Three dihydroanthracenones from Gasteria bicolor.

Phytochemical studies and antioxidant activity of two South African medicinal plants traditionally used for the management of opportunistic fungal infections in HIV/AIDS patients

BACKGROUND It has been observed that perturbations in the antioxidant defense systems, and consequently redox imbalance, are present in many tissues of HIV-infected patients. Hence, the exogenous supply of antioxidants, as natural compounds that scavenge free radicals, might represent an important additional strategy for the treatment of HIV infection. The aim of this study was therefore to ana...

Cytotoxicity of three South African medicinal plants using the Chang liver cell line.

BACKGROUND Arctotis arctotoides, Gasteria bicolor and Pittosporum viridiflorum are commonly used in the Eastern Cape, South Africa by traditional healers for the treatment of opportunistic fungal infections in HIV/AIDS patients. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of published data regarding the toxicity of the selected plants, despite the fact that experimental screening of toxicity is crucial to...

A Pericentric Inversion in Gasteria Resulting in Apparent Iso-Chromosomes at Meiosis.

Development of chloroplast microsatellite markers for the endangered Maianthemum bicolor (Asparagaceae s.l.)1

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Ten polymorphic chloroplast microsatellite (cpSSR) markers were developed and characterized in an endemic and endangered herb, Maianthemum bicolor (Asparagaceae s.l.), for use in conservation genetics. METHODS AND RESULTS Primer sets flanking each of the 10 cpSSR loci in noncoding regions of the chloroplast genome of M. bicolor were designed. These cpSSR markers were test...

Phylogeny of three parapatric species of desert ants, Cataglyphis bicolor, C. viatica, and C. savignyi: a comparison of mitochondrial DNA, nuclear DNA, and morphological data.

Due to morphological comparisons the Tunisian desert ant species Cataglyphis bicolor has been divided into three parapatric species: C. bicolor, C. viatica, and C. savignyi. The species status of the latter is supported by sequence analyses of the mitochondrial CO1 and CO2 region, while analyses of the same mitochondrial region lacked resolution for the separation of C. bicolor and C. viatica. ...