Effects of Cinnamaldehyde, Ocimene, Camphene, Curcumin and Farnesene on Candida albicans

Efficacy of five plant molecules against thirty three clinical isolates and two standard strains of C. albicans, differentially susceptible to fluconazole (FLC) is tested in this study. Effect on biofilm (adhesion, development and maturation) formation, morphogenesis and synergy with fluconazole (FLC) against a FLC resistant strain of Candida albicans ATCC 10231 is also evaluated. All the plant molecules tested were equally effective against isolates and strains of C. albicans (N = 35) tested in this study. Cinnamaldehyde was found most effective against planktonic growth followed by ocimene. Both the molecules exhibited fungicidal activity and killed 99.9% of inoculum within 80 and 20 min of exposure respectively at 0.62 mM and 176.8 mM concentrations. Curcumin (5 - 20 mM), camphene (8 - 32 mM) and farnesene (25 - 100 mM), although inhibited planktonic growth, were fungistatic. All the five plant molecules tested in this study inhibited morphogenesis significantly and exhibited considerable activity against biofilm formation. Inhibition of biofilm was found to be stage specific i.e. efficacy was more against adhesion followed by developing and mature biofilm. Plant molecules tested exhibited excellent synergy with fluconazole. However FIC index values 0.155, 0.062 and 0.046 indicate that ocimene was the most effective synergistic molecule inhibited planktonic growth, developing biofilm and mature biofilm growth respectively at very low concentrations. This is the first report of anti-Candida activity of three terpenoids viz. ocimene, farnesene and camphene against planktonic & biofilm growth, morphogenesis as well as synergy with FLC. Plant molecules tested in this study may find use in antifungal chemotherapy individually and or in a combination with FLC.

Study on the pinene isomerization catalyzed by TiM

The isomerization reaction of pinene is one of the most important chemical reactions in the deep processing of pinene. The purpose of this study is to improve the performance of the metatitanic acid by composite. The composite metatitanic acid catalyst TiM was prepared by adding Mn elements in the preparation process. The catalytic performance of TiM was evaluated. Comparison of TiM and metatitanic acid catalyst(Ti-FGP), the reaction rate of TiM catalyst was faster, and after the reaction, the yield of camphene and tricyclene increased about 1%. The catalysts were characterized by an SEM, FT-IR and laser particle size analyzer. The results show that the pinene isomerization reaction requires the synergistic action of the Br?nsted acid and Lewis acid.Br?nsted acid has great influence on the activity of catalyst, and Lewis acid has a great influence on the selectivity of the catalyst. The structure and morphology of the catalyst have a certain effect on the selectivity of pinene isomerization reaction.

Chemical Constituents of the Root Essential Oils of <i>Zingiber rubens</i>Roxb., and <i>Zingiber zerumbet</i>(L.) Smith

Zingiber rubens Roxb., and Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Smith were collected respectively from Nghe An, Province and Ha Tinh, Province,Vietnam. The root essential oils were obtained by water distillation and analyzed by Gas chromatography (GC) and Gas chromatography coupled with Mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The most abundant components of Z. rubens were (Z)-citral (30.1%), camphene (9.7%), β-phellandrene (7.5%) and 1,8-cineole (7.0%) and zingiberene (5.3%). The main oil constituents of Z. zerumbet were (Z)-citral (26.1%), camphene (16.3%), sabinene (14.6%), zingiberene (7.2%) and lavandulyl acetate (6.7%). This species has low zerumbone (1.2%) content.

Odorant-binding protein 19 in Monochamus alternatus involved in the recognition of a volatile strongly emitted from ovipositing host pines

Monochamus alternatus is the primary carrier of pine wood nematodes,which pose a serious threat to Pinus spp.in many countries.Newly emerging M.alternatus adults feed on heathy host pines,while matured adults transfer to stressed host pines for mating and oviposition.Several odorant-binding proteins(OBPs)of M.alternatus have been proved to aid in the complex process of host location.To clarify the corresponding relations between OBPs and pine volatiles,more OBPs need to be studied.In this research,MaltOBP19 showed a specific expression in the antennae and mouthparts of M.alternatus,and it was marked in 4 types of antenna sensilla by immunolocalization.Fluorescence binding assays demonstrated the high binding affinity of MaltOBP19 with camphene and myrcene in vitro.In Y-tube olfactory experiments,M.alternatus adults were attracted by camphene and RNAi of OBP19 via microinjection significantly decreased their attraction index.Myrcene induced phobotaxis,but RNAi had no significant effect on this behavior.Further,we found that ingesting dsOBP19 produced by a bacteria-expressed system with a newly constructed vector could lead to the knockdown of MaltOBP19.These results suggest that MaltOBP19 may play a role in the process of host conversion via the recognition of camphene,which has been identified to be strongly released in stressed host pines.In addition,it is proved that knockdown of OBP can be achieved by oral administration of bacteria-expressed double-stranded RNA in M.alternatus adults,providing a new perspective in the control of M.alternatus.

General Preparation and Shaping of Multifunctional Nanowire Aerogels for Pressure/Gas/Photo‑Sensing

Nanowires(NWs)with ultrahigh aspect ratio are good one-dimensional(1D)nano scafolds for building functional aerogels.However,challenges still remain in exploring methods to prepare shape designable NW aerogels with high quality,and to reveal multi functions in a single NW aerogel monolith.Here,we report a general camphene freeze-drying method for preparation of various inorganic NW aerogels(e.g,Cu,hydroxylapatite,MnO_(2)and MnOOH NW aerogels),2D graphene oxide nanosheet aerogels,organic polymer aerogels of polystyrene(post-synthesis)and resin(in situ polymerization)aerogels,which can be freely shaped in the frozen monolith stage.The as prepared aerogels have even distributed porosity and smooth surface.Also camphene is cheap and can be efectively recycling collected for reuse.For the Cu NW aerogel with even porosity and low density of 20 mg cm^(−3),multifunctional pressure/gas/photo-sensing was demonstrated.A high pressure sensitivity of 1.7 kPa^(−1)was achieved.