Caries is a public health problem, given that it prevails in 60 to 90% of the school-age global population. Multiple factors interact in its etiology, among them dental plaque is necessary to have lactic acid producing microorganisms like Streptococcus from he Mutans group. Existing prevention and treatment measures are not totally effective and generate adverse effects, which is why it is necessary to search for complementary strategies for their management. The study sought to evaluate the eradication capacity of Streptococcus mutans biofilms and the toxicity on eukaryotic cells of Lippia alba and Cymbopogon citratus essential oils. Essential oils were extracted from plant material through steam distillation and then its chemical composition was determined. The MBEC-high-throughput (MBEC-HTP) (Innovotech, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) assay used to determine the eradication concentration of S. mutans ATCC 35668 strain biofilms. Cytotoxicity was evaluated on CHO cells through the MTT cell proliferation assay. The major components in both oils were Geraniol and Citral; in L. alba 18.9% and 15.9%, respectively, and in C. citratus 31.3% and 26.7%. The L. alba essential oils presented eradication activity against S. mutans biofilms of 95.8% in 0.01mg/dL concentration and C. citratus essential oils showed said eradication activity of 95.4% at 0.1, 0.01mg/dL concentrations and of 93.1% in the 0.001mg/dL concentration; none of the concentrations of both essential oils showed toxicity on CHO cells during 24h. The L. alba and C. citratus essential oils showed eradication activity against S. mutans biofilms and null cytotoxicity, evidencing the need to conduct further studies that can identify their active components and in order to guide a safe use in treating and preventing dental caries.

Dental caries is a pathology of multifactorial origin and currently natural products are an efficient alternative treatment; The work sought to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the Cymbopogon citratus essential oil and the citral and myrcene components against Streptococcus mutans ATCC UA159, as well as their cytotoxicity on keratinocytes and human fibroblasts. The viability effect against Streptococcus mutans on biofilms was evaluated through exposure to the three substances by using the MBEC technique-high-throughput at concentrations of 1, 0.1, and 0.01 µg/mL and chlorhexidine as positive control. The cytotoxicity of the compounds was evaluated on keratinocytes and fibroblasts through the MTT reduction technique, using 0.5 mM H2O2 as cell-death control (negative control) and ethanol 1% as vehicle control (positive control). The three substances evaluated had effects on the viability of Streptococcus mutans with mortality between 74% and 96%, without significant difference among them (p > 0.393); additionally, no cytotoxicity was evident on keratinocytes and fibroblasts in a 24-h treatment. The substances evaluated showed significant antimicrobial effects; hence, these should be studied further as potential co-adjuvants to prevent dental caries that cause minor adverse effects

The transmission of seed-borne pathogens by the germinating seed is responsible for major crop diseases. The immune responses of the seed facing biotic invaders are poorly documented so far. The Arabidopsis thaliana/Alternaria brassicicola patho-system was used to describe at the transcription level the responses of germinating seeds and young seedling stages to infection by the necrotrophic fungus. RNA-seq analyses of healthy versus inoculated seeds at 3 days after sowing (DAS), stage of radicle emergence, and at 6 and 10 DAS, two stages of seedling establishment, identified thousands of differentially expressed genes by Alternaria infection. Response to hypoxia, ethylene and indole pathways were found to be induced by Alternaria in the germinating seeds. However, surprisingly, the defense responses, namely the salicylic acid (SA) pathway, the response to reactive oxygen species (ROS), the endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein degradation (ERAD) and programmed cell death, were found to be strongly induced only during the latter post-germination stages. We propose that this non-canonical immune response in early germinating seeds compared to early seedling establishment was potentially due to the seed-to-seedling transition phase. Phenotypic analyses of about 14 mutants altered in the main defense pathways illustrated these specific defense responses. The unexpected germination deficiency and insensitivity to Alternaria in the glucosinolate deficient mutants allow hypothesis of a trade-off between seed germination, necrosis induction and Alternaria transmission to the seedling. The imbalance of the SA and jasmonic acid (JA) pathways to the detriment of the JA also illustrated a non-canonical immune response at the first stages of the seedling.

Introduction: Lippia alba is an aromatic species belonging to the Verbenaceae family. Its essential oils have been used in different industries, because of its biological properties. Objective: Identify the perspectives of the biotechnological applications of Lippia alba essential oils. Methodology: A scoping review was conducted on the biological activity of Lippia alba essential oils registered until October, 2018 in EBSCO, Embase, Scopus, and Lilacs databases. Results: Chemotypes I and III have been reported for different biological activities from the evaluations performed on microorganisms, fish, arthropods, small mammals, and cell lines; fundamentally associated with antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic, antioxidant, and sedative effects, among others. Records focused mainly on the health, fishing industry, and agrifood sectors. Conclusion: Studies on the effect of essential oil are promising, but do not reflect a continuity of the research toward prototypes or finished commercial products. Research groups must unify evaluation methodologies and include in all studies the relationship between phytochemical and biological activity for the meta-analyses to be possible. Likewise, they must join efforts through the National System for Agricultural Innovation (SNIA, for the term in Spanish) to generate finished products that impact upon society and facilitate progress in the country’s bio-economy.

Dental plaque is a complex environment that maintains a balance with certain microbial communities; however, this microhabitat can be disturbed by some endogenous species causing disease. An exploratory systematic review was carried out using the PubMed, Scopus, Lilacs, and Science Direct databases, identifying that the thymol, menthol, and eucalyptol compounds present varying antimicrobial activity, intra- and interspecies discordance, and a strong antimicrobial intensity on Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Candida albicans, Candida dubliniensis, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Streptococcus mutans, indicating that these phytochemicals can be considered broad-spectrum antimicrobial substances, with an effect on microorganisms linked to oral diseases.

El sector de plantas aromáticas, medicinales ycondimentarias reúne una amplia variedad de especiesnativas e introducidas con potencial agroindustrial.Para contribuir al diagnóstico tecnológico del sectoren Colombia y brindar elementos de planificaciónestratégica hacia mejores niveles de desarrollo einternacionalización, se priorizaron ciertas especiesaromáticas en este artículo y se planteó una vigilanciatecnología del 2004 al 2014. Se hizo una búsquedade artículos científicos y patentes en ocho basesde datos en el ámbito nacional, iberoamericano ymundial según temáticas priorizadas. Los datos seprocesaron mediante Microsoft Excel, EndNote,Vantage Point (2014) y Thomson Data Analyzer.A nivel nacional, la temática más registrada fue elAbstractThe sector of aromatic, medicinal and seasoningherbs brings together a wide variety of native andintroduced species with agroindustrial potential. Inorder to contribute to the technological assessmentof the sector in Colombia and provide elementsof strategic planning towards higher levels ofdevelopment and internationalization. We prioritizedcertain aromatic species in this article and atechnological surveillance was made during 2004-2014. A searching scientific articles and patents wasmade in eight national, iberoamericanand worldwidedatabases according prioritized issues. Data processingwas performed using Microsoft Excel, EndNote,Vantage Point (2014) Thomson Data Analyzerprograms. At National level, the planting materialmaterial de siembra y el mejoramiento genético,mientras que en Iberoamérica y el mundo, fue elefecto biocida. Los países líderes en investigacionessobre las aromáticas vigiladas fueron Brasil, Colombiay Cuba. A nivel internacional, los líderes en produccióncientífica en PubMed y Scopus fueron India, EE. UU.,Brasil y Colombia. La tendencia mundial de patenteses creciente, y su principal enfoque es “Necesidadescorrientes de la vida”. En conclusión, la vigilanciatecnológica ofreció una visión global de avances ytendencias en investigación y desarrollo tecnológicoen áreas temáticas vinculadas con las plantas aromáticas.Además, se identificaron posibles aliadosinvestigativos y fluctuación de la producción científicaa través del tiempo.