Roberto F. Vieira

Phylogeography and disjunct distribution in Lychnophora ericoides (Asteraceae), an endangered cerrado shrub species

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Lychnophora ericoides (Asteraceae) presents disjunct geographical distribution in cerrado rupestre in the south-east and central Brazil. The phylogeography of the species was investigated to understand the origin of the disjunct geographical distribution. METHODS Populations in the south and centre of Serra do Espinhaço, south-east Brazil and on ten other localities in Federal District and Goiás in central Brazil were sampled. Analyses were based on the polymorphisms at chloroplast (trnL intron and psbA-trnH intergenic spacer) and nuclear (ITS nrDNA) genomes. From 12 populations, 192 individuals were sequenced. Network analysis, AMOVA and the Mantel test were performed to understand the relationships among haplotypes and population genetic structure. To understand better the origin of disjunct distribution, demographic parameters and time to most recent common ancestor (T(MRCA)) were estimated using coalescent analyses. KEY RESULTS A remarkable differentiation between populations from the south-east and central Brazil was found and no haplotype was shared between these two regions. No significant effect of isolation by distance was detected. Coalescent analyses showed that some populations are shrinking and others are expanding and that gene flow between populations from the south-east and central Brazil was probably negligible. CONCLUSIONS The results strongly support that the disjunct distribution of L. ericoides may represent a climatic relict and that long-distance gene flow is unlikely. With an estimated time to most recent common ancestor (T(MRCA)) dated from approx. 790,655 +/- 36,551 years bp (chloroplast) and approx. 623,555 +/- 55,769 years bp (ITS), it was hypothesized that the disjunct distribution may be a consequence of an expansion of the geographical distribution favoured by the drier and colder conditions that prevailed in much of Brazil during the Kansan glaciation, followed by the retraction of the distribution due to the extinction of populations in some areas as climate became warmer and moister.

Photoautotrophic propagation of Brazilian ginseng [Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng.) Pedersen]

Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng.) Pedersen is a medicinal species of great interest because it produces the phytoecdysteroid 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). Generally, because of atypical growing conditions, in vitro propagated plants function less efficiently as autotrophs and have poorly developed morphological structures. This study analyzed the autotrophic potential of P. glomerata propagated in vitro and evaluated the influence that this has on 20E biosynthesis. Physiological and structural parameters of plants subjected to heterotrophic, photomixotrophic and photoautotrophic growth conditions were evaluated. Levels of 20E were measured by HPLC. Plants were acclimatized in a mixture of soil, sand and substrate, in a greenhouse. Conditions that provided higher carbon input led to an increase in plant growth, and the presence of sucrose was critical, in closure systems without a gas permeable membrane, for normal anatomical development of the micropropagated plants. The absence of sucrose increased photosynthesis and conditions that enhanced photoautotrophy induced greater levels of 20E. The increase of 20E levels by the photoautotrophic system offers new prospects for increasing the commercial production of this species, and for studies that could elucidate the biosynthetic pathway of phytoecdysteroids in plants.

Compostos fenólicos totais e taninos condensados em frutas nativas do cerrado

The native fruits from Brazilian savanna are arousing increasing interest due to their nutritional and functional properties combined with the potential to add value and conserve the biodiversity of this biome. Many phenolic compounds have antioxidant capacity to neutralize free radicals generated in the body that are associated with many chronic degenerative diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of three extraction solutions (acetone 70%, ethanol 95% and methanol 99.8 %) and determining the levels of phenolic compounds in 10 species of native fruits from Brazilian savanna, using the Folin-Ciocalteu method for total phenolic compounds and vanillin method for condensed tannins. Acetone 70 % proved to be the best solvent extractor for total phenolics and condensed tannins in fruits of Pouteria gardneriana, Eugenia dysenterica, E. klostzchiana, E. punicifolia, Plinia edulis, Campomanesia sp. and for total phenolics in Brosimium gaudichaudii and for condensed tannins in Jaracatia spinosa. The ethanol 95 % was more efficient in the extraction of total phenolics of Jaracatia spinosa and condensed tannins of Brosimium gaudichaudii. The methanol 99.8 % was more efficient in the extraction of condensed tannins of Eugenia dysenterica. The contents of phenolic compounds ranged between 90 and 327 mg of gallic acid equivalent per 100 g of pulp for the species of E. dysenterica and E. punicifolia respectively. The levels of condensed tannins ranged between 4 and 291 mg of catechin equivalent per 100 g of pulp for the species of E. dysenterica and E. calcyna respectively. Evaluated species of fruit from Brazilian savanna can be considered good sources of total phenolic compounds, although the specific nature of different types should be evaluated in future studies.

Análise dos óleos essenciais de três espécies de Piper coletadas na região do Distrito Federal (Cerrado) e comparação com óleos de plantas procedentes da região de Paraty, RJ (Mata Atlântica)

The chemical composition of the essential oils of three species of Piper, namely Piper arboretum subsp arboretum, P. dilatatum and P. hispidum, from the Cerrado (Brazillian savannah) was determined and compared with the composition of the oils from the same species collected in the Atlantic Rain Forest. Analyses were performed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry using a HP5 capillary column. Sesquiterpenes were the major constituents of the oils. In P. arboreum subsp arboreum, bicyclogermacre (12.1%), 10-epi-g-eudesmol (11.6%) and caryophyllene oxide (10.1%) were the main constituents. For P. dilatatum cis-b-ocimene (19.6) and b-caryophyllene (11.3%) were the major compounds. The main components in P. hispidum oil were b-pinene (19.7%) and a-pinene (9.0%).

Avaliação agronômica e identificação de quimiotipos de erva cidreira no Distrito Federal

Agronomic evaluation and identification of Lippia alba chemotypes from Distrito Federal, Brazil The main objective of this work was to describe the essential oil profile of 16 genotypes of Lippia alba from the germplasm collection of the Universidade de Brasilia and to analyze its potential of production. A field assay was carried out in the rural area of Distrito Federal and the following parameters were analyzed: flowering period, growing habit, foliar area, length of the main branch, fresh and dry weight of the biomass (leaves and branches), essential oil content and profile of the constituent volatile oils. Essential oil was extracted using a modified Clevenger apparatus and the constituent volatile oils were analyzed by gas chromatography and GC/MS. The experimental design was randomized blocks with three plants per plot. The following chemotypes were reported: citral-limonene, citral-myrcene, limonene-carvone, citral, linalool, myrcene and linalool-limonene. Higher levels of linalool were found in genotype L.16 (89.8%); myrcene in L.37 (47.6%); limonene in L.27 (36.0%); carvone in L.27 (46.9%) and citral in L.17 (56.7%). The genotypes with the highest leaf area and leaf length of the main branch seem to be correlated with the best yield of essential oil and the higher level of linalool. The yield of essential oil was inversely proportional to the dry weight of biomass. The accessions which presented the highest average yield of the major essential constituent oils were: L.16 (0.77 g pl -1 ) as a source of raw material for linalool production; L.17 (0.17 g pl -1 ) as source of myrcene; L. 27 as source of limonene (0.17 g pl -1 ) and carvone (0.21 g pl -1 ); and L.38 (0.24 g pl -1 ) as a citral source.

Differential metabolic and biological profiles of Lychnophora ericoides mart. (Asteraceae) from different localities in the Brazilian "campos rupestres"

Este artigo descreve a caracterizacao por CLAE-DAD-EM/EM e CLAE-DEC dos perfis de metabolitos secundarios de extratos das folhas de Lychnophora ericoides Mart. de diferentes procedencias e suas propriedades citotoxicas e antioxidantes. Extratos foliares de populacoes representando sete diferentes localidades foram avaliados quanto a atividade antioxidante pelo sistema DPPH e a atividade citotoxica em tres linhagens tumorais. Os extratos foram eletroquimicamente caracterizados por CLAE-DEC e seus metabolitos secundarios majoritarios foram identificados por CLAE-DAD-EM e CLAE-DAD-EM/EM. Um metabolismo secundario defensivo amplificado, juntamente com as mais altas bioatividades antioxidantes e citotoxicas, foi encontrado para as plantas coletadas na interface entre dois tipos de vegetacao. Estes resultados fornecem apoio adicional para a hipotese de que plantas ocorrendo na interface entre dois ecossistemas podem ser estimuladas a amplificar sua producao e armazenamento de metabolitos secundarios defensivos, devido ao maior numero de influencias ambientais.

A comparative study of fatty acids profile of Passiflora seed from Brazilian savana

ABSTRACT- There is more 580 species of passion fruit in the world; the majority is native from Tropical and Subtropical America, especially from Brazil. Breeding programs use a small part of genetic resources available, because the potential of this material is not sufficiently characterized. The objective of this work was the characterization of lipids content and fatty acids profile present in the seeds of 03 species of wild native passion fruit (Passiflora cincinnata, P. setacea e P. nitida) using commercial passion fruit (P. edulis) as reference. Total lipids were extracted with petroleum ether in Soxhlet extractor. The profile of methyl esters was characterized by gas chromatograph using flame ionization detector. The seeds of P. setacea showed higher content of oil (31.2-33.5 %), followed by P. nitida (29.5-32.3 %) and P. cincinnata (16.7-19.2 %). The P. setacea oil presented 64.7% of linoleic, 10.2% of palmitic and 19.7% of oleic acid. P. nitida presented myristic (0.6%), palmitic (15.3%), palmitoleic (2.0%), oleic (24.8%), linoleic (51.7%) and a not common acid in other Passiflora specie, the lauric acid (0.4%); P. cincinnata showed oleic (11.0%), palmitic (10.2%) and linoleic acid (74.3%). Linoleic acid was predominant in all evaluated species. All species presented vaccenic acid (0.3-0.6 %), described for first time in Passiflora genus.Index terms: passion seed, oil, gas chromatography, fatty acid, Savanna.

Composição de ácidos graxos em polpa de frutas nativas do cerrado

Araticum (Annona Crassiflora Mart.), coquinho-azedo (Butia Capitata Mart.) and pequi (Caryocar Brasiliense Camb.) are native fruits from the Brazilian Savanna with strong potential for sustained exploration. The objective of this study was the characterization of lipid contents and fatty acid profiles of these species. Total lipids were hot extracted with petroleum ether in Soxhlet extractor. The oil used for methyl ester profiles was cold extracted by Bligh & Dyer and characterized by gas chromatograph, using flame ionization detector. The pequi pulp presented highest oil content (30.89 %); araticum and coquinho-azedo pulps presented respectively 2.14 and 2.73 %. The oleic and palmitic acids predominated in all three species and all of them presented prevalence of unsaturated fat acids. The highest value was found in araticum pulp (78.3 %), followed by coquinho-azedo pulp (63.3 %). The araticum and coquinho-azedo pulps presented highest content of linolenic acid (2.5 to 3.7 %). Methyl esters of caproic acid found in these pulps seems to be linked to perception of fruit aroma of these native fruits from Cerrado.

Variation of morphological and physiological characters in natural populations of Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng.) Pedersen and their correlation with β-ecdysone production.

No presente estudo, objetivou-se avaliar a divergencia genetica de individuos de quatro populacoes de fafia [Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng.) Pedersen] coletadas na regiao do rio Parana por meio de estudos de caracteres morfologicos associados a producao de β-ecdisona. A divergencia foi avaliada entre 64 individuos utilizando 14 caracteres morfologicos quantitativos, incluindo o teor de β-ecdisona. Os dados foram interpretados pelas medias dos caracteres, indice de dissimilaridade de Mahalanobis, agrupamento pelo metodo UPGMA e correlacao simples de Pearson. Os resultados demonstraram maiores valores de divergencia entre individuos pertencentes a diferentes populacoes e menores, entre individuos da mesma populacao. Os individuos pertencentes a populacao 1, coletados a margem do rio Ivai, destacaram-se pelos altos valores de β-ecdisona, predominando o seguinte perfil: materia seca da raiz abaixo da media geral (135,1 g planta-1); antese precoce em relacao a media geral (135,8 dias); dias para ocorrer a senescencia de 90% das folhas abaixo da media geral (201,4 dias); e intervalo entre antese e senescencia acima da media (65,6 dias). Os caracteres avaliados demonstraram significativa variacao entre os individuos, no entanto, nao foi possivel observar dados que evidenciam a correlacao entre a producao de β-ecdisona e caracteres morfologicos avaliados no presente estudo.

Genetic resources of aromatic plants from Brazil

Brazil is an important player in the essential oil world market, being the fourth largest producer, after India, China, and Indonesia. Most of this commercial standing is due to the citrus essential oils, since they are a byproduct of the large Brazilian orange juice industry. A few native aromatic species have been recognized as priority for germplasm conservation, and some of these are described in this paper. Among them, we can mention rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora var. amazonica), sacaca (Croton cajucara), canela de cunha (Croton aff. zehnneri), priprioca (Cyperus articulatus), sassafras (Ocotea odorifera), long pepper (Piper hispidinervum), alecrim pimenta (Lippia sidoides), and candeia (Eremanthus erythropappus). Some exotic and cultivated species are also important, mainly in the south and southeast Brazil, such as chamomile (Chamomila recutita), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinallis), Japanese mint (Mentha arvensis), and ginger (Zingiber officinale). This paper illustrates some of the vast potential of B...