Project description:The effects of increasing addition of green tea in dietary changes the bacterial populations in broiler ileum were evaluated. Four hundreds of AA broilers were randomly assigned to four groups with green tea addition of 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 percent in the diet. The body weight showed no difference but a digital increase positively correlated with addition of green tea. The content of green tea had a linear effect of lengthening the ileum villi. The barcoded DNA pyrosequencing method was used to reveal 15 phyla, 1157phylotypes and 3098 16S operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The most predominant bacterial phyla were Firmicutes (56.89%), Actinobacteria (30.58%), Proteobacteria (8.61%) and Bacteroidetes (2.72%). As the proportion of additional green tea increased, the abundance of phylum Actinobacteria (p=0.003) and Proteobacteria (p=0.049) almost linearly increased, while the proportion of Firmicutes (p=0.027) linearly decreased. Only 2 OTUs were significantly affected by the increased additive, Corynebacteriaceae (p=0.011) and Staphylococcaceae (p= 0.006). Triplot analysis suggested that the dominant phyla of Verrucomicrobia, TM7 and Actinobacteria were clearly related to the addition of green tea. Moreover, green tea addition influenced the construction of microbiota, and lengthened the villus in ileum by Monte Carlo permutation test. These findings provide a new understanding of the ileal microbial ecology, which may be useful in modulating the gut microbiome, and also the proper usage of powdered green tea.
Project description:An increasing amount of evidence attest that the tea made by albino tea cultivars processes characteristic aroma and taste, which has been considered as a new potential product in the market. Therefore, flavor formation mechanism of albino tea cultivars have drawn exceeding attention from researchers. In this study, transcriptome, metabolomics, and whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) were employed to investigate shading effects on leaf color conversion and biosynthesis of three major secondary metabolites in the Albino tea cultivar ‘Yujinxiang’. The increase of leaf chlorophyll level is the major cause of shaded leaf greening from young pale or yellow leaf. Transcriptome analysis showed differentially expressed genes (DEGs) mainly participated in biosynthesis of amino acids, phenylalanine metabolism, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis, sulfur metabolism, purine metabolism, and pentose and glucuronate interconversions in shading period compared with control group. The result of metabolomics indicated the total catechins level of shading group was significantly decreased than the control; however, the abundance of caffeine was markedly increased, and theanine level was nearly not influenced. Whole-genome DNA methylation analysis revealed that the global genomic DNA methylation patterns of shading period were remarkably altered compared with the control. Furthermore, differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and the DMR-related DEGs between shading and non-shading analysis indicated the DMR-related DEGs were the critical participants in biosynthesis of three major secondary metabolites. To sum up, these findings suggested that the altered levels of DNA methylation may be the main cause for biosynthesis changes of three major secondary metabolites in ‘Yujinxiang’.
Project description:During fermentation Saccharomyces yeast produces various aroma-active metabolites determining the different characteristics of aroma and taste in fermented beverages. Amino acid utilization by yeast during brewer´s wort fermentation is seen as linked to flavour profile. To better understand the relationship between the biosynthesis of aroma relevant metabolites and the importance of amino acids, DNA microarrays were performed for Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain S81 and Saccharomyces pastorianus var. carlsbergensis strain S23, respectively. Thereby, changes in transcription of genes were measured, which are associated with amino acid assimilation and its derived aroma-active compounds during fermentation.
Project description:White tea is considered the least processed form of tea and is reported to have a series of potent bioactivities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, and anti-cancer activities. However, the chemical composition of white tea and the dynamic changes of the metabolites during the manufacturing process are far from clear. In this study, we applied a nontargeted metabolomics approach based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry to comprehensively profile the characteristic metabolites of white tea. There were significant differences in the content of amino acids, catechins, dimeric catechins, flavonol and flavone glycosides, and aroma precursors in white tea compared with green and black teas that were manufactured from the same fresh tea leaves. Furthermore, the dynamic changes of the metabolites in the tea samples with various withering durations of 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, and 36 h were also profiled. To the best of our knowledge, this study offers the most comprehensive characterization of the metabolites and their changes in white tea.
Project description:BACKGROUND: Evaluation of the airway transcriptome may reveal patterns of gene expression that are associated with clinical phenotypes of asthma. To define transcriptomic endotypes of asthma (TEA) we analyzed gene expression in induced sputum that correlate with phenotypes of disease. METHODS: Gene expression was measured in sputum of subjects with asthma using Affymetrix HuGene ST 1.0 microarrays. Unsupervised clustering analysis of genes in pathways selected from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) identified TEA clusters. Clinical characteristics were compared and logistic regression analysis of matched blood samples defined an expression profile to determine the TEA cluster assignment in a cohort of children with asthma for validation. RESULTS: Three TEA clusters were identified. TEA cluster 1 had the most subjects with a history of intubation (P = 0.05), a lower pre-bronchodilator FEV1 (P = 0.006), a higher bronchodilator response (P = 0.03), and higher exhaled nitric oxide levels (P = 0.04), compared to the other TEA clusters. TEA cluster 2, the smallest cluster had the most subjects that were hospitalized for asthma (P = 0.04). Subjects in TEA cluster 3, the largest cluster, had normal lung function, low exhaled nitric oxide levels, and lower inhaled steroid requirements. Evaluation of TEA clusters in children confirmed that TEA clusters 1 and 2 are associated with a history of intubation (P = 5.58 x 10-06) and hospitalization (P = 0.01), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Patterns of gene expression in the sputum and blood reveal TEA clusters that are associated with severe asthma phenotypes in children and adults. Gene expression was measured in sputum of subjects with asthma using Affymetrix HuGene ST 1.0 microarrays. Unsupervised clustering analysis of genes in pathways selected from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) identified TEA clusters. Clinical characteristics were compared and logistic regression analysis of matched blood samples defined an expression profile to determine the TEA cluster assignment in a cohort of children with asthma for validation.