Biology subjects

Bertani, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Bertani, S..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

Deciphering anti-infectious compounds from Peruvian medicinal Condocillos extract library through multiplexed assays and chemical profiling

High prevalence of parasitic or bacterial infectious diseases in some world areas is due to multiple reasons, including a lack of an appropriate health policy, challenging logistics and poverty. The support to research and development of new medicines to fight infectious diseases is one of the sustainable development goals promoted by World Health Organization (WHO). In this sense, the traditional medicinal knowledge substantiated by ethnopharmacology is a valuable starting point for drug discovery. This work aims at the scientific validation of the traditional use of Piper species ("Cordoncillos") as firsthand anti-infectious medicines. For this purpose, we adapted a computational statistical model to correlate the LCMS chemical profiles of 54 extracts from 19 Piper species to their corresponding anti-infectious assay results based on 37 microbial or parasites strains. We mainly identified two groups of bioactive compounds (called features as they are considered at the analytical level and are not formally isolated). Group 1 is composed of 11 features being highly correlated to an inhibiting activity on 21 bacteria (principally Gram-positive strains), one fungus (C. albicans), and one parasite (Trypanosoma brucei gambiense). The group 2 is composed of 9 features having a clear selectivity on Leishmania (all strains, both axenic and intramacrophagic). Bioactive features in group 1 were identified principally in the extracts of Piper strigosum and P. xanthostachyum. In group 2, bioactive features were distributed in the extracts of 14 Piper species. This multiplexed approach provided a broad picture of the metabolome as well as a map of compounds putatively associated to bioactivity. To our knowledge, the implementation of this type of metabolomics tools aimed at identifying bioactive compounds has not been used so far.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2022

Metabotyping of Andean pseudocereals and characterization of emerging mycotoxins

Pseudocereals are best known for three crops derived from the Andes: quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa, Chenopods I), canihua (C. pallidicaule, Chenopods I), and kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus). Their grains are recognized for their nutritional benefits; however, there is a higher level of polyphenism and the chemical foundation that would rely with such polyphenism has not been thoroughly investigated. Meanwhile, the chemical food safety of pseudocereals remains poorly documented. Here we applied untargeted and targeted metabolomics approach by LC-MS to achieve both: i) a comprehensive chemical mapping of pseudocereal samples collected in the Andes to classify them according to their chemotype; ii) a quantification of their contents in emerging mycotoxins. An inventory of the fungal community was also realized with the aims to better know the filamentous fungi present in these grains and try to parallel this information with the presence of the molecules produced, especially mycotoxins. Metabotyping permitted to add new insights into the chemotaxonomy of pseudocereals, confirming the previously established phylotranscriptomic clades: Chenopods I (clusters quinoa and canihua), and Amaranthaceae s.s. (cluster kiwicha). Moreover, we report for the first time the presence of mycotoxins in pseudocereals. Sixteen samples of Peru (out of 27) and one sample from France (out of one) were contaminated with Beauvericin, an emerging mycotoxin. There were several mycotoxigenic fungi detected, including Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., and Alternaria sp., but not Fusaria. Highlights{blacksquare} Twenty-seven grain samples of Andean pseudocereals were profiled by LC-HRMS. {blacksquare}Untargeted metabolomics was used to differentiate varieties from the whole metabolome dataset. {blacksquare}Five mycotoxins were quantify using targeted metabolomics. {blacksquare}Sixteen samples of Peru and one sample from France were contaminated with Beauvericin. {blacksquare}An inventory of the fungal community infesting the Andean pseudocereal samples was documented.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2021

Cannabinoids vs. whole metabolome: relevance of cannabinomics in analyzing Cannabis varieties

Cannabis sativa has a long history of domestication both for its bioactive compounds and its fibers. This has produced hundreds of varieties, usually characterized in the literature by chemotypes, with {Delta}9-THC and CBD content as the main markers. However, chemotyping could also be done based on minor compounds (phytocannabinoids and others). In this work, a workflow, which we propose to name cannabinomics, combines mass spectrometry of the whole metabolome and statistical analysis to help differentiate C. sativa varieties and deciphering their characteristic markers. By applying this cannabinomics approach to the data obtained from 20 varieties of C. sativa (classically classified as chemotype I, II, or III), we compared the results with those obtained by a targeted quantification of 11 phytocannabinoids. Cannabinomics can be considered as a complementary tool for phenotyping and genotyping, allowing the identification of minor compounds playing a key role as markers of differentiation.

biochemistry↗