Marine polyprenylated hydroquinones, quinones, and chromenols with inhibitory effects on leukotriene formation

A series of polyprenylated hydroquinones, quinones, and chromenols were isolated from the extracts of the marine sponge Ircinia spinosula and the brown alga Taonia atomaria, which gave rise to the constituents 1-4 and 5-8, respectively. Compounds 1, 2, 6, and 7 are new natural products, which were fully characterized. Their anti-inflammatory activities in terms of leukotriene formation were evaluated in an in vitro assay with pork leukocytes. The new hydroxylated compound, 2'-[28-hydroxy]heptaprenyl-1',4'-hydroquinone (= 2-[(2E,6E,10E,14E,18Z,22E)-19-(hydroxymethyl)-3,7,11,15,23,27-hexamethyloctacosa-2,6,10,14,18,22,26-heptaen-1-yl]benzene-1,4-diol; 1), the known tetraprenyl benzoquinone sargaquinone (5), and the known polyprenyl chromenols 3 and 4 exhibited the highest anti-inflammatory activities, with IC50 values of 1.9-9.4 microM (Table 3). Potential structure-activity relationships (SAR) are discussed.     

Isolated Phosphate-Solubilizing Soil Bacteria Promotes In vitro Growth of Solanum tuberosum L.

The capacity of four bacterial strains isolated from productive soil potato fields to solubilize tricalcium phosphate on Pikovskaya agar or in a liquid medium was evaluated. A bacterial strain was selected to evaluate in vitro capacity of plant-growth promotion on Solanum tuberosum L. culture. Bacterial strain A3 showed the highest value of phosphate solubilization, reaching a 20 mm-diameter halo and a concentration of 350 mg/l on agar and in a liquid medium, respectively. Bacterial strain A3 was identified by 16S rDNA analysis as Bacillus pumilus with 98% identity; therefore, it is the first report for Bacillus pumilus as phosphate solubilizer. Plant-growth promotion assayed by in vitro culture of potato microplants showed that the addition of bacterial strain A3 increased root and stems length after 28 days. It significantly increased stem length by 79.3%, and duplicated the fresh weight of control microplants. In this paper, results reported regarding phosphorus solubilization and growth promotion under in vitro conditions represent a step forward in the use of innocuous bacterial strain biofertilizer on potato field cultures.Key words: Bacillus sp., phosphorus soluble, Pikovskaya agar, potato rhizosphere, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria