BACKGROUND Some patients with Japanese cedar pollen (JCP)-induced allergic rhinitis develop pollen-food allergy syndrome (PFAS) as a reaction to tomato fruit. Pollen allergen-specific subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) is reportedly beneficial for some associated food allergies; however, the reported changes in food allergen-specific immunoglobulin (Ig)E and IgG4 levels are inconsistent. Here, w...

The translocon at the outer envelope membrane of chloroplasts (Toc) mediates the recognition and initial import into the organelle of thousands of nucleus-encoded proteins. These proteins are translated in the cytosol as precursor proteins with cleavable amino-terminal targeting sequences called transit peptides. The majority of the known Toc components that mediate chloroplast protein import w...

In this study, the influence of lactic acid fermentation on the quality of tomato powder was evaluated. The effect of adding fermented tomato powder to ready-to-cook minced pork meat to improve its nutritional value and sensory characteristics was also analysed. The cell growth of Lactobacillus sakei (7.53 log CFU/g) was more intense in the medium containing tomato powder, compared to the growt...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate the effects of tomato juice consumption on seminal plasma lycopene levels and sperm parameters in infertile men. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN Subjects were male infertility patients with poor sperm concentration (<20×10 6/mL) and/or motility (<50%). Following a fourweek observation period, subjects were randomly assigned among three groups...

The macrostructure of the tomato telomeres has been investigated by in situ hybridization, genomic sequencing, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. In situ hybridizations with a cloned telomeric sequence from Arabidopsis thaliana indicated that the telomeric repeat of tomato cross-hybridizes with that of Arabidopsis and is located at all telomeres. Bal31 digestion kinetics confirmed that the t...

Lycopene extract from tomato is a lycopene-rich extract prepared from the ripe fruits of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.). The product is manufactured by crushing tomatoes, to produce crude tomato juice that is then separated into serum and pulp. The pulp is subsequently extracted using ethyl acetate as a solvent. The final extract consists of tomato oil in which lycopene together with a num...

Lycopene is known to decrease cardiovascular risks. The objective of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms of tomato paste containing approximately 0.1% lycopene in regulating lipid metabolism and oxidation. Hamsters fed 3% or 9% tomato paste containing 0.2% cholesterol were subjected to total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), and ...

The tomato-potato psyllid Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc) (Hemiptera: Triozidae) is a pest of many solanaceous plants, including tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). In tomato, feeding by nymphs is associated with "psyllid yellows." B. cockerelli also vectors "Candidatus Liberibacter psyllaurous," an infectious bacterium that causes "vein greening" disease. Decision...

This paper is concerned with the digitization and visualization of potted greenhouse tomato plants in indoor environments. For the digitization, an inexpensive and efficient commercial stereo sensor-a Microsoft Kinect-is used to separate visual information about tomato plants from background. Based on the Kinect, a 4-step approach that can automatically detect and segment stems of tomato plants...

Late blight of tomato is caused by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestans. In our previous work, we identified and characterized a miR1918 in P. infestans (pi-miR1918), and showed that its sequence is similar to the sequence of tomato miR1918 (sly-miR1918). In this study, we used Arabidopsis thaliana pre-miR159a as a backbone to synthesize pi-miR1918 via PCR and mutagenesis. The artificia...