High impact information on Chicory

• Virulence tests showed that sufA and sufC mutants exhibited reduced ability to cause maceration of chicory leaves, whereas a functional sufC gene was necessary for the bacteria to cause systemic invasion of Saintpaulia ionantha [1].
• A comparison revealed that chicory 1-FFT has a high affinity for sucrose (Suc), fructose (Fru), and 1-kestose as acceptor substrate [2].
• Isolation and characterization of two germacrene A synthase cDNA clones from chicory [3].
• Whereas a pathway for the formation of germacra-1(10),4,11(13)-trien-12-oic acid from farnesyl diphosphate had previously been established, we now report the isolation of an enzyme activity from chicory roots that converts the germacrene acid into (+)-costunolide [4].
• Biosynthesis of costunolide, dihydrocostunolide, and leucodin. Demonstration of cytochrome p450-catalyzed formation of the lactone ring present in sesquiterpene lactones of chicory [4].

Biological context of Chicory

• Intestinal absorption, transit, and fermentation (breath hydrogen and methane, venous acetate, blood glucose, and urine fructans) after ingestion of 10-30 g short- and long-chain fructans from chicory were studied by single-blind, crossover randomization in 10 healthy adults [5].
• The partial enzymatic hydrolysis of chicory inulin (GFn; 2 < or =n < or =60) yields an oligofructose preparation that is composed of both GFn-type and Fn-type oligosaccharides (2 < or =n < or =7; 2 < or =m < or =7), where G is glucose, F is fructose, and n is the number of beta(2-->1) bound fructose moieties [6].
• Seeds of Cichorium intybus L. var. foliosum cv. Flash were sown in acid-washed vermiculite and grown in a controlled-environment growth chamber [7].
• CHI-GST1, a cDNA encoding a glutathione S-transferase, was isolated by differential display in leaf tissues of chicory, during the early stages of somatic embryogenesis [8].

Associations of Chicory with chemical compounds

• Fructans of chicory: intestinal transport and fermentation of different chain lengths and relation to fructose and sorbitol malabsorption [5].
• Biosynthesis of germacrene A carboxylic acid in chicory roots. Demonstration of a cytochrome P450 (+)-germacrene a hydroxylase and NADP+-dependent sesquiterpenoid dehydrogenase(s) involved in sesquiterpene lactone biosynthesis [9].
• A method of identifying closely related chicory varieties has been developed using native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and subsequent leucine aminopeptidase and esterase staining of bulked seed sample extracts [10].
• The maximum volumetric productivities of ethanol were 6.2 and 6.0 g/liter/h for chicory and dahlia inulins, respectively [11].
• Evidence for the nitrate-dependent spatial regulation of the nitrate reductase gene in chicory roots [12].

Gene context of Chicory

• Inhibition of the expression and activity of cyclooxygenase-2 by chicory extract [13].
• The cloning of two highly homologous chicory (Cichorium intybus var. foliosum cv Flash) fructan 1-exohydrolase cDNAs (1-FEH IIa and 1-FEH IIb) is described [14].
• The catalytic center of the RNA from the negative strand of the satellite RNA of chicory yellow mottle virus type 1 (sCYMV1) is in the hairpin ribozyme family, has catalytic activity, and cleaves substrates before a preferred GUA sequence [15].
• Chicory seed lot variety identification by leucine-aminopeptidase and esterase zymogram analysis [10].
• The serum apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A-1 ratio was significantly lower in rats fed diets containing chicory extract or inulin than that in rats fed fiber-free diets, due to significant reductions in apolipoprotein B concentration (P < 0.05) [16].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Chicory

• These results suggest that the reduction in intestinal absorption of glucose observed after perfusion of chicory extract or inulin may be caused by viscosity-related increases in mucosal unstirred layer thickness [17].
• Here we show that inulins (linear fructose polymers) isolated from chicory roots and dahlia tubers stabilize egg phosphatidylcholine large unilamellar vesicles during freeze-drying, while another polysaccharide, hydroxyethyl starch, was completely ineffective [18].

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