Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “tuber”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Anatomy of the human hypothalamus (chiasmatic and tuberal region).

The hypothalamus sensu stricto consists of the chiasmatic, the tuberal and the mamillary region. The present study is confined to the poorly myelinated chiasmatic and tuberal region. Both regions harbor many nuclear grays with relatively clear-cut boundaries embedded in an ill-defined nerve cell assembly referred to as the hypothalamic gray. Prominent components of the chiasmatic region are the magnocellular neurosecretory complex (supraoptic nucleus, paraventricular nucleus, accessory neurosecretory nucleus), the sexually dimorphic intermediate nucleus, the suprachiasmatic and retrochiasmatic nuclei. The dominating structure of the tuberal region is the complex of the ventromedial, posteromedial and dorsomedial nuclei supplemented by the periventricular and infundibular nuclei. Lateral portions of the tuber cinereum harbor the lateral tuberal nucleus and the tuberomamillary nucleus. The lateral tuberal nucleus exhibits pronounced cell loss in Huntington's chorea and is also severely involved in cases of dementia with argyrophilic grains. The large nerve cells of the tuberomamillary nucleus show particularly severe affection in both Alzheimer's (intraneuronal neurofibrillary changes) and Parkinson's disease (Lewy bodies).

Female↗
PubMed2004

Molecular studies on terricolous microfungi reveal novel anamorphs of two Tuber species.

This study reports novel terricolous mitosporic fungal morphs nested in the genus Tuber according to molecular phylogenetic analysis. Fungal DNA was amplified directly from field-collected anamorph samples. Nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) sequences including the ITS regions and the D1 and D2 domains of the LSU identify the anamorphs as mitosporic Tuber borchii and Tuber oligospermum. The link of the novel anamorphs to the genus Tuber is confirmed by the comparative analysis of five collections from four sampling sites. Ectomycorrhizas with characteristic features of Tuber borchii ectomycorrhizas were found in the soil volume collected with one of the mitosporic T. borchii collections. A nrDNA sequence amplified from these ectomycorrhizae is identical with the corresponding anamorph sequence. The possible role of the newly discovered anamorphs in the Tuber life-cycle and the potential significance of anamorphs for the propagation of ectomycorrhizal fungi are discussed.

Ascomycota↗
PubMed2003

Mycoflora of tuber surface of white yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir) and postharvest control of pathogens with Bacillus subtilis.

Bacillus subtilis (Enrenberg) Cohn was investigated for its antagonistic properties against surface mycoflora of yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir) tubers in storage. Yam tubers inoculated with a spore suspension of B. subtilis in potato dextrose broth using a knapsack sprayer showed a drastic reduction in the range and number of mycoflora, including pathogens of the tuber surface in contrast to the control tubers, during the five-month storage period in a traditional yam barn. However, B. subtilis maintained a high frequency of occurrence during the same period. Botryodiploidia theobromae Pat, Fusarium moniliforme Wollen and Reink., Penicillium sclerotigenum Yamamoto, and Rhizoctonia sp. were displaced completely on the treated tubers. The antagonism of B. subtilis was so effective that the normal tuber surface mycoflora was greatly reduced throughout the storage period of five months by a simple initial application of the antagonist.

Bacillus subtilis↗
PubMed2001

Probing a novel potato lipoxygenase with dual positional specificity reveals primary determinants of substrate binding and requirements for a surface hydrophobic loop and has implications for the role of lipoxygenases in tubers.

A new potato tuber lipoxygenase full-length cDNA sequence (lox1:St:2) has been isolated from potato tubers and used to express in Escherichia coli and characterize a novel recombinant lipoxygenase (potato 13/9-lipoxygenase). Like most plant lipoxygenases it produced carbonyl compounds from linoleate (the preferred substrate) and was purified in the Fe(II) (ferrous) state. Typical of other potato tuber lipoxygenases, it produced 5-HPETE [5(S)-hydroperoxy-(6E, 8Z, 11Z, 14Z)-eicosatetraenoic acid] from arachidonate. In contrast to any other potato tuber lipoxygenase, it exhibited dual positional specificity and produced roughly equimolar amounts of 13- and 9-hydroperoxides (or only a slight molar excess of 9-hydroperoxides) from linoleate. We have used a homology model of pea 9/13-lipoxygenase to superimpose and compare the linoleate-binding pockets of different potato lipoxygenases of known positional specificity. We then tested this model by using site-directed mutagenesis to identify some primary determinants of linoleate binding to potato 13/9-lipoxygenase and concluded that the mechanism determining positional specificity described for a cucumber lipoxygenase does not apply to potato 13/9-lipoxygenase. This supports our previous studies on pea seed lipoxygenases for the role of pocket volume rather than inverse orientation as a determinant of dual positional specificity in plant lipoxygenases. We have also used deletion mutagenesis to identify a critical role in catalysis for a surface hydrophobic loop in potato 13/9-lipoxygenase and speculate that this may control substrate access. Although potato 13/9-lipoxygenase represents only a minor isoform in tubers, such evidence for a single lipoxygenase species with dual positional specificity in tubers has implications for the proposed role of potato lipoxygenases in the plant.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1992

Chitin-binding proteins in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tuber. Characterization, immunolocalization and effects of wounding.

Tubers of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) contain a number of chitin-binding proteins which have possible functions in defence against pathogens. A major protein of the tuber is the chitin-binding lectin which has been further characterized with respect to its antigenicity and N-terminal amino acid sequence. By using an antiserum monospecific for tuber lectin in unwounded potato the protein was found in the cytoplasm and vacuole, unusually for a hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein, but consistent with its soluble nature in subcellular extracts. Little increased synthesis of the lectin precursor or the post-translationally modified form could be demonstrated in excised potato tuber discs. However, after wounding there is increased synthesis of another hydroxyproline-containing glycoprotein of Mr 57,000, which binds to chitin and shares common epitopes with the lectin. In comparison with the tuber lectin, this novel glycoprotein contains less hydroxyproline, but from its overall composition it is clearly not an underhydroxylated form of the tuber lectin. It differed in its N-terminal amino acid sequence and was much less glycosylated, although arabinose was still present. Synthesis of the Mr-57,000 polypeptide began after the initial burst of protein synthesis and increased, reaching a peak at 24 h after wounding. The protein was produced with its enzymes of post-translational modification, prolyl hydroxylase and arabinosyltransferase, concomitantly with the marker enzymes for wounding, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and membrane-bound phenol oxidase and peroxidase.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

Using (1)H magnetic resonance imaging and complementary analytical techniques to characterize developmental changes in the Zantedeschia Spreng. tuber.

Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and complementary analytical techniques were used to examine tissue structure and developmental changes occurring during active growth in the root tuber of ZANTEDESCHIA: Spreng. cv. Chianti, a commercially significant cut flower. Plants were observed during the period of leaf senescence and tuberization at the end of the first growth cycle of micropropagated plantlets and, following cool storage to break endodormancy, during development occurring after the replanting of ecodormant tubers. MRI distinguished two distinct regions within the tuber, and the differences in the binding state of water in the two regions were reflected in differences in tissue morphology and function. An abundance of free water was observed in tissue comprised of large parenchyma cells, at the base of the tuber. This tissue appeared to be involved in maintaining the viability of the plant during the period of dormancy, a function indicated primarily by increased metabolic activity in this tissue during dormancy, and reduced metabolic activity during periods of active growth. In contrast, water was more tightly bound in tissue comprised of small parenchyma cells. This tissue appeared to operate as a region for dynamic carbohydrate storage. The initial increase in the free water content of this tissue during the growth phase was linked to the mobilization of starch during canopy development. The subsequent decrease in free water in the remainder of the growth period was linked to the reaccumulation of starch while the tuber functioned as a sink for photosynthate prior to canopy senescence.

Carbohydrate Metabolism↗
PubMed2002

Inhibition of the plastidic ATP/ADP transporter protein primes potato tubers for augmented elicitation of defense responses and enhances their resistance against Erwinia carotovora.

Tubers of transgenic potato (Solanum tuberosum) plants with decreased activity of the plastidic ATP/ADP transporter AATP1 display reduced levels of starch, modified tuber morphology, and altered concentrations of primary metabolites. Here, we demonstrate that the spontaneous production of hydrogen peroxide, the endogenous content of salicylic acid, and the levels of mRNAs of various defense-related genes are similar in tuber discs of wild-type and AATP1(St) antisense plants. However, upon challenging the tissue with fungal elicitors or culture supernatants of the soft rot-causing pathogen Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica, the AATP1(St) antisense tubers exhibit highly potentiated activation of defense responses when compared with wild-type tissue. The augmented defense responses comprise enhanced accumulation of transcripts of five defense-related genes (beta-1,3-GLUCANASE B2 and A1, CHITINASE B3 and A2, and Phe AMMONIA-LYASE) and enhanced elicitation (up to 21-fold) of the early hydrogen peroxide burst. The potentiated activation of cellular defense responses in AATP1(St) antisense tubers is not accompanied by a precedent increase in endogenous salicylic acid levels, but is associated with a strongly enhanced resistance of the tissue to E. carotovora. From these results, we conclude that inhibition of primary metabolic reactions induces a primed state that sensitizes the potato tubers for improved elicitation of various cellular defense responses, which likely contribute to enhanced E. carotovora resistance.

DNA, Antisense↗
PubMed1994

Starch Phosphorylation in Potato Tubers Proceeds Concurrently with de Novo Biosynthesis of Starch.

The in vivo phosphorylation of starch was studied in Solanum tuberosum cv Dianella and Posmo. Small starch granules contain 25% more ester-bound phosphate per glucose residue than large starch granules. The degree of phosphorylation was found to be almost constant during tuber development. Isolated tuber discs synthesize starch from externally supplied glucose at a significant rate. Tuber discs supplied with glucose and [32P]orthophosphate incorporate radiolabeled phosphorus into the starch. The level of 32P incorporation is proportional to the amount of starch synthesized. The incorporation of 32P from orthophosphate is correlated to de novo synthesis of starch, since the incorporation of 32P is diminished upon inhibition of starch synthesis by fluoride. Based on the amount of [14C]glucose phosphate isolated after hydrolysis of purified starch from tuber discs incubated in the presence of [U-14C]glucose, approximately 0.5% of the glucose residues of the de novo-synthesized starch are phosphorylated. This value is in general agreement with the observed levels of phosphorus in starch accumulated during tuber development. Thus, the enzyme system responsible for starch phosphorylation is fully active in the isolated tuber discs, and the starch phosphorylation proceeds as an integrated part of de novo starch synthesis.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

NAD malic enzyme and the control of carbohydrate metabolism in potato tubers.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) plants were transformed with a cDNA encoding the 59-kD subunit of the potato tuber NAD-dependent malic enzyme (NADME) in the antisense orientation. Measurements of the maximum catalytic activity of NADME in tubers revealed a range of reductions in the activity of this enzyme down to 40% of wild-type activity. There were no detrimental effects on plant growth or tuber yield. Biochemical analyses of developing tubers indicated that a reduction in NADME activity had no detectable effects on flux through the tricarboxylic acid cycle. However, there was an effect on glycolytic metabolism with significant increases in the concentration of 3-phosphoglycerate and phosphoenolpyruvate. These results suggest that alterations in the levels of intermediates toward the end of the glycolytic pathway may allow respiratory flux to continue at wild-type rates despite the reduction in NADME. There was also a statistically significant negative correlation between NADME activity and tuber starch content, with tubers containing reduced NADME having an increased starch content. The effect on plastid metabolism may result from the observed glycolytic perturbations.

Carbohydrate Metabolism↗
PubMed1976

Pyrophosphorylases in Solanum tuberosum: I. Changes in ADP-Glucose and UDP-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase Activities Associated with Starch Biosynthesis during Tuberization, Maturation, and Storage of Potatoes.

Changes in ADP-glucose and UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase activities were followed during tuber development of Solanum tuberosum and prolonged storage at 4 and 11 C. Potato tuberization was accompanied by a sharp increase in starch synthesis simultaneous with a marked rise in ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase activity. When tubers reached an average diameter of 1 centimeter (0.5 gram average tuber weight) and had already established 58% starch on a dry weight basis, ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase increased 16- to 24-fold over its activity seen in low starch containing stolon tissue. During this same period UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase increased approximately 2- to 3-fold. Although participation of UDP-glucose in starch formation can not be neglected, it is suggested that the onset of rapid non-photosynthetic potato tuber starch biosynthesis may be closely related to the simultaneous increase in ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase activity.Evidence that UDP-glucose and ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylases are separate protein entities was indicated by their (a) activity ratio variations during tuber development and storage, (b) extraction stabilities, (c) morphological localization, (d) separation with ammonium sulfate, (e) pH optima, and (f) differential activation with 3-P-glycerate.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1978

Effect of ethylene and carbon dioxide on potato metabolism: stimulation of tuber and mitochondrial respiration, and inducement of the alternative path.

The respiration of potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum var. Russet Burbank) which have been kept at room temperature for 10 days is stimulated upon subsequent treatment with C(2)H(4) (10 microliters per liter) and O(2). The respiratory rise reaches a peak in 24 to 30 hours and thereafter declines. Coincident with the rise in tuber respiration is an increase in the respiratory rates of fresh slices and isolated mitochondria. Slices and mitochondria from C(2)H(4)- and O(2)-treated tubers also display substantial resistance to CN, and the resistant respiration is inhibited by hydroxamates.The longer the tubers are stored after harvest, the less effective is C(2)H(4) in causing CN resistance in slices and mitochondria from treated tubers. Addition of 10% CO(2) to the C(2)H(4)-O(2) mixture, however, causes extensive CN resistance to develop, even in slices and mitochondria from old tubers. The results show that C(2)H(4), O(2), and CO(2) act synergistically to induce alternative path development in potatoes.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1980

Comparison between Aging of Slices and Ethylene Treatment of Whole White Potato Tubers.

Cyanide-resistant O(2) consumption can be stimulated by either treating whole white potato tubers (Norchip) with ethylene, in the presence of 100% O(2), or aging slices obtained from untreated potato tubers. A comparison of alternative pathway activity elicited by either treatment was undertaken. The proportion of electrons flowing through the alternative path in the presence of intermediate concentrations of KCN and at various concentrations of salicylhydroxamic acid was identical in both cases. However, the respiration of slices from ethylene-treated tubers was in every case stimulated by KCN, whereas the aged slices never exhibited this phenomenon. Furthermore, the metabolism of d-[U-(14)C]glucose was several hundred times greater in aged slices than in fresh slices from C(2)H(4)-treated tubers. These results, along with the respiratory kinetics of aged slices from ethylene-treated tubers, suggest that aged slices and fresh slices from ethylene-treated tubers are biochemically dissimilar.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1983

Water relationships and incorporation of C assimilates in tubers of potato plants differing in potassium nutrition.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv Saturna) plants were grown in pots with varying supplies of K fertilizer (1.25, 5, and 10 grams K(2)O per 12 kilograms soil). Four weeks after midflower, plants were supplied with (14)CO(2) for 12 hours and osmotic and water potential in tubers were determined. Assimilation of (14)CO(2) increased from 504 (K(1)) to 1860 (K(5)) and 1922 kilobecquerels per plant per 12 hours (K(10)). In all treatments, about half of the (14)C was translocated to the tubers within 12 hours, although calculated turgor pressure in tubers which could be considered as a potential counter-pressure to phloem unloading increased from +5.3 (K(1)) to +5.9 (K(5)) and +6.0 bars (K(10)), respectively. Incorporation of (14)C per gram tuber dry weight as well as per gram tuber starch was significantly higher in K(5) than in K(1) and slightly increased even further in the K(10) treatment, where tuber pressure sap contained the highest K concentration (179 millimolar K).

Journal Article↗
PubMed1986

Ultrastructural Changes in Potato Tuber Pith Cells during Brown Center Development.

Electron microscopy revealed that subjecting ;Russet Burbank' potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants to 2 days of cool temperature growing conditions (18 degrees C days/10 degrees C nights) did not produce visible damage or changes in tuber pith tissue when compared to warm-grown tubers (23 degrees C days/18 degrees C nights). However, damage to some tuber pith cells was observed after 5 days of cool treatment. Eight days of cool treatment produced extensive alterations in cell structure. The cytoplasm of the cool-treated tuber pith cells had become highly vesiculated and there was evidence of complete destruction of amyloplast membranes and tonoplasts. In many cases the starch grains appeared to be undergoing hydrolysis suggesting total disruption of normal cell function. Sixteen days of cool treatment were sufficient to produce visible brown center development in all cool-grown tubers examined. Electron microscopy of these tissues revealed that, although some organelles were still present, the cytoplasm had become extremely vesiculated and lacked any resemblance to that of tissue from warm-grown tubers. Gross, irregular thickening of cell walls was also detected.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1986

Growth, partitioning, and harvest index of tuber-bearing solanum genotypes grown in two contrasting peruvian environments.

Ten Solanum potato genotypes, including four primitive species and six hybrids, were grown to maturity near 230 and 3273 meters in elevation at two sites, Coast and Sierra, in Peru. Growth data, with emphasis upon tubers and leaves, were collected periodically to analyze the plant components which differed in these contrasting environments. Nine of the Solanum species/cultivars effectively partitioned dry matter into tubers with values reaching 73 to 85% of the total plant at mature harvest in the Sierra but dropping to 33 to 75% on the Coast. These harvest index differences were, however, accompanied by no consistent changes in total leaf area, specific leaf area, nor number of tuber initiated. Consistent differences did occur in having shorter plants in the Sierra and an increased tuber dry matter percentage, 20 to 28%, in the Sierra compared to 14 to 21% on the Coast. Linear relationships exist between plant tuber harvest index versus tuber yield and versus total plant dry matter on both the Coast and in the Sierra.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1990

Hypoxic stress inhibits multiple aspects of the potato tuber wound response.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers subjected to wounding under hypoxic stress do not synthesize RNA species that are induced in response to wounding in aerobic conditions. Further, wound-response proteins fail to be synthesized when wounded tubers are transferred to hypoxic conditions although messenger RNAs which encode them persist for many hours after transfer. Hypoxic stress also prevents the incorporation of [(3)H]thymidine by wounded tubers that occurs in aerobic conditions. In contrast, hypoxic tubers accumulate and translate transcripts of genes whose products are involved in anaerobic metabolism whether or not they are wounded. Both the hypoxic response and the aerobic wound response preclude the synthesis of proteins encoded by messenger RNAs which accumulated during the tuberization process and which can be translated in vitro. Finally, wounding elicits the degradation of a subset of these tuberization-associated transcripts. These data indicate a complex and precise regulation of gene expression at several levels of macromolecular synthesis.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1993

Anaerobic Nitrate Respiration by Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica during Potato Tuber Invasion.

The in planta induction of anaerobic nitrate respiration by Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica in relation to the in situ oxygen status in soft rotting potato tubers has been investigated. In vitro experiments have shown that nitrate was required for the induction of respiratory nitrate reductase activity in E. carotovora. In addition, oxygen was found to repress this activity. Expression of respiratory nitrate reductase was found in E. carotovora cells extracted from soft rotting potato tuber tissue. However, the rate of nitrite production in these cells was approximately 70-fold lower than the rate recorded in fully induced anaerobic cultures. Oxygen measurements in soft rotting potato tubers indicated that the invading bacteria encounter the lowest oxygen concentration at the interphase between healthy and macerated tissue. Consequently, growth of bacteria present in this specific zone will be stimulated by nitrate which is present in sufficient amounts in tuber tissue. A high nitrate content of the tuber will most likely facilitate the proliferation of E. carotovora in the tuber tissue.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Seasonal control of tuberization in potato: conserved elements with the flowering response.

Fluctuations in day length determine the time to flower in many plants and in potato are critical to promote differentiation of tubers. Day length is perceived in the leaves and under inductive conditions these synthesize a systemic signal that is transported to the underground stolons to induce tuber development. Flowering tobacco shoots grafted into potato stocks promote tuberization in the stocks, indicating that the floral and tuber-inducing signals might be similar. We describe recent progress in the identification of the molecular mechanisms underlying day-length recognition in potato. Evidence has been obtained for a conserved function of the potato orthologs of the CONSTANS (CO) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) proteins in tuberization control under short days (SDs). These observations indicate that common regulatory pathways are involved in both flowering and tuberization photoperiodic responses in plants.

Flowers↗