DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants and improvement of medicinal herbs

A review. This was a review on progress in lettuce biotechnol. The morphol., origin, and prodn. of cultivated lettuce are discussed, along with genetic improvement of lettuce through conventional breeding and biotechnol. approaches, culture of tissues and isolated protoplasts of lettuce, regeneration of somaclonal variant plants from cultured tissues and protoplasts of lettuce, and somatic hybridization of lettuce. The genetic manipulation of lettuce via transformation using methods involving direct DNA uptake into protoplasts and Agrobacterium-mediated gene delivery are explored. The introduction of agronomically important genes into lettuce, inactivation of gene expression in transgenic lettuce, plastid transformation in lettuce, and biotechnol. approaches used to maintain plant quality, shelf-life, and safety are also examd. 

ÚLTIMOS AVANCES EN LA QUÍMICA Y ACTIVIDADES BACTERIOLÓGICAS EN LAS PLANTAS MEDICINALESMedicinal plants, last advances on chemistry and bacteria activities on the medicinal herbs

1) Dihydridiconiferyl alc. and lariciresinol, known as phytotoxic lignans, acting on the germination of Lactuca sativa have been tested for lettuce seedling development.  It has been evidenced that sucrose grown plants respond to such lignans differently from those grown without sucrose.  Dihydridiconiferyl alc., which is more active than lariciresinol, reduced chlorophyll and carotenoid synthesis in sucrose grown plants.  It also caused a greater decrease of photosystem efficiency, lowering of yield and non-photochem. quenching in treated plants in respect to those in controls.  Both lignans affected carbon and nitrogen metab., reducing, in particular, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and glutamate synthase (GOGAT) activities in sucrose grown plants.  The decrease of G6PDH (-80%) and GOGAT (-65%) activities was correlated to an increase of sol. sugars (up to +100%) and glutamine (+70%), resp.  This is the first time an allelochem. affecting GOGAT activity has been reported.

2) Metab. of genetically modified (GM) lettuce (Lactuca sativa) leaves was investigated by comparing NMR metabolic profiles of three lines (T3B12, T7B7, and T7B14) over-expressing the E. coli asparagine synthetase A gene with those of the wild-type (WT) at 24, 56, and 64 days after sowing (DAS).  Statistical analyses based on hydro-sol. compd. profiles significantly and maximally discriminated the WT from GM-lines at optimal harvest time (56 DAS).  The T7B14 metabolic variations were opposite to those of both T3B12/T7B7 lines, suggesting that unexpected effects of transgenesis had occurred.  Compared to controls, the T3B12/T7B7 plants shared the leaf mass increase, higher amino acid (asparagine, glutamine, valine, and isoleucine) and protein levels, and lower nitrate contents, accompanied by a modest sink of org. acids (alpha-ketoglutarate, succinate, fumarate, and malate), sucrose, fructose, and inulins.  Incongruously, the T7B14 butter heads were less leafy than the controls and showed lowered amino acid/protein contents and over-stored inulin.  To further investigate the metabolic discrepancies among the GM-lines, a set of key nitrogen and inulin genes was monitored.  The T3B12/T7B7 lines shared comparable gene expression changes, including the induction of the endogenous ASPARAGINE SYNTHETASE1 and NITRATE REDUCTASE1 that supported the targeted enhancement of nitrogen status.  Transgene product malfunctioning and T-DNA rearrangements throughout generations were proposed to explain the decreased asparagine content and the complex expression pattern of N genes in T7B14 leaves.  In the latter, the inulin accumulation was assocd. with the up-regulation of fructan biosynthesis genes and the intense repression of fructan hydrolases.

3) BACKGROUND: Iodine is an essential trace element for humans.  Two billion individuals have insufficient iodine intake.  Biofortification of vegetables with iodine offers an excellent opportunity to increase iodine intake by humans.  The main aim was to study the effect of iodine form and concn. in the nutrient soln. on growth, development and iodine uptake of lettuce, grown in water culture.  RESULTS: In both a winter and summer trial, dose rates of 0, 13, 39, 65, and 90 or 129 mg iodine L-1, applied as iodate (IO3-) or iodide (I-), did not affect plant biomass, produce quality or water uptake.  Increases in iodine concn. significantly enhanced iodine content in the plant.  Iodine contents in plant tissue were up to five times higher with I- than with IO3-.  Iodine was mainly distributed to the outer leaves.  The highest iodide dose rates in both trials resulted in 653 and 764 mg iodine kg-1 total leaf fresh wt.  CONCLUSION: Biofortification of lettuce with iodine is easily applicable in a hydroponic growing system, both with I- and IO3-.  I- was more effective than IO3-.  Fifty grams of iodine-biofortified lettuce would provide, resp., 22% and 25% of the recommended daily allowance of iodine for adolescents and adults.  Copyright Ó 2010 Society of Chem. Industry.

PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Tallos y raquis de las hojas. 

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Sirve para calmar la excitación nerviosa en los niños provocando el sueño.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: A glutathione S-transferase (GST) from Lactuca sativa was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity approximately 403-fold with a 9.6% activity yield by DEAE-Sephacel and glutathione (GSH)-Sepharose column chromatography. The molecular weight of the enzyme was determined to be approximately 23,000 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and 48,000 by gel chromatography, indicating a homodimeric structure. The activity of the enzyme was significantly inhibited by S-hexylGSH and S-(2,4-dinitrophenyl) glutathione. The enzyme displayed activity towards 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, a general GST substrate and high activities towards ethacrynic acid. It also exhibited glutathione peroxidase activity toward cumene hydroperoxide. 

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Uruguay. 

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Enfermedad o síntoma
Insomnio

Parte utilizada
Hoja

Forma de preparación
Infusión

Modo de administración
Vía oral

Origen
Tucumán, Argentina

Uses: calmative.                                                 

Origin: Argentina, Australia, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Caribe, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Newzeland, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, South Africa, Tanzania, USA, Venezuela, Zaire.    

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Origin:
Native to Southern and West Asia. Cultivated throughout India as a cold weather crop.

Action:
Plant—used in painful ulcers and burns.

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Origin
Mizoram, Northeast India
Parts used
Stem, root
Ailments
Burn

1) GONZALEZ, Matías ; LOMBARDO, Atilio ; VALLARINO, Aida. Plantas de la medicina vulgar del Uruguay. Montevideo : Talleres Gráficos, 1937, p. 77.

2) PARK, HJ; CHO, HY: KONG, KH. Purification and biochemical properties of glutathione S-transferase from Lactuca sativa. Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 2005, vol.38, nº2, p.232-237.
 
3) DAVEY, M. R.; et al . Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry. 2007, vol.59 (Transgenic Crops IV), p.221-249.
 
4) CARILLO, Petronia; et al. Effects of the allelochemicals dihydrodiconiferyl alcohol and lariciresinol on metabolism of Lactuca sativa. Open Bioactive Compounds Journal. 2010,vol.3, p.18-24.
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5) SOBOLEV, Anatoly P.; et al. Quality Traits of Conventional and Transgenic Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) at Harvesting by NMR Metabolic Profiling.  Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2010, vol.58, nº11, p.6928-6936.
 
6) VOOGT, Wim; HOLWERDA, Harmen T.; KHODABAKS, Rashied. Biofortification of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) with iodine: the effect of iodine form and concentration in the nutrient solution on growth, development and iodine uptake of lettuce grown in water culture. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 2010, vol.90, nº5, p.906-913.

7) Geraldini , Isanete, Journal of Ethnopharmacology v. 173, 2015 . -- p. 383-423

8) Ceballos, Sergio J.; Perea Mario C./ Boletín Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Plantas Medicinales y Aromáticas, vol 13, no 1, 2014. - p. 47 - 68

8) Khare, C.P./ Indian Medicinal Plants. -- Nueva Dheli: Springer, 2007 . - p. 361.

9) Birla Kshetrimayum/ Medicinal Plants and Its Therapeutic Uses/ USA: OMICS Group eBooks, 2017. p. 28