Atividade antagonista do óleo essencial de Lippia alba (Mill. ) N. E. Brown (Verbenaceae) sobre Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid & White) Chitwood / Antagonist activity of the essential oil Lippia alba (Mill. ) N. E. Brown (Verbenaceae) on Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid & White) Chitwood

RESUMO O controle de fitonematóides é uma tarefa difícil. A alta infestação de nematoides no solo obriga os produtores a usarem doses mais elevadas de nematicidas, ou ainda, a aumentarem a freqüência das aplicações, geralmente no solo, ocasionando maior potencial de dano ao homem e ao ambiente. Além disso, nematicidas convencionais vêm sofrendo grandes restrições de uso em muitos países. Desse modo, a busca de novas medidas de controle de fitonematóides é uma prioridade da agricultura sustentável. Desta forma, objetivou-se estudar o efeito de óleos essenciais de Lippia Alba, na mortalidade de juvenis pré-parasitas do segundo estádio de Meloidogyne incognita. O ensaio foi montado em delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com 4 repetições, em esquema fatorial 3×4 (3 quimiotipos x 4 concentrações) empregando-se três diferentes quimiotipos de L. Alba (I, II, III) nas concentrações de 0, 100, 500 e 1000 ppm, coletados em diferentes horas do dia (7, 9, 13, 16 e 19h). Os dados coletados (% de mortalidade) foram submetidos à análise de variância e os valores médios comparados por meio do teste de Tukey. Foi possível concluir que Lippia alba contém, em seu óleo essencial, compostos com efeitos significativos na mortalidade de juvenis de segundo estádio (J2) de M. incognita. Dessa forma, é importante destacar que o acentuado efeito nematicida do óleo essencial de L. alba sugere a possibilidade de seu uso no controle de M. incognita.

ABSTRACT The control of nematodes is difficult. The high infestation of nematodes in the soil requires the producers use higher doses of nematicides, increasing the frequency of applications, usually in soil, causing negative effects to humans and the environment. Furthermore, conventional nematicides have suffered great use restrictions in many countries. Thus, the search for new measures to control nematodes is a priority of sustainable agriculture. Thus, the objective of this study was available the effect of essential oils from Lippia Alba against Meloidogyne incognita. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replications in a factorial 3x4 (3 chemotypes and 4 concentrations) using three different chemotypes of L. Alba (I, II, III) at concentrations of 0, 100, 500 and 1000 ppm, collected in different times of day (7 AM, 9 AM, 1 PM, 4 PM e 7 PM). The data collected (% mortality) were subjected to analysis of variance and mean values were compared using the Tukey test. It was able to conclude that L. alba contains in its essential oil, compounds with significant effects on mortality of M. incognita. Thus, it is important to note that the greatest nematicide effect of essential oil of L. alba suggests the possibility of its use to control M. incognita.

Pisosterol induces interphase arrest in HL60 cells with c-MYC amplification.

The leukaemia cell line HL60 is widely used in studies of the cell cycle, apoptosis and adhesion mechanisms in cancer cells. One marked characteristic of HL60 cells is the c-MYC proto-oncogene amplification, resulting in the formation of homogeneously staining regions (HSRs) at 8p24. We conducted a fluorescence in situ hybridization study in an HL60 cell line, using a locus-specific probe for c-MYC, before and after treatment with pisosterol (at 0.5, 1.0 and 1.8 microg/mL), a triterpene isolated from the fungus Pisolithus tinctorius. Before treatment, 87.5% of the cells showed HSRs. After treatment, no effects were detected at lower concentrations of pisosterol (0.5 and 1.0 microg/mL). However, at 1.8 microg/mL only 15% of the cells presented HSRs, and 39.5% presented few fluorescent signals (3 or 4 alleles), suggesting that pisosterol probably blocks the cells with HSRs at interphase. This result is particularly interesting because cells that do not show a high degree of c-MYC gene amplification have a less aggressive and invasive behaviour and are easy targets for chemotherapy. Therefore, further studies are needed to examine the use of pisosterol in combination with conventional anti-cancer therapy.

Cell cycle arrest induced by pisosterol in HL60 cells with gene amplification.

The leukemia cell line HL60 is widely used in studies of the cell cycle, apoptosis, and adhesion mechanisms in cancer cells. We conducted a focused cytogenetic study in an HL60 cell line, by analyzing GTG-banded chromosomes before and after treatment with pisosterol (at 0.5, 1.0, and 1.8 microg/ml), a triterpene isolated from Pisolithus tinctorius, a fungus collected in the Northeast of Brazil. Before treatment, 99% of the cells showed the homogeneously staining region (HSR) 8q24 aberration. After treatment with 1.8 microg/ml pisosterol, 90% of the analyzed cells lacked this aberration. We further performed a pulse test, in which the cells treated with pisosterol (0.5, 1.0, and 1.8 microg/ml) were washed and re-incubated in the absence of pisosterol. Only 30% of the analyzed cells lacked the HSR 8q24 aberration, suggesting that pisosterol probably blocks the cells with HSRs at interphase. No effects were detected at lower concentrations. At the highest concentration examined (1.8 microg/ml), pisosterol also inhibited cell growth, but this effect was not observed in the pulse test, reinforcing our hypothesis that, at the concentrations tested, pisosterol probably does not induce cell death in the HL60 line. The results found for pisosterol were compared with those for doxorubicin. Cells that do not show a high degree of gene amplification (HSRs and double-minute chromosomes) have a less aggressive and invasive behavior and are easy targets for chemotherapy. Therefore, further studies are needed to examine the use of pisosterol in combination with conventional anti-cancer therapy.

Avaliação da atividade larvicida de saponinas triterpênicas isoladas de Pentaclethra macroloba (Willd.) Kuntze (Fabaceae) e Cordia piauhiensis Fresen (Boraginaceae) sobre Aedes aegypti / Evaluation of larvicidal activity of triterpenoid saponins isolated of Pentaclethra macroloba (Willd.) Kuntze (Fabaceae) and Cordia piauhiensis Fresen (Boraginaceae) against Aedes aegypti

A atividade larvicida de quatro saponinas monodesmosídicas (1-4) isoladas de Pentaclethra macroloba e de uma saponina bidesmosídica (5) isolada de Cordia piauhiensis foi avaliada sobre larvas de estágio 3 de Aedes aegypti. As larvas foram expostas a várias concentrações (500, 250, 100, 50, 25 e 12,5 mg/mL) das saponinas por um período de 24 h. Os resultados indicam que somente as saponinas 1-3 mostraram alta atividade larvicida, com CL50 variando de 18,6 a 27,9 mg/mL. Estes resultados ressaltam as potencialidades destas saponinas como possíveis agentes larvicidas naturais.

The larvicidal activity of the four monodesmoside saponins (1-4) isolated from Pentaclethra macroloba and one bidesmoside saponin (5) from Cordia piauhiensis was evaluated on 3rd instar larvae of Aedes aegypti. The larvae were exposed to serial concentrations (500, 250, 100, 50, 25 and 12.5 mg/mL) saponins for a period of 24 h. The results indicate that, only the saponins 1-3 showed high larvicidal activity, with LC50 ranging of 18,6-27,9 mg/mL. These results suggest that these can be used as natural larvicidal agents.