Biolistics transformation of callus and cell suspension cultures of Capsicum annuum L. ‘Serrano’ is useful for in vitro studies of the relative contents of secondary metabolites

Capsicum annuum is a crop species of economic importance able to produce capsaicinoids, capsinoids, and pigments with nutritional and medicinal value. Methods to propagate and transform this species have been reported, but most are phenotype dependent, rely on Agrobacterium for transformation, and their success has been limited. This relates to only one commercial transgenic variety currently on trial. In the present work, we report the conditions to produce callus and cell suspension cultures of C. annuum ‘Serrano’ using commercial seeds. The culture could be induced to produce capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in detectable quantities and was amenable to transformation using biolistics. The expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana soluble inorganic pyrophosphatase 4 fused to a fluorescent protein was demonstrated using confocal microscopy. Evidence of the integrity of the fusion was obtained by immunoblot. The transformation induced a change in the ratio of capsaicin to dihydrocapsaicin measured using high resolution direct sample analysis-mass spectrometry (DSA-MS). The method is thus useful for the study of capsaicinoid production under controlled conditions for special purposes and metabolic studies

The Sesquiterpenes β-Caryophyllene and Caryophyllene Oxide Isolated from Senecio salignus Act as Phytogrowth and Photosynthesis Inhibitors

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Prediction of Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Mexican Propolis by 1H-NMR Spectroscopy and Chemometrics Data Analysis

A feasibility study to predict antimicrobial and antioxidant activity properties of propolis extracts using 700-MHz 1H-NMR spectra and multivariate regression data analysis is presented. The study was conducted with thirty-five propolis samples to develop a rapid and reliable method for the evaluation of their quality. The extracts have been evaluated by measuring phenolic and flavonoid contents; the antioxidant activity; and the antimicrobial activity. The obtained spectral data were submitted to multivariate calibration (partial least squares (PLS) and orthogonal partial least squares (OPLS)) to correlate the relative intensity and position of NMR resonance peaks with the metabolites contents and biological activities. The developed PLS and OPLS model were successfully applied to the determination of the target properties for proof of the concept. The OPLS observed vs. predicted properties plots indicate the absence of systematic errors with determination coefficients between the ranges 0.7207 to 0.9990. Up to 86.1% of explication of variation in the spectral data and 99.9% in the measured properties were attained with 88.6% of prediction capabilities in the best case (S. mutans activity) according to the cross-validation procedure. The figures of merit of the developed PLS and OPLS methods were evaluated and compared as well

Aortic Relaxant Activity of Crataegus gracilior Phipps and Identification of Some of Its Chemical Constituents

This study focused on the assessment of the vasorelaxant activity of the organic and aqueous extracts obtained from leaves and fruits of a Mexican hawthorn (Crataegus gracilior) on isolated rat aorta, and on the purification and identification of some of their secondary metabolites by the use of chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. The results obtained showed that the methanol extract has a significantly more potent and effective vasorelaxant effect than the other tested extracts, with an EC50 = 8.69 ± 4.34 µg/mL and an Emax = 94.6% ± 11.30%, values that are close to that of acetylcholine, the positive control. From the same extract, two major triterpenes were isolated and identified as ursolic and corosolic acids by comparison of their experimental NMR spectroscopic data with those reported in the literature. Chlorogenic acid, rutin, quercetin, kaempferol and (+)-catechin were also identified using HPLC coupled with PDAD. All these compounds have already been proven to possess on their own antihypertensive effect and other benefits on cardiovascular diseases and they can support, at least in part, the traditional use of this plant species

Chemical Constituents with Leishmanicidal Activity from a Pink-Yellow Cultivar of <i>Lantana camara</i> var. <i>aculeata</i> (L.) Collected in Central Mexico

Lantana camara (L.) is employed by several ethnical groups to treat numerous diseases. Although there are no ethnomedical reports on its use against leishmaniasis, organic extracts prepared from L. camara were shown to display leishmanicidal activity. In the present study, we carried out a bioassay-guided fractionation of the dichloromethane extract from Mexican L. camara in order to identify the compounds responsible for the leishmanicidal activity. Eighteen chromatographic fractions (FI&#8315;FXVIII) were evaluated in vitro against Leishmania mexicana and L. amazonensis. FII, FX, FXI, FXV, and FXVI showed significant activity against both Leishmania strains, the most potent of which was FXV. Eicosane (1), squalene (2), &#946;-ionone (3), caryophyllene oxide (4), &#946;-caryophyllene (5), hexanoic acid (6), tiglic acid (7), a mixture of lantanilic (8) and camaric (9) acids, and lantadene B (10) were identified and obtained from the active fractions and evaluated for their leishmanicidal activity. The mixture of lantanilic (8) and camaric (9) acids (79%/21%) was the most potent one (half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 12.02 &#177; 0.36 &#956;M). This study indicates that this cultivar of L. camara has high potential for the development of phytomedicines or as a source of natural products, which might represent lead compounds for the design of new drugs against leishmaniasis