The chemistry of Pseudocyphellaria impressa S. Lat. in New Zealand

As part of a detailed study of the nomenclature and taxonomy of the New Zealand species of Pseudocyphellaria it has been noted that the chemistry of the P. impressa (Hook & Taylor) Vainio aggregate, that is species with a markedly faveolate (honeycomb- like) upper surface and a green algal phycobiont, is particularly complex. The 45 lichen substances detected fall into four distinct groupings, here designated as 'Codings'. The aim of this contribution is to investigate suitable methods for revealing this chemical assemblage by t.l.c. and, as far as is currently possible, to identify the range of substances. No conscious attempt is made to assign the four chemical Codings to particular taxa or species groupings; the taxonomy of the group will be discussed elsewhere. The four Codings proved to be remarkably uniform and constant considering the range and number of substances involved; such variation that occurred was only in the presence and concentration of accessory substances. Although this work only concerns New Zealand material, similar patterns occur in related taxa of the group present in southern South America, south-east Australia and Tasmania

Fruit characteristics and cuticle triterpenes as related to postharvest quality of highbush blueberries

Chilean fresh blueberries take 20-50 days to arrive by boat to the Northern hemisphere, softening and dehydration being the main defects upon arrival. The effect of maturity at harvest (75% blue, 100% blue, and overripe) on cuticular triterpene content, and the possible associated impacts on firmness and weight loss after cold storage were explored for 'Duke' and 'Brigitta' fruit, both non-bagged or bagged in macroperforated low-density polyethylene bags. Softening and weight loss varied with cultivar and maturity stage: 'Duke' fruit softened faster and were more prone to dehydration than 'Brigitta' samples, whereas overripe fruit were less firm after storage. This is the first report characterizing the triterpenoid fraction in cuticles of fresh blueberries, which may play a role in their postharvest behavior. Weight loss and softening rates were highly correlated to ursolic acid contents at harvest; further research will be required for a better understanding of these relationships.Fruit samples were provided by AMS Family, Maule Region, Chile. We thank Irene Manríquez, Instituto de Química de Recursos Naturales, Universidad de Talca, for her skillful technical work. In Chile, this work was supported by the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research CONICYT (FONDECYT 11130539) and PCHA/Doctorado Nacional/2013-63130042, the research programs “Adaptation of Agriculture to Climate Change (A2C2)”, “PIEI-QUIM-BIO”, “Fondo Proyectos de Investigación” and “Núcleo Científico Multidisciplinario”, Universidad de Talca. In Spain this work was partially supported by “Fundación Carolina” and “Programa de Doctorado en Ciencia y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria”, Universitat de Lleida

arrostii roots

A new acylated and triterpenoidal saponin, named GS1, was isolated from the roots of Gypsophila arrostii Guss. On the basis of acid hydrolysis, comprehensive spectroscopic analyses and comparison with spectral data of known compounds, its structure was established as 3-O--D-xylopyranosyl-(12)-[-D-xylopyranosyl-(13)]--D-glucopyranosyl-{21-O-[(E)-3,4,5trimethoxycinnamoyl]}21-hydroxygypsogenin 28-O--D-glucopyranosyl-(12)- [-D-arabinopyranosyl-(13)]--D-xylopyranosyl-(13]--L-rhamnopyranosyl ester. This article deals with the isolation and structural elucidation of new acylated and oleanane-type saponin

Mosquito Larvicidal Constituents from Lantana Viburnoides SP Viburnoides Var Kisi (A. rich) Verdc (Verbenaceae).

\ud \ud Lantana viburnoides sp viburnoides var kisi is used in Tanzania ethnobotanically to repel mosquitoes as well as in traditional medicine for stomach ache relief. Bioassay-guided fractionation and subtraction bioassays of the dichloromethane extract of the root barks were carried out in order to identify the bioactive components for controlling Anopheles gambiae s.s. mosquito larvae. Twenty late III or early IV instar larvae of An. gambiae s.s. were exposed to various concentrations of the plant extracts, fractions, blends and pure compounds, and were assayed in the laboratory by using the protocol of WHO 1996. Mean mortalities were compared using Dunnett's test (p < 0.05) and lethal concentration calculated by Lackfit Inversel of the SAS programme. The crude extract (LC50 = 7.70 ppm in 72 h) and fractions exhibited different level of mosquito larvicidal activity with subtraction of some fractions resulting in activity enhancement. The active fractions contained furanonaphthaquinones regio-isomers (LC50 = 5.48-5.70 ppm in 72 h) and the lantadene triterpenoid camaric acid (LC50 = 6.19 ppm in 72 h) as active principles while the lupane triterpenoid betulinic acid (LC50 < 10 ppm in 72 h) was obtained from the least active fraction. Crude extracts and some fractions had higher or comparable larvicidal activity to the pure compounds. These results demonstrate that L. viburnoides sp viburnoides var kisi extracts may serve as larvicides for managing various mosquito habitats even in their semi-purified form. The isolated compounds can be used as distinct markers in the active extracts or plant materials belonging to the genus Lantana

A seed-specific regulator of triterpene saponin biosynthesis in Medicago truncatula

Plants produce a vast array of defense compounds to protect themselves from pathogen attack or herbivore predation. Saponins are a specific class of defense compounds comprising bioactive glycosides with a steroidal or triterpenoid aglycone backbone. The model legume Medicago truncatula synthesizes two types of saponins, hemolytic saponins and nonhemolytic soyasaponins, which accumulate as specific blends in different plant organs. Here, we report the identification of the seed-specific transcription factor TRITERPENE SAPONIN ACTIVATION REGULATOR3 (TSAR3), which controls hemolytic saponin biosynthesis in developing M. truncatula seeds. Analysis of genes that are coexpressed with TSAR3 in transcriptome data sets from developing M. truncatula seeds led to the identification of CYP88A13, a cytochrome P450 that catalyzes the C-16α hydroxylation of medicagenic acid toward zanhic acid, the final oxidation step of the hemolytic saponin biosynthesis branch in M. truncatula. In addition, two uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferases, UGT73F18 and UGT73F19, which glucosylate hemolytic sapogenins at the C-3 position, were identified. The genes encoding the identified biosynthetic enzymes are present in clusters of duplicated genes in the M. truncatula genome. This appears to be a common theme among saponin biosynthesis genes, especially glycosyltransferases, and may be the driving force of the metabolic evolution of saponins

Fraksi Heksan Ekstrak Biji Pepaya Muda Dapat Menghambat Proses Spermatogenesis Mencit Jantan Lebih Besar Daripada Fraksi Metanol Ekstrak Biji Papaya Muda

Fraksi ekstrak heksan mengandung dua golongan zat aktif yang bersifat antifertilitas yaitu golongan steroid dan golongan triterpenoid yang diperkirakan bersifat antifertilitas, walupun mekanisme kerjanya belum jelas. Rancangan penelitian yang digunakan ialah ‘' Pre-test post-test control group design''. Penelitian ini memakai 30 ekor mencit jantan strain balb C , umur sekitar 12 minggu dengan berat 20-22 gram, kemudian dikelompokkan secara random menjadi 3 kelompok yang masing-masing terdiri dari 10 ekor. Satu kelompok kontrol (P0 = yang diberikan aquabides), dan dua kelompok perlakuan (P1 = kelompok perlakuan yang diberikan fraksi heksan ekstrak 20 mg/20 gram/hari, P2 = kelompok perlakuan yang diberikan fraksi ekstrak metanol 20 mg/20 gram/hari). Setelah 36 hari perlakuan lalu dilakukan pemeriksaan testis dan darah mencit. Data yang diperoleh dianalisis secara statistik dengan menggunakan uji normalitas Kolmogorov Smirnov Goodnees of Fit test, uji homogenitas, dan uji anova. Didapatkan hasil bahwa fraksi heksan ekstrak maupun metanol dapat menurunkan jumlah sel spermatogonia A, sel spermatosit primer pakhiten, sel spermatid, dan sel Sertoli secara sangat bermakna (p &lt; 0,01), sedangkan jumlah sel Leydig dan kadar hormon testosteron menurun tidak bermakna (p &gt; 0,05). Dari hasil penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa fraksi heksan ekstrak biji pepaya dapat menurunkan jumlah rata-rata sel spermatogonia A, spermatosit primer pakiten, spermatid, sel Sertoli, sel Leydig dan kadar hormon testosteron lebih besar dari pada fraksi metanol ekstrak biji pepaya muda

High efficiency protoplast isolation from in vitro cultures and hairy roots of Maesa lanceolata

In vitro cultures of the medicinal plant Maesa lanceolata were established to enable the cultivation of plant material for the production of protoplasts. Callus cultures were initiated using leaves collected from shoot cultures and the root tips from hairy root cultures obtained upon Agrobacterium rhizogenes transformation. For the isolation of protoplast, the different explant material of M. lanceolata was exposed to an enzyme mixture consisting of 1.5% cellulase, 0.5% macerozyme R-10 and 0.5 M mannitol. About 6 x 106 protoplasts g-1 fresh weight were obtained from leaf material and 5 x 105 protoplasts g-1 fresh weight from callus. To obtain high amounts of hairy root protoplasts, the cultures were pretreated with the auxin indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) that stimulated the formation of novel root tips. Using the dissected root tips as starting material, 8 x 105 protoplasts g-1 fresh weight were obtained per preparation. The protoplast isolation method will enable further studies on the transformation and fusion of protoplasts from M. lanceolata

The genome sequence of Barbarea vulgaris facilitates the study of ecological biochemistry

peer-reviewedThe genus Barbarea has emerged as a model for evolution and ecology of plant defense compounds, due to its unusual glucosinolate profile and production of saponins, unique to the Brassicaceae. One species, B. vulgaris, includes two ‘types’, G-type and P-type that differ in trichome density, and their glucosinolate and saponin profiles. A key difference is the stereochemistry of hydroxylation of their common phenethylglucosinolate backbone, leading to epimeric glucobarbarins. Here we report a draft genome sequence of the G-type, and re-sequencing of the P-type for comparison. This enables us to identify candidate genes underlying glucosinolate diversity, trichome density, and study the genetics of biochemical variation for glucosinolate and saponins. B. vulgaris is resistant to the diamondback moth, and may be exploited for “dead-end” trap cropping where glucosinolates stimulate oviposition and saponins deter larvae to the extent that they die. The B. vulgaris genome will promote the study of mechanisms in ecological biochemistry to benefit crop resistance breeding