3-O-Acetyl-narcissidine, a Bioactive Alkaloid from puniceum Lam. ()

Omar Santanaa,e, Matı´as Reinab, Ana Luisa Anayac, Fidel Herna´ndezd, M. Elena Izquierdoa, and Azucena Gonza´lez-Colomaa,* a Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias, CSIC, Serrano 115-dpdo, 28006 Madrid, Spain. Fax: (+34) 91-5 64 08 00. E-mail: [email protected] b Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiologı´a, CSIC, Avda. Astrofı´sico F. Sa´nchez 3, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain c Instituto de Ecologı´a, Universidad Nacional Auto´ noma de Me´xico, Tercer Circuito Universitario, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico DF d Estacio´ n de Investigaciones de la Can˜ adeAzu´ car, INICA, Carretera Central km 156, 42600 Jovellanos, Cuba e Current address: Centro de Investigacio´ n Agraria, Banco de Germoplasma Vegetal de Cuenca, Crta. Toledo-Cuenca, km 174, 16194 Cuenca, Spain * Author for correspondence and reprint requests Z. Naturforsch. 63c, 639Ð643 (2008); received March 10/April 24, 2008 In the context of the study on defensive compounds we have isolated the main alkaloid from Hippeastrum puniceum (Amaryllidaceae), 3-O-acetyl-narcissidine (1), and its biological activities tested against two divergent insect species and several plant species. 1 was isolated from the bioactive alkaloidal fraction of H. puniceum. Its chemical structure was established by spectroscopic analysis. The biological activity tests showed that 1 is an antifeedant against the polyphagous insect Spodoptera littoralis but not against the olyphage Leptinotarsa decemlineata. Furthermore, the root growth of Amaranthus hypochondriacus, Rottboellia cochinchinensis, Panicum maximum and Solanum lycopersicum was significantly affected by 1. These results suggest a plant protective role for H. puniceum alkaloids. Key words: Hippeastrum, Antifeedant, 3-O-Acetyl-narcissidine

Introduction In this work, we isolated the major alkaloid, The Amaryllidaceae family is one of the most 3-O-acetyl-narcissidine (1), from Hippeastrum pu- important alkaloid-containing plant families (Jin, niceum Lam. (Amaryllidaceae), a herbaceous 2005). Amaryllidaceae alkaloids have structural plant with a globose or ovoid , native to Cen- similarities to the essential amino acid phenylala- tral America, the West Indies, and the northern nine and related metabolites of tyrosine (Fennell half of South America where it is widely cultivated and van Staden, 2001). About 500 alkaloids have (Meerow, 1990) and has been described as a rem- been described from this plant family with a wide edy against swelling and sores (Asprey and Thorn- range of pharmacological effects (Jin, 2005, 2007; ton, 1955; Mitchell and Ahmad, 2006). We also Unver, 2007). Galanthamine is the most important tested the activity of the plant extracts (ethanolic and a long-acting, selective, reversible and com- and alkaloidal) and 1 against two insect pests, the petitive acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor polyphagous Spodoptera littoralis Boisd. (Lepi- (Heinrich and Teoh, 2004). Lycorine, another doptera: Noctuidae) and the olyphagous Leptino- widely distributed alkaloid of this family, has been tarsa decemlineata Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomeli- proven to have important biological activities in- dae). Additionally their phytotoxic effects were cluding antiviral, antitumour, antimalarial, cyto- evaluated against several weeds and a crop plant toxic and anti-inflammatory activities (Weniger et (Amaranthus hypochondriacus, Rottboellia co- al., 1995; Citoglu et al., 1998; Sener et al., 2003; Liu chinchinensis, Echinochloa crus-galli, Panicum et al., 2004; Szla´vik et al., 2004). Several other well- maximum and Solanum lycopersicum). known alkaloids of the Amaryllidaceae family, such as pancratistatin and narciclasine, have also been shown to possess promising antitumour ac- tivity (Pettit et al., 1986; Polt, 1996).

0939Ð5075/2008/0900Ð0639 $ 06.00 ” 2008 Verlag der Zeitschrift für Naturforschung, Tübingen · http://www.znaturforsch.com · D 640 O. Santana et al. · Activity of 3-O-Acetyl-narcissidine from Hippeastrum puniceum

Materials and Methods and Bues, 1970) and host plant foliage (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Desire´e), respectively, and main- General experimental procedures tained at (22 ð 1) ∞C, 60Ð70% relative humidity Optical rotations were determined at room tem- with a photoperiod of 16 h:8 h (L:D) in a growth perature using a Perkin-Elmer 241 polarimeter. chamber. NMR spectra were measured on a Bruker AMX- Choice feeding assays were conducted with 500 spectrometer with pulsed field gradient, using S. littoralis L6 larvae and adult L. decemlineata. δ 2 the solvent as an internal standard (CDCl3,at H The initial doses were 100 μg/cm for crude ex- δ 2 7.26 and C 77.0). Exact mass spectra and EI-mass tracts and 50 μg/cm for the isolated compound. spectra were recorded on an Autospect instrument Percent feeding inhibition (%FI) was calculated as at 70 eV. Silica gel from Merck (15111 and 5554) described by Reina et al. (2001). Compounds with was used for column chromatography and pre- an FI Ͼ 70% were tested in a dose-response ex- parative TLC. Silica gel G 1500/LS 254 (200 ¥ periment to calculate their relative potency (EC50 200 ¥ 0.25 mm, Schleicher & Schuell, Ref. 391132) values, the effective dose for 50% feeding reduc- were use for semipreparative TLC. Alkaloids were tion), which was determined from linear regres- visualized on TLC plates with DragendorffЈs rea- sion analysis (%FI on log dose). gent. Oral cannulation. Pre-weighed newly molted S. littoralis L6 larvae as described by Reina et al. Plant material (2001) were orally injected with DMSO solutions of the test compound (20 μg/insect). Hippeastrum puniceum Lam. (Amaryllidaceae) Hemolymph injection. 20 adult L. decemlineata was collected at the perimeter of the National Bo- beetles as described by Reina et al. (2001) were tanical Garden, La Habana, Cuba in the summer abdominally injected with DMSO solutions of the of 1997. Once collected, the plant material was test compounds (10 μg/insect). dried at room temperature (5 d) and subsequently ground. A voucher specimen has been deposited at the Instituto de Ecologı´a y Sistema´tica (IES), Mutagenic assays La Habana, Cuba. The mutagenic activity tests were conducted with Salmonella typhimurium (Ames test) in the Extraction and isolation presence or absence of an active metabolic system as previously described (Gonza´lez-Coloma et al., Dried plant material (2.19 kg) was thoroughly 1998). extracted with EtOH in a Soxhlet apparatus. The ethanolic extract (102 g, 4.65% yield) was chroma- tographed using a silica gel vacuum-liquid chroma- Phytotoxic evaluation tography column and hexane/EtOAc/MeOH gra- Seed of Amaranthus hypochondriacus L., Echi- dients producing fractions 1Ð7. An alkaloidal nochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv., Panicum maxi- extract (1.47 g, 1.44% yield) was obtained from mum Jacq. and Rottboellia cochinchinensis (Lour.) fraction 6 (EtOAc/MeOH, 50:50) as described by W. D. Clayton were collected from their natural Domı´nguez et al. (2008), and then purified by CC habitats. Solanum lycopersicum L. seeds were col- and semipreparative TLC producing alkaloid 1 lected from cultivated in experimental gar- (0.028 g, 0.027% yield). dens. Extract and alkaloid solutions (concentra- α tions of 100 and 50 μg/ml in MeOH of extracts and 3-O-Acetyl-narcissidine (1)(C20H25NO6): [ ]D Ð46∞ (c, 0.5). Ð 1H NMR and 13C NMR: see Quir- pure compound, respectively) were prepared. Fil- ion et al. (1991). Ð EIMS: m/z = 375 [M]+, 374 (8), ter paper was impregnated with 1.5 ml of the test 314 (19), 315 (59), 301 (7), 298 (10), 285 (31), 284 solutions (treatment) or solvent alone (control) (100), 266 (56), 228 (20), 162 (9). Ð HREIMS: and placed in Petri dishes (5 cm diameter). Once the solvent had evaporated, the filter paper (treat- m/z = 375.1660 (calcd. for C20H25NO6). ment and control) was moistened with distilled water and 10 seeds were placed on each plate. Insect bioassays Each experiment was repeated 4 times. After 72 h S. littoralis and L. decemlineata from a labora- in a growth chamber (27 ∞C) the percentage of tory colony were reared on artificial diet (Poitout germination, root length (Anaya et al., 2003) and O. Santana et al. · Activity of 3-O-Acetyl-narcissidine from Hippeastrum puniceum 641 abnormal root growth were measured. The data Some insecticides, including alkaloids (Miyaz- was analyzed by simple ANOVA (p Ͻ 0.05). awa et al., 1998), are known to inhibit AChE. Am- aryllidaceae alkaloids are AChE inhibitors (Lo´ pez Results and Discussion et al., 2002; Esameldin et al., 2004; Heinrich and Compound 1 was identified by comparing our Teoh, 2004; Jin, 2007). In order to establish a com- results with those previously reported (Quirion et parative model for the insect antifeedant action of al., 1991). This compound was previously isolated 1, we included the antifeedant effects of eserine from H. puniceum and Leucojum autumnale L. (physostigmine), aconitine and methyllycaconi- (Quirion et al., 1991; Kihara et al., 1995; Lewis, tine. Eserine is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor 1996). The physical and spectroscopic data of 1 and also inhibits the insect and vertebrate nicotinic coincide with the proposed structure (Fig. 1). cholinergic receptor (nAcChR). Aconitine is an + channel agonist while methyllycaconitine is a Table I shows the activity of H. puniceum ex- Na competitive antagonist at the muscular and/or in- tracts (ethanolic and alkaloidal) and compound 1 sect nAcChR junction (for references see Gonza´- against two insect pests. S. littoralis was sensitive to lez-Coloma et al., 2004). Compound 1 had similar both extracts and to compound 1 while the feeding antifeedant and toxic effects to those of methylly- activity of L. decemlineata was not modified by caconitine on S. littoralis (antifeedant without tox- any of the test substances. No toxic (on abdomi- icity), suggesting a similar mode of action to this nally injected L. decemlineata and orally injected competitive antagonist at the insect nAcChR, in S. littoralis) or mutagenic activity (S. typhimurium) contrast to aconitine which has been reported as was detected for compound 1. being very toxic to both insect species (Gonza´lez- Coloma et al., 2004). This is the first report on the antifeedant action of H. puniceum extracts and 3-O-acetyl-narcissidine. Tables II and III summarize the effect of H. pu- niceum extracts and compound 1 against several plant species. The root growth of A. hypochondri- acus, R. cochinchinensis, P. maximum (weeds) and S. lycopersicum was significantly reduced by 1 and both ethanolic and alkaloidal extracts (Table II). Fig. 1. Chemical structure of 3-O-acetyl-narcissidine (1). The alkaloidal extract and compound 1 showed the highest activity against weeds. We also observed abnormal root development in P. maximum and R. Table I. Feeding reduction of the ethanolic (E) and alka- cochinchinensis when treated with 1. P. maximum loidal (A) extracts (100 μg/cm2), and compound 1 (50 μg/ germination was significantly affected (Table III). cm2) from H. puniceum against L. decemlineata and S. littoralis in choice assays. Our results show that 1 has strong phytotoxic effects against several plant species. Bi et al. Treatment Feeding inhibition (%FI)a (2003a) described the allelopathic activity of narci- L. decemlineata S. littoralis Table II. Effect of H. puniceum extracts (150 μg/plate) E Ͻ 50 69.0 and compound 1 (75 μg/plate) on A. hypochondriacus A Ͻ 50 82.7 (Ah), E. crus-galli (Ec), R. cochinchinensis (Rc), P. maxi- 1 57.0 79.1 mum (Pm) and S. lycopersicum (Sl) root growth. 11.6 (10.3, 14.7)b Eserinec ϳ60 Ͼ50 Treatment Root growth (%) Aconitinec Ͼ100 32.3 (19.6, 45.0)b Methyllyca- 2.8 (2.7, 2.8)b 17.7 (5.8, 53.6)b Ah Ec Rc Pm Sl conitinec Control 100 100 100 100 100 a %FI=[1Ð (T / C)] · 100, where T and C are the Ethanolic 66.2* 98.0 43.0* 54.1* 37.5* consumption of treated and control leaf disks, respec- Alkaloidal 40.0* 72.0 37.6* 41.0* 25.4* tively. 1 57.0* 98.6 27.2* 48.7* 30.0* b Effective antifeedant dose (EC50) and 95% confidence (lower, upper) (μg/cm2). * Significantly different from the control, p Ͻ 0.05, AN- c Gonza´lez-Coloma et al. (2004). OVA. 642 O. Santana et al. · Activity of 3-O-Acetyl-narcissidine from Hippeastrum puniceum

Table III. Effect of 1 on the germination and root growth of R. cochinchinensis and P. maximum.

Treatment R. cochinchinensis P. maximum

Germination (%) Abnormal roots (%) Germination (%) Abnormal roots (%)

Control 100.0 0.2 100.0 0.0 1 87.5 65.0* 52.5* 52.2*

* Significantly different from the control, p Ͻ 0.05, ANOVA. clasine (NCS), an Amaryllidaceae alkaloid iso- development and are related to the germinative lated from Narcissus tazetta . NCS showed in- process (McLaughlin and Smith, 1994; Chengwei hibitory effects on seed germination and seedling and Bewley, 1999). Therefore, a similar mode of growth in wheat (Triticum aestivum), and inhibited phytotoxic action could be attributed to 1. the chloroplast formation and protein synthesis at In summary, the alkaloid 3-O-acetyl-narcissidine the ribosomal level (Bi et al., 2003a; Wouter et al., (1) from H. puniceum acted as an antifeedant 2004). The antimitotic activity and inhibitory ef- against the polyphagous lepidopteran S. littoralis. fect of this alkaloid on isocitrate lyase and hy- Additionally this compound also inhibited the root droxypyruvate reductase has also been reported growth, root development and germination of sev- (Ceriotti, 1967; Bi et al., 2003b; Duke and Dayan, eral weeds. The results suggest a plant protection 2006). These enzymes are involved in cotyledon role for 1 against some herbivores and plants.

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