The husk fiber of Cocos nucifera L. (Palmae) is a source of anti-neoplastic activity

In the present study, we investigated the in vitro anti-tumoral activities of fractions from aqueous extracts of the husk fiber of the typical A and common varieties of Cocos nucifera (Palmae). Cytotoxicity against leukemia cells was determined by the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cells (2 x 104/well) were incubated with 0, 5, 50 or 500 µg/mL high- or low-molecular weight fractions for 48 h, treated with MTT and absorbance was measured with an ELISA reader. The results showed that both varieties have almost similar antitumoral activity against the leukemia cell line K562 (60.1 ± 8.5 and 47.5 ± 11.9% for the typical A and common varieties, respectively). Separation of the crude extracts with Amicon membranes yielded fractions with molecular weights ranging in size from 1-3 kDa (fraction A) to 3-10 kDa (fraction B) and to more than 10 kDa (fraction C). Cells were treated with 500 µg/mL of these fractions and cytotoxicity was evaluated by MTT. Fractions ranging in molecular weight from 1-10 kDa had higher cytotoxicity. Interestingly, C. nucifera extracts were also active against Lucena 1, a multidrug-resistant leukemia cell line. Their cytotoxicity against this cell line was about 50% (51.9 ± 3.2 and 56.3 ± 2.9 for varieties typical A and common, respectively). Since the common C. nucifera variety is extensively cultured in Brazil and the husk fiber is its industrial by-product, the results obtained in the present study suggest that it might be a very inexpensive source of new antineoplastic and anti-multidrug resistant drugs that warrants further investigation

Negative correlation between phospholipase and esterase activity produced by Fusarium isolates

Fusarium species have emerged as one of the more outstanding groups of clinically important filamentous fungi, causing localized and life-threatening invasive infections with high morbidity and mortality. The ability to produce different types of hydrolytic enzymes is thought to be an important virulence mechanism of fungal pathogens and could be associated with the environment of the microorganism. Here, we have measured the production of two distinct lipolytic enzymes, phospholipase and esterase, by sixteen Fusarium isolates recovered from the hospital environment, immunocompromised patients’ blood cultures, foot interdigital space scrapings from immunocompromised patients, and foot interdigital space scrapings from immunocompetent patients (4 isolates each). Fourteen of these 16 isolates were identified asFusarium solani species complex (FSSC) and two were identified as F. oxysporum species complex (FOSC). Some relevant genus characteristics were visualized by light and electron microscopy such as curved and multicelled macroconidia with 3 or 4 septa, microconidia, phialides, and abundant chlamydospores. All Fusarium isolates were able to produce esterase and phospholipase under the experimental conditions. However, a negative correlation was observed between these two enzymes, indicating that a Fusarium isolate with high phospholipase activity has low esterase activity and vice versa. In addition, Fusarium isolated from clinical material produced more phospholipases, while environmental strains produced more esterases. These observations may be correlated with the different types of substrates that these fungi need to degrade during their nutrition processes

Chemical composition and antioxidant and antifungal properties of Mentha x piperita L. (peppermint) and Mentha arvensis L. (cornmint) samples

Essential oils and infusions from commercial peppermint sachets (CPS), and non-commercial genuine peppermint (NCP) and cornmint (NCC) samples were analyzed by GC/MS and LC/MS. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of mint oils against Fusarium moniliforme, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus fumigates was determined. Antioxidant potential was monitored by total phenolic content (TPC), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and soybean oil oxidation tests. CPS and NCC oils had lower menthofuran content than NCP. Mint oils did not show a uniform standard of antifungal activity and they had the modest reducing ability. CPS and NCC infusions showed higher IC50 and lower TPC than NCP ones. In the soybean oxidation test, mint oils presented prooxidant behavior. CPS infusions showed antioxidant potential significantly (P<0.05, Tukey) lower than that from NCC and NCP infusions. NCP infusions were more efficient in delaying propagation reaction than NCC ones. This may be attributed to higher amount of rosmarinic acid and hesperidin in NCP

Streptomyces Drozdowiczii Sp. Nov., A Novel Cellulolytic Streptomycete From Soil In Brazil

An actinomycete strain, isolated from a Mata Atlântica soil sample, showing cellulolytic activity as subjected to polyphasic taxonomic characterization to determine its identity. Strain M7aT presented morphological and chemotaxonomic characteristics consistent with its assignment to the genus Streptomyces. Phylogenetic analysis of its 16S rDNA sequence revealed that the strain differed from described streptomycetes available in the public databases; the most closely related species was Streptomyces laceyi, with 98.4% nucleotide similarity. It also differed from other cellulolytic strains in its phenotypic characteristics. It is therefore proposed that strain M7aT, a cellulolytic strain with biotechnological potential, represents a novel species, named Streptomyces drozdowiczii sp. nov. The type strain is M7aT (=CBMAI 0498T =CIP 107837T =NRRL B-24297T). © 2004 IUMS.54413231328Altschul, S.F., Madden, T.L., Schaffer, A.A., Zhang, J., Zhang, Z., Miller, W., Lipman, D.J., Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: A new generation of protein database search programs (1997) Nucleic Acids Res., 25, pp. 3389-3402Bull, A.T., Goodfellow, M., Slater, J.H., Biodiversity as a source of innovation in biotechnology (1992) Annu. Rev. Microbiol., 46, pp. 219-252Hopkins, D.W., MacNaughton, S.J., O'Donnell, A.G., A dispersion and differential centrifugation technique for representatively sampling microorganisms from soil (1991) Soil Biol. Biochem., 23, pp. 217-225Jones, K.L., Fresh isolates of actinomycetes in which the presence of sporogenous aerial mycelia is a fluctuating characteristic (1949) J. Bacteriol., 57, pp. 141-145Kumar, S., Tamura, K., Jakobsen, I.B., Nei, M., (2001) MEGA2: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Software, , Tempe, AZ: Arizona State UniversityLane, D.J., 16S/23S rRNA sequencing (1991) Nucleic Acid Techniques in Bacterial Systematics, pp. 115-175. , Edited by E. Stackebrandt & M. Goodfellow. Chichester: John WileyLane, D.J., Pace, B., Olsen, G.J., Stahl, D.A., Sogin, M.L., Pace, N.R., Rapid determination of 16S ribosomal RNA sequences for phylogenetic analyses (1985) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 82, pp. 6955-6959Lechevalier, M.P., Lechevalier, H., Chemical composition as a criterion in the classification of aerobic actinomycetes (1970) Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol., 20, pp. 435-443Lepage, G., Roy, C.C., Improved recovery of fatty acid through direct transesterification without prior extraction or purification (1984) J. Lipid Res., 25, pp. 1391-1396Li, X., Streptomyces cellulolyticus sp. nov., a new cellulolytic member of the genus Streptomyces (1997) Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol., 47, pp. 443-445Locci, R., Streptomyces and related genera (1989) Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 4, pp. 2451-2506. , Edited by S. T. Williams, M. E. Sharp & J. G. Holt. Baltimore: Williams & WilkinsMaidak, B.L., Olsen, G.J., Larsen, N., Overbeek, R., McCaughey, M.J., Woese, C.R., The RDP (Ribosomal Database Project) (1997) Nucleic Acids Res., 25, pp. 109-111Manfio, G.P., Atalan, E., Zakrzewska-Czerwinska, J., Mordarski, M., Rodríguez, C., Collins, M.D., Goodfellow, M., Classification of novel soil streptomycetes as Streptomyces aureus sp. nov., Streptomyces laceyi sp. nov. and Streptomyces sanglieri sp. nov (2003) Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 83, pp. 245-255Okami, Y., Hotta, K., Search and discovery of new antibiotics (1988) Actinomycetes in Biotechnology, pp. 37-67. , Edited by M. Goodfellow, S. T. Williams & M. Mordarski. London: Academic PressPaim, S., Linhares, L.F., Mangrich, A.S., Martin, J.P., Characterization of fungal melanins and soil humic acids by chemical analysis and infrared spectroscopy (1990) Biol. Fertil. Soils, 10, pp. 72-76Pitcher, D.G., Saunders, N.A., Owen, R.J., Rapid extraction of bacterial genomic DNA with guanidium thiocyanate (1989) Lett. Appl. Microbiol., 8, pp. 151-156Saitou, N., Nei, M., The neighbor-joining method: A new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees (1987) Mol. Biol. Evol., 4, pp. 406-425Semêdo, L.T.A.S., Gomes, R.C., Bon, E.P.S., Soares, R.M.S., Linhares, L.F., Coelho, R.R.R., Endocellulase and exocellulase activities of two Streptomyces strains isolated from a forest soil (2000) Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol., 84-86, pp. 267-276Semêdo, L.T.A.S., Linhares, A.A., Gomes, R.C., Manfio, G.P., Alviano, C.S., Linhares, L.F., Coelho, R.R.R., Isolation and characterization of actinomycetes from Brazilian tropical soils (2001) Microbiol. 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Partial chemical characterization of antigenic preparations of chromoblastomycosis agents Caracterização química parcial de preparações antigênicas de agentes da cromoblastomicose

Antigenic preparations (saline, methylic, metabolic and exoantigens) of four agents of chromoblastomycosis, Fonsecaea pedrosoi, Phialophora verrucosa, Cladophialophora (Cladosporium) carrionii and Rhinocladiella aquaspersa were obtained. Partial chemical characterization of these antigenic preparations was obtained by determination of the levels of total lipids, protein, and carbohydrates, and identification of the main sterols and carbohydrates. Methylic antigens presented the highest lipid contents, whereas metabolic antigens showed the highest carbohydrate content. Total lipid, protein, and carbohydrate levels were in the range of 2.33 to 2.00mg/ml, 0.04 to 0.02 mg/ml and 0.10 to 0.02 mg/ml, respectively, in the methylic antigens and in the range of 0.53 to 0.18mg/ml, 0.44 to 0.26mg/ml, and 1.82 to 1.02 mg/ml, respectively, in saline antigens. Total lipid, protein, and carbohydrate contents were in the range of 0.55 to 0.20mg/ml, 0.69 to 0.57mg/ml and 10.73 to 5.93mg/ml, respectively, in the metabolic antigens, and in the range of 0.55 to 0.15mg/ml, 0.62 to 0.20mg/ml and 3.55 to 0.42mg/ml, respectively, in the exoantigens. Phospholipids were not detected in the preparations. Saline and metabolic antigens and exoantigens presented hexose and the methylic antigen revealed additional pentose units in their composition. The UV light absorption spectra of the sterols revealed squalene and an ergosterol fraction in the antigens. The characterization of these antigenic preparations may be useful for serological evaluation of patients of chromoblastomycosis.<br>Preparações antigênicas (antígenos salinos, metílicos, metabólicos e exoantígenos) de quatro agentes da cromoblastomicose, Fonsecaea pedrosoi, Phialophora verrucosa, Cladophialophora (Cladosporium) carrionii e Rhinocladiella aquaspersa foram obtidos e foi determinada a caracterização química parcial dos mesmos. Os antígenos metílicos apresentaram os maiores teores de lípides enquanto os metabólicos os maiores teores em carboidratos. Lípides totais, proteína e carboidratos totais ocorreram na faixa de 2,33 a 2,00mg/ml, 0,04 a 0,02 mg/ml e 0,10 a 0,02 mg/ml respectivamente, nos antígenos metílicos e de 0,53 a 0,18mg/ml, 0,44 a 0,26mg/ml e 1,82 a 1,02mg/ml respectivamente, nos antígenos salinos. Lípides, proteínas e carboidratos totais ocorreram na faixa de 0,55 a 0,20mg/ml, 0,69 a 0,57mg/ml e 10,73 a 5,93mg/ml respectivamente, nos antígenos metabólicos, e na faixa de 0,55 a 0,15mg/ml, 0,62 a 0,20mg/ml e 3,55 a 0,42mg/ml respectivamente, nos exoantígenos. Fosfolípides não foram detectados em nenhum dos antígenos. Os antígenos salinos, metabólicos e os exoantígenos apresentam hexoses enquanto os antígenos metílicos apresentam adicionalmente unidades de pentose em sua composição. O espectro de absorção na luz UV dos esteróis revelou esqualeno e ergosterol em todos os antígenos. A obtenção e caracterização química parcial desses antígenos poderá vir a ser de utilidade em estudos de sorologia de pacientes da cromoblastomicose