Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 29, 2025
07:10
Taste Exam: A Brief and Validated Test
Published on: August 17, 2018
16.9K
Bitter and sweet make tomato hard to (b)eat
1Laboratory of Phytopathology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, 6708 PB, the Netherlands.
The New Phytologist
|November 21, 2020
Summary
Alpha-tomatine, a tomato compound, deters insects and kills microbes by disrupting cell membranes. Its breakdown products can also influence plant immunity, revealing complex plant-pathogen interactions.
Area of Science:
- Plant biochemistry
- Chemical ecology
- Molecular biology
Background:
- Alpha-tomatine is a tomato-specific glycoalkaloid saponin with antimicrobial and antinutritional properties.
- It accumulates in high concentrations in tomato vegetative tissues, acting as a defense mechanism against pathogens and herbivores.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide recent insights into the biosynthesis and regulation of alpha-tomatine.
- To discuss its mechanism of action and plant self-protection strategies.
- To explore complex interactions beyond simple toxin production and inactivation.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent research on alpha-tomatine biosynthesis and regulation.
- Analysis of alpha-tomatine's mode of action, including sterol interaction and membrane disruption.
- Examination of microbial inactivation mechanisms (glycosyl hydrolases) and their impact.
Main Results:
- Alpha-tomatine disrupts microbial membranes by interacting with sterols.
- Tomato plants possess mechanisms to protect against alpha-tomatine's toxicity.
- Pathogenic microbes inactivate alpha-tomatine via specific glycosyl hydrolases.
- External pH, cellular localization, and breakdown products modulate alpha-tomatine's effects and plant immunity.
Conclusions:
- Alpha-tomatine's role in plant defense is multifaceted, involving direct toxicity and modulation of plant immune responses.
- Microbial inactivation of alpha-tomatine is a key factor in host-pathogen dynamics.
- Future research should address outstanding questions regarding alpha-tomatine's complex ecological and molecular roles.
Related Concept Videos
01:24The Physiology of Taste
6.2K
The perception of a salty flavor is facilitated by sodium ions within the oral salivary fluid. Upon consumption of a salty substance, salt crystals disassemble, leading to the liberation of its constituents—Na+ and Cl- ions. These ions subsequently dissolve into the salivary fluid present in the oral cavity. The external environment of the gustatory cells experiences an elevation in Na+ concentration, thereby establishing a potent concentration gradient. This gradient propels the...
6.2K
01:43Gustation
51.2K
Gustation is a chemical sense that, along with olfaction (smell), contributes to our perception of taste. It starts with the activation of receptors by chemical compounds (tastants) dissolved in the saliva. The saliva and filiform papillae on the tongue distribute the tastants and increase their exposure to the taste receptors.
51.2K
01:14Conditioned Taste Aversion
386
Conditioned taste aversion, also known as sauce béarnaise syndrome, is a phenomenon in which an individual develops an aversion to a certain food taste following a negative experience, typically illness. This form of aversion is a type of classical conditioning in which the taste of the food (conditioned stimulus, CS) is associated with the experience of illness (unconditioned stimulus, UCS).
A notable characteristic of conditioned taste aversion is that it often requires only a single...
A notable characteristic of conditioned taste aversion is that it often requires only a single...
386
01:20Taste Buds and Receptors
4.0K
Gustation, or the sense of taste, is intrinsically linked to the anatomical structures located on the tongue. This organ's surface, along with the entirety of the oral cavity, is adorned with stratified squamous epithelium. Evident on the tongue are elevated structures known as papillae (singular = papilla), which house the mechanisms for the transduction of gustatory stimuli. Four distinct types of papillae exist, each identified by their unique morphological attributes: the circumvallate,...
4.0K
00:49The Tongue and Taste Buds
39.6K
The surface of the tongue is covered with various small bumps called papillae, which either distribute what has been ingested (filiform papillae) or contain the sensory taste (or gustatory) receptor cells (fungiform, circumvallate, and foliate papillae). Embedded within each taste-related papilla are the taste buds—clusters of 30 to 100 gustatory receptor cells.
39.6K
01:58Fruit Development, Structure, and Function
24.3K
Fruits form from a mature flower ovary. As seeds develop from the ovules contained within, the ovary wall undergoes a series of complex changes to form fruit. In some fruits, such as soybeans, the ovary wall dries; in other fruits, such as grapes, it remains fleshy. In some cases, organs other than the ovary contribute to fruit formation; such fruits are called accessory fruits.
24.3K