miRNAs, the smallest nucleotide molecules able to regulate gene expression at post transcriptional level, are found in both animals and plants being involved in fundamental processes for growth and development of living organisms. The number of miRNAs has been hypothesized to increase when some organisms specialized the process of mastication and grinding of food. Further to the vertical transmission, miRNAs can undergo horizontal transmission among different species, in particular between plants and animals. In the last years, an increasing number of studies reported that miRNA passage occurs through feeding, and that in animals, plant miRNAs can survive the gastro intestinal digestion and transferred by blood into host cells, where they can exert their functions modulating gene expression. The present review reports studies on miRNAs during evolution, with particular focus on biogenesis and mechanisms regulating their stability in plants and animals. The different biogenesis and post biogenesis modifications allow to discriminate miRNAs of plant origin from those of animal origin, and make it possible to better clarify the controversial question on whether a possible cross-kingdom miRNA transfer through food does exist. The majority of human medicines and supplements derive from plants and a regular consumption of plant food is suggested for their beneficial effects in the prevention of metabolic diseases, cancers, and dietary related disorders. So far, these beneficial effects have been generally attributed to the content of secondary metabolites, whereas mechanisms regarding other components remain unclear. Therefore, in light of the above reported studies miRNAs could result another component for the medical properties of plants. miRNAs have been mainly studied in mammals characterizing their sequences and molecular targets as available in public databases. The herein presented studies provide evidences that miRNA situation is much more complex than the static situation reported in databases. Indeed, miRNAs may have redundant activities, variable sequences, different methods of biogenesis, and may be differently influenced by external and environmental factors. In-depth knowledge of mechanisms of synthesis, regulation and transfer of plant miRNAs to other species can open new frontiers in the therapy of many human diseases, including cancer.
The Ocimum genus includes more than 150 species. However, some attributions are difficult, due to the interference of man with selection, cultivation and hybridisation within the genus and to large morphological variation among the different species. A system of standardized descriptors, based on volatile oils, has been proposed, but its use is limited by the fact that several environmental factors may influence the plant chemical composition. In this paper, we experiment the usefulness of molecular markers of DNA polymorphism, based on AFLP analysis, to unravel disputed attributions. We conclude that the combined analysis of morphological traits, volatile oil composition and molecular markers represents the optimal approach to verify taxonomy and to correlate it with agronomic traits.
Ocimum basilicum cv. Genovese Gigante is the basil cultivar used the most in the production of a typical Italian sauce called pesto. The aromatic composition of plants at different growth stages was determined. Plants from different areas of northwestern Italy were analyzed at 4 and 6 weeks after sowing and showed methyleugenol and eugenol as the main components. The content of these compounds was correlated with plant height rather than plant age. Particularly, methyleugenol was predominant in plants up to 10 cm in height, whereas eugenol was prevalent in taller plants. These results are important in the evaluation of risk to human health posed by dietary ingestion of methyleugenol contained in pesto.
Background: Taxol is an effective antineoplastic agent, originally extracted from the bark of Taxus brevifolia with a low yield. Many attempts have been made to produce Taxol by chemical synthesis, semisynthesis and plant tissue cultures. However, to date, the availability of this compound is not sufficient to satisfy the commercial requirements. The aim of the present work was to produce suspension cell cultures from plants not belonging to Taxus genus and to verify whether they produced Taxol and taxanes. For this purpose different explants of hazel (Corylus avellana species) were used to optimize the protocol for inducing in vitro callus, an undifferentiated tissue from which suspension cell cultures were established.
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