Metagenomics has redefined many areas of microbiology. However, metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) are often fragmented, primarily when sequencing was performed with short reads. Recent long-read technologies promise to improve genome reconstruction. the integration two different modalities makes downstream analyses complex. We, therefore, developed MUFFIN, a complete metagenomic workflow that...

BACKGROUND Obesity and Type 2 diabetes have reached epidemic status worldwide. Wild lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton) is a plant of the North American Aboriginal traditional pharmacopeia with antidiabetic potential, especially when it is fermented with Serratia vaccinii. METHODS A phytochemical fractionation scheme was used to identify potential bioactive compounds as confirme...

Currently, blueberry bruising is evaluated by either human visual/tactile inspection or firmness measurement instruments. These methods are destructive, time-consuming, and subjective. The goal of this paper was to develop a non-destructive approach for blueberry bruising detection and quantification. Experiments were conducted on 300 samples of southern highbush blueberry (Camellia, Rebel, and...

NAFLD model rats were established and divided into NAFLD model (MG group), SIRT1 RNAi (SI group), blueberry juice (BJ group), blueberry juice + bifidobacteria (BJB group), blueberry juice + SIRT1 RNAi (BJSI group), and blueberry juice + bifidobacteria + SIRT1 RNAi groups (BJBSI group). A group with normal rats was a control group (CG). BJB group ameliorated NAFLD, which was better than BJ group...

PURPOSE To explore the effects of the combination of blueberry juice and probiotics on the apoptosis of alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD). METHODS Healthy C57BL/6J mice were used in the control group (CG). AFLD mice models were established with Lieber-DeCarli ethanol diet and evenly assigned to six groups with different treatments: MG (model), SI (SIRT1 [sirtuin type 1] small interfering R...

Basal stem rot symptoms were found on blueberry seedlings imported from the United States of America in 2008. The fungus obtained from the diseased seedlings was identified as Calonectria colhounii based on morphological and molecular characteristics. The consignments of the blueberry seedlings infected with C. colhounii were destroyed to prevent introduction of the fungus to Korea.

The Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica, can be a pest of highbush blueberries because of direct feeding on berries and leaves, and the risk of contaminating harvested fruit. To determine where beetles are most abundant and whether cultural controls have potential for use against P. japonica in blueberry, soil was sampled for grubs during 2001 and 2002 in and around fifteen blueberry fields. Den...

Previously we showed that feeding polyphenol-rich wild blueberries to hypertensive rats lowered systolic blood pressure. Since probiotic bacteria produce bioactive metabolites from berry polyphenols that enhance the health benefits of berry consumption, we hypothesized that adding probiotics to a blueberry-enriched diet would augment the anti-hypertensive effects of blueberry consumption. Group...

Research and commercial blueberry plantings were sampled in October 1991 to determine the population densities and species of phytoparasitic nematodes associated with rabbiteye (Vaccinium ashei), southern highbush (Vaccinium sp.), and highbusb (V. corymbosum) blueberry cultivars and the sod middles between the blueberry rows. In the research planting at Clarksville, Arkansas, samples from the h...

Free radicals are involved in neurodegenerative disorders, such as ischemia and aging. We have previously demonstrated that treatment with diets enriched with blueberry, spinach, or spirulina have been shown to reduce neurodegenerative changes in aged animals. The purpose of this study was to determine if these diets have neuroprotective effects in focal ischemic brain. Adult male Sprague-Dawle...