Composition of Food Plants of Central America. Iii. Guatemala

Munsell, Hazel E.; Williams, Louis O.; Guild, Louise P.; Troescher, Cynthia B.; Nightingale, Gertrude; Harris, Robert S.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.1950.tb16448.x

Cited by 28 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The Cucurbitaceae is one of the most economically important families of crops, used as food and for industrial and medical purposes [ 21 , 45 ]. Up to 50 % of the weight of cucurbit seeds consists of oil, and another 35 % of protein, making them a richer source of nutrients than most cereals and legumes [ 46 , 47 ] which has contributed to them being staple food sources in traditional societies [ 48 – 50 ]. The cucurbits were domesticated on diverse continents, and there is tremendous genetic variation within the family (Table 1 ) [ 22 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The human gut microbiome is affected significantly by diet [ 88 , 89 ]. Aside from consumption of the gourds (fruits), the seeds of some cucurbits are staple foods in diverse societies, eaten both cooked (e.g., egusi in West Africa and pepitas in Latin America) [ 48 – 50 ] and raw (e.g., cucumbers) [ 90 ]. As seeds are well known to be colonized by microbes [ 3 , 27 ], an unexplored idea is whether either their raw consumption, or even cooked consumption (in the case of spore forming Bacilli ), may affect the human gut microbiome [ 88 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Taxonomic and functional diversity of cultured seed associated microbes of the cucurbit family

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundEndophytes are microbes that colonize plant internal tissues without causing disease. In particular, seed-associated endophytes may be vectors for founder microbes that establish the plant microbiome, which may subsequently contribute beneficial functions to their host plants including nutrient acquisition and promotion of plant growth. The Cucurbitaceae family of gourds (e.g., cucumbers, melons, pumpkin, squash), including its fruits and seeds, is widely consumed by humans. However, there is limited data concerning the taxonomy and functions of seed-associated endophytes across the Cucurbitaceae family. Here, bacteria from surface-sterilized seeds of 21 curcurbit varieties belonging to seven economically important species were cultured, classified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and subjected to eight in vitro functional tests.ResultsIn total, 169 unique seed-associated bacterial strains were cultured from selected cucurbit seeds. Interestingly, nearly all strains belonged to only two phyla (Firmicutes, Proteobacteria) and only one class within each phyla (Bacilli, γ-proteobacteria, respectively). Bacillus constituted 50 % of all strains and spanned all tested cucurbit species. Paenibacillus was the next most common genus, while strains of Enterobacteriaceae and lactic acid bacteria were also cultured. Phylogenetic trees showed limited taxonomic clustering of strains by host species. Surprisingly, 33 % of strains produced the plant hormone, indole-3-acetic acid (auxin), known to stimulate the growth of fruits/gourds and nutrient-acquiring roots. The next most common nutrient acquisition traits in vitro were (in rank order): nitrogen fixation/N-scavenging, phosphate solubilisation, siderophore secretion, and production of ACC deaminase. Secretion of extracellular enzymes required for nutrient acquisition, endophyte colonization and/or community establishment were observed. Bacillus strains had the potential to contribute all tested functional traits to their hosts.ConclusionThe seeds of economically important cucurbits tested in this study have a culturable core microbiota consisting of Bacillus species with potential to contribute diverse nutrient acquisition and growth promotion activities to their hosts. These microbes may lead to novel seed inoculants to assist sustainable food production. Given that cucurbit seeds are consumed by traditional societies as a source of tryptophan, the precursor for auxin, we discuss the possibility that human selection inadvertently facilitated auxin-mediated increases in gourd size.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12866-016-0743-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taxonomic and functional diversity of cultured seed associated microbes of the cucurbit family

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…None of the species tested and presented here approached the previously published ascorbic acid mínimums for M. punicifolia L., M. glabra L., or M. souzae. However, Munsell et al (38,39) reported that M. glabra L. from Guatemala yielded 14.9 and 15.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the reporting of the high ascorbic acid content of the West Indian Cherry by Asenjo and Freiré de Guzman (4) z , and verification by Mustard (40), literature search indicates that Malpighia punicifolia L. (1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,14,15,16,17,19,20,21,22,24,25,26,27,28,29,32,33,34,35,41,42,44,45) and the closely allied species, M. glabra L. (15,16,23,30,31,32,33,38,39,40,45,46,47) have received much attention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%