Time-dependent increases in cue-induced reward seeking after forced abstinence were described in rats with a history of cocaine or sucrose self-administration, suggesting reward craving incubates over time. In the present study, we examined the effects of reduced training experience, or sucrose pre-loading just prior to testing, on the incubation of sucrose craving. Sucrose seeking (responding ...

The conjugative plasmid pUR400 determines tetracycline resistance and enables cells of Escherichia coli K-12 to utilize sucrose as the sole carbon source. Three types of mutants affecting sucrose metabolism were derived from pUR400. One type lacked a specific transport system (srcA); another lacked sucrose-6-phosphate hydrolase (scrB); and the third, a regulatory mutant, expressed both of these...

Soluble sugars not only serve as nutrients, but also act as signals for plant growth and development, but how sugar signals are perceived and translated into physiological responses in plants remains unclear. We manipulated sugar levels in transgenic plants by overexpressing sucrose synthase (SuSy), which is a key enzyme believed to have reversible sucrose synthesis and sucrose degradation func...

Plasticity in substrate acceptance is a well-characterised phenomenon for disaccharide transporters. Sucrose, a non-reducing disaccharide, is usually metabolised via either the permease-mediated chromosomally-encoded sucrose catabolism (csc) regulon or the sucrose phosphotransferase system (PTS). E. coli W is a fast-growing strain which efficiently utilises sucrose at concentrations above 1% vi...

Environmental enrichment (EE) reduces drug and sucrose cue-reactivity in rats. In a previous study we reported that 1 month of EE (large cage, toys, and social cohorts) significantly reduced sucrose cue-reactivity. In the present study, we examined whether overnight (22 h) EE would be as effective. We also examined whether social enrichment (SE), enrichment alone (SoloEE), or exposure to an alt...

Anecdotal and empirical evidence suggests that females' preferences for sweet foods are affected by hormonal fluctuations across the reproductive cycle. In rats, the preference for sweet foods may involve estrogen-mediated changes in response to the taste of sweets. Our recent work showed that ovariectomized female rats lick less to dilute sucrose solutions when given estrogen than when given t...

Sucrose is commonly used for sweetening berry products. During processing and storage of berry products containing added sucrose, sucrose is inverted to glucose and fructose. We have previously shown that postprandial glycaemic response induced by intact sucrose is attenuated when sucrose is consumed with berries rich in polyphenols. It is not known how inversion of sucrose affects glycaemic re...