Structure and antinociceptive effects of ß-D-glucans from Cookeina tricholoma.

Structurally different water-insoluble (1→3),(1→6) ß-D-glucans were isolated from aqueous and alkaline extracts of the mushroom-forming ascomycete Cookeina tricholoma, a wild edible mushroom found in Brazilian Amazon forest. The structures showed different substitution patterns, which may influence their extractability and consequently their conformation in solution, and different MW (4.3×10(5)Da, 3.7×10(5)Da and 8.2×10(5)Da, for ICW-Ct, IHW-Ct and IK2-Ct, respectively). The main-chains are composed of (1→3)-linked ß-D-Glcp units O-6 substituted by side chains with different lengths of (1→6)-linked ß-d-Glcp units (ICW-Ct and IHW-Ct) or by a combination of (1→6)-linked ß-D-Glcp units and single units of ß-D-Glcp (IK2-Ct). ß-D-glucans with similar MW and showing only (1→6)-linked ß-D-Glcp units as side chains (ICW-Ct and IHW-Ct) showed significant inhibition of neurogenic pain, 69±11 and 57±11% at the dose of 10mgkg(-1), respectively, in the model of nociception induced by intraplantar injection of formalin.

Filling in the gaps of the papilionoid legume phylogeny: the enigmatic Amazonian genus Petaladenium is a new branch of the early-diverging Amburaneae clade.

Recent deep-level phylogenies of the basal papilionoid legumes (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae) have resolved many clades, yet left the phylogenetic placement of several genera unassessed. The phylogenetically enigmatic Amazonian monospecific genus Petaladenium had been believed to be close to the genera of the Genistoid Ormosieae clade. In this paper we provide the first DNA phylogenetic study of Petaladenium and show it is not part of the large Genistoid clade, but is a new branch of the Amburaneae clade, one of the first-diverging lineages of the Papilionoideae phylogeny. This result is supported by the chemical observation that the quinolizidine alkaloids, a chemical synapomorphy of the Genistoids, are absent in Petaladenium. Parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of nuclear ITS/5.8S and plastid matK and trnL intron agree with a new interpretation of morphology that Petaladenium is sister to Dussia, a genus comprising ∼18 species of trees largely confined to rainforests in Central America and northern South America. Petaladenium, Dussia, and Myrospermum have papilionate flowers in a clade otherwise with radial floral symmetry, loss of petals or incompletely differentiated petals. Our phylogenetic analyses also revealed well-supported resolution within the three main lineages of the ADA clade (Angylocalyceae, Dipterygeae, and Amburaneae). We also discuss further molecular phylogenetic evidence for the undersampled Amazonian genera Aldina and Monopteryx, and the tropical African Amphimas, Cordyla, Leucomphalos, and Mildbraediodendron.

Water-soluble polysaccharides from Pleurotus ostreatus var. florida mycelial biomass.

Pleurotus ostreatus var. florida known as Hiratake has a high nutritional value, presents medicinal and nutraceutical properties and it is one of the consumed mushrooms in Brazil. Thus, the aim of this study was to characterize the chemical structure of polysaccharides found in mycelial biomass produced by submerged culture of P. ostreatus var. florida in order to compare with those found in P. ostreatus var. florida fruit bodies. Aqueous and alkali extracts obtained from mycelial biomass were purified, 13C NMR, GC-MS and chemical techniques were used to characterize three polysaccharide structures: a mannogalactan (MG-PfM) with α-D-Galp and 3-O-Me-α-D-Galp units, both (1→6)-linked, highly substituted at O-2 by D-Manp, a glycogen-like polymer (GLY-PfM) with α-D-Glp (1→4)-linked main chain, partially substituted at O-6 by α-D-Glcp side chains and a (1→3), (1→6) ß-D-glucan (ßGLC-PfM) with a main chain of ß-D-Glcp (1→3)-linked units, partially substituted at O-6 by side chains of 6-O-substituted ß-D-glucopyranosyl units, on an average of one to every two residues of the backbone. These results show the possibility to obtain similar and also different molecules from those found in the fruiting body of the same mushroom species, therefore the submerged culture of mushroom is a promising way to give raise molecules of interest.

Structure of Agaricus spp. fucogalactans and their anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive properties.

Fucogalactans from Agaricus brasiliensis (EPF-Ab) and A. bisporus var. hortensis (EPF-Ah) were prepared via by aqueous extraction and a purification procedure. EPF-Ab had M(w) 19.4 x 10(3)g/mol and EPF-Ah M(w) 31.1 x 10(3)g/mol. EPF-Ab had a (1-->6)-linked alpha-D-Galp main-chain partially substituted in O-2 by non-reducing end-units of alpha-L-Fucp. EPF-Ah had a similar main-chain with O-2 substitution, but was partially methylated at HO-3, as well as having 2.5% non-reducing end-units of beta-D-Gal. In mice, EPF-Ab gave 39% antinociceptive inhibition (ID(50)>100mg/kg) and no anti-inflammatory activity. EPF-Ah also gave an inhibition of 39% at ID(50) 0.33 mg/kg and also inhibited by 61% (ID(50) 5.0mg/kg) total cell migration and by 32% peritoneal capillary permeability, which is related to the anti-inflammatory effect. The small differences in chemical structure in these polysaccharides thus modified their biological activities.

Polysaccharides present in cultivated Teloschistes flavicans symbiosis: comparison with those of the thallus.

The chemical structures of polysaccharides present in aposymbiotically cultured myco- and photobionts of the lichen Teloschistes flavicans were determined, in order to compare them with those previously found in the intact thallus. The mycobiont was cultured on a solid Lilly and Barnett medium and the resulting colonies were freeze dried, defatted, and their polysaccharides were extracted successively with 2%, 10% and 30% aq. KOH, each at 100 degrees C. The extracts were neutralized (HOAc) and fractionated, giving rise to three homogeneous fractions, PFSK2 from 2% KOH, which contained a (1-->4),(1-->6)-linked alpha-glucan (1:1 ratio, pullulan), fraction PK10 from 10% KOH extraction, which was a linear (1-->3)-linked linear beta-glucan (laminaran), and fraction PK30 from 30% KOH extraction, being a branched (1-->3),(1-->6)-linked beta-glucan. The photobiont (Trebouxia sp. de Puymaly) was cultured in liquid nutrient medium, and after purification, a linear (1-->5)-linked beta-galactofuranan was characterized. The galactofuranan and the laminaran were not present in the symbiotic thallus, in contrast to the glucans, showing that the mycobiont alone produces them without participation of the photobiont.