Treatments with native Coleus forskohlii endophytes improve fitness and secondary metabolite production of some medicinal and aromatic plants.

Endophytes have been shown to play a crucial role in determining the fitness of host plant during their association, yet the cross-functional effect of endophytes of one plant on another plant remains largely uncharacterized. In this study, we attempt to analyze the effect of native endophytes of Coleus forskohlii (Phialemoniopsis cornearis (SF1), Macrophomina pseudophaseolina (SF2), and Fusarium redolens (RF1), isolated from stem and root parts) on plant growth and secondary metabolite enhancement in medicinal plant Andrographis paniculata, and aromatic plants Pelargonium graveolens and Artemisia pallens. Here, we report, endophytic treatments with SF2 (21%) and RF1 (9%) in A. paniculata resulted in significant enhancement of andrographolide along with plant primary productivity. Correspondingly, application of fungal endophytes RF1, SF1, and SF2 significantly improved the plant growth (11 to 40%), shoot weight (28 to 34%), oil content (44 to 58%), and oil yield (72 to 122%) in P. graveolens. Interestingly, treatment of A. pallens with three fungal endophytes resulted in significant enhancement of plant productivity and oil content (12 to 80%) and oil yield (32 to 139%). Subsequently, the endophyte treatments RF1 and SF1 enhanced davanone (13 to 22%) and ethyl cinnamate (11 to 22%) content. However, SF2 endophyte-treated plants did not show any improvement in ethyl cinnamate content but enhanced the content of davanone (10%), a signature component of davana essential oil. Overall, results depict cross-functional role of native endophytes of C. forskohlii and repurposing of functional endophytes for sustainable cultivation of economically important medicinal and aromatic crops.

Anticancer Active Homoisoflavone from the Underground Bulbs of Ledebouria hyderabadensis.

BACKGROUND: Ledebouria is a genus of deciduous or weakly evergreen bulbs in the Hyacinthaceae family. This is recognized as the first collection made of the new taxon Ledebouria hyderabadensis, exist in the Hyderabad city of Andhra Pradesh, India. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this work was to investigate the phytochemical constituents present in the new specifies and also to evaluate the cytotoxic properties of the extracts and pure compounds against human cancer cell lines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The anticancer activity was evaluated in in vitro mode by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test. RESULTS: Phytochemical investigation of underground bulbs of indigenous, rare, and recently identified herb L. hyderabadensis yielded a bioactive homoisoflavanone, Scillascillin 1. The structure of the compound was established on the basis of various nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectral data. The compound Scillascillin was isolated for the first time from L. hyderabadensis. In vitro anticancer activity, performed using MTT assay, showed compound 1 as significantly active against human cancer cell lines MCF-7 (breast cancer) and DU-145 (prostate cancer) with inhibitory concentration (IC)50 values 9.59 and 11.32 µg/ml respectively when compared with herb methanol extract (IC50 values 36.21 and 44.86 µg/ml respectively).

HPLC method development and validation of cytotoxic agent phenyl-heptatriyne in Bidens pilosa with ultrasonic-assisted cloud point extraction and preconcentration.

Extraction and pre-concentration of a bioactive marker compound, phenyl-1,3,5-heptatriyne from Bidens pilosa, prior to HPLC has been demonstrated using both organic and ecofriendly solvents. Non-ionic surfactants, viz. Triton X-100, Triton X-114 and Genapol X-80, were used for extraction. No back-extraction or liquid chromatographic steps were required to remove the target phytochemical from the surfactant-rich extractant phase. The optimized cloud point extraction procedure has been shown to be a potentially useful methodology for the preconcentration of the target analyte, with a preconcentration factor of 4-99. Moreover, the method is simple, sensitive, rapid and consumes lesser solvent than traditional methods. An isocratic chromatographic separation and quantitation was accomplished on a C(18) column with acetonitrile-acidified aqueous as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min, UV detection at 254 nm and specificity with photo diode-array detector (PDA) and MS. Under the optimum experimental conditions recovery was satisfactory (99.18-100.33%) without interference from the surfactant. The method seems to be reliable with intraday precision and interday precision below 2.0%. Good linearity was obtained in the working range from 7.5 to 30 µg/mL with correlation coefficient >0.99. The limits of detection and quantitation were 1.84 and 6.13 µg/mL, respectively. The method was validated following international guidelines and successfully applied for quantitative assays of cytotoxic compound phenyl-1,3,5-heptatriyne in Bidens pilosa.

A bioactive labdane diterpenoid from Curcuma amada and its semisynthetic analogues as antitubercular agents.

A labdane diterpene dialdehyde was first time isolated from the chloroform extract of rhizomes of Curcuma amada. This compound exhibited antitubercular activity (MIC=500 microg/mL) against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)Rv strain in BACTEC-460 assay. Two of its semisynthetic analogues also exhibited antitubercular activity at 250-500 microg/mL. It is the first report on isolation and antimycobacterial activity of this dialdehyde from C. amada.

Design and synthesis of C-ring lactone- and lactam-based podophyllotoxin analogues as anticancer agents.

A series of novel podophyllotoxin (PDT) analogues was synthesized in which the lactone moiety was shifted to C ring. Some of the derivatives were also synthesized with modified A ring. Analogues 23 and 25 exhibited potent in vitro cytotoxicity against colon cancer (CaCO(2)) cell line. p-Demethylated E-ring analogues exhibited better potency than the corresponding methylated analogues. These analogues showed toxicity comparable to PDT against human erythrocytes albeit at much higher concentrations (100 microg/ml) than their cytotoxicity values.

A promising anticancer and antimalarial component from the leaves of Bidens pilosa.

Bidens pilosa is used in folk medicine for various applications due to the presence of polyacetylenes, flavonoids, terpenoids, phenylpropanoids and others. Bioactivity-guided fractionation of different extracts of B. pilosa leaf showed potential in vitro anticancer and antimalarial activity and led to the identification of a potential marker compound, phenyl-1,3,5-heptatriyne. Erythrocyte osmotic fragility experiments revealed the various extracts as well as the marker component's toxicity profiles on normal blood cells.

Demethoxycurcumin and its semisynthetic analogues as antitubercular agents.

Demethoxycurcumin, isolated from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa, was found to possess antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H (37)Rv strain at 200 microg/mL. Derivatisation of this active principle yielded a potent agent 6, exhibiting considerable activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 7.8 microg/mL. H (37)Rv:Mycobacterium tuberculosis H (37)Rv strain MIC:minimum inhibitory concentration.