Disease relevance of Musa

• The antihyperglycemic effect of ethanolic extract of flowers of Musa sapientum (Musaceae), a herb (used in Indian folklore medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus) in alloxan induced diabetic rats [1].

High impact information on Musa

• We investigated the characteristics of ethylene biosynthesis associated with ripening in banana (Musa sp. [AAA group, Cavendish subgroup] cv Grand Nain) fruit [2].
• Cytosolic pyruvate kinase (PK(c)) from ripened banana (Musa cavendishii L.) fruits has been purified 543-fold to electrophoretic homogeneity and a final specific activity of 59.7 micromol of pyruvate produced/min per mg of protein [3].
• Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) from ripened banana (Musa cavendishii L.) fruits has been purified 127-fold to apparent homogeneity and a final specific activity of 32 mumol of oxaloacetate produced/min per mg of protein [4].
• This lectin was composed of two identical 15-kDa subunits with N-terminal amino acid sequence similarity to other lectins from other Musa species [5].
• Expression of a ripening-related cytochrome P450 cDNA in Cavendish banana (Musa acuminata cv. Williams) [6].

Biological context of Musa

• Malate synthase gene expression during fruit ripening of Cavendish banana (Musa acuminata cv. Williams) [7].
• This work was carried out to investigate the relative roles of phosphofructokinase and pyrophosphate-fructose-6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase during the increased glycolysis at the climacteric in ripening bananas (Musa cavendishii Lamb ex Paxton) [8].
• Somatic embryos of a seeded diploid ornamental banana (Musa ornata Roxb.) were obtained from zygotic embryos cultured on semi-solid Murashige and Skoog (MS) (1962) medium with the auxin 2,4-D (0.5, 1, 2 mg/l) and 5% CW [9].
• Alterations in lipids & lipid peroxidation in rats fed with flavonoid rich fraction of banana (Musa paradisiaca) from high background radiation area [10].
• DNA oligonucleotide and amplification fingerprinting have been successfully used to detect genetic polymorphisms in 15 representative species and cultivars of the genus Musa, comprising AA, AAA, AAAA, AAB, ABB, and BB genotypes [11].

Anatomical context of Musa

• Activation of peritoneal macrophages by sitoindoside-IV, an anti-ulcerogenic acylsterylglycoside from Musa paradisiaca [12].

Associations of Musa with chemical compounds

• During banana (Musa acuminata L.) fruit ripening ethylene production triggers a developmental cascade that is accompanied by a massive conversion of starch to sugars, an associated burst of respiratory activity, and an increase in protein synthesis [13].
• Examination of lectins of banana (Musa acuminata) and the closely related plantain (Musa spp.) by the techniques of quantitative precipitation, hapten inhibition of precipitation, and isothermal titration calorimetry showed that they are mannose/glucose binding proteins with a preference for the alpha-anomeric form of these sugars [14].
• Carbohydrate binding properties of banana (Musa acuminata) lectin II. Binding of laminaribiose oligosaccharides and beta-glucans containing beta1,6-glucosyl end groups [15].
• Terminal floral apices of Musa acuminata cv. Dwarf Cavendish were isolated and cultured in a modified Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium supplemented with N6-benzylamino purine (5 mg/L) and 10% (v/v) coconut water [16].
• The structure of a thaumatin-like protein from banana (Musa acuminata) fruit, an allergen with antifungal properties, was solved at 1.7-A-resolution, by X-ray crystallography [17].

Gene context of Musa

• Isolation of (S)-(+)-naproxene from Musa acuminata. Inhibitory effect of naproxene and its 7-methoxy isomer on constitutive COX-1 and inducible COX-2 [18].
• Polyphenol oxidase (PPO; EC 1.10.3.2) is the enzyme thought to be responsible for browning in banana [Musa cavendishii (AAA group, Cavendish subgroup) cv. Williams] fruit [19].
• Pulp of plantains (Musa acuminata) also contains a very similar TLP, which is even more abundant than its banana homologue [20].
• A 952-base pair polymerase-chain-reaction product of sucrose-phosphate synthase (SPS) (EC 2.3.1.14) from banana (Musa acuminata cv. Nanicão) fruit was cloned and used to study expression of the enzyme during development and ripening [21].
• Bananas (Musa spp.) are a major food crop of the humid tropics, and although edible cultivars are diverse and numerous, most of our knowledge of the physiology and biochemistry of these fruits relates to a few dessert cultivars of the AAA type, mainly of the Cavendish subgroup, which dominate the export trade between tropical and temperate zones [22].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Musa

• Oral administration of 0.15, 0.20 and 0.25 g/kg of chloroform extract of the Musa sapientum flowers (MSFEt) for 30 days resulted in a significant reduction in blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin and an increase in total haemoglobin, but in the case of 0.25 g/kg the effect was highly significant [23].

References