Hisato Kunitake

Production of intergeneric somatic hybrids between round kumquat (Fortunella japonica Swingle) and ‘Morita navel’ orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck)

Intergeneric somatic hybrids between embryogenic callus-derived protoplasts of round kumquat (Fortunella japonica Swingle) and ‘Morita navel’ orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) were produced by electrofusion. Among the eight different fusion strains obtained, six showed normal morphology, whereas the remaining two showed malformation. All the regenerated plants were intermediate in leaf morphology and had thick and round leaves, which are typical characteristics of polyploids. Ploidy analyses by flow cytometry and chromosome counting in root-tip cells revealed that these plants are amphidiploid (2n=4×=36). Hybridity of the fusion products was confirmed by random amplified polymorphic DNA and cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) analyses. Furthermore, analyses of chloroplast (cp) and mitochondrial (mt) DNA by CAPS showed that these somatic hybrids contained cp- and mt-DNA of round kumquat without recombination in the regions analyzed.

Antioxidant Activities and Anti-Cancer Cell Proliferation Properties of Natsuhaze (Vaccinium oldhamii Miq.), Shashanbo (V. bracteatum Thunb.) and Blueberry Cultivars

Antioxidants are abundant in blueberries, and while there are many studies concerning the bioactive compound of fruit, it is only recently that the wild Vaccinium species has attracted attention for their diverse and abundant chemical components. The aim of this study was to investigate the bioactive compounds of blueberry cultivars and wild species found in Japan. Among the five extracts of the Vaccinium species, Natsuhaze (Vaccinium oldhamii Miq.) was found to be the most effective at inhibiting the growth of HL-60 human leukemia cells in vitro. Although all ethanol extracts showed a growth inhibitory effect on HL-60 cells, the degree of the effects differed among the species. The extract of Natsuhaze induced apoptotic bodies and nucleosomal DNA fragmentation in the HL-60 cells. Of the extracts tested, that of Natsuhaze contained the largest amount of total polyphenols and showed the greatest antioxidant activity, but the anthocyanin content of Natsuhaze was similar to that of rabbiteye blueberry (V. virgatum Ait.). The results showed that total polyphenols contributed to the high antioxidant activity and growth inhibitory effect on HL-60 human leukemia cells of Natsuhaze extract.

Utilization of intergeneric somatic hybrids as an index discriminating taxa in the genus Citrus and its related species

Embryogenic protoplasts of ‘Shogun’ mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) were electrically fused with mesophyll protoplasts from Citropsis gabunensis Swing. & M. Kell, and two green embryoids were regenerated after 3xa0months of culture. Two months after transfer to the regeneration medium, numerous plantlets were obtained from the embryoids. These plants grew vigorously, had well-developed root systems, and exhibited leaf characteristics intermediate to those of the parents. The absolute nuclear genome size of the regenerated plant SH2 (1.75xa0pg/4C) was the sum of those of the ‘Shogun’ mandarin (0.75xa0pg/2C) and C. gabunensis (0.97xa0pg/2C). The chromosome counts of the young leaves revealed that they were tetraploids (2n=4x=36). Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of the two lines (SH1 and SH2) verified their hybridity. Cytoplasmic genome analysis using universal primers reveal that their chloroplast (cp) DNA banding pattern is identical to that of C. gabunensis, while the banding pattern of the mitochondrial (mt) DNA is identical to that of the ‘Shogun’ mandarin. These somatic hybrids are important materials for investigating the phylogenetic relationships between these two genera in the subfamily Aurantioideae.

Direct-Injection Electron Ionization-Mass Spectrometry Metabolomics Method for Analyzing Blueberry Leaf Metabolites That Inhibit Adult T-cell Leukemia Proliferation

Metabolic profiling is often used to identify possible correlations between a compounds metabolic profile and biological activity. Direct-injection electron ionization-mass spectrometry fingerprinting is useful for characterizing biological materials. We demonstrate the utility of direct-injection electron ionization-mass spectrometry for metabolic profiling using 100 different extracts of leaves from 20 blueberry cultivars collected at 5 time points from April to December 2008. Axa0qualitative direct-injection electron ionization-mass spectrometry method was used to profile the major and/or minor constituents in the blueberry leaf extracts. Blueberry leaf extracts could be distinguished by principal component analysis based on the absolute intensity of characteristic fragment ions. Twenty cultivars were categorized into four species, and the most appropriate discriminative marker m/z value for identifying each cultivar was selected statistically. Correlated m/z values indicating the collection month were determined in the same analysis, and air temperature variance factors were extracted from score plots by principal component analysis. We previously reported that blueberry extracts inhibit the proliferation of adult T-cell leukemia cells. Leaves of Vaccinium virgatum collected in December of 2008 exhibited significantly greater inhibition of adult T-cell leukemia cell proliferation than other species. Highly bioactive cultivars or species were identified by direct-injection electron ionization-mass spectrometry metabolomics analysis of blueberry leaf extracts. The components extracted based on our direct-injection electron ionization-mass spectrometry analyses could be used to construct a model to predict anti-adult T-cell leukemia bioactivity. This is the first study to report a relationship between seasonal variation and bioactivity of natural products using a direct-injection electron ionization-mass spectrometry metabolomics method.