Genotoxic activity of Eucalyptus globulus essential oil in Aspergillus nidulans diploid cells

• Published in: Folia microbiologica Vol. 54; no. 6; pp. 493 - 498
• Main Authors: Miyamoto, C. T., Rocha De Sant’anna, J., Da Silva Franco, C. C., Cunico, M. M., Miguel, O. G., Côcco, L. C., Yamamoto, C. I., Corrêa, C., De Castro-Prado, M. A. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-11-2009; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Antifungal Agents - chemistry; Antifungal Agents - pharmacology; Applied Microbiology; Aspergillus nidulans - cytology; Aspergillus nidulans - drug effects; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cells; Chromosomes; Chromosomes - drug effects; Diploidy; DNA, Fungal - genetics; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Essential oils; Eucalyptus - chemistry; Genotoxicity; Immunology; Life Sciences; Microbiology; Mitosis - drug effects; Mutagens - chemistry; Mutagens - pharmacology; Oils & fats; Oils, Volatile - chemistry; Oils, Volatile - isolation & purification; Oils, Volatile - pharmacology; Toxicity; Eucalyptol; Benomyl; Cadinene; Mitotic Recombination; Diploid Strain
• ISSN: 0015-5632; 1874-9356
• DOI: 10.1007/s12223-009-0070-1

Eucalyptus globulus
essential oil was evaluated for its genotoxic potential using a somatic segregation assay and a diploid strain of the fungus
Aspergillus nidulans
, heterozygous for nutritional and conidia color markers. The main compounds of the current essential oil sample were eucalyptol (49.0 %), α-pinene (8.9), β-pinene (1.5), globulol (6.9), α-eudesmol (1.12), spathulenol (1.42), γ-cadinene (1.45),
trans
-β-elemenone (1.23) and aromandendrene (2.3), totaling 74 % of oil. Oil at 0.12 and 0.25 μL/mL was found to increase the mitotic instability of the original diploid strain and the number of diploid mitotic recombinants of
A. nidulans
. The genotoxicity of the oil was associated with the induction of mitotic crossing-over or with oil-broken chromosomes.