Hemolytic compound 3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-hexadecan-1,19-disulfate found in the invasive European sea squirt Ascidiella aspersa

Fisheries Science - The solitary European sea squirt Ascidiella aspersa was introduced to northern Japan, causing dense coverage of the aquacultured Japanese scallop Mizuhopecten yessoensis. There...     

Effect of extraction method on the concentrations of selected bioactive compounds in mandarin juice

A mandarin-type citrus fruit, ponkan (Citrus reticulata), was processed by in-line, chopper pulper, and hand-press extractions to investigate the effect of extraction method on the concentrations of bioactive compounds in processed juice. Concentrations of polymethoxylated flavones (tangeretin, nobiletin, and sinensetin) and beta-cryptoxanthin in juice, and inhibitory activities against arachidonate cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenases of the juice extract were analyzed. The juice processed by hand-press extraction contained the largest amounts of nobiletin (3.56 mg/100 mL), tangeretin (4.10 mg/100 mL), and sinensetin (0.13 mg/100 mL). Concentrations of beta-cryptoxanthin were 0.66, 0.59, 0.55, and 0.50 mg/100 mL in chopper pulper, in-line (5/64 in.), in-line (8/64 in.) and hand-press juices, respectively. Both extracts of in-line juices showed greater inhibitory activity toward platelet 12-lipoxygenase than the others. The inhibitory effect of hand-press juice extract on platelet cyclooxygenase activity was remarkable among juice extracts. All juice extracts effectively inhibited polymorphonuclear 5-lipoxygenase activity at nearly the same rate.     

Analysis of genetic diversity among European and Asian fig varieties (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ficus carica</Emphasis> L.) using ISSR,RAPD, and SSR markers

Nineteen fig varieties and lines from Europe and Asia have been fingerprinted by ISSR, RAPD, and SSR markers, respectively, using 13, 19, and 13 primer combinations. All primers produced 258 loci, with the highest number of loci (119) generated by RAPD (R _p: 48.42). Clustering analysis was applied to the three marker datasets to elucidate the genetic structure and relationships among these varieties. Mean genetic similarities were 0.787, 0.717, and 0.749, respectively, as determined using ISSR, RAPD, and SSR. Each marker system produced incompletely separated clusters, although a weak binding group based on race type appeared in the combined dataset. Comparisons of coefficients revealed no correlation between different similarity matrices; congruence was observed between similarity matrices and co-phenetic matrices in all markers. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that most of the total polymorphism was attributable to within-group variance (ISSRs + RAPDs, 97.41%; SSRs, 90.18%). These results suggest that the genetic diversity of this fig population is low and that multiple marker utilization is critical to estimate the relatedness of figs at the variety level. Additionally, it was presumed that ‘Houraihi’, the oldest variety in Japan, was disseminated independently of other foreign varieties in the 17th century or before then.