Bioactivity and gene expression studies of an arbustive Mexican specie Acaciella angustissima (Timbe)

•Acaciella angustissima pods methanolic extracts displayed interesting bioactivities.•Antimicrobial, antimutagenic and antioxidant activities were found in these extracts.•Gene expression studies showed that A. angustissima possesses genes with biological importance.•A. angustissima might be useful in biotechnological and industrial areas.

Methanolic extracts of Acaciella angustissima pods (MEA) were analyzed in order to determine some biological activities such as antioxidant, antimutagenic and antimicrobial properties by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azinobis-3 ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), Kado microsuspension assay and in vitro antimicrobial assays, respectively. Moreover, a transcriptomic study of Timbe grown in greenhouse conditions was also performed using subtractive suppression hybridization methodology (SSH). MEA presented significant antioxidant activity by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP methods. The maximum concentration of MEA inhibited 80.33% and 77.39% of mutagenicity induced either by 4-nitro-O-phenylenediamine or sodium azide, respectively. MEA presented fungistatic activity against Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani and Phytophtora capsici. Moreover, a good in vivo protection against P. capsici was obtained in comparison to a commercial antifungal used toward this pathogen. Transcriptomic study displayed the expression of genes that have biological importance, such as protein TIC55, GATA transcription factor, maturase-like protein, and NAC domain protein. NAC domain protein might have some biotechnological or industrial application, because, NAC transcription factor plays an important role in responses to biotic and abiotic stress from some plants. Results suggest that Timbe might be useful in pharmaceutical, food and agro-industrial sectors.