Biotechnology and In Vitro Culture as an Alternative System for Secondary Metabolite Production

Medicinal plants are rich sources of bioactive compounds widely used as medicaments, food additives, perfumes, and agrochemicals. These secondary compounds are produced under stress conditions to carry out physiological tasks in plants. Secondary metabolites have a complex chemical structure with pharmacological properties. The widespread use of these metabolites in a lot of industrial sectors has raised the need to increase the production of secondary metabolites. Biotechnological methods of cell culture allow the conservation of plants, as well as the improvement of metabolite biosynthesis and the possibility to modify the synthesis pathways. The objective of this review is to outline the applications of different in vitro culture systems with previously reported relevant examples for the optimal production of plant-derived secondary metabolites.     

Synthesis and spectral characterization of macrocyclic Schiff base by reaction of 2,6-diaminopyridine and 1,4- bis (2-carboxyaldehydephenoxy)butane and its CuII, NiII, PbII, CoIII and LaIII complexes

A new macrocyclic ligand, 1,3,5-triaza-2,4:7,8:15,16-tribenzo-9,15-dioxacycloheptadeca-1,5-diene (L) was synthesized by reaction of 2,6-diaminopyridine with 1,4-bis(2-carboxyaldehydephenoxy)butane. Then, its Cu^II, Ni^II, Pb^II, Co^III and La^III complexes were synthesized by the template effect by reaction of 2,6-diaminopyridine and 1,4-bis (2-carboxyaldehydephenoxy)butane and Cu(NO₃)₂ · 3H₂O, Ni(NO₃)₂ · 6H₂O, Pb(NO₃)₂, Co(NO₃)₂ · 6H₂O, La (NO₃)₃ · 6H₂O, respectively. The ligand and its metal complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, ¹H- and ¹³C-n.m.r., UV-vis spectra, magnetic susceptibility, thermal gravimetric analysis, conductivity measurements and mass spectra. All complexes are diamagnetic and the Cu^II complex is binuclear. The Co^II complex was oxidised to Co^III.     

Antimicrobial activities,toxicity and phenolic composition of Asphodeline anatolica E. Tuzlaci leaf extracts from Turkey

The antimicrobial activity of acetone, methanol and aqueous extracts of Asphodeline anatolica E. Tuzlaci leaves was evaluated against American type culture collection, food and clinical isolates (Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus including methicillin-resistant strains-MRSA). Biofilm formation, toxicity and characterisation of the polyphenolic content were analysed. The acetone extract demonstrated a higher antibacterial activity against S. aureus including MRSA strains, L. monocytogenes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa than against other extracts. No effect was observed in biofilm formation. The extracts resulted non-toxic against Artemia salina Leach. The phytochemical screening of extracts indicated that they mainly contained six polyphenols identified as catechin 3-O-gallate, protocatechuic acid, diosmin, rutin, cirsimaritin and kaempferol glucoside. This study is the first report on antimicrobial activity and phenolic content of A. anatolica and contributes to enrich the literature data on the biological properties of this plant. A. anatolica leaves have a potential as source of natural antimicrobial compounds.     

Synthesis,characterization and non-linear optical properties of two mononuclear Cu(II) complexes of 2,6-bis(1-butylbenzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine

Two copper(II) complexes, [Cu(L)(N₃)₂]·MeOH and [Cu(L)(NCS)₂]·MeOH, were prepared and characterized by spectroscopic, analytical, and quantum chemical studies, where L is 2,6-bis(1-butylbenzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine. X-ray quality crystals of [Cu(L)(N₃)₂]·MeOH were obtained by slow evaporation of MeOH solution of the complex. Molecular structure of [Cu(L)(N₃)₂]·MeOH was determined by X-ray crystallography. The asymmetric unit contains one [Cu(L)(N₃)₂] and one MeOH molecule. Cu(II) in [Cu(L)(N₃)₂]·MeOH is five-coordinate, bonded to five nitrogens (three from L and two from two azide anions). Coordination geometry around Cu(II) center is distorted square-pyramidal with τ value of 0.065. Optimized geometries, IR spectra, and non-linear optical properties of the complexes were obtained by computational studies based on density functional theory (DFT) with M062X method. NLO properties of these complexes were investigated computationally and both complexes exhibit better NLO properties than urea.     

New metal complexes with diclofenac containing 2-pyridineethanol or 2-pyridinepropanol: synthesis,structural, spectroscopic,thermal properties,catechol oxidase and carbonic anhydrase activities

Four new neutral diclofenac-based complexes, [Co(dicl)2(2-pyet)2] 1, [Ni(dicl)2(2-pyet)2] 2, [Cu2(dicl)2(2-pyet)2] 3, and [Cu2(dicl)2(2-pypr)2] 4 have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, thermal analysis. Complexes 1, 3, and 4 have also been characterized by X-ray single-crystal structural analysis. The compounds of Co(II) and Ni(II) have octahedral geometry with two diclofenac and two 2-pyridineethanol ligands in the coordination sphere. The compounds of Cu(II) have square-pyramidal geometry and Cu(II) ions are linked via oxygens to the bridging 2-pyridineethanol or 2-pyridinepropanol ligands. The Δν values acquired by FT-IR are in agreement with the single XRD data. Studies on the thermal properties are reported and the complexes are stable to 196, 216, 215, and 201 °C in air, respectively. Two dinuclear Cu(II) complexes have demonstrated catalytic activity on oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol to 3,5-di-tert-butylquinone showing saturation kinetics at high substrate concentrations. The diclofenac complexes are investigated as inhibitors of the human cytosolic isoforms hCA I and II. The complexes are good as hCA I inhibitors (Kis of 1.52–55.06 μM) but only moderately efficient as hCA II inhibitors (Kis of 0.23–5.61 μM).     

Spectroscopic and Electrochemical Studies of Transition Metal Complexes with N,N′-Bis(2-aminothiophenol)-1,7-bis(2-formylphenyl)-1,4,7-trioxaheptane and Structure Effects on Extractability of Ligand towards some Divalent Cations

Summary. La(III), Cu(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II) metal complexes with a novel quadridentate Schiff base derived from 1,7-bis(2-formylphenyl)-1,4,7-trioxaheptane and 2-aminothiophenol were synthesized and characterized by microanalytical data, elemental analysis, magnetic measurements, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, UV-Vis, IR, mass spectra, cyclic voltammetric and conductance measurements. The extractability of divalent cations was evaluated as a function of relationship between distribution ratio of the metal and pH or ligand concentration. The highest extraction percentage of Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺ showed pH 7.0 and 6.4. It was concluded that the ligand can effectively be used in solvent extraction of copper(II) and nickel(II) from the aqueous phase to the organic phase.     

Comparison of near- and far-fault ground motion effect on the nonlinear response of dam–reservoir–foundation systems

In this paper, it is aimed to compare the near- and far-fault ground motion effects on the nonlinear dynamic response of dams including dam–reservoir–foundation interaction. Two different types of dams, which are concrete arch and concrete faced rockfill dams, are selected to investigate the near- and far-fault ground motion effects on the dam responses. The behavior of reservoir water is taken into account using Lagrangian approach. The Drucker–Prager material model is employed in nonlinear analyses. Near and far-fault strong ground motion records, which have approximately identical peak ground accelerations, of Loma Prieta (1989) earthquake are selected for the analyses. Displacements, maximum and minimum principal stresses are determined using the finite element method. The displacements and principal stresses obtained from the analyses of dams subjected to each fault effect are compared with each other. It is clearly seen that there is more seismic demand on displacements and stresses when the dam is subjected to near-fault ground motion.     

The role of iron and zinc in chemotherapy-induced alopecia

Chemotherapy-induced alopecia is a common and distressing side effect in children with cancer. Iron and zinc are the well known trace elements which are associated with hair shedding. In this study, we investigated the hair content of iron and zinc in children with cancer consists of two groups: group A, newly diagnosed patients; group B, the patients received a course of chemotherapy. We compared the results between each others and healthy controls. Hair content of iron and zinc was not different between the patient groups. Iron concentrations of patient samples, either at diagnosis or after chemotherapy, were significantly lower than healthy controls. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups regarding the zinc values. In conclusion, hair content of iron and zinc do not have a role in chemotherapy-induced alopecia.     

XPS studies of polyhedral linkages in binary fluoride films

Amorphous thin films of the ZrF₄---PbF₂ binary composition system fabricated by thermal evaporation and studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The chemical shift of the F 1s peak is analyzed to yield the distribution of polyhedral linkages in terms of Zr---F---Zr, Pb---F---Pb and Zr---F---Pb bridges. The predominance of cross-species bridging suggests a large negative enthalpy of mixing between ZrF₄ and PbF₂.     

Compact homomorphisms of regular banach algebras

Let A be a complex commutative Banach algebra and let M_A be the maximal ideal space of A. We say that A has the bounded separating property if there exists a constant C > 0 such that for every two distinct points ?₁, ?₂ ∈ M_A, there is an element a ∈ A for which , and ‖a‖ ? C, where is the Gelfand transform of a ∈ A. We show that if A is a strongly regular Banach algebra with the bounded separating property, then every compact homomorphism from A into another Banach algebra is of finite dimensional range. © 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim