Project description:The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of dietary plant and animal proteins on gut metabolism and markers for colorectal cancer as well as blood protein metabolites and markers for type 2 diabetes in healthy adults. The study participants will be stratified into three groups with different protein composition in diets: 1) animal 70%/plant 30%; 2) animal 50%/plant 50% and 3) animal 30%/plant 70%. The participants will get part of their diet as ready foods or raw material to promote their compliance. The participants will also get personal advice for their diets. Blood, stool and urine samples will be collected in the beginning and in the end of the 12 week intervention, as well as phenotype measures like BMI, blood pressure and body composition. The participants will also fill food diary before and in the end of the intervention.
Project description:Plant-based diets could be a key source of microRNAs in animals. Plant microRNAs are cross-kingdom gene expression regulators that could modulate mammalian gene expression, influencing their physiology. Therefore, it is important to identify the microRNA expression profile of plant foods in order to identify potential target genes and biological functions in the mammalian host. Next-generation sequencing was applied to identify microRNAs in RNA samples derived from nuts (walnut and almond), vegetables (spinach) and fruits (orange, apple, olive, pear, and tomato). Our data revealed that edible plant contain a large number and diverse type of microRNAs.
Project description:The activation of plant immunity is typically associates with biosynthesis of defensive metabolites, such as jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA), to establish an effective defence response. However, constitutive activation of immunity or excessive JA production can trigger additional pathways that negatively affect plant growth. The mechanism underlying these processes, regulated by hormone signalling pathways and their crosstalk, remains elusive. In this study, we identified a homeobox transcription factor HB34 that differentially regulates jasmonic acid biosynthesis genes and growth-promoting genes to regulate such trade-off between plant immunity and growth. Under normal condition, HB34 represses the improper activation of JA-responsive genes and loss of HB34 led to excessive JA accumulation and constitutively activated JA response, which are accompanied by inhibited plant growth. Notably, overexpression of individual growth-promoting gene was sufficient to compromise the growth-inhibition. Upon pathogen infection, the transcription of HB34 is downregulated, effectively derepressing JA biosynthesis and enhancing plant disease resistance. Together, these findings reveal HB34 as a molecular switch that balance plant defense and growth by modulating JA biosynthesis and IAA signaling pathway.