Phytochemical screening and anti-virulence properties of <em>Ceiba pentandra</em> and <em>Ceiba aesculifolia</em> (Malvaceae) bark extracts and fractions

Abstract

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background&lt;/strong&gt;: Inhibition of quorum sensing systems (QSS-I) is a novel strategy in the treatment of bacterial infections. To date, plants are the major source of metabolites with this inhibitory activity. Thus, species of Mexican flora can be important resources for obtaining metabolites with QSS-I activity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hypothesis&lt;/strong&gt;: We hypothesized that extracts from species of the genus &lt;em&gt;Ceiba&lt;/em&gt; have metabolites with inhibitory activity against bacterial quorum sensing systems.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Species studied&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;em&gt;Ceiba pentandra &lt;/em&gt;(L.) Gaertn.&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;and &lt;em&gt;Ceiba aesculifolia (&lt;/em&gt;Kunth) Britten &amp;amp; Baker f. (Malvaceae).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Study site and years of study&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;: We collected &lt;em&gt;Ceiba &lt;/em&gt;bark in the municipalities of &lt;/strong&gt;Tierra Blanca, Veracruz, and Acatlan, Oaxaca, in August 2013.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods&lt;/strong&gt;: We determined the effect of extracts from &lt;em&gt;C. aesculifolia&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;C. pentandra&lt;/em&gt; against QSS-regulated phenotypes of &lt;em&gt;Chromobacterium violaceum&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Pseudomonas aeruginosa&lt;/em&gt;. Extracts were fractionated and the main metabolites were identified. As support in the identification of the species, we carried out an anatomical study of the bark.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results&lt;/strong&gt;: Hexane and dichloromethane extracts of both species of &lt;em&gt;Ceiba&lt;/em&gt; exhibited QSS-I activity. We identified four fractions rich in terpene and sterol compounds with the ability to attenuate virulence factors in &lt;em&gt;P. aerugiosa&lt;/em&gt;. The histological analysis appears to support the presence of some differences in the barks that can facilitate identification of the two species.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions&lt;/strong&gt;: The extracts and fractions of the two species of &lt;em&gt;Ceiba &lt;/em&gt;are sources of phytochemicals with the ability to regulate bacterial quorum sensing systems positively or negatively.&lt;/p&gt;

Distribution and Chemical Composition of Lignin in Secondary Xylem of Cactaceae

“…Other compounds were detected by this technique located in the phellem of C. pentandra ( Figure S2 , C ), the presence of channels with autofluorescent compounds in blue and green tones corresponded to terpenes and flavonoids, [16] whose presence in the cortex has been reported for this species [34] . Finally, the fluorescence emission in cyan tones of starch granules in P. chrysacanthus was similar to that reported by Maceda et al [13] .…”

Candida albicans Biofilm Inhibition by Ethnobotanicals and Ethnobotanically-Synthesized Gold Nanoparticles

“…The Ilongot-Eǵongot ethnobotanicals evaluated in this study are known to possess active groups of metabolites against QS such as: flavonoids, saponins and tannins in C. pentandra ( Friday et al, 2011 ); flavonoid, saponins, tannins, alkaloids, and geranoil in C. winterianus ( Anosike et al, 2012 ); S. alata contains flavonoid, saponins, tannins, alkaloids, and terpenes ( Sule et al, 2011 ), U. lobata with saponins, tannins, alkaloid, and terpenoid ( Fagbohun et al, 2012 ), and P. odorata with flavonoid, saponins, and terpenoids ( Chichioco-Hernandez and Paguigan, 2009 ). The isolated terpene and sterol compounds in C. pentandra attenuated virulence factors in P. aeruginosa ( Muñoz-Cázares et al, 2017 ). Only the major metabolites have been evaluated and reported against QS while the specific bioactive components of the ethnobotanicals in this study have not yet been elucidated and presents an avenue for research in detailed phytochemistry.…”

Desarrollo de la corteza: Estudio comparativo en dos especies de Ceiba (Malvaceae)

“…Los cristales prismáticos en los troncos principales también se presentan en menor número en C. pentandra (1-5/mm 2 ) que en C. aesculifolia (10-15/mm 2 ). Al respecto, Muñoz-Cázares et al (2018) reconocen que los cristales prismáticos son más numerosos que las drusas en C. pentandra, pero no se proporcionan datos cuantitativos. Angyalossy et al (2016) mencionan que los cristales son una característica frecuente en cortezas de especies leñosas y pueden estar presentes en células de parénquima axial y radial o en las células de esclerénquima.…”

“…entre otras congenéricas. Para México, Muñoz-Cázares et al (2018) compararon anatómicamente la corteza del tallo principal de dos especies de Ceiba Mill. Estudios particulares sobre el desarrollo de cortezas son aún más escasos.…”

“…Diferenciar las cortezas de C. aesculifolia y C. pentandra fue uno de los objetivos del estudio de Muñoz-Cázares et al (2018), quienes destacan sus propiedades fitoquímicas. Sin embargo, como sucede con otros tejidos del tallo, la variación axial es tal, que distinguir especies a partir de muestras herbolarias llega a ser difícil.…”