Compared with major crops, growth and development of Ricinus communis is still poorly understood. A better understanding of the biochemical and physiological aspects of germination and seedling growth is crucial for the breeding of high yielding varieties adapted to various growing environments. In this context, we analysed the effect of temperature on growth of young R. communis seedlings and we measured primary and secondary metabolites in roots and cotyledons. Three genotypes, recommended to small family farms as cash crop, were used in this study.

Background: Schinus terebinthifolius is widely used in traditional medicine by Brazilian quilombola and indigenous communities for treatment of several diseases. Extracts from different tissues are being used to produce creams to treat cervicitis and cervicovaginitis. However, most studies are limited to the assessment of the essential oils and extracts obtained from the leaves. Objective: The aim was to evaluate antioxidant and antibacterial activities, to assess the phytochemical profile and to quantify total phenolic compounds of various extracts prepared from S. terebinthifolius grown in the coast of Bahia, Brazil. Materials and Methods: Extracts were obtained by hot continuous extraction (soxhlet) and by maceration. Quantification of phenolic compounds was performed using the Folin Ciocalteu method and antioxidant properties were assessed by 2,2 diphenyl 1 picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay. Phytochemical screening was performed as described by in the literature and antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212) was determined by the microdilution broth assay. Results: Extraction method greatly affected the metabolite profile of the extracts. Antioxidant activity varied between 21.92% and 85.76%, while total phenols ranged between 5.44 and 309.03 mg EAG/g of extract. Leaf extract obtained with soxhlet showed minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 15.62 μg/mL, while stem extract obtained by maceration was able to inhibit the growth of E. faecalis at 62.5 μg/mL. Stem bark extracts showed a MIC of 500 μg/mL for both extraction methods, while no inhibition was observed for fruit extracts. Conclusion: In general, total phenolic content, antioxidant and antibacterial activities were higher in samples obtained by soxhlet. Our results provide important clues in order to identify alternative sources of bioactive compounds that can be used to develop new drugs.

Patents of lectins with antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal applications were searched and reviewed. Lectins are proteins that reversibly bind to specific carbohydrates and have the potential for therapy of infectious diseases as biopharmaceuticals, biomedical tools or in drug design. Given the rising concerns over drug resistance and epidemics, our patent review aims to add information, open horizons and indicate our view of the future perspectives about the antimicrobial applications of lectins. Patents with publications until December 2020 were retrieved from Espacenet using defined search terms and Boolean operators. The documents were used to identify the geographical and temporal distribution of the patents, characterize their lectins, and classify and summarize their antiviral, antibiotic and antifungal applications. Lectins are promising antiviral agents against viruses with epidemics and drug resistance concerns. Mannose-binding lectins were the most suggested antiviral agents since glycans with mannose residues are commonly involved in viral entry mechanisms. They were also immobilized onto surfaces to trap viral particles and inhibit their spread and replication. Many patents described the extraction, isolation, amino acid and nucleotide sequences, and expression vectors of lectins with antibiotic and/or antifungal activities in terms of MIC and IC₅₀ for in vitro assays. The inventions also included lectins as biological tools in nanosensors for antibiotics susceptibility tests, drug-delivery systems for the treatment of resistant bacteria, diagnostics of viral diseases and as a vaccine adjuvant. Although research and development of new medicines is highly expensive, antimicrobial lectins may be worth investments given the emergence of epidemics and drug resistance. For this purpose, less invasive routes should be developed as alternatives to the parenteral administration of biologics. While anti-glycan neutralizing antibodies are difficult to develop due to the low immunogenicity of carbohydrates, lectins can be produced more easily and have a broad-spectrum activity. Protein engineering technologies may make the antimicrobial applications of lectins more successful.

Os objetivos deste trabalho consistiram em descrever e ilustrar os aspectos morfoanatômicos de sementes e plântulas de Amburana cearensis, relacionando o desenvolvimento dos tecidos às fases de germinação das sementes, para verificar as mudanças que ocorreram durante esse processo. Os ensaios foram conduzidos no Laboratório de Estudos em Meio Ambiente da Universidade Católica de Salvador (LEMA/UCSal). O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições de 25 sementes por tratamento. A curva de embebição foi elaborada com base no peso fresco das sementes durante o processo de embebição, em períodos variando entre 0 e 318 h. Para análise morfológica das sementes e plântulas, ambas foram observadas a olho nu e ao microscópio estereoscópico, a fim de confeccionar a prancha. As secções anatômicas foram feitas com o auxílio do micrótomo rotativo, utilizando-se para tal as sementes durante as fases da germinação. Quanto à análise morfológica, as sementes são esternospermáticas e o embrião axial, sendo a germinação do tipo epígea e fanerocotiledonar. Quanto aos aspectos anatômicos, pôde-se verificar que as sementes de A. cearensis são bitegumentadas e exotestais e apresentam os cotilédones como principal tecido de reserva. O tegumento é composto por um estrato de macroesclereídes e por estratos de osteoesclereídes e possui compostos fenólicos, o que confere às sementes certo grau de dormência por impermeabilidade do tegumento, dificultando, assim, a absorção de água