Warifteine, an alkaloid of Cissampelos sympodialis, modulates allergic profile in a chronic allergic rhinitis model

Cissampelos sympodialis Eichler, Menispermaceae, a Brazilian medicinal plant and its alkaloid warifteine present immunomodulatory activity on asthma experimental model by reducing antigen-specific IgE levels, eosinophil infiltration and lung hyperactivity. Allergic rhinitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the nasal tissue that affect the quality of life and it is a risk factor for asthma exacerbation. This study evaluated the effect of inhaled warifteine in an allergic ovalbumin rhinitis model. Inhaled warifteine (2 mg/ml) treatment of ovalbumin-sensitized BALB/c mice significant decreased total and differential number of cells on the nasal cavity and decreased ovalbumin-specific IgE serum levels. Hematoxylin & eosin staining of histological preparations of ovalbumin nasal tissues showed changes such as congestion and a massive cell infiltration in the perivascular and subepithelial regions characterizing the nasal inflammatory process. However, inhaled warifteine or dexamethasone treatment decreased cell infiltration into the perivascular regions and it was observed an intact nasal tissue. Periodic acidic staining of nasal epithelium of ovalbumin animals demonstrated high amount of mucus production by goblet cells and inhaled warifteine or dexamethasone treatment modulated the mucus production. In addition, toluidine blue staining of the nasal epithelium of ovalbumin animals demonstrated an increase of mast cells on the tissue and inhaled warifteine or dexamethasone treatment decreased in average of 1.4 times the number of these cells on the nasal epithelium. Taken these data together we postulate that warifteine, an immunomodulatory alkaloid, can be a medicinal molecule prototype to ameliorate the allergic rhinitis conditions. Keywords: Allergic rhinitis, Eosinophil, IgE, Nasal tissues, Mast cells, Wariftein

Quantitative Analysis Of Race-specific Resistance To Colletotrichum Lindemuthianum In Common Bean

Molecular genetic maps continue to play a major role in breeding of crop species. The common bean genetic map of the recombinant inbred line population IAC-UNA × CAL 143 (UC) has been used to detect loci controlling important agronomic traits in common bean. In the current study, new microsatellite markers were added to the UC map and the linkage analysis was refined using current genomic resources of common bean, in order to identify quantitative resistance loci (QRL) associated with different races of the anthracnose pathogen. A single race inoculation was conducted in greenhouse using four plants per plot. Both race-specific and joint-adjusted disease severity means, obtained from linear-mixed model, were used to perform multiple interval mapping (MIM) and multi-trait MIM (MTMIM). In total, 13 and 11 QRL were identified by MIM and MTMIM analyses, respectively; with nine being observed in both analyses. ANT02.1UC and ANT07.1UC showed major effects on resistance both for MIM and MTMIM. Common major QRL for resistance to the three anthracnose races were expected, since high genetic pairwise-correlation was observed between the race-specific and joint-adjusted disease severity means. Therewith, both ANT02.1 and ANT07.1 can be regarded as valuable targets for marker-assisted selection; and so, putative genes potentially involved in the resistance response were identified in these QRL regions. Minor effect QRL were also observed, showing differential affects either on race-specific or multi-trait analyses and may play a role on durable horizontal resistance. These results contribute to a better understanding of the host-pathogen interaction and to breeding for enhancing resistance to Colletotrichum lindemuthianum in common bean. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Análise não-paramétrica da sanidade de sementes e índices de eliminação e classificação de genótipos de soja Non-parametric analysis of seed sanity and elimination and ranking indices of soybean genotypes

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar genótipos de soja quanto à sanidade de semente, com um método de análise, pelo qual se obtém índices de sanidade (eliminação e classificação) com base em análise não-paramétrica. Esses índices consistiram em eliminar os genótipos com incidência de patógenos acima de um dado valor, estabelecido pelo experimentador e, em seguida, classificar os genótipos não eliminados, por ordem de incidência desses patógenos. A fim de comprovar sua eficácia, realizaram-se a simulação e comparação desse método com outros, e seu uso em dados de germinação e sanidade das sementes de cultivares e linhagens de soja, de ensaios finais do Programa de Melhoramento de Soja, do Departamento de Fitotecnia, da Universidade Federal de Viçosa, conduzidos no ano agrícola de 2002/2003. Os pesos das variáveis e os limites de corte, utilizados nos índices, foram estabelecidos tendo-se levado em consideração estudos que relacionam a sanidade das sementes e sua germinação. A utilização dos índices propostos permite classificar genótipos de soja, quanto à qualidade sanitária das sementes, e eliminar das análises os genótipos que não atingiram os níveis mínimos requeridos.<br>The objective of this work was to assess soybean genotypes for seed sanity, with a method by which a sanity index (elimination and classification) is obtained based on non-parametric analysis. This index consisted in the elimination of genotypes with pathogen incidence above a certain value, established by the researcher, and then the classification of the noneliminated genotypes in the first step, ordering them according to the incidence of the pathogens. To verify its effectiveness, it was accomplished a simulation study and comparison of this proposed method with others, and its use in germination and sanity data of seeds from soybean lineages and cultivars of final experiments of the Soybean Breeding Program of Departmento de Fitotecnia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, in 2002/2003 crop season. The weights of the variables and the cut limits used in the index were established considering studies related to seeds sanity and their germinations. The use of the proposed index allows the ranking of soybean genotypes, regarding to the sanitary quality of the seeds, and the elimination from the analyses of the genotypes that have not reached the requested minimum levels