1,720,983 research outputs found
MEDICINAL PLANT RESPONSE TO ABIOTIC AND BIOTIC STRESS
No full textMedicinal plants have always been considered a rich source of secondary metabolites that promote human health. Quality and property of medicinal plants strictly depend on secondary metabolites profile. They also play important roles in plant physiological processes and in ecological systems. The environment exerts a selective pressure on plants and these molecules actively participate to the plant response and adaptation. Amongst secondary metabolite, the phenolic compounds possess properties able to prevent oxidative stress. Therefore, an enhancement of the amount of phenolic compounds can be observed under different environmental factors.
With this project we aimed to study the phenolic compounds of the medicinal plant Achillea collina Becker ex Rchb. cv “SPAK”, and their implication in physiological and biochemical response to abiotic and biotic stresses. We seek the possibility to increase the synthesis of phenolics with health properties or useful as potential control agents of insect pests.
Abiotic stress. Hydroponic culture was used to evaluate the effect of long-term mineral, nitrogen starvation (abiotic stress) in A. collina. By means of HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS and NMR techniques, the content and the qualitative profile of A. collina methanol soluble phenolics, were evaluated. We concluded that the methanol extracts of A. collina leaves and roots are rich in hydroxycinnamic acids such as chlorogenic acid (2.33 ± 0.3 mg g-1 Dw), 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (10.7 ± 4.2 mg g-1 Dw) and 4,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (0.88 ± 0.24 mg g-1 Dw). The content of hydroxycinnamic acids significantly increased in plants growth under mineral nitrogen starvation, respect to the control plants. Chlorogenic acid increased by 2.5 and 3-fold and 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid increased by 8.5 and 35-fold in leaves and root, respectively.
Biotic stress. A. collina plants cultivated in soil were infested with the phloem feeders aphids. We set up the system (e.g., age of plant, type of the cage, number of insects per plant, duration of infestation) to co-cultivated the plants with specialist (Macrosiphoniella millefolii) and generalist (Myzus persicae Sulzer) aphids. Plant growth, water and total protein content were evaluated. Based on a preliminary assessment of phenolic fingerprint, further extractions and separations were performed on A. collina leaves, to obtained soluble and cell wall-bound fractions and their sub-classes. Our results showed that A. collina plants were strongly affected by aphid infestation. Twenty days after infestation, the fresh weight was twenty-fold and seven-fold increased, in control and infested plants. Water and protein content, condensed tannins and methanol soluble phenolics content, were not affected by the aphid infestation. Cell wall-bound phenolics content increased in infested plants. The main phenolics were found to be chlorogenic acid and 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic in methanol soluble fraction, and caffeic acid in cell wall fraction. The chromatographic profiles showed that the main hydroxycinnamic acids were present in control and in both M. persicae and M. millefolli infested plants. The quantitative analysis indicated that the levels of chlorogenic acid and 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, were 44% and 37% higher in M. persicae infested plants, respectively. The levels of chlorogenic acid and 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, were 27% and 39% higher in M. millefolli infested plants, respectively. Twenty days after infestation the content of caffeic acid was resulted 43% and 34% higher in M. persicae and M. millefolli infested plants, respectively. These differences should indicate the different evolutionary interaction between plant and generalist/specialist aphid. We hypotheses that the increase of these molecules may represent a plant resistance mechanism against aphid attack. Finally, a chemometric approach, by means multivariate statistical analysis, was applied on chromatogram profiles to verify whether there is difference between methanol soluble fraction of infested and non infested A. collina plants. The discriminant analysis showed a significant effect of phloem feeders aphids on soluble phenolic compounds and indicated two peaks, not yet identified, that separate control from infested plants.
In conclusion the model system developed to cultivate A. collina was useful to understand the metabolic basis of the environment interactions. The main hydroxycinnamic acids identified, were resulted increased in both abiotic and biotic stress, suggesting their implication in A. collina protection to environmental controversies
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Influence of different environmental stress conditions on phenolic accumulation in the medicinal herb Achillea collina [Becker ex Rchb]
No full textIl miele di montagna, un alimento ricco di sostanze polifenoliche e di proprietà antiossidanti
No full textInfluenza della carenza di azoto sull'accumulo di composti fenolici in Achillea collina [Becker ex Rchb] coltivata in idroponica
No full text
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Antioxidant capacity and chemical characterization of honey from herbs produced in mountain areas
No full textAppropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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