Exploring the diversity of iridoid compounds in blueberry for human health benefits

 描述(申请人提供)：蓝莓(越橘)是原产于北美的一种重要的经济作物。越橘属的其他成员，包括越橘(V.mancarpon)和越橘(V.vitis-idaea)，由于其果实在食品生产、医药和保健品中的用途，也具有重要的经济价值。2011年，美国蓝莓的新鲜市场产量价值7.81亿美元，种植面积超过7.7万英亩，在过去20年里大幅增长。除了它的商业价值，蓝莓还因其积极的健康益处而受到珍视。蓝莓含有高水平的抗氧化剂，可以减少由抗氧化剂白藜芦醇等慢性病引起的炎症，白藜芦醇被认为与降低癌症和心脏病的风险有关。环烯醚类化合物是另一类已知的重要药理化合物，最近在蓝莓和小红莓中发现。环烯醚类化合物广泛存在于15个植物家族中，是一种对人体具有广泛生物活性的天然产物，具有抗癌、抗菌、抗炎等多种生物活性。尽管已知环烯醚类化合物对人类健康有益，但在蓝莓研究中，环烯醚类化合物是一个被忽视的成分。因此，拟议工作的广泛、长期目标是提高对蓝莓环烯醚类化合物生产的生化、分子和遗传学的了解，以便更好地获得这些化合物，用于未来的临床研究。为了实现这些目标，这项建议有三个具体目标：1)调查越橘属植物多样性小组中的环烯醚类化合物。利用生化分析来表征环烯醚类化合物的范围，2)通过基因组、转录组和生物信息学分析确定蓝莓环烯醚类化合物生物合成的相关基因，以及3)对参与蓝莓环烯醚类化合物特定生物合成途径的剪裁酶进行功能鉴定。总体而言，这 该项目将为蓝莓和相关越橘属植物的环烯醚类化合物生产提供新的见解，并提供对环烯醚类化合物在经济上重要的水果作物中代谢的遗传基础的理解。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) is an economically important fruit crop that is native to North America. Other members of the Vaccinium genus, including cranberry (V. macrocarpon) and lingonberry (V. vitis-idaea), also have significant economic importance due to the use of their fruits in food production, pharmaceuticals and health care products. Fresh market production of blueberries in the United States was valued at $781 million in 2011 and was planted over 77,000 acres, and has significantly grown in the last 20 years. In addition to its commercial value, blueberries are prized for their positive health benefits. Blueberries contain high levels of antioxidants, which can reduce inflammation caused by chronic diseases such as the antioxidant resveratrol, which has been linked to a decreased risk of cancer and heart disease. Iridoids are another class of known pharmacologically important compounds that have recently been found in blueberries and cranberries. Iridoids are present in over 15 plant families and are potent natural products with a wide range of biological activities in humans including, anticancer, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. Despite their known human health benefits, iridoids are a neglected component of blueberry research. Therefore, the broad, long-term objective of the proposed work is to improve the biochemical, molecular, and genetic understanding of iridoid production in blueberry to enable improved access to these compounds for future clinical research. To reach these objectives, this proposal has three specific aims: 1) survey iridoid compounds in a diversity panel of Vaccinium spp. using biochemical analyses to characterize the range of iridoid compounds, 2) identify the genes underlying iridoid biosynthesis in blueberry through genomic, transcriptomic and bioinformatics analyses, and 3) perform functional characterization of the tailoring enzymes involved in the specific iridoid biosynthetic pathway in blueberry. Overall, this project will provide new insights into iridoid production in blueberries and related Vaccinium species, and provide an understanding of the genetic basis for iridoid metabolism in an economically important fruit crop.