Bitter compounds elicit an aversive response. In Drosophila, bitter-sensitive taste neurons coexpress many members of the Gr family of taste receptors. However, the molecular logic of bitter signaling is unknown. We used an in vivo expression approach to analyze the logic of bitter taste signaling. Ectopic or overexpression of bitter Grs increased endogenous responses or conferred novel respons...

A growing literature suggests taste stimuli commonly classified as "bitter" induce heterogeneous neural and perceptual responses. Here, the central processing of bitter stimuli was studied in mice with genetically controlled bitter taste profiles. Using these mice removed genetic heterogeneity as a factor influencing gustatory neural codes for bitter stimuli. Electrophysiological activity (spik...

BACKGROUND Bitter cumin (Centratherum anthelminticum (L.) Kuntze), is a medicinally important plant. Earlier, we have reported phenolic compounds, antioxidant, and anti-hyperglycemic, antimicrobial activity of bitter cumin. In this study we have further characterized the antioxidative activity of bitter cumin extracts in various in vitro models. METHODS Bitter cumin seeds were extracted with ...

Cats are obligate carnivores and under most circumstances eat only animal products. Owing to the pseudogenization of one of two subunits of the sweet receptor gene, they are indifferent to sweeteners, presumably having no need to detect plant-based sugars in their diet. Following this reasoning and a recent report of a positive correlation between the proportion of dietary plants and the number...

Luteolin 7-O-glucuronide, luteolin 7-O-glucurono-(1-->6)-glucoside, apigenin 7-O-glucuronide as well as free aglycones luteolin and apigenin have been isolated from lemon catnip herb (Nepeta cataria L. var citriodora). Luteolin 7-O-glucurono-(1-->6)-glucoside is probably a new compound, for the first time described. Two minor constituents of flavonoid fraction have been identified as apigenin 7...

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study is to determine and compare antibacterial efficacy of aqueous extracts of black, green, and lemon tea of a commercially available brand. MATERIALS AND METHODS The well-diffusion method was used to evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of commercially available black tea, green tea, and lemon tea at three different concentrations (1.5 g, 5 g, and 7.5 g) aga...

Visual and gustatory responses of Spodoptera frugiperda Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae to artificial food dyes were studied. The objective was to determine the ability of these substances to attract and elicit feeding of insect larvae to assess their feasibility for improving the efficacy of ingested insecticides. The artificial food dyes lemon green, lemon yellow, orange red, chlorophy...

Humans perceive thousands of compounds as bitter. In sharp contrast, only approximately 25 taste 2 receptors (TAS2R) bitter taste receptors have been identified, raising the question as to how the vast array of bitter compounds can be detected by such a limited number of sensors. To address this issue, we have challenged 25 human taste 2 receptors (hTAS2Rs) with 104 natural or synthetic bitter ...

Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB) is becoming the most devastating citrus disease worldwide. Although no known HLB-resistant citrus species or varieties have been identified, some citrus accessions such as rough lemon are reportedly tolerant. To better understand the HLB tolerance or susceptibility mechanisms in citrus, comparative anatomical analyses of tolerant rough lemon and sensitive sweet orange...

Citrus huanglongbing (HLB) is a highly destructive disease of citrus presumably caused by 'Candidatus Liberibacterasiaticus' (Las), a gram-negative, insect-transmitted, phloem-limited α-proteobacterium. Although almost all citrus plants are susceptible to HLB, reports have shown reduced susceptibility to Las infection in lemon (Citrus limon) plants. The aim of this study is to identify intra-sp...