ABSTRACT
Capsaicinoids are plant secondary metabolites, capsaicin being the principal responsible for the pungency of chili peppers. It is biosynthesized through two pathways involved in phenylpropanoid and fatty acid metabolism. Plant capsaicin concentration is mainly affected by genetic, environmental and crop management factors. However, its synthesis can be enhanced by the use of elicitors. Capsaicin is employed as food additive and in pharmaceutical applications. Additionally, it has been found that capsaicin can act as a cancer preventive agent and shows wide applications against various types of cancer. This review is an approach in contextualizing the use of controlled stress on the plant to increase the content of capsaicin, highlighting its synthesis and its potential use as anticancer agent.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic/metabolism , Capsaicin/metabolism , Capsicum/chemistry , Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic/administration & dosage , Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic/chemistry , Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic/pharmacology , Biosynthetic Pathways , Capsaicin/administration & dosage , Capsaicin/chemistry , Capsaicin/pharmacology , Capsicum/metabolism , Cell Line, Tumor , Food Additives/chemistry , Food Additives/metabolism , Humans , Molecular StructureABSTRACT
Germin-like proteins (GLPs) are encoded by a family of genes found in all plants, and in terms of function, the GLPs are implicated in the response of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses. CchGLP is a gene encoding a GLP identified in a geminivirus-resistant Capsicum chinense Jacq accession named BG-3821, and it is important in geminivirus resistance when transferred to susceptible tobacco in transgenic experiments. To characterize the role of this GLP in geminivirus resistance in the original accession from which this gene was identified, this work aimed at demonstrating the possible role of CchGLP in resistance to geminiviruses in Capsicum chinense Jacq. BG-3821. Virus-induced gene silencing studies using a geminiviral vector based in PHYVV component A, displaying that silencing of CchGLP in accession BG-3821, increased susceptibility to geminivirus single and mixed infections. These results suggested that CchGLP is an important factor for geminivirus resistance in C. chinense BG-3821 accession.
Subject(s)
Capsicum/immunology , Capsicum/virology , Disease Resistance , Geminiviridae/growth & development , Geminiviridae/immunology , Plant Proteins/metabolism , Capsicum/genetics , Coinfection/immunology , Coinfection/virology , Gene Silencing , Plant Diseases/genetics , Plant Diseases/immunology , Plant Diseases/virology , Plant Proteins/geneticsABSTRACT
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an important ROS molecule (Reactive oxygen species) that serves as a signal of oxidative stress and activation of signaling cascades as a result of the early response of the plant to biotic stress. This response can also be generated with the application of elicitors, stable molecules that induce the activation of transduction cascades and hormonal pathways, which trigger induced resistance to environmental stress. In this work, we evaluated the endogenous H2O2 production caused by salicylic acid (SA), chitosan (QN), and H2O2 elicitors in Capsicum annuum L. Hydrogen peroxide production after elicitation, catalase (CAT) and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) activities, as well as gene expression analysis of cat1, pal, and pathogenesis-related protein 1 (pr1) were determined. Our results displayed that 6.7 and 10 mM SA concentrations, and, 14 and 18 mM H2O2 concentrations, induced an endogenous H2O2 and gene expression. QN treatments induced the same responses in lesser proportion than the other two elicitors. Endogenous H2O2 production monitored during several days, showed results that could be an indicator for determining application opportunity uses in agriculture for maintaining plant alert systems against a stress.
Subject(s)
Capsicum/drug effects , Chitosan/pharmacology , Hydrogen Peroxide/pharmacology , Plant Leaves/drug effects , Salicylic Acid/pharmacology , Capsicum/genetics , Capsicum/metabolism , Catalase/genetics , Catalase/metabolism , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Gene Expression Regulation, Plant/drug effects , Hydrogen Peroxide/metabolism , Oxidants/metabolism , Oxidants/pharmacology , Oxidative Stress , Phenylalanine Ammonia-Lyase/genetics , Phenylalanine Ammonia-Lyase/metabolism , Plant Leaves/genetics , Plant Leaves/metabolism , Plant Proteins/genetics , Plant Proteins/metabolism , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Time FactorsABSTRACT
The Geminiviruses genome is a small, single strand DNA that replicates in the plant cell nucleus. Analogous to animal DNA viruses, Geminiviruses depend on the host replication machinery to amplify their genomes and only supply the factors required to initiate their replication. Consequently, Geminiviruses remove the cell-cycle arrest and induce the host replication machinery using an endocycle process. They encode proteins, such as the conserved replication-associated proteins (Rep) that interact with retinoblastoma-like proteins in plants and alter the cell division cycle in yeasts. Therefore, the aim of this work is to analyze the impact of Pepper Golden Mosaic Virus (PepGMV) Rep protein in mammalian cells. Results indicate that the pTracer-SV40:Rep construction obtained in this work can be used to analyze the Rep protein effect in mammalian cells in order to compare the cell cycle regulation mechanisms in plants and animals.
