We previously showed that C57BL/6J mice fed high-fat diet (HFD) supplemented with 1% grape polyphenols (GP) for 12 weeks developed a bloom of Akkermansia muciniphila with attenuated metabolic syndrome symptoms. Here we investigated early timing of GP-induced effects and the responsible class of grape polyphenols. Mice were fed HFD, low-fat diet (LFD) or formulations supplemented with GP (HFD-GP, LFD-GP) for 14 days. Mice fed HFD-GP, but not LFD-GP, showed improved oral glucose tolerance compared to controls. A. muciniphila bloom occurred earlier in mice fed LFD-GP than HFD-GP; however, timing was dependent on baseline A. muciniphila levels rather than dietary fat. Mice gavaged for 10 days with GP extract (GPE) or grape proanthocyanidins (PACs), each delivering 360 mg PACs/kg body weight, induced a bloom of fecal and cecal A. muciniphila, the rate of which depended on initial A. muciniphila abundance. Grape PACs were sufficient to induce a bloom of A. muciniphila independent of specific intestinal gene expression changes. Gut microbial community analysis and in vitro inhibition of A. muciniphila by GPE or PACs suggest that the A. muciniphila bloom in vivo occurs via indirect mechanisms.

The Gastrodia antifungal protein (GAFP-1) is a monocot mannose-binding lectin found in the Asiatic orchid Gastrodia elata. Transgenic plum (Prunus domestica var. ‘Stanley’) lines (4J and 4I) expressing GAFP-1 exhibit enhanced disease resistance to the stramenopile pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi and the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita. Rootstocks created from such transgenic lines might be more readily accepted by consumers if it can be shown that foreign gene products are not migrating into a grafted, nontransgenic scion on which fruit is produced. In this study, wild-type (WT) plum tissue was budded onto transgenic plum lines 4J and 4I to create chimeric-grafted trees. Tissues from chimeric-grafted trees were analyzed for gafp-1 transcripts (leaf and root) and protein (leaf, soft shoot, and root) by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction and immunodetection, respectively. Transcripts of gafp-1 were detected consistently in the root tissues but not within the leaves of the grafted, WT scions. Similarly, the GAFP-1 lectin was identified within the roots, but not in the soft shoot or leaf tissues of the grafted, WT scions. These results suggest that gafp-1 mRNA and protein are not moving into the WT scion tissues of chimeric-grafted plum trees.

The Gastrodia antifungal protein (GAFP-1) is a mannose-binding lectin that can confer increased disease resistance in transgenic tobacco and plum. In all previously generated, transgenic lines, the gene was under the control of the 35SCaMV promoter. In this study, transgenic plum lines were created from seeds derived from open pollination of the cultivar Bluebyrd (BB-OP) with gafp-1 under the control of the polyubiquitin promoter bul409 and evaluated for Phytophthora root rot (PRR) and Root knot nematode (RKN) susceptibility. One of nine transgenic lines synthesizing GAFP-1 exhibited increased tolerance to PRR caused by P. cinnamomi. The same line (BB-OP-1) was also significantly more tolerant to RKN infection caused by Meloidogyne incognita. BB-OP-1 was more resistant to PRR and equally resistant to RKN compared with the cultivar Stanley-derived 4J line, which expresses gafp-1 under the control of the 35SCaMV promoter. GAFP-1 synthesis in BB-OP-1 was not elevated by pathogen infection, suggesting that the bul409 promoter is not inducible in the plum/GAFP-1 system. This study confirms the usefulness of the gafp-1 gene in various cultivars of transgenic plum and establishes that the bul409 promoter is at least equal in effectiveness to the 35SCaMV promoter for gafp-1 expression in transgenic lines of woody plants.