Betaine lipids are ether-linked, nonphosphorous glycerolipids that resemble the more commonly known phosphatidylcholine in overall structure. Betaine lipids are abundant in many eukaryotes such as nonseed plants, algae, fungi, and amoeba. Some of these organisms are entirely devoid of phosphatidylcholine and, instead, contain a betaine lipid such as diacylglyceryl-O-4'-(N,N,N,-trimethyl)homoser...

Betaine is distributed widely in animals, plants, and microorganisms, and rich dietary sources include seafood, especially marine invertebrates ( approximately 1%); wheat germ or bran ( approximately 1%); and spinach ( approximately 0.7%). The principal physiologic role of betaine is as an osmolyte and methyl donor (transmethylation). As an osmolyte, betaine protects cells, proteins, and enzyme...

Dietary choline and betaine have been hypothesized to decrease the risk of cancer because of their role as methyl donors in the one-carbon metabolism. However, it remains unknown whether dietary intake of choline and betaine is associated with colorectal cancer risk. We prospectively examined the associations between dietary choline and betaine intake and risk of colorectal cancer in men in the...

The trimethylammonium compound glycine betaine (N,N, N-trimethylglycine) can be accumulated to high intracellular concentrations, conferring enhanced osmo- and cryotolerance upon Listeria monocytogenes. We report the identification of betL, a gene encoding a glycine betaine uptake system in L. monocytogenes, isolated by functional complementation of the betaine uptake mutant Escherichia coli MK...

The cytoplasmic accumulation of exogenous betaine stimulates the growth of Lactococcus lactis cultivated under hyperosmotic conditions. We report that L. lactis possesses a single betaine transport system that belongs to the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily of transporters. Through transposon mutagenesis, a mutant deficient in betaine transport was isolated. We identified two genes, busAA...

Unlike most Lactobacillus acidophilus strains, a specific strain, L. acidophilus IFO 3532, was found to grow in rich medium containing 1 M sodium acetate, KCl, or NaCl. This strain could also grow with up to 1.8 M NaCl or 3 M nonelectrolytes (fructose, xylose, or sorbitol) added. Thus, this strain was tolerant to osmotic pressures up to 2.8 osM. A search for an intracellular solute which confer...

Bacteroids isolated from alfalfa nodules induced by Rhizobium meliloti 102F34 transported glycine betaine at a constant rate for up to 30 min. Addition of sodium salts greatly increased the uptake activity, whereas other salts or non-electrolytes had less effect. The apparent Km for glycine betaine uptake was 8.3 microM and V was about 0.84 nmol min-1 (mg protein)-1 in the presence of 200 mM-Na...

The effects of chronic betaine ingestion were investigated in rats. Rats were fed an experimental diet containing 5% betaine for 4 wk and methionine was intravenously administered. The elevations of plasma homocysteine were assessed by comparing the increments to the initial measured value and the positive incremental area under the plasma homocysteine concentration curve over the 240-min post-...

We investigated the effects of betaine, C-phycocyanin (C-PC), and their combined use on the growth of A549 lung cancer both in vitro and in vivo. When cells were coincubated with betaine and C-PC, an up to 60% decrease in viability was observed which is significant compared to betaine (50%) or C-PC treatment alone (no decrease). Combined treatment reduced the stimulation of NF-κB expression by ...

The homoacetogenic anaerobic bacterium Sporomusa sphaeroides was mutagenized with UV light. Taking advantage of the ampicillin enrichment technique and a newly developed test for the detection of heme in bacterial colonies, the cytochrome-deficient mutant strain S. sphaeroides BK824 was isolated. In contrast to the wild type, this mutant strain failed to grow on betaine, betaine plus methanol, ...