traits regarding both environmental gradients, proportion of days exceeding heat threshold, and minimum temperature-humidity index. Through single-step genome-wide association studies, PLAG1, AMHR2, SP1, KRT8, KRT18, MLH1, and EOMES were suggested as candidate genes for heifer fertility. The genes HCRTR1, AGRP, PC, and GUCY1B1 are strong candidates for association with heat tolerance. Conclusions The critical periods in which the reproductive performance of heifers is more sensitive to heat stress are trait-dependent. Thus, detailed analysis should be conducted to determine this particular period for other fertility traits. The considerable magnitude of G × E and sire re-ranking indicates the necessity to consider G × E in dairy cattle breeding schemes. This will enable selection of more heat-tolerant animals with high reproductive efficiency under harsh climatic conditions. Lastly, the candidate genes identified to be linked with response to heat stress provide a better understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms of heat tolerance in dairy cattle.


Author(s):  
Kazuho Isono ◽  
Ryo Tsukimoto ◽  
Satoshi Iuchi ◽  
Akihisa Shinozawa ◽  
Izumi Yotsui ◽  
...  

Abstract Plants are often exposed not only to short-term (S-) heat stress but also to diurnal long-term (L-) heat stress over several consecutive days. To reveal the mechanisms underlying L-heat stress tolerance, we here used a forward genetic screening for sensitive to long-term heat (sloh) mutants and isolated sloh4. The mutant was hypersensitive to L- but not S-heat stress. The causal gene of sloh4 was identical to MIP3 encoding a member of the MAIGO2 (MAG2) tethering complex, which is composed of the MAG2, MIP1, MIP2, and MIP3 subunits and is localized at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. Although sloh4/mip3 was hypersensitive to L-heat stress, the sensitivity of the mag2-3 and mip1–1 mutants was similar to that of the wild type. Under L-heat stress, the ER stress and the following unfolded protein response (UPR) were more pronounced in sloh4 than in the wild type. Transcript levels of bZIP60-regulated UPR genes were strongly increased in sloh4 under L-heat stress. Two processes known to be mediated by INOSITOL REQUIRING ENZYME1 (IRE1)—accumulation of the spliced bZIP60 transcript and a decrease in the transcript levels of PR4 and PRX34, encoding secretory proteins—were observed in sloh4 in response to L-heat stress. These findings suggest that misfolded proteins generated in sloh4 under L-heat stress may be recognized by IRE1 but not bZIP28, resulting in initiation of the UPR via activated bZIP60. Therefore, it would be possible that only MIP3 in MAG2 complex has an additional function in L-heat tolerance, which is not related to the ER–Golgi vesicle tethering.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherzod Nigmatullayevich Rajametov ◽  
Eun Young Yang ◽  
Myeong Cheoul Cho ◽  
Soo Young Chae ◽  
Hyo Bong Jeong ◽  
...  

AbstractUnderstanding the mechanism for heat tolerance is important for the hot pepper breeding program to develop heat-tolerant cultivars in changing climate. This study was conducted to investigate physiological and biochemical parameters related to heat tolerance and to determine leaf heat damage levels critical for selecting heat-tolerant genotypes. Seedlings of two commercial cultivars, heat-tolerant ‘NW Bigarim’ (NB) and susceptible ‘Chyung Yang’ (CY), were grown in 42 °C for ten days. Photosynthesis, electrolyte conductivity, proline content were measured among seedlings during heat treatment. Photosynthetic rate was significantly reduced in ‘CY’ but not in ‘NB’ seedlings in 42 °C. Stomatal conductivity and transpiration rate was significantly higher in ‘NB’ than ‘CY’. Proline content was also significantly higher in ‘NB’. After heat treatment, leaf heat damages were determined as 0, 25, 50 and 75% and plants with different leaf heat damages were moved to a glasshouse (30–32/22–24 °C in day/night). The growth and developmental parameters were investigated until 70 days. ‘NB’ was significantly affected by leaf heat damages only in fruit yield while ‘CY’ was in fruit set, number and yield. ‘NB’ showed fast recovery after heat stress compared to ‘CY’. These results suggest that constant photosynthetic rate via increased transpiration rate as well as high proline content in heat stress condition confer faster recovery from heat damage of heat-tolerant cultivars in seedlings stages.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 20180498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Paraskevopoulou ◽  
Ralph Tiedemann ◽  
Guntram Weithoff

Under global warming scenarios, rising temperatures can constitute heat stress to which species may respond differentially. Within a described species, knowledge on cryptic diversity is of further relevance, as different lineages/cryptic species may respond differentially to environmental change. The Brachionus calyciflorus species complex (Rotifera), which was recently described using integrative taxonomy, is an essential component of aquatic ecosystems. Here, we tested the hypothesis that these (formerly cryptic) species differ in their heat tolerance. We assigned 47 clones with nuclear ITS1 (nuITS1) and mitochondrial COI (mtCOI) markers to evolutionary lineages, now named B. calyciflorus sensu stricto (s.s.) and B. fernandoi . We selected 15 representative clones and assessed their heat tolerance as a bi-dimensional phenotypic trait affected by both the intensity and duration of heat stress. We found two distinct groups, with B. calyciflorus s.s. clones having higher heat tolerance than the novel species B. fernandoi . This apparent temperature specialization among former cryptic species underscores the necessity of a sound species delimitation and assignment, when organismal responses to environmental changes are investigated.


1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 739 ◽  
Author(s):  
PJ Stone ◽  
ME Nicolas

Short periods of very high temperature (> 35�C) are common during the grain filling period of wheat, and can significantly alter mature protein composition and consequently grain quality. This study was designed to determine the stage of grain growth at which fractional protein accumulation is most sensitive to a short heat stress, and to examine whether varietal differences in heat tolerance are expressed consistently throughout the grain filling period. Two varieties of wheat differing in heat tolerance (cvv. Egret and Oxley, tolerant and sensitive, respectively) were exposed to a short (5 day) period of very high temperature (40�C max, for 6 h each day) at 5-day intervals throughout grain filling, from 15 to 50 days after anthesis. Grain samples were taken throughout grain growth and analysed for protein content and composition (albumin/globulin, monomer, SDS-soluble polymer and SDS-insoluble polymer) using size-exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography. The timing of heat stress exerted a significant influence on the accumulation of total wheat protein and its fractions, and protein fractions differed in their responses to the timing of heat stress. Furthermore, wheat genotype influenced both the sensitivity of fractional protein accumulation to heat stress and the stage during grain filling at which maximum sensitivity to heat stress occurred.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 393
Author(s):  
Shiming Ge ◽  
Zhen Kang ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Fuzhen Zhang ◽  
Yinzhu Shen ◽  
...  

By analysing the cDNA microarray of the salt tolerant mutant of wheat RH8706–49 under salinity stress, our results showed an expressed sequence tag fragment and acquired an unknown gene (designated as TaBAG) with a BAG conserved domain through electronic cloning and RT–PCR technology. The gene was registered into GenBank (No. FJ599765). After homologous alignment analysis, electronic cloning, and amplifying with RT–PCR, the other gene with a BAG conserved domain, TaBAG2, was obtained and registered into GenBank (No. GU471210). Quantitative PCR analysis demonstrated that TaBAG2 expression was induced by saline and heat stress. TaBAG gene expression under salinity stress increased remarkably but showed an insignificant response to heat stress. The adversity stress detection results showed that Arabidopsis overexpressing TaBAG and TaBAG2 exhibited an obvious salt tolerance increase. Under heat stress, Arabidopsis overexpressing TaBAG2 showed increased heat tolerance; however, the heat tolerance of Arabidopsis overexpressing TaBAG did not vary significantly under heat stress. Subcellular localisation results demonstrated that TaBAGs were mainly located in the cytoplasm and the cell nucleus. We applied fluorescence complementation and yeast two-hybrid technique to prove that TaBAG2 can obviously bond with TaHsp70 and TaCaMs. After the respective mutation of aspartic acid (D) and arginine (R) at high conservation in BAG domain of TaBAG2, the bonding interaction between TaBAG2 and TaHsp70 disappeared, indicating that the two amino acids were the key loci for the interaction between TaBAG2 and TaHsp70. Heat tolerance detection results demonstrated that the heat tolerance of Arabidopsis overexpressing and cotransfected with TaBAG2 and TaHsp70 was much higher than that of Arabidopsis overexpressing TaBAG2 and Arabidopsis overexpressing TaHSP70. This finding implies that the synergistic use of TaBAG2 and TaHSP70 can improve heat tolerance of plants.


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