ABSTRACTThe use of cell and plant tissue culture techniques to produce economically important active metabolites has been growing. Among these substances are total limonoid aglycones, which are produced by "pera" orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck, Rutaceae) and have received considerable attention because of their anticancer actions. The main objective of the present study was to analyze and compare the levels of limonoid aglycones in seeds, callus cultures (originating from seeds), callus cultures (originating from hypocotyls), cell suspensions from hypocotyls cells, and cell suspensions from cotyledons. The cell cultures or C. sinensis were obtained by inoculating two strains of callus in MS medium supplemented with 2.0 µM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 7.0 µM benzyl aminopurine, and 3% (w/v) sucrose in the dark. The highest concentrations of limonoid aglycone that were obtained were observed in cotyledon cell lines (240 mg/100 g dry weight) that were produced on day 21 of culture and hypocotyl cell lines on day 7 (210 mg/100 g dry weight). Explants of different origins under the same culture conditions had different limonoid aglycone content. The present results may suggest strategies for enhancing the productivity of biologically important limonoid aglycones and investigating the complex pathways of these secondary metabolites in plant tissue cultures.

A proposta deste estudo foi avaliar diferenças químicas, fisiológicas e genéticas em sementes de cactos do gênero Cereus (mandacaru) cultivadas nas regiões Nordeste (Picos, Estado do Piauí) e Sul (Maringá, Estado do Paraná) do Brasil. No período de oito dias, as temperaturas de 25°C e 30°C foram igualmente adequadas para a germinação de todas as sementes. O ácido oleico (C18:1) foi o ácido graxo mais comum encontrado nas sementes coletadas nas regiões Sul (41%) e Nordeste (45,5%). A análise de lipases indicou que as sementes de Maringá têm alta heterozigosidade média observada e esperada e que as sementes de Picos têm número mais alto de alelos por locos. Portanto, as sementes de mandacaru da região semiárida do Nordeste assim como as sementes do Sul (as duas regiões contrastantes do Brasil) são promissoras para a preservação da biodiversidade no genoma de mandacaru. A baixa identidade genética entre as sementes de Maringá e de Picos na análise do loco Lipase-5 (I = 0,77) sugere que as plantas de mandacaru de Maringá e de Picos podem corresponder a duas espécies: C. peruvianus e C. jamacaru, respectivamente.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the chemical, physiological and genetic differences in seeds of cactus of the Cereus genus (mandacaru) cultivated in the Northeast (Picos, State of Piauí) and Southern (Maringá, State of Paraná) regions of Brazil. Over a period of eight days, temperatures of 25°C and 30°C were equally efficient for the germination of all the seeds. Oleic acid (C18:1) was the most common fatty acid found in the seeds collected in the Southern (41%) and Northeast (45.5%) regions. The analysis of lipases indicated that seeds from Maringá have high mean observed and expected heterozygosities and that seeds from Picos have a higher number of alleles per loci. Therefore, the seeds of mandacaru from the semiarid region of Northeast as well as the seeds from the South (the two contrasting regions of Brazil) are promising with regards to the preservation of the biodiversity in the genome of mandacaru. The low genetic identity between mandacaru seeds from Maringá and Picos at Lipase-5 locus analysis (I = 0.77) suggests that the mandacaru plants from Maringá and Picos may correspond to two species: C. peruvianus and C. jamacaru, respectively.

O sucesso no tratamento do câncer está intrinsicamente relacionado à sua prévia detecção, até mesmo antes dos sintomas surgirem. Neste contexto, estratégias metabonômicas baseadas na espectroscopia de ressonância magnética nuclear de ¹H (¹H NMR) foram empregadas para identificar as alterações metabólicas ocorridas na composição química de biofluidos de camundongos como consequência do surgimento de tumores. Através da análise discriminante por mínimos quadrados parciais (PLS-DA) dos espectros de ¹H NMR foi possível diagnosticar a presença dos tumores de Ehrlich e Sarcoma 180 após cinco e dez dias da indução dos tumores, respectivamente. Lipídeos, lipoproteínas e lactato foram os biomarcadores mais importantes indicativos do processo carcinogênico. Portanto, estratégias metabonômicas baseadas na espectroscopia de NMR podem ser valiosas ferramentas para investigar os efeitos do surgimento de anomalias celulares na composição química dos biofluidos.

The success of cancer treatment is directly related to early detection before symptoms emerge, although nowadays few cancers can be detected early. In this sense, ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR)-based metabonomics was used to identify metabolic changes in biofluid as a consequence of tumours growing in mice. Through partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) analysis of ¹H NMR spectra from serum samples it was possible to diagnose Ehrlich ascites and Sarcoma 180 tumours five and ten days after cell inoculation, respectively. Lipids, lipoproteins and lactate were the main biomarkers at onset as well as in the progress of carcinogenic process. Thus, NMR-based metabonomics can be a valuable tool to study the effects of tumour establishment on the chemical composition of biofluids.