Helena Trindade

In vitro studies on Eucalyptus globulus rooting ability

SummaryMicropropagation has the potential to quickly introduce selected genotypes of adult Eucalyptus globulus clones and it is now widely used in Portugal as a part of genetic improvement programs. Several clones have been established and multiplied in vitro. The different clones have individual requirements for successful rooting. Rejuvenation was achieved at different periods after culture initiation for the different clones. Subculturing preceding rooting in multiplication medium supplemented with riboflavin and cholene chloride allowed the increase of rooting ability for several clones tested. Removal of boron from the rooting medium increased rooting by 10%. Indolebutyric acid (IBA) dipping before transfer to the rooting medium resulted in a rooting percentage of 80–95% for the best clones tested. Acclimatization was performed without difficulties (90–95% success) and the rooted plants were either planted directly or used as mother plants for further cutting production, depending on the needs. The results described in this paper increase the commercial feasibility of the micropropagation system for E. globulus.

Targeted association analysis identified japonica rice varieties achieving Na+/K+ homeostasis without the allelic make-up of the salt tolerant indica variety Nona Bokra

During the last decade, a large number of QTLs and candidate genes for rice tolerance to salinity have been reported. Using 124 SNP and 52 SSR markers, we targeted 14 QTLs and 65 candidate genes for association mapping within the European Rice Core collection (ERCC) comprising 180 japonica accessions. Significant differences in phenotypic response to salinity were observed. Nineteen distinct loci significantly associated with one or more phenotypic response traits were detected. Linkage disequilibrium between these loci was extremely low, indicating a random distribution of favourable alleles in the ERCC. Analysis of the function of these loci indicated that all major tolerance mechanisms were present in the ERCC although the useful level of expression of the different mechanisms was scattered among different accessions. Under moderate salinity stress some accessions achieved the same level of control of Na+ concentration and Na+/K+ equilibrium as the indica reference variety for salinity tolerance Nona Bokra, although without sharing the same alleles at several loci associated with Na+ concentration. This suggests (a) differences between indica and japonica subspecies in the effect of QTLs and genes involved in salinity tolerance and (b) further potential for the improvement of tolerance to salinity above the tolerance level of Nona Bokra, provided the underlying mechanisms are complementary at the whole plant level. No accession carried all favourable alleles, or showed the best phenotypic responses for all traits measured. At least nine accessions were needed to assemble the favourable alleles and all the best phenotypic responses. An effective strategy for the accumulation of the favourable alleles would be marker-assisted population improvement.

Menthol and Geraniol Biotransformation and Glycosylation Capacity of Levisticum officinale Hairy Roots

The biotransformation capacity of Levisticum officinale W.D.J. Koch hairy root cultures was studied by evaluating the effect of the addition of 25 mg/L menthol or geraniol on morphology, growth, and volatiles production. L. officinale hairy root cultures were maintained for 7 weeks in SH medium, in darkness at 24 degrees C and 80 r.p.m., and the substrates were added 15 days after inoculation. Growth was evaluated by measuring fresh and dry weight and by using the dissimilation method. Volatiles composition was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Hairy roots morphology and growth were not influenced by substrate addition. No new volatiles were detected after menthol addition and, as was also the case with the control cultures, volatiles of these hairy roots were dominated by (Z)-falcarinol (1-45%), N-octanal (3-8%), palmitic acid (3-10%), and (Z)-ligustilide (2-9%). The addition of geraniol induced the production of six new volatiles: nerol/citronellol/neral (traces-15%), alpha-terpineol (0.2-3%), linalool (0.1-1.2%), and geranyl acetate (traces-2%). The relative amounts of the substrates and some of their biotransformation products decreased during the course of the experiment. Following the addition of beta-glycosidase to the remaining distillation water, analysis of the extracted volatiles showed that lovage hairy roots were able to convert both substrates and their biotransformation products into glycosidic forms. GC:gas chromatography GC-MS:gas chromatography-mass spectrometry SH:Schenk and Hildebrandt (1972) culture medium.

The role of cytokinin and auxin in rapid multiplication of shoots of Eucalyptus globulus grown In vitro

Summary Exogenous cytokinin was a major limiting and controlling factor for shoot multiplication of Eucalyptus globulus Labili, grown in culture. Benzylaminopurine (BAP) was more effective than kinetin in promoting shoot formation. Auxin (indolebutyric acid, IBA) was also important and could compensate for low cytokinin levels. The highest rates of shoot multiplication of E globulus in culture were obtained with 1.1 or 2.2μmole 1−1 BAP and 0.5μmole 1−1 IBA, in a de Fossard (1974) medium. Auxin, in the absence of cytokinin, induced root formation and the rooted shoots were successfully planted in the field.

Improved in vitro rooting of Prunus dulcis Mill. cultivars

A highly reproducible system was developed for efficient rooting of cultivars Boa Casta (BC) and Peneda and a BC seedling-derived clone (BC VII) of almond (Prunus dulcis Mill.). Twenty-four accessions derived from the clone BC VII and subjected to various in vitro culture treatments were screened. The long induction pre-treatment (LIP, 5 d), the brief induction pre-treatment (BIP, 16 h) and the hormonal shock by short dipping in hormone solution (1 min), were tested. BIP was the only that allowed rooting of cultivars. In BC VII, it induced high rooting frequencies (47–100 %) when using a solution of 0.4 mM indole-3-butyric acid solidified with 2 g dm−3 gellam gum for 16-h. The response to the auxin type was variable depending on the cultivar and the root induction pre-treatment used. Root number was significantly different between the two cultivars and BC VII. Root length was significantly higher when using 0.005 mM IBA in LIP but this concentration induced apical necrosis. The improved acclimatization procedure for up to 4 weeks increased the survival to 45 %. The initiation and development of adventitious roots were proved to be asynchronous.

One-step purification and properties of catalase from leaves of Zantedeschia aethiopica

Catalase (E.C 1.11.1.6) was purified from leaves of Zandedeschia aethiopica to apparent homogeneity by a one-step hydrophobic interaction chromatography on a phenyl Sepharose CL-4B column. The purified enzyme preparation was obtained with a final recovery of enzyme activity of about 61% and a specific activity of 146 U/mg protein. The purified enzyme ran as a single protein band when analyzed both by native PAGE and SDS-PAGE corresponding to an Mr of 220,000 Da, which consists of 4 subunits with identical Mr of 54,000 Da. The pI of purified enzyme was found to be 5.2 by isoelectric focusing on ultrathin polyacrylamide gels. The purified catalase has an optimum temperature of activity at 40 degrees C, whereas it is stable between 0 degrees and 50 degrees C. As regards pH, the enzyme has an optimum activity at pH 7.0 and it is stable in the range pH 6-8. The absorption spectrum of the purified enzyme exhibited 2 peaks at 280 nm and 405 nm.

Influence of culture media and fungal extracts on essential oils composition and on terpene synthase gene expression in Thymus caespititius

Thymus caespititius Brot. is an Iberian endemic species, whose essential oils possess high diversity and some of them could be used in pharmaceutical and food industries. The effect of culture media composition and fungal extracts on essential oils composition and on the expression of terpene synthase (TPS) genes was evaluated in T. caespititius shoots cultures. Nutrient composition influenced quantitatively the essential oils content. A decrease in the acetate compounds in the essential oils was observed in SH medium as compared with MS. The TPS transcripts accumulation was higher in all genotypes grown in SH, except in sabinene/carvacrol (SC) genotype. B. cinerea extracts highly induced TPS gene expression in the first hours after treatment in SC genotype, while in carvacrol/thymol (CT) only a slight increase was observed. TPS down-regulation observed during the next time points could result from reallocation of energy resources to plants’ vital functions. Fungal extracts did not affect qualitatively and quantitatively the CT essential oils, however in SC, the sabinene relative content decreased and this was inversely related to the increase of two antifungal compounds, carvacrol and thymol, in the oil. T. caespititius in vitro cultures revealed to be a good system for terpene metabolism study.

Molecular cloning and functional characterization of a monoterpene synthase isolated from the aromatic wild shrub Thymus albicans

The essential oil of Thymus albicans Hoffmanns. & Link, a native shrub from the Iberian Peninsula, is mainly composed of monoterpenes. In this study, a 1,8-cineole synthase was isolated from the 1,8-cineole chemotype. A partial sequence that lacked the complete plastid transit peptide but contained an extended C-terminal when compared to other related terpene synthases was generated by PCR and Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends (RACE). The predicted mature polypeptide was 593 amino acids in length and shared 78% and 77% sequence similarity with the homologue 1,8-cineole synthase from Rosmarinus officinalis and Salvia officinalis, respectively. The putative protein possessed the characteristic conserved motifs of plant monoterpene synthases including the RRx8W and DDxxD motifs and phylogenetic analysis indicated that the amplified 1,8-cineole synthase bears greater sequence similarity with other 1,8-cineole synthases from Lamiaceae family relative to the terpene synthases from the genus Thymus. Functional expression of the recombinant protein in Escherichia coli revealed that in the presence of geranyl diphosphate (GPP) 1,8-cineole was the major product but that its production was too low for robust quantification. Other minor conversion products included α-pinene, β-pinene, sabinene and β-myrcene suggesting the isolated 1,8-cineole synthase may be a multi-product enzyme. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a functionally characterized monoterpene synthase from Thymus albicans.