Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) has long been cultivated as a vegetable and as a source of fructans (inulin) for pharmaceutical applications in diabetes and obesity prevention. However, transcriptomic and genomic data for Jerusalem artichoke remain scarce. In this study, Illumina RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) was performed on samples from Jerusalem artichoke leaves, roots, stems and tw...

Traditional farming practices include the use of local agricultural by-products in the diet of ruminants. Artichoke harvesting and transformation yield high amounts of by-products that, if properly used, may reduce farming costs and the environmental impact of farming. The present study tests the inclusion of silages from artichoke by-products (plant and outer bracts) in the diet of dairy goats...

Micropropagation techniques have been widely applied in globe artichoke (C. cardunculus L. var. scolymus), however, efficient protocols for the establishment of in vitro callogenesis and organogenesis, a pre-requisite for Agrobacteriummediated genetic transformation, have not been set up so far. We developed an efficient protocol for callus induction from leaf explants of three globe artichoke ...

In this work, artichoke fibers were used for the first time to prepare poly(lactic acid) (PLA)-based biocomposites. In particular, two PLA/artichoke composites with the same fiber loading (10% w/w) were prepared by the film-stacking method: the first one (UNID) reinforced with unidirectional long artichoke fibers, the second one (RANDOM) reinforced by randomly-oriented long artichoke fibers. Bo...

more easily prepared from the dahlia tuber (cf. McDonald, 1946). ('Artichoke' is used to indicate Jerusalem artichoke throughout this paper.) It has long been evident (cf. Tanret, 1893a, b) that inulin may constitute only a small fraction of the total carbohydrate present in the artichoke tuber, the remainder resembling inulin in being composed essentially of fructofuranose units, but having a ...

With over 20,000 species, Asteraceae is the second largest plant family. High-throughput sequencing of nuclear and chloroplast genomes has allowed for a better understanding of the evolutionary relationships within large plant families. Here, the globe artichoke chloroplast (cp) genome was obtained by a combination of whole-genome and BAC clone high-throughput sequencing. The artichoke cp genom...

Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus L. var. scolymus) is a rich source of compounds promoting human health (phytonutrients), among them caffeoylquinic acids (CQAs), mainly represented by chlorogenic acid (CGA), and dicaffeoylquinic acids (diCQAs). The enzymes involved in their biosynthesis belong to the large family of BAHD acyltransferases. Following a survey of the globe artichoke genome, we ...

Polyclonal antibodies were prepared against NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase purified from Jerusalem artichoke. These antibodies inhibited efficiently the NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activity of the purified enzyme, as well as of Jerusalem artichoke microsomes. Likewise, microsomal NADPH-dependent cytochrome P-450 mono-oxygenases (cinnamate and laurate hydroxylases) were efficiently inhibited....

Traditionally globe artichoke and leafy cardoon have been cultivated for use as vegetables but these crops are now finding multiple new roles in applications ranging from paper production to cheese preparation and biofuel use, with interest in their functional food potential. So far, their chromosome complements have been poorly investigated and a well-defined karyotype was not available. In th...

Jerusalem artichoke is a low-requirement crop, which does not interfere with food chain, and is a promising carbon source for industrial fermentation. Microbial conversion of such a renewable raw material to useful products, such as lactic acid, is an important objective in industrial biotechnology. In this study, high-optical-purity l-lactate was efficiently produced from the hydrolysates of J...