Penarrieta, M. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2022

Acai (Euterpe precatoria Mart. Arecaceae) from the Northern Region of Bolivia is not contaminated with Trypanosoma cruzi

Chagas disease is a very important public health problem in America. It is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and transmitted by vectors such as Triatomine insects. However, oral transmission is generating more T. cruzi infections than vectorial transmission in Brazilian Amazonic regions, probably due to the increased consumption of tropical fruits such as acai. Acai palms have become very popular due to its good nutritional properties. Acai fruits have different sources depending of their geographical origin. Acai palms (Euterpe oleracea) in Brazil are cultivated, while in Bolivia grow in wild populations and belongs to a different species, the solitary acai (Euterpe precatoria). Only acai from Brazil has been involved in T. cruzi oral transmission, while Bolivian acai has been regarded as disease free. In order to verify the absence of T. cruzi on acai products from Bolivia, we developed a method to detect T. cruzi DNA by real-Time PCR with internal controls for solitary acai. In this study we show that acai good manufacturing process did not interfere with the detection of acai or T. cruzi DNA. Finally, we report that freshly collected acai fruits and acai frozen pulps from Bolivia were not contaminated with T. cruzi.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2021

Whole Chloroplast Genomes reveals the uniqueness of Bolivian native cacao (Theobroma cacao) from the northern part of Bolivia

We report the complete chloroplast sequences of two varieties of Theobroma cacao collected in the Bolivian Amazonia using Next-Generation Sequencing. Comparisons made between these two chloroplast genomes and the Belizean reference plastid genome identified 19 and 22 nucleotide variants. The phylogenetic analysis reported three main T. cacao clades belonging to the Forastero, Criollo and Trinitario groups. The Bolivian Native Cacao varieties were located inside the Trinitario group forming their unique branch. The Bolivian Native Cacao branch reveals a possible new subpopulation different from the well-characterized T. cacao subpopulations. The phylogenetic trees showed that the relationships among the T. cacao varieties were consistent with their geographical locations placing the Cacao Center of Origin in Western Amazon. The data presented here will contribute to the usage of ultrabarcoding to distinguish different T. cacao varieties and to identify native cacaos from introduced cacaos. Thus helping in the conservation of local native varieties of T. cacao.

plant biology↗