Biodereplication of antiplasmodial extracts: application of the amazonian medicinal plant piper coruscans kunth

Improved methodological tools to hasten antimalarial drug discovery remain of interest, especially when considering natural products as a source of drug candidates. We propose a biodereplication method combining the classical dereplication approach with the early detection of potential antiplasmodial compounds in crude extracts. Heme binding is used as a surrogate of the antiplasmodial activity and is monitored by mass spectrometry in a biomimetic assay. Molecular networking and automated annotation of targeted mass through data mining were followed by mass-guided compound isolation by taking advantage of the versatility and finely tunable selectivity offered by centrifugal partition chromatography. This biodereplication workflow was applied to an ethanolic extract of the Amazonian medicinal plant Piper coruscans Kunth (Piperaceae) showing an IC50 of 1.36 ug/mL on the 3D7 Plasmodium falciparum strain. It resulted in the isolation of twelve compounds designated as potential antiplasmodial compounds by the biodereplication workflow. Two chalcones, aurentiacin (1) and cardamonin (3), with IC50 values of 2.25 and 5.5 uM, respectively, can be considered to bear the antiplasmodial activity of the extract, with the latter not relying on a heme-binding mechanism. This biodereplication method constitutes a rapid, efficient, and robust technique to identify potential antimalarial compounds in complex extracts such as plant extracts

Understanding different dominance patterns in western Amazonian forests

Dominance of neotropical tree communities by a few species is widely documented, but dominant trees show a variety of distributional patterns still poorly understood. Here, we used 503 forest inventory plots (93,719 individuals ≥2.5 cm diameter, 2609 species) to explore the relationships between local abundance, regional frequency and spatial aggregation of dominant species in four main habitat types in western Amazonia. Although the abundance-occupancy relationship is positive for the full dataset, we found that among dominant Amazonian tree species, there is a strong negative relationship between local abundance and regional frequency and/or spatial aggregation across habitat types. Our findings suggest an ecological trade-off whereby dominant species can be locally abundant (local dominants) or regionally widespread (widespread dominants), but rarely both (oligarchs). Given the importance of dominant species as drivers of diversity and ecosystem functioning, unravelling different dominance patterns is a research priority to direct conservation efforts in Amazonian forests.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Manual de caracterización genotípica de recursos genéticos

El Ministerio de Desarrollo Agrario y Riego (MIDAGRI) a través del Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria (INIA), pone a disposición el presente manual titulado “Caracterización genotípica de recursos genéticos”, donde se describen los diferentes métodos y procedimientos utilizados para el proceso de colecta de muestras, extracción de ácidos nucleicos, obtención de marcadores moleculares y diagnóstico del estado fitosanitario; realizados exitosamente en los cultivos de yuca, oca, tomate, arracacha y yacón. El presente manual es el resultado de numerosos estudios sobre la diversidad genética y caracterización molecular de las colecciones de germoplasma, ubicadas estratégicamente en el territorio nacional a través de las Estaciones Experimentales Agrarias (EEAs) del INIA

Distribution Models of Timber Species for Forest Conservation and Restoration in the Andean-Amazonian Landscape, North of Peru

The Andean-Amazonian landscape has been universally recognized for its wide biodiversity, and is considered as global repository of ecosystem services. However, the severe loss of forest cover and rapid reduction of the timber species seriously threaten this ecosystem and biodiversity. In this study, we have modeled the distribution of the ten most exploited timber forest species in Amazonas (Peru) to identify priority areas for forest conservation and restoration. Statistical and cartographic protocols were applied with 4454 species records and 26 environmental variables using a Maximum Entropy model (MaxEnt). The result showed that the altitudinal variable was the main regulatory factor that significantly controls the distribution of the species. We found that nine species are distributed below 1000 m above sea level (a.s.l.), except Cedrela montana, which was distributed above 1500 m a.s.l., covering 40.68%. Eight of 10 species can coexist, and the species with the highest percentage of potential restoration area is Cedrela montana (14.57% from Amazonas). However, less than 1.33% of the Amazon has a potential distribution of some species and is protected under some category of conservation. Our study will contribute as a tool for the sustainable management of forests and will provide geographic information to complement forest restoration and conservation plans

RURANA ÑAN PUSAQ ZONAS DE AGROBIODIVERSIDAD NISQA HINA PERÚ SUYUPI RIQSISQA KANAPAQ

Con la finalidad de promover el reconocimiento de Zonas de Agrobiodiversidad a nivel nacional, y proporcionar información sobre el procedimiento para su reconocimiento, el INIA pone a disposición la Guía para el Reconocimiento de Zonas de Agrobiodiversidad en el Perú, a través de la cual damos a conocer de una forma didáctica y de fácil comprensión, los requisitos y pasos a seguir para alcanzar este reconocimiento. Se incluyen detalles sobre las condiciones y documentos necesarios para la postulación. Además, describimos los procedimientos de revisión de expedientes, damos un alcance sobre lo que ocurre luego del reconocimiento, y sobre los criterios que mantienen vigente tal reconocimiento. A través de este documento, también invitamos a las comunidades campesinas, poblaciones indígenas, Gobiernos Regionales y Locales, investigadores y profesionales agrarios, y al público en general, a fomentar el reconocimiento de la agrobiodiversidad peruana y la cultura milenaria asociada a ésta. [Quechua] Tiqsi suyukunapi riksirikuy Zonas de Agrobiodiversidad nisqa mirachinarayku, hinallataq ñan puriymanta riqsirikunampaq willakunarayku ima, INIA churan kay Rurana ñan pusaqta Zonas de Agrobiodiversidad nisqa hina Perú suyupi riqsirisqa kanapaq, maynintachus allimanta yuyaychamuyku, mañariykunamanta, ñam qhatipaykunamanta, kay riqsirikuy taripanapaq. Yaykunku imayna suyu qillqakuna ima kananta riksirikuy mañarikunapaq. Hinamampis, riqsichiyku imayna expediente técnico nisqap t’aqwirikusqanta, riqsirikusqa hamuqmanta, hinallataq imakunas hunt’akunan riqsirikuy kawsachkanallampaq imamanta. Kay qillqa mayt’unta, mink’arillaykutaq ayllukunaman, ñawpa ayllu masikunaman, suyu umalliqkunaman, llaqta suyu umalliqkunaman, t’aqwiriqkunaman, chakra purichiq yachaqkunaman, llapan runaman ima, riksirikuy agrobiodiversidad peruana nisqata ñawpa kawsay ima chayman tupasqaman hina kallpacharinankupaq

How histone deacetylase inhibitors alter the secondary metabolites of Botryosphaeria mamane, an endophytic fungus isolated from Bixa orellana

Fungi are talented organisms able to produce several natural products with a wide range of structural and pharmacological activities. The conventional fungal cultivation used in laboratories is too poor to mimic the natural habitats of fungi, and this can partially explain why most of the genes responsible for the production of metabolites are transcriptionally silenced. The use of Histone Deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) to perturb fungal secondary biosynthetic machinery has proven to be an effective approach for discovering new fungal natural products. The present study relates the effects of suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) and sodium valproate (VS) on the metabolome of Botryosphaeria mamane, an endophytic fungus isolated from Bixa orellana L. UHPLC/HR‐MS analysis, integrated with four metabolomics tools: MS‐DIAL, MS‐FINDER, MetaboAnalyst and GNPS molecular networking, was established. This study highlighted that SAHA and VS changed metabolites in B. mamane, causing upregulation and downregulation of metabolites production. In addition, twelve compounds were detected in the extracts as metabolites structurally correlated to SAHA, indicating its important reactivity in the medium or its metabolism by the fungus. An addition of SAHA induced the production of eight metabolites while VS induced only two metabolites undetected in the control strain. This result illustrates the importance of adding HDACis to a fungal culture in order to induce metabolite production.Revisión por pares

Regional development in Amazonas, Peru: science-society interactions for sustainability

Scientific-technological knowledge maintains the anthropocentric power-pattern and exploitive attitude with regard to nature, but sustainability science asks for an integration of territorial and decontextualized knowledge systems. Visual participatory methodologies involving diverse local stakeholder facilitate dialogue on environmental and sustainability issues. Inspired by visual ethnography and mediated discourse analysis, the present article uses semiological analysis to reconstruct the depicted narratives on the nature-society system in drawings representing “regional development”. The drawings were elaborated in a series of participatory workshops involving university faculty and students, regional government and non-governmental organizations and farmers from local communities in the northern Amazonian region of Peru. The analysis reveals a prevailing anthropo and technology centered, “colonial” conception of the nature-society system, and a marginalization of alternative narratives. Beyond confirming the potential for visual participatory methods to enhance multi-stakeholder dialogue, it demonstrates how semiological analysis can be used to deepen an understanding of the cultural, organizational and technological constraints facing critical, trans-disciplinary efforts to decolonize the technology-centered, anthropocentric mainstream worldview of nature and society

Catálogo de tomate y sus parientes silvestres del Perú

El Ministerio de Desarrollo Agrario y Riego (MIDAGRI), a través del Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria (INIA) conserva una de las colecciones más importantes de tomate silvestre en el Perú. Tal es así que, la Dirección de Recursos Genéticos y Biotecnología (DRGB), por intermedio de la Subdirección de Recursos Genéticos (SDRG) custodia un total de 156 accesiones de tomate silvestre que corresponden a siete especies: Solanum pimpinellifolium, S. pennellii, S. corneliomuelleri, S. neorickii, S. chmielewskii, S. habrochaites, S. lycopersicum var. cerasiforme y S. lycopersicum var. lycopersicum, que poseen rasgos de interés agronómico y concentran genes de respuesta positiva a factores bióticos (plagas) abióticos (estrés hídrico, salino, frío, calor, etc.). Con la finalidad de mostrar y valorar la diversidad morfológica del tomate silvestre del Perú, el INIA presenta el catálogo: Colección de Germoplasma del Tomate Silvestre del Perú, donde muestra su diversidad genética y la de sus parientes silvestres con registros de caracterización morfológica cuantitativa y cualitativa; el mismo que está dirigido a agricultores, investigadores y público interesado en el área, a fin de promover su difusión y motivar el interés por nuevas iniciativas de investigación y mejoramiento genético

Phylogenomic Analysis of the Plastid Genome of the Peruvian Purple Maize Zea mays subsp. mays cv. ‘INIA 601’

Peru is an important center of diversity for maize; its different cultivars have been adapted to distinct altitudes and water availability and possess an array of kernel colors (red, blue, and purple), which are highly appreciated by local populations. Specifically, Peruvian purple maize is a collection of native landraces selected and maintained by indigenous cultures due to its intense purple color in the seed, bract, and cob. This color is produced by anthocyanin pigments, which have gained interest due to their potential use in the food, agriculture, and pharmaceutical industry. It is generally accepted that the Peruvian purple maize originated from a single ancestral landrace ‘Kculli’, but it is not well understood. To study the origin of the Peruvian purple maize, we assembled the plastid genomes of the new cultivar ‘INIA 601’ with a high concentration of anthocyanins, comparing them with 27 cultivars/landraces of South America, 9 Z. mays subsp. parviglumis, and 5 partial genomes of Z. mays subsp. mexicana. Using these genomes, plus four other maize genomes and two outgroups from the NCBI database, we reconstructed the phylogenetic relationship of Z. mays. Our results suggest a polyphyletic origin of purple maize in South America and agree with a complex scenario of domestication with recurrent gene flow from wild relatives. Additionally, we identify 18 plastid positions that can be used as high-confidence genetic markers for further studies. Altogether, these plastid genomes constitute a valuable resource to study the evolution and domestication of Z. mays in South America