Dehydration process influences the phenolic profile, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of Galium aparine L.

Galium aparine L. is a very disseminated plant in temperate zones, commonly known as clivers or bedstraw, belonging to the Rubiaceae family and it is traditionally used for its medicinal applications. In this study, G. aparine hydromethanolic extracts and infusions were prepared from air-dried and freeze-dried samples in order to assess their phenolic profile, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic properties. All the studied extracts revealed a similar phenolic profile, but the hydromethanolic extract obtained from the freeze-dried sample presented the highest concentration of phenolic compounds, followed by the respective infusion and the airdried sample hydromethanolic extract. The major compound detected in the extracts was 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (from 145 to 163 mg/g extract). Regarding the bioactivity, in general, the extracts presenting higher phenolic concentrations also revealed enhanced bioactive properties. The EC50 values obtained in the antioxidant activity assays ranged from 13.5 to 884 μg/mL, with the freeze-dried sample hydromethanolic extract presenting the highest activity (13.5–555 μg/mL). Similar conclusions could be made in terms of antimicrobial properties, with this extract showing the lowest MIC (1.85–15 mg/mL), MBC (3.75–7.5 mg/mL), and MFC (3.75–20 mg/mL) values. None of the extracts revealed cytotoxicity. The results obtained in this study suggested that G. aparine extracts can be a good source of phenolic compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013); to FCT for L. Barros research contract; to FCT for the grant attributed to C. Pereira (SFRH/BPD/122650/2016) through the Programa Operacional Capital Humano (POCH) supported by the European Social Fund and National Funds of MCTES (Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, e Ensino Superior); and to FEDER-Interreg España-Portugal programme for financial support through the project 0377_Iberphenol_6_E. The authors are also grateful to the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, grant number 173032 for financial support.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influência do método de secagem no perfil fenólico e propriedades bioativas de Galium aparine L.

Galium aparine L. é uma planta conhecida como amor-de-hortelão pertencente à família das Rubiaceae. É uma erva indesejada em diversas plantações, conhecida por provocar um impacto prejudicial em campos de cereais, colza e beterraba [1]. No entanto, possui reconhecidas aplicações medicinais, sendo utilizada em casos de febre, infeções do trato urinário, doenças da pele, purificação do sangue e aumento do fluxo linfático, entre outras [2]. Neste trabalho, foram estudados diferentes extratos (infusões e extratos hidrometanólicos) de amostras de G. aparine processadas de duas formas: secas à sombra e liofilizadas. O perfil fenólico dos diversos extratos foi analisado por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência acoplada a detetor de díodos e de espetrometria de massa (HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS); as propriedades antioxidantes foram avaliadas pela atividade captadora de radicais livres, pelo poder redutor e pela capacidade de inibição da peroxidação lipídica em homogeneizados cerebrais. Os diferentes extratos de G. aparine revelaram perfis fenólicos muito semelhantes, apresentando apenas variações na concentração dos compostos detetados. Os extratos da amostra liofilizada revelaram teores totais de compostos fenólicos ligeiramente superiores aos obtidos a partir da amostra seca à sombra. Para ambos os métodos de secagem, os extratos hidrometanólicos revelaram concentrações totais de compostos fenólicos superiores (191 e 181 mg/g de extrato, na amostra liofilizada e seca à sombra, respetivamente) aos observados nas infusões (183 e 164 mg/g) da mesma amostra. O ácido 5- O-cafeoilquínico foi o composto maioritário em todos os extratos estudados (163 e 158, 157 e 145 mg/g de extrato hidrometanólico e infusão de G. aparine liofilizada e seca à sombra, respetivamente). Relativamente à atividade antioxidante, o extrato hidrometanólico da planta liofilizada revelou melhores resultados nos ensaios de poder redutor (EC50=175 μg/mL), inibição da descoloração do β-caroteno (EC50=83 μg/mL) e inibição da peroxidação lipídica (EC50=14 μg/mL). No entanto, a infusão de planta seca à sombra revelou melhores resultados de atividade captadora de radicais 2,2-difenil-1-picrilhidrazilo (EC50=467 μg/mL). Os resultados obtidos neste trabalho contribuem para um conhecimento mais aprofundado da composição fenólica e das propriedades bioativas de G. aparine.FCT e FEDER sob o Programa PT2020 pelo apoio financeiro ao CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013), bolsa de C. Pereira (SFRH/BPD/122650/2016) e contrato de L. Barros. Interreg España-Portugal pelo financiamento ao projeto 0377_Iberphenol_6_E.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Syntenic Cell Wall QTLs as Versatile Breeding Tools: Intraspecific Allelic Variability and Predictability of Biomass Quality Loci in Target Plant Species

Syntenic cell wall QTLs (SQTLs) can identify genetic determinants of biomass traits in understudied species based on results from model crops. However, their effective use in plant breeding requires SQTLs to display intraspecific allelic variability and to predict causative loci in other populations/species than the ones used for SQTLs identification. In this study, genome assemblies from different accessions of Arabidopsis, rapeseed, tomato, rice, Brachypodium and maize were used to evaluate the intraspecific variability of SQTLs. In parallel, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on cell wall quality traits was performed in miscanthus to verify the colocalization between GWAS loci and miscanthus SQTLs. Finally, an analogous approach was applied on a set of switchgrass cell wall QTLs retrieved from the literature. These analyses revealed large SQTLs intraspecific genetic variability, ranging from presence–absence gene variation to SNPs/INDELs and changes in coded proteins. Cell wall genes displaying gene dosage regulation, such as PAL and CAD, displayed presence–absence variation in Brachypodium and rapeseed, while protein INDELs were detected for the Brachypodium homologs of the rice brittle culm-like 8 locus, which may likely impact cell wall quality. Furthermore, SQTLs significantly colocalized with the miscanthus and switchgrass QTLs, with relevant cell wall genes being retained in colocalizing regions. Overall, SQTLs are useful tools to screen germplasm for relevant genes and alleles to improve biomass quality and can increase the efficiency of plant breeding in understudied biomass crops

Syntenic Cell Wall QTLs as Versatile Breeding Tools: Intraspecific Allelic Variability and Predictability of Biomass Quality Loci in Target Plant Species

Syntenic cell wall QTLs (SQTLs) can identify genetic determinants of biomass traits in understudied species based on results from model crops. However, their effective use in plant breeding requires SQTLs to display intraspecific allelic variability and to predict causative loci in other populations/species than the ones used for SQTLs identification. In this study, genome assemblies from different accessions of Arabidopsis, rapeseed, tomato, rice, Brachypodium and maize were used to evaluate the intraspecific variability of SQTLs. In parallel, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on cell wall quality traits was performed in miscanthus to verify the colocalization between GWAS loci and miscanthus SQTLs. Finally, an analogous approach was applied on a set of switchgrass cell wall QTLs retrieved from the literature. These analyses revealed large SQTLs intraspecific genetic variability, ranging from presence–absence gene variation to SNPs/INDELs and changes in coded proteins. Cell wall genes displaying gene dosage regulation, such as PAL and CAD, displayed presence–absence variation in Brachypodium and rapeseed, while protein INDELs were detected for the Brachypodium homologs of the rice brittle culm-like 8 locus, which may likely impact cell wall quality. Furthermore, SQTLs significantly colocalized with the miscanthus and switchgrass QTLs, with relevant cell wall genes being retained in colocalizing regions. Overall, SQTLs are useful tools to screen germplasm for relevant genes and alleles to improve biomass quality and can increase the efficiency of plant breeding in understudied biomass crops

Syntenic Cell Wall QTLs as Versatile Breeding Tools: Intraspecific Allelic Variability and Predictability of Biomass Quality Loci in Target Plant Species

Syntenic cell wall QTLs (SQTLs) can identify genetic determinants of biomass traits in understudied species based on results from model crops. However, their effective use in plant breeding requires SQTLs to display intraspecific allelic variability and to predict causative loci in other populations/species than the ones used for SQTLs identification. In this study, genome assemblies from different accessions of Arabidopsis, rapeseed, tomato, rice, Brachypodium and maize were used to evaluate the intraspecific variability of SQTLs. In parallel, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on cell wall quality traits was performed in miscanthus to verify the colocalization between GWAS loci and miscanthus SQTLs. Finally, an analogous approach was applied on a set of switchgrass cell wall QTLs retrieved from the literature. These analyses revealed large SQTLs intraspecific genetic variability, ranging from presence–absence gene variation to SNPs/INDELs and changes in coded proteins. Cell wall genes displaying gene dosage regulation, such as PAL and CAD, displayed presence–absence variation in Brachypodium and rapeseed, while protein INDELs were detected for the Brachypodium homologs of the rice brittle culm-like 8 locus, which may likely impact cell wall quality. Furthermore, SQTLs significantly colocalized with the miscanthus and switchgrass QTLs, with relevant cell wall genes being retained in colocalizing regions. Overall, SQTLs are useful tools to screen germplasm for relevant genes and alleles to improve biomass quality and can increase the efficiency of plant breeding in understudied biomass crops