Borage (Borago officinalis L.) seed oil has been used as a treatment for various degenerative diseases. Many useful properties of this oil are attributed to its high gamma linolenic acid content (GLA, 18:3 ω-6). The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the safety and suitability of the use of borage seed oil, along with one of its active components, GLA, with respect to DNA integrity, and to establish possible in vivo toxic and in vitro cytotoxic effects. In order to measure these properties, five types of assays were carried out: toxicity, genotoxicity, antigenotoxicity, cytotoxicity (using the promyelocytic leukaemia HL60 cell line), and life span (in vivo analysis using the Drosophila model). Results showed that i) Borage seed oil is not toxic to D. melanogaster at physiological concentrations below 125 µl/ml and the studies on GLA indicated non-toxicity at the lowest concentration analyzed ii) Borage seed oil and GLA are DNA safe (non-genotoxic) and antimutagenic compared to hydrogen peroxide, thereby confirming its antioxidant capacity; iii) Borage seed oil and GLA exhibited cytotoxic activity in low doses (IC50 of 1 µl/ml and 0.087 mM, respectively) iv) Low doses of borage seed oil (0.19%) increased the health span of D. melanogaster; and v) GLA significantly decreased the life span of D. melanogaster.Based on the antimutagenic and cytotoxic effects along with the ability to increase the health span, we propose supplementation with borage seed oil rather than GLA, because it protects DNA by modulating oxidative genetic damage in D. melanogaster, increases the health span and exerts cytotoxic activity towards promyelocytic HL60 cells.

Crenate broomrape (Orobanche crenata) is a root parasitic weed that represents a major constraint for grain legume production in Mediterranean and West Asian countries. Medicago truncatula has emerged as an important model plant species for structural and functional genomics. The close phylogenic relationship of M. truncatula with crop legumes increases its value as a resource for understanding resistance against Orobanche spp. Different cytological methods were used to study the mechanisms of resistance against crenate broomrape of two accessions of M. truncatula, showing early and late acting resistance. In the early resistance accession (SA27774) we found that the parasite died before a tubercle had formed. In the late resistance accession (SA4327) the parasite became attached without apparent problems to the host roots but most of the established tubercles turned dark and died before emergence. The results suggest that there are defensive mechanisms acting in both accessions but with a time gap that is crucial for a higher success avoiding parasite infection.Crenate broomrape (Orobanche crenata) is one of the most important parasitic plants attacking legume crops in Mediterranean area, devastating crops and making unusable infested land (Rubiales, 2001(Rubiales, , 2003Rubiales et al., 2002). Being a broomrape (Orobanche sp.), crenate broomrape is an obligate root holoparasite lacking in chlorophyll and depending entirely on the host for its supply of nutrients (Joel et al., 2007). The knowledge of the mechanisms of resistance against the parasite is crucial to develop strategies of control, like breeding for resistance. With this purpose, we have chosen Medicago truncatula as a crenate broomrape host model plant due to its characteristics.M. truncatula is an annual forage legume in the Mediterranean area. Contrary to other legume crops, M. truncatula is an autogamous self-fertile plant with a small and diploid genome, a short life cycle, and a prolific seed production (Blondon et al., 1994). Its simple genetics, the development of new tools and methods for molecular and genetic analysis, and the complete genome sequence (http://www.medicago.org) provide researchers with a valuable data set and making it interesting as a legume model species for laboratory studies (Cook et al., 1997;Cook, 1999) and also in pathogenic interactions (Ellwood et al., 2007; Pérez-de-Luque et al., 2007a).Nowadays, the most numerous and important works about parasitic plants were focused on the development in susceptible host, as Orobanche spp. (Joel and Losner-Goshen, 1994;Neumann et al., 1999), Striga spp. (Dörr, 1997;Reiss and Bailey, 1998), Cuscuta spp. (Vaughn, 2002(Vaughn, , 2003, Viscum spp. (Heide-Jørgensen, 1987), and others (Heide-Jørgensen and Kuijt, 1993, 1995). But little is known about the basis of host resistance to these parasites, just finding the work of Joel et al. (1996) introducing this subject. In the last years only some histological studies of the resistant interactions have been undertaken (Dörr et al., 199...