Screening of Indanoyl-Type Compounds as Elicitors of Isoflavonoid Phytoalexins in Colombian Common Bean Cultivars

Eleven indanoyl derivatives were synthesized and, along with methyl jasmonate, evaluated as isoflavonoid-phytoalexin elicitors in two cultivars of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cvs. ICA-Cerinza and Uribe Rosado, tolerant and susceptible to anthracnose, respectively). Indanoyl derivatives (an ester, two amides, and eight indanoyl-amino acid conjugates) were obtained from 1-oxo-indane-4-carboxylic acid. In general, the accumulation of isoflavonoid-type phytoalexins, such as isoflavones (genistein, daidzein, and 2′-hydroxygenistein), isoflavanones (dalbergioidin and kievitone), isoflavan (phaseollinisoflavan), coumestrol, and pterocarpans (phaseollidin and phaseollin), was dependent on the common bean cultivar, the post-induction time, and the elicitor structure. Isoflavones, dalbergioidin, and coumestrol reached their highest amounts during the first 48 to 72 h, whereas kievitone, phaseollinisoflavano, and the pterocarpans reached maximum levels between 72 and 96 h. The 1-oxo-indanoyl-L-isoleucine methyl ester elicited the highest levels of phytoalexins (similar to those elicited by the methyl jasmonate) and showed no significant phytotoxic effects on common bean seedlings. The indanoyl-type synthetic elicitor, 1-oxo-indanoyl-L-isoleucine methyl ester, may represent a promising agronomic alternative for disease control in common bean by enhancing the accumulation of antimicrobial isoflavonoid phytoalexins.

[Lymphangioleiomyomatosis: study of 15 patients]

BACKGROUND

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is an uncommon disease of not well-known evolution. We describe the clinical features and follow-up of a group of patients diagnosed of LAM in a hospital pulmonary transplantation programme.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

15 women (mean age: 43, range: 36-52) diagnosed of LAM, 9 at the Hospital Vall d'Hebron and 6 referred from other hospitals, for preoperative evolution of lung transplantation, were retrospectively studied.

RESULTS

Dyspnea appeared in all cases and it was the main symptom. Pleural problems in the early evolution of the disease were also very frequent (12 out of 15 patients). For this reason, pleurodesis was performed in 7 patients and pleurectomy in 2 (one of them bilateral). Thoracic CT scan showed very characteristic cystic images and abdominal CT proved the presence of extrathoracic associated angiomyolipomas in one case. In two patients, LAM was diagnosed after studying the explanted lung. These two patients had been previously misdiagnosed of emphysema and pulmonary haemosiderosis. Survival since the beginning of symptoms was 82 and 49%, 5 and 10 years later, respectively. Six out of eight patients who underwent lung transplantation had a long postoperative survival.

CONCLUSIONS

LAM seems to be as infrequent in Catalunya as in other countries, even if some cases could be misdiagnosed. Lung transplantation is useful in the advanced stages of the disease and, in our experience, it has improved respiratory insufficiency in half of the patients.