Occupational rhinoconjunctivitis to cyclamen: A case report / Rinoconjuntivite ocupacional a cyclamen - Caso clínico

Cyclamen is a plant belonging to the Primulaceae family, widely used as an indoor ornamental flowering plant. Occupational allergy to cyclamen has been occasionally described in the current literature. The authors intend to report the case and diagnostic approach of a suspected occupational cyclamen allergy.

O ciclame é uma planta pertencente à família Primulaceae, amplamente utilizada como planta ornamental de interior. A alergia ocupacional ao ciclame raramente foi descrita na literatura. Os autores pretendem descrever um caso e abordagem diagnóstica de uma suspeita de alergia ocupacional ao ciclame.

Larvicidal activity of Cyclamen (Myrsinaceae) extracts against the larvae of West Nile virus vector Culex pipiens L. (Diptera: Culicidae)

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the larvicidal activity of the tuber extracts isolated from two species of Cyclamen Cyclamen mirabile Hildebr. and Cyclamen alpinum Dammann ex. Sprenger) against Culex pipiens L. (Diptera: Culicidae).@*METHODS@#Twenty young (first-second) or older (third-fourth) instars of the Culex pipiens were exposed to various concentrations (100 to 1000 ppm) of the extracts. Mortality was recorded after 12-, 24-, 48-, 72- and 96-h of exposure.@*RESULTS@#We determined that the young larval stages were more susceptible to the extracts in comparison with the older larval stages. A comparison of LC 50 and LC 90 values has shown that Cyclamen mirabile was more active than Cyclamen alpinum.@*CONCLUSIONS@#This study is the first to report on the larvicidal activity of the extracts of Cyclamen species against Culex pipiens. More studies are needed to isolate and identify the active components involved, their mode of action, and effects on other mosquito and pest species.

Gene expression of a putative glutathione S-transferase is responsive to abiotic stress in embryogenic cell cultures of Cyclamen persicum

Background: Cyclamen persicum is an economically important ornamental crop that is propagated exclusively through seeds as vegetative propagation using cuttings is not possible. Therefore a micropropagation method through somatic embryogenesis is of high interest; however the method suffers from low reliability concerning quality and quantity of the produced plantlets. A crucial step of the protocol is the removal of plant growth regulators (PGRs) that triggers embryo development. In order to get a better insight in this crucial step of the propagation process, a gene expression analysis has been set up using five different genes of glutathione S-transferases (GST) as these are known to be auxin responsive as well as stress reactive. Results: One out of the five genes of glutathione S-transferases (CpGST1) displayed a clear down-regulation 72 hrs after removal of PGRs compared to 4 hrs after, implying auxin responsiveness. However, a more detailed analysis including the time points 0, 4 and 72 hrs revealed an initial strong up-regulation after 4 hrs before it was down-regulated after 72 hrs. In comparison fold-changes of the additional four GST-genes were marginal. Comparing cultures on semisolid medium to that in suspension, transcript abundances of CpGST1 were clearly decreased in suspension culture. Conclusions: Against the initial hypothesis CpGST was not auxin responsive but stress reactive, probably especially indicating drought stress imposed on the cells upon transfer from submerged suspension culture to semisolid medium. Mechanical stress caused by shaking of suspensions cultures seemed to be less important.

Selection of reference genes for normalization of quantitative real-time PCR in cell cultures of Cyclamen persicum

As a prerequisite for gene expression analyses in cell cultures of the ornamental crop Cyclamen persicum basic parameters for quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) have been established including the selection of reference genes using the software tools ‘geNorm’ and ‘NormFinder’. Five potential reference genes have been tested (elongation factor tu (Ef-Tu), putative ABC transporter ATPase, putative conserved oligomeric Golgi (COG) complex component, V-ATPase G subunit 1 and Histone H3-K9 methyltransferase 4 (H3-K9-HMTase 4)). ‘NormFinder’ as well as ‘geNorm’ identified Ef-Tu to be the least stable reference gene while the ranking of the most stable genes differed depending on the algorithm. According to ‘NormFinder’ COG complex component displayed the most stable expression whereas ‘geNorm’ indicated V-ATPase G subunit 1 and a putative ABC transporter ATPase to be the most reliable reference genes. Hence, we concluded to use a normalization factor calculated from the four reference genes V-ATPase G subunit 1, ABC transporter ATPase, Histone H3-K9 methyltransferase 4 (H3-K9-HMTase 4) and COG complex component for normalization of qRT-PCR in cell cultures of Cyclamen persicum.

Screening for propagation suitability in vitro of different Cyclamen species / Revisión para la adecuación de propagación in vitro de diferentes especies de Cyclamen

In the present study we examined the possibility of propagating different Cyclamen species (C. africanum Boiss. and Reut., C. cilicium Boiss. and Heldr., C. coum Mill., C. hederifolium Ait., C. persicum Mill., C. purpurascens Mill.) including some of their subspecies and cultivars in vitro using explants of adult plants. For this purpose two protocols have been applied to eleven genotypes combined with mostly four explant types (placentas with ovules, leaves, petioles and peduncles). The use of these protocols has given rise to either somatic embryo-like structures and/or adventitious shoots in all genotypes. This way it was possible to propagate each of the examined genotypes in vitro using explants of adult plants in a time less than one year. These results may be used in breeding and propagation of Cyclamen as an ornamental plant and as a medicinal plant.

Cryopreservation of Cyclamen persicum Mill. Callus / 生物工程学报

In this paper we studied cryopreservation of Cyclamen persicum Mill. callus to avoid variations produced by sub-culture. The callus in the logarithmic phase after sub-culture were used for experiments. Firstly, the callus were pre-cultured in culture-medium containing 4%, 6% or 8% sucrose for different time periods, transferred to different cryoprotectants to directly cryopreserve or incubated for 2 hours at -20 degrees C, then submersed in liquid nitrogen, lastly thawed rapidly in a waterbath at 37 degrees C, and washed with liquid culture-medium containing the corresponding concentration of sucrose. Cell survival rate was computed after stained by Neutral Red, and SPSS 13.0 software was used for statistical analysis. The results showed that sucrose concentration, pre-culture time, cryoprotectants had various impacts on cell survival rate. We have developed a simple but effective protocol for the cryopreservation of callus of C. persicum. Of the different protocols tested, 4%sucrose, pre-culturing for 3 days, No. 9 cryoprotectant and freezing directly after 30 minutes at 0 degrees C results in the highest cell survival rate.