Marine Sponge Derived Natural Products between 2001 and 2010: Trends and Opportunities for Discovery of Bioactives

Marine sponges belonging to the phylum Porifera (Metazoa), evolutionarily the oldest animals are the single best source of marine natural products. The present review presents a comprehensive overview of the source, taxonomy, country of origin or geographical position, chemical class, and biological activity of sponge-derived new natural products discovered between 2001 and 2010. The data has been analyzed with a view to gaining an outlook on the future trends and opportunities in the search for new compounds and their sources from marine sponges.     

Changes in Cd,Cu, Ni,Pb and Zn Fractionation and Liberation Due to Mussel Shell Amendment on a Mine Soil

Mining activities are related to relevant environmental pollution issues that should be controlled. We used sequential extractions to fractionate Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn retained on unamended or mussel shell‐amended mine soil samples, all of them treated with a mixture of the five heavy metals (total metal concentration of 1·57 mmol L⁻¹), after 1, 7 and 30 days of incubation. In addition, we used the stirred flow chamber technique to study the release of each of the five heavy metals from these different unamended and shell‐amended soil samples. The results indicate that the shell amendment caused a decrease in the most soluble fraction, while increasing the most recalcitrant (least mobile) fraction. With equivalent implications, the stirred flow chamber experiments showed that mussel shell amendment was associated to a decrease in heavy metal release and increased retention. The highest mussel shell dose and incubation time caused the most relevant changes in pH values and thus in metal retention, also indicating the importance of pH modifications in the mechanism of retention acting in the amended samples. In view of these results, the use of mussel shell amendment can be encouraged to increase heavy metal retention in acid mine soils, in order to minimise risks of environmental pollution. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

QTL mapping of volatile compounds in ripe apples detected by proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry

The availability of genetic linkage maps enables the detection and analysis of QTLs contributing to quality traits of the genotype. Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS), a relatively novel spectrometric technique, has been applied to measure the headspace composition of the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emitted by apple fruit genotypes of the progeny ‘Fiesta’ × ‘Discovery’. Fruit samples were characterised by their PTR-MS spectra normalised to total area. QTL analysis for all PTR-MS peaks was carried out and 10 genomic regions associated with the peaks at m/z = 28, 43, 57, 61, 103, 115 and 145 were identified (LOD > 2.5). We show that it is possible to find quantitative trait loci (QTLs) related to PTR-MS characterisation of the headspace composition of single whole apple fruits indicating the presence of a link between molecular characterisation and PTR-MS data. We provide tentative information on the metabolites related to the detected QTLs based on available chemical information. A relation between apple skin colour and peaks related to carbonyl compounds was established. The two authors contributed equally to this work.     

Institutional Structure,Industrialization and Rural Development: An Evolutionary Interpretation of the Italian Experience

This paper proposes an evolutionary reading of rural development referred to cases of rapid industrial growth, where a strong concentration process has involved the main urban centers and the successful industrial districts. This territorial development pattern has gradually extinguished rural society and its institutional basis, creating a clear separation between new central and peripheral areas. The consequent effects on local economy and social dynamics reveal the long‐term risks raised in terms of development sustainability. An empirical study of two Italian provinces is also carried out to show how this framework can be helpful in interpreting real historical patterns.     

Marker assisted polycross breeding to increase diversity and yield in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)

Summary In this study, the application of molecular markers to optimise genetic diversity in a polycross breeding program of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) was evaluated. The genetic diversity among 98 potential parental plants from three maturity groups (early, intermediate and late flowering) was investigated using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. For each maturity group, two polycrosses of six parental plants with contrasting levels of genetic diversity were composed. Average genetic diversity among parents selected for narrow polycrosses was 36% lower than among parents selected for wide polycrosses. Diversity within first generation synthetic progenies (Syn1) was proportional to the diversity within the respective parental polycrosses. However, differences were less pronounced with Syn1 progenies from narrow polycrosses showing 16% reduced diversity when compared to Syn1 progenies from wide polycrosses. Multivariate analyses allowed for a clear separation of the six Syn1 progenies based on AFLP markers and demonstrated their genetic distinctness. Evaluation of dry matter yield, date of ear emergence and stem length of Syn1 and Syn2 progenies showed progenies from wide polycrosses to be constantly higher yielding when compared to progenies from narrow polycrosses. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in variability for the two morphological traits between progenies of narrow- and wide polycrosses. The results presented here provide evidence for an efficient application of molecular markers to select genetically diverse polycross parents which resulted in an average yield increase of 3.8%.     

Solid olive residues: insight into their phenolic composition

Solid olive residues (SOR) are byproducts of the olive-milling process, but they have an increasing importance in the pharmaceutical industry due to their rich content of biophenols. Such compounds are studied widely for their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, but there is a lack of information about their quantitative recovery. This research highlighted the key role played both by the selection of the cultivar and by the degree of olive fruit ripening on the phenolic content on the SOR. The extraction methods were selected to reach the best quantitative results mainly using a safe food solvent. In light of the results the Soxhlet extraction with ethanol could be proposed as preferential for a higher recovery of verbascoside and its analogues.     

Off-vine grape drying effect on volatile compounds and aromatic series in must from Pedro Ximénez grape variety

Changes in 36 volatile compounds of must from ripe grapes dried by direct exposure to sun and must from ripe grapes were studied. Compounds not dependent on sampling site in both musts were selected, and their concentration/Brix degree ratio values, were subjected to variance analysis. Only butan-1-ol and isoamyl alcohols showed no differences, while (E)-hex-3-en-1-ol, (Z)-hex-3-en-1-ol, (E)-hex-2-en-1-ol, (E)-hex-2-enal, hexanoic acid, isobutanol, benzyl alcohol, 2-phenylethanol, gamma-butyrolactone, gamma-hexalactone, and 5-methylfurfural, showed significant differences between the two must types, which may be ascribed to the drying process. An approach to describe must odor has been carried out by grouping volatile compounds in aromatic series, increasing their values in the fruity, solvent, sweet, and roasted series and diminishing the herbaceous as a consequence of the drying process.     

Characterization of commercial kava-kava herbal drug and herbal drug preparations by means of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

The efficiency of one- and two-dimensional NMR experiments in characterizing the content of the constituents of both herbal drugs and herbal drug preparations is demonstrated for kava-kava. These experiments directly detect active constituents represented by kavalactones in both a finely powdered herbal drug and a commercial extract. In addition, NMR spectroscopy can detect all other compounds present in the extract. As previously evidenced, NMR experiments can represent a generally applicable technique for rapid screening and are a complement to the classical analytical techniques such as high-performance thin-layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, capillary gas chromatography, and electrophoresis. These experiments can be considered a very simple and fast analytical method to obtain a fingerprint of the herbal drugs and their preparations, and to quantify the content of the active principles of the extract.