The present study investigates the influence of methanolic fraction (MF) of Tribulus terrestris fruit extract on the kidney tissues of mercury intoxicated mice, Mus musculus. At median-lethal dose of mercuric chloride (12.9 mg/kg body weight), the whole kidney tissue showed an increased level of lipid peroxidation (LPO), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities and simultaneously a decreased lev...

The antioxidant effects of Caryocar brasiliense Camb, commonly known as the pequi fruit, have not been evaluated to determine their protective effects against oxidative damage in lung carcinogenesis. In the present study, we evaluated the role of pequi fruit against urethane-induced DNA damage and oxidative stress in forty 8-12 week old male BALB/C mice. An in vivo comet assay was performed to ...

Several species of flower thrips, including the Florida flower thrips {Frankliniella bispinosa (Morgan)}, Western flower thrips {F. occidentalis (Pergande)}, Eastern flower thrips {F. tritici (Fitch)}, and Scritothrips ruthveni Shull, have recently become known as pests of cultivated blueberries (Spiers et al. 2004). The three Franklinella species are pests of both rabbiteye and southern highbu...

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is the primary model for the study of fleshy fruits, and research in this species has elucidated many aspects of fruit physiology, development, and metabolism. However, most of these studies have involved homogenization of the fruit pericarp, with its many constituent cell types. Here, we describe the coupling of pyrosequencing technology with laser capture microdi...

The subcellular location of activity and protein of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) in developing tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) fruit was determined following a report that the enzyme might be present inside and outside the plastids in this organ. Plastids prepared from crude homogenates of columella and pericarp, the starch-accumulating tissues of developing fruit, contained 8% to 18...

Amygdalin is widely distributed in loquat plant which belongs to Rosaceae and used as an important pharmaceutical compound. In this research, High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the content of amygdalin in different tissues of loquat fruit cv. ‘Dahongpao’, as well as leaves, roots and flowers. The results demonstrated that the kernel had the highest content of am...

Abscission in plants is a crucial process used to shed organs such as leaves, flowers, and fruits when they are senescent, damaged, or mature. Abscission occurs at predetermined positions called abscission zones (AZs). Although the regulation of fruit abscission is essential for agriculture, the developmental mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we describe a novel transcription factor regulating t...

This review describes the biochemical bases for color and firmness changes in fruit and vegetable tissues, since appearance and texture are two f the most fundamental factors affecting the quality of fresh-cut products. The intent is to provide a level of understanding that can be used to nderpin future research directions in order to resolve existing issues that limit fresh-cut quality and she...

PISTILLATA (PI)-like genes are crucial regulators of flowering in angiosperms. A homologue of PI, designated as AcPI (Genbank accession number HQ717796), was isolated from pineapple cultivar Comte de Paris by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The cDNA sequence of AcPI is 907 bp in length and contains an open reading frame of 59...