Bacterial community associated with the trunk latex of Hancornia speciosa Gomes (Apocynaceae) grown in the northeast of Brazil

Abstract

Prevention or cure of different illnesses through the use of plant latex is a worldwide known concept. The antifungal activity of Hancornia speciosa latex has been observed against Candida albicans. However, H. speciosa latex is not a sterile plant exudate and secondary metabolites produced by bacteria could be involved in fungal inhibition. In the present study, the bacterial communities of the latex from three H. speciosa trees were characterized using traditional plating and molecular methods. Twelve strains isolated from the latex samples were clustered into four groups by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA). One representative of each group was sequenced and they were identified as belonging to the genera Bacillus, Klebsiella, Enterobacter and Escherichia. None of the 12 isolates showed antifungal activity against C. albicans. A lack of a microbial origin for the antifungal properties of latex was noted. DGGE profiles generated from each of the three latex samples showed unique patterns. Sequencing of the DGGE bands demonstrated the affiliation with the genera Klebsiella, Pantoea, Enterobacter and Burkholderia. In addition, clone libraries were generated and the phylogenetic distribution of the 50 analyzed clones was similar to that obtained using DGGE. The presence of some potential pathogens should be considered before using H. speciosa latex in folk medicine.

Antimicrobial Activity of Fruit Latexes from Ten Laticiferous Plants

“…Similar, antibacterial activity is reported in latexes of A. ochroleuca [2], Hyaenanche globosa (Euphorbiaceae) [28], Hancornia speciosa Gomes (Apocynaceae) against Klebsiella, Pantoea, Enterobacter and Burkholderia [7]. Hevea bransilensis latex shows antifungal activity against Trichosprum cutaneum and Cryptococcus neoformans [5].…”

“…Similarly, latex of Argemone ochroleuca Sweet has shown antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Enterobacter aerogenes, Micrococcus luteus, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus [2]. Latex from Hancornia speciosa Gomes (Apocynaceae) has shown activity against Klebsiella, Pantoea, Enterobacter and Burkholderia [7] while Hevea bransilensis latex shows antifungal activity against Trichosprum cutaneum and Cryptococcus neoformans [5]. It also exhibits a good activity against multiple drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus (NCTC 11994) and Salmonella typhimurium (ATCC 1255) and Candida albicans (ATCC 10231) [11].…”

“…It is a mixture of many pharmaceutically active substances which showed very high anti-bacterial [2], antiviral [3], antifungal [4] anti-protozoan activity. Latex from several plant species such as A. ochroleuca [2] Calotropis procera, Plumeria rubra, Carica candamarcensis, Euphorbia tirucalli (EtLP) [5], Erythrina variegata [6], Jatropha curcas, Hancornia speciosa Gomes (Apocynaceae) [7], C. procera [8], and Euphorbia lathyris [9] have shown very high antimicrobial activity. The leaves of J. curcas contain apigenin, vitexin and isovitexin, which along with other factors showed strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli [10].…”

Medicinal plants in the treatment ofHelicobacter pyloriinfections

“…This plant is frequently cited in ethnopharmacological inventories of the central region of Brazil against gastrointestinal disorders such as diarrhea, ulcer, gastritis, and stomachache (Moraes et al, 2008). The antifungal, antibacterial (Costa et al, 2008;Silva et al, 2011b), anti-inflammatory (Marinho et al, 2011), hypotensive (Silva et al, 2011a), and cancer chemoprevention effects (Endringer et al, 2010) have been reported recently. The hydroalcoholic extract exhibited anti-H. pylori effect and had the ability to prevent and heal rodent gastric ulcer.…”

Coletânea bibliográfica acadêmica sobre a mangabeira (Hancornia speciosa Gomes)

“…Coletânea bibliográfica sobre a mangabeira (Marinho et al 2011) e atividade angiogênica (Almeida et al 2014), bem como averiguaram se a atividade antifúngica atribuída ao látex é realmente oriunda deste, ou, se é oriunda de bactérias que se alojam neste componente vegetal (Silva et al 2011d). Ainda, um estudo avaliou as propriedades de um extrato hidroalcoólico da casca da espécie quanto à capacidade de prevenir e curar úlceras gástricas em roedores (Moraes et al 2008).…”