Fungal volatile organic compounds: emphasis on their plant growth-promoting

Fungal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) commonly formed bioactive interface between plants and countless of microorganisms on the above- and below-ground plant-fungus interactions. Fungal-plant interactions symbolize intriguingly biochemical complex and challenging scenarios that are discovered by metabolomic approaches. Remarkably secondary metabolites (SMs) played a significant role in the virulence and existence with plant-fungal pathogen interaction; only 25% of the fungal gene clusters have been functionally identified, even though these numbers are too low as compared with plant secondary metabolites. The current insights on fungal VOCs are conducted under lab environments and to apply small numbers of microbes; its molecules have significant effects on growth, development, and defense system of plants. Many fungal VOCs supported dynamic processes, leading to countless interactions between plants, antagonists, and mutualistic symbionts. The fundamental role of fungal VOCs at field level is required for better understanding, so more studies will offer further constructive scientific evidences that can show the cost-effectiveness of ecofriendly and ecologically produced fungal VOCs for crop welfare

Medicinal and ethnoveterinary remedies of hunters in Trinidad

BACKGROUND: Ethnomedicines are used by hunters for themselves and their hunting dogs in Trinidad. Plants are used for snakebites, scorpion stings, for injuries and mange of dogs and to facilitate hunting success. RESULTS: Plants used include Piper hispidum, Pithecelobium unguis-cati, Bauhinia excisa, Bauhinia cumanensis, Cecropia peltata, Aframomum melegueta, Aristolochia rugosa, Aristolochia trilobata, Jatropha curcas, Jatropha gossypifolia, Nicotiana tabacum, Vernonia scorpioides, Petiveria alliacea, Renealmia alpinia, Justicia secunda, Phyllanthus urinaria,Phyllanthus niruri,Momordica charantia, Xiphidium caeruleum, Ottonia ovata, Lepianthes peltata, Capsicum frutescens, Costus scaber, Dendropanax arboreus, Siparuma guianensis, Syngonium podophyllum, Monstera dubia, Solanum species, Eclipta prostrata, Spiranthes acaulis, Croton gossypifolius, Barleria lupulina, Cola nitida, Acrocomia ierensis (tentative ID). CONCLUSION: Plant use is based on odour, and plant morphological characteristics and is embedded in a complex cultural context based on indigenous Amerindian beliefs. It is suggested that the medicinal plants exerted a physiological action on the hunter or his dog. Some of the plants mentioned contain chemicals that may explain the ethnomedicinal and ethnoveterinary use. For instance some of the plants influence the immune system or are effective against internal and external parasites. Plant baths may contribute to the health and well being of the hunting dogs

Peptide Foldamers: from Spectroscopic Studies to Applications.

Peptide foldamers are synthetic oligopeptides which attain a few, specific, constrained conformations in solution. Here, we review our contributions to the study of the structural features of several foldamers, comprising C\u3b1-tetrasubstituted aminoacids, by spectroscopic techniques and, in particular, by a combined approach employing time-resolved energy transfer (FRET) experiments and molecular modeling to determine interprobe distances and orientations. Our data show that, for rigid systems, the commonly used assumption of random orientation of donor and acceptor is unjustified, and that in these cases a correct evaluation of the orientation factor is mandatory for meaningful structural determinations. Finally, we illustrate some applications of peptide foldamers in studies on the kinetics of protein folding and on the realization of peptide-based molecular devices.

Structure Determination of Racemic Trichogin A IV Using Centrosimmetric Crystals

Direct methods of crystal structure solution are greatly facilitated in centrosymmetric space groups where the complexity of the phase-problem is reduced. For most peptides and proteins, crystallization in a centrosymmetric arrangement is precluded by an intrinsic dissymmetry due to the constituent chiral amino acid residues. The synthetic accessibility of peptide sequences containing amino acids of either chirality offers the possibility for co crystallization of racemic crystals. We report here the first use of such an approach for the de novo structure determination of a medium-sized molecule, trichogin A IV, which is a constituent of a fungal lipopeptaibol mixture possessing membrane-modifying properties of biological interest